Are there any laptops that rival the Macbook air?

[davejonesbkk]

I might be getting a new laptop soon, Ive never owned a Mac before and very tempted to get a Macbook air 13' for around 35k baht mainly as its so ridiculously light but also I know they have amazing battery power. Im just curious if there are any Windows alternatives to it? It would need to be around the same weight, price and can match the battery power although in my experience with other Apple devices such as iphones/pads Apple batteries are unrivalled...

[GinBoy2]

I had never owned a mac until I bought a Mac Air few years back. I still own a Windows Alienware laptop, but the way the Mac is bulletproof won me over. None of the drivers missing, the gradual buildup of crap that always in a Windows machine necessitates a clean re-install type stuff, the Mac just works!

Not sure you're asking a the right question. Not sure it's the hardware that is the problem, it's more the operating system. If you want the best of all worlds, buy the Mac Air and install Bootcamp so you have a windows partition for the odd program you cant run under iOS.

[Somtamnication]

I have not seen one comparable to it. But I cannot get used to the OS. My 2014 Mac Air 11", 256ssd is up for sale, 30k.

I miss Windoze, warts and all.

[MKAsok]

Go for the Mac. You won't regret it. And if, in the unlikely event you miss Windows, you can install that.

[sfokevin]

The only thing to rival it would be the 13" MacBook Pro with retina display!

Edited June 21, 2015 by sfokevin

[Chicog]

I don't think anything matches it for being an overpriced vanity purchase, no.

[GinBoy2]

I don't think anything matches it for being an overpriced vanity purchase, no.

Oh I'm going head to head with that comment

Very true, the Mac is overpriced if you compare it to a similar Windows machine. I really have to swallow hard before I coughed up the cash. But, what you get for your money will be the most trouble free piece of hardware you have ever bought.

I'm a nerd, and on some level liked the downloading drivers, editing registries, re-imaging hard drives. But after experiencing the flawlessness of the mac, you get what you pay for.

I'm not an Apple fanboy, I still have Windows laptops, Android phones (don't own an iphone), but the Mac Air as a piece of hardware and software may well be overpriced, but it's as solid as anything you are ever going to buy, and probably outlive 2x any windows hardware you buy

[rijit]

I don't think anything matches it for being an overpriced vanity purchase, no.

Oh I'm going head to head with that comment

Very true, the Mac is overpriced if you compare it to a similar Windows machine. I really have to swallow hard before I coughed up the cash. But, what you get for your money will be the most trouble free piece of hardware you have ever bought.

I'm a nerd, and on some level liked the downloading drivers, editing registries, re-imaging hard drives. But after experiencing the flawlessness of the mac, you get what you pay for.

I'm not an Apple fanboy, I still have Windows laptops, Android phones (don't own an iphone), but the Mac Air as a piece of hardware and software may well be overpriced, but it's as solid as anything you are ever going to buy, and probably outlive 2x any windows hardware you buy

I thought the same regarding longevity until a couple of engineer/ repair bods' put me right, according to them apple priducts v often go wrong as well .

But cos of their.original cost they.are 'worth' repairing.

rijit

Edited June 21, 2015 by rijit

[Loptr]

I had never owned a Mac until I bought a Mac Air about a year ago... I installed Parallels and created a Windoze image for anything I needed that is Microsoft only... Wished I had done it long ago...

[hound]

Take a look at the Lenovo Thinkpad. They have one with a solid state hard drive that is very thin and light. The salesman says it boots 10 times as fast as the standard hard drive. The battery life is good also. In America it costs about the same as the MacBook Air.

I didn't buy one as I purchased another Lenovo model a few months ago.

[rijit]

is that it boots faster the main advantage of a solid state h/d ?

rijit

[Fab5BKK]

X240 or X1 Thinkpads from Lenovo

XPS13 from Dell

I'm sure there are other props.

PS: I've got my X230 for 3 years, perfect!

[thedemon]

The Samsung Series 9 Collection are sometimes described as Apple killers.

http://www.samsung.com/us/series-9-laptop/

Not cheap either but great build quality. Samsung have pulled out of the Thai notebook market though. So need to buy from elsewhere.

[thrilled]

Hopefully when Windows 10 comes out it will be fantastic,NOT.Um I have had 98,XP,7,8,and they've all been prone

To all kinds of things.List to long to name.If I had any sense I would have went with Apple from the beginning.

Since I have had this IPad not 1 problem.So if I was you I wouldn't think twice.I would kick Microsoft to the

Curb and buy Apple.Good luck to you.

[guzzi850m2]

is that it boots faster the main advantage of a solid state h/d ?

rijit

No

It runs much faster and last longer too, it might survive if you drop it, a spinning hard drive, not likely.

My next desk top pc will have a 250gb ssd (min) for OP/diff software and then 4tb spinning hd's for movies/music.

[rijit]

Ive had 3 laptops and everything around the hd's has failed but never the hard drive itself. Still the faster bit works for me

rijit

[innerspace]

My 12k acer laptop (price includes ssd and me opening it up and voiding warranty within hours of ownership) is close on several counts.

Battery life (12 hrs plus) rivals or beats the air. Performance will rival or beat. Connectivity options wins hands down.

Thickness and engineering quality, goes to the apple.

Operating system... im biased on that front and both get a poor grade, but laptop shared with mrs and not switched her to nix yet!

I have used many apples, owned a few and seen their quality control drop the last decade. Yes they fail, my old Mac pro cost a fortune in out of warrenty repairs! Yes they get viruses, admitedly less than doze but cant be denied (so does my prefered linux!).

But respect to apple, their machines are brilliantly designed, engineered and built. Solid aluminium laptops, mac pro, even the mini... well made and look great.

Priced to match though and there is the issue.... worth it or not is down to each individual. Never will have a definitive answer.

[rijit]

is that it boots faster the main advantage of a solid state h/d ?

rijit

No

It runs much faster and last longer too, it might survive if you drop it, a spinning hard drive, not likely.

My next desk top pc will have a 250gb ssd (min) for OP/diff software and then 4tb spinning hd's for movies/music.

nice spec desk top

rijit

[fasteddie]

Take a look at the Lenovo Thinkpad. They have one with a solid state hard drive that is very thin and light. The salesman says it boots 10 times as fast as the standard hard drive. The battery life is good also. In America it costs about the same as the MacBook Air.

I didn't buy one as I purchased another Lenovo model a few months ago.

Don't get a Thinkpad Edge with AMD processor, I've got one and its poop! Luckily still got my old Inspiron, awesome laptop just missing HDMI.

[IMHO]

Hera are some:

Dell XPS13, 50K Baht: http://www.dell-thailand.com/laptop/xps/xps_13_9343.aspx

Acer Aspire S7, 60K Baht: http://www.acer.co.th/ac/th/TH/content/series/aspires7

Lenovo Yoga 3, 60K Baht: http://lenovothailand.com/product/item/lenovo-yoga-3-pro/

You might find street prices a few percent lower than these, but no way you'll buy one for the same price as an actual Air:

http://store.apple.com/th-en/buy-mac/macbook-air

Edited June 21, 2015 by IMHO

[IMHO]

I have not seen one comparable to it. But I cannot get used to the OS. My 2014 Mac Air 11", 256ssd is up for sale, 30k.

I miss Windoze, warts and all.

So, just install Windows then

[Jackie66]

I have the Samsung 9 series. Pretty similar look to the Air.

http://www.samsung.com/us/business/computing/laptops/NP900X3D-A03US

But someone mentioned Samsung isn't selling laptops on Thai market anymore so maybe hard to get here.

I bought mine here but late last year.

[gazzasore]

There are many laptops better than Mac

But it all depends what you want them for

Apple products are away over priced

I have an Alienware Laptop and they also are very expensive

If your only surfing the Web

You don't need to send lots of money

30,000 the would be plenty I would say

[gearsau]

The Samsung Series 9 Collection are sometimes described as Apple killers.

http://www.samsung.com/us/series-9-laptop/

Not cheap either but great build quality. Samsung have pulled out of the Thai notebook market though. So need to buy from elsewhere.

I have a SAMSUNG R620.Have owned it for 5 years.

Unfortunately, Samsung have pulled out of the Australian Laptop market as well. :-(

[kbelyeu]

I would suggest you trying out a Mac book before making the switch.. I bought one in October 2014 and sold it by February.. did my head in.

Kurt

[Goldie09]

Had mine 5 years and never an issue. Fantastic machine. My staff and friends use windows with no end of issues. Best buy ever.

Get one and enjoy the time rather than waste time in shops

[Holdfast72]

Not sure you're asking a the right question. Not sure it's the hardware that is the problem, it's more the operating system. If you want the best of all worlds, buy the Mac Air and install Bootcamp so you have a windows partition for the odd program you cant run under iOS.

Go with the Macbook Air you won't regret it... small learning curve transitioning from Windows to Mac.

Re: Bootcamp... stay away from it. If you want to run Windows use 'Parallels' (virtual machine software about $80 AUD)... absolutely Brilliant.

I made this error when I purchased my first macbook pro in 2012, as I'd never used a Mac before I set the partition at 60/40 in favour of windows. Big Mistake... once you have bootcamp you are stuck with it unless you start from scratch again.

With bootcamp, I soon got very tired of switching between Mac and Windows... enter Parallels... allows Mac and Windows to operate at the same time, drag and drop files etc... they work together as one.

For work I need Windows for the ERP, access to servers etc also MS Office for Windows is far better than Office for Mac; however, I use Mac for everything else. Honestly, you don't even know you have 2 operating sytems running together.

Worried about performance? ok... if you're a gamer forget it... for everyone else, the IT guys at work have benchmarked my machine running Parallels/Windows and nothing in my company comes close. Yes, that's predominately due to the Mac's hardware (awesome machine) but it shows running windows through a virtual drive doesn't present any bottlenecks.

When running Parallels you don't partition the drive so 100% of the available hard disk space is there for both Mac and Windows; Bootcamp holds you to the partition which can be very limiting as your needs change. Yes, there's software that can apparently change the partition... I've tried a few to no avail.

Upgraded my Macbook 6 months ago without Bootcamp... installed only Parallels (and the version of Windows I wanted)... happy days.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Holdfast72

[Trentham]

I don't think anything matches it for being an overpriced vanity purchase, no.

Oh I'm going head to head with that comment

Very true, the Mac is overpriced if you compare it to a similar Windows machine. I really have to swallow hard before I coughed up the cash. But, what you get for your money will be the most trouble free piece of hardware you have ever bought.

I'm a nerd, and on some level liked the downloading drivers, editing registries, re-imaging hard drives. But after experiencing the flawlessness of the mac, you get what you pay for.

I'm not an Apple fanboy, I still have Windows laptops, Android phones (don't own an iphone), but the Mac Air as a piece of hardware and software may well be overpriced, but it's as solid as anything you are ever going to buy, and probably outlive 2x any windows hardware you buy

The Mac is also the product of exploited workers and a company without ethics and as the Chicog said, "an overpriced vanity purchase".

[Jeffrey346]

I have owned MAC's for 10 years. My current MAC is a 2009 13" MBP never had an issue with it. I upgraded the HD to an SSD last year. It now runs better than the day I bought it.

My wife has a 13" MAC Air and loves it. I am now thinking of buying a new 13" Air for me. Not because I need it but due the the technology changes.

Once you get use to the MAC OS you will never go back to WIN. It's far superior and virus and blue screen free.

[sometimewoodworker]

I have used many apples, owned a few and seen their quality control drop the last decade. Yes they fail, my old Mac pro cost a fortune in out of warrenty repairs! Yes they get viruses, admitedly less than doze but cant be denied (so does my prefered linux!).

But respect to apple, their machines are brilliantly designed, engineered and built. Solid aluminium laptops, mac pro, even the mini... well made and look great.

Priced to match though and there is the issue.... worth it or not is down to each individual. Never will have a definitive answer.

There are many forms of Malware that can affect a computer system, of which a virus is but one type, trojans another. Using the strict definition of a computer virus, no viruses that can attack OS X have so far been detected 'in the wild', i.e. in anything other than laboratory conditions. The same is not true of other forms of malware, such as Trojans. (The expression malware is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software. Not all malware are viruses.)