Ultrabook for mum - good looking, thin, light, SSD for £600...?

blizeH

Optimistic I know, but I'm after a laptop for mum that ideally:

1) Has Windows 8
2) Looks nice, and is thin/light
3) Has a really good keyboard and trackpad
4) Decent specs, ie i5 or above, SSD would be amazing

Is there anything out there that meets the criteria for £600? I'm not OVERLY fussed on the specs, more the actual form factor, but an SSD and Windows 8 would be amazing.

The closest I've found so far is the Samsung 5 series which looks great, and apparently has a really good trackpad, but no SSD, and no Windows 8. Apparently the screen is below average too.

Thanks

mr_fishbulb

blizeH wrote: »

Ultrabook for mum - good looking, thin...

Sounds like a good swap

gonzo127

not being funny, but just a quick cursury glance at the dreaded PC World website shows 4 potential ultrabooks to look at under budget, all with windows 8 and all with some sort of 'OS speed up' technology in either a SSD or a cache, and a slower data drive

Cisco001

How about toshiba?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009HQ6SUO/ref=asc_df_B009HQ6SUO10501841?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&!!!!!googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B009HQ6SUO

Acer S3 - This seems good value for money. But the battery life is a bit short.
http://www.simplyacer.com/Acer_Aspire_S3-391_Ultrabook_1203452.html
http://www.simplyacer.com/Acer_Aspire_S3-391_Ultrabook_1203451.html

By the way, Asus S200 caught my attention during the search
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/asus-s200e-c158h-11-6-touchscreen-laptop-dark-grey-18893085-pdt.html

jackieblack

Cisco001 wrote: »

Asus S200 caught my attention during the search
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/asus-s200e-c158h-11-6-touchscreen-laptop-dark-grey-18893085-pdt.html

I've been looking at this but no sign of it being in stock anywhere, in-store or on-line

blizeH

Thanks gonzo, I did look at those, but to me (being picky)

HP - i3, looks to be awful plasticy build quality, quite heavy and bulky
Samsung - i3 again, though probably my favourite on there by far
Toshiba - quite weighty and bulky, looks horrific
Lenovo - i3, the blue case looks awful

I know I'm being fussy, but none of them are ideal unfortunately

blizeH

I love that Acer - and a fantastic price too! No Windows 8 but that can be easily upgraded if needed, to be honest it might be nice for her to have the option.

My only concern about Acer is a lot of people say the build quality isn't up to scratch, not sure if that's still the case though

The Asus... other than the screen size and lack of SSD, looks absolutely perfect! Though I think she'd prefer to have 2" less and have a touch screen, especially with Windows 8. I'll keep an eye on that, hopefully it comes back into stock

Toxteth_OGrady

Just bought an Acer netbook - build quality is excellent.

blizeH

Ah, that's good to know, thank you! An Acer is very tempting I must say

Cisco001

blizeH wrote: »

Lenovo - i3, the blue case looks awful

They have red and grey
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/gbweb/LenovoPortal/en_GB/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=FD6DB49790C7411D933567FC361231FB&current-category-id=30B029355DE401273E507312EE07809E&action=init#.UJ0ygWfHgrA

Cisco001

blizeH wrote: »

I love that Acer - and a fantastic price too! No Windows 8 but that can be easily upgraded if needed, to be honest it might be nice for her to have the option.

My only concern about Acer is a lot of people say the build quality isn't up to scratch, not sure if that's still the case though

The Asus... other than the screen size and lack of SSD, looks absolutely perfect! Though I think she'd prefer to have 2" less and have a touch screen, especially with Windows 8. I'll keep an eye on that, hopefully it comes back into stock

Just to warn you, Acer has only 2.5 hrs battery life. While toshiba has 6hr, lenovo has 9hrs