For those in the market for an Ultrabook—thin, light, MacBook Air-like laptops that Intel hopes will stimulate the PC market—early offerings have left much to be desired. The likes of Samsung, Asus, Acer, Lenovo, and Toshiba have all tried, and while many of their attempts do have points in their favor, they've so far failed to live up to Apple's benchmark.

For example, the Asus Zenbook has generally appealing aesthetics (though marred by some astonishingly tacky lapses), the option of a 1600×900 screen, and good pricing. Sadly, the machine is let down by sloppy build quality, and was holed below the waterline by a trackpad that was atrocious at launch.

Acer's Aspire S3 is a more even machine—no major flaws, but no standout features either. Acer has, like many other Ultrabook vendors, skimped on the screen resolution (1366×768 may be widespread, but that doesn't make it good), and the industrial design of the machine is poor, with inane embellishments, poor port placement, weak battery life, and an overwhelming aura of plastic-ness.

The pattern is repeated across the range of Ultrabooks on the market. For everything they get right—design, screen resolution, keyboard or trackpad quality—they get something else wrong—price, screen quality, keyboard or trackpad quality.

So we look forward to CES this week with some trepidation. New Ultrabook models will be thick on the ground; the show's organizers, the Consumer Electronics Assocation, claims that between 30 and 50 Ultrabook models will be launched. Included in this number should be the first Ultrabook offerings from Fujitsu and Dell, along with new models from HP and Lenovo.

Many of the machines will be "second generation" Ultrabooks, using Intel's forthcoming Ivy Bridge processors. At least one, from Lenovo, will include an optional Thunderbolt connector. Manufacturers will probably have at least one eye on Windows 8, too, so we might even expect to see some touchscreen Ultrabooks—Intel's Ultrabook plan does include touchscreen machines some time this year.

The big question we're asking is: will these new systems hit the mark any better than the first batch?

We certainly hope so. The most frustrating feature of the current Ultrabooks is that for the most part, they're not that far off the mark. The PC OEMs have got all the "Ultrabook" bits right. The higher degree of system integration, the use of custom batteries to maximize the use of space, a greater abundance of all-metal designs: these were the hard parts of the Ultrabook transition, the parts that required a new approach to system building, and they're parts that the PC builders have managed to pull off. It's the bread and butter "laptop" bits that have been the problem.

My kingdom for a quality keyboard



The biggest, most consistent, and most inexcusable flaw is with the human I/O devices: screen, trackpad, and keyboard. These are far and away the most important parts of any laptop, because they're the parts that you use every time you use the machine, and yet they're the source of so many problems. The Asus Zenbook is particularly notable here: an otherwise strong machine was initially rendered almost unusable by its trackpad (though later driver updates have improved the pointing device somewhat).

What makes these problems particularly surprising is that they're so obvious. Every designer, engineer, and salesperson to have used the Zenbook's trackpad must have known that it was lousy, but Asus decided to ship it anyway. That kind of decision might be overlooked on a $300 netbook, but for an Ultrabook starting at about $1,000, it's beyond the pale.

Asus may have saved a few dollars by using the trackpad it used (the device has little virtue as a pointer, so one can only assume that it was cheap), but in so doing has forfeit glowing reviews and the sales that would follow from a well-received product. Using better components—better screens, better trackpads, better keyboards—might push up the bill of materials a little, but reviewers and buyers alike will notice the difference. With the coming flood of Ultrabooks, standing out from the crowd will matter.

Above all else, then, we want to see some Ultrabooks with keyboards that are comfortable to type on—no mushy keys, no flexing. We want screens that are at least 1440×900 on 13" models, with blacks that are black and decent viewing angles. We want trackpads that actually work. Slap it all in an attractive package and you've got a winning Ultrabook.

The pieces are all there. Sony and Samsung both have the screen quality. Sony and Asus both manage good screen resolutions. Samsung manages good keyboards and trackpads. Lenovo's IdeaPad U300s and Sony's VAIO Z both have the design credentials (if you prefer a metal aesthetic, Samsung and Asus have both done creditable jobs).

Ahead of CES we do know a few things that will be shown off next week. Lenovo has jumped the gun and released details of a bunch of new laptops, three of which are, to a greater or lesser extent, Ultrabook-esque; the ThinkPad T430u, the ThinkPad Edge S430 and the ThinkPad X1 Hybrid. The machines look promising; Lenovo has traditionally shipped decent keyboards and trackpads that are at least tolerable, and though conservative, the black ThinkPad designs have a certain kind of charm. Unfortunately, only the S430 appears to have the option of a screen resolution better than 1366×768.

HP has released a teaser video for a laptop known as Spectre. Next to nothing is known about the system, but the prevailing wisdom is that it will be a 14" Ultrabook.

The S430 and T430u systems are also 14". This larger size threatens to put all three machines into "conventional laptop" territory, as it pushes up the size of the machine (though narrow bezels on the display can mitigate that somewhat) and increases the weight. The loss of portability might be acceptable if the machines were paired with, say, higher resolution screens, but for one of the Lenovos, at least, that won't be an option.

Optimism



The first generation of Ultrabooks has been a mixed bag. On the one hand, it has shown that PC companies can build good-looking Ultrabook-class machines. On the other, there's still no real challenger to the MacBook Air.

But we're optimistic. Flaws are not insurmountable; a little more care and attention, and some smarter component choices, and they can be solved. With dozens of new Ultrabooks about to be unveiled, we have our fingers crossed that at least some of them will tick all the right boxes.