HP is reportedly ready to ship its MacBook Air competitor, the HP Ultrabook. After last month’s D9 conference where CEO Leo Apotheker confirmed “there’s a whole new product refresh coming out”, anticipation for an ultra-slim HP laptop is at an all-time high. DigiTimes corroborated the story today by confirming two or more Ultrabooks are ready to ship. Can HP actually compete with the Acer UX21 and MacBook Air?
The world of ultra-slim laptops has eluded HP’s product portfolio as of late. Brooke Crothers of Cnet noted the closest HP has ever gotten to an Ultrabook in recent years is the 0.8-inch Envy 13 which was discontinued. The HP Ultrabook will match the thickness of the Envy 13, compared to the 0.68 inches of the MacBook Air or 0.67 inches of the Acer UX21. If thickness alone determined a great product the Ultrabook would fall short. Thankfully this is only one facet of a great ultra portable.
Using power-efficient Intel Core i7 Sandy Bridge processors, HP has outsourced Foxconn Electronics, the same company behind Apple’s production. We’re well aware that Apple’s upcoming MacBook Air refresh will also include these chips, but remain uncertain over who will offer the faster clock speed. What we do know is that HP is targeting a price at less than £635 ($1,000 USD) for systems shipping this year.
At the end of the day the HP Ultrabook will be slightly thicker than the competition. Internal components will be nearly identical and ultimately the decision to choose between the Acer UX21 and HP Ultrabook may very well come down to who launches first. Acer has said it plans to release the UX21 by September of 2011. Meanwhile Apple is expected to launch its updated MacBook Air later this week.
If HP hopes to capture the interest of the Windows 7 crowd it will need to accomplish two goals. First, the pricing must be right on target. And second, HP must release the Ultrabook within the next 30 days. Microsoft’s free Xbox 360 when purchasing a PC for college promotion will be a huge advantage for the ultra portable. Particularly when considering Apple is only offering a gift card for its App Stores.
Now that we’ve broken down what it will take for HP to compete with the MacBook Air and Acer UX21, we’d like to hear from you. What will it take for you to consider the Ultrabook over its competitors? Can specs alone win your business or will HP need to add some icing on the cake to garner your interest?
