I’m looking for a new laptop. I currently have the Asus Zenbook pro 15in. It’s really really heavy, especially if you bring the fat brick charger around. Battery life like 4 hours so it’s a must if you’re on the go. I want something with enough power but much lighter.
My main use is for school and probably for work where I’m using a lot of excel and would benefit from something that can run at least 1 other monitor so I can look at a few spread sheets at once. I like to keep a lot of taps on and usually have something running in the background. I think 16BG is good enough. No need for a 32 or more. I plan to get a desktop when I settle down, so I just need one that has enough power and is portable enough for me. Under 3lbs for sure. closer to 2.5lbs if possible.
I’ll also probably watch Netflix and youtube, but I don’t think a 4K screen is necessary. I might play some games, but I don’t game enough on the PC to care about crazy graphics cards. Prefer the experience of the console. PC feels like work for me.
I saw this new Zenbook 14 that looks pretty good. A bit over my budget of around 1,200USD. But maybe it’s worth it.
I also saw the the Hauwei is getting amazing reviews and the specs look great at a good price. But I won’t get a Hauwei on principle and it also is a copy of the Macbook…but possibly better. I just don’t trust them.
I have a Macbook Air. To be honest I absolutely hate the Apple OS on laptops, but the computer itself is really light and really slim and super easy to carry around. Battery power lasts a long time, too. You have to buy Microsoft Office separately, though.
In truth, I never would’ve gotten one for myself, but it was a gift. And I bricked my old laptop that I loved so much so without it I wouldn’t have a computer at all.
I believe the Zenbook you’re looking at is basically equivalent, although that price is steep, especially considering laptops are basically designed to shit out after a few years.
I don’t like the Macbook. I find the Apple OS hard to use for someone who is more savvy with the PC. I can see why people find it easier if they don’t know how to navigate around the PC. But for work and school, I need a PC.
But I have to say I’m impressed by Apple’s build quality. IME, they last longer than any PC i’ve used.
I feel the same way about Apple. And yeah, it still runs like new far past the point when every other laptop I’ve had started to slow down. Which I just can’t even believe sometimes.
I have been using Surface tablets as my primary work computer for 4 years now and I am very happy with them. Windows 10 and Office365 have their issues, but I have to share files with different people in different workspaces plus I can usually get myself out of jam when Windows gets touchy (when RAM and disk space run out).
I don’t use heavy duty spreadsheets much anymore, but I do some medium-intensity graphics. Most of my work is building business plans and explaining them so I do a lot with PowerPoint and I get by with simple graphics packages for cropping and touch up (GIMP and Canva.com mostly). I watch Netflix and Disney+ without complaint. I do some very light video editing using GoPro and Wondershare Filmora (mostly automated stuff - the time savings are awesome but they are resource intensive)
RAM is only 8GB and HDD is 120GB and I probably will double both. My older Surface Pro got hit with the screen shake problem (I think it’s overheating related), so I rushed to buy a Surface Go when it became available.
My main reason for the tablets is weight. I carry this stuff all over so that’s critical. At home I dock them into external-everything - monitor, keyboard, mouse - so I easily forget I’m using a low-powered CPU.
I recently saw Lenovo’s version of Surface and my mouth watered. I was a big fan of the X-series Thinkpads when I worked in corporate, so looking at their Surface brings back happy memories.
I was also looking at the surface. Some of them are pretty powerful and do 16gb of ram I saw. But I worry about if I’ll feel comfortable using it. I got an iPad before and thought I was going to use it on the go. Got a keyboard and mouse. Never touched it again after a week. It was too frustrating.
I bet the surface is better. But Idk if I would want to do serious work on it.
I hear this a lot. At least they can justify their prices from this POV. It’s actually a good bargain to get a laptop that can run like new for 4-5 years which they’ve been known to do.
The only thing is new hardware comes out all the time now 4-5 years is a long time. Especially with apple always changing ports and stuff.
OP, I have the same laptop as you do, but recently, I decided to get a Macbook because they tend to keep their value a lot longer than Windows laptops. I found a used early-2015 macbook someone was selling for 10k and jumped on it.
Zero regrets. I love the poop out of this Macbook Air and once I run this to the ground in a decade, I will probably get another Mac, new this time.
As a life-long Windows user, I didn’t find the MacOS difficult to adjust to. Just the whole command key to get used to, instead of using control on a Windows OS.
Even this used laptop, I’m getting around 12 hours battery life. For a laptop that came out in 2015, that’s…all sorts of awesome.
So yeah. No more windows laptops for me. I’m actually selling two right now, one for 10k, the other for 5k, and man, they did not keep their value AT ALL.
I will spend most of my work time with excel and power point all day. PC is just easier, i’ve had Macs before but I gave it to my sister because she is in the film industry. The business world, especially in finance, uses PC.
Macbooks aren’t good for playing games, so that’s also a huge minus for me. I’ll probably never buy one for this reason.
A laptop’s primary purpose shouldn’t be that they hold their value. It isn’t an investment. It is a tool. Even then, that return is only contingent on the hopes it doesnt break down during the time of use or you pay for costly repairs as everything is locked and proprietary.
That just sounds like a car lease with a lot more legwork in getting rid of the product. Processors have moved so slowly this past decade that my 2011 macbook air was still doing well for my travelling. I sold it this year.
I primarily use a desktop with a 5 year old CPU and it still gets the job done.
I wouldn’t be so annoyed if it came with it, but they don’t. They want me to pay 3k and not give me basic ports and not even the adapters foe the thunderbolt 3?
I think it’s more productive to get a laptop just for work and school and get a desktop setup just for gaming, photo editing, and other fun things. Part of it is mental — when you sit down at the desktop computer, your brain knows it’s playtime, and when you work on your laptop computer, your brain knows it’s work time.