I was looking around online for cheap ultrabooks. Originally I was looking on ebay, but I honestly didn’t want to chance a scuffed screen so I searched around the tek forums and came across the Entroware Apollo 13.3" Ultrabook.
It seems like a really good value, on par with the cheaper zenbooks like the UX305 but I continued my search. I later stumbled across Scan’s 3XS systems and their own ultrabook the Graphite LG13.
Comparing the two Ultrabooks, I noticed they were exactly the same (not taking custom specs into consteration and the obvious colour changes) but the chasis is the same and so is the configurable specs… I then noticed that another store is selling the same model! PCspecialist sells the same ultrabook, the 13.3" Lafité II as they call it.
Just was wondering if anybody else picked up on this? Must be a generic part model that vendors buy?
Anyways, I’ve got money to burn on one and I’ll be putting my own NVME SSD onto one without windows… Think it’s a good buy for the £500-600 mark? Just looking for a decent screen, battery life and portabillity because I already have a “decent” desktop at home and planning to sell my old alienware m11xr3.
Any thoughts about this?
yeah, even Pueget systems (spelling?) has there own ultra book which I am sure you can find elsewhere
or get an older thinkpad carbon used with an i7 and 8gb of ram
Yup, can find it in a few other vendors. Pretty much a question now on which one offers the longest warranty...
warranties usually mean nothing to me since I am the biggest danger to my hardware and that sort of thing isn't covered.
Anything with a longer warranty is that companies value add to the laptop but at what cost to you?
I am a big proponent of used hardware (looks around room)
Yeah, the resolution of the older ones puts me off, never played with 1600x900 before, anyways, how's the battery life on the carbons? Any good? Thinkpads are praised on this forum, I'm guessing for good reason
i have the 14' model with the touch top row keys. it comes with a 1440p display so im pretty happy with it.
on battery saver mode it lasts me all day on one charge. i run win10. normally 6-9 hrs; 9 hrs just browsing the web or simple programs. if you are watching videos or youtube it will be more like 4-6. again counting on resolution and power consumed. i code on mine so out 6-8 for typing constantly. video's burn through battery. however i take it on many flights and never charge it all day until i get to the hotel. the 2014 model has fast charge; so in 30 mins you are @ 80% charge. i will never get a laptop again without fast charge.
i would only get warranty on a new laptop. most parts after 2-3 years are dirt cheap if you have a common PC. (thanks ebay/amazon)
If you don't mind me asking what did you end up with?
I've been looking into the Apollo but after seeing the Scan one in black I like that a lot more.
I know Entroware had to iron out some firmware issues with the ODM to get fan issues fixed under Linux which makes me wonder if that is something that will only be sorted on Entroware's version.
Either way I am in the market for a decent Linux ultrabook so it would be good to hear how you got on!
Hey there man, sorry I'm a bit late, in the end I went with the lenovo carbon x1 gen 3.
Works perfectly out of the box with linux mint with basically support for everything even the finger print reader. The only downsides to it are the fan seem to ramp up due to poor intel power management on linux but I use TLP to adjust it.
I managed to find one new without a box for £650 on ebay. I can reccomend it for linux no doubt but the Apollo sounds like a cracking deal to me and I've heard it's support for Linux is top notch which is the same for the rest of the copies. And if entroware had to fix the issues then I would go with that as the other vendors might have older stock which may have not had the firmware fixes.
Hope this helps!
Definitely helps. Thanks :)