Mecer jw6 ultrabook review?

Hi guys,
In the market for an ultrabook as my Mac air was stolen. I'm keen for a windows/Linux ultrabook as Mac OS leaves me frustrated at times despite the machines themselves being beautiful.
Was looking at the higher end of the market and definitely like the feel of the new series 9 Samsung - love the Matt screen and MacBook-like touchpad. It seems less chintzy than the equally good (but shiny), zen books.

In my browsing came across the mecer ultrabook for about 5 to 6 grand a pop! Now I know that a laptop this cheap could be nowhere near in feel to one of the pricer laptops mentioned above, but was just wondering if any of you have played with one, or actually own one and can comment on the feel of the thing- does it flex terribly and does it feel like its gonna break apart any minute? Also how good/bad is the touchpad, and what kind of battery life are you getting from the thing. If all of the above are in the 'not too bad' category I may be tempted....and save myself close to 10Gs....

I had a chance to work with one a few weeks ago, and I was really impressed. There were a little bit flex on the keyboard, but the plastic for the construction is really solid. The touchpad is really nice, it is like most new laptops with the bigger touchpad without the physical keys. Some people might not like the single big touchpad, but you get used to it. However, it is not a glass touchpad, but still decent. The keyboard types surprisingly ok for a ultrabook, not a mac air, but it is good enough. I have typed on Toshibas that are much much worse in the keyboard area, not to mention the weird keyboard layout on the Toshiba.

I don't really know the battery life, but it shouldn't be too bad, considering the SSD and ULV CPU. What I did like is that the screen was really solid, and took some pressure to open. The display is normal for a laptop, not apple quality. The resolution is the 1366x768, which is workable for a 14", might be too small for a 15,6". The other nice thing about this laptop, is that you can customize it, and get it without Windows. Also, they have one with a GT640m, but they don't advertise that one, and they are waiting for stock at the moment, I am really tempted to buy one with a dGPU, considering what you get for the price.

I prefer the 14" to the smaller screen on the Mac Air, even though it is a little bit heavier, it is still under Intel Ultrabook spec, 1.9kg and 21mm for a 14" ultrabook.

They are great options and there's really nothing wrong with them. Like Centaur mentioned, they used to have a version that included Nvidia's GT640M, but those have been out of stock for a while. You think that Ultrabook is cheap? Check these out:

ASUS X20WE 11.6" @ R4331
Acer Aspire S3 13.3" @ R8999
Dell Inspiron 13z 13.3" @ R7339
Lenovo Ideapad U310 13.3" @ R7581

They all look and feel pretty close to what a Macbook looks and feels like. The Ideapad is my favourite but the ASUS is in there just to show you how cheap the Ultrabook concept is getting these days. My current favourite Ultrabook is Gigabyte's U2442, has everything you could ever need from an Ultrabook and still can play games.

Yeah, the U2442 is really nice, but the Mecer ultrabook with the GT640m is a nice cheaper alternative. The only thing lacking in the Mecer is the warranty of the Gigabyte and the little bit better screen.

The Mecer JW6 was actually a little bit cheaper a few months ago, Mecer must have realized they can cash in even more with them. But if you can get it without the Windows, then it is cheaper than most other Ultrabooks with similar specs.

Few other facts that might interest you, the Mecer JW6 is actually build by Anadem, which is build by Compal, which is the second largest Notebook manufacturer in the world. So yeah, it is build by a really big ODM that is widely known. The Mecer UT40II1 is manufactured by ECS, I don't know which ODM they use.

Most other Mecer laptops are made by Clevo, which is generally considered to be quality and easily customizable/tweakable. So I hope this clears up people's preconception of whether Mecer laptops are quality and worth the money. At least you know who the ODM is with Mecer laptops, most other brands you don't even know who made the thing. One thing I think Mecer should focus on now is putting higher resolution screens in their laptops.

I knew that, yeah. I even once was able to idenfity that a Mecer laptop I was fixing was actually based off ECS' design (even once had one that was almost a complete MSI rebrand). In the same vein, Proline's notebooks are based off MSI designs and those new AKill laptops are based off the notebooks sold by Pudget Systems in the US. No idea who supplies them though.

If I buy a new laptop, its probably going to be a Mecer. Pity they stopped selling their excellent Netbook this year, I really wanted one