Tablets may be the next big thing in mobile computing, but don’t count out ultrabooks just yet. At least not until you’ve given Lenovo’s Thinkpad X1 Carbon — a featherweight, carbon fibre workhorse a closer look. It’s tough, it’s light, and you don’t have to be an office drone to crave it.
While Sony has a track record for making beautifully slim laptops, so far it’s ignored Intel’s prescribed ultrabook gimmickry. That stops now with the newly announced Vaio T, but it’s a laptop that’s doomed before it even hits the shelf.
The “ultrabook” doesn’t exactly have people going nuts at the moment. They’re great, skinny, fast laptops — but they’re not cultural smash. The solution? Create a crazy Japanese acid binge TV commercial? Maybe? Add more acid.
Advertising can be weird — but weird doesn’t have to mean either good or bad. I still can’t decide where Intel’s “Desperado” ad for Ultrabooks sits on the spectrum.
Loss leaders — products sold without a profit to generate interest — sometimes work. Acer tried it with its recent S3 ultrabook, but it isn’t content with that; it has it sights set on cutting prices even further.
