The Top 5 Best Ultrabooks

They're light, battery-efficient, and incredibly thin. What's not to love about ultrabooks? We give you the lowdown on the top 5 best ultrabooks on the market today.

One of the newest buzzwords being bandied about has to do with a new breed of laptop. Last year, Intel decided to introduce a category of laptops called ultrabooks. But while the term may be new, the laptops themselves aren't a mutation of some sort. Intel simply put a new spin on an evolving category of laptops that are incredibly thin, battery-efficient, and use low-voltage processors. Interestingly enough, these laptops were previously known as CULV laptops (CULV stands for consumer ultra-low-voltage processors), but Intel decided, and rightly so, that CULV doesn't exactly sound sexy to consumers. In fact, it doesn't sound like anything at all. Voila, ultrabooks.

But what exactly comprises an ultrabook? Intel has a long list of specifications on its blog. While the specifications are still evolving, the main ones are a low-voltage Intel Core processor, a frame no thicker than 0.83 inch, at least five hours of battery life, and fast boot times. The last rely on an Intel technology called Rapid Start, which makes use of flash storage embedded on the laptop's motherboard.



Intel also expects touch screens to be an integral part of the ultrabook spec, with all eyes on Windows 8 and how Microsoft's forthcoming operating system will drive this segment. That's not to say that we expect to see touch screens on the first wave of ultrabooks released (and indeed, none that we've seen so far offer the feature). Rather, Intel is probably waiting for Windows 8 to launch later this year to add the feature to its checklist for the category. By including touch, though, Intel is essentially anticipating that its ultrabooks include tablets and convertibles or hybrids as well.

An unspoken factor is that Intel would like prices for ultrabooks to come in well below the $1,000 mark. What we've seen so far doesn't really bear that out. Sure, there have been a couple of ultrabooks that are retailing for less than that, but most are just above—or way above—the $1,000 price point, depending on the configuration. Keep in mind, however, that this is a nascent category, with but a handful of systems that fall within its specifications.

Are ultrabooks for you? You can figure that out by reading our primer on the category and then studying our buying guide. But before you do, check out our picks for the top 5 ultrabooks on the market today.

By Laarni Almendrala Ragaza
Source: click