Need a new laptop – MacBook or Windows?

Asus zenbooks are worth a look too, my i7 flies and it’s lightweight and nice to use. Only thing that lets it down is the delete key and power button are a bot close together. This has been sorted on the new generation ones though.

BUT. If you are happy with Windows, it will undoubtedly provide you with a cheap, workable solution. Just not the same quality.

Only if you buy a cheap workable laptop, rather than a quality laptop.
Apple don’t have a monopoly on quality.

This is the problem with MS. They regularly release cr@p products (inc OS) which are then “fixed” by the next release.
Not much help to the people who paid £££ for the dud
They were softawre problems afaik so no ‘duds’ should remain.

general crapness
If something’s crap it’s generally not MS’s fault. But the average punter doesn’t see this of course. They just like ranting, it seems.

Yep I read, but the point is that it’s not all plain sailing in MSLand right now.
It’s never plain sailing in IT.

the last MS machine we ever bought in 2005. It and the OS was indeed sh.
That was 11 years ago, maybe time to open your mind a bit again?

Like I say – both systems have good points and bad. One of the worst things about Macs is the BLOODY ANTI WINDOWS MAC FANBOIS. Get a grip.

The thing is you don’t get the problems/duds, you don’t get the it’s not Apple’s fault, you don’t get it’s not plain sailing etc,.
Apple offerings work seamlessly, have more thought put into UIs, last longer and look better.

This is based on owning 2 Macs over the last 14 years with second still going stron after 5 years (yes they do last that long) alongside a Windows 10 laptop for last 3 years (which is also good so far)

There also seem to be as many people who are anti MAC for the sake of it than there are Apple fan boys.

the latest version of office 2016 for mac in much more like the windows version – I used to dual boot my mac in into windows so i could use excel “properly” the latest mac version doesn’t feel like a compromise anymore.

I’d install office 365 on your macbook air and see how you find it.

There is an awful lot to be said for carrying around a light laptop rather than a heavy one.

The Dell ultrabooks get good reviews , but budgetwise they are similar in price to a macbook

Only if you buy a cheap workable laptop, rather than a quality laptop.
Apple don’t have a monopoly on quality.

Or price. If you want a Windows machine of equivalent quality to a mac it will cost you. The point I was making is that cheaper solutions are available using Windows.

Only if you buy a cheap workable laptop, rather than a quality laptop.
Apple don’t have a monopoly on quality.

+1

My current laptop was +£600 in 2010, and still works although it’s struggling with intense stuff – so I’ve just bought a new Fujitsu (+£1000).

Both are very lightweight (and small screen) with huge battery life, mainly because I’m either at a desk using a large monitor or want to be able to work mobile without worry for power.

Mac is no good as my current client supplies enterprise software and the only way a Mac would work is under emulation, so pointless to have a Mac 🙂

I use an iMac, a MacBook (the 2015 retina one) and a Windows 10 Dell laptop. In terms of hardware quality and screen quality the Macs win hands down, but they cost a lot more money. The Macs are also much nicer pieces to hardware to use, as subjective as that sounds. In my experience no one has come close to Apple with multi-gesture trackpads. The reason Windows machines have touch screens is that no one has perfected a trackpad for Window (IMHO etc).

That said, for business use I do sometimes find limitations or other annoyances in Office for Mac that aren’t in Office for Windows. Office is good on a Mac, but it’s better on Windows. If you need to work with others in your business and they are in a Windows environment, don’t fight it.

My MacBook is superb for travelling. It weighs so little. Downsides? Only one port. This is a pain if you need to do a presentation and you have no USB-C to HDMI adaptor.

I could go on, but my top tip is to buy something that is the same operating system as those you work closely with…

…unless everyone uses Google Docs in which case pick the laptop that looks nice 😆

My MacBook is superb for travelling. It weighs so little.

For work, I had the option of MacBook, Lenovo W541 or Lenovo X1 carbon, both with W7 as we have not yet upgraded.

The MacBook was only slightly lighter than the W541 although quite a bit thinner, and it couldn’t have extra RAM or storage, so I discounted it. Plus I didn’t want to look like a fanboi 🙂

The reason Windows machines have touch screens is that no one has perfected a trackpad for Window (IMHO etc).

You mean like Lenovo or the MS Surface have done and probably a whole of others too. Windows 8 brought in using gestures but it had been on manufacturer specific platforms before that.
Compare your Macbook to an equivalent priced laptop and suddenly you start to feel short changed such as the Lenovo Yogo Pro 3.

Plus I didn’t want to look like a fanboi

That was my number one criteria for purchase 😆

There are some seriously useful things about having all Apple kit. The ease at which I can use my iPhone as a mobile hotspot for example, and the way I can use my Mac for answering and making calls via my iPhone. This whole Apple “Continuity” thing sounds a bit of a gimmick on paper, but in real life it’s actually genuinely helpful.

Do Windows/Google computers and phones do something similar? Genuine question borne of genuine ignorance.

The reason Windows machines have touch screens is that no one has perfected a trackpad for Window (IMHO etc).

You mean like Lenovo or the MS Surface have done and probably a whole of others too.[/quote]
The Lenovo trackpad is awful compared to Apple’s.

The ease at which I can use my iPhone as a mobile hotspot for example

Apple had to “copy” that feature from Android 😉
I’d be surprised if Windows didn’t have that feature too.

The ease at which I can use my iPhone as a mobile hotspot for example

What do you have to do?

I swipe down from the top of my phone and press the ‘mobile hotspot’ button. Then the computer connects automatically.

No idea if I can answer calls from my PC – I always use a headset. Notifications from my phone do pop up on my desktop though; I can dismiss them on there and they are dismissed on my phone; my computer knows my battery level on the phone; and I think I can send texts from my pc too but never tried.

Trackpad.. the Surface one feels nice – I get a load of multi-touch gestures I can configure and tune if I want. Don’t use them all, but I use two finger scrolling all the time (had that for years) and getting used to three finger tap to select apps.

What do you have to do?

Go to the top of my Mac where I can select Wi-fi networks and select “iPhone”.

I actually have both at home… and whereas the Mac is just great speed-wise, battery life wise, looks wise, and actually you don’t have to deal with adverts or viruses like windows, but I still prefer the windows.

I grew up using windows, I understand it, and I do find the Mac difficult to use.. it’s just not as straight forward. And I know I can learn how to use a Mac properly, but I would still always go for a windows

W10 can do it, fo’ shizzle 🙂

EDIT – I hope no-one lives next door to me if I ever turn that on 😉

Go to the top of my Mac where I can select Wi-fi networks and select “iPhone”.

I can do that too if I leave the hotspot on all the time. But I turn it off to save phone battery. If the iPhone turns off the hotspot when you’re not using it then that’s cool.

EDIT gfs – cool!

I don’t need to turn on the hotspot to do that. It turns on automatically when I connect to the iPhone wi-fi network.

The iPhone wifi network IS the hotspot surely?

yes. The point being that I don’t have to enable the hotspot on my phone before attempting to connect to it from my MacBook. The attempt to connect to it is what turns the hotspot on.

Like in Gofasterstripes’ picture?

One of the worst things about Macs is the BLOODY ANTI WINDOWS MAC FANBOIS.

… who go “buy a Mac” without actually reading the OP.

The bottom line is, you pay a premium for Apple products, is it worth it in this case? As Johnhe has said he doesn’t get on with OSX and wants to run MS applications the answer is clearly “no.” As a salesperson the only benefit I can see is one of client perception if you turn up with something shiny (though arguably, do you really want to be wandering around South Africa flashing a Macbook around?).

So then the question is, is a £300 laptop going to be cost-effective? I’d argue that if you’re contemplating a Macbook then you should probably be looking at throwing a bit more at a decent laptop (I don’t know how much a Macbook costs but I’ll wager it’s not £300).

For travelling around the world you probably want something robust, which is inherently at odds with light (and shiny). If you throw £300 on a Happy Shopper laptop I’d be treating it as sacrificial and expect to replace it in a couple of years.

Like in Gofasterstripes’ picture?

Nope, nothing like that. I’m on a Mac for starters 🙂

Picture the scene…
I’m in a hotel room and my iPhone is connected to 3/4G
I open up my MacBook and want to get online
I click on the little Wifi symbol that is ever-visible top right corner of my Mac
There are no “normal” wifi networks available so I select “iPhone”
My iPhone automatically enables the hotspot
My MacBook is online

I’m sure Windows/Android does something equally effective, but it does please me how elegantly simple this process is, since it is the same “journey” as if I was connecting to the hotel’s wifi.

craigxxl, I’m still running mavericks on my work laptop (early 2014) and only recently upgraded to Sierra on my home laptop (2011), so too early to tell. Though I would assume that the newer MacBooks can handle Sierra without a detrimental effect on battery life.

“The battery on my Macbook failed within a year. The replacement battery failed within a year. The replacement replacement battery failed within a year.”

We can only call on our own experiences, and mine have been good so far. Interesting to hear that so many batteries died on you. Perhaps the problem was something deeper than the battery itself, e.g how it was charged or something similar…

I’m sure Windows/Android does something equally effective

And GFS showed us that it does, so that’s that.

So it’s exactly the same, but on one you go click-select (and presumably there must be something fancy like the wifi hotspot always on), and the other you go swipe-tap (and the laptop, tablet, whatever, sees the hotspot and automatically connects)?

And on Android/Linux, for sure, plug in phone to charge from the laptop, and it’ll go “Oh, I see you have just plugged in a phone… as you’re not connected to the internet right now, shall I use that phone for that?” (I imagine Mac, Windows do that too, but either way, it’s even fewer actions).

Nobody reads the OP. I mentioned Chromebook precisely because on threads like this there will be an answer “get a mac”, and more often than not also the answer “get a chromebook”.

Cougar – Moderator

(I don’t know how much a Macbook costs but I’ll wager it’s not £300).

A mate of mine recently was telling me how great his MacBook is & that I really should embrace the Apple world……
he uses his for general web browsing, the odd document and not a lot else as far as I can tell.

I said that for a variety of reasons I have no intention of spanking about a grand on what is essentially a laptop in a fancy shell. He replied that it would be actually more like £1800 to get something equivalent to his….!!!! 😯

HA HA! About 2 hrs before he was gloating that his bib shorts only cost £18, but then moaning while out on a bike ride that his arse was really sore….. 😕
He can see the worth in an £1800 laptop which gets very basic use but can’t see the worth in a £50 pair of bibs……

craigxxl, I’m still running mavericks on my work laptop (early 2014) and only recently upgraded to Sierra on my home laptop (2011), so too early to tell. Though I would assume that the newer MacBooks can handle Sierra without a detrimental effect on battery life.

Both my MB Pro & Air are 2015 models. Having a search it seems to be effecting quite a few users. People have blamed Spotlight and the new Photo app but checking on what using the processing power and battery neither of these are anything special and both machines ran fine prior to the update. No doubt a fix will be coming out as usual to resolve problems they have created.

“The battery on my Macbook failed within a year. The replacement battery failed within a year. The replacement replacement battery failed within a year.”

We can only call on our own experiences, and mine have been good so far. Interesting to hear that so many batteries died on you. Perhaps the problem was something deeper than the battery itself, e.g how it was charged or something similar…

Used in exactly the same way as several other laptops. Charged up, used on battery. Charged up, used on battery. Dell, HP, Sony, Asus, and Acer seem to have survived. So IME, something must have been defective in the Apple hardware and/or firmware, and they certainly did push out firmware fixes for Macbook batteries in the past.
The Sony one did die after about 6-7 years. I can live with that. Even managed to find a replacement when I sold the laptop.

About 2 hrs before he was gloating that his bib shorts only cost £18, but then moaning while out on a bike ride that his arse was really sore…

If I’ve spent £1800 on a device to surf the web, I think my arse would be sore as well.

All that talk talk about creating hotspot is really pointless when you have built-in 4g in your laptop, makes hotspotting seem like thing from 90’s.

Another thing is that if you are traveling around the world you better be prepared to have VGA, HDMI and DVI -connectors for your presentations and Ethernet too. For newest Mac laptops and many PC ultraportables this will mean that you are lugging around a bag of dongles.

I should add I also have a Chromebook too. Impressive, but for different reasons. I’m not sure i’d recommend one as an “only laptop”, but they do a job and do it very well…and cheaply.

For newest Mac laptops and many PC ultraportables this will mean that you are lugging around a bag of dongles.

Yep. One of the must haves’ for me was Ethernet and VGA ports.

In fact ‘back in the day’ I use to carry a tool kit so I could dismantle phone sockets in hotels to ‘wire-in’ my modems, along with a bag of power and telephone adaptors – at one time there were regional differences, not just country differences.

All that talk talk about creating hotspot is really pointless when you have built-in 4g in your laptop, makes hotspotting seem like thing from 90’s.

Well except for the fact that you’d need two Sims and two data bundles and so on. Will work out cheaper to use the 4G on your phone. I used to have a laptop that had 3g when that was fast. Then 4g came out and suddenly my phone was way faster than my laptop.

on one you go click-select (and presumably there must be something fancy like the wifi hotspot always on

EDITED

Anyway I’m going to try it now, let’s see how I get on.

Gofasterstripe’s page allows other devices to connect to the computer – not the other way round…. So no Windows doesn’t doesn’t do it.

Damn now I need to find £1500.

Another thing is that if you are traveling around the world you better be prepared to have VGA, HDMI and DVI -connectors for your presentations and Ethernet too. For newest Mac laptops and many PC ultraportables this will mean that you are lugging around a bag of dongles.

and displayport and minidisplay port and mini-hdmi…
oh and USB

we have hdmi for everything now, with (I think) display port dongles, and also those USB wireless things to beam the presentation to the beamer or 60inch telly. I imagine the slimline laptops are probably mini-hdmi/mini-displayport which means you need the dongle assortment still.

and displayport and minidisplay port and mini-hdmi…

Surelu you only need one – whatever your computer has to VGA. I’ve never been in an office with a projector that didn’t have VGA.

I imagine the slimline laptops are probably mini-hdmi/mini-displayport which means you need the dongle assortment still.

Surface does but also has wireless display built in.

The thing is you don’t get the problems/duds, you don’t get the it’s not Apple’s fault, you don’t get it’s not plain sailing etc,.

You definitely do. The 1st gen retina Macbook Pros had issues, there’s been failing dGPUS in macbooks pros in the past, battery problems as reported. They’re premium machines and work and last well, but lets not pretend they’re always perfect. (Written from a 2012 Macbook Air 😉 )

What do you mean by “other devices to connect to the computer”? Which item do you want to share it’s connection with the othet? iPhone, Android and Windows Phone can all share their 3/4G connection to the internet via WiFi, Windows 10 can also share it’s Wired connection outwards to another device via your WiFi (and apparantly trigger this via Bluetooth, though I’ve never tried).

Am I missing the point?