If 2011 was remembered for shiny new tablets that made people part with their hard-earned cash, then 2012 may just be the one where the craze for these thin and light yet powerful and affordable ultrabooks takes off big time.

At the annual CES show just concluded earlier in the week, a good number of laptop makers joined the fray with their takes on what people would be carrying to meetings and classrooms in the coming months.

Perhaps having seen Asus, Acer and Lenovo whip up demand for such ultra-light PCs in the closing months of 2011, the likes of Sony, Dell and HP showed of their versions of the ultrabook at CES this year. Lenovo too came up with a quite surprising “yoga-like” ultrabook cum tablet.

Here’s a sneak peek.

Sony Vaio Ultrabook

credit: Engadget

The venerable Vaio brand finally has an ultrabook join the family, after Sony showed off a Vaio Ultrabook at CES. Actually, “Vaio Ultrabook” is what journalists have called the device so far, as it is really still unnamed yet.

Little more is known about this new entry except that it’s a 13-incher with a glossy screen and has the typical chiclet keyboard common on many Vaios.

From what observers seem to have discovered, there seems to be a Ethernet port along with a VGA port, a sorely missing feature on some ultrabooks that lets you connect your machine to a projector.

Early photos from CES do seem to suggest that Sony’s new Vaio looks very much like a thin MacBook Pro, but that’s not a bad thing, considering many people buy Macs and install Windows and Parallels on them. Just watch out for lawsuits, Sony!

Dell XPS 13

Looking pretty too is Dell’s new XPS 13, the US laptop maker’s entry into the ultrabook market. What distinguishes it from others here is a machined aluminium finish, coupled with a carbon fibre composite base, which gives it rigidity while keeping relatively light at just 1.36kg.

It boasts a 13.3-inch screen (1,366 x 768 pixels), which seems like regular issue, but this is protected by a piece of hardy Corning Gorilla glass that will come in handy for a bit of rough and tumble on the go.

Like many ultrabooks before it, the XPS 13 will feature both Core i5 and Core i7 chips, and will sport 4GB of RAM as well as 128GB or 256GB solid state drives.

No indication of prices yet from Dell Singapore, but the XPS 13 is expected to go on sale in March. We expect this sleek-looking ultrabook to be quite popular this year.

HP Envy 14 Spectre
Perhaps the prettiest of them all is HP’s Envy 14 Spectre. It breaks the mould here by having a 14-inch screen instead of a regular 13.3-incher, yet manages to keep things slim and light by having an ultra-thin frame around the display.

It’s slightly heavier than the Dell at under 4 pounds (1.8kg) but for a laptop with a 14-inch screen, it is surely one of the lightest. Powered by Intel’s Core i5 and i7, and with 128GB and 256GB solid state drives to choose from, the Envy 14 Spectre really ups the ante for the already respectable Envy line.

No word yet on availability in Singapore, though the machine is up for pre-order in the United States. I’m sure many Envy users would love to see the Envy 14 Spectre come in black as well!

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga
Finally, we have the IdeaPad Yoga, which is a pretty innovative take on the increasingly common “transform” device. At first glance, it looks like another slim 13-inch ultrabook, but that’s because you haven’t discovered the hinge design here that lets the screen flip around all the way back – like a yoga master – to transform into a tablet.

Once it’s in this position, the pre-installed Microsoft Windows 8 OS automatically runs in tablet mode. Here, a 10-point finger or gesture input gives you the convenience of a regular tablet touch interface.

The screen runs at a sharp 1,600 x 900, according to a report by Geek.com. Plus, the “target price”, according to its video, is under US$1,200, which makes it very attractive when it is launched later this year with Windows 8.

A year of choices
The good news is, whatever form or shape you prefer in an ultrabook, you’ll have a lot to choose from in 2012. It has taken a while for PC makers to challenge Apple’s innovative MacBook Air, but the next 12 months should see a lot of them wowing back users with both sexy machines and an innovative edge provided by the laptop- and tablet-friendly Windows 8 OS.

As technology users welcome 2012 everywhere, it’s clear the year that had just passed was filled with no little controversy and memorable incidents.

From Steve Jobs’ death to the delay of the much-awaited iPhone 5, from the rise of Android devices to Nokia’s return with its Windows Phone devices, and finally, with the potent mix of mobile devices and social media that  helped ignite protests in the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street, but also encouraged the thuggery of the London riots, 2011 was a big year in technology.

The next 12 months look to be just as interesting, as existing technologies mature and grow, while other new trends emerge. Here are five things to look out for in 2012:

1. The arrival of the “transform” device
Just a few years ago, it was unfathomable that people would junk their desktop PCs for laptops. Because the portable device had a smaller screen and usually lesser computing prowess, the portable device never matched up to the silent giant under the desk.

These days, however, with power-efficient yet advanced CPUs and graphics chips, laptops can do the job just as well, plus they can be hooked up with a monitor, keyboard and mouse easily to transform into a desktop PC in a jiffy.

The same is happening with tablets and smartphones. In 2012, there will be more devices like the Motorola Atrix, first unveiled in early 2011, that basically turns into a laptop once it is docked with a laptop dock. The Atrix taps on its dual-core chip to run Webtop, which is based on Ubuntu Linux, to give users a regular desktop OS look and feel. It runs the OS you prefer at any time, all in one device.

Essentially, you only need one smart device – your phone or tablet – to do everything you need in future. What you will have are many docks or keyboards and screens to hook up to this increasingly powerful (expect quad core gizmos in 2012, starting with the Asus Transformer Prime) yet portable device in your hands.

Desktops and laptops will definitely still be around, but the mobile gadget is set to be the central device in your life.

2.  Windows 8 brings “touch” on everyday PCs
Related to this portable device rush is Windows 8. The upcoming Microsoft OS, expected this year, is being billed as the biggest upgrade in years for one reason – it is going to unify both mobile devices and PCs with one OS.

It works with touch, and features a Windows Phone-like tile system, where users will be given a panel of information and the ability to go into the nitty gritty only if they wish to. The big icons and friendlier interface also mean that this is the first time the Start button and taskbar – at least in their present forms – will be out of the picture.

Along with Windows 8′s arrival, expect computing of all types – from smartphones to laptops to desktops – to tap on the novel OS.

What to expect? Look to something like the Samsung Slate PC, which crams a powerful Intel dual-core CPU into a thin, portable tablet that can be hooked up with a keyboard and screen to become a full-fledged desktop. It runs Windows 7 now, but come next year, devices like these will sport the even more touch-friendly Windows 8.

3. Tougher times for Apple
It’s not just Steve Jobs’ passing that will affect Apple for the coming year, but also the fact that it is a company that wins big because of the very sharp innovation curve that it sets out each year.

When the iPod was commoditised, the iPhone became the next big thing; when Android smartphones managed to grab huge chunks of market share in 2010, the iPad became the market-conquering portable gizmo in a class of its own.

The question in 2012 is: what next? Surely, there’d be new versions of the iPhone (after the disappointing iPhone 4S) and iPad (which still has a good lead over all over Android rivals). But can these upgrades keep Apple at the top of the pile, or will it see its innovation and design lead cut short in 2012?

The emergence of the Windows-based Ultrabooks in 2011 from Asus, in particular, is a clear answer to how fast the competition is catching up, in this case, with the MacBook Air.

In the next 12 months, Apple will find the going even tougher. Users are often willing to accept Apple’s closed “my way or the highway” approach because of the perceived better design and innovation from the company, but it has to keep coming up with new winners to redefine the field. In 2012, it needs another big winner to pull away.

4. Say hi again to a smart TV
It’s been prophecised several times before, but 2012 could finally see the arrival of smart TVs that do more than just show your cable TV programmes or Blu-ray movies in all their 60-inch Full HD glory. These TVs could be the conduit to many services and apps that were just becoming common in 2011.

Yes, Facebook will be there, as will Twitter and other PC-based services and apps that you had seen on your 2011 Samsung or LG TV when you were free enough to venture into some of its sub menus. But what about YouTube, or rather, a YouTube-type service – on steroids?

Think of an app that is smart enough to offer the same multi-tasking you’d expect on a PC screen, say, talk to a friend on a chat window while watching a live football match, or checking out background information from Wikipedia on the JFK assassination, if you are watching a documentary on it on a National Geographic app, for example.

Not so new, I hear you say? The main difference this time is that the intelligence is built into the TV and possibly delivered straight to the screen – over the TV’s Net link – instead of via a third-party set-top box and third party broadcaster.

Sure, it’d be a leap of faith for content executives who have always preferred to work with their favoured “platform partners”, i.e. broadcasters like StarHub and SingTel.

But for indie channels and content owners looking to jumpstart their work by showing their programmes direct to viewers, they can now create their own content and app and reach out to viewers – in the same way cellphone app developers sell their apps direct to users.

Creating a smart TV programme would thus involve skills needed to develop an app for, say, the mobile phone or tablet. Will this model work for TV? Well, it’s already proven already by Apple and Google in their respective app marketplaces, and what’s there to stop you paying S$2 for a movie on a smart TV, just like you’d buy an app on your phone?

If rumours hold true and Apple decides to create its own TV set in 2012 or if Google takes YouTube to the big screen by signing up more content creators as it has done in 2011, then the next 12 months could see big changes in the way video content is created, delivered and consumed in the big screen in the living room.

5. Fibre broadband takes off in Singapore
This is a banker of a trend, because we know that 95 per cent of the city will be covered by the fibre optic network this year. Going by the long waitlist to turn on a fibre broadband service now – up to a month with M1, we are told by users – the demand for light-speed downloads is going to be even higher in 2012.

It helps, of course, that the network has finally forced open a market that once was dominated by SingTel and StarHub.

Take M1, for example. It used to have to rent the network from the two telcos, but now it can get wholesale access at the same price as its bigger rivals, and it can price its services competitively, as a result. Its S$39-a-month 100Mbps fibre plan sold at computer expos in 2011, for one, has become the benchmark to follow in 2012.

It’s that time of the year again.

Christmas is a time of giving and receiving, and every year at Techgoondu we want world peace and justice. This year I want to add to the list a fairer society, better public transport, and affordable public housing.

And in case those big dreams fall a little short of our lofty naive ideals, well, there’s always geek toys and gizmos that we can console ourselves with. And still keep dreaming big dreams — they are worth fighting for, aren’t they?

In the meantime, here’s what the goondus would like this Christmas:

Raymond wants:

Wait a minute, Raymond already had an entire article’s worth of tech stuff he wanted to buy. Check it out.

Alfred is dreaming of:

Oppo BDP-95 Blu-ray player

I know we’re going into an age of lossless tracks and HD video downloads, but if you are looking for a universal player that plays back your Blu-ray discs, SACDs and regular CDs, there is only one that every AV geek is talking about right now – the Oppo BDP-95.

At US$999, it looks expensive compared to the US$90 Blu-ray player at electronics stores, but this Oppo player is packed to the gills with the most high-end features (like streaming and 3D support) and also audiophile-grade goodies, like two, yes, two, separate top-notch Sabre32 DACs to handle both movies and music.

Oppo players are so solidly built – yet relatively inexpensive, considering all the stuff thrown in – that they have been cloned and repackaged with more expensive-looking chassis and sold for several times more!

B&W 802 Diamond speakers

I heard these speakers at the showroom once and the sound has never left my mind. A live performance is what you’d expect to hear – you sense the scale of an orchestra, the sound is so airy and real, and bass is impossibly extended and deep. Even movies sound amazing – yes, the showroom also used them for a Blu-ray movie.

But what do you expect of speakers so big that the average Singapore apartment can never accommodate because of their size and their power? Even if you had more than 20-grand (Singapore dollars), these B&W 802 Diamonds won’t sound good in most homes here, unless you have a big listening room, so this is definitely a “dream-worthy” item. Maybe it’s time to upgrade the house first!

Aaron is drooling over:

Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9

I’ve never fancied lugging around a 10-inch screen wherever I go. So when Samsung unveiled the 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab, I knew it was going to be the top on my Christmas wish list. It’s more portable than the iPad and shares the same features as the larger Galaxy Tab 10.1 including the latest Android Honeycomb OS.

Compared with a 7-inch tablet, the 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab packs more screen estate for displaying both e-books and webpages in their full glory without excessive scrolling. At just under $250 for the 16GB version with a data plan, this slate is a steal too!

Asus Zenbook UX31

This skinny ultrabook will give Apple’s Macbook Air a run for its money. Measuring just 3mm thick at its slimmest, the Zenbook is a head-turner endowed with a gorgeous metallic design, a 1600×900 pixel display and a solid-state drive for top-notch computing performance. The exceptionally well-crafted machine feels more solid than the Macbook Air and boasts of Bang and Olufsen’s ICEpower audio technology.

In some ways, the advent of ultrabooks such as the Zenbook represents the coming out party for PC makers who have shown that they too have what it takes to deliver great industrial design.

Lester craves:

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Game of the year? Quite possibly. Skyrim has been released to rave reviews across the board, and dedicated gamers have ratcheted sales beyond expectations.

Dragons are popping up all over the land of Skyrim, and you- as the Dragonborn- are the only one with the power and skill to stop them. Adventure across a staggering open-ended world and do just about anything you like. Take a long hike across the landscape that starts off as a forest that peters into vast snow fields. Embark on sidequests, slay dragons, raze entire towns, or help anyone that asks for it- the choice is yours.

Skyrim’s wide-open gameplay brings something to everyone. The graphics alone are enough to halt even non-gamers and to intrigue them into playing. Skyrim will provide hours of fun- actually, that’s more of a caveat than a statement, because Skyrim is so open, so wide, it’s easy to get sucked into gaming for hours to come.

Google Galaxy Nexus

Yes, it’s due to be out only in January 2012, but Google’s Galaxy Nexus is already generating mobile tech-lust for this user. Google’s latest Nexus iteration brings the Android experience mobile users have come to love and expect in a gorgeous form factor that’s packed with incredible top-end smartphone specs.

Being the model phone for Android 4.0, the Galaxy Nexus will no doubt be the phone for Android fans that want the pure Android experience. Improved Gmail integration, enhanced text-to-speech and smoother multitasking are welcome features, and the Galaxy Nexus won’t disappoint.

For those who can’t wait, and require a suitable stocking-stuffer, the Motorola Droid Razr is a comparable model. Already touted to be one of this year’s best Android smartphone, the newest, sharpest Razr shows that a sleek, fashionable smartphone can exist alongside powerful hardware. Just wait for the Android 4.0 update to the released, and it’ll be a lean, mean mobile beast.

Chi-Loong desires:

Guild Wars 2

If Lester can get away for wanting the Google Galaxy Nexus that isn’t out yet, I can certainly get away with craving a game that is due next year that I’ve been awaiting as a patient fanboi for the longest time.

No, it’s not Diablo 3 or Starcraft 2:Heart of the Swarm (though that is high on my list), it’s Guild Wars 2.

For MMOs, I’ve played World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and Rift, but nothing kept me as enthralled as the original Guild Wars, which I’m almost ashamed to say I sunk in almost 1700+ hours over a five year span. I plead guilty that I was a major addict of the game at one point.

I’ve really fond memories of the game, and I’ve high hopes for ArenaNet’s Guild Wars 2.

Now if only I could invent a time machine to take me into the future to get a copy of this game now…

Games for Change

What would a Techgoondu Christmas wishlist be if it didn’t have an interesting entry that tied back to our tongue-in-cheek introduction of wanting, you know, good things for the world?

What if you could marry my one big vice, gaming, with something I really believe in, like changing the world to become a better place?

And this is how I became a fan of Games for Change, a global non-profit organization dedicated to using games to serve as tools in humanitarian or educational efforts.

It’s how I got to know about indie games such as Fate of the World (available on Steam) and We Topia. Watch:

Food for thought, certainly.

And on that note, we here at Techgoondu wish all our readers a very merry Christmas.

Folks looking out for an ultrabook this holiday season has yet another choice on top of the increasingly crowded segment – the Lenovo U300s. Eschewing the wedge-shaped design championed by Apple and ASUS, Lenovo’s take on the ultrabook is a sensible book-shaped machine that has a nice heft and overall feel. We go hands-on!

Hardware and design
Measuring 14.9mm thin and weighing in at a mere 1.32 kg, the U300s has an understated design that at the same time looks classy and sophisticated. A “Clementine Orange” colour option jazzes things up a bit, but isn’t that bright as to look out of place in a boardroom.

Unlike the Zenbook, the design of which is unabashedly inspired by the MacBook Air, Lenovo’s take is more like a traditional laptop. It looks like a bound hardcover book, and one-piece magnesium alloy roll-cage feels sturdy enough to withstand frequently jostling.

Open up the U300s and you’ll find a nicely spaced chiclet keyboard. But Lenovo’s experience at making the excellent ThinkPad keyboards didn’t shine through: the keyboard is noticeably shallower than standard laptop keys.

But the keyboard has a redeeming quality: it helps the laptop stay cool! Lenovo engineered and upside-down fan which draws in from the keyboard, ensuring that your hands stay cool while typing.

Underneath all that, you get your choice of Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, up to 256GB of solid state storage, and up to 4GB of RAM. Unfortunately, while a USB 3.0 and HDMI port are present, you won’t find an SD card reader on the U300s. Unlike the Toshiba Protégé Z830, the U300s also lacks an Ethernet port.

“Enhanced Experience”
Instead of an ostensible skin over Windows 7 (like Dell’s Stage), Lenovo has added in under-the-hood enhancements to the U300s, which the company termed “Enhanced Experience 2.0”.

For one, the U300s is said to boot up in just 10 seconds, and can last up to 8 hours on a single charge. If left idle, Lenovo claims that the system can sustain up to 30 days of standby. Plus, Lenovo RapidCharge technology can charge the U300s to 50 per cent capacity in just half an hour.

Price might be a problem
Despite several omissions, the U300s is a fine piece of work. The only problem? Its price. Starting atS$1,899 for the Core i5 variety, Lenovo is cutting it too close to S$2,000. The local price for the i7 version has not been announced but Lenovo executives confirmed that it will definitely go above S$2,000.

Toshiba has a similar premium pricing strategy, while ASUS continues to undercut the rest of the ultrabook pack, with a better spec’ed 13-inch ultrabook starting at just S$1,498.

The U300s will have some convincing to do on the showroom floors, but with some luck, Lenovo’s ultrabook might just break through with its stylish design and unique enhancements.

This story first appeared on Techtalk, our technology content partners at Yahoo! News Singapore

Asus and Acer may have been slightly earlier to the game, but the battle for the slimmest, lightest and most powerful laptop is just getting hotter with new arrivals like Toshiba’s new Portege Z830.

Shown to the media in Singapore last week, the latest in the Japanese laptop maker’s thin-and-light Portege line is just 15.9mm thin and weighs a feather-light 1.12kg. On that frame are a 13.3-inch screen and 128GB solid state drive, along with either an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 chip.

The Core i5 model will cost S$1,999 while the Core i7 model will go for S$2,599, when the laptop goes on sale at the Sitex computer bazaar on November 24, 2011 in Singapore.

As expected, Toshiba has pulled out nothing when it comes to connectivity. There’s USB 3.0, HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet LAN and even a fingerprint sensor for business users. What’s also included: the stiff Honeycomb Rib design on the new Portege’s magnesium alloy cover that protects against abuse (for those rough users).

The only thing that seems to compare unfavourably, at least on paper, against Asus’ highly-regarded Zenbook rival, is that the 13.3-inch screen on the Toshiba machine comes with only 1,366 x 768 resolution instead of the Taiwanese firm’s 1,600 x 900 (on high-end models). Even with that sharper screen upgrade, Asus’ Core i5 offering costs S$1,498, while its Core i7 option goes for S$1,998 – S$500 to S$600 cheaper.

But take note that these prices are will likely come with free bundles, like RAM or other upgrades, during the Sitex show. They may even drop if the competition is stiff enough.

Either way, there are now lots to choose from – besides the MacBook Air – if you want a full-powered laptop that’s also easy to carry around. And that’s good news for anyone who likes choice.

The ultrabook market just got more crowded with ASUS joining the party; the Taiwanese company officially jumped into the fray when it unveiled the super-thin Zenbook laptop here in Singapore on Tuesday.

The Zenbook sports a differentiating design with some remarkable innards while keeping the price relatively reasonable. But will this Windows 7 beauty stand up against its competition? We go hands-on to find out more!

Hardware & Design

The Zenbook’s form factor looks more or less identical to Apple’s MacBook Air: a sharp 0.11-inch edge on the front which slowly fattens at it slopes up to the 0.35-inch rear. It features a full-sized QWERTY keyboard that is pleasant to type on, and a large trackpad which supports multi-finger gestures.

But that’s about all the similarities there are in design.

While Apple went with a rough, brushed-metal exterior for the Air, the Zenbook is glossy and reflective. Its silver cover has a concentric circle design which radiates outwards from the centre, and is quite a pretty sight when it catches and reflects light.

The Zenbook’s base configuration for the 11.6-incher (1366 x 768) comes with an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of solid state storage, and sells for S$1,398. In comparison, a comparable MacBook Air will demand your S$1,588.

If you decide to plunk down S$1,998  for the highest-end Zenbook, you’ll get a 13-inch screen (1,600 x 900), an Intel Core i7 processor, 4GB of RAM, 256GB of storage space and an additional SD card reader. In contrast, a comparable MacBook Air (with a lower-res screen, in fact) will go upwards of S$2,200.

ASUS SonicMaster

ASUS has been trumpeting the superior audio tech found in its laptops for quite a while now, and the Zenbooks are no different. It carries Bang & Olufsen’s ICEpower brand, and the power of the music flowing from the Zenbook’s tiny speakers took us completely by surprise.

However, ASUS demonstrated the speakers with largely violin pieces, so we couldn’t get a sample of bass performance. Nevertheless, the sound quality is a far cry from the VAIO Z’s disappointing speakers.

First impressions wrap-up

Ultrabooks might have been slow to take off, but if the Zenbook is any indication, we haven’t seen anything yet. Beating Apple both at configuration and price, ASUS is giving traction to Intel’s ultrabook vision and providing for consumers a credible ultrathin alternative to the OS X universe.

This story first appeared on Techtalk, our technology content partners at Yahoo! News Singapore

Gamers and road warriors have some new toys to look forward to this November. Samsung has released their new Series 7 Gamer and Chronos notebooks into Singapore – just in time for the tons of new games coming this Christmas.

The Gamer is loaded with sick specs, beginning with an Intel i7 quad core chip with 8GB of RAM, up to 16GB.  More interestingly, it comes with one of the most powerful graphic cards on the market – the AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GDDR5 with DirectX 11 support.

As if that was not enough, Samsung also has added an extra 8GB to the notebook through its ExpressCache system, which effectively acts as an extra 8GB of flash memory on the motherboard, allowing for faster caching that translates into faster startup and application launch speeds.

The on-board 1.5TB storage space offers lots of room for plenty of games, which is exactly what the Gamer is primed to do. Even the keyboard, with its U-shaped key caps and backlit controls, is primed for gaming.

Users can toggle between different performance modes. The Gaming mode boosts CPU performance to its limit, while the Balanced mode is what you’d likely run for everyday applications. There is also the Library mode, which keeps the laptop running quiet, and the Green mode which aims to use as little power as possible to keep the battery running longer.

With a 17.3” SuperBright HD 3D display, gameplay graphics on the go will not be visually lacking. Other essential laptop paraphernalia, such as a Blu-ray drive, 2.0 megapixel webcam, Bluetooth 3.0 and stereo speakers are included in this 3.8kg gaming machine.

For those interested in a desktop replacement that can game, the Gamer is retailing for S$2,899.

And as for those who want a mobile, portable laptop that doesn’t skimp on speed and power, the Chronos is a worth checking out.

Coming in 14- and 15.6-inch versions, the Chronos offers either an Intel Core i5 (for the 14”) or an Core i7 (for the 15.6”) chip packed in a tiny form factor that weighs only 1.95kg and 2.3kg respectively. The aluminium chassis is a boon to those who require durability on the go, and its weight and thin form make it a great laptop to grab and go.

Samsung claims a battery life of up to 8 hours on a single charge. Coupled with their Fast Start technology that enables a 2-second restart time and a 19-second boot up time with Fast Boot, the Chronos is a pretty speedy device.

Graphics are also not compromised despite its size factor, with a dedicated AMD RadeonTM HD6750M graphics card taking advantage of Samsung’s HD screen that features a SuperBright 300 nit brightness, 16 million colors and an anti-reflective screen.

Available in mid November, the Chronos will retail for S$1,688 (14”) and S$1,988 (15.6”). Hit the pictures below for full spec tables.

Let’s start by getting the price of this state-of-the-art laptop out of way, because S$3,999 is certainly not everyone’s idea of how much a good laptop should cost.

No, not even with the full works – a Core i7 chip, 8GB RAM, a 256GB solid state drive – encased in an incredibly thin and light frame weighing just 1.165kg, plus a separate desktop dock that contains a Blu-ray drive and a handy AMD 6650M graphics card.

Considering how laptops are costing less by the day, I’m not sure how many of the new Vaio Z – which costs twice as much as many albeit lower-powered rivals – will get sold here in Singapore.

But what makes this Sony machine so impressive is that it might just herald a new generation of devices. While the previous Vaio Z was a well-built, fast machine for the business user, the new incarnation is a whole new class of device altogether, in that it is both a PC on the go and on the desk.

I’m surprised no one has thought of doing this before, really. Many users these days try to bridge the best of both worlds that a laptop and desktop offers us by hooking up a large-screen monitor, keyboard and external drive to our laptops once we reach our desks. But almost always – other than with humongous gaming notebooks – graphics on laptops really suck.

Answering that need, the Vaio Z comes with an external graphics card that you can easily plug in and boost the graphics performance on your machine. Once you plug in the Power Media Dock, the faster AMD 6650M graphics automatically switches from the onboard Intel HD Graphics 3000 chip that offers power-efficient usage on the go.

It’s also nice to know that this dock comes with a Blu-ray drive, and an array of ports including a couple of USB 2.0 ports and a USB 3.0 port as well as a Gigabit Ethernet port, an HDMI connector and an analogue VGA link. Instead of those ugly docks of old, this actually adds more than the boring stuff – it brings desktop performance to your laptop.

From my tests, hooking up is mighty easy. The only thing that Sony warns you not to do is to unplug the dock when you are running a graphics intensive program, which may suffer as a result of going back to the low-end graphics on the laptop itself.

Essentially, what you need is a monitor and keyboard and you’ll have two machines in one – an attractive proposition for the business user.

The main unit itself, of course, is nothing short of impressive as well. Never mind that this is a machine with a powerful Core i7-2620M chip, 8GB of RAM and a zippy 256GB solid state drive to rival what you get on the fastest desktops. This svelte machine also comes with a display that will make other laptops green with envy.

On the 13.1-inch screen, Sony has packed in an enormous amount of pixels – and detail – in the 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. If that number looks familiar, it’s because the same amount of detail is packed into TV screens as big as 55 or 60 inches.

What this means on the Vaio Z is that text is sharper than almost any rival and pictures are displayed with pinpoint clarity. You also see the “full picture” in terms of the amount of data to be displayed, since the screen is capable of showing entire windows without needing your to zoom out and scroll.

The downside, of course, is that text can be small to read. This can be rectified by simply switching up the zoom – once – for your icons and text. But in my two weeks using the Vaio Z, I never had an issue with the higher resolution. My eyes loved the greater detail on display.

I’m also impressed by the portability of the Vaio Z. I teach part-time at the National University of Singapore and anyone who walks up the hill regularly from the carpark to the Arts Canteen (called The Deck now) will tell you it is quite a steep climb, especially with a laptop on your back.

Those two weeks I walked up the hill with the Vaio Z, I didn’t need to bring my usual Crumpler laptop bag – I simply walked up with the laptop in my hand, tucked along with some files. The climb was a breeze, compared to when I carried my 2.5kg  HP Envy 14 with me.

The other thing about the Vaio Z is its speed. The SSD under the hood is one real monster. Sony says the machine will boot up in 15 seconds or less. I can say safely it’s often less than 10 seconds. I almost never powered off the machine in the two weeks I used it because it took mere seconds – under five, to be sure – to resume from hibernation after I had closed the lid each time.

The battery life on the standard power pack is also surprisingly good. I did not manage to do the usual drain tests, but from my everyday usage, this is what I found out: I could use it for a couple of hours in class while jotting down notes, then put it to sleep for a week (apart from opening it up occasionally to surf the Web at home) then still use it for another couple of hours the next week, before it finally gave up.

Beyond the power-packed performance, there are many nice touches on the Vaio Z that make it a no-holds barred premium laptop.

What impressed me: the lightweight but sturdy case reminiscent of older Vaio Zs, the textured touchpad giving you a better “feel” when moving your cursor around the Windows 7 desktop and the wide array of ports on the slim chassis. These include USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, an HDMI link and yes, regular LAN and VGA ports. Take that, proprietary Apple connectors!

One really interesting feature I should single out is the way the laptop hinge pivots to give you an elevated keyboard when you open up the clamsell. The hinge actually pushes the main chassis up at an angle instead of just staying put on the table like on most laptops. Speaking of the keyboard, the keys are short-travel, or shallow, chiclet keys, which I’m not a fan of, but fortunately, they seem quite easy to type on, compared to, say, Apple’s keyboards.

What can Sony improve? Obviously, the Vaio Z should have a bigger trackpad. The current one is mighty small, even given that this is a small laptop. Though it is very sensitive, it still doesn’t feel as accurate as what you find on Apple’s Macbooks, which are the industry’s best.

But that little gripe would not be a deal breaker, of course. For most users, the biggest obstacle is that sky-high S$3,999 price. At a time when corporations are careful with costs, it must be a challenge to convince the bean counters in any company to okay the purchase of a Vaio Z, never mind a fleet of them for a department.

The task is made even harder when even a fully-spec’d 13-inch MacBook Air with a 256GB SSD will likely cost less than S$2,500. Sure, this may not be an apple-to-apple comparison, but think of how you can spend the rest of the S$1,500 saved from buying a Vaio Z on a desktop or a really fancy monitor if you want.

Then there are the so-called ultra-books from other PC makers. These MacBook Air rivals, like the Lenovo U300, will cost around the price of the Apple favourite and offer almost the same power as the main Vaio Z unit. Okay, they won’t have an external media dock and may not always be built as solidly, but to many users, they make the Vaio Z look like something from the old era of really expensive corporate laptops.

What then do you make of the Vaio Z? It probably won’t sell as well as many of its cheaper rivals, but I suspect folks who want one handy machine for both on the go and desktop uses will buy into this class of all-in-one devices.

Should you buy it? I’d say no if you are looking for comparative performance versus price, in other words, value. But if you are after the best all-in-one portable and desktop machine out there, there’s nothing like it now.

Every once in a while, an iconic device comes along and redefines the space that others compete in. The MacBook Air, for example, offers great value in an era where cloud computing lets you take the computing off your mobile device and focus on things like small-capacity but speedy SSDs to fire up apps in a jiffy.

As for the Vaio Z, it could well be the first of a new breed of devices that will make you think twice about buying a desktop in future. It’s an all-in-one machine that gives you the best of both desktop and mobile worlds. The current iteration is too expensive, but I’m looking forward to cheaper versions of the Vaio Z concept.

To achieve this, it is the tech sponsor for Fashion Night Out, a global shopping extravaganza initiative that is in its third year.

Showing off their latest IdeaPad U300s Ultrabooks at the glitzy fashion event, Lenovo hopes to increase their brand awareness amongst consumers.

With brand recognition currently hovering around 12 percent in the US, according to Nick Reynolds, Lenovo’s executive director of integrated product communications, Lenovo has much more room to grow as a brand.

“We have great engineered products, but it’s sad that not that many people know about us,” he said.

Hence, the big marketing blitz on their new IdeaPad ultrabook, which Lenovo hopes will be a halo product that changes consumer perceptions about them.

Lenovo’s Ideapad U300s: First impressions

I got a good hands-on impression with the Lenovo U300s Ultrabook at the New York City Fashion Night out event, which Techgoondu went to.

The first thing that drew me in was the form factor. The sleek single-piece aluminium shell — available in both graphite grey or clementine orange — is really gorgeous.

With a thickness of 14.9mm (1.5 cm), weighing slightly over 1.3kg, and with a 13.3 inch HD 16:9 widescreen display, the U300S Ultrabook is one super swee (i.e. beautiful, in Singlish vernacular) machine.

There are no vents at the bottom of the Ideapad U300s, unlike most other laptops. All the air that cools the machine exits through the side vents and the back hinge. Not only does this make the machine look super sleek, users can use the machine on their laps for extended periods of time and it never gets hot.

The machine takes in air from Lenovo’s patented “breathable” keyboard technology. The keys of this keyboard – which feels great tactilely – are slightly raised to allow air to enter and cool the system down.

Specs wise, the IdeaPad U300s seems to be pretty good as well, including an Intel Core i7 processor, a RapidDrive hard disk (a hybrid SSD and hard disk drive) that boots up Windows 7 in 10 seconds or less, and a long-life battery housed within the chassis that lasts up to eight hours of continuous use.

The Lenovo RapidCharge power charger is sleek and small as well, and is touted to be able to charge up to 50 percent capacity in just 30 minutes.

It seems like Lenovo is really banking on the Ideapad U300s to crack the high-end super-thin laptop segment, which was a space pioneered by Apple’s Macbook Air in 2008.

Not any longer, with many consumer PC makers shipping sleek Intel Ultrabook devices this year in Q4, like Lenovo’s Ideapad U300s, Toshiba’s Portege Z830 and Acer’s Aspire S3.

The U300s isn’t a sub $1000 device, which Intel originally intended the Ultrabooks to be. Still, the U300s is more than competitively priced with the Macbook Air at US$1149 based on specs. If you’re looking for a high-end chic laptop, it’s definitely worth considering.

The IdeaPad U300s will be available in Singapore and in the region sometime in October this year.

Techgoondu will be giving out two of these beauties in a contest in October/November, so do watch out for that!

All photos here are courtesy of fellow Singaporean consumer lifestyle blogger Superadrianme. Big thanks to Adrian for letting Techgoondu use his photos when my handphone shots suffered from technical failure.

The usual sight of folks with trolleys of  flat screen TVs to printers in tow are back this weekend at Suntec City, thanks to the Comex 2011 show.

With bargain basement prices for items such as TVs – a Toshiba 42-incher for going for just S$549 – and laptops bundled with all sorts of freebies, the tech bazaar promises good deals for folks who brave the human jam at the halls in Suntec City.

Here are some hot deals that Techgoondu sussed out yesterday while there for a quick walkthrough:

Trade in your old game console
Microsoft is taking in your old game consoles for as much as S$150, which you can offset for a spanking new Xbox 360. The 4GB Kinect version with the motion controller costs S$469, while the 250GB version costs S$649.

There’s also a really chio Gears of War 3 limited edition of the console, which costs S$640 and comes with 320GB storage plus a couple of customised controllers and the game, a composite cable and a wired headset. More details here.

Huawei’s new MediaPad
Fancy a small Android tablet with a 7-inch screen? Check out Huawei’s MediaPad, which is going for a pretty attractive S$598 at a booth that is jam-packed with gadget lovers.

The light 390-gram device comes with both 3G and Wi-Fi, has a fast 1.2GHz dual-core chip and claims to be the first to run Android 3.2. The high-resolution screen is also a delight to use, going by a quick preview we had with the tablet back in June.

Get free upgrades for your Macbook Pro
Looking for one of the best laptops around? Along with other Apple laptops, the popular MacBook Pro 15-inch is being bundled with a load of freebies for those who want the latest Core i7-powered machine.

Apple distributors nubox, Multimedia Integrated (MI) and epicentre are all throwing in free 8GB upgrades for the 15-incher, which costs S$2,488 or S$2,988 depending on the configuration. The standout one for me is the MI deal, which also comes with a free 500GB external hard disk.

LG Optimus 3D discounted
Just launched last month, the 3D-enabled phone is going for S$868 instead of S$938 at Comex. For those who are into viewing 3D images and videos on their phones, this is a gadget worth checking out. Oh, and this Android-based phone shoots 3D videos and images too, which makes it an affordable 3D camera. Check out our hands-on preview with the phone here.

Bose SoundDock gets cheaper 
The original iPod dock  is going for a sale at Comex, along with other Bose deals by distributor Atlas. The star buy here is the SoundDock Portable, which lets you dock your iPod or iPhone and play reasonably good-sounding music (given its small size) almost anywhere you go. Instead of S$749, it’s going for S$579 now.

Its bigger brother, the SoundDock 10, which produces much bigger and fuller sounds with built-in subwoofer, is going for S$1,069. That’s still expensive, I hear, but it was selling for a rather unrealistic S$1,249 previously! Read our review of the SoundDock 10 here and download the Atlas/Bose Comex brochure here.