Andrei Girbea, author at Ultrabookreview.com

Andrei Girbea

Andrei Girbea is a Writer and Editor-in-Chief here at Ultrabookreview.com. I write about mobile technology, laptops and computers in general. I've been doing it for more than 15 years now. I'm a techie with a Bachelor's in Computer Engineering. I mostly write reviews and thorough guides here on the site, with some occasional columns and first-impression articles.

  • Andrei Girbea - January 27, 2023

    The ZenBook S Flip UX371 is the premium 2-in-1 convertible offered by ASUS in stores as of late-2020, and their first ultrabook certified as an Intel Evo platform. Only the highest-tier of portable laptops built on Intel Tiger Lake hardware get the Evo badge,...

  • Andrei Girbea - December 12, 2022

    I finally got to use the Lenovo Ideapad Slim 7 for a while, and gathered my thoughts on it in this article. Lenovo also sell this as the Yoga Slim 7 in some markets, but it’s the same product, so I’ll refer it as...

  • Andrei Girbea - March 30, 2023

    Earlier in the year, MSI announced their updated GE66 Raider 15-inch performance laptop, and I’ve been impatiently waiting to get my hands on it for many months now. This GE66 Raider had big shoes to fill-up, following on the competent GE65 Raider model from...

  • Andrei Girbea - November 4, 2022

    Asus have recently revamped their entire lineups of ZenBook ultrabooks, and while I’ve tested most of their clamshell models in recent months, I was yet to touch their updated 2-in-1 convertible models till now. Not anymore, though, this article is our detailed review of...

  • Andrei Girbea - January 27, 2023

    After reviewing the highly-competitive AMD Ryzen based versions of the IdeaPad 5 and Slim 7 earlier this year, we’ve finally got our hands on the ThinkPad T14s business ultrabook based on AMD’s Ryzen Pro hardware series, the 2020 follow-up of the popular ThinkPad T490s...

  • Andrei Girbea - July 18, 2023

    Chuwi, a smaller company specialized in offering affordable computing options, have recently announced the launch of their latest 10-inch Windows tablet, the H10 XR. This is based on an Intel Gemini Lake R hardware platform, namely the Intel Celeron N4120 processor with 4Cores, 4...

  • Andrei Girbea - September 18, 2021

    Earlier this year I’ve reviewed the 13-inch Swift 3 ultraportable with Intel IceLake hardware, an interesting and fairly affordable portable laptop with a productivity-focused 3:2 display. Several months later, Acer updated the series with the newer Intel Tiger Lake hardware, updated the thermal design...

  • Andrei Girbea - January 27, 2023

    Nitros are Acer’s entry-level performance laptops, devices meant to offer the best specs, performance and features for as little money as possible. However, Acer offers two Nitro versions, the all-plastic Nitro 5 which we’ve reviewed a while ago, and the more premium Nitro 7,...

  • Andrei Girbea - April 7, 2021

    Chuwi, a company specialized in offering affordable computing options, will be holding their periodical Brand Fest sale-event on Aliexpress on September 15th and 16th 2020. That means most of their products will be available at up to 40% OFF, including their most recent launches...

  • Andrei Girbea - May 20, 2022

    After dabbling with the dual-screen design in the ZenBook Pro Duo last year, Asus are finally updating their standard all-round ZenBook Pro 15 lineup that has been neglected over the last year. As of late-2020, the ZenBook Pro UX535 is their latest model in...

  • Andrei Girbea - September 18, 2021

    The late-2020 ZenBook lineup looks like a solid leap in the right direction for Asus, and a step-up from the mid-2020 ZenBook series. This article is all about the ZenBook 14 UX435 series, a quick revamp of the ZenBook 14 UX425 line that we’re...

  • Andrei Girbea - December 20, 2023

    Asus premium-line of ultrabooks hasn’t been updated in more than a year, and that’s changing as of late-2020 with the introduction of two new models: the clamshell ZenBook S UX392 and the convertible ZenBook S Flip UX371. These are not just a hardware update...

  • Andrei Girbea - December 20, 2023

    This is our detailed article of the Asus ROG Strix G15, in the higher-end G512LV configuration with an Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia RTX 2060 graphics, in the updated and overclocked 115W variant. Right now, the Strix G15 is the most affordable ROG...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 17, 2021

    This here is our detailed review of the 2020 update of the Asus VivoBook S15 M533, in the M533IA configuration based on AMD Ryzen 4000 hardware. VivoBooks are Asus’s line of mid-level ultrabooks, the more affordable alternative for their premium ZenBooks. While in the...

  • Andrei Girbea - October 8, 2021

    This here is the Asus ZenBook 14 UM425, in its UM425IA configuration based on the AMD Ryzen + Radeon Vega hardware platform. Right now, this ZenBook is one of the most interesting ultrabooks available for less than 1000 EUR here in Europe (and probably...

  • Andrei Girbea - January 2, 2022

    The Nitro 5s are Acer’s entry-level gaming notebooks, their most affordable options meant for buyers on a budget. However, Acer does offer the Nitro 5s in a multitude of configurations. This article is about the updated 2020 15-inch Nitro 5, code-name Nitro 5 AN515-55,...

  • Andrei Girbea - January 24, 2023

    The MSI Creator 17 is the first notebook to ship with this new generation mini LED IPS display, and I finally got to spend time with it in these last weeks. This is 17-inch mobile workstation built on the latest 2020 Intel and Nvidia...

  • Andrei Girbea - November 18, 2022

    This here is the compact 13-inch ZenBook 13 UX325JA, the mid-2020 update of the popular Asus ZenBook ultrabook series. It’s been slightly redesigned from the previous 13-inch ZenBook UX331 and UX333 models, but more importantly, it features updated hardware (Intel IceLake), updated connectivity with...

  • Andrei Girbea - May 20, 2022

    A few weeks ago Asus quietly introduced their updated 2020 ZenBook lineups, code name ZenBook 14 UX425JA (with a 14-inch screen), and ZenBook 13 UX325JA (with a smaller 13-inch format). I wanted to spend some time with these before sharing my thoughts with you,...

  • Andrei Girbea - September 7, 2021

    I finally got to spend time with the 2020 MSI GS66 Stealth performance ultraportable, and I’ve gathered my thoughts on this product down below, with the solid traits and its quirks. You probably know plenty about it by now, but having reviewed it later...

  • Andrei Girbea - October 5, 2021

    I bought this 14-inch version of the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 about three weeks ago and it took me a little longer to publish my thoughts, and that’s because I wanted to see whether a color-deficient screen is something I can live with or not....

  • Andrei Girbea - November 30, 2020

    I’ve noticed this ZenBook 14 Q407IQ model that’s exclusively available in the US at Best Buy a while ago, and have been meaning to tell you guys about it. Well, this laptop is on sale for $549 right now, down from its normal list...

  • Andrei Girbea - January 27, 2023

    We’ve tested several Huawei laptops over the years and ended up recommending most of them, such as the compact MateBook 13 and the competitively-priced MateBook 15. We’ve never properly tested their flagship MateBook X Pro series, though, until now, when we got to spend...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 9, 2023

    In this article we’re having a look at the 14-inch version of the Lenovo IdeaPad 320S, one of this new breed of portable laptops that put a 14-inch screen inside a smaller 13-inch body. Lenovo plans to offer the IdeaPad 320S line in both a...

  • Andrei Girbea - September 27, 2022

    This here is the 2020 Acer Predator Triton 300, a mid-tier 15-inch gaming ultraportable that slots in between Acer’s Helios and Triton 500 lineups, as a more affordable portable performance laptop. The Triton 300 series was initially unveiled at IFA in the fall of...

  • Andrei Girbea - January 10, 2023

    In this article, we’re taking a detailed look at the 2020 ROG Zephyrus Duo GX550 from ASUS, their new top-of-the-line performance 15-inch ultraportable. ROG laptops are among the most popular gaming and performance notebooks in their segments, and this series builds on Asus’s prior...

  • Andrei Girbea - January 27, 2023

    This is our detailed review of the 2020-model Gigabyte Aero 15 XB performance ultraportable. After spending some time with the beefier Aorus 17 and knowing that Gigabyte have redesigned the compact Aero model for this year, I was looking forward to getting my hands...

  • Andrei Girbea - December 29, 2020

    While the 2020 updates of the ultraportable 15-inch ThinkPad lineups are mostly incremental improvements of the 2019 versions, Lenovo have majorly updated this 2020 generation of their full-size performance ThinkPads. The ThinkPad P17 replaces the ThinkPad P73 as the 17-inch full-size performance workstation, with...

  • Andrei Girbea - December 20, 2021

    Intel 10th gen notebooks have been around in stores for a month or two now, and Lenovo are also updating their lineup of performance ThinkPads with the 2020-generation hardware, with retail availability scheduled for July 2020. The ThinkPad x1 Extreme and ThinkPad P1, both...

  • Andrei Girbea - March 8, 2023

    This is our detailed review of the 2020 Asus ROG Strix SCAR 15, in the top-tier G532LWS configuration, with a Core i9-10980HK processor and RTX 2070 Super graphics. During the last month, we’ve used both the 15 and 17-inch ROG Strix Scar variants as...