Choosing an Ultra-Thin Computer

College Life
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<p>So let's say price is not going to be a problem for me when choosing a new laptop (big if, I know)</p>

<p>What do I want in a laptop? Portability, light-weight, thin, reasonably good power</p>

<p>I have narrowed down my search to three categories:</p>

<p>1) Sony Vaio TT Series - Looks clean and sleek. Specs look reasonable.</p>

<p>2) Samsung X360 Series - A bit less cool-looking than the Vaios - more similar to the Thinkpads. But really really thin. Whoa...10 hours of battery life?</p>

<p>3) Macbooks - Gorgeous. Enough said. But I'm wary of Mac OSX. I'm not going to go into graphic design; I will be using my computer probably only for work (Microsoft Office suite + misc programs). Um, and I have no need for most of the iLife apps. I will most likely do bootcamp with Vista if I get a Mac (so is it worth that much $$?)</p>

<p>Thoughts? Advice? Which would you suggest?</p>

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<p>Just out of curiosity, why thin? I can understand portability and light-weight, but the ultra-thin requirement is a little puzzling. There are many portable computers that are very light but not necessarily designed for thinness.</p>

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<p>^ True tho I haven’t seen many computers that are ultraportable and light-weight while not also being thin. I guess “thin” is a relative term</p>

<p>Any thoughts on Sony vs. Samsung vs Apple?</p>

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<p>Why are you “wary” of Mac OS X? It’s not only for “graphic design.” It’s a powerful, flexible and stable operating system for daily use in any environment. There’s nothing which says you can’t do “work” on Mac OS X. I do it all the time. They make Microsoft Office for Mac, you know :)</p>

<p>In fact, it’s Windows that I use for “fun” - if I want to play games such as Team Fortress 2 or Call of Duty: World at War, I just reboot into XP and fire up Steam. Voila.</p>

<p>I’m typing this on a June 2007-refresh 15" MacBook Pro, and I’m upgrading to a brand-new 15" MacBook Pro next week. Now that Apple’s gone Intel, I would never consider buying a computer that didn’t have the Apple logo on it.</p>

<p>Yes, they’re a little more expensive (though the price/performance gap has narrowed.) But I can count on my fingers the number of times I’ve had a system crash in 18 months of heavy, road-warrior-and-student daily use. The industrial design is unparalleled in the industry. I’ve worked with Apples my entire life, from the IIgs in kindergarten to the latest-and-greatest Xeon Mac Pros in a public relations office. Macs don’t bite - give them a try :)</p>

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<p>^ Thanks for the response.</p>

<p>I should have prefaced my Mac comment with a little personal background. I am not one of those PC-types who complain and whine about Macs without ever having tried them. I have - like you - had to use Macs in school for quite some time now. I use a PC exclusively at home and use a Mac exclusively at school. So far, that awkward marriage has worked decently - no complaints.</p>

<p>But the fact of the matter is, I still prefer Windows by a large margin. As for iLife, sure it’s great, but I have no need for Garage Band, iMovie, iWeb or iDVD. If I get a Mac, which sure its a possibility, I will most likely Bootcamp it. Is that really a practical use of my money tho? If I am not even going to be using the Mac OS that much to justify the cost?</p>

<p>And while I like how the new Sony Vaios look, I really hate all of that crap they preset in the laptops. And $50 for Fresh Start (because you need to buy Windows Vista Business to qualify) is annoying</p>

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<p>Well, if you’re never going to use the Mac OS X side of things, I’d say paying the “Apple tax” probably isn’t worth it.</p>

<p>I don’t use GarageBand or iMovie, et al. much either. iTunes, Office 2004, Safari, Mail, Notebook 2.0, Twitteriffic and Ircle are my daily apps. Windows is probably about 15% of total usage.</p>

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<p>Macs are definitely worth the money if you have no budget. You are obviously looking for an ultra-portable computer so go with the Macbook Air or look at Windows based mini notebooks like the HP Mini-Note or the Acer Aspire One, the HP has Vista as you go into the higher price range and the Acer has Windows XP no matter what. Both have plenty of storage and power and are even more portable than the ones you mentioned.</p>

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<p>It seems lots of people still have reservations about the Macbook Air tho…</p>

<p>Any Sony Vaio or Samsung users out here?</p>

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<p>the new macbook air is a much better buy compared to the last generation…but i still don’t think it’s worth the money as a primary computer.</p>

<p>have you familiarized yourself with the productivity features of OSX? expose, keyboard shortcuts for everything, quicklook? non-maximizing windows, apps that don’t close when you click “x”? if you have and still don’t like OSX, then unless you have a copy of XP or Vista lying around, rule out the macbook. my point is OSX is useful for more than just iLife, which i don’t use either.</p>

<p>i’d be wary of buying a Samsung computer, simply because just about no one has one or has even seen one before. but look around for reviews. find out what stores might carry them and go and see one.</p>

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<p>^ Thanks toxic_waste. Yeah, even finding reviews of Samsung laptops are on the hard side.</p>

<p>I do have both XP and Vista though. Do you think it would be worth it to Boot camp windows onto a Macbook? And should I choose the Macbook or the Air?</p>

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<p>I would definitely go with the macbook over the MBAir if I was choosing between ose two.</p>

<p>The air has 1 USB port and no built in CD/DVD drive. Only having 1 USB port would get annoying real fast.</p>

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<p>^Not to mention, it lacks an ethernet port. The MacBook Air is a pretentious and expensive computer for people who are more interested in style than in getting work done.</p>

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<p>if price is not an issue, thinkpad x301 wins hands down.</p>

<p>If its just for college stuff, I would look at the 13.3 inch and 14.1 inch thinkpads because for a lot cheaper, you get A LOT more power. Ultraportables are not near the performance of small laptops</p>

<p>also look at the dell xps m1330</p>

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<p>i don’t think its worth it to primarily use Windows on a Macbook. you pay the extra for OSX, and then by booting in Windows you lose battery life (~60-90 minutes on a MBP, i dunno about MB) and have to deal with using a Mac keyboard on Windows. the latter isn’t too inconvenient, but you do lose something. and maybe it’s because i haven’t booted in Windows enough, but i haven’t been able to control the speed of two-finger scrolling, either. but if you still like the Macbook a lot, then go for it.</p>

<p>and i would always choose the Macbook (plastic or aluminum) over the Air for a primary computer.</p>

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<p>“^Not to mention, it lacks an ethernet port. The MacBook Air is a pretentious and expensive computer for people who are more interested in style than in getting work done.”</p>

<p>No, it’s a specialized computer for those who are more interested in reducing battery life, size and weight to the absolute minimum than about having a whole bunch of ports that they’d never plug anything into anyway.</p>

<p>Just because you don’t like something’s particular market niche and wouldn’t buy it, doesn’t make it utterly useless and “pretentious.”</p>

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<p>“No, it’s a specialized computer for those who are more interested in reducing battery life, size and weight to the absolute minimum than about having a whole bunch of ports that they’d never plug anything into anyway.”</p>

<p>How exactly is it specialized? I can find nothing in it that hasn’t been done before or isn’t already widely available. The only thing it can be said that the MBA specializes in is that it is the very definition of a ripoff. It’s got all the trappings of a mainstream laptop computer, yet none of the power (it’s CPU needed to be undervolted just so the cores won’t lockup) or the functionality. </p>

<p>The only thing it’s got going for it is that it’s thin and light. Thin is good, no one wants to carry around a brick. but when you get down to differences in millimeters or tenths of inches (which is what distinguishes the MBA from its competitors), does it really matter? Are you really going to store your laptop in a manila envelope and pull it out at meetings to the applause of onlookers? Are you really going to use it to cut your birthday cake? Are normal business traveler that squeezed for space that they can’t afford to take a laptop that’s maybe 10 pieces of printer paper thicker? As for light, well netbooks are light (2-3 lb) and they do just about everything that MBAs can do for about a quarter of the price. </p>

<p>Speaking of the uniqueness of the macbook air, Lenovo has a competitor (X300) that’s 0.6 inches thicker but with more than one USB, an optical disk, and ethernet and more stuff like swappable RAM, battery that doesn’t require a screwdriver to remove, etc. As for thinness, Mitsubishi released the Pedion in 1998 which is 0.04 inches thinner than the MBA. And the Sony VAIO X505 released in 2004 had comparable dimensions to the MBA and was lighter. So, really the MBA has nothing going for it that hasn’t been done before. Apple just puts off the shelf stuff in a pretty package and charge outrageous prices for it. So, yeah, I’d say it’s at least somewhat pretentious.</p>

<p>Edit: for those that argue that MBA combines all of the above features into one machine, take a look at the VAIO X505…</p>

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<p>“Speaking of the uniqueness of the macbook air, Lenovo has a competitor (X300) that’s 0.6 inches thicker but with more than one USB, an optical disk, and ethernet and more stuff like swappable RAM, battery that doesn’t require a screwdriver to remove, etc.”</p>

<p>Then if you want the Lenovo, buy it. It’s still not a MacBook Air. Apparently, people are buying the MacBook Air, because Apple’s still selling it.</p>

<p>Comparing the MBA to a netbook is hopeless, not only because the MBA is far and away more powerful than any netbook… but because there’s no netbook that will run Mac OS X. Mac OS X is a selling point. Lots of people like it better than any other operating system out there, and are willing to pay more to use it. (Like me.)</p>

<p>If you don’t like Apple, fine, just say so. Nobody’s putting a gun to your head and forcing you to buy “off the shelf stuff in a pretty package” at “outrageous prices.” Never mind that a “pretty package” adds value to people who care about aesthetic and ergonomic elegance. Never mind that Mac OS X is the farthest thing from “off the shelf.” The wonderful thing about capitalism: you have choices. Don’t like it, don’t buy it. But it seems like more than enough people are willing to pay those “outrageous prices” to keep Apple wildly profitable.</p>

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<p>BTW, SBR, you’ve quite clearly gotten your word meanings mixed up. “Specialized” doesn’t mean “unique.” In fact, it has nothing to do whatsoever with “unique.” Whether something has “been done before” or is “widely available” is irrelevant. In college, when you major in something, you’re specializing in that subject. Doesn’t mean you’re the only one specializing in it.</p>

<p>The MacBook Air is a specialized design to fill a market niche that no other Apple laptop serves - the subnotebook market. Thin, light, pared down to the barest essentials of mobile computing, yet more than powerful enough to be usable for everyday office tasks.</p>

<p>Is it for everyone? No. But it’s for anyone who wants a Mac OS X subnotebook.</p>

<p>As for “very definition of ripoff,” again it seems you haven’t a clue. The “very definition of ripoff,” according to Webster’s Dictionary, is “a usually cheap exploitive imitation.” So, what is the MBA “a usually cheap exploitive imitation” of?</p>

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<p>Let me address a few of the points above then:</p>

<p>-While MBA is supposed to be more powerful than netbooks, the cooling problems present in the first generation rendered the power rather useless as the CPU would just lock up due to overheating. </p>

<p>-Mac OSX isn’t a selling point unique to MBA, it’s on every single mac. Saying that no netbook will run OSX is like saying you can’t paint a car red because it only comes in silver. OS is software, there are always ways around it. </p>

<p>-I have nothing against Apple. I like apple stuff and I have had 3 iPods and will be getting an iPhone in the near future. I’m also considering getting a macbook as my next laptop in a year or so. Generally, I find that while Apple’s aren’t the cheapest stuff around but they do have good attributes like attractiveness, clean design, good customer service, generally good quality etc. In this case though, I find that MBA are blatant attempts to charge a high price for something that costs very little to make. BTW, Apple isn’t wildly profitable off MBAs, their main moneymakers are probably the iPod, iPhone and the macbook. </p>

<p>-I’ve never said that specialized equals unique. I was preempting arguments from Apple fanboys who’ll undoubtedly say “so what if everything in the MBA is off the shelf? It’s unique and never been done before!”</p>

<p>-I think in this case, our definitions of specialized differ. You refer to MBA as being specialized in relation to the rest of the Apple line. While that’s true, Apple only has 3 models of laptops. Compared to the rest of the laptop industry, this could barely be categorized as specialized. MBAs perform no other specialized tasks except being portable, it’s not geared toward any special computing type needs (note I said computing type need). With so many notebooks in the ultra-portable category now, the MBA can only be said to “fit” a certain broad market segment. Using the college analogy, it’s like saying you are studying “engineering” or “humanites” or “the sciences” or the “arts” instead of saying you are studying the medical imaging design in the biomedical engineering department. Thus, I say that calling it specialized is rather misleading in some cases.</p>

<p>In any case, the point I was trying to make (albeit somewhat badly) was that whether or not you argue the MBA can serve a specific purpose (it can-that of slightly more power in an ultra-small package compared to netbooks), many people who buy one do not absolutely require its features or even use it for its intended purpose enough to justify its price tag. And with the marketing approach that Apple has chosen to take, the MBA is present as more of a fashion statement than anything else. To use an analogy, a Cadillac and a Camry both serve the same functional as transportation, but you’ll never seen Diddy driving a Camry. Thus my comment about it being pretentious.</p>

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<p>“Generally, I find that while Apple’s aren’t the cheapest stuff around but they do have good attributes like attractiveness, clean design, good customer service, generally good quality etc.”</p>

<p>And thus my point about aesthetics having value beyond “pretension.” You’re willing to pay more for Apple products in part because they have attractive, clean design. Some people are willing to pay slightly more (it isn’t even really that much more) for the MacBook Air’s combination of reasonable power and Mac OS X in an extremely slim and light package.</p>

<p>“Mac OSX isn’t a selling point unique to MBA, it’s on every single mac.”</p>

<p>Well, no kidding, but “every single Mac” is not the MBA. There’s an intended market niche for each product within the Apple lineup.</p>

<p>If you want a Mac OS X subnotebook, you’re not going to buy a quad Xeon Mac Pro and hack it apart into a custom-built portable casing hooked to a 12-volt car battery. You’re going to buy the MacBook Air. Thus, it fills a market niche that has been missing from Apple’s lineup since the PowerBook Duo was canned.</p>

<p>99.9% of the population really isn’t interested in hacking Mac OS X to run on non-Apple hardware, so, sure there are “ways around it,” but nobody takes them because they want something that works out of the box.</p>