Ultrabook around 80k

Shah

Shah

Cyborg Agent
1) What is your budget? (INR or USD)
Around 80k INR

2) What size & weight consideration (if any) would you prefer?
A 13" or 14" screen. Should be as light weight as possible.

3) What are the primary tasks you will be performing with this notebook?
Won't be used for Gaming. Mostly programming with a couple of IDEs, terminals and text-editors open at the same time. Have a PC for Gaming and higher computing power needs.

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
a. Like: Apple, Dell
b. Dislike:

5) Any typical configuration in your mind you're eying for ?
  • Dual-core or preferably a quad-core processor
  • 8GB or more RAM
  • 256GB or a higher capacity SSD. Big no for a HDD.
  • Backlit keyboard (Not a deal-breaker though)
  • A 1080p or higher resolution display
  • Long battery life
  • MacOS or LinuxMint or Ubuntu

6) Anything else you would like to say?
  • Will be buying from online stores. Most likely Amazon or Flipkart.
  • Have been looking into Macbook Air MQD32HN/A or MQD42HN/A, Dell XPS 13 9360 (with 8th Gen i5) and Dell Latitude 5490. But open to other suggestions.
  • Macbook Air is well within my budget, has the ports I need. However the resolution is mediocre. Also If I get the 128GB variant, will I be able to upgrade the SSD with a M.2 SSD and a suitable adapter? Getting the 128GB variant and a 512GB SSD seems cheaper than the 256GB variant.
  • Dell XPS 13 9360 is a bit higher than my budget, but has a quad-core processor. It comes with Windows 10, So I am not sure about driver compatibility for linux distros.
  • Dell Latitude seems to be hard to find. Specs look good though. Where can I buy them online?
 
omega44-xt

omega44-xt

Gear up ...
If I remember correctly, cheap MacBook Airs have 5th gen i5. So stay away from it.

*www.amazon.in/UX430UN-GV069T-13-in...8&qid=1525047924&sr=8-1&keywords=asus+zenbook
This one is in your budget & provides specs similar to XPS 13 (better actually due to MX150).

For no dedicated GPU,
Asus ZenBook Core i5 8th Gen - (8 GB/256 GB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX430UA-GV334T Thin and Light Laptop Rs.69990 Price in India - Buy Asus ZenBook Core i5 8th Gen - (8 GB/256 GB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX430UA-GV334T Thin and Light Laptop Blue Metal Online - Asus : Flipkart.com
Similar specs, but 14" at a cheaper price.

Asus Zenbooks mentioned above have slim bezels but not as slim as XPS 13. Still, a great choice considering price difference of 17k.
 
OP
Shah

Shah

Cyborg Agent
anupam_pb said:
If I remember correctly, cheap MacBook Airs have 5th gen i5. So stay away from it.

*www.amazon.in/UX430UN-GV069T-13-in...8&qid=1525047924&sr=8-1&keywords=asus+zenbook
This one is in your budget & provides specs similar to XPS 13 (better actually due to MX150).

For no dedicated GPU,
Asus ZenBook Core i5 8th Gen - (8 GB/256 GB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX430UA-GV334T Thin and Light Laptop Rs.69990 Price in India - Buy Asus ZenBook Core i5 8th Gen - (8 GB/256 GB SSD/Windows 10 Home) UX430UA-GV334T Thin and Light Laptop Blue Metal Online - Asus : Flipkart.com
Similar specs, but 14" at a cheaper price.

Asus Zenbooks mentioned above have slim bezels but not as slim as XPS 13. Still, a great choice considering price difference of 17k.
Click to expand...

This seems like a good deal. How good is Linux compatibility and driver support?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
bssunilreddy

bssunilreddy

Chosen of the Omnissiah
Acer Nitro 5 Spin Core i5 8th Gen - (8 GB/1 TB HDD/Windows 10 Home/4 GB Graphics) NP515-51 Laptop Rs.69990 Price in India - Buy Acer Nitro 5 Spin Core i5 8th Gen - (8 GB/1 TB HDD/Windows 10 Home/4 GB Graphics) NP515-51 Laptop Black Online - Acer : Flipkart.com
 
OP
Shah

Shah

Cyborg Agent
bssunilreddy said:
Acer Nitro 5 Spin Core i5 8th Gen - (8 GB/1 TB HDD/Windows 10 Home/4 GB Graphics) NP515-51 Laptop Rs.69990 Price in India - Buy Acer Nitro 5 Spin Core i5 8th Gen - (8 GB/1 TB HDD/Windows 10 Home/4 GB Graphics) NP515-51 Laptop Black Online - Acer : Flipkart.com
Click to expand...

A 15.6", 2.3kg gaming laptop with a HDD and a dedicated GPU and a cramped keyboard with a numpad? Thanks for sharing the link, I'll stay away from buying that.
 
OP
Shah

Shah

Cyborg Agent
Have finalized on getting UX430UA with 512GB SSD. However only Metal Blue colour is available on Flipkart. Where can I find the Quartz Grey variant?
 
OP
Shah

Shah

Cyborg Agent
Just an update.

Grey wasn't available in local stores. Also, it seems that the RAM is not upgradeable. So thought of buying the 16GB RAM variant. However, Only 8GB variant of UX430 is available in India it seems (at least that's what the local dealers said).

A local dealer instead suggested UX370UA, however it costs 133k.

Got a quote for XPS 13 9370 (i7/FHD/16GB RAM/512GB SSD) from Dell. The asking price is 142k.

Anyhow, It seems that I have to increase the budget.

I am postponing the purchase until WWDC. If Apple announces a new Air/Pro with Retina display and without Butterfly keyboard, I'll be getting that. Otherwise will choose between UX430UA/UX370UA, MBP2015 and XPS 13-9370.
 
omega44-xt

omega44-xt

Gear up ...
The i7 8550U is just for getting more profits. An i5 8250U is enough for ultrabooks. Without throttling it can match i5 7300HQ, which is a lot of performance.

Again I don't know what you would be doing with 16GB RAM on an ultrabook. I ran Matlab & kept few tabs on chrome on my father's Dell XPS 13 (i5 8250U/8GB RAM) & it was running fine, as expected. 8GB RAM is good enough for normal tasks. Most ultrabooks have soldered RAM to reduce thickness (maybe?).

Don't see the RAM of phones, 6GB is overkill for phones. Even now 2GB RAM phones run fine, but I will consider it as the bare minimum.
 
OP
Shah

Shah

Cyborg Agent
anupam_pb said:
The i7 8550U is just for getting more profits. An i5 8250U is enough for ultrabooks. Without throttling it can match i5 7300HQ, which is a lot of performance.

Again I don't know what you would be doing with 16GB RAM on an ultrabook. I ran Matlab & kept few tabs on chrome on my father's Dell XPS 13 (i5 8250U/8GB RAM) & it was running fine, as expected. 8GB RAM is good enough for normal tasks. Most ultrabooks have soldered RAM to reduce thickness (maybe?).

Don't see the RAM of phones, 6GB is overkill for phones. Even now 2GB RAM phones run fine, but I will consider it as the bare minimum.
Click to expand...

I am looking for an i5 8th gen too. However, 16GB RAM options are available in only with i7. That's the case with both Asus and Dell.

I plan to keep the ultrabook for 3 to 5 years before upgrading or replacing it. So, I am somewhat skeptical about non-upgradeable soldered RAM. That's why I am trying get the RAM maxed out. Extra RAM never hurts. Otherwise I am fine 8GB of RAM.

Anyway, UX370UA is a 2-in-1. So I am excluding that. Also, XPS 13, for the specs they gave me a quote for, seems a bit overpowered for me and way above my budget. So most likely I'll skip this one too.

UX430UA (i5-8250U/512GB SSD/8GB RAM) is what I have in mind right now. I will wait till WWDC keynote and then buy it.
 
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