What Which? members think of ultrabooks?

Ultrabooks – Which? members have their say

Ultrabooks are a fairly recent addition to the laptops market, but have certainly been here long enough for you to have decided what you think of them. We take a look at what Which? members make of three popular models.

To share your ultrabook experiences and advice with others, find your ultrabook in the ultraportable laptop reviews and add your own comments and rating on the ‘customer views’ tab. As well as imparting your knowledge, you could be in with a chance of winning £600 of vouchers in our monthly draw – have a look at the customer views advice for more details.

Samsung Series 9- Samsung’s top of the range ultrabook

The Samsung Series 9 was one of the first ultrabooks on the market and has already been updated with a second generation version. According to Samsung it made a number of changes, such as removing the plastic keyboard surround, following customer feedback. Read our second generation Samsung Series 9 review to find out if the thinner and lighter model, made entirely from aluminium, could improve on the original.

Alan has the 11-inch first generation version and says:

I have been waiting years for this kind of spec to be available for under £1,000 and it has not disappointed. If you can afford it, buy it, it makes an old netbook feel like a dinosaur. And don’t worry about only having 128GB storage. You don’t need any more, if you do, plug a stick in.

Asus Zenbook UX31E – a beautifully tapered 13-inch laptop

The all-aluminium body on this model does the trick in terms of making it feel strong and solid despite being exceptionally light. It impressed our experts in its lab performance – see the Asus Zenbook UX31E review to find out exactly what they thought – but what’s it like to live with?

‘I have been a laptop user for over 20 years and this is the one I have been waiting for’

A ringing recommendation if ever you heard one. The member goes on to say:

At last a machine which boots up in less than 40 seconds from cold, or is up and running in 10 seconds from standby. It is so light in my briefcase I sometimes think I have forgotten to pack it.

But he also points out a couple of areas for improvement:

Face-recognition log-in is a pain – sometimes it works really fast, but 50% of the time you end up squinting and tilting your head to make it work.

SD card slot is only half deep so if you want to leave an extra memory card in place is sticks out annoyingly.

Apple MacBook Air – ‘the ultimate everyday notebook’?

The ‘ultimate everyday notebook’ is how Apple describes the MacBook Air, but find out how the Which? experts rated it in our Apple MacBook Air 13-inch review. It’s certainly got some fans among the commenters on the Which? website.

Mikeeeeee says his MacBook Air is an ‘indepensible all-rounder’

I cannot truly express how satisfied I am with my 2011 MBA. I now use it as my workstation at work, connected to a 27-inch thunderbolt monitor at home and find it perfect when travelling abroad.

And on its potential limitations:

I have had no issues with the lack of optical drive, in fact I have not missed it at all. I cannot complain about the speed, even when using Photoshop and 256GB is more than enough for several movies and loads of music both of which play seamlessly. I cannot comment on its gaming performance, but I doubt that anyone would buy a MBA to play games.

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