Need laptop suggestions

Darwin

Explorer
My ten year old HP laptop is about dead, having a hard time even writing this, so I am looking for suggestions on which laptop to buy. I have been looking at the I guess what are called "ultra books" Specifically the new Samsung ativ book 9 plus, the Lennova Yoga 2 pro, and possibly the Sony vaio pro. The Lennova and samsung share pretty much the exact same specs as far as I can tell, Intel haswell i5 processor and HD display in 13.3 inch screens. The samsung costs more but appears to be better built some say. I don't do any photo or video editing, not games either, but would like a nice light laptop with good display for watching videos. Does anyone here have experience with either of these?? The Macbook air would also be nice but right now I think I still want to stay with windows. I have also thought about a chromebook, it would be much cheaper and the newest ones seem to be okay and super cheap. Maybe I would be better spending money on a chromebook and a nice samsung tablet instead of forking over 1200 dollars on an ultrabook. Looking for suggestions, opinions, anything really. I will be purchasing soon.


Thanks,
Dar
 

tarditi

Explorer
The Yoga is a pretty sweet setup, but it's the price of a decent laptop + tablet.

What are you doing with it? I've entertained the idea of a chromebook myself, but recently replaced my wife's aging toshiba laptop with an Asus 11" touchscreen... pretty nice and inexpensive.
My computing needs (and the world in general) have changed and I can do 80% - 90% of my computing with a tablet, may be even more efficient (but not sure I would be able to shift that last bit) with a BT keyboard.
 

007

Explorer
Asus transformer book is another good option. Its a windows laptop that you can seperate into a 10" tablet. It's smaller, but I like that for camping.
 

LocoCoyote

World Citizen
Go with the MacBook Air...very solid and good performer....and you can run Windows on it....either in a virtual machine, or natively with BootCamp
 

Darwin

Explorer
The Yoga is a pretty sweet setup, but it's the price of a decent laptop + tablet.

What are you doing with it? I've entertained the idea of a chromebook myself, but recently replaced my wife's aging toshiba laptop with an Asus 11" touchscreen... pretty nice and inexpensive.
My computing needs (and the world in general) have changed and I can do 80% - 90% of my computing with a tablet, may be even more efficient (but not sure I would be able to shift that last bit) with a BT keyboard.
I plan regardless to also purchase a tablet in the future, so i really don't want to get a laptop/tablet hybrid because it seems like to many compromises. The yoga 2 pro came out with similar specs at the samsung ativ book9 but 250 dollars less. I don't have any experience with a tablet so it's hard to say if I actually had a nice one if I would end up using that more and rendering an ultrabook obsolute. Now that I am out of school, I don't find myself typing up papers like I once did, but I still need a keyboard I think for those times when I do. Again, I have no experience with a tablet but I hear people say that they work well for 90% of the time. I mostly just surf the interweb and watch videos.
 

Darwin

Explorer
I have also thought about the new surface pro 3, but feel the price is about 200 more than it should be since it doesn't include the typepad. It could be useful though, I would have a laptop/large tablet to use and travel with and then I could use an 8 inch tablet for navigation. The price point of an 8 inch tablet looks pretty good, but seems like it would be too small for full on internet/video use.
 

Longrange308

Adventurer
Im typing this on my MacBook Air (2013 1.7ghz i7, 8gb Ram) I have my 15" MacBook Pro (late 2010 i7) is docked to a larger monitor and bluetooth keyboard and mouse out in my garage, which I use as my general workstation. My iMac (2012 i5) is in my den and its what I do the majority of my video editing on. I also have an all white macbook (circa 2006) is also in the house for visiting kids or whatnot. Still runs like a champ too.

I also have an Asus laptop (i3, circa 2012) that has been a major disappointment. It was sent back to Asus twice, and is finally running correctly now that I have upgraded the HDD and installed ubuntu on it. I have 2 windows machines in the house, both desktops, and both are used as plex media players, linked to a dedicated ubuntu powered plex server on the network.

Would I ever buy another windows laptop.. nope. When I need windows I either run a virtual machine on my Air, or I boot into it natively on my MBP. Best of both worlds. How often do I actually use windows? About 1 a year...

Get a MacBook Air or Pro.. There just aren't any laptops out there built better. They also have the best end user support I have ever seen from any computer company. My MacBook was 3 months out of warranty and needed a new logic board and processor. It also had some cosmetic blems and a cracked palm rest (its plastic). I took it into an Apple store and they basically refurbished it to like new (new logic board, processor, HDD, memory modules, palm rest, etc.) and didn't charge me one cent, even though it was just out of warranty. Consider me sold for life.
 

Darwin

Explorer
Starting to think more about the macbook air 13 inch. Is it worth to spend an extra 100 and upgrade to the 8gb of ram? I think intel core i5 processor is probably plenty good for me. I admit i don't know the first thing about using iOS operating system and I don't like how locked down it appears to be, at least when compared to android. If I went with an air it would seem logical to have an ipad instead of an android tablet. I would end having to go all apple, not that is a bad thing I guess. still pondering.
 

nwoods

Expedition Leader
I use a 15" Macbook Pro Retina, my son has a 13" MacBookPro, and my wife uses a 15" MacBookPro. These are what I am most familiar with for baseline reference.

What phone do you use? What tablet are you thinking about? If either of them sport a fruit logo, get the corresponding laptop and enjoy a great deal of symmetry. The Next Gen OSX is going to really integrate them all together through iCloud in way that makes it very convenient.

However, if you use an Android phone now, and are ambivalent about the tablet, Seriously look at the Microsoft Surface 3. I have been playing with one at work, and other than the resolution being smaller than I like, it's a pretty capable machine. It is a computer, not a tablet... but it's a tablet! It's somewhere between the Air and the 13" rMBP in size and weight, but has the benefits of tablet interface as well. I HATE Windows 8 on a desktop, but it works pretty darn well with the touch interface. The keyboard on the Surface 3 is definitely good enough as well. My boss was seemingly welded to his iPad and took it everywhere, but he lugged a Dell laptop around too, so that he could produce content such as complex spreadsheets and stuff. The iPad is amazing at many things, but mostly on the consumption side, not the production side of the data. He hated the laptop, but needed it still. Now with the Surface, he has taken 8lbs out of his bag, doubled his battery life, and has gone down to just the one device (plus his iPhone).

Now, if you are still leaning towards the Air, it is a fabulous device. The battery life is phenomenal, the screen is great, the keyboard is good, and the touchpad is the best in the industry. I run Parallels and Windows 7 on my rMBP and it's seamless. I have both OS's running concurrently, and its transparent to me which is which. Windows programs run in a dialog box, just like Mac programs. I can be knee deep in Excel in Windows, and get iMessage text windows popping up (Hugely convenient to text via computer by the way!). The issue of what OS to run becomes a non-issue. Just run them both.

Always always always buy as much RAM as you can. Especially on an Apple device where updating might not be possible (such as the RAM on the Air or rMBP).

I wouldn't recommend the 13" MacBookPro over the Air. If you need the better graphics power and CPU throughput, just get the 15" rMBP. Otherwise, stick with the Air. It's so much more conveniently sized and weighted.
 

Rbertalotto

Explorer
I recently switched to MAc. Biught a Mac Book Air and totally love it!

Amazing battery life. Instant ON the second you open the lid.

I've never been at a lose for Ram or Memory. Movies, videos, Kindle, MS Office, Outlook......all excellent.

They cost a bit more, but it is the best lap top I've ever used. Period!
 

Darwin

Explorer
Thanks for the responses so far, I have been researching tech gagets and stuff for a long time trying to learn as much as I can even though the only "tech" thing I currently own is a broken down 10 year old windows laptop that weighs around 7 lbs or more.

What phone do you use? What tablet are you thinking about? If either of them sport a fruit logo, get the corresponding laptop and enjoy a great deal of symmetry. The Next Gen OSX is going to really integrate them all together through iCloud in way that makes it very convenient.

However, if you use an Android phone now, and are ambivalent about the tablet, Seriously look at the Microsoft Surface 3. I have been playing with one at work, and other than the resolution being smaller than I like, it's a pretty capable machine. It is a computer, not a tablet... but it's a tablet! It's somewhere between the Air and the 13" rMBP in size and weight, but has the benefits of tablet interface as well. I HATE Windows 8 on a desktop, but it works pretty darn well with the touch interface. The keyboard on the Surface 3 is definitely good enough as well. My boss was seemingly welded to his iPad and took it everywhere, but he lugged a Dell laptop around too, so that he could produce content such as complex spreadsheets and stuff. The iPad is amazing at many things, but mostly on the consumption side, not the production side of the data. He hated the laptop, but needed it still. Now with the Surface, he has taken 8lbs out of his bag, doubled his battery life, and has gone down to just the one device (plus his iPhone).
This is where I am running into problems. I don't currently own anything, still have a "dumb" phone, so over the next while I am looking to upgrade phone, tablet and computer. I plan to get a smart phone in the next few months and had really only been looking at android devices, If I bought a macbook it would make sense that I would get an iphone, and logically an Ipad, at least thats what i think would make sense, since you mention them all working seamlessly together. This is the reason why I am somewhat torn about the macbook, I would be switching everything over to Mac, that is probably not a bad thing, just not something I had been thinking about until now.
 

cdthiker

Meandering Idaho
Another vote for anyone Apple here.
It's simple and it works
And then it keeps working.

We have a three year old Mack book pro that is our main workstation I travel for work and it goes everywhere with me.
We have an older black MacBook from 2006 that is still chugging along but I admit is not good for much other then surfing the web and such at this point. We recently got an iPad from the wife's work and both have iPhones including the phones and past apple computers we are or on our with apple device with only one failure an old I book that got dropped one to many times

In the family there have been several hp devices one levenao and one Stoney vaio none of them are still around since they farted out my black MacBook outlasted all of them a

Spend the money now and get ready for years of problem free use
 

nwoods

Expedition Leader
the only "tech" thing I currently own is a broken down 10 year old windows laptop that weighs around 7 lbs or more.

No matter what you get, you will LOVE it because it will be SO MUCH FASTER than what you have now! However, I'll bet you are on Windows XP or maybe Windows 7. Consequently, you are definitely not hip to the Windows 8 environment and are probably not interesting majorly disruptive changes in what you are used too. For that reason, I would caution against the Surface 3. Windows 8 is pretty different.

Saying that though, you might think Mac is a major difference too. It really isn't all that different from Windows XP or 7, and the unique features in Mac OSX are pretty intuitive to use plus there are a lot of good help sources online.



This is where I am running into problems. I don't currently own anything, still have a "dumb" phone.... If I bought a macbook it would make sense that I would get an iphone, and logically an Ipad, at least thats what i think would make sense, since you mention them all working seamlessly together.

Personally, I am really excited about the symmetry evident in the next OSX version (called Yosemite) as shown in this link: http://www.apple.com/osx/preview/mac-and-ios/
However, my son (13" MacBookPro) runs a Samsung S5 phone just fine with his Mac. He no longer is tied to iTunes, which many people, myself included, will say is a good thing. iTunes as a service is good, but the software is definitely long in the tooth and not Apple's best software by any stretch of the imagination.

Consider this, most of the Android apps that are data intensive are through Google, which is 100% cloud based (Google Docs for example), so as long as your Mac is online, it's pretty seamless between the Android phone and the Mac or a PC. It's agnostic to whatever OS your are using.

The point I'm making, is that it really doesn't matter what you choose. If you choose a Mac you will not regret it. If you determine that you prefer Windows, just run it on the Mac! You can run an Android tablet and a iPhone at the same time if you want. However, if you go all Apple, things will work just a bit easier for you.
 

Longrange308

Adventurer
Integrating texting into the computer itself is hugely beneficial to my productivity. The way apple has tackled how multitasking operates in OSX is also very nice and clean.

The disappearing tool bar at the bottom is much nicer than anything windows has to offer as well. I would not trade OSX in for anything else for day to day usage now or anytime in the foreseeable future.

Isn't it just pretty?
screenshot by LongRangePro, on Flickr
 
Have used the same MacBook Air at work for the past three years. Am always on the go so it lives in my backpack or on a conference table. It has been bulletproof. Great battery life. Runs Windows when needed for certain applications that are not available for the Mac. The university where I work uses Macs because the last longer that Windows boxes.

You can save some serious money by purchasing a refurbished one directly from the Apple website, http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac.

Just ordered a refurbished 15" MB Pro for myself. Each refurbished model is tested to verify it meets specs. New ones are randomly tested.

I an not affiliated with Apple.
 

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