Portégé® Z930

"Super" laptops
When shopping for an Ultrabook look for
words such as "super-thin," "super-light,"
and "durable." That's how manufacturers
are describing the sleek new laptop, which
measures less than an inch thick and
weighs less than four pounds. The Portégé®
Z930 , for example, is just .63 inches thick
and weighs 2.5 pounds, including a 13.3-
inch high-definition LED backlit screen. For
sturdiness, a honeycomb-like inner ribbing
reinforces the unit's magnesium alloy
casing.
These types of computers have a solid-state
drive (SSD) for storage instead of a hard
drive. Because they have no moving parts,
SSDs keep the laptop cooler, thus fewer
fans are needed and there's less noise.
SSDs also make the Ultrabook nimble. With
the SSD's flash memory paired with Intel's
Rapid Start technology, the Ultrabook can
resume to the desktop in seconds,
compared to a minute or longer for many
Windows PCs*. This lets you get to work a
lot faster, saving time, frustration, and
battery life.
Battery life for an Ultrabook is longer than
your average laptop's: from five to eight
hours, depending on your work and
entertainment habits. The 2nd Generation
Intel® Core™ processors that Ultrabook
uses also reduce power consumption.
Ultrabook systems come equipped with a
choice of an Intel Core i3, i5, or i7
processor. These chips optimize the best
battery life possible while still offering
enough performance to get most types of
work done, whether you spend most of your
time social networking or editing high-
resolution digital photos.
Full laptop features
Despite their wafer-thin cases, these
laptops come fully loaded with the features
you've come to depend on in a
conventional laptop. They use the Windows
operating system and can run all your
favorite programs, including most games.
(3D games are about the only exception
because they generally require a dedicated
graphics card, and the Ultrabook is
equipped with an integrated graphics
system instead.) All the usual laptop
connections are present, including two or
three USB ports, an SD memory card slot,
Wi-Fi®, and a webcam.
Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) technology is
also built into select Ultrabook models.
WiDi lets you display what is on the
laptop's screen on a nearby HDTV without
connecting the two together with a cable.
This lets you project personal content,
online TV shows, home movies, home
videos, and more on a big screen.
The only standard laptop feature Ultrabook
systems lack—because they are so thin—is
an optical drive. For burning discs and
installing software you can buy a USB
optical drive for about $60. However,
integrated DVD or even Blu-ray drives could
become available in the future as
Ultrabooks compress more portable
features into less space. Future Ultrabook
systems also will be even lighter, and some
might be convertible--that is, capable of
switching from a standard clamshell design
to a full tablet mode with touchscreen.
An ultra future?
These PCs set a new standard for laptops:
lighter and thinner than ever, and ready to
give you quick and convenient access to
your files and online life. With their
mainstream prices, slim designs, good
performance, and responsiveness, this
Ultrabook category promises to be the next
must-have laptop.