Ultrabook vs laptop: Is an ultrabook worth £500 more?

Summary: Are slim and light ultrabooks slim and light enough to justify their hefty price tags? And what's the real difference between an ultrabook and a skinny laptop? We look at the HP Envy 14 Spectre and the HP DM4 Beats Audio Edition

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HP Envy Spectre vs Dm4 Beats Audio

All useful stuff, but you don't need to buy an ultrabook to get those specs — prompting the question, is there anything else an ultrabook can deliver that an average laptop can't?

In order to give it the new category a fair crack of the whip, I decided to take a look at two different machines from the same company, one ultrabook and one normal laptop, to see how the two compare.

For the ultrabook, I took a first-generation HP Envy 14 Spectre (left), and for the laptop, an HP DM4 Beats Audio Edition.

Image credit: Ben Woods

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Topics: Mobility, Smartphones

About

With several years' experience covering everything in the world of telecoms and mobility, Ben's your man if it involves a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or any other piece of tech small enough to carry around with you.

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  • "But is it just hype and marketing...?"
    You nailed it right there. Case closed.

    Warmest regards...
    bakerdriver
  • ->'However, it occurred to me that, over time, this is exactly how PCs become: slower, less responsive husks of their purchase-day glory'

    We're not allowed to blame Microsoft for this, were constantly told that incompetent users are solely to blame for this. (MS, if you stick everthing in the 'spinal' Registry, which has to be updated and constantly scanned by Windows, then users add more applications - it gets bigger, more to scan - what did MS expect to happen?)

    The new Macbook Pro 15 with Retina Display, has just redefined the word 'Ultra', though the updates to other models, while keeping their unibodys the same, have some good port upgrades like USB 3.0. The Macbook Pro 15 with Retina is slightly narrower and is a far amount thinner (no optical drive) than the the older unibody Macbook Pro 15 without Retina (still sold but upgraded to Ivybridge).

    If the screen is the same screen technology as the new ipad (the retina display is genuinely superb), but scaled up - users will be in for a treat.

    If you can afford one, and you need a powerful laptop all day, every day - the macbook pro with retina seems the laptop to get. (and you don't have issue carrying around £1799 worth of laptop).

    Doesn't come with Mountain Lion to start with, so better off purchasing in July. Doesn't seem to be missing too many future updates, a pretty complete laptop. I personally was waiting for USB 3 + Retina + Mountain Lion + Ivybridge. So its got everything I was wanting, come July with Mountain Lion.
    SoapyTablet
  • Isn't this all about the demise of DVDs and Blu Rays? How much would Apple and Microsoft want them to die off? A lot is the answer! They would prefer us to buy films and music online from them and them only! Ultrabooks do not have optical drives, just like the new Macbooks.
    ians1