Please someone recommend a 13.3"-14" laptop

extra-ordinary_

Still looking to replace my XPS M1330 and can't find anything. I want 3rd gen intel, USB 3.0, RAM not soldered to the board, and dedicated mouse keys on the touchpad.
I'd also like a memory slot, a NIC, and an optical drive if I could get it but they wouldn't be deal-breakers for me.
All the ultrabooks I've seen have a clicky touchpad or the RAM isn't upgradeable. Does anyone know of a decent uprade equivalent to the M1330?

Torqay

Configure you own? The 14" PCS UltraNote in the following configuration



costs £576/€664 (incl. delivery to Ireland, OS installation DVD and standard 3 yr warranty). If you already have an operating system, you may order without and save €100.

Some reviews in their forum.

extra-ordinary_

Thanks...I like the site.

Prices on the various options on the dropdowns would be good.

extra-ordinary_

There's not a lot around the net on those ultranotes - either the 14" or 15". The most I can find is that they're very plasticky (compared to the M1330 anyway). That 3 year warranty is for labour only which wouldn't really be my main concern. I was wondering how plentiful Clevo parts would be to come by if anything was to go wrong. I also saw that Clevo are bringing out a 13.3 laptop in a few months with a 1920 x 1080 screen so I might wait for that.

MayoForSam

I bought a 14" UltraNote (i5, 8GB RAM, 128 GB SSD) a few weeks ago, overall I'm happy with it, although I did have to return it under warranty as a keyboard cable became loose and the return key stopped working.

Pros:

- Slim, relatively lightweight, VERY fast with an SSD running Windows 8, 4-5 hours battery life, well-built, great for surfing and Spotify when paired up with a wireless mouse

Cons:

- Glossy screen is not great to be honest, quite reflective and viewing angles are only so-so, sharp edge along the front is a bit uncomfortable, plasticky finish which looks nice and metallic but scratches quite easily (my daughter used the area beside the touch pad as a mouse pad using my wireless mouse and it got scuffed first week I had it)

extra-ordinary_

Yeh, I got the impression that they were plasticky and cheap looking although with decent specs. I'd be tempted if I could better than 1366 x 768 screen resolution in a 14".

Torqay

extra-ordinary_ wrote: »

Yeh, I got the impression that they were plasticky and cheap looking although with decent specs. I'd be tempted if I could better than 1366 x 768 screen resolution in a 14".

If you don't mind a 15.6" notebook then get its bigger brother. It's very light and slim and the 1920x1080 display is just gorgeous... A friend bought one recently with a quad Core i7, 8 GB RAM and 120 GB SSD. A real beast of a laptop for 760 yoyos (sans OS), the i5 would save you ~€100. I can only recommend it.

extra-ordinary_

Yeh, I think it's pretty poor not to have a better screen in the popular 13"/14" range. I wanted as close a replacement for my M1330 that I could get but ultrabooks I looked at have either soldered on RAM or else are way too expensive. Fourteen inches would also be good but screen resolutions are terrible. I'm almost tempted to go for a 15" and was very close to getting one of those Clevos but then I saw this...

Torqay

extra-ordinary_ wrote: »

Yeh, I think it's pretty poor not to have a better screen in the popular 13"/14" range. I wanted as close a replacement for my M1330 that I could get but ultrabooks I looked at have either soldered on RAM or else are way too expensive. Fourteen inches would also be good but screen resolutions are terrible. I'm almost tempted to go for a 15" and was very close to getting one of those Clevos but then I saw this...

Nice offer indeed, except it's more like 17" screen (16.6), no SSD (not even hybrid), probably comes with QWERTZ keyboard and quite a heavyweight (2.8 kg). If you can deal with that, go for it.

extra-ordinary_

Torqay wrote: »

Nice offer indeed, except it's more like 17" screen (16.6), no SSD (not even hybrid), probably comes with QWERTZ keyboard and quite a heavyweight (2.8 kg). If you can deal with that, go for it.

Nah...that's a misprint...it's a 15.6" 1080p screen, but yeh probably comes with a German keyboard alright. I'd lean toward a Dell quicker though for getting spare parts easier, although as you said, it aint the lightest. I'm waiting on a reply from HV to see if the screen is matt or gloss and what sort of waranty is on it.

The Dell spec configured on the 15.6 Ultranote (Clevo W550eu) works out at £740 - and that's with it only having integrated gfx.

Torqay

If you order from HV, don't forget your SSD, they have good deals and it'll save you the shipping costs.