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Ultra portable notebooks
A must-have for the head honchos
Though these devices account for a small portion of the notebook
PC market, ultra portables are highly innovative products, meant for people
who believe in making a fashion statement, writes Varun Aggarwal
 Hardware
manufacturers have strived to make computers smaller for decades and there seems
to be no end to it. Today’s ultra portables are 10 times lighter [1.2 Kgs
or less] when compared the notebook of the 1980s that weighed 12 Kgs or even
today’s mainstream notebooks that weigh twice as much. In this segment
it is not about price. What matters are the latest technology, speed, portability
and styling.
As its name suggests, portability is the over-riding reason why this gadget
has become an integral part of a frequent traveler’s life. For example,
you can write your sales proposal, article or business presentation, while traveling
on a plane. Anurag Arora, Country Manager - Business Notebooks, Personal Systems
Group, HP India said, “This is extremely important in today’s age,
where productivity and efficiency are becoming more and more important. Professionals
need to stay connected at all times. It is portability, which has essentially
made notebooks a huge success across varied fields such as business, entertainment
and education. The consumer is now far more evolved and wants accessibility
to information anytime anywhere.”
With preferences evolving, customers in the high-end segment of the market are
now looking at high performance, ultra portable notebooks that offer various
forms of wireless connectivity as well as advanced multimedia options in a form-factor
that is breathtakingly compact. Sleek looks and exclusivity are factors that
influence purchases in this category.
“Going forward customers are expected to get more demanding with their
technology requirements. We expect the market for the Tablet PC to grow phenomenally
with the convenience it offers. With a detachable keyboard, it gives users the
choice of either jotting down their notes with a stylus in digital ink or as
a regular notebook,” added Arora.
Though most people would look at an ultra portable as a second computer, they
are able to perform almost any kind of job that you would think of doing on
a traditional PC. With IT majors such as HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, Asus, Panasonic,
Sony, Fujitsu and Apple coming up with ultra portable offerings the market for
this segment is set to grow. The ultra portable notebook category has an edge
in the form of a complete package of processing power, storage and memory, making
them good primary PCs. Ultra portables are the slimmest, trimmest full-featured
notebooks on the market, with its remarkable sleek, compact form factor with
embedded full fledged hardware and software features.
| This is a standard feature on an ultra portable and
it acts as an additional layer of security and authorization if someone
steals the device. The VeriSoft Access Manager by Bioscrypt uses the fingerprint
reader to identify the user, and controls access to Windows. Instead of
typing a User ID and password, you can move your finger across a sensor
to logon or start commonly used applications. Verisoft Access Manager can
manage all of your different secure accounts and the required user names
and passwords by recognizing your fingerprint. On HP notebook PCs, the fingerprint
reader is a small metallic sensor located near the keyboard or display.
By swiping your finger perpendicular to the metallic sensor you can logon
to the PC, a network, or open a program.
Lenovo has the fingerprint scanner on Thinkpad models
that actually stores fingerprint profiles in a hardware chip attached
to the reader. While this method allows for the security of strong password
protection, it is not as secure as the Client Security Solution (CSS)
package in Thinkpads. Accordingly, this fingerprint reader is designed
more for convenience than protection. Dell uses Trusted Platform Module
(TPM) security technology so that customers can add biometric fingerprint
readers at the time of purchase. Toshiba, Acer (Ferrari), HP (Pavilion)
and Fujitsu (LifeBook) all support this feature on select models.
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Ultra portables: small but important corporate market
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 "It
is portability, which has essentially made notebooks a huge success across
varied fields such as business, entertainment and education. The consumer
is now far more evolved and wants accessibility to information anytime
anywhere"
- Anurag Arora
Country Manager - Business Notebooks, Personal Systems Group, HP India
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 "Ultra
portables are ideal for
people who need extreme mobility and a small form factor and at the same
time are ready pay a premium for it. People who consider their notebook
as an extension of their personality prefer to buy a stylish ultra portable"
- Diptarup Chakraborti
Principal Research Analyst-Client Computing Group, Gartner
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While ultra portable notebooks form only a fraction of the
overall notebook market in India, they are sought after products. According
to Gartner looking at the price of ultra portable it may be felt that it is
not value for money but this does not matter as the people who are buying these
devices for the head honchos. Spending over Rs 80k for an ultra portable may
mean that you need to compromise on battery life and certain other features
like a compact disk drive. However, if you are a business head, CEO or MD it’s
an accessory that makes a strong style statement.
Diptarup Chakraborti, Principal Research Analyst-Client Computing
Group, Gartner explained, “Ultra portables are ideal for people who need
extreme mobility and a small form factor and at the same time are ready pay
a premium for it. Ultra portable notebooks are usually quite expensive compared
to other standard off-the-shelf notebooks. People who consider their notebook
as an extension of their personality prefer going for the highly innovative
and stylish ultra portable notebooks.”
Owing to the high prices of these notebooks, most corporates avoid buying them
for mid-managers. You may still find them in a lot of corporate boardrooms but
those may often be in the hands of the top executives who buy the same from
their own pocket. Companies seldom shell out this kind of money for a lifestyle
product. Yet, these notebooks are increasingly popular among brand conscious
executives, artists and lawyers etc who are constantly on the move and are able
to afford them.
According to Gartner while total notebook shipments in India
in 2007 stood at 1.7 million, registering a whopping 94% growth, ultra portables
held only 3% of the market. While the top three players in this market were
HP, Lenovo and Dell and other such as Acer, Toshiba, Fujitsu and LG have small
representation in the ultra portables category.
While market analysts feel that this market would not see significant growth,
it still has the potential for pushing the sales of other notebook segments.
While most companies market their ultra portable offerings as innovative and
stylish products, they never mention the price. When the customer is lured to
the showroom through their advertisements and he finds out that he cannot afford
this product, he settles for another less expensive model from the same vendor.
This helps vendors to showcase their technology capabilities and build on that.
Chakraborti said, “The ultra portable notebook segment is often used as
a marketing tool by vendors. Being a high priced segment, vendors are able to
showcase their technological superiority through this market. They are not really
focused on numbers in this market but the indirect boost that it gives to their
brand.”
| The high-end ultra portable segment comprises of
fully featured notebooks with various innovative features for better wireless
connectivity, better security and to ensure lighter weight.
Currently LG have three notebooks in the ultra
portable range. LG C1 combines performance, entertainment and security.
The LG Express dual-core processor based notebook is designed to give
the users the experience of handling a well-designed, elegant and technologically
rich notebook. The C1 boasts of Intel Core Duo 1.2 GHz processor, NVIDIA
graphics and a slim chassis similar to the LG T1 notebook. The C1 also
has a slot for a SIM card to enable wireless connectivity through one’s
cell phone provider. It is a lightweight design with a glossy piano blue/black
finish.
The LG R200 is India’s first notebook PC with a
2.5 inch auxiliary LCD display on the top. The notebook sports a functional
innovation called Slideshow, which provides the convenience of listening
to music, and even access e-mail without actually booting the system.
It has a piano black finish with red touch sensitive buttons on glossy
black background.
The Acer TravelMate 6291 uses the Intel Core2 Duo mobile
processor T5500 (2 MB L2 cache, 1.66 / 667 MHz FSB), supporting Intel
64 architecture, Mobile Intel 945GM Express chipset and Intel Wireless
Wi-Fi Link 4965AGN network solution and a 160 GB HDD.
With a 12.1” WXGA Acer CrystalBrite TFT LCD display
and system memory of 1 GB RAM upgradable up to 4 GB, the Acer TravelMate
6291 comes equipped with battery life up to five hours. The Acer ePowerManagement
allows you to choose the power management setting to extend the battery
time. Additionally, the latest proprietary Acer SignalUp and Acer GridVista
technologies have been incorporated into this notebook for more reliable
wireless connectivity as well as optimized display management. Acer TravelMate
6291 is available at Rs 47,499 plus taxes.
The Toshiba Portege R500-E260 is powered by Intel
Centrino Duo Processor Technology including Intel Core2 Duo ULV Processor
T7600 (1.2 GHz, 2 MB L2 Cache). With 1 GB fixed RAM and 120 GB storage
space, the Portege R500-E260 is priced at Rs 1,29,990. It weighs only
1.09 kg and offers a battery life of up to seven hours.
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Innovative features
Owing to their small size, one may not expect a great deal of features from
ultra portables. However, apart from proving themselves on par with any other
computer, there are a slew of innovative features that these notebooks offer.
Digital experiences come together perfectly with the tablet-convertible ultra-mobile
PC created by Fujitsu, the LifeBook U1010. The LifeBook U1010 integrates both
3.5G and HSDPA provides you with more benefits than a regular notebook could
ever offer. With an increased bandwidth of up to 3.6 Mbps, you can enjoy superior
broadband Internet connectivity anytime, anywhere (provided of course that 3G
services are available). It is equipped with the latest Intel Ultra Mobile platform
and is claimed to be the world’s smallest Tablet-convertible UMPC.
- These notebooks are very light at a bit
over 1 Kg. That’s half of what a conventional notebook weighs.
- They do not compromise on performance
when it comes to processor speed or memory. However, you do typically
end up without an optical drive.
- These notebooks are very compact. A corollary
of this is that the screen is smaller than on a mainstream device though
it is very crisp and clear.
- These notebooks are typically priced at
Rs 80,000 and above roughly double that of mainstream models.
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The LG C1 has a finger touch input with auto-sensing technology as well as
stylus input which provide easy and quick input especially when using dial keys,
a thumb-based on-screen interface. Taking into consideration the growing necessity
of security, LG has ensured that the newly launched notebook is equipped with
enhanced security features such as TPM (Trusted Platform Module) and HDD security.
“The R200 is India’s first notebook PC with a 2.5 inch auxiliary LCD
display on top. The notebook provides powerful new ways of accessing information
instantly and read e-mails, documents, view photos and play music without booting
the system,” said Arora.
| Microsoft used this term for it’s Project Origami,
a small tablet PC developed along with Intel and Samsung. Today it is the
generic name for a class of sub-notebooks sporting touch screens, or other
means of entering data while holding the device in the hand. Microsoft’s
Project Origami UMPCs featured Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 or Windows
Vista Home Premium Edition operating system and low-voltage Intel Pentium
or VIA C7-M processors in the 1 GHz range.
About the size of a paperback novel, a UMPC features
a powerful processor, a bright display, easy-to-use input options, and
the latest connectivity standards. It offers a display of 4-7 inches and
touch capabilities, all in a package that weighs less than a kilo. Despite
its size, the UMPC is quite capable of running Windows Vista-compatible
software and is manufactured by OEMs such as Asus, Fujitsu, HTC, OQO,
Samsung, and HP.
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The Acer TravelMate 6291 comes equipped with battery life up to five hours.
Acer ePowerManagement allows you to choose the power management setting to extend
the battery time. Additionally, the latest proprietary Acer SignalUp and Acer
GridVista technologies have been incorporated into this notebook for more reliable
wireless connectivity as well as optimized and feature driven display management.
Toshiba’s notebooks also offer innovation in different
forms. Sivakumar N, Country Manager - PC Division, Toshiba India Private Limited
elaborated, “Especially in the Portege R500, Toshiba has used innovative
technologies like the thinnest Optical Drive, 1.8” Hard Disk Drive, smallest
PCB, transreflective screen, etc to achieve a light weight of 1.1 Kgs.”
With so many options to choose from, one clearly needs to understand what he
wants, whether the same the operations can be done with your existing high-end
phones or not and what are the value adds that you’re getting with these
ultra portable notebooks. If it is only about style, then you don’t have
to think overmuch before buying an ultra portable.
varun.aggarwal@expressindia.com
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