Following up our story last night which looked at the similarity between the Gigabyte X11 and the Mouse Computers Luvbook X, the Gigabyte X11 has finally been revealed as an Ivy Bridge Ultrabook. At 973gm it beast the Luvbook X11 that we still think it is based on by just 5gm.  There doesn’t seem to be uch in the way of specifications yet so we wonder if this information is leaked or from a press release.

The processor on the Gigabyte X11 will be revealed in run-up to Computex (3rd or 5th June we hear) but you can expect the Core i5-3317U to be in the line-up somewhere; it appears to be the mainstream choice when it comes to 2nd-Gen Ultrabooks.

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Yesterday we saw the first review of the next-gen Asus Zenbooks. The Zenbook Prime UX31A impressed Laptop and impressed us too with a great set of improvements that brings the Zenbook Prime right up into near-perfect Ultrabook territory. Today we’ve got Anandtech giving us a similar story about the 11.6” ASUS Zenbook UX21A.

If you have any interest at all in Ultrabooks or ultrathins or even netbook-sized devices, read this review…

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Leaked all the way back in February, the Zenbook refresh news was exciting for many. Full HD displays and a backlit keyboard sounded like the perfect way to improve the popular ASUS Zenbook Ultrabook. At that point we didn’t know if it was going to be a refresh that included the CPU too. Ivy Bridge confirmation followed-up in March and the real deal, the ASUS Zenbook Prime, was seen for the first time in May. Laptopmag.com have now come through with a review of the Zenbook Prime UX31A, and it’s positive.

There’s lots of new info here so lets take a closer look.

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Lately we’ve been getting asked, “should I buy an Ultrabook now or wait for Ivy Bridge?”. Here I’d like to give my recommendation to help out those who might be ready to pull the trigger on an Ultrabook purchase.

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A lot has been said about Ivy Bridge, the 3rd generation Intel Core compute platform and the platform that will go into the 2nd Generation of Ultrabooks. Although the CPU core remains largely the same as in the ‘Sandy Bridge’ platform, it’s going to be manufactured with the next generation process at 22nm. That means lower power usage and more space for other goodness on the die and that’s exactly what Intel have done. They’ve taken the opportunity to vastly improve the graphics and media subsystem. You’ll hear about ‘70%’ improvements on the GPU which relates to gaming graphics. Early tests have shown that where modern game frame-rates were in the 10-20fps range, they may now reach above the all-important 30fps figure and include DirectX11 support which brings the Ultrabook right into mainstream gaming. In this article though I want to talk about the other features on the GPU that relate to media. For many people they may be more important than 3D gaming frame rates.

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The X1 is probably the most referenced laptop by commenters on Ultrabook News so I’m sure many of you will be excited to know that it’s being updated and will be offered, alongside the original X1, as the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon. This isn’t just an Ivy Bridge CPU/GPU update, it’s a full re-work that brings it down to under 3lbs in weight. That’s about 1.35 KG, for a 14” Ultrabook.

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Acer just ‘launched’ (how many launches does it take to get a device to market these days!) the Acer S5 Ultrabook in the UAE.  The 15mm thick Ultrabook with the cool Magic Flip motorized port panel is said to be the thinnest yet. The 1.3KG (under 3lb) Ultrabook will cost, at launch in Dubai, Dh4,999.  We assume that’s a zero sales-tax price which equates to $1361 at todays rates.

Acer S5 Product page.

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The Envy Spectre XT Ultrabook has just been officially unveiled by HP as a refresh of the previous Envy Spectre. The new Spectre XT Ultrabook represents HP’s top of the line Ultrabook offering Intel’s latest third-generation Ivy Bridge CPU with HD4000 graphics and a full range of ports. At just 14.55mm thick and 1.39kg, the Spectre XT can manage up to 8 hours of battery life, according to HP. Step inside for a rundown of features, a gallery of photos, and a hands-on video.

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