Laptop-age : Best laptop for $1000

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Kraftwerk

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Looking for some recommendations.

I am thinking a Lenovo , since I have heard great things about them on Gaf, but they have so many goddamn models it's confusing.

I'll be using it for:

A lot of typing and word processing

Gaming, but not heavy. I mostly play old school adventure games so anything should handle this.

Photo and Video processing. I am going to take this hobby up one notch, and spending more time doing this. Need something that can handle these tasks.

Also;

I watch a lot of Movies/ T.V shows online so should be able to handle HD streaming.

Don't care about brands, as long as it is good.
 
Funk heavy gaming, and just get either a Mac Book Air or one of the new Intel Ultrabooks and roll with that. They'll all have Sandy Bridge procs in them which will more than handheld anything you'd need in terms of general comp usage, and the newer built in gpu is great for everything you'd regularly do too.
 
I bought a Macbook back in 2007, and I'm still rocking it. The thing just doesn't stop being awesome, so if you're going to spend a grand, get the new Air.
 
MacBook Air, or for $100 more, Macbook Pro (w/ student discount).

Nothing else comes close to the MacBook line's build quality (dat trackpad). OS X is amazing.
 
Macbook Air looks good, but I have to buy a portable DVD drive for $70 just to install windows on it. As far as I can tell.

I have an Imac, which also has windows installed on it. I just like to have windows too.
 
Kraftwerk said:
Macbook Air looks good, but I have to buy a portable DVD drive for $70 just to install windows on it. As far as I can tell.

I have an Imac, which also has windows installed on it. I just like to have windows too.
Click to expand...

You can put the Win7 image on a USB drive as well. I did it for my Mac Mini 2011.
 
Kraftwerk said:
Macbook Air looks good, but I have to buy a portable DVD drive for $70 just to install windows on it. As far as I can tell.

I have an Imac, which also has windows installed on it. I just like to have windows too.
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All current major OS's now allow for full on USB installs. As long as you are out of the dark ages of say XP you are good. Win 7, Lion, latest Linux distros etc... all allow USB installs.
 
You probably want something with a high end processor and Windows if you're going to do CPU intensive editing and encoding.

Something like i7-2760QM.

Careful with the mobile CPUs. Some of them appear to be quad core because of similar numbering compared to quad core desktop processors, but are really dual core.

Apple looks nice and has good user interface, but if you're going for performance it shouldn't be on the list at all:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Mobile/148

Edit: This may not be a fair comparison. If there's a mac with similar specs go for it if that's what you want.
 
MacBook Air. I just got a 13" over the holidays.

With OS X Lion, I would never consider using another laptop unless I wanted to play games. If you wait for the Ivy Bridge models, you may even be able to do some light 3D gaming.

I would also recommend an Air over a MacBook Pro. My mother recently picked up a Pro, and while it's just fine, the SSD in the Air makes it such a smoother user experience.

Go mess around with a MacBook Air if you can. The OS in general is awesome, but the gestures that got added with Lion really make for a superior user experience. The build quality is just incredible, too. I've never seen any other laptop that comes close to it. It really just feels good to use.
 
Avoid HP and Dell. Never had good experience with either.

Personally, I would go with either Lenovo or the Macbook. Both are awful for gaming, but I rarely see complaint about either. If you could, try out the keyboard first. I find that it's usually the make it or break it feature.
 
MacBook Air is nice but gaming isn't one of its strong points. If the games you play run well on it go for it. I love mine (going to upgrade to the ivy bridge model for more power probably though).
 
Goldrush said:
Avoid HP and Dell. Never had good experience with either.

Personally, I would go with either Lenovo or the Macbook. Both are awful for gaming, but I rarely see complaint about either. If you could, try out the keyboard first. I find that it's usually the make it or break it feature.
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Indeed. Macbooks have the best trackpads, however I sold my MBP and got a Lenovo X220i and love it. Smaller, lighter, and I finally have the nub back. Long live the nub!
 
OP should probably clarify the video processing. If it's small then sure any sandy CPU would be fine. But if it's something like blu-ray ripping and encoding to 720p then you're going to save hours if you get a quad core i7 mobile processor and do that with the power plugged in. As far as I know all mobile i5s are dual core.

Regardless of the model be sure the battery life is good.


Kraftwerk said:
So, I guess you guys would recommend waiting 2-3 months for the Ivy Bridge models of the Macbook Air?
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If you want to use the CPU's video for games, then probably. Intel is targeting something like a 30% improvement over sandy. But if it's for CPU speed, then I wouldn't wait because it's going to be a tiny improvement.
 
Alucrid said:
Indeed. Macbooks have the best trackpads, however I sold my MBP and got a Lenovo X220i and love it. Smaller, lighter, and I finally have the nub back. Long live the nub!
Click to expand...

This can't be stressed enough. Even ignoring all the awesome gesture stuff in the OS, the trackpad on this thing is amazing. It really just works. I've owned and used laptops for many years now, and I've always hated trackpads. Using them was always a frustrating experience. The MacBook Air is the first laptop I've ever used where I don't feel the need to carry around a USB mouse with me wherever I go.

Kraftwerk said:
So, I guess you guys would recommend waiting 2-3 months for the Ivy Bridge models of the Macbook Air?
Click to expand...

There's also the rumour of super high resolution displays going into all future MacBook models. The thing is, though, those are all rumours. No one really knows when the next models will come out, unfortunately. Hopefully before summer.
 
Kraftwerk said:
So, I guess you guys would recommend waiting 2-3 months for the Ivy Bridge models of the Macbook Air?
Click to expand...

no guarantee that the macbook air update will happen right after Ivy bridge ships. you may need to wait a bit longer. Apple does that sometimes.

if you need a computer now, get it now. only wait if you think you could wait, say, 6 months for the Air to get the Ivy Bridge chips.
 
teh_pwn said:
OP should probably clarify the video processing. If it's small then sure any sandy CPU would be fine. But if it's something like blu-ray ripping and encoding to 720p then you're going to save hours if you get a quad core i7 mobile processor and do that with the power plugged in. As far as I know all mobile i5s are dual core.

Regardless of the model be sure the battery life is good.




If you want to use the CPU's video for games, then probably. Intel is targeting something like a 30% improvement over sandy. But if it's for CPU speed, then I wouldn't wait because it's going to be a tiny improvement.
Click to expand...

Nothing like Blu-Ray ripping. Just editing some biking videos I take. and doing photoshop.
 
Never understood the praise the for the trackpads on the macbook, the hardness that does not give in the least coupled with the sharp edges just make it thumb numbing experience.

Sorry, meant index finger.
 
jd196 said:
Never understood the praise the for the trackpads on the macbook, the hardness that does not give in the least coupled with the sharp edges just make it thumb numbing experience.
Click to expand...

I never used my thumb, always my pointer finger. I also always had tap to click on. That said they're by far the most responsive trackpads out there. No other laptop I've tried compares to how easy it is. However, that's one reason why I prefer the nub because I can keep my hands in a typing position at all times.
 
jd196 said:
Never understood the praise the for the trackpads on the macbook, the hardness that does not give in the least coupled with the sharp edges just make it thumb numbing experience.
Click to expand...

Thumb?

I think you're doing it wrong.

My habits form Windows laptops carried over and I tend to use my middle finger to move the pointer and click the bottom left of the trackpad with my index finger to select things. I have tap to click turned off, because I always have problems with it while typing.
 
Kraftwerk said:
Nothing like Blu-Ray ripping. Just editing some biking videos I take. and doing photoshop.
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What you're describing doesn't seem to require $1000. You can get a Win7 laptop with similar specs around $500-600.
 
Alucrid said:
True, but he could want the Mac/iOS experience for the added cost.
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Not to mention build quality, visual appearance, form factor, trackpad and keyboard usability.
 
Spend a bit more and get the 13" macbook pro. Nothing else on like it except the now discontinued white macbook. Shame they got rid of that in favor of the 11" air.

But the macbook trackpads are best in the industry. I used to hate using laptop trackpads but on the macbook it is better than using an actual mouse.
 
Kraftwerk said:
So, I guess you guys would recommend waiting 2-3 months for the Ivy Bridge models of the Macbook Air?
Click to expand...

As others have said CPU upgrade won't be much, but the integrated GPU is getting a really big bump again. Considering the Air as well as the Ultrabooks all rely on this if you can wait I'd wait.

BTW here's a PC Mag Article from Dec. 20th 2011 with a direct comparison of the new "ultrabooks" aka the Windows version of the Mac Book Air. It has like 4 or 5 ultrabooks, and goes over somethings.

IMO if your spending over $800 dollars on a laptop your crazy not to just get an ultrabook or an AIR.

PS: Don't pay to much attention to prices in the article as they fluctuate and it depends on what you get on each model.
 
Go for the ASUS Zenbook (one of the Intel ultrabooks). Best laptop I've ever used, better screen than a Macbook Air too

0YVY4.jpg
 
A $1,000 MBA only offers 64GB of space on its SSD. Pretty restrictive, especially if you want to install Windows on there, too. Still, MBAs are gorgeous devices. I recommend going up to at least 128GB.
 
Ninja Kn1ght said:
A $1,000 MBA only offers 64GB of space on its SSD. Pretty restrictive, especially if you want to install Windows on there, too. Still, MBAs are gorgeous devices. I recommend going up to at least 128GB.
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Yeah, I think the 13" 128 GB model is the sweet spot for MacBook Air. The 13" apparently have bigger batteries than their 11" counterparts, too.
 
Get either the 13" Macbook Air, or one of the Ultrabooks. Don't bother with anything that's not an Ultrabook. The nonultrabook laptops are all too heavy, bulky and get crappy battery life and arent' worth buying.

The 11" MBA is way too small a screen, and 64gbs is not enough.
 
Despite I own a Macbook Pro myself, you don't have to listen to the heard chanting for you to get one... you can get a lot of great non-Apple Laptops for $1000 and under and still have comparable power
 
I'd definitely get an ultrabook. Most of the reviews say the MacBook Air is still the best, if you don't mind the smaller hard drive size. It's a pretty goddamn great machine.
 
Medalion said:
Despite I own a Macbook Pro myself, you don't have to listen to the heard chanting for you to get one... you can get a lot of great non-Apple Laptops for $1000 and under and still have comparable power
Click to expand...

You can get a laptop with considerably more power than the 13" MBA for the same price, but it won't be as light or have comparable battery life. It really depends if the OP is looking for something to be portable all the time, or could see themselves carrying around a few extra pounds for a considerable performance bump (IE a dedicated GPU and faster CPU). Just like with everything, there are tradeoffs. It just seems that the MBA has hit the current sweet spot where the reduced power of the laptop is more than made up for how light and portable it is and how good the battery is.
 
Kraftwerk said:
That is Awesome. Macbook Air is the lead now for me then.
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Yeah, after reading over what you're going to use it for, an Air sounds perfect. Fantastic build quality, and the only reason I'd say go for something else at that price would be if you were going to do intensive gaming or such.
 
rhfb said:
You can get a laptop with considerably more power than the 13" MBA for the same price, but it won't be as light or have comparable battery life. It really depends if the OP is looking for something to be portable all the time, or could see themselves carrying around a few extra pounds for a considerable performance bump (IE a dedicated GPU and faster CPU). Just like with everything, there are tradeoffs. It just seems that the MBA has hit the current sweet spot where the reduced power of the laptop is more than made up for how light and portable it is and how good the battery is.
Click to expand...

Is there anything with an SSD out there for less than $1000? Are there even any non-'Ultrabooks' with SSDs available as an option? I wouldn't even consider getting a laptop without an SSD at this point. Going back to mechanical HDDs is painful once you've gotten used to an SSD.
 
Zefah said:
Is there anything with an SSD out there for less than $1000? Are there even any non-'Ultrabooks' with SSDs available as an option? I wouldn't even consider getting a laptop without an SSD at this point. Going back to mechanical HDDs is painful once you've gotten used to an SSD.
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None that I know of, but like I said, if you need more computing power you can live with a regular HDD if that means you get a decided GPU, expandable ram, built in DVD drive, 500GB+ storage, ect. Not everyone uses their laptop for the same purpose.
 
Another vote for the Macbook (Air or Pro). The trackpad alone is worth it. I can't ever go back to using standard PC trackpads.
 
Lenovo!

I have an Ideapad Y560 with a quad core i7 with an ATI graphics card, its handled all games I've thrown at it pretty well
 
After owning a 2006 Macbook and now an 2010 Macbook Pro I can't imagine using any other laptop. The aluminum build is amazing as I am rough on my computers, a few dents but still works fine. The trackpad is beyond any other laptop on the market.
 
Another vote for Macbook pro/air. Been using a 13in 2010 Pro and love everything about it, great battery life, and the trackpad is fantastic. Looking back I should have probably gotten an Air, as I've used the CD drive exactly 2 times in the past year and a half.
 
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