Need a bit of advice on a new laptop.

mattythedog

mattythedog

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MattyTheDog
UPDATE ON POST #25

So, basically my dad has said that for Christmas (I know, I know, it's only June) he will buy me a laptop. He has given me a budget of £999, plus any money that I want to add from my savings.

Now, the obvious choice for me is to go for a Mac, but I realise I could get a stunning Windows-based laptop for that money. I don't really know what I'm doing with computers (never had my own one before), so I'd like some advice from people who do. I'm not looking for a gaming laptop, just one for school work (word-processing, PowerPoint etc.) and browsing the net.

Thanks in advance for any help. :)
 
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Well I have an Acer Aspire 8930G. It comes with Microsoft Office 2007 plus quite a lot of media based things.

4GB of RAM (Average)
Intel Centrino 2 (IMO Intel i7 is better)
Nvidia 512MB graphics card
Blu Ray
Windows Vista
1080p display
2MB L2 cache
320GB HDD
Around £700
 
Well then get a thinkpad. They are well designed and this model has a keyboard drip tray if you accidentally spill anything on the keyboard. It will do everything that is school work related nicely.
 
Go Mac you wont regret it at all 👍 And the line up has just been revamped too with a new OS coming out next month. All is good in Mac land currently :lol:
 
Soloracer3
Go Mac you wont regret it at all 👍 And the line up has just been revamped too with a new OS coming out next month. All is good in Mac land currently :lol:
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All good? I think you've forgotten the malware problems as of recently. I personally don't like Apple because of their "locked doors" business. I hated how I cannot use my ipod classic with any media player but itunes on my computer. Despite the fact that I own it I can't change the OS on my ipod. Nothing against you of course but it's just my experience.

There are windows laptops which have roughly the same thickness of a macbook air such as the Asus Zenbook, which has the options for an i3 CPU, i5 CPU, or a i7 CPU and all should be in his budget. Though if he wanted just a basic but durable windows laptop he should look into the Thinkpad series. Yes, it does look like a brick but they are solid and dependable laptops. He could buy two laptops of the Thinkpad I suggested in my last post with his budget. With the budget limit he has he even could look into the industrial/military grade built laptops(toughtbook, etc...) but then I'm playing with what's possible with such a big budget.

Even gaming on a computer with a basic GPU is possible with OnLive. It's a service that plays the game on a remote server and all your laptop has to do is stream the 720P video in and tell the server that you are controlling the game.
 
Considering your budget, think long and hard about Apple products. They suck you into a bubble. Look at the iPhone. Want a web browser? Here's Safari, no Firefox or Chrome allowed. Want to play music? Here's iTunes, nothing else can be installed.

You can probably afford one of the most basic Mac laptops with your budget. For the same money, you can get a very fast PC. The components in a Mac are PC components, just upmarked.

It will be cheaper in the short and long term, it will run faster with better hardware, the OS is far less restrictive, and you can run nearly every program (including video games).

If you're concerned about looks, here's a Mac.
tumblr_m5xsrdcc1D1r0wa8o.jpg


here's a PC.
tumblr_m5xsrqQdx41r0wa8o.jpg


Here's a Mac desktop.
tumblr_m5xs3nykZl1r0wa8o.png


Here's a PC desktop
Windows7personal.jpg


Here's what you can (easily) do with a PC desktop. Rainmeter is a breeze to install.
tumblr_m5xs51WRRt1r0wa8o.jpg


The only reason I'd recommend a Mac to somebody is if they had absolutely no interest in learning about computers and were willing to pay a huge markup for it. As Apple becomes the new Evil Empire, my disdain for its products increases.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-signs-apple-displacing-microsoft-evil-empire/
 
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What can be said about a Mac Book is that it will be worth a damn site more when you come to buying your next laptop, compared to any other brand.

There are just too many people willing to buy Apple, even if it's second hand.
 
A friend of mine has the Zen book and its a very neat bit of kit thats worth considering 👍

Zenith013 there is a Mac equivalent to rainmeter called geek tool with which you can do similar things as you have shown in the last point there. My old desktop for reference even though its not the neatest.
7416877008_746d3ea355.jpg


I think Matty what you need to do is go to both the apple store and Currys/PC World and get hands on with a few of these machines and just pick the one you like best or think fits your needs most.
 
Good point, Soloracer.

PC's have a reputation for being ugly. I wanted to show that any computer can be configured to look how the user wants.
 
I'll also throw out Dell as an option. I've got one and so does my girlfriend and I've yet to have a problem in 3 years of ownership. You can configure them to your price point and they also have a couple new ultra books that are sharp looking and with decent hardware.
 
Thanks guys. I'll head off to PC World this weekend and have a look at some if the recommended ones. Though I'm still leaning towards a Mac...
 
I am a happy owner of a 2011 Macbook Pro, but if they don't continue the older styles and force the retina displays I will be done with Apple. Logic is an essential program for me, but otherwise there aren't a ton of reasons to prefer Mac to PC.


Read About This Garbage
 
mattythedog
Thanks guys. I'll head off to PC World this weekend and have a look at some if the recommended ones. Though I'm still leaning towards a Mac...
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I would steer well clear of Mac's at that budget (I would actually steer clear of them at any budget but that's just me!).

I would also check online for ASUS and as I mentioned Novatech rather than going to PC World. You'll get more for your money.
 
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That's how much I paid for my MBP and its a good bit of kit. And when Jr comes to it in a few years time a ram upgrade shouldn't be too expensive and nor is an external HD for that extra storage.

Good to hear you are going to take a look around Matty.👍
 
DQuaN
I would steer well clear of Mac's at that budget (I would actually steer clear of them at any budget but that's just me!).

I would also check online for ASUS and as I mentioned Novatech rather than going to PC World. You'll get more for your money.
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I second the thing about Novatech. They sell stuff way cheaper than you can get it on Amazon or Ebay or anywhere else for that matter. Especially stuff like HDD's, processors and Motherboards.
 
if your rough with your gear, id definitely recommend a mac. mine just got a enormous dent in the bottom, cracked the trackpad. and still going strong
 
An unsurprising amount of hate for Apple, as usual, but if you're sure you just want it for normal computing purposes you should definitely get a MacBook Pro. Keep it in good condition and you'll be able to sell it on for a really good price (as was mentioned previously) and ignore the usual arguments. Of course you could get a better performing Windows based laptop for the money, but if you don't need the performance, why would you? Also, Apple stuff is just nicer to use, many people claim that's irrelevant but it's personal preference at the end of the day, and it's why companies like Mercedes Benz and Porsche stay in business; you could spend £5,000 on tuning an old Suzuki Swift and end up with the fastest car in the known universe, but it's still a Suzuki Swift.

The bottom line is you DO get what you pay for with an Apple computer, whether you value what that is over what you get for your money elsewhere is a different matter. But, as others have said, the only way you can decide is to go and actually see what your options are, it's all well and good looking at pictures on the Internet but they tell you nothing about how the laptops will actually feel to use.
 
Wait till the Windows boys come out with a laptop that doesn't have a **** screen. Apple's retina-book raised the bar. Hopefully we'll see good IPS displays for back to school season or christmas.
 
I think I've decided to go for a Mac. I've looked around, but I think it's the best option for me. Now, it's a toss up between the 13" Pro and the 13" Air. I'm leaning towards the Pro, because of the higher memory and disk drive, but I'd like to know the thoughts of others about which is better...:)
 
Well, you should know a few things to know before you tempt yourself for one them. 1st, Ram is not upgradeable, so get the most that you can afford. 2nd, The mac pro cannot have the battery replaced, so you may want the Air if you want to replace the battery by yourself(only held in by screws vs the Pro, where that has it glued in and not user replaceable). 3rd, for both laptops, the SSD is not designed to be replaced by any aftermarket SSD's encase it goes bad. 4th, for both laptops, if a gpu, cpu, or the ram dies you'll be looking at getting the motherboard replaced. If you don't believe me then read the Mac Pro teardown and the Mac Air teardown. Personally if I had no interests in Windows PC's I'd first see which one is the lesser evil(easy to tell when Mac laptops are always have a teardown) and which features that you really need. If I were to factor in a Windows PC, I'd be considering reasons why I would need or want a mac compared to a windows PC.
 
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I have the 13" MBP from late 2011 and its a fantastic bit of kit. I chose it over the air for the disk drive option and its definitely an advantage. However the DVD/CD sharing programme that apple provide means its not too much of a hinderance not having one if you want the super portability of the Air. Also if you don't mind transferring between a separate HDD (link to a great HDD that I have) to keep the internal storage space free and so you have the files you need.

My choice would be the 13" MBP with the £80 upgrade to 8GB of RAM and leave the HDD at the stock 500GB. Battery life is good on them and after a year of heavy use my battery lasts as long as it did the first time I used it. Order it online and it'll be with you soon seeing as you cant upgrade the instore.
 
nick09
Well, you should know a few things to know before you tempt yourself for one them. 1st, Ram is not upgradeable, so get the most that you can afford.
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The RAM is actually upgradeable in the MacBook Pro mattythedog will be getting.

And I'd say Mac. Yes I'm biased, currently owning one, but I could've had a laptop that had equivalent specs for half the price. And I didn't. Because personally, a MacBook Pro is much nicer to use than any windows laptop I saw.
 
I was actually thinking of upgrading the RAM myself if I got the Pro, would be cheaper. But do you Mac people think 4GB is enough for general stuff? I think 8GB may be overkill, but if the Mac is slow with multiple programs open with 4GB I will probably upgrade (I hate things running slowly).
 

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