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what's a Tablet , Laptop , Ultrabook ?

fatexl

New Member
There's a question in my head for a long long time , what is the differences between a tablet , a laptop and an ultrabook ?

It doubts me why everyone or even Microsoft is calling the Surface a tablet. And when Microsoft named it a tablet , people's reviews are :
A tablet for $799 ~ $1949 ? That's freaking freaking OVERPRICED. ( actual review on youtube )
It needs to be thinner ( actual review on youtube )
Microsoft Surface Pro 3 v.s. Ipad Air , Ipad Air is the obvious winner ( actual review on youtube , Marsable)

I don't get it ! It's more than a tablet for me. It runs full Windows 8.1 Pro , with such thickness and someone still wants it to be thicker. SP3 v.s. Ipad as a tablets , yes Ipad has more apps , but you can download Bluestacks in the SP3 , so I still think the SP3 will be a more obvious winner. As a laptop , I don't really like the OS X , but I like how it auto save every steps during your work ( example : When I'm editing my videos halfway using Final Cut Pro , and the program crashes , I open the program up again and the progress is still there , Windows may have this function already , but not every program ) Windows 8.1 Pro can let me install more programs compare to the OS X.

What do you think ? Let me know your thoughts about the latest SP3 v.s. the MacBook Air or the Ipad Air
And back to the question , what is the differences between a tablet , a laptop and an ultrabook.
 

daniielrp

Active Member
Laptop - Clamshell design, keyboard at the base attached to a display via a hinge.

An "Ultra-book" is a sub category of laptops - the name is actually a trademark of Intel, and an Ultra-book has to match up to Intel's specifications.

Tablet - device that is essentially a screen with all the internals behind it, so the whole device is the screen in a way.
 

EMINENT

Active Member
There's a question in my head for a long long time , what is the differences between a tablet , a laptop and an ultrabook ?

It doubts me why everyone or even Microsoft is calling the Surface a tablet. And when Microsoft named it a tablet , people's reviews are :
A tablet for $799 ~ $1949 ? That's freaking freaking OVERPRICED. ( actual review on youtube )
It needs to be thinner ( actual review on youtube )
Microsoft Surface Pro 3 v.s. Ipad Air , Ipad Air is the obvious winner ( actual review on youtube , Marsable)

I don't get it ! It's more than a tablet for me. It runs full Windows 8.1 Pro , with such thickness and someone still wants it to be thicker. SP3 v.s. Ipad as a tablets , yes Ipad has more apps , but you can download Bluestacks in the SP3 , so I still think the SP3 will be a more obvious winner. As a laptop , I don't really like the OS X , but I like how it auto save every steps during your work ( example : When I'm editing my videos halfway using Final Cut Pro , and the program crashes , I open the program up again and the progress is still there , Windows may have this function already , but not every program ) Windows 8.1 Pro can let me install more programs compare to the OS X.

What do you think ? Let me know your thoughts about the latest SP3 v.s. the MacBook Air or the Ipad Air
And back to the question , what is the differences between a tablet , a laptop and an ultrabook.

What don't you get?

Journalists need site hits. They make these comparisons and headlines because they want your traffic. That, and some just don't get it.

These comparisons are valid though, if you need to type on your lap or a lot like journalists do. This is clearly not the device for them. It can be though. They've got to battle the decision if they can live with the keyboard or the size in tablet form. People are stuck in this paradigm that they were comfortable with as technology progressed. They needed one specific thing to do one thing. Buy a Kindle to read a book, an ipad to browse, a laptop for Office, etc.

A laptop is not the right device for me though. And, for many out there that don't want to manage multiple os's and like to have the power of a laptop in a tablet form factor, this is it. There is no comparison.

They're the ones that need to debate this, not us. For us, it's a no-brainer, easy choice. The lightest, fastest, biggest screened tablet i'd want to carry with me everywhere, with the power of a laptop at my disposal at any moment.
 
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leeshor

Well-Known Member
Intel has specification that must be met for an ultrabook to be called an ultrabook. The name was their idea.
 

N.G.

Member
Called it a tablet in 86:
Inside a Classic: The TRS-80 Model 100 | PCWorld
but it was "lapable" (you could use it on your lap) so I guess it was a "laptop". We used them for Internet access and management on the road.

Lot more portable than an Osborne:
Osborne 1 computer
but it wasn't "lapable" although I did have one in my lap on an airplane to Europe in the early 80s (stewardess wanted it out of the aisle), so I guess you could call it a "laptop". I've got to say it was more "proof of concept than actually useful.

Wang and IBM had some great Office Automation computers back then, but the mainframes did the work. None of that was portable.

My memory is "tablet" and "laptop" are generic terms that preceded the attempt to copyright/patent everything, "prior art" or not (is "fruit company" copyrighted?), but Ultrabook is an (Intel?) invented proper name and should be capitalized. There have been computer "pads" since at least the 60s to my memory, and at some point they went on screen, but I couldn't date it, but I remember using both the paper and screen pad in about 1980/81. I remember people calling in their model 100/2s computer pads instead of tablets or "email computers".

Sorry, us old guys tend to ramble.
 
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