Intel Having Problems Getting Those Ultrabooks Under $1000
The super slim notebooks won't be so cheap.

At Computex 2011, Intel unveiled a new form factor of notebook it calls the Ultrabook. Essentially, it's an extremely thin and light notebook that's powered by Sandy Bridge-class processors – not unlike the new MacBook Airs from Apple.
While Acer and Asus have signed on to make Ultrabooks, they may not be able to hit that magical under-$1000 mark that Intel wants – despite having the platform already being subsidized by Intel.
Notebook Italia reports that Acer will launch its Ultrabook in Q4 2011, but it will arrive with a price of four digits. Another source told Slashgear that Asus UX31 and UX21 Ultrabooks will be over $1000 as well, unless a sacrifice is made to drop the CPU down to a Core i3. Models with Core i5 and i7, paired with SSDs, will range between $1000 to $2000.
It seems that the MacBook Air line isn't carrying as much of an "Apple tax" this time around.
am I the only one who starts to lose hope about bulldozer?
There is a market for this, even if some of the more vocal Tom's Hardware posters are hardcore performance buffs, and therefore don't understand this...
I love my desktop. I pimp it out with the latest and greatest, no matter how much copper I have to strap on to my silicon to keep it cool... But I want battery life and portability (small weight/size) when I am on the road... Every ounce of spared weight counts...
am I the only one who starts to lose hope about bulldozer?
There is a market for this, even if some of the more vocal Tom's Hardware posters are hardcore performance buffs, and therefore don't understand this...
I love my desktop. I pimp it out with the latest and greatest, no matter how much copper I have to strap on to my silicon to keep it cool... But I want battery life and portability (small weight/size) when I am on the road... Every ounce of spared weight counts...
What i really hope ultrabooks manage to do is have gesture support like macbooks (and the samsung 9 series) do, because that + win8 (or whatever)+ 1kg weight + great performance would be really stiff competition to Apple.
I think a 13+ inch ultrabook with all this would just be sooo cool. And they'll be much more than just a fancy thing, they'd be bang for buck for a lot of people, imo.
Keep innovating bitches!
You're getting more than that.
I just got my MacBook Air 13", it gives me aluminum uni-body that doesn't feel cheap. It gives me some of the best screen on the market. It gives me up-to 7 hours of battery. It gives me the cool-hand-gestures.
Most importantly, it boots up in 15 seconds and shuts down in 2 seconds, that made all my other windows machine jealous(btw, I got like 5 windows machine at home and 1 Mac).
And for the working professional, those start-up/shutdown times are critical... Those and the battery life/weight/screen quality, professionals will pay a premium for, especially since there are no other competitors in this segment yet...
I do look at it as a compromise, as I would rather have a 13" MacBook Air for a couple of reasons (namely the battery - this Toshiba, with this battery, does a little more than 6 hours in light office use, and the 9 cell battery adds around another lb - and the backlit keyboard), but this Toshiba cost (equivalent to) ~~650 USD plus taxes, and it's thin and light enough for me.
Right now some of us still have to compromise, yes, but look at what happened when the netbooks came to be... It will take a couple of years, but we'll get good 'ultrabooks' under 1000k soon.
There is the Samsung Series 9 and the Sony Vaio Z, but both are more expensive.
Exactly, that's what I told my friends, MacBook Air 13" is the cheapest in it's category.
When compares component wise, I don't find Vaio or similar products from other brands really provide a lot more for the average user on a daily basis.
And when it comes to usability, Apple is the champion. It is possible to listen to music with MacBook Air speakers and do a video group chat with clear voices coming out and recorded in.
Other brands? I don't think it is worth trying (of course, tried and compared).