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[TheCochese]

Apologies if there is already a what computer should I buy thread, I didn’t see one. Because of what I’ll explain, it doesn’t fit into any one manufacturer thread. This is also going to be fairly long.

Inspired by a comment in the Chromebooks outsell Mac thread, I am in need of some suggestions for a new laptop. I am indeed one of the rare few that are cross-shopping the $250 Chromebooks all the way to the $2000 MacBook Pros. As such, I could use some suggestions on what laptop I should get for my use case.

I currently have a HP ProBook 4540s. 15.6”, 1366x768 matte screen, Core i5 3210M, 8GB RAM, 750GB HDD, Win10. It’s fine, and the only upgrade I’d do to it now is swap in a SSD. The battery life does suck, though, around three hours if I’m lucky. This laptop is however going to one of my offspring for general use, so I am in need of a new one. I want a premium experience, or close to it. Something with a good keyboard (backlit, if possible), a good trackpad (glass, if possible), good to great battery life (6+ hours), easily portable with a good screen (1080p or better).

The primary need for this would be to function for work, when needed. I work from home auditing medical records, and 95% of the time I do that at my desktop. Dual 24” screens (one for work, one for play) make things nice and easy to see, and it’s my preferred choice. Using Win10, I open IE and use the built-in ActiveX capability to remote into my work computer, a Win 7 headless terminal. I get the full experience this way. I also get that experience on my laptop, obviously though I have to switch back and forth if I want to look at something through the laptop as opposed to the VPN. I'd need to use it for work when I went out of town, or want to take my kids to the park during office hours. Outside of work needs, I don’t do much besides do some writing for my website, watch some YouTube, and browse the web. I don’t really PC game, but having Steam capability would be nice. It certainly doesn’t have to be a spec whore. I use Office 365 apps, but I can use those on just about anything. I am pretty platform agnostic.

At first glance the choice would be to go with another Windows laptop, and I’m not short of choice there. However, since I can use Citrix Receiver, I can access a modified version (low-res menus, etc) through a variety of different means. I’ve tested on Android and a Xubuntu laptop and I could work just fine. This brings into play Chromebooks (Citrix available on Chrome OS and soon Android compatibility). Obviously I can also use a MacBook with Citrix, or I can run Parallels or Boot Camp.
The advantage to Windows is that it is a known entity. Being in healthcare, reliance on Windows isn’t going anywhere. I could easily remote or do anything I needed. The price range is all over the place, but the low end is filled with middling hardware, and the top end is a bit overpriced. Disadvantage is that a lot aren’t well made, and sticking to Windows is honestly not exciting.

The advantage to Chrome is the price. I can get a fairly nice one for $250-$300. If Citrix works like it should, then compatibility isn’t a big deal. Disadvantage is lack of native storage, reliance on web-based computing for the most part. Screen size trends to smaller than I want.

The advantage to OSX is the unknown. I haven’t used an Apple computer regularly since the IIc days, but they’ve been appealing for a while. Everything is premium, including the price, unfortunately. I’m waiting to see what WWDC brings for 2016 before I would buy one, but have been considering the current models if I could score a discount ($300) like what tempted me before. I could run Windows on the side, or use Citrix. Plus the screen, keyboard and trackpad are really good from what I’ve tested in-store. Disadvantage is price.

I’ll list what I have my eye on. I know I don’t want to go any lower than 13”, so I think the Surface line is out unless someone can make a good case. Touch screen is an extremely low priority. I already have a Win 10 8” tablet and a Nexus 7.

Chromebook: Toshiba Chromebook 2, Acer Chromebook 14

Windows: Dell XPS 13 (Amazon link)

Apple: MBP 13” or 15”. 13” Air would be a consideration, but I might as well spend a bit more for the Pro.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

i got a macbook pro 13 there maybe 8 months ago. had disliked os x for no reason for years just because apple, but i absolutely love my MBP, best laptop I've ever had or used and transitioning to os x was fine.

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

What a refreshing thread. I'm gonna keep my eye out on this one.

 

[ThatGuyAgain]

Another advantage for the chromebook: they are opening up the play store on some existing models and all new models.

 

[Vanillalite]

Get the Dell Ultrabook.

You already work with Windows in your current work environment so no need to change that up.

The question I would ask is why can't work get you a work laptop?

 

[SMattera]

It's backordered, but have you considered the new HP Chromebook 13? It's $600, so not cheap for a Chromebook, but it's a premium laptop. HP also plans to bring out a dock for it that would let you attach it to those 2 monitors.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

As a general workhorse I go with off-lease Dells, from either the Latitude, XPS, or Precision lines. The cost ends up being under $700 for an i7 with 16GB of memory and an SSD I throw in myself.

If I wanted something thin and tablety and have money to blow then I would go with a surface book.

For a machine I just use for web browsing and applications then a cheap Chromebook is more than enough. I even remote into some of my desktops/servers at work through a chromebook.

 

[Geist-]

The new Dell XPS13 is probably the best laptop I've ever owned. Super thin, one of the best displays I've ever seen, no bezel, and can actually play a lot of low-medium demand games. Definitely recommended.

 

[TheCochese]

Get the Dell Ultrabook.

You already work with Windows in your current work environment so no need to change that up.

The question I would ask is why can't work get you a work laptop?

It's a hospital, and they are cheap. At least when it comes to us. It also means they don't have to troubleshoot anything except what's physically onsite. It's better than having to commute, I guess.

It's backordered, but have you considered the new HP Chromebook 13? It's $600, so not cheap for a Chromebook, but it's a premium laptop. HP also plans to bring out a dock for it that would let you attach it to those 2 monitors.

$600 is too much (IMO) for a 'virtual' OS. I'm getting into XPS and MacBook Air territory. The Chromebooks might be getting Android, but in a lot of cases a full-fledged OS gives better results. For example, apparently you can't add a watermark in Lightroom Mobile. Connecting to the monitors isn't a concern, my desktop is still going to be my primary user.

As a general workhorse I go with off-lease Dells, from either the Latitude, XPS, or Precision lines. The cost ends up being under $700 for an i7 with 16GB of memory and an SSD I throw in myself.

If I wanted something thin and tablety and have money to blow then I would go with a surface book.

For a machine I just use for web browsing and applications then a cheap Chromebook is more than enough. I even remote into some of my desktops/servers at work through a chromebook.

What is your process for doing that? If I try to do it natively through a browser other than IE, I have to use Java. It's a miserable experience.


I will say also that my only concern with going with Apple is how much space installing a Windows dual-boot or VM would take up with those precious, gold-plated SSDs they sell.

 

[Stat Flow]

Wait for Apple's new MacBook Pros to be announced in the next few weeks, then cross shop those.

I'm honestly a big fans of MacBooks, they are super high quality and you can always install Windows on them with excellent compatibility.

 

[badb0y]

LIfelong PC user here. I initially bought a Surface Book with the dGPU and then sold it within a week to get a MBP retina 13 and it was a good decision. Apple's trackpad is still unmatched although Windows has improved a lot and most of the applications I use are available on both OSs.

 

[Haloid1177]

Surface Book is a 13" laptop, and is probably the best laptop I've owned to this point. Best keyboard I've ever used and a trackpad as good as a Mac. But I'm buying nothing but XPS 13s for work so I totally get going with one of those, it just sucks the i7 config is locked behind adding the touch screen.

 

[jrcbandit]

I'd avoid Apple for now if you want to purchase the laptop immediately. Apple's line of laptops is incredibly stale and due for a significant refresh, which probably wont happen until the Fall. Of course Apple could disappoint again and hold off another refresh of the Macbook Pro/Air line because they really only care about iOS products.

The updated Macbook was quite the disappointment, still only a single USB-C port is ridiculous, why not add a second USB-C port? Why have such a piss poor 480p camera for a $1300 laptop? Anemic processor - they need to drop the horrible M3 processor completely (slower than the 2012 Macbook Air yet 4 years later), for $1300 the M5 or better yet M7 should be the default.

 

[snacknuts]

As someone who uses and loves a MBP at work daily, I would steer clear of them if you have to do a lot of Excel stuff. Office 2016 is a million miles better than previous iterations, but it's still a buggy mess compared to the Windows counterpart. And running it in Parallels hasn't been much better for me, but YMMV. But I didn't see anything about Excel in the OP, so you're probably fine.

Apart from that, Mission Control and Spaces are worth the price of admission for OSX. If you're going to get a MacBook, I would strongly recommend shopping their store for refurb units. It's a much stronger value proposition.

We've got a few people in the office using the new Surface Book and I'm pretty jealous.

 

[Kai]

Dell XPS 13, Surface Book or if you can go a little bigger than Dell XPS 15.

The XPS 13 and Surface Book are the best Windows 13 inch laptop's on the market, period. Surface Book is more expensive and has way more utility (but if you don't need the ability to have a 3-4 hour tablet or fold back tech plus pen technology and dedicated gpu) then XPS 13 works.

Can't go wrong with any of those options.

 

[Sch1sm]

The mid 2014 rMBP never really did me any wrong. It's been reliable. My only real suggestion if you go for it, is that you spend a bit extra for a large SDD. 128 is easy to speed through, and we can't really upgrade after the fact since they've soldered freaking everything to the board. Personally fine for me since I'm a cloud and thumb drive oriented person. Majority of my space is taken up by indie titles on Steam, Illustrator + CS6, Logic Pro X, still leaving me with about 55GB~ remaining. I'm a One Note > Office sort of person, and Google Drive for the rest since Office 16 isn't that hot.

Thing I find most irritating about it is the manner in which apps are deleted, because just dragging them from the application folder into the trash doesn't delete the files scattered in ~/Library. AppCleaner fixes that, but it's an oversight.


I feel like, for your work needs, the MacBook may not work well for you. For your outside work needs, absolutely. And, like jcrbandit said, they're due for a refresh soon. I throw in my vote for the XPS - regret getting one myself, sometimes, even though the rMBP works well for my needs.

 

[eso76]

Didn't want to start a new thread so I'll post here.
Looking for a 1000$ laptop for video editing and light motion graphics.
Narrowed it down to
Asus N752VX
Asus ROG GL752VW

Both have
i7 6700hq
16 GB DDR4
SSD + HDD
And IPS 17" screen (need the bigger screen)

Now, 752VX has
256GB SSD and 4GB GTX950M

752GL has
128GB SSD and 4GB GTX960M

Any reason, besides SSD size (well, and the fact it looks hideous), why I shouldn't go with ROG?
All specs look the same, just better GPU and smaller SSD on the ROG, which also comes 100$ cheaper

 

[outunderthestars]

Any love for the Razer Blade Stealth in here?

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

I just got the xps 13 you linked this past Friday.

it's pretty awesome!

 

[Outdoor Miner]

I vote Dell XPS 13.

There is also a 13" Latitude (Dells business class ultrasound) getting really good reviews. May wanna look into a Latitude 13 7000 series.

 

[TheCochese]

I've been looking at XPS 13 reviews for most of the day. I'll have to stop by MicroCenter tomorrow to actually fondle one. I'm a guy with laptops that really needs some hands-on time to make a decision. I'm also hoping Best Buy has the Acer Chromebook 14 in-stock as well, so I can make perhaps a decision.

Also, from the reviews, it seems like there has been some great strides to make a Macbook-quality Windows laptop, but we aren't quite there yet.

 

[Gurthang]

Life is too short to not spend money on Macbook Air

 

[Haloid1177]

There is also a 13" Latitude (Dells business class ultrasound) getting really good reviews. May wanna look into a Latitude 13 7000 series.

Using the m processor line though, so I wouldn't recommend it. I keep hoping they release an XPS 13 in a business class machine like they did with the XPS 15 and the 5510.

 

[offshore]

I honestly can't recommend a Mac at the moment. You can check out the Apple refurb site, like snacknuts mentioned, for some good deals if you're interested, though. My current 2012 MBA is a refurb, and is still going strong. Otherwise, jrcbandit is spot on, and don't buy a new one yet; the current line up is ancient, and quite honestly, the Apple premium is far too high for what you're getting. Plus, OS X is really stale, as well.

As a long time Mac user, I'm looking to move to XPS if WWDC doesn't bring something substantial. Apple are really losing me with their Mac... "strategy". lol. It's no surprise sales tanked last quarter.

 

[Two Words]

Wait for WWDC. If Apple doesn't refresh the MBPs then, well I don't know what they're doing.

 

[Aikidoka]

Check out the ASUS Zenbook Pro if you are interested in something with a dedicated graphics card. They market it as a more affordable Win 10 version of a Macbook Pro. A 4K 15.6" with a GTX 960M costs around $1500. And it's great for dual-booting. Some people are not fan of the trackpads so you may want to find a store retailer that has them to test around with. ASUS has pretty sturdy design from what I know.

I have just recently purchased a one to be a work laptop that will be used heavily for Programming. I decided not to get a Macbook because they are pretty pricey for what you get and also I do not like their keyboards (why the fuck do you need a CMD key along with ALT, FN, and CTRL???).

I would also look at a MS Surface Book. They are pretty lightweight and have high quality screens for better prices than any conventional laptops. (EDIT: nvm guess you already ruled them out, sorry)

Note also that Win 10 has native bash support now.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

I expect I'm going to get crap for this, but I still really, STRONGLY believe that the 13-inch Macbook Air is the best all-around laptop you can get. Particularly if you don't mind paying extra to max out the processor, RAM and hard drive.

It's extremy small and light, but also quite powerful--I've used it to run Adobe CS6 without any problems. Battery is great, the trackpad and keyboard are great, durability is great.

The one blemish that I know everyone is going to rush to point put is the screen. Yeah, it's not the best quality screen put there, but it's very far from bad. In day to day usage, it is NEVER an issue. Very much worth the tradeoff consodering how great everything else about the computer is--and you really aren't trading away much.

 

[Gutek]

If you have the budget, go Macbook Pro.

Best industrial design in the market
Best touch pad in the market
Best resale value
Windows runs perfectly, if needed


Yes, it will not be a "gaming" machine, but it will run CS:GO reasonably, especially the 15" models. I would wait till the new models get announced, though. Airs are fine too. But the low res screen puts me off.

 

[freenudemacusers]

MacBook Air is scust to me now; screen is doo doo vs what else is out there.

 

[Kibbles]

Surface Pro 4 is the best I've used. Love the weight, portability, touch screen (it's hard to go back once you do, I find myself touching my screen quite a bit), comfort in all positions, and Windows. I sold it for a 13inch retina macbook pro and hate this thing It's really uncomfortable to type on and the hard edges press into my hands are also not comfortable... OS I probably just need to get used to but it's weirding me out as well. I don't understand why I have to mount and eject stuff I download??? The battery however is really really nice on this. Just a bad experience so far, really miss the Surface Pro 4. But you said it's out of the equation so I don't really know, I'd try to get a good hands on with all your options if possible.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Wait for WWDC and either get one of the new MBP they will inevitably announce or get an XPS13.

 

[……forgetit]

Learning MacOS when you're used to Windows can be a pain, but you can always duel boot. Honesty the XPS 13 is the best option for you.

 

[DonMigs85]

Yeah I'd probably go with the Dell or maybe a Lenovo Yoga. But personally I would wait for Kaby Lake or the new 14/16nm AMD or Nvidia GPUs to be in them first

 

[RatskyWatsky]

are there any good (non chromebook) laptops for like under 400

 

[demon]

i got a macbook pro 13 there maybe 8 months ago. had disliked os x for no reason for years just because apple, but i absolutely love my MBP, best laptop I've ever had or used and transitioning to os x was fine.

Pretty much exactly my story. My 13" MBPr with the lovely force touch trackpad is my favorite computer ever. There are a few things I miss about Windows (the window-snapping is much more cumbersome in OSX, I miss Windows Explorer, etc) but overall it's a real no-hassle laptop with a 'luxurious' feel.

oh I'm also going to dual-boot or go virtual for Windows on my macbook. I need to for some stuff for school. sigh

 

[DedValve]

All I can say is I made an old thread years ago asking if I should go mac. I did, learning Mac OSX was super easy as hell, the only thing was learning how to install/uninstall apps as .dmg files are quite different from .exe - a tip for that is they work more like phone apps. to install just drag into your apps folder (or anywhere really) to uninstall just move into the trash.

Also the mac I bought years ago based on the recommendation of gaf is still my primary day to day heavy use laptop and its still just as stupid fast as the day I got it.

I code with Unity, 3d model in blender and on average have 20+ chrome tabs open along with god knows how much other shit I have open at any one time and still play sims 3 and civ V (not exactly a high bar honestly) AND this is the base model of rMPB as in the cheapest new model I could get.

Fucking best laptop ever. No hassles, no errors I love it and OSX won me over completely.


Oh and finder is ass. Oh and so is the lack of any snapping. But you can learn finder (windows explorer equivalent) and get some free stuff for snapping such as Cinch. Those are my 2 cents.

 

[UltimaPooh]

If you have e the monies... MacBook Pro.

 

[demon]

All I can say is I made an old thread years ago asking if I should go mac. I did, learning Mac OSX was super easy as hell, the only thing was learning how to install/uninstall apps as .dmg files are quite different from .exe - a tip for that is they work more like phone apps. to install just drag into your apps folder (or anywhere really) to uninstall just move into the trash.

Also the mac I bought years ago based on the recommendation of gaf is still my primary day to day heavy use laptop and its still just as stupid fast as the day I got it.

I code with Unity, 3d model in blender and on average have 20+ chrome tabs open along with god knows how much other shit I have open at any one time and still play sims 3 and civ V (not exactly a high bar honestly) AND this is the base model of rMPB as in the cheapest new model I could get.

Fucking best laptop ever. No hassles, no errors I love it and OSX won me over completely.


Oh and finder is ass. Oh and so is the lack of any snapping. But you can learn finder (windows explorer equivalent) and get some free stuff for snapping such as Cinch. Those are my 2 cents.

Hold down the green button for a window...

But yeah Finder is a bit assy.

 

[BlackSalad]

I absolutely love my retina macbook pro. Its my first mac and it is easily the best laptop I've ever owned. After a couple weeks I bought my wife one too.

Both of us have since bought iPhones because we were sold on apple products and honestly couldn't be happier with the tech overall.

For the macbook, it is so well made, so sturdy, very fast. Not ideal for gaming but I'm more of a console guy so that does not really matter to me. I use mine for 50% work 50% home. It is very handy to have the 8-9 hour battery life when I am out of the office on business.

 

[Lulu23]

I'm typing this from a brand new Dell XPS 13.

It feels very premium, is pretty light and super portable due to the small bezels.
I go through whole days at Uni without having to worry about the battery (unfortunatley I don't have an exact number).

And if you don't go with the touchscreen model you'll actually also get a gorgeous IPS 1080p screen, which is perfect for Windows 10 without scaling at it's screen size.
Plus I don't see my reflection when I'm out with it because it's matte.

 

[DedValve]

Hold down the green button for a window...

But yeah Finder is a bit assy.

That maximizes it into its own window where you can't even open anything else in that window. Plus you can't do something like side to side snap.

EDIT: oh shit HOLD down you mean. Oh thats nifty. But windows still does it way better and faster which is why I just use cinch.

 

[jetsetnickradio]

I bought this Acer Aspire E 15 last week from Amazon and I absolutely love it.

$550
-6th Generation Intel Core i5-6200U Processor (Up to 2.8GHz)
-15.6-inch Full HD Display, NVIDIA GeForce 940MX with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM
-8GB DDR4 Memory, 256GB SSD
-Windows 10 Home; Backlit Keyboard
-Up to 12-hours Battery Life; 6-cell Li-Ion (2800 mAh) Battery

I mainly bought it for school, but it's definitely a capable gaming machine as well. Perhaps too capable, because I keep getting distracted from my studies >.>

 

[owlbeak]

I just recently got a 13" Macbook Pro (2012 model, no Retina) and I love the thing. Can't recommend it enough, though if you have the extra money spring for the retina display model. I got mine on sale for ~$850. I picked up an extra 4gb of RAM for it for another $20.

 

[jrcbandit]

Using the m processor line though, so I wouldn't recommend it. I keep hoping they release an XPS 13 in a business class machine like they did with the XPS 15 and the 5510.

Yeah, try to avoid the M series of processors if you can. Absolutely don't get anything with a M3 processor. The M5/M7 would be an okay compromise if you really want the laptop to be lightweight and fanless.

 

[The Shadow]

I really wish someone made a Windows laptop with the MacBook or MBA case. I like my MBA, but it sucks when free apps on windows are pay only on OSX, or that you have to jump through hoops to get windows apps to work in OSX.

 

[Apt101]

If you're going to be using it for work in any capacity, I'd shy away from the Chromebook. The Citrix Receiver for Chrome, while using Chrome OS, is a rather laborious exercise.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

are there any good (non chromebook) laptops for like under 400

depends what your definition of good is.

Yeah, try to avoid the M series of processors if you can. Absolutely don't get anything with a M3 processor. The M5/M7 would be an okay compromise if you really want the laptop to be lightweight and fanless.

depends on usage. I wouldn't say everyone should avoid it. The Asus Zenbook UX305 is a great laptop for most people.

If you're going to be using it for work in any capacity, I'd shy away from the Chromebook. The Citrix Receiver for Chrome, while using Chrome OS, is a rather laborious exercise.

this also depends on what you use at work. If you're using Office 365 then Chrome OS will get a ton better really soon now that the play store is coming to it.

 

[EmiPrime]

That maximizes it into its own window where you can't even open anything else in that window. Plus you can't do something like side to side snap.

EDIT: oh shit HOLD down you mean. Oh thats nifty. But windows still does it way better and faster which is why I just use cinch.

OS X with BetterTouchTool does it better than both Windows' and OS X's builtin snapping.

 

[velociraptor]

Is there a laptop which ticks these boxes:
- fast
- decent battery life
- good design/form
- decent gpu (eg 960M)

 

[demon]

That maximizes it into its own window where you can't even open anything else in that window. Plus you can't do something like side to side snap.

EDIT: oh shit HOLD down you mean. Oh thats nifty. But windows still does it way better and faster which is why I just use cinch.

Yeah like I said the way OSX does it is really cumbersome in comparison. It'a almost like they had to make it extra convoluted just to differentiate it from the Windows method somehow.

Managing different windows/apps on OSX is in general more cumbersome than Windows, I've found.