1. Two Hybrid Ultrabooks
What constitutes an ultrabook? Are they really supposed to have just thin designs
and no optical drives? Should I sell my laptop for an ultrabook?
Almost a year ago, Intel laid down the rules on what an ultrabook should be – light,
no optical drives, thin and powerful integrated graphics.
As time went on though, companies made experiments in ultrabook design,
offering larger screens and even optical drives! It’s funny to think that they broke
the rules, but in the world of technology, experimentation is encouraged.
If companies didn’t experiment, then there wouldn’t be any progress.
In this article, we’ll take a look at a couple of so – called ultrabooks with optical
drives and dedicated GPU’s and see what makes them worthy of the name.

2. Acer Timeline Ultra M5

3. Acer, known for their very affordable computers, suddenly upped their game with
better hardware and design, but kept their affordability intact. The result is an
astounding laptop for its price, the M5.
The M5 looks like every other Acer laptop, but is much noticeably thin. In fact, it’s
only 0.8 inches. From afar, you’d mistake this for an ultrabook, but upon a closer
look, it has an optical drive!
This makes the laptop a full – featured media machine. Why? This laptop features
an Ivy Bridge i7 processor and a dedicated GPU. What’s the GPU? It’s an NVIDIA
GeForce GT 640M!
The GT 640M is a notch down the GT 650M. The 650M is a popular GPU used in
portable gaming laptops. With that in mind, you can expect the 640M to deliver
graphics just as impressive as the 650M.
Overall, speed and graphics are amazing with this ultrabook.

4. Dell XPS 14

5. If you want to have thin laptop with gaming power, then the XPS 14 is for you.
The laptop ditches the optical drive, but still retains a dedicated GPU, an NVIDIA
GeForce GT630M.
Overall, this laptop has similar dimensions to the M5, and is unmistakably MacBook
inspired. It weighs 4.7 pounds, and is 0.8 inches thick, making it very portable.
Also, you get an Intel Ivy Bridge i7 processor, resulting in amazing speed and fast
boot times from hibernate or sleep.
The laptop also features a 14 – inch screen with a really nice resolution of 1600 x 900
pixels thanks to the NVIDIA graphics card. It’s a good thing Dell decided to up the
resolution, because it matches the premium feel of the laptop’s body.
It’s also coated in Corning Gorilla Glass, making it durable and scratch – proof.
You get two USB 3.0 ports and an SD card reader. There’s also HDMI and mini –
DisplayPort if you’re into those things.
Overall, performance is great. You’ll be able to play most games with ease, but at
lower resolutions and settings. Of course, you can play light games at higher
resolutions and settings without any problems.

6. Conclusion
With thin designs and impressive graphics performance, these two laptops are
some of the best ultrabook experiments to date. Selling old laptops to have a new
ultrabook is worth it.
Let’s hope other manufacturers find a way to cram better parts into ultrabooks
without compromising the design Intel originally intended.
Source:Technomatic
http://emdhie.blog.com/2012/08/15/two-hybrid-ultrabooks/