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 - March 18, 2024

    In this article, we’re discussing the 2023 Dell Alienware m18 and Alienware m16 lineups of full-size gaming/performance laptops, the most powerful Alienware notebooks available for the 2023 generation. The Alienware m18 is a full-size behemoth of a laptop, larger and heavier than the previous...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 20, 2024

    In this article, we’re discussing the 2023 Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 lineup of compact and lightweight performance laptops. Asus have been offering the M16 series in stores for the last two years, but the 2023 model is a significant revamp of the previous models,...

  • Andrei Girbea - November 2, 2023

    In this article we’re discussing the 2023 versions of the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 series, both the Legion Pro 5i Intel-based models and Legion Pro 5 AMD-based configurations. The Legion Pro 5s are Lenovo’s mid-range lineup of performance/gaming laptops, slotting in between the premium-tier...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 1, 2024

    In this article, we’re discussing the 2023 updates of the ROG Flow X13 and Flow Z13 13-inch performance/gaming ultraportable laptops. I’ve already documented the previous generations in our reviews, over here for the Flow X13 and here for the Flow Z13, so I’m familiar...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 1, 2024

    In this article we’re discussing the 2023 update of the Asus ZenBook 14X series. Last year, the 14X was the most powerful 14-inch Asus ZenBook available in stores and my favorite mid-sized Zenbook design ever, as concluded in our detailed review available here. I...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 1, 2024

    In this article we’re discussing the 2023 Asus ZenBook Pro 14 lineups of performance ultraportables, which include a brand new ZenBook Pro 14 clamshell design, as well as a hardware refresh of the dual-display ZenBook Pro Duo 14 series. I’m excited about the ZenBook...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 1, 2024

    In this article, we’re discussing the single AMD Advantage laptop in the 2023 Asus lineup, the Asus TUF Gaming A16 series. AMD Advantage laptops are entirely built on AMD CPU and GPU platforms, and this generation bundles AMD Ryzen 7000 Zen4 processors and a...

  • Andrei Girbea - November 22, 2023

    In this article we’re discussing Asus’s premium lineups of creative laptops for 2023, the Asus ProArt StudioBook Pro 16 3D OLED (H7604) and the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X 3D OLED (UX7602). Among other things, these are both available with an optional 3D OLED glass-free...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 1, 2024

    In this article, we’re discussing the 2023 updates of the MSI Raider GE78 and MSI Raider GE68 lineups of top-tier performance/gaming ultraportable laptops, as well as the mid-tier MSI Vector GP77 and Vector GP68 models. Both are full-size performance laptops, now available with 16:10...

  • Andrei Girbea - March 18, 2024

    In this article, we’re discussing the updates in the Alienware X series of premium performance laptops, the compact Alienware x14 R2 update, and the new Alienware x16 R1 16-inch model. The 2023 Alienware x14 is mostly a revamp of the gen1 model from last...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 1, 2024

    In this article, we’re discussing the 2023 Acer Predator Helios 16 and Predator Helios 18 lineups of full-size gaming/performance laptops, the most powerful Acer laptops available so far for the 2023 generation. We’ve reviewed the Predator Helios notebooks over the years and watched them...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 20, 2024

    In this article we’re discussing the 2023 Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 GU603 lineup of portable performance laptops. The naming of this series is so confusing. The first time I saw this, I was thinking a G16 is finally that much-awaited follow-up of the Zephyrus...

  • Andrei Girbea - April 29, 2024

    In this article, we’re discussing the 2023 Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 G634 and ROG Strix Scar 18 G834 lineups, the most powerful ROG – Republic of Gamers laptops available this year. These follow up the 2022 ROG Scar 15/17 generations, which we’ve reviewed...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 1, 2024

    In this article, we’re discussing the Asus ROG Strix G16 G614 and ROG Strix G18 G814 lineups, the mainstream full-size full-power ROG laptops available for the year. This year, the Strix G and the Strix Scar models are nearly identical designs, with only some...

  • Andrei Girbea - March 29, 2023

    In this article we’re discussing the 2023 Asus ROG Flow X16 lineup of 2-in-1 performance laptops. This generation is a hardware update with a few other minor refinements of the 2022 Flow X16 that we’ve reviewed in these two previous articles: top-specced Flow X16...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 1, 2024

    In this article, we’re discussing the 2023 AMD-based high-performance ROG – Republic of Gamers laptops, the premium-tier 17-inch ROG Strix Scar 17 G733P, and the mainstream 17-inch ROG Strix G17 G713P. While this year most of the Asus ROG Strix Scar and ROG Strix...

  • Andrei Girbea - January 3, 2024

    In this article, we’re discussing the 2023 Acer Swift 14 and Swift X 14 ultraportables. The Swift 14 is a 14-inch premium ultraportable design that follows up on the previous Swift 5 14 models of the past. It’s designed with portability in mind, and...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 9, 2023

    In this article, we’re discussing the 2023 Acer Nitro 16 and Acer Nitro 17 series of gaming/performance laptops, the mid-tier budget-friendly options in the Acer 2023 lineup. We’ve reviewed the Nitro notebooks over the years and watched them evolve and improve. Previously, Acer offered...

  • Andrei Girbea - May 16, 2024

    Another year, another generation of ThinkPad laptops. Lenovo are quietly launching the 2023 iterations of their premium-tier Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (11th gen) clamshell business notebook and Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga (8th gen) 2-in-1 convertible model. For the most part, the two are hardware...

  • Andrei Girbea - January 23, 2023

    In this article, we’re discussing the 2023 Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 and Ideapad Pro 5i lineups. These include some exciting all-purpose configurations, available in either 14-inch or 16-inch sizes, and with either AMD (Pro 5 models) or Intel (Pro 5i models) specs, alongside optional...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 9, 2023

    In this article, we’re discussing the 2023 Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 and Ideapad Slim 5i lineups. These are Lenovo’s mainstream lineups of compact clamshell laptops for the year, available in either 14-inch or 16-inch variants, and with either AMD (Slim 5 models) or Intel...

  • Andrei Girbea - August 18, 2023

    Lenovo are quietly announcing their 2023 lines of Thinkpad laptops and ultrabooks, starting with their lightest ultraportable design, the 2023 Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3. I just recently reviewed the 2022 X1 Nano gen 2 model and have it fresh in mind, so...

  • Andrei Girbea - May 21, 2024

    The Lenovo Yoga 9i series needs no introduction, as it has been Lenovo’s premium-tier lineup of convertible 2-in-1 ultrabooks over the last years. For 2023, Lenovo offers an updated Yoga 9i (gen8) with 13th-gen Intel specs and a selection of OLED displays, but otherwise...

  • Andrei Girbea - September 6, 2023

    This is my detailed review of the Lenovo Slim 7i Pro X. It’s the European variant of the laptop, and it is sold here as the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro X. If you’re shopping for a powerful compact laptop, you’re most likely already...

  • Andrei Girbea - March 28, 2023

    AMD Ryzen platforms have been at the core of many good budget and mid-tier gaming laptops in recent years, but the narrative is further changing as of 2023, with the release of the AMD Ryzen 7000 H platforms. For the last few years, AMD...

  • Andrei Girbea - August 1, 2023

    This is our detailed review of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 in the higher-specced 2022 edition, built on an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS processor and Nvidia RTX 3070Ti graphics. The 2022 Zephyrus G15 is at a first glance mostly an incremental update of the...

  • Andrei Girbea - August 18, 2023

    This is my detailed review of the 2022 Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 2. Last year, Lenovo unveiled the ThinkPad X1 Nano lineup of ultra-light laptops, and we’ve reviewed the gen1 X1 Nano in this article. I appreciated the sub-1-kilo weight and the ThinkPad...

  • Andrei Girbea - March 2, 2023

    Last year Asus launched the ROG Zephyrus M16 series as an Intel-exclusive thin-and-light all-purpose laptop with a 16-inch 16:10 display. It shared many traits with the popular Zephyrus G15 lineup, but the Intel Tiger Lake hardware did not impress in either performance or efficiency,...

  • Andrei Girbea - October 6, 2023

    We’ve seen Thunderbolt ports on enthusiast computers for a while now, but these days Thunderbolt is becoming the port everyone wants on a new laptop, regardless of size, form-factor, or budget. The 3rd and 4th generations of Thunderbolt are significant upgrades over their predecessors...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 10, 2023

    This article is going to help you decide between the two high-end hardware platforms available for performance/gaming laptops in 2022 and later into 2023, the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX (Rembrandt platform) on one side, and the Intel Core i97-12900H (12th-gen Alder Lake platform) on...