Fact, I have an acer and can attach me hard drive to it, very handy compared to syncing it

Bryan, the keyboard looks crap in my opinion :(
I would prefer to wait for the new Ultrabooks coming out in September that have proper key-boards, will have the Intel I3/I5/I7 chips (if you use an I7 chip, you can have the full first player gaming experience that you get on an Intel I7 desk-top machine).
The beauty of the Ultrabooks coming out in September, they will have detachable key-boards, so they will work as a fully fledged tablet in their own right).
But the best part of the new ultrabooks coming out… over 90% of the models will have built in Widi … so if you have Widi on your television, you can wirelessly swipe your Ultrabook to display directly onto your television… no cables. And with Widi, you can stream HD movies and content, with zero lag…
There isn’t an IPad, Tablet, Netbook, or for the most part laptop-desk-top that can do that right now for under 1300 euros.
These new Ultrabooks will be sold by every major manufacturer (lenovo, samsung, Asus etc etc etc), and for anything up to the Intel I5 version, will be selling for less than 900 euro.
I have seen the proto-types in action already, and they are truly amazing and a huge step forward. Anything coming out between now and September is already old outdated technology.
I can’t wait :) But i am a bit of a geek anyway

The Asus Transformer Prime has a detatchable keyboard dock which also acts as a back up battery with a usb port and sd card reader for extra memory, they are quite big in the states but not so much over here.

It’s a good looking beast I must say. Would love to have full power Windows on a tablet, iPads are toys in comparison.

“l I3/I5/I7 chips (if you use an I7 chip, you can have the full first player gaming experience that you get on an Intel I7 desk-top machine)”

hmm most geeks know that the I5 2500-600k is the gamers choice of processor rather than the I7, hyper threading not being really of much benefit to most games. Just saying is all

Oisin, anyone who can afford to buy an I7, can also afford to buy a top of the range Graphics card also. The standard Graphics card for an I5 process is pretty good, but dedicated gamers buy high end graphics cards seperate. Maybe that is where you are getting the mix up.
The I7 processor beats the I5 processor on every benchmark test, so i am not sure where your comment is going.
By the way, the I5 processor is class though, and it will deliver every bit of processing requirement you need to play games, but you do need to get a better graphics card than comes with it as standard.

By the way, i have read some reports that Intel will be delivering much better standard graphics chips in the near future, so you won’t need to invest in a seperate Graphics card at all (unless you are an extreme gamer, which brings us all the way back to the start of the conversation, hee hee)

Cal, I’ll stick to my ARM based tablet that gives me 10+ hours of battery life yet still cost half the price of an Ultrabook. For comparison, my week old i7 laptop only gives about 3 hours and has a much bigger battery. I can already connect my tablet to my TV using HDMI and certainly wouldn’t pay double the price of the tablet just to do it wireless.

And on the subject of gaming, you are forgetting that it’s not entirely CPU dependent. The graphics card makes a big difference. Good graphics cards are expensive and run really hot. If you want a “full first player gaming experience” you certainly won’t be getting it on an Ultrabook which has Intel integrated graphics.

Intel are pushing the Ultrabook to try and fill the gap between tablets and laptops. The problem is that the gap is not a huge market. They might initially sell some units to early adopters but will never corner the market. They cost more than an average laptop and cost more than the average tablet. I’m usually an early-adopter of technology but not this time.

Barry, quick question for you… What top of the range high end games can you play on an ARM tablet? How many Microsoft Excel documents/Powerpoint can you open at a time?
Have you ever seen WiDI in operation? Most new TVs have it built in, so if you go from one home to another, are you going to carry your HDMI cable around with you? If so, how long is the cable?
The new Ultrabooks coming out in September are coming with options for superior graphics cards, as well as Solid State Drives.
Why would you want to spend money on a separate tablet and a separate laptop, when you can get both in one machine. As i said, the new Ultrabooks coming out in September are both. You can use the Ultrabook just as a laptop, but when you want to detach the screen from the keyboard, it acts as a tablet in its own right.
By the way, on power consumption, most smart phones have ARM chips in them. Intel has just released chips for smartphone in India/China and the UK (available on the Orange network, read the reviews). The vast majority of the reviews have said that the Intel phones are matching ARM on battery life.
But you are right, prior to this year, Intel couldn’t compete on battery life/power consumption. But all the new chips released this year for the Ultrabooks/phones etc are matching ARM on this front.

Cal, I wasn’t saying that you can play high-end games on a tablet – on that point I meant Ultrabook vs laptop. My point is that you can get a good laptop or good tablet for ~400euro. No point in paying double or more for a combination.

The point of going from home to home to use WiDi is ridiculous. How many people are going to pay double what a tablet/laptop costs just so that they can bring their tablet to someone else’s house and play a movie wirelessly? Even though the owner of the house you are visiting might not (probably won’t) have a WiDi enabled TV? It’s not, or should not be marketed as, a core technology of the platform because it is not pervasive enough at the time being.

Sure the Ultrabooks may have SSD, but tablets also utilise flash storage. And for the majority of users, SSD provides no huge advantage to web browsing, listening to music, watching video, etc. SSD’s are advantageous for lots of random R/W and high IOPS whereas many people (myself included) find the extra capacity of a HDD a better trade off. (For the record, I work as an SSD engineer).

As I said about graphics cards, they are expensive and run hot. They are also power-hungry. So they will seriously increase the price, drain the battery very quickly, and without a fan will probably overheat and melt your Ultrabook to your knees. An Ultrabook will not be able to keep up with new PC games graphically. I learned a hard lesson a few years ago when I payed an extra 1000 euro for a GeForce 6800 in my laptop. Once that was out of date, quickly enough, it wasn’t upgradable!

Have you any links to verify the claims on ARM/x86 benchmarks for performance and batterylife? Would be interested to read them because with custom built PC’s and bought laptops, I’ve stuck to Intel chips for the last decade. Just now that ARM were killing Intel in the mobile market.

I guess to really break down my point back to basics – the Ultrabooks will cost too much to buy for just filling a gap between laptop/tablet. Why buy an all-in-one when you can have a better laptop AND better tablet for less euros? Please don’t go back to the WiDi point because that is not worth the extra money (for the time being, at least).

Let me be honest, I’m not trying to put the Ultrabook down due to fanboyism. I’m usually an early adopter in technology and all new technology releases are ultimately good for the consumer due to increased competition. I just noticed you going on about the Ultrabooks before and think that you are being overly optimistic about them. I *think* I’ve pieced together where you work too, so it’s probably just your marketing dept filling the plant with optimism about a new product.

Here is the first review …
Website is CNet … sure you know it… Overall stats are deemed better on the new Intel phones than any of the current phones on the market ;)
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-33363_1-57357939/intel-smartphone-chip-no-1-in-some-benchmarks-says-report/?tag=mncol;txt

Second site is for power consumption only … Intel chips are sitting at 8.5 hours talk time, 5.4 hours continuous internet usage. Read the whole article, and it shows that for battery size vs power consumption stats, the Intel phone is in the top third of all phones in the market at the moment.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5770/lava-xolo-x900-review-the-first-intel-medfield-phone/6

2 more things to note:
I remember when people used to say that Phones and Cameras should be kept separate. I laughed at that idea myself then, and by consumption numbers, i think i was right.
For folks that think Tablets and Lap-tops should be treated seperately, and purchased separately… I am sorry, i have to laugh at that too… Its old school thinking. The future is now.
The IVY bridge chips inside the Ultrabooks has a complete system on a chip. For non-extreme gamers, the graphics are very adequate. No heat issue. I have had hands on experience with the new Ultrabooks, so all i can tell you is that they will not ‘melt’ the way you suggested, hee hee Think about it like this, why would i suggest to people to wait until the newest versions come out in September, when there are versions of the Ultrabook available on the market now.

I am a geek, always chasing Technology. I don’t work in a PR or sales department. If I am wrong, you will be able to chastise me in October, i will still be here. But i am quite confident that once you get hands-on with these machines coming your way in September, you will be blown away.
And last thing, you can buy a Widi switch for your TV, if your TV has enough ports on it. They are very cheap. Most of the new Intel phones on the market have Widi functionality on them. Have you seen the new TV ads showing the phone swiping straight onto the TV in full High Definition? Amazing, and i have had the opportunity to mess with them as well. I really am a geek.

Hold on, “the standard graphics card for an I5 is pretty good”? That does’nt make sense, the i5 series doesn’t have a standard graphics card, nor does the i7 or any other CPU that I can think of. Both the i5 and i7 have an integrated graphics processor which is a different kettle of fish. I don’t think anyone who’s intent on gaming will use the IGP on either series. the idea that an i5 =on board graphics is fairly silly to me

I wouldn’t expect anything in this form factor to deliver gaming level performance tbh.

The full windows version of the Surface has potential to be a big hit in the business environment though as it should integrate well with existing IT infrastructure.

Here Oisin, go read this and come back to me …Read the whole article… don’t say i don’t do anything for you :)

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Core-i5-661-CPU-Review/897/2

Last one for my inquisitors:
Another Tech magazine review ;)

The MacBook Air is a “compelling” machine, Laptop Magazine said.
“However, if you want something different, such as an HD screen, high-fidelity audio, discrete graphics or a larger form factor from your portable notebook, you may want to wait and see how some of the new Ivy Bridge-powered Ultrabooks turn out as they hit the market over the weeks and months ahead.”

its to get people interested in the product dumbass, its the same as a movie trailer, when they are shown is the movie out yet??? no, unless its a tv spot stating otherwise, so stop your bitching and wait.

adam: it won’t help to get people interested in it. they’ve tried this before and ended up shelving the tablet before it even was available for sale. ballmer was waving around a tablet running windows 7 not too long ago…where is it now?! Apple are successful because they launch pretty Mich immediately after announcing. Microsoft haven’t even priced it…already dead on arrival in my opinion.

And for those that don’t like the closed nature of iOS there is always (well most of the time) the jail break option! :-)

The reason for calling out the differences is easy..

Windows 8 Pro = Intel platform
Windows 8 RT = ARM

And the average consumer doesn’t give a damn about chipsets.

They want to know what the user interface looks like and what software it can run.

If Microsoft were marketing this properly, they would be heavily pushing it as a tablet that is fully able to run Office. That’s the kind of things that consumers care about.

It works on the journal when opened through safari so i am guessing it is an app glitch not your ipad.

Correct

But have experienced this on many occasions even through the youtube app.

When you upload a video to youtube you are asked to tick a box on whether to make video available for mobile or not. I find that this is the problem in alot of cases.

Couldn’t really use the keyboard on your lap then, I think I prefer it built into the cover. Can’t imagine it’d be too difficult to stick Linux on it either.

android version confirmed, so there’s your Linux build in the bag

the hp tablet was web os (a linux operating system) and they pulled it of the market due to poor sales.. :(

Come on…. The Zen whe it came out was a functional disaster!

Exactly, the iPhone is nowhere near as good as the new Samsung or Sony phones but it will outsell both of them. It’s the Apple cult, and the fact that all their products work together so easily. So even though this looks deadly I’d still go for an iPad because I have an iMac at home. They really have made an impressive piece of kit though, that keyboard is genius. Hopefully the normal windows bugs won’t wreck it though.

Aisling, Samsung phones are outselling Apple phones.
In countries like the US, Ireland, Britain and a few others, Apple are selling more. not because they are better, but because of brand loyalty. However, i would be relatively confident, by the end of 2012, Samsung will have overtaken Apple in these countries too. Apple phones are nowhere near as good as the Samsung Galaxy SII, SIII or Nexus.
But Apple are making pile more money on each phone sold, hence their Apple share price is up so high. Bu that market is being eroded, so you will see Apple fall more into line. Sadly, with the death of Steve Jobs, the amount of new innovation of successful Apple products is going to decrease at a rapid rate. Jobs was a genius and will be a great loss to the Tech world.

I agree, Apple has stagnated and stopped innovating, they are only putting little touches now while keeping their premium prices up. Most of iOS6 features have been present elsewhere for ages, and my OH’s iPhone 4S looks dull, cramped and heavy next to my Galaxy S3 which is the cutting edge of today. Next round they will debut a larger screen iPhone and a smaller screen iPad and call them revolutionary improvements. I’m sure loads of people will choose them though as they have already bought into the ecosystem and like their simplicity.

Windows is another strong ecosystem though and having one OS on all your devices may be the silver bullet, especially when Nokia starts putting PureView cameras on Windows phones.

@Cal1 Agreed, Apple marketing is really whats behind it all rather than superior products. And yes Samsung have made a really incredible phone. It will be interesting to see Microsoft try and match it now, hopefully it will inspire a bit of a shake up in Apple to do better after Jobs. The new iPad is a joke like! But its the brand power that gets people who aren’t tech savvy. People want an iPod or an iPad, not a mp3 or a tablet computer. I have to say though the reason I switched was because windows was so buggy and slow. My mac is a year old and boots up in about 3 seconds still, I’ve never had a windows computer that did that! But windows 8 looks incredible from what I’ve seen, might actually tempt me back in a few years when my current computer kicks the bucket.

Exactly what I thought haha

Windows 8 is pretty nice to use, and windows 7 was a massive improvement on earlier versions. Hopefully it’ll actually be a decent rival for the iPad.

Hm. Image tags suppressed. Well…
http://acousticmonster.com/wp-content/gallery/wtf-files/windowsidiocracy.png

iTard detected. Refuse to let that fluster my flimbobs.

Windows Phone gets good reviews… Windows Mobile is donkeys old and was never that well reviewed. While it did what you wanted you had a hard time navigating the OS think about it desktop windows UI on a tiny screen.

Yes it’s enjoyable but once you get to the wall that’s it. Some people are happy with such restrictive environment, especially if they have basic consuming needs only, but others want to have more control and tuning than what’s there out of the box; Apple will never satisfy that because it would undermine their “just works” policy. And they take away basic hardware such as USBs or disc drives; what’s the point of having a sleek MBP if you have a drive dangling off it to watch or install something? In our ofice Macs are hedgehogs of peripherals… but sure they look sleek in marketing pics, before you realise how much you need to attach to them to work.
Look how they shot themselves in the foot by forcing a limited set of screen sizes and making developers create apps rigidly sized for those screens. See what happens when they introduce new screen sizes (it is rumoured that the iPhone will be larger and possibly an iPad Mini is in the works); most apps won’t scale for those, will have to be redesigned. Basically repeated the mistake of fixed width web design; they should have known better.

Ease-of-use and functionality will always be at loggerheads. If you want to tweak and hack, get a PC or Android gadget. If you want to get on with actually using the device, get an iOS machine. Most of the criticisms levelled at the iPad revolve around how it’s not enough like a PC with the lack of connectivity…which makes you wonder why the critics didn’t just..get a PC in the first place. The iPad has its uses beyond pure content consumption too, I use apps like Animoog, Djay, Keynote and Pages for creating and editing content, so that representation of it as a fancy but dumb internet terminal is a bit misleading.

The screen size argument is a non-starter as well. Look at Android and the multitude of different screen sizes and aspect ratios. Its a nightmare to develop for as you can never quite be guaranteed that your app will, proportionally, look the same on all devices without a LOT of tedium.

Sure the iPad has its uses but its content creation capabilities are VERY limited, at least in my field of work. It’s a non runner, look at its nonexistent file system that can’s share files between apps without third party hacks. You can lack a lot of things, but a file system? Basic ports? Microsoft may have a winner here if they succeed in giving people a tablet with a system where they can actually work, especially if the system is synced across devices, desktop to tablet to phone.

Re: screen sizing, developers should be encouraged to use responsive design principles so that the apps will readjust and handle any screen, and not be locked into discrete screen sizes. Yes, it’s a lot of tedium but it’s the future and future-proofing. As for Apple, 2003 wants its design back…

Another useless comment from someone who has yet to test the device.
Personally i will hold judgement until the unit is made available. Then and only then can anyone say weither it is better or worse then its competition!

can you take the keyboard off your laptop?

Consider the implications of this photo before your next post…..

http://i.minus.com/jbhviyy31qZc9U.jpg
(The photo is an iPad being set up and synced via a Win8 tablet)….