Holiday Windows Shopping Guide

Holiday Windows Shopping Guide

We received an e-mail from a reader who’s thinking of investing in the Windows ecosystem for his devices. It’s actually much easier to recommend stuff like this given the vast improvements we’ve seen in the Windows operating system as well as the hardware products shipped by different companies. There are so many choices available that satisfy both form and function for different kinds of people based on their needs.

Anyway, for the young professional (with a good budget, haha) here’s what we recommend:

LAPTOP: ASUS ZENBOOK UX31

The Asus Zenbook UX31
Amongst all the Ultrabooks launched this year the Asus Zenbook UX31 is probably our primary pick. The 13.3” display (1600×900 pixels) is just enough for any type of work that you want to do. We found the 11.6” models a bit lacking in screen real estate. In terms of power the Asus Zenbook UX31 is also packs muscle. It runs on an Intel Core i5 1.7GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, and 128GB SSD. It also has all the ports you need including HDMI and USB 3.0. As a bonus it also has Bang & Olufsen Speakers.

With battery life of around 7 hours you can bring this laptop with you the whole day without looking for a charge unless you’re a power user. That means freedom from bringing bulky power adaptors and cables!

The Asus Zenbook UX31 sells for Php59,995. If you’re not a fan of Asus you might also want to check out other Ultrabooks like the Lenovo IdeaPad U300, Toshiba Protégé Z830, or the Acer Aspire S3.

SMARTPHONE: NOKIA LUMIA 800

The Lumia 800

There are several Windows based smartphones in the market already like the HTC Mozart but we strongly recommend that you guys wait until the Nokia Lumia 800 is available. I heard that it launched in Taiwan recently so it’s only a matter of time before we see units here in the Philippines. We say this because we’ve never seen anything as beautiful as the Nokia Lumia 800 in terms of hardware. Pair that with the new Windows Mango OS and you have a winner.

The Nokia Lumia 800 has almost the same hardware as the Nokia N9 except that it has a smaller screen at 3.7” versus the Nokia N9’s 3.9”. It got a bump though inside. The Nokia Lumia 800 runs on a 1.4GHz CPU and 768MB RAM making applications faster and smoother.

If you can’t wait for the Lumia 800, you might want to check out the newly released HTC Radar.

ACCESSORIES: TOUCH MOUSE

If by any chance you still have budget then you might want to include the Microsoft Touch Mouse in your budget as well. Unlike other mice, this supports multi-touch gestures. Note that this works only on the Windows 7 OS. It sells for Php3,990.

BAG: T-TECH CIVILIAN RYANS SLIM LAPTOP CROSSBODY BAG

And last, but not the least, you need a bag. We recently featured a very nice one here at Unbox from Tumi called the T-Tech Civilian Ryans Slim Laptop Crossbody Bag. This will definitely go well with your Asus Ultrabook UX31, Nokia Lumia 800, and Touch Mouse. This one sells for Php 9,590 and is available at Travel Club.

I’m really looking forward to the development of the Windows ecosystem. It’s not enough anymore to just have one device running your software. You need a lot so that you have one seamless and integrated experience. Hopefully we’ll see this come alive even more in the next wave of products for 2012!

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