Laptop Decisions

[bobspud]

I have been more than satisfied with my Mac Book Pro over the year and a half that I have owned it. Its a seriously better piece of kit than any laptop I have ever owned. They will run windows as well so you can remain office friendly without faffing about with 2011. I am tempted to go for a mac book Air for wandering round site and leaving my pro on my desk. Horses for courses... But I would never waist my money on another brand again.

[redgiant]

My T61p ThinkPad has lasted me nearly 5 years. I'll probably pick up a T530 or W530 on my travels later in the year to replace it as my main machine. I may get one of those convertible tablets with a keyboard in the new year.

As for Macs I've never really seen the point in getting one as I don't need to use OSX for anything and IBM/Lenovo have been excellent with their on site support for my two TPs for the past 10 years. Also not that fussed about looks - I like the TP Bento box look

[NickFitz]

Because on paper, the Mac Book Air seems to be head and shoulders above the competition.

It doesn't make any sense basing your decision on specs that look good on paper.

Luckily the MBA is head and shoulders above the competition in reality too. And yes, it runs Windows if you want it to (either natively or in a VM), although Microsoft make Office for Mac.

[sbakoola]

DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT buy a Sony Vaio laptop especially their Z21 series which is flat and 31.1 inches in screen size. Since I bought it late last year 2011, I had problems in Feb 2012 where screen markings appears, I sent it to them and they repaired it. Now in June I've had an even worse problem with the laptop with big blotchy red and black marks on the screen and they are trying to blame it on me claiming that I squeezed the laptop too much - which is a total lie.

I use a cloth between the screen and the keyboard (as recommended in the instruction manual - which is an admission that it has a weakness) and I use a specific Vaio Z20 series carry case and still the thing breaks on the screen.

Their European call centre is offshore (I think based in Morroco) and some of the representatives tell you anything and fob you off big time and their English is not very good at all which makes it frustrating to deal with.

See my other post about me considering taking Sony to court over this.

*** AVOID AT ALL COSTS, EXPENSIVE AND THE WARRANTY AND SUPPORT IS WORTHLESS ***

[Malcolm Buggeridge]

I'm on my second Acer, first one lasted 4 years.

Second one about 4 years now, speakers are not up to much, but 8 hour battery is lasting well.

I also need to make a laptop decision.

Current decision is wait a bit longer

I'm still on my Acer Aspre which I purchased in 2007 - crikey 5 years ago!

That said, I've replaced the battery once - though the current one is more or less dead now - and put in a new screen; though that was down to my own clumsiness in that I dropped it a while ago and put a crack in it. The mousepad cum touchpad has given up the ghost and Im now using a usb mouse. Definitely can't delay the decision for much longer.

[MarillionFan]

Present company all have Macs(apart from me as I had to provide my own kit). But they have all have VMPlayer installed for other stuff.

[Old Hack]

The battery on the VAIO lasts about 1.5 hours....

If that...

[alreadypacked]

I'm on my second Acer, first one lasted 4 years.

Second one about 4 years now, speakers are not up to much, but 8 hour battery is lasting well.

I also need to make a laptop decision.

Current decision is wait a bit longer

[Mr.Whippy]

Mind you, compared to a Sony Vaio, anything will be more reliable.

WHS... I had a Vaio that I had to glue bits back on after a few months... not good build quality at all imo.

[Old Hack]

Reliability issues? I know someone who had an Air but has now ditched in in favour of a Pro due to various breakdowns.

Mind you, compared to a Sony Vaio, anything will be more reliable.

I have had a VAIO for 3 years with a rebuild done in the first month. Feared the worst, but it's been grand since.

[doodab]

So, I need some justification to not buy the Mac. What other downsides are there that would make me go and buy a Sony Vaio instead? I hear that you can't change the battery yourself - you have to send it to the manufacturer or something. Don't like the sound of that. Anything else? Because on paper, the Mac Book Air seems to be head and shoulders above the competition.

I wouldn't touch the Sony personally.

I wouldn't buy the macbook air either. I don't like the non-user-replacable battery and the (lack of) built in ethernet & conventional monitor ports means I would need to carry adapters for those things. I would find the 256GB SSD limiting as well. You can get office on the mac BTW.

That's just me though. I wouldn't buy any of the superlight laptops, you can get a lot more of everything if you're prepared to tolerate an extra 500g.

[Platypus]

Reliability issues? I know someone who had an Air but has now ditched in in favour of a Pro due to various breakdowns.

Mind you, compared to a Sony Vaio, anything will be more reliable.

[Malcolm Buggeridge]

Having thought long and hard about this, I may have to do what is the unthinkable for me and buy a Mac.

Let me explain - what I'm primarily interested in from a laptop is portability and battery life. I cycle in and out of work at the moment so I want a lightweight unit and I don't want to have to carry a power pack. Looking at all the comparison / review sites, the Mac Book Air comes out way on top of all the other comparable ultrabooks and the only things I can argue against purchasing one relate to the price and the fact that I'm a Windows man.

The Windows thing isn't such a problem as the only bit of software that I have to use is Photoshop but I'd still like to be able use Word & Excel (I believe there is something in the Mac world that allows this).

That leaves the rather embarrassing problem of my having to eat a lot of humble pie. You see, my bro in law is a Mac evangelist and I have spent the past 5 years accusing him of being a fashion victim.

So, I need some justification to not buy the Mac. What other downsides are there that would make me go and buy a Sony Vaio instead? I hear that you can't change the battery yourself - you have to send it to the manufacturer or something. Don't like the sound of that. Anything else? Because on paper, the Mac Book Air seems to be head and shoulders above the competition.