Notebooks

Fujitsu's new Lifebook SH771 is about as close to an ultrabook as you can get without actually naming it one. Featuring a 13.3in panel with standard 1,366x768-pixel resolution, Fujitsu calls it the ‘thinnest and lightest Lifebook ever’ and it is pretty light — although we measured it at 1.45kg, not 1.22kg as claimed by Fujitsu. What is impressive at this weight, however, is the built-in DVD burner and 10.8V/6200mAh battery. And with 2.8GHz dual-core Core i7-2640M processor and 8GB of RAM, it's got more grunt than ultrabooks with their ultra-low-voltage processors.

We actually reviewed an Aspire S3 ultrabook a couple of months ago, but that was the Core i5 version selling for A$1,349. Since then, Acer has dropped the price on its entry-level Core i3 model, making the Aspire S3 951-2364G34iss the first ultrabook in Australia for under $1,000. The chassis is basically the same as the pricier model, with the main difference being that slower chip. Internally, you get Intel’s 1.4GHz Core i3-2367M low-voltage processor along with 4GB of RAM and a 320GB Hitachi hard drive.

Ultra-slim ultrabooks such as ASUS's Zenbook and Acer's Aspire S3 are hitting the market, but there are still other options if you're looking for a lightweight notebook. In fact, while these more traditional notebooks might be a bit bigger than an ultrabook, they have one advantage: performance. That's if they use standard versions of Intel's second-generation Core i-series processors, whereas ultrabooks use low-voltage versions – which are more power efficient, but slower.

While MSI’s build quality left us with questions, Dell’s XPS 14z looks to be a reasonable compromise between battery life, weight and strength. It packs in Intel’s dual-core Core i7-2640M along with 8GB of DDR3-1333 RAM and a 14in LCD panel. Its weight falls just over 2kg, but its chassis feels strong and solid. The compromise here is that Dell has built the battery inside the chassis. We think that’s resulted in a smaller battery, too, given it only lasted 3 hours 21 minutes, which is nearly an hour less than the X460.

MSI's X460, like Dell's XPS 14z, isn’t quite ultrabook grade when it comes to size and weight, but it’s not a long way off. For a 14in notebook that weighs just under 2kg, it delivers an awful lot of performance. Not too many notebooks offer Intel’s 2.2GHz quad-core Core i7-2670QM and certainly not at this weight. Couple it with 8GB of RAM and it cranked up our demanding Userbench Encode HD media-encoding benchmark to over 85, which is one of the fastest scores that we’ve seen from a notebook.

Panasonic’s Toughbook series has always been characterised by solid, somewhat heavy, ruggedised designs and to some extent, price tags to match. However, the brand-new Toughbook CF-53 is one of the best we’ve seen yet, combining good app speed, tough design, passable weight and exceptional battery life. It starts with Intel’s dual-core Core i5-2520M pushing our Encode HD benchmark to within a whisker of 70, which is a decent effort.

ASUS has joined rival Acer in jumping on board Intel’s ultrabook bandwagon, releasing four new notebook models, all with a hint of MacBook Air about them. This top-of-the-range ASUS Zenbook UX31E-RY010V delivers as much performance as we’ve seen from this category so far, pushing past the 61 mark on our UserBench Encode HD media-encoding benchmark. It combines a 13.3in aluminium chassis with a high-resolution 1,600 x 900-pixel LCD panel and is driven by Intel’s new 1.8GHz dual-core Core i7-2677M low-voltage processor.

Given how good budget notebooks are now, there's no need for many users to look beyond the sub-A$900 notebooks we've reviewed elsewhere. However, you may need to spend more if you want one with "the lot", including extras such as a decent separate graphics chip for gaming or Blu-ray combo drive for watching Blu-ray movies. To see how much more you can get, we asked notebook makers to provide the best models under $1300 – although we bumped that up by $50 to include Apple’s ultra-thin notebook, the 11in 128GB version of the MacBook Air. It made a good point of contrast with the other three models here – all full-size Windows notebooks selling for under A$1000.

Fujitsui’s LifeBook AH531 has been around for a bit now and unfortunately, it’s starting to show its age. While its performance still holds up pretty well, it’s a little pricey compared to similar Core i5 models. It also only offers a 500GB hard drive whereas 640GB units are now common on sub-$1000 models.

Toshiba’s Satellite L750 is another 15.6in model selling at the same price as Acer’s 5830TG and the Fujitsu’s AH531. In terms of value, it probably splits them down the middle. The 750GB hard drive, HDMI output and USB 3.0 ports mark it as a current-generation notebook and its Core i5-2410M chip is a good performer.