Perhaps an alternative to the IB/Z

[Louche]

ASUS Unveils 1080p, Ivy Bridge-Powered Zenbook Prime UX31A and UX21A

[chfshifter]

It really is getting harder and harder to justify the Z's price tag given other ultrabooks are catching up so fast...

[McMagnus]

Not an alternative if you need a fast CPU. The Zenbook Prime will use ULV CPUs. And I'm sure Sony is quite aware that competitors are getting close to where they were 2 years ago.

[baronng]

It really is getting harder and harder to justify the Z's price tag given other ultrabooks are catching up so fast...

I think Z3 will be cheaper!!

[Sick Nick]

We still have 3 external monitors using the PMD, double the battery lifetime with the sheet battery, 3G, Fingerprintreader with TPM and less weight. So it still is the king of ultraportables!

[Achusaysblessyou]

Here's hoping Sony lowers their price

[Steve78]

It really is getting harder and harder to justify the Z's price tag given other ultrabooks are catching up so fast...

Very hard to justify it these days.

Samsung Series 9 900X3B review - Laptop - Trusted Reviews

That Samsung is half the cost of my 2010 Z series. Sony would be doing well to get on par with that machine, but to charge around £2000 for the next Z, just how can it be justified? It can't, can it?

I don't do anything that CPU intensive, so a 'full monty' i5 & i7 just isn't a requirement any more.

[pyr0]

I don't do anything that CPU intensive, so a 'full monty' i5 & i7 just isn't a requirement any more.

If a ULV SB/IB processor can turboboost to the max in the given chassis, it performs roughly in the range of a full-voltage arrandale CPU. Depending on the application, of course.

[Trabireiter]

in theory, yes

but the cooling system has to be able to sustain full turbo clock under load. Also heavy graphics and cpu load might push the TDP too much for turbo boost to be activated

[lovelaptops]

If a ULV SB/IB processor can turboboost to the max in the given chassis, it performs roughly in the range of a full-voltage arrandale CPU. Depending on the application, of course.

This begs the question: do "average" users need any more CPU performance than that? On which applications would one notice the lack of cpu performance from a ULV IB cpu vs. a SV? Of course, the HD 4000, even at lower clock rates, would outperform an SB with HD3000, yes?