{"id":54373,"date":"2012-07-09T12:01:11","date_gmt":"2012-07-09T10:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=54373"},"modified":"2012-07-09T12:05:08","modified_gmt":"2012-07-09T10:05:08","slug":"ultrabook-pricing-comparison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/hardware\/54373-ultrabook-pricing-comparison.html","title":{"rendered":"Ultrabook pricing comparison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Less than 21mm thick, \u201cultra-fast\u201d boot up, at least 5 hours of battery life, and pricing below $1,000 for basic models.<\/p>\n

These are some of the specifications Intel has laid down for its definition of \u201cUltrabook\u2122\u201d, a category of high-end subnotebook the chip giant has put a lot of money<\/a> into.<\/p>\n

Manufacturers such as Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba have all launched notebooks at various price points that take on Apple\u2019s MacBook Air.<\/p>\n

The tables below aim to provide a snapshot of the local ultrabook landscape. For the purposes of this article, only ultra-portables with screens around 11 or 12 inches, and 13 inches are compared.<\/p>\n

Prices are taken from a variety of online retailers, with the cheapest price found listed in the tables.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
13-inch 128GB SSD Ultrabook comparison<\/caption>\n
Ultrabook<\/td>\nDell XPS 13<\/td>\nSamsung Series 5<\/td>\nAsus Zenbook Ux31<\/td>\nHP Folio 13<\/td>\nMacBook Air 13-inch 128GB<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Display<\/td>\n1366×768 13.3-inch LED<\/td>\n1366×768 13.3-inch LED<\/td>\n1600×900 13.3-inch LED<\/td>\n1366×768 13.3-inch<\/td>\n1440×900 13.3-inch LED<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Processor<\/td>\n1.6GHz Intel Core i5<\/td>\n1.6GHz Intel Core i5<\/td>\n1.7GHz Intel Core i5<\/td>\n1.6GHz Intel Core i5<\/td>\n1.8GHz Intel Core i5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Memory<\/td>\n4GB 1333MHz DDR3<\/td>\n4GB 1333MHz DDR3<\/td>\n4GB 1333MHz DDR3<\/td>\n4GB 1333MHz DDR3<\/td>\n4GB 1600MHz DDR3L<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Storage<\/td>\n128GB SSD<\/td>\n128GB SSD<\/td>\n128GB SSD<\/td>\n128GB SSD<\/td>\n128GB SSD<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Graphics<\/td>\nIntel HD 3000<\/td>\nIntel HD 3000<\/td>\nIntel HD 3000<\/td>\nIntel HD 3000<\/td>\nIntel HD 4000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Other<\/td>\nMini DisplayPort, USB 3.0, USB 2.0<\/td>\nHDMI, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, Ethernet<\/td>\nMicro HDMI, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, mini VGA<\/td>\nHDMI, USB 3.0, USB 2.0<\/td>\n1 Thunderbolt, 2 USB 3.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
USD Price<\/td>\n$999<\/td>\n$999<\/td>\n$1,049<\/td>\n$899<\/td>\n$1,199<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ZAR Price<\/td>\nR13,765<\/td>\nR9,999<\/td>\nR11,532<\/td>\nR11,999<\/td>\nR12,999<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

You can get ultrabooks much cheaper if you\u2019re willing to forego an SSD and settle for a slower Core i3 processor.<\/p>\n

A lower spec model of the Acer Aspire S3, for instance, can be had for R9,000 ($800 in the US).<\/p>\n

One device not shown in the table above is the Samsung Series 9, mentioned specifically due to confusion its naming may cause: the NP900X3A is the device that was launched in South Africa last year, but Samsung refreshed its Series 9, 5, and 3 laptops earlier in June.<\/p>\n

While the pricing for the Series 9 has stayed at around the same level, Samsung has packed more powerful processors and a higher resolution screen into the device, but sacrificed the Duralumin body.<\/p>\n

The Dell XPS 13 is a point of concern in both the table above and the one to follow.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
13-inch 256GB SSD Ultrabook comparison<\/caption>\n
Ultrabook<\/td>\nAcer Aspire S3<\/td>\nLenovo IdeaPad U300s<\/td>\nAsus Zenbook Ux31<\/td>\nMacBook Air 13-inch 256GB<\/td>\nDell XPS 13<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Display<\/td>\n1366×768 13.3-inch LED<\/td>\n1366×768 13.3-inch LED<\/td>\n1600×900 13.3-inch LED<\/td>\n1440×900 13.3-inch LED<\/td>\n1366×768 13.3-inch LED<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Processor<\/td>\n1.6GHz Intel Core i5<\/td>\n1.8GHz Intel Core i7<\/td>\n1.7GHz Intel Core i5<\/td>\n1.8GHz Intel Core i5<\/td>\n1.7GHz Intel Core i7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Memory<\/td>\n4GB 1333MHz DDR3<\/td>\n4GB 1333MHz DDR3<\/td>\n4GB 1333MHz DDR3<\/td>\n4GB 1600MHz DDR3L<\/td>\n4GB 1333MHz DDR3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Storage<\/td>\n256GB SSD<\/td>\n256GB SSD<\/td>\n256GB SSD<\/td>\n256GB SSD<\/td>\n256GB SSD<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Graphics<\/td>\nIntel HD 3000<\/td>\nIntel HD<\/td>\nIntel HD 3000<\/td>\nIntel HD 4000<\/td>\nIntel HD 3000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Other<\/td>\nHDMI, 2 USB 2.0<\/td>\nHDMI, USB 2.0, USB 3.0<\/td>\nMicro HDMI, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, mini VGA<\/td>\n1 Thunderbolt, 2 USB 3.0<\/td>\nMini DisplayPort, USB 3.0, USB 2.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
USD Price<\/td>\n$1,050<\/td>\n$1,499<\/td>\n$1,449<\/td>\n$1,499<\/td>\n$1,499<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ZAR Price<\/td>\nR11,889<\/td>\nR15,767<\/td>\nR16,599<\/td>\nR16,499<\/td>\nR17,310<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

As can be seen from both of the tables above, the Dell XPS 13 costs significantly more in South Africa than its overseas pricing suggests it should cost.<\/p>\n

This makes Dell\u2019s 13-inch ultrabook contender a particularly bad buy at online retailers in South Africa, especially considering that the company\u2019s recommended starting price for the PC is R8,500. Were the device available for that price, the Dell XPS 13 would be a far more attractive buy.<\/p>\n

In the 11.6-inch Ultrabook category competition at South African retail seems fairly limited, though there are more contenders internationally.<\/p>\n

The table below compares the 11-inch offering from Asus against the MacBook Air.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
11-inch Ultrabook comparison<\/caption>\n
Ultrabook<\/td>\nMacBook Air 11-inch 64GB<\/td>\nAsus Ux21<\/td>\nMacBook Air 11-inch 128GB<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Display<\/td>\n1366×768 11.6-inch LED<\/td>\n1366×768 11.6-inch LED<\/td>\n1366×768 11.6-inch LED<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Processor<\/td>\n1.7GHz Intel Core i5<\/td>\n1.6GHz Intel Core i5<\/td>\n1.7GHz Intel Core i5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Memory<\/td>\n4GB 16000MHz DDR3L<\/td>\n4GB 1333MHz DDR3<\/td>\n4GB 16000MHz DDR3L<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Storage<\/td>\n64GB SSD<\/td>\n128GB SSD<\/td>\n128GB SSD<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Graphics<\/td>\nIntel HD 4000<\/td>\nIntel HD 3000<\/td>\nIntel HD 4000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Other<\/td>\n1 Thunderbolt, 2 USB 3.0<\/td>\nMicro HDMI, USB 3.0, USB 2.0, mini VGA<\/td>\n1 Thunderbolt, 2 USB 3.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
USD Price<\/td>\n$999<\/td>\n$1,099<\/td>\n$1,099<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ZAR Price<\/td>\nR10,499<\/td>\nR10,725<\/td>\nR11,999<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Related articles<\/h3>\n

Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook review<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook laptop review<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Batteries, many-core processing and Ultrabooks: IDF 2011 roundup<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A comparison of some of the 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch Ultrabooks available at retail in South Africa during<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":54375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2006,605,947,225,35,2012,131,1525,2274,12429],"class_list":["post-54373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hardware","tag-acer","tag-apple","tag-asus","tag-dell","tag-headline","tag-hp","tag-intel","tag-lenovo","tag-macbook-air","tag-ultrabooks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54373"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54373"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54395,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54373\/revisions\/54395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}