The ultrabooks of CES 2012 – The Verge The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts. 2012-01-13T20:30:42+00:00 https://www.theverge.com/rss/stream/2457231 https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/verge-rss-large_80b47e.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1 Joanna Stern <![CDATA[Toshiba Portege M930: a Windows 7 tablet with a keyboard and rotating screen (hands-on)]]> https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/13/2705350/toshiba-portege-m930-a-windows-7-tablet-with-a-keyboard-and-rotating 2012-01-13T15:30:42-05:00 2012-01-13T15:30:42-05:00
Gallery Photo: Toshiba Portege M930 hands-on pictures

You've been dying for an Asus Eee Pad Slider running Windows 7, right? Hiding amongst the hoards of ultrabooks on display at the Microsoft booth at CES 2012, is your answer: the Toshiba Portege M930. Oddly, Toshiba hasn't announced this tablet / laptop hybrid and doesn't even have it on display at its booth, but the rotating tablet seems pretty far along, considering it has a real name and the unit on display was working quite well.

You'll want to check the video below for how the screen mechanism works, but it's one of the more well-designed hinges I've seen. You don't have to slide the screen over the keyboard which has been a worrisome f …

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]]> Joanna Stern <![CDATA[The best ultrabooks of CES 2012]]> https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/12/2702325/the-best-ultrabooks-of-ces-2012 2012-01-12T17:55:23-05:00 2012-01-12T17:55:23-05:00
Best ultrabooks

By my count, there have been more than 20 ultrabooks announced here at CES 2012. That's a lot of laptops, especially when you consider that most of them have the same attributes: thin cases, Core i5 processors, solid-state drives, chiclet keyboards and single-button touchpads. But one has to be the best right? One would think, but choosing just one ultrabook amongst all of them isn't really fair. Some are cheaper than others, some aren't coming until the end of the year, and some have put a strong focus on higher end features. Picking four of the best, on the other hand, is the way to go, and that's exactly what you will find below. Without …

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]]> Dante D'Orazio <![CDATA[LG Z330 and Z430 ‘Super Ultrabooks’ (hands-on)]]> https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/11/2699823/lg-z330-and-z430-super-ultrabooks-hands-on 2012-01-11T13:59:40-05:00 2012-01-11T13:59:40-05:00
Gallery Photo:

We've just taken a look at LG's first ultrabooks, the recently-announced 13.3-inch Z330 and 14-inch Z430. LG is calling them "Super Ultrabooks" because they go "above and beyond" Intel's requirements. The two laptops are extremely similar - they're both made of aluminium, have (non-backlit) chiclet keyboards, and have thin bezels that let the company squeeze more screen real estate into a smaller frame.

The Z330 has a single USB 3.0 port on the left edge (alongside the power plug), and a USB 2.0 port, HDMI, 3.5mm headphone jack, and MicroSD card slot on the right edge. We weren't crazy about the particular aluminum finish on this ultrabook - …

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]]> Joanna Stern <![CDATA[XPS 13: Dell launches its first ultrabook for $999 (hands-on pictures)]]> https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/10/2690272/dell-xps-13-ultrabook-pricing-release-date 2012-01-10T16:31:39-05:00 2012-01-10T16:31:39-05:00
Gallery Photo: Dell XPS 13 ultrabook hands-on pictures

Dell told us "thin and powerful is where it's at" when it threw its netbooks in the grave, and it's living up to its word here at CES. It's no Adamo XPS in terms of design or thinness, but the XPS 13 ultrabook is definitely looking to fill that void in the company's line up. It might live along the other XPS models, but it's a much thinner and lighter option; similar to the XPS 14z, Dell's using a thin-bezeled display that allows the 13-inch display to fit in more of a typical 12-inch laptop case. At 2.9 pounds, the laptop is .71 inches at its thickest point and .24 inches at its thinnest, making room for USB 3.0, USB 2.0, 3.5mm headphone, a …

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]]> Joanna Stern <![CDATA[Sony VAIO ultrabook prototype shown behind glass]]> https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/10/2696098/sony-shows-off-vaio-ultrabook-prototype-behind-glass 2012-01-10T02:41:59-05:00 2012-01-10T02:41:59-05:00
Gallery Photo: Sony sliding tablet with keyboard photos

Sony doesn't technically have an ultrabook - the VAIO Z or VAIO SB doesn't really count - but it seems Sony's planning to look at the category sometime in the future. Labeled as a "future ultrabook concept," Sony's displaying a laptop that looks a lot like its current VAIO Z. Unfortunately, it's behind glass, but from what I can tell it has a different touchpad than the current VAIO Z and is a bit thicker. That's all I could really glean from the chassis trapped behind glass, but it seems very likely that Sony will join the race at some point this year. Now, let's just hope that external GPU and docking station comes along for the ride.

…

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]]> Tom Warren <![CDATA[Dell Windows 7 Ultrabook announcement due tomorrow]]> https://www.theverge.com/ces/2012/1/9/2695701/dell-windows-7-ultrabook-ces-2012 2012-01-09T22:35:16-05:00 2012-01-09T22:35:16-05:00
via images.scribblelive.com

Microsoft just revealed that Dell is planning to announce a new Windows 7 Ultrabook tomorrow at CES 2012. Microsoft's chief marketing officer, Tami Reller revealed the announcement on stage during Microsoft's final CES keynote. "Dell is planning an announcement tomorrow about another amazing ultrabook so please watch for that and check it out," said Reller. Ultrabooks looks set to be one of the most popular buzzwords of CES 2012 this year, keep an eye on the latest ones in our Ultrabooks of CES 2012 stream.

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]]> Joanna Stern <![CDATA[Envy 14 Spectre: HP’s Gorilla Glass covered, $1,399 ultrabook (hands-on video / pictures)]]> https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/9/2690506/hp-envy-14-spectre-a-gorilla-glass-covered-ultrabook-with-nfc-and-a 2012-01-09T20:00:40-05:00 2012-01-09T20:00:40-05:00
Gallery Photo: HP Envy 14 Spectre hands-on pictures

HP let our imaginations run wild with its Spectre teaser video last week, but it's time to put all those dreams of it being a flying, self-opening laptop to rest. The company is officially releasing its Envy 14 Spectre today, and while it may not be what you imagined, it's one heck of a machine. Termed a "premium ultrabook" the laptop takes everything we've liked about the Envy line and brought it to a .78-inch / 3.9 pound laptop. There's a lot to talk about inside and out of the Spectre - a scratch-proof glass lid and palmrest, a bright and high resolution display, and NFC integration. Below is a breakdown of everything you need to know abo …

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]]> Joanna Stern <![CDATA[Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga: a Windows 8 laptop that bends backwards into a tablet (hands-on video)]]> https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/9/2693650/lenovo-ideapad-yoga-a-windows-8-laptop-that-bends-backwards-into-a 2012-01-09T19:30:10-05:00 2012-01-09T19:30:10-05:00
Gallery Photo: Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga hands-on pictures

Lenovo has indeed saved the best for last here at CES 2012. After days of interminable laptop announcements, the company has one more to share: the 13.3-inch IdeaPad Yoga, which opens like a normal laptop but can then flip backwards to become a tablet. Yes, it's as crazy as it sounds, and even better it's running Windows 8. This is the sort of thing that is really best seen in video, so I suggest you scroll on down as soon as possible, but what I can tell you is that the .6-inch thick laptop looks and feels a lot like the IdeaPad U300s (or the new U310 / U410) until you realize you can push the screen back completely and morph it into a Wind …

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]]> Joanna Stern <![CDATA[Samsung Series 5 Ultra officially heads to the US on January 30th for $899 (hands-on pictures)]]> https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/9/2690727/samsung-series-5-ultra-officially-headed-to-us-hits-january-30th-for 2012-01-09T17:19:01-05:00 2012-01-09T17:19:01-05:00
Gallery Photo: Samsung Series 5 Ultra hands-on pictures

J&R let Samsung's Series 5 Ultra out a bit early last week, but today Samsung's officially confirming that its 13.3- and 14-inch ultrabooks are headed to the US on January 30th. Just like the overseas model, the 14-inch Series 5 has an onboard optical drive, yet still only weighs 3.9 pounds and measures .82 inches thick. The .58-inch thick 13.3-inch version has a similar design, but weighs just 3.24 pounds since it drops the disc drive. Although, both make room for an SD card reader, Ethernet, full size HDMI, and two USB ports each.

The entry level 14-inch ($949.99) and 13.3-inch ($899.99) versions of the systems have 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-2 …

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]]> Joanna Stern <![CDATA[Samsung Series 9 gets a complete makeover, coming February 27th for $1,399.99 (hands-on and video)]]> https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/9/2693067/samsung-series-9-pricing-release-date-pictures-video 2012-01-09T14:34:45-05:00 2012-01-09T14:34:45-05:00
Gallery Photo: Samsung Series 9 hands-on pictures

At last year's CES, a time before every single laptop manufacturer was releasing ultrabooks, Samsung unveiled its extremely thin Series 9 laptop. So how is the company planning to maintain its lead this year? With two brand new Series 9s. While Samsung's not calling the 13.3- or 15-inch laptops "ultrabooks," the laptops are astoundingly thin and weigh just 2.5 and 3.5 pounds, respectively.

However, Samsung hasn't just refreshed the line with new processors, though it's done that too. The duralumin material that wrapped the previous Series 9 has been replaced with a dark aluminum, and Samsung's using the new all-popular thin bezel trick, all …

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