Laptops, or ultrabooks, or whatever you call them :-), have come a long way since they first became known to people. The first computers were huge mainframes that occupied entire rooms. Profound changes in technology over the past few decades have dramatically changed the types of computer technology.
Personal computers have been widely available since the early 1990s. Then came the laptops, which brought computing to a whole new level.
A few decades ago, the word «laptop» or «notebook» would have no meaning. But right now, laptops are high-performance, state-of-the-art machines that can handle everything you ask them to do. Today, technology companies each year produce thousands of unique gadgets and release them to the general public. Thanks to technological development, a new type of laptop computers – ultrabook, which is actively promoted by all leading manufacturers and suppliers of computer equipment.
What is the ultrabook?
In recent years, ultrabooks have attracted a lot of attention due to their elegant profile. What is the true nature of it?
Ultrabooks are a class of high-performance laptops designed for work, multimedia and entertainment.
Ultrabooks are ultra-thin and extremely lightweight laptops that provide an excellent balance between price, mobility and functionality. They represent an excellent intermediate point between a full-featured laptop and a graceful tablet.
Known for its ultra-portable form factor and ultralight design, ultrabooks are state-of-the-art devices equipped with the latest generation of processors and high-performance solid state drives to improve performance and reliability.
Their greatest advantage is the elegant form factor, featuring a slim, light design and weighing less than 1.8 kg or even 1.4 kg. Usually these are inexpensive laptops, but uncompromising in performance.
The term «ultrabook» was originally invented by Intel, so the market for these gadgets is mostly flooded with Intel-based processors, including CPU-based core i3, i5, and i7 families.
What is a laptop?
Laptops are thin portable computers that appeal to most consumers, including both regular and professional users. Laptops are available in a wide range with different screen sizes, shape factor and display technology.
Laptops are specially designed for mobile users who want to carry them easily wherever they go. Nowadays, laptops use various technologies with flat panels, ranging from good old LCD screens to truly impressive OLED-displays for full immersion in virtual reality.
Laptops are the perfect balance between portability and performance.
The difference between the ultrabook and a laptop
The terms «ultrabooks» and «laptops» are often used as synonyms for portable computers. However, there is a thin line between these two categories of laptops.
Laptops are a class of thin and light portable computers with streamlined case and high performance. Laptops are specially designed for mobile users who need convenience and efficiency in elegant design.
On the other hand, ultrabooks are high-performance laptops designed by Intel, with an ultrathin case and extremely easy design. Ultrabooks are a perfect compromise between high-performance laptops and ultra-thin tablets.
Mobility
One of the main advantages of ultrabooks is portability. They are optimized to increase mobility, which means you can easily carry them wherever you go.
Ultrabooks are designed to be more elegant, slim and lightweight than regular laptops. They come in several variants. The screen size usually does not exceed 13 inches or near to it. Thickness 1.8 cm or less for devices with a total size of less than 35 cm.
Laptops are also portable computers with a thin profile and a lightweight body. But they are not as thin and lightweight as ultrabooks. Laptops are available with screens of different size and thickness not exceeding 1 inch.
Productivity
Laptops are mostly multifunctional personal computers. They are equipped with high performance mobile processors that provide sufficient power in a small case, supplemented by high quality displays to ensure superior performance.
Even cheap laptops provide sufficient computing power to satisfaction your everyday computing needs.
Ultrabooks are also available in a variety of variants, ranging from inexpensive Intel Core i3 laptops to high-end ultrabooks with latest generation Core i7 processor and up to 16 GB of RAM.
Regardless of the name, the performance of both gadgets is determined by:
- central processing unit;
- graphics card;
- amount of RAM;
- type of storage (HDD or SSD).
While ultrabooks mostly use ultra-fast solid state drives, laptops use either the same SSD or HDD hard drives.
Ultrabook vs Laptop: Comparison table
Ultrabook | Laptop |
---|---|
High-end mobile computers developed by Intel for business, multimedia and entertainment. | Laptops are a class of portable computers with a relatively thin profile and quite high performance. |
Ultrabooks are designed to be more elegant, slim and lightweight than ordinary laptops. | Laptops have a subtle form factor, but not as portable as ultrabooks. |
Ultrabooks weigh less than 1.4 kg and have a thickness of not more than 1.8 cm. | Laptops weigh about 2 kg and have a thickness of about 2.5 cm. |
Ultrabooks are powerful devices with a screen size of not more than 14 inches. | Laptops are available in different screen sizes. The most common sizes are 15 and 17 inches. |
Sum up the results
All ultrabooks are laptops, but not all laptops are ultrabooks.
This is due to the fact that laptops come with a wide range of screen sizes and have a thickness of not more than 2.5 cm.
Ultrabooks are ultra-thin laptops that provide superior performance with a small form factor.
Marketing specialists say that «big things come in small packages». This makes sense and applies to mobile gadgets.
Both laptops and ultrabooks are very similar from the point of view of performance and portability. But they have their fair share of differences, which we tried to describe above.