Windows 8 has had mixed reviews, but I think most of the complaints I have seen were not about it being broken, but the way that they changed the interface. Chessbase says it runs on Windows 8 so that should be fine. The system is definitely powerful enough to do chess work with the i7 and memory.

I am thinking of buying a kind of ultrabook only for studying chess and playing against computer, net and travel, but I would like to listen from the ones who have experience with these machines or your views and possible other choices. 
I found one: Lenovo IdeaPad Ioga
                   Intel core i7-3517U 2Ghz
                   RAM - 8 GB
                   Disk - 256 GB
                   SSD
                   Screen LCD 13.3" , touchscreen
                   1,2 Kg
                Windows 8 (I have no experience with it)
                HD graphics 4000
                Batery - 8h

Is windows 8 a good choice? I have no experience with it. I would like to install maybe Deep Fritz 13 for playing and Chessbase 12 both by download. Is 13.3" screen enough for Chessbase 12? This ultrabook good point is that it is possible to turn into a tablet with touchscreen wich is very nice for playing and easy to travel.       

BUMP

I have 50,000 yen  max (= 638 dollars = 508 euros) of company money to spend on a new laptop. As my desk is empty. Mainly use for work of course (just internet access, writing articles, writing student materials - very basic usage) but also wish it to be used for Chessbase and Rybka on the move.

Any suggestions re: netbooks, laptops, tablets?

Best value at the moment? Suggestions?

Know there are plenty of very knowledgeable IT folks here, wondering if I may pick your brains a little. Thanks if you my be able to offer suggestions. *Bow*, thank you in advance.

Perhaps quick preparation for a train ride, with the database, probably only minimal engine analyses would be required. I am not sure what the original post wants, but not everyone has a desktop, and some, like me, prefer to only have one laptop as their only computer. I have not had a personal desktop since probably 1995, and that was without internet

For travel issues, probably 28-33 cm laptops I would choose, and lightweight, less than 3 kg. My current laptop feels quite heavy, probably requires a weightlifter to carry this around for hours with no rucksack.

The obvious question is, what do you want to do with your laptop? Serious chess analysis makes extreme demands on any processors devoted to it. I have eight core on my desktop machine, and when it's calculating, all the cores peg at 100% and the fans are so active that it's a bit like sitting next to a turboprop. I don't think that that kind of computation can be done on any existing factory laptop.

Does anyone really need to do that kind of computation on the road? If so the way to do it is to ssh to your home machine, not try to do it on a laptop.

buddho wrote on 05/24/12 at 17:14:10:


You can see speeds here http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

I second the recommendation to wait for Ivy Bridge processors, which are due next month.  Don't know what price range you are looking at, but there are a bunch of "Ultrabooks" (a marketing term, really, since there are no standards as to what constitutes one) designed to compete with the MacBook Air (but, like the Air, they ain't cheap, but sure are s-w-e-e-t  ).

I don't travel much with my laptop, so I was recently looking at a souped-up HP dv6t Quad Edition [6lbs+/-] (you can scope the 'Net and get 33% discount codes that seem to actually work!), before deciding to just replace my HDD on my Dell (and maybe adding more RAM) and waiting another few years before I cough up the real bucks for a new laptop in the hopes that, by that time, SSD prices will have come down even more than they already have and I can switch to a lightweight ultrabook from a 5/6 lbs. notebook.

Here's a sample of what an Ultrabook looks like:
http://blog.laptopmag.com/hp-debuts-13-inch-envy-spectre-xt-ultrabook-available-...

I have no idea anything about computers, but my laptop is about six years old, so I need a new one. When I get a new laptop I would plan to get Chessbase, which I have not had for years (I only use Chessbase Light 2009 right now). Would a 30 cm width 20 cm length laptop be good for viewing Chessbase?