The Battle Of The Ultrabook Begins. HP and The Sub $600 Dollar Man…

HP is keen to make an impact in the battle for Ultrabook attention, with a grab for market share in the sexiest laptop segment. These stylized Ultrabook laptops have converted the HP workhorse into a statement.

The initial HP Ultrabook launch took place on May 9,now HP is about to complete their Ultrabook family. The Über sexy HP Spectre XT will be released June 8 with a $1000 price tag. Following on June 20 HP will release the long awaited Trinity Sleekbook at the amazing price of $599 for a fast quad core laptop.

Step in Intel’s cheaper brother, the Sleekbook. Pushing power and sleek design down under the magic $600 barrier. The combination of HP and AMD Trinity has produced the surprise of the Ultrabook revolution, a cheap, powerful laptop that’s as good on the eyes as it is on the bank account.

Compact yet powerful the Ultrabook laptops are high powered laptops in slimline sexy cases. With more magnesium and carbon that an F1 team these laptops are easy on the eye. Looks that good surely must cost, and indeed there is a high price to pay, $1000 for Intel’s latest CPU Ivy Bridge wrapped in magnesium . The HP Spectre XT is arguably HP’s best looking laptop to date but the price still keeps it just out of the reach of many.

HP’s new Trinity Sleekbook is the answer. Part of the Envy 6 range of laptops the Sleekbooks case is consistent with the rest of the family, exactly the same in fact, a slightly toned down version of the Spectre style. The spec’s will include a 15.6 inch screen, AMD A8 4600 CPU @ 2.3 Ghz, 4GB Ram, 320GB hard drive, HDMI, two USB 3.0 and Beats Audio bringing on the noise. The Trinity CPU includes the latest generation graphics core, allowing it to keep up with Ultrabooks that include discreet graphics chips from Nvidia or ATI, an option that costs extra.

HP Sleekbook

Neither of HP’s Sleekbooks rate as Ultrabooks according to Intel’s scale due to the lack of SSD apparently.

For those in the market right now, for those on a tight budget there are currently only a few options available. With a recommended specification in mind that reads like pure middle of the road pulp fiction, a 15.6 inch screen, quad core processor, and a tight $600 price limit. The options for Sub $600 Man are limited.

Retail stores have a number of AMD based laptops that use the A6 quad core processor, generally in the $500 to $600 AUD range. The Acer AS5560G-63424G50MNKK 15.6 Notebook is listed on JB HiFi for $588 AUD. Acer aren’t being too generous, but it is very little money for a laptop. A flat grey plastic case houses an AMD A6-3420 @ 1.5Ghz, 4GB Ram, 500Gb Hard Drive. But it does have a surprise up its sleeve, the integrated graphics of the A6-3420 are joined by discreet graphics in the HD 7470HD graphics chip.

Online the options are a little richer in the pickings. NewEgg has an Acer Aspire A5560 with an AMD A8-3500M quad core CPU for $479, possibly the best value quad core on the market. While this is one of the cheapest options available it’s not the fastest option, many rate the faster Core i3 CPU’s as faster than the A6-3420. Having said that, speed is relative, the Acer’s older Llano CPU is more than capable of performing day to day computing, casual gaming and light video conversion duties.

The best option though, if you can wait till June the Trinity based Sleekbooks will combine fast quad core processing and latest generation graphics into a sleek laptop for under $600. Finally The Sub $600 Dollar Man doesn’t have to settle for an old Dodge of a laptop.

Author: Buddhas Brother