'Best' ultrabooks available in SA?

[FreeStanler]

Hi all

Hoping someone with experience in the following could advise.

Im in the market for a high end ultrabook. Looking for excellent portability, but don't want to sacrifice on performance. Willing to pay the premium.

Can anyone recommend a currently available, high specced ultrabook ?

Looking for Haswell i7, 8GB Ram, at the very least 13.3 inch but preferably larger screen. (will plug into dock at office for bigger screen productivity). Don't care about discreet graphics processor.

I believe the Samsung Ativ Book 9 plus satisfies my requirements, but I can't seem to find it at leading retailers.

Can someone recommend a site/place to order from? Even if not that Samsung, but something close to my wishlist specs? (I live in Durban)

Thank you for any advice.

 

[Quey_Quick]

The Dell XPS 12 is also an option

 

[DominionZA]

I have the Dell XPS 15 which just makes the intel ultrabook spec. Flipping awesome machine.
Recently also got the XPS 13. Extremely impressive machine. Love it.

Had an XPS 12 but sold it. Wish I had kept it.

 

[Space_Chief]

Hi all

Hoping someone with experience in the following could advise.

Im in the market for a high end ultrabook. Looking for excellent portability, but don't want to sacrifice on performance. Willing to pay the premium.

Can anyone recommend a currently available, high specced ultrabook ?

Looking for Haswell i7, 8GB Ram, at the very least 13.3 inch but preferably larger screen. (will plug into dock at office for bigger screen productivity). Don't care about discreet graphics processor.

I believe the Samsung Ativ Book 9 plus satisfies my requirements, but I can't seem to find it at leading retailers.

Can someone recommend a site/place to order from? Even if not that Samsung, but something close to my wishlist specs? (I live in Durban)

Thank you for any advice.

If you want the best ultrabooks, I'd go with either NEC Lavie Z or Panasonic Let's Note models.
Pany's are probably the best but most expensive.
NEC LaVie have excellent build quality and are the lightest ultrabooks you will find. I got one for my father and he loves it.

Newest LavieZ have
i7 CPUs (Haswell)
IGZO displays (higher than 1080p) res
weigh less than 800g
256GB Samsung SSD

If you're on a budget, get a prev generation Lavie Z with similar specs just a 3rd gen i7 CPU which will be about 15% slower but still extremely fast. I shelled out about 10K.

 

[kooldude]

If you want the best ultrabooks, I'd go with either NEC Lavie Z or Panasonic Let's Note models.
Pany's are probably the best but most expensive.
NEC LaVie have excellent build quality and are the lightest ultrabooks you will find. I got one for my father and he loves it.

Newest LavieZ have
i7 CPUs (Haswell)
IGZO displays (higher than 1080p) res
weigh less than 800g
256GB Samsung SSD

If you're on a budget, get a prev generation Lavie Z with similar specs just a 3rd gen i7 CPU which will be about 15% slower but still extremely fast. I shelled out about 10K.

Where can one get these?

 

[Dean]

I have the Dell XPS 15 which just makes the intel ultrabook spec. Flipping awesome machine.
Recently also got the XPS 13. Extremely impressive machine. Love it.

Had an XPS 12 but sold it. Wish I had kept it.

Mike is bang on the money here... I'm 100% behind this post based on your exact requirements. The XPS13 is an absolute gem.

 

[DominionZA]

Mike is bang on the money here... I'm 100% behind this post based on your exact requirements. The XPS13 is an absolute gem.

Not to mention 3 year next business day on site warranty. Can't beat Dell.

 

[Arthur]

Not avail in SA, but have to mention my Surface 2 Pro, if only to boast and gloat (no-one else will appreciate it) . Wife picked it up the 256GB model in the States two weeks ago. Blazingly fast, light, compact, portable. And the Surface Docking Station is great - easiest, niftiest dock I've seen in many a decade. Now trying figure out how to get the Surface to drive 5 monitors, or at least 4. Once I have that solved, it's bye bye desktop machines.

 

[Space_Chief]

Where can one get these?

You'll have to import.

I got the NEC LaVie LZ750/MSS PC-LZ750MSS as a brand new item from Yahoo Japan auctions, and used Buyee.jp as middle man. One can also search Kakaku.com which is like a search engine of the cheapest outlet stores in Japan.

You can search the Yahoo Auctions here.


There are two generations:

Old gen i7 and i5 i.e. 3rd gen Intel CPU. (Ivy Bridge)
E.g. http://kakaku.com/item/K0000510054/?lid=ksearch_kakakuitem_image

LZ750/MSS (Ivy Bridge) i7 2.0GHz 256GB Samsung SSD, 4GB RAM, WXGA++ (1600 x 900), 875g weight.
LZ550/MSS i5 model, 128GB SSD, 4GB RAM. 960g

and newest but more expensive HaswellsA little lighter too)

http://121ware.com/lavie/

LZ650/NS - FHD display, similar specs as the 550 but 965g in weight.
LZ550/NSB - Sharp IGZO WQHD (2560×1440) 13.3 Haswell 4200U i5 795g
LZ750/NSB - Sharp IGZO WQHD (2560x1440) 13.3 display Haswell i7 4500U 1.8GHz 795g

You can find sellers here: www.kakaku.com or search via YJ.

You can use Tenso.com for purchasing. Alternative is Noppin.com or PriceJapan.com. Either one can probably buy them from NEC Direct as well. I just bought mine from Yahoo Japan auctions, with Buyee.jp (which is owned by Tenso.com) Payment is with PayPal. I used EMS for shipping. Laptops can now be shipped using EMS, even though they contain Lithium ion batteries.

One thing to remember is that the Win 8.1 will be in Japanese. It's not difficult to change the language to English. The computer also includes Microsoft Office Business JPN but one can get the English language pack and it will run as an English version of Office, if you change the language. Apparently also the registration code may work with English Office install disks. The keyboard will be Japanese but it is QWERTY and has the Latin letters.

I used the i7 Ivy Bridge 875g machine for a bit before I gave it to my dad. It's extremely light, but feels solid. It makes the Macbook Air feel heavy. The Haswell gen is even lighter.

If you want to buy from the US with English Windows, the machine will be more expensive.
Dynamism sells them.
http://www.dynamism.com/top-notebooks/nec-lavie-z.shtml

Panasonic AX Series:
http://www.dynamism.com/top-notebooks/panasonic-ax-series.shtml
Not cheap though.

 

[FreeStanler]

Wow, thanks for all the replies!

A bit apprehensive importing from Japan, but I probably shouldn't be.

Any retailer / online retailer in SA that you guys know of?

 

[ChocolateBadger]

Asus Zenbook is definitely worth a look. Also available in SA

 

[FreeStanler]

Asus Zenbook is definitely worth a look. Also available in SA

Looks great!

 

[Pada]

Here are also a whole bunch of Haswell i7 13.3" ultrabooks that's available in SA: laptopdirect: 13.3" i7 dual-core

Unfortunately you don't really get larger screen ultrabooks, and the CPU's in the ultrabooks are limited to the low-power dual core i7 CPU's, where as a 15.6" laptop can get you a quad core i7 CPU!

A friend of mine's mom just got an Asus 14" ultrabook (12GB RAM, Ivy Bridge i5, 256GB SSD, 1600x900 res - like http://www.laptopdirect.co.za/Asus-NB-ABU400CZ174G-lp-82195.php but with better specs), but it was on the heavy side - as you can see its 1.7kg at least. I'm actually very curious where she got it, because I cannot find it on any website in SA! She also had Windows 7 on it, instead of stupid Win 8.

 

[Space_Chief]

Wow, thanks for all the replies!

A bit apprehensive importing from Japan, but I probably shouldn't be.

Any retailer / online retailer in SA that you guys know of?

It is a gamble. You can import from Dynamism which is a US based Japanese importer. The machines will be in English and so on, but they ramp up the costs. Warranty wise you could return the item to them.

Conics.net is another option if you just want to work with one supplier and the item will be in English.
You can return for warranty returns - it costs money though. So it's a bit of a gamble.

However, owning Japanese market notebooks, I've not had significant problems with them. They're still running strong after years. On the other hand locally purchased Vaio developed issues just after the warranty expired.

You can't go wrong with a Panasonic machine, have a look at Conics.
http://conics.net/

 

[FreeStanler]

Here are also a whole bunch of Haswell i7 13.3" ultrabooks that's available in SA: laptopdirect: 13.3" i7 dual-core

Unfortunately you don't really get larger screen ultrabooks, and the CPU's in the ultrabooks are limited to the low-power dual core i7 CPU's, where as a 15.6" laptop can get you a quad core i7 CPU!

A friend of mine's mom just got an Asus 14" ultrabook (12GB RAM, Ivy Bridge i5, 256GB SSD, 1600x900 res - like http://www.laptopdirect.co.za/Asus-NB-ABU400CZ174G-lp-82195.php but with better specs), but it was on the heavy side - as you can see its 1.7kg at least. I'm actually very curious where she got it, because I cannot find it on any website in SA! She also had Windows 7 on it, instead of stupid Win 8.

It is a gamble. You can import from Dynamism which is a US based Japanese importer. The machines will be in English and so on, but they ramp up the costs. Warranty wise you could return the item to them.

Conics.net is another option if you just want to work with one supplier and the item will be in English.
You can return for warranty returns - it costs money though. So it's a bit of a gamble.

However, owning Japanese market notebooks, I've not had significant problems with them. They're still running strong after years. On the other hand locally purchased Vaio developed issues just after the warranty expired.

You can't go wrong with a Panasonic machine, have a look at Conics.
http://conics.net/

Thanks for the great info!

I am very intrigued with the Japanese import option, the more I do my research. So, Space_Chief, if you're not tired of me, I might ask for some more advice later on

But will definitely look at laptopdirect as well. Thanks for showing me that link where you can filter results by, Pada.

I guess 8GB is more important to me than Haswell with 4GB; read somewhere that the performance boost is only about 5-10% over Ivy Bridge (although power saving is apparently great). So maybe I can save a bit by going Ivy Bridge with 8GB.

 

[Dean]

I guess 8GB is more important to me than Haswell with 4GB; read somewhere that the performance boost is only about 5-10% over Ivy Bridge (although power saving is apparently great). So maybe I can save a bit by going Ivy Bridge with 8GB.

Let's keep in mind that we're talking about Ultrabooks here, ie. top priority is portability.
Power saving translates to increased time between charges, so investigate that before making your decision.

Also, RAM is easy and relatively inexpensive to upgrade if it's just a clip in SO-DIMM like other notebooks. So assuming that's the case with the machines in question, I'd go Haswell over Ivy any day.

 

[Jakes147]

Stay away from the toshiba z930, the screens are incredibly fragile.

 

[biometrics]

 

[Space_Chief]

Let's keep in mind that we're talking about Ultrabooks here, ie. top priority is portability.
Power saving translates to increased time between charges, so investigate that before making your decision.

Also, RAM is easy and relatively inexpensive to upgrade if it's just a clip in SO-DIMM like other notebooks. So assuming that's the case with the machines in question, I'd go Haswell over Ivy any day.

There's portability and there's portability. If you're in a situation where you'll be able to have your machine plugged in most of the time, I'd go with a previous gen Ivy Bridge over Haswell if the saving is worthwhile. What really counts is weight and build quality. You can't go wrong there, lugging around a 1.5kg machine where sub-900g machines are available is silly.

Latest Panasonic machines cite 20hours of work, so you can get moderate weight, best in the world build quality and decent performance there (8GB RAM, 512GB SSD), just the cost is prohibitive.

 

[Space_Chief]

This is a killer machine:
http://noppin.com/portal_ya_details...14.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s370120782

1.16kg
Intel i7 Haswell
Full HD 11.6 inch display (1920x1080 IPS)
256GB SSD
14hours drive time
(only drawback is that there is only 1 memory slot, but maybe it's possible to upgrade RAM by putting in an 8GB dimm later)

Panasonic Japan page:
http://translate.googleusercontent....c.html&usg=ALkJrhgQ6TqGH_WNYsJFAhO-ZTbD5OTwBA