Windows laptop / Ultrabook for PP in the car

Chrisbie

Chrisbie

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Chris
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I need to replace my ageing sony vaio 16.4 Laptop I use for editing on the move. its been a great workhorse but its getting to the point where I should replace it. I have decided I need a windows machine with 1920 by 1080 (full HD) screen.
I have been looking at a few and spotted this one today at a local branch of Currys. I was really impressed with the quality of the display and it looked to my eyes a bit more natural than the Macbooks its a
SAMSUNG Series 7 Ultra NP740U3E 13.3" Touchscreen Ultrabook

I have also been told to look at the ASUS models with the IPS panel such as the N56VZ but I cant find one in the shops !! I want to see one in the flesh before making any decisions. Sorry but please dont suggest Macbooks I have to go windows and I am not made of money
Any suggestions or comments gratefully received

Note main purpose editing pics staright off memory card in the front seat of a car!
Chris
 
I've got a 740 13.3" touchscreen samsung ultrabook and like it a lot.

Lightroom 3 runs on it nice and fast.

The only negative is the keyboard. Nice feel and looks pretty but lettering can be very hard to see sometimes as the reflection from the silver keys can often match the backlighting level and the letter is hard to read.

The msata ssd isn't big at 128 Gb but combined with plug in drives for longer trips it's fine. I don't plan to edit seriously on it so no idea if the screen is calibrated but it looks good to me.
 
After looking at one again today I noticed that the screen was very reflective being a touch screen but also noticed the same problem with a macbook pro retina
 
The touch screen is glass and hence shiny but I've not found it a problem. The brightness level is good too so I don't notice that it is covered in finger smears either.
 
I find 1920x1080 too small on a 13 inch laptop i use the i7 series 9 at 1600x900 and thats great on a 13 inch, also got the superb matte Samsung PLS screen so no reflection worries
 
I know you say no mac's but you mentioned them so they must be remotely feasible. The new MBA with the 12hr battery would be the ultimate PP in the car machine. Once you load up a windows ultrabook you will be looking at 3>hours of battery. Then your looking at hauling around power converters ect... Also, at £900 they are comparable to most nice ultras on the market. As well as being able to run Windows using bootcamp whenever needed if you had other things exclusive to that OS.
 
Personally, I'd wait.

The new Intel chips have been released recently (Haswell) and they are designed for ultra low power consumption when idling. I think the next gen of Ultrabooks is where you should be looking.
 
very interesting especially that last comment
actually power isnt a problem beause I will use a car charger after Garys comments perhaps 13" is too small and I should be looking at 15"
no decisions yet but getting closer
 
Pretty sure you can change the resolution on any laptop. I use the retina MBP 15" honestly if your doing much you will always benefit from a larger screen. My wife has an Asus ultra book i5 15" not great battery wise but nice all around for the £500 price.
 
Work just supplied me with an Asus Zenbook UX31A. It's bloody stunning. Full HD, great keyboard/trackpad. Has a touchscreen which is actually pretty nice. Also has a nice feature where USB can charge your phone whilst the laptop's off. Core i5 and Intel HD4000 more than enough for Lightroom and Photoshop.
The whole thing is smaller than a pad of paper - even the charger's tiny. Backlit keyboard for night use as well, wrapped in an aluminium case very similar to a MacBook Air. Most impressed.
Robust enough that we've ordered 10s of thousands of them...
Comparing it to my personal Dell with a 15.6" screen, I'd say the smaller but equal res Asus is better.
 
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well taken the jump and bought SAMSUNG Series 7 Ultra NP740U3E 13.3" Touchscreen Ultrabook. blooming amazing.
now turning off all the enhancements and auto brightness etc.
Fantastic machine and got it at a steal from John Lewis at £699 with full warranty for two years.
Thanks for all the advice guys. It all helped.
 
Nice! Looks like a great price too!
 
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