So I just posted about building a new PC for basic workstation needs, and have decided to hold off on that right now, as I realized my greater need is for a laptop. So, I have two different choices for which one I should get, and I would like to see what you guys have as far as input, opinions, and facts go. For the laptops themselves, I’m not really doing a whole lot, the most that will ever be done with them is Adobe Lightroom (newest version available), and Adobe Premiere (Elements or Pro depending on my income). As far as they both go, I’m not really leaning more towards one or the other, but thought you guys might have some suggestions.
It is a great little laptop for having with me while I’m at work, or hanging out with the girlfriend at her house while she does her writing. I really am not much of a gamer on the go, though it would be nice to play some very basic titles, such as indie gamers, or CS:GO, the like.
The Macbook Air is definitely nicer due to the operating system, and of course, most of the time from what I have seen and have worked on (I work in a tech shop), so it’s tempting to have something that would hopefully have minimal maintenance.
My budget is pretty much set, the MOST that I am looking at spending is $850, but I’d really like to keep below that if possible, and ultrabook is a must because of the minimal design and weight. Thanks for your input, and hopefully I can hear some awesome things from you guys!
I had a Macbook Air 11" for a year (before switching back to Windows/Linux) so if you have any questions, I'll probably be able to answer them. I wouldn't recommend getting an 11" Macbook Air unless you desperately need OSX and can't afford a Macbook Pro. The tiny little screen and poor resolution made using the laptop a pain because everything always felt so cramped. For $845, you can do much, much better.
That Zenbook is nice, but if you're willing to go refurbished, you can get something similar but with an i7:
@ceres Sounds good ceres, thanks for the input about the Macbook Air, the only reason I was seriously looking at it is because of the minimal maintenance that they have, though that doesn't really matter since I'm a technician. Thanks for the link to the Spectre, but I'm just not a huge fan of the HP line of computers, they have been in my shop too frequently haha, any others that you'd suggest though I can jump on!
@Streetguru Dang, that's a nice laptop there, but the other Yoga laptops are kind of hard to go for since they have a touch screen, and with a tablet, I'm just not willing to have one on my laptop. The first one though is pretty dang tempting, is there a reason why you would choose that Lenovo over the ASUS that I posted in my original posting?
no point in settling for just an intergrated chipset at the price point your looking at you'd be better off with somthing that has real power that will last. like:
@thorium233 At that price point I don't mind shooting up to that sort of laptop, I'm just trying to make sure that it isn't anything that I'm paying extra for. I don't want it to be too heavy, and running Linux on the system (either dual boot or single) is rather important to me as well. At that price though it is rather hard to beat, is there any reason why it has a three star review, I've been reading them, but wasn't sure if you had some input for that as well.
@Streetguru Oh okay I see, those are good points, so I will probably just go ahead and go for the Lenovo Y700 since it's a little bit more money, but will give me a better bang for my buck I think.
I have a tablet already, and it always feels like I'm paying extra for a touchscreen when the cost could be put elsewhere into the laptop, though that may just be my thinking!
But it costs like the same as the other laptops, and has an ungodly display resolution. And then you'd be able to simplify your life a bit and possibly get rid of the laptop in favor of the laptop that can transform into a tablet.
Hey everybody, just wanted to give an update on my laptop search. So currently I purchased a brand new Toshiba E45DW from Best Buy, still testing the waters with it, just seeing if it's worth it or not. So far I'm loving the laptop, minus the fact that the wireless card has an issue with Linux (just the 5Ghz brand), but other than that it's been a great little guy. Here's a link to the exact model that I purchased (just threw in an SSD I had laying around) I'd love to hear your guy's thoughts if you have the time, and also, I got this laptop for $559, so it has definitely been worth the money so far. Thanks.