UltraBook and Ultra Portables

Image: twobee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

With the introduction of portable computers in the 1980s, mobile computing have come a long way.

The UltraBook and Ultra Portables, is the new buzzword in Mobile Computing.

These mobile notebooks are extremely thin (1″ or less when closed) and light (weighs 4 lbs/1.8kg or less), and typically have a battery life of 5 to 8 hours.

Their startup time is faster, (7 seconds or less from hibernation to keyboard interaction) and some of them comes with the optional solid-state drives (SSD), which further reduces the weight and heat dissipated during use.

Screen size of 14″ or less is common, and we feel that if we want a truly portable solution, the screen should be as small as possible. If we want a large screen when we are back home or at a stationery place, we could always plug them into our larger desktop LCD Monitors or LCD-TV. Video outputs and HDMI connections are possible on these later Ultraportable models.

 

And if we are on the move, chances of loading a DVD or CD is slim, so a built-in optical drive is not necessary. (Similarly, we could always plug in an external optical drive if there is a need). Besides, usb drives or thumb-drives of a large capacity are common these days, thus eliminating the need to bring around these optical drives or DVDs.

According to Intel, their manufacturer requirements for UltraBooks will be rolled out in 3 phases:

Phase 1 – Huron River (2011), codename for the 7th Generation Centrino Platform

  • Sandy Bridge microarchitecture
  • Intel Core models (i5, i7)
  • CULV (Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage)
  • 17W TDP (Thermal Design Power)
  • maximum of 18mm (0.7″) for 13.3″ and smaller displays, 21mm (0.8″) for 14″ and larger displays
  • minimum Battery life of 5 hours
  • maximum time of 7seconds to Resume from Hibernation
  • Software and firmware should include Intel Management Engine 7.1 or higher, Intel Anti-Theft Technology, Intel Identity Protection Technology

Phase 2 – Chief River (2012), codename for the 8th Generation Centrino Platform

  • Ivy Bridge microarchitecture
  • Intel Core models, CULV (17W TDP)
  • maximum of 18mm (0.7″) for 13.3″ and smaller displays, 21mm (0.8″) for 14″ and larger displays, 23mm (0.9″) for convertible Tablets
  • minimum Battery life of 5 hours
  • maximum time of 7seconds to Resume from Hibernation
  • minimum 80 Mb/s transfer rate
  • minimum 16 Gb capacity (SSD)
  • USB 3.0 ports
  • Software and firmware should include Intel Management Engine 8.0, Intel Anti-Theft Technology, Intel Identity Protection Technology

Phase 3 – Shark Bay (2013), codename for the 9th Generation Centrino Platform

  • Haswell microarchitecture
  • SoC (System on a Chip), 17W TDP

 

We will be covering more of these UltraBooks and Ultra Portables here. Check out the reviews for some of them.

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