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 - February 1, 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 - February 1, 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 - September 6, 2023

    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...

  • Andrei Girbea - February 10, 2023

    This article is going to help you decide between the two mainstream hardware platforms available for performance/gaming laptops in 2022 and later into 2023, the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H (Rembrandt platform) on one side, and the Intel Core i7-12700H (12th-gen Alder Lake platform) on...

  • Andrei Girbea - March 23, 2023

    This is our detailed review of the mid-2022 7th-generation update of the Lenovo Legion 5 series, in the Legion 5i variant built on 12th-gen Intel hardware and Nvidia RTX 3000 graphics. The Legion 5s are Lenovo’s offer in the mid-tier gaming segment, where most...

  • Andrei Girbea - October 6, 2023

    This article is my detailed review of the Asus TUF Dash F15 2022 generation, a portable and excellently priced RTX 3060 laptop meant for all-purpose daily use and gaming/school work. Last year Asus launched a controversial TUF Dash series of all-purpose laptops, 15-inch computers...

  • Andrei Girbea - March 1, 2023

    This is my detailed review of the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s gen 3 lineup. The T14s is the classic 14-inch portable ThinkPad that you’ll find in work/business environments, as has been refined in countless iterations over the last 15 years. At this point, the Thinkpad...

  • Andrei Girbea - March 24, 2023

    This article gathers the best deals I was able to find online for the 2023 holiday season, past the Black Friday and Cyber Monday days, mostly for ultrabooks, portable laptops, and a few other types of accessories and electronics. I’m constantly updating the list,...

  • Andrei Girbea - March 1, 2023

    This is my detailed review of the LG Gram 17 series, a premium ultrabook with a full-size 17-inch display. There aren’t many such laptops out there, designed to bundle a large display in a portable and lightweight format. In fact, the Gram 17 is...

  • Andrei Girbea - January 27, 2023

    This is my review of the Acer Aspire 5 budget laptop, in a mid-tier well-balanced A515-57G configuration that bundles an Intel i7 processor with Nvidia MX550 graphics and an IPS screen. These are quite capable specs for an affordable laptop that I bought for...

  • Andrei Girbea - April 21, 2023

    This is my detailed review of the Lenovo Slim 7i Carbon ultrabook. It’s the European variant of the laptop, and it is sold here, for some reason that I fail to understand, as the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Carbon. This is a mid-tier compact...

  • Andrei Girbea - January 5, 2024

    I bought the Dell XPS 15 9520 a few weeks ago, and have been using it ever since in order to gather my thoughts and impressions on this update, and share them with you in this review. The XPS 15 hasn’t changed much over...

  • Andrei Girbea - April 21, 2023

    This article is my detailed review of the 2022 ZenBook S 13 OLED series, in the UM5302TA configuration built on an AMD Ryzen 7 6800U hardware platform. In very few words, this laptop is a highly portable 13-inch ultrabook that doesn’t compromise on anything...

  • Andrei Girbea - November 23, 2022

    This article is my detailed review of HP Pavilion Aero 13, an ultra-compact sub 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) laptop with a 13-inch 16:10 matte screen, uncompromised IO and inputs, snappy hardware, and a highly competitive price tag. Many years ago, Ultrabookreview.com started due to...

  • Andrei Girbea - April 21, 2023

    This is my detailed review of the Asus ZenBook S 13 Flip OLED, a 13-inch convertible 2-in-1 laptop with an OLED display and 12th-gen Intel Core P hardware. This is the 2-in-1 alternative to the clamshell AMD-based ZenBook S 13 OLED we’ve reviewed a...