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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Envy 14 Spectre depth vs DM4 depth

Elsewhere, the lightweight, thin design is intended to be another compelling factor in the ultrabook's favour.

Here, too, there was less difference between the two machines than expected: the Spectre is the thinner of the pair, though not by much.

At its thinnest point, the DM4 is almost exactly as thin as the Spectre. Officially, the Spectre measures 20.06mm across the entire chassis whereas the thinnest point on the DM4 Beats Edition was 24mm and the fattest point was 32.3mm. For comparison, HP lists the Spectre's weight as "starting at" 1.8kg and the DM4 as around 1.96kg. Likewise, the company lists the battery life of the Spectre as up to 9.5 hours and the DM4 up to seven hours.

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