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If you are trying to get a laptop/notebook this year, you may have come across the buzz word, Intel Ultrabook. While the buzz word is not entirely new (it was announced at Computex in 2011), it has become more mainstream as OEM manufacturers such as Dell, HP, Samsung, Asus, Acer are producing more and more Ultrabook models.

So what is an Ultrabook? An Ultrabook is a set of laptop/notebook specifications set by Intel to the OEM manufacturers to follow and if they adhere to these set of specifications, their product can be classify as an Ultrabook. It is essentially a sub-category of laptop/notebook.

When I first joined mig33 back on 1st February 2010, I got a brand new MacBook Pro 15″ (Mid 2009) running on Intel Core 2 Duo (2.66 GHz) and with 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM. Over the years, my MacBook Pro became slower and slower as applications get more and more intensive and OS gets more and more resource demanding.

I made a couple of “complains” to my immediate supervisor and eventually he approved my Purchase Order (PO) to get a new MacBook.

Got a chance to played with the Alienware M14X and my very first impression when I carried it home is it was so heavy (2.9kg)! But hey, it is Alienware, they make good gaming laptops which is not meant to be light in the first place.

The base model starts at S$1,899 with the following specifications:

Had a chance to play with the HP Folio 13 for about a week and it was my first time playing with a Windows-based UltraBook. And I was pretty impressed. Normally when I get friends or family members who asked me to recommend an alternative to MacBook Air for Windows, I would always just ask them to buy MacBook Air and install Windows in it via BootCamp

But now, I have an alternative UltraBook to recommend to them which is the HP Folio 13. It is retailing for S$1,499 which is pretty affordable and very competitive to the 13″ MacBook Air which similar specifications is retailing for S$1,688.

I got my Timbuk2 bags when I was in San Francisco last December. One of my readers wrote in and asked a couple of questions regarding the Timbuk2 Q Backpack 2011. So I thought instead of replying him via email, I might as well share it with other readers whom might find it useful as well.

I bought the Timbuk2 Q Backpack 2011 (420d nylon gunmetal/blue/black) for US$99 which after 8.75% California after tax comes up to US$107.66 (S$134.18).

Got the Bluelounge SpaceStation from Design Museum Shop located at Red Dot Traffic for S$127.35. I have not seen the SpaceStation sold elsewhere yet, if I do come across, I will update this post accordingly.

This SpaceStation should complete my Bluelounge collection for the time being. I ordered Bluelounge MiniDock and Bluelounge Extra Connectors online and still waiting for it to arrive sometime in mid September. I have yet to order Bluelounge Kicks as I want to wait for my previous shipment to come first before deciding to order again.

The Bluelounge Notebook Kit can be bought from Design Museum Shop located at Red Dot Traffic for S$31.05.

I also saw the Notebook Kit being sold at EpiCentre at Ion Orchard for S$39 (after 10% member’s discount is S$35.10) which is slightly more expensive than Design Museum Shop. Challenger at IMM on the other hand is selling for S$29 (after 10% member’s discount is S$26.10) which is the cheapest among the three shops.

I did not see the Bluelounge Cool Feet selling in Singapore as well until yesterday at Challenger at IMM, mine was also part of the Bluelounge Notebook Kit which I got it at Design Museum Shop for S$31.05.

I saw the Cool Feet being sold at Challenger at IMM for S$18.90 (after 10% member’s discount is S$17.01). Head down there if you want to get the Cool Feet as a standalone product.

Apple’s MacBook Pro has been refreshed, bumping up the speed and processor while the unibody design remains the same.

Here is what’s new in a nutshell: