Yeah, we may headed to a post-PC existence—but we ain't there yet. The rise to prominence of Ultrabooks, though, brings the modern laptop closer to a tablet experience than a desktop. Their speed, portability, and tiny-but-not-a-piece-of-crap-netbook-ness have made them popular, but which is the one to own?
While 2011 saw the first wave of Ultrabooks hit, it's still a class very much trying to find its footing. We rounded up the most notable ultraportables available to pin down which are worth your time, and which aren't. And keep in mind that, for now at least, "Ultrabooks" still (frustratingly) refers to specific models from specific manufacturers in cahoots with Intel, even if the machines are philosophically near-identical to those not included, like the MacBook Air or Vaio Z.
We took into account performance, build quality, usability, battery life, and the general je ne sais quoi of using the laptop as an everyday machine. The SKUs on the models tested didn't quite match up, but except for a few explicitly denoted instances, performance and specs weren't major differentiating factors in the experience. So yeah, we ran benchmarks and battery tests, but just as important—or more, even—was which were a delight to use, and which tempted us to smash them into tiny silicon bits. Here's how they shook out:
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