Hasta La Gadget!

What we’ve got here is the HP EliteBook Folio 9470m Ultrabook, a business-oriented notebook made to work in the Windows 8 environment with an amalgamation of hardware that’s precision-tuned to suit your in- and out-of-office needs. At first glance, this machine doesn’t strike one as the most unique piece of machinery on the planet – it’s a silver laptop, after all. But what it lacks in unique aesthetics, it more than makes up for in details that we’d consider suggesting this device to friends for on their own.

Hardware

This machine measures in at 13.3 x 9.09 x 0.75 in (33.8 x 23.1 x 1.89 cm) and works with a lovely 14-inch LED-backlit HD anti-glare 1366 x 768 pixel resolution display and is cased in mostly hard and soft plastic. While the bulk of this machine is metal, its ever-so-slightly soft along the top and the bottom while a ridge of almost rubbery soft plastic runs along the head – above the display, the area that you’ll use to pull the notebook open – very well placed. This notebook is 3.6 pounds – not the lightest Ultrabook in the universe – and is 0.74-inches thick.

Along the sides you’ve got more ports than you’re going to know what to do with, including 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.0 (charging), DisplayPort 1.1a, VGA, AC power, headphone/mic jack, RJ-45, and a single SD/MMC card slot. You’ve also got an ethernet port so you can hard-wire to the web if you’re not all about wi-fi connectivity. You’ve also got a Kensington lock slot so you can keep the machine secure if you’re at a trade show or in a particularly nefarious office setting.

Note also that HP has made a point of assuring the public that their Elite line of products is hardcore – have a peek at our HP Making of Elite Tour Roundup to see our adventures all those months ago – smashing inside!

Also important if you want to keep your machine secure is the built-in HP Fingerprint Sensor which appears on the right side of your palm rest – make sure you’re not eating too much cake before you try to get read. Up to the right above your keyboard you’ve got dedicated on/off switches for both wi-fi and sound (muting, basically), and up and to the left you’ve got your power button – heavy metal!

The model we’ve got here works with a 3rd Gen (Ivy Bridge) Intel Core i5-3427U (2.80/1.80 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache, 2 cores) and has a Mobile Intel QM77 Express chipset. You’ll be able to see some standard performance results in the benchmark listing we’ve got below, but know this: this machine is performing at a 2013 level. It’s swift and powerful, more than ready to take on your standard business needs.

Software

The security and business-friendly options you’ve got on this machine are just what your manager’s been looking for, including HP’s ProtecTools suite with so many tools to keep people out of your computer that you’ll forget why they wanted to get in in the first place – pre-boot authentication and a password vault included! You’ve also got SpareKey for when you forget your own password. And of course, a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) built-in.

You also get a tossing of apps that HP’s decided to add-in above what Microsoft’s Windows 7 or 8 gives you, including such gems as PowerDVD and PDF Complete. You do get Evernote right out of the box though, a good incentive to keep taking notes on your smartphone as well as your laptop. You get the option of working with Windows 7 Pro, Windows 7 Home Premium, or the version of Microsoft’s OS that we’re working with here, Windows 8.

If you do choose Windows 8, you’ll need some time to get used to the gestures you’ll be needing to make your own in order to get friendly with your everyday average apps. If you’ve got no touchscreen (this device does not have one, mind you), you’ll be dragging two fingers to the right or the left to navigate your Live Tiles. If you don’t know what that means, we suggest you pick this machine up with Windows 7, without a doubt.

The display on this machine is decent, but not spectacular. The same can be said about the speaker system. HP didn’t put as much effort into this machine’s entertainment abilities as it has with some of its more eye and ear-pleasing machines like the HP ENVY Spectre XT Ultrabook. This Folio machine is, on the other hand, one of the more well-put-together business-minded machines we’ve seen through the past 12 months.

Have a peek below at our standard benchmark test results for this machine and remember that it’s not an entertainment machine, and certainly isn’t made for gaming. Instead you’ve got a bit of a worker her made for a worker, inside and out.

Battery Life / Options

On the bottom of this machine you’ve got both a docking connector and a secondary battery connector. HP doesn’t mess around when it comes to a strong accessories ecosystem and will certainly have your back when you look to expand with extra long-life-loving batteries and/or if you want to dock this beast up at your house when you get home from the cube. That said, the battery life on this machine is rated by HP for “up to 9 hours and 30 minutes” with its HP Long Life 4-cell (52 WHr) Li-Ion unit, and we’ve seen it bringing on easily 5-6 hours of up-time while using it for medium-to-heavy lifting on an average day.

Lifting, in this case, consists of editing enough video and photos for a full day of work on SlashGear, browsing massive amounts of content on the web, and items as simple as editing text documents (plus lots, lots more, of course). If you’re all about document editing and basic reading, you’ll have no trouble reaching up further for the beastly time HP suggests.

Wrap-up

With the HP EliteBook Folio 9470m Ultrabook you’re getting one of the nicest business-minded computers on the market today. Priced at $1,349.00 USD straight from HP, you’re going to get what you paid for. This is a machine you’re going to be able to use for years to come, and with the hardware this Ultrabook comes with right out of the box, it’s unlikely you’ll need to update your innards any time soon.

HP EliteBook Folio 9470m Ultrabook Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s been a little while since we last heard about MSI’s Slider S20 convertible. We ended up getting hands-on session with the device at Computex 2012 back in June, and it was later tipped for an October release, but that obvious has yet to happen. However, the company just announced that we should be seeing the new Ultrabook sometime in Q1 2013.

The Slider S20 is essentially a chunky tablet of sorts, but it converts fully into a laptop for those wanting a physical keyboard combination. The device sports a 16:9 1920×1080 full HD 10-point touchscreen display, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and 128GB of SSD storage. It also packs Intel’s 3rd-generation Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor and integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics.

The Slider S20 weighs 2.2 lbs. and is less than 1-inch thick, great for lightweight on-the-go computing. There’s a Jackson Peak Wireless adapter, ethernet, two USB 3.0 ports, Bluetooth capability, mini HDMI-out connector, and an integrated 720p HD webcam. It also has a 2.5-inch drive bay for additional storage.

The Slider S20 is set to be available in Q1 2013 for an MSRP of $1,199, which is a far cry from what we heard back in June with a possible $800 price tag. Either way, we should be seeing the new convertible laptop gracing the display stand at MSI’s booth during CES 2013 before it officially releases to the public.

MSI Slider S20 Ultrabook coming Q1 2013 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When Lenovo came out with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, it seemed like precisely the sort of thing ThinkPad fans had been waiting for: an ultraportable with fast performance, a crisp 1,600 x 900 screen and, of course, one well-engineered keyboard. In fact, we deemed it one of our favorite Ultrabooks — not just for businesspeople, but for everyone.

The thing is, it arrived just before Windows 8 went on sale, which means four months after its release it’s already a bit outdated. Enter the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch: it’s more or less the X1 Carbon you know and love, except it has a touchscreen allowing for finger input. (Don’t worry, that signature red pointing stick hasn’t gone anywhere.) So is this basically just an even better version of the original X1 Carbon? And is it worth that steep $1,499 starting price (a $250 premium over the non-touch version)? Let’s find out.

Continue reading Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch review: one of our favorite Ultrabooks gets a touchscreen

Filed under: Laptops, Lenovo

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There’s a brand new Ultrabook in town sporting Intel inside from Velocity Micro, with three new models pumped up for the new year. This lineup comes in with three notebooks by the names of NoteMagix U430, NoteMagix U450, and NoteMagix U470, each of them coming in with a unique chassis and no Bloatware at all, whatsoever. These units are pumped up and ready for the big time, too with solid aluminum bodies and less than 4 pounds to any one unit.

Each of the three units here works with a lovely 14-inch 1366 x 768 pixel resolution (WXGA) Anti-Glare display, Panther Point (HM77) chipset, and a 3rd gen Intel Core at i3, i5, or i7, each of their prices reflecting the power. These machines come with 4GB DDR3 RAM and varying hard drives based on the model as well: 500GB 5400rpm and 24gb SSD, 120GB Intel® 520 Series SSD, or 240GB Intel® 520 Series SSD.

Each of these models works with Integrated Intel HD 4000 Graphics, over 6 hours of battery life, and a lovely webcam at 1.3 megapixels. Each unit works with its own ethernet port, two USB 3.0 ports, full-size HDMI out, headphone jack, and multi-card reader. A set of rubbery bumpers on the bottom and a lovely black casing and you’re ready to go!

These machines will be available immediately if not soon online starting at three prices based on model. The lowest-spec’d model is the NoteMagix U430 which will be starting at $799.99, followed by the NoteMagix U450 which starts at $899.99 USD. The biggest and the best in this new lineup is the NoteMagix U470 which starts at $1099.99 USD – that’s the one you want!

[via Velocity Micro]

Velocity Micro reveals NoteMagix Ultrabook lineup is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

What’s in a name, really? For some of us, a name would convey the sense of quality, especially so when that particular name has been a trusted one for a long, long time. I guess this is why branding is extremely important, and here we are with two well known companies synergizing to deliver the best (in their opinion, anyways, we just report it) to consumers. I am referring to Harman Kardon speakers that deliver exceptional audio as well as muscular bass to the Toshiba Widescreen Ultrabook, starting with Satellite U845W model in tow.

Basically, if you are in the market for a Windows 8 powered workhorse multimedia laptop that delivers exceptional sound, your ears will definitely tingle (if it works as claimed) as it tunes in to the remarkably thin Toshiba Satellite U845W Ultrabook which is said to pack far more bite than what it looks like at first glance. Sporting a couple of Harman Kardon speakers alongside Odyssey3 drivers, the Satellite U845W is said to offer crisp, robust sound with authoritative bass which is louder compared to other comparably sized laptop or notebook that is in the market at the moment.

Sachin Lawande, executive vice president of HARMAN and co-president of HARMAN Lifestyle and Infotainment, said, “This is the first Ultrabook that doesn’t require the user to attach external speakers to enjoy a movie, MP3 or streaming audio. The Harman Kardon speakers were custom-designed for the Satellite Ultrabook to get the most out of digital music files. The Satellite Ultrabook was built for beautiful sound.”

The Satellite U845W is not the only one from Toshiba to include Harman Kardon speakers, but it will mark a new era, being the first of nine models to do so. It would be interesting to see how the market reacts to such a model (and other models in the pipeline), and whether audio quality is that big of a deal breaker for many. Expect to pick up the Toshiba Satellite U845W with Harman Kardon sound from $929.99 upwards, depending on the configuration you selected.
[ Toshiba Ultrabook gets Harman Kardon speakers copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]