Please Recommend an Ultrabook Ideally Less than $500

In the market for a laptop. Something that’s light and thin (11” or less) and ideally something with decent battery life. Been using phone/tablet/desktop for all work & day to day use the last 5 years or more so I am not up to date with laptops/chromebooks. Will be using this laptop mainly for work (Microsoft office, email and some cloud based softwares etc). Won’t really need too much storage but would prefer a processor that’s half decent (something equivalent to i3 in desktop world if that makes sense). Brand wise, i have always preferred ASUS and Lenovo over Acer, HP and Dell (purely from past experience) but I am prepared to be convinced why I should go with a certain brand over the other. Did a quick research and quite like vivobook & yoga but I know close to nothing about ultrabook processors… which is why I have decided to turn to ozbargain for recommendation.

So, for someone who has recently used an ultrabook, please share your experience and if you’ll recommend it to friends & family?

Comments

  • +5

    When it comes to laptops,

    1. Cheap
    2. Powerful
    3. Small

    Pick two out of the three. You're not going to be able to get all three in one laptop. If you have a budget of $500 and you want something thin and light, then you're going to have to sacrifice the "powerful" aspect, so would expect your laptop to be underpowered to some extent

    • To be fair, the OP kind of acknowledged this as he is only chasing (and seemingly only requires) a 'half-decent' processor.

      • Thank you djkelly69.

        I’m not exactly after a beast or gaming machine here but it could be a big factor when deciding between two similarly priced laptops.

      • Yes I agree with that. Was just reinforcing to expect an underpowered laptop if those other two factors took precedence, to the point where the performance may even feel sluggish depending on what was actually being done on the laptop.

  • +3

    Not really a laptop but Microsoft Surface Go 64GB, with the key bored it can achieve all your requirements?

  • +6

    Ultrabook Ideally Less than $500

    That's an oxymoron. No such device exists, because at that pricepoint you're looking at a netbook or a chromebook.

    • Yeah I must say I can’t really tell the difference between netbook/ultrabook/chromebook/surface/2-in-1 etc. Too many new ‘variations’ these days! But, like I said, I am after a laptop mainly for work (Microsoft office and outlook) and a browser that’s going to display full desktop websites instead of those annoying mobile version.

      • The rest of your use-case is fairly standard, so it'll really come down to what system requirements are needed for:

        and some cloud based software

        For work.

        Any other personal preferences? I.e. Does it need to be smaller/portable because you'll be using it on the go a lot? Will it need to have good battery life because you'll be away from a powerpoint a lot? Will you be using it to watch movies/light gaming at all (and so maybe a better screen)? Things like that. There's actually a tonne of choices with your other requirements so it'd be useful to kind of thin out the crowd a bit.

        • Yes it’ll have to be small and portable hence 11” and ‘thin and light’.

          Decent battery life as I won’t be using for more than a few hours at any one time.

          Don’t need it for anything else as I will be doing the rest on my mobile/tablet and desktop. Resolution is low on my priority list as I won’t be storing or accessing or editing any photos or videos from this laptop as well.

  • Since FUTUOnline is having a 20% sale, have a look at:

    HP 250 G5 15.6" Intel Core i3 500GB 4GB USB 3.0 DVD Bluetooth Windows 10 Laptop $428

    Or

    Lenovo V130 15.6" FHD Intel Core I5 500GB 8GB WIFI BT Windows 10 Pro Laptop PC $708

    Don't go for anything without at least an i3 (Celerons/Pentiums) because the i3 is the minimum for good value-for-money, and honestly for mobile chips, you'd need an i5 to get equivalent performance to a desktop i3. And I'd recommend 8GB RAM over 4GB, just because 4GB is pitiful these days.

    • 15.6" defiantly not Ultrabook

    • Thanks but I’m after something small and portable so 11” screen is what I’m hoping to get.

    • For the latter. If OPs gonna spend that much, grab the Lenovo ThinkPad e485 IMO. $100 more, bit smaller. Comes with an SSD stock and has room for a hard drive. Most importantly, comes with a ryzen 5 2500U.

  • +1

    Microsoft Surface Pro 4 Refurb for $499. Beware of slightly dodgy marketing on condition however.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/406994

    Technically not an "ultrabook", but it will be close to one once you add in the Type Cover.

    Otherwise look into getting a Refurbished Dell Lat from the Dell Outlet or a Refurb Lenovo Yoga from ebay via GraysOnline.

    • Thank you. This is the sort of recommendation I’m hoping to get. Will check it out.

  • I have one of these. Good enough for basic word processing and internet.

    https://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers-tablets/laptops/lenovo/l…

    • That doesn't seem worth nearly $400

    • Thanks. Definitely fits within my budget and looks sleek too. Does it lag when you have multiple websites and/or programs running simultneously? Like a pdf reader + couple of websites + Microsoft outlook + excel at the same time? Just trying to gauge how powerful the n3350 processor is.

      • You only have 2GB of RAM to work with and it's also eMMC storage.

        So it's classed as a netbook — for very basic tasks.

        To put it into perspective a Core i3 or Core i5 will perform two or three times better if they are paired with sufficient memory and solid state drive, and you'd only have to pay roughly $400~600 for it if you are looking at the right places to buy (and sticking with refubished stuff).

        If you're a buying a new machine and are looking at devices under $400, you are limiting yourself to either Netbook / Chromebook / or a laptop running the guts of a netbook (Intel Celeron with no SATA drive). These will feel slow to use once you have exceeded the limits of the RAM and also use anything that relies on disk IO performance.

        For the CPU performance it's pretty much near the very bottom of the charts. But processor aside 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage gives you very little space to work with.

        https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Celeron+N3350…

        Your requirements are "something equivalent to i3 in desktop world if that makes sense" unfortunately this isn't possible unless you're looking at a mobile Core i5, 5th generation or better.

        • Yeah happy to pay up to, say, $700 for the right machine but most brand new i3 laptops that cost less than $700 are at least 14”.

          When I travel, having very minimal carry-on is my top priority. So, a tablet that can do what laptop does would be most ideal for me. Otherwise, a thin and light with 10” or 11” screen will be ok too.

          Quite keen on this deal https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/406994
          Not sure if anyone has any experience with these guys? How do we know for sure that it is refurbished, not a second hand?

  • 2nd hand MacBook Air 11, run windows or Mac OS, your choice.

    • Yeah I tend to stay away from second hand laptops/desktops. Bought a second hand laptop some 10 years ago, found out later on the laptop would shut itself down for no reason every now and then. Sent it to the repairer, told that there’s a problem with the motherboard and to repair/replace it it’s going to cost almost half the price of a brand new one. Ended up selling it for a fraction of what I paid.

  • Try Teclast F7, 6GB 128GB SSD version.

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