Ultrabooks: Features & Specifications

Let's learn about a new category of devices making their way into the market. They are called 'Ultrabooks'. 'Ultrabooks' are primarily a product of the initiative being undertaken by Intel. Intel has put down the specifications that these new devices have to adhere to:

1. Thickness
• Less than 20 mm (0.8 inches)
2. Weight
• Less than 1.4 Kg
3. Battery Life
• Should be at least 5 hours
4. Storage
• Use flash-based SSDs (Solid State Drives) instead of HDDs (Hard Disk Drives).
5. Processor
• First Phase: CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) Intel Sandy Bridge
• Second Phase: CULV Intel Ivy Bridge
• Third Phase: CULV Intel Haswell
6. Pricing
• Around 1000$ US (50,000 INR)

The above parameters 1,2,3,6 are obvious and self-explanatory. Let's explore the parameters 4 and 5.

Parameter - 4 (Storage)

For the past many years, all Personal Computers have come with Hard-Drives (Hard Disks). The technical definition of a Hard-Disk or HDD (Hard Disk Drive) is as follows:

"HDD is a Non-Volatile Random Access Data Storage Device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle with a protective enclosure"

Basically what the definition tries to tell you is that there are flat circular disks mounted on top of one another. These are called platters. They store the actual data. The spindle (in the middle of these disks) rotates the platters and the data is read and written with the help of read/write heads. So, when you want to access data, these heads help you. So, the important things to take away is that

1. The HDDs have moving parts (Platters, Read/Write Heads)
2. In HDDs, the speed of read/write access is limited by the speed of read/write heads and also the speed at which the platters are rotated
3. The HDDs are noisy (due to the moving parts)

The Solid State Drives (SSDs) overcome the limitations and problems that are traditionally faced with the HDDs.

1. SSDs do not have any moving parts. Hence they generate no noise at all.
2. The read/write performance is dramatically enhanced. For example, 'Ultrabooks' having SSDs can boot up an operating system within seconds and transfer data between them and other devices at very fast speeds as compared to the HDDs.
3. They produce very little heat and consume very little power as compared to the HDDs.

Parameter - 5 (Processor)

As you all might be knowing, Intel's latest processors are 2nd Generation (Sandy Bridge) Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 processors. These processors are built for normal laptops whose performance and power requirements are entirely different from that of the 'Ultrabooks'. 'Ultrabooks', being very thin and very light, needed a separate computing platform which can make them deliver a better battery life while not overly compromising on performance. To meet such requirements, Intel has developed the CULV platform which uses less power and gives similar or better performance as compared to the traditional processors.

Many manufacturers including Asus, Lenovo, Toshiba and Acer have dived into this category. Expect a slew of 'Ultrabooks' to be announced by other leading manufacturers at next year's 'Consumer Electronics Show (CES)' scheduled to take place in January. We'll discuss more about the 'Ultrabooks' already released into the market in future posts.

Stay Tuned..!!