In need of a laptop/ultrabook!

[Shyxlol]

I finally got to the point where I need something portable for my studies/free time.

I'm studying mathematics and I also need to do some computer science and I'll focus on statistics+stochastic later on so there should be at least some power in the CPU (so I can't go for a cheap tablet). 

Apart from that battery life and portability are the most important things for me.

The ones I'm considering right now are the macbook air 13" (would dual-boot windows, got a free win 8/8.1 key from my university anyway) or the Sony Vaio pro 13.

The MBA would cost my 940€ in Germany with the student discount. The Vaio is hard to find but I might be able to get a good deal for it because I know some people in retail (assuming they still have some).

Their specs are relatively the same, 1.35kg vs 0.94kg is the biggest difference I can actually find that would affect me.

 

Things I'm not yet sure about:

- resolution, the macbook has a lower resolution but I think the density should be high enough

- sony's warranty, well considering vaio is no longer in Europe (at least that's how I understood it) how would I work out troubles that I can't fix myself?

- touch screen, the biggest disadvantage from the macbook is the lack of a touchscreen if I'm going to run windows dual-boot on it

- battery life, the macbook is pretty much the king in this category

- Vaio screen, I also heard the screen and trackpad from the Vaio are not that great, need to look into that

 

Tl;Dr:

MacBook Air vs Vaio Pro

battery life, warranty, good screen and unibody vs 400 grams less weight, higher resolution, touchscreen

 

 

Assuming both would cost the same, which one would you pick?

On as sidenote: I also use an iPhone, so I'm already using apple stuff anyway.

 

 

Question regarding windows:

What's the difference between

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional 32/64-bit (English-United Kingdom) - DreamSpark 

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional N 32/64-bit (English-United Kingdom) - DreamSpark 

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional N with Update 32/64-bit (English-United Kingdom) - DreamSpark 

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional with Update 32/64-bit (English-United Kingdom) - DreamSpark

Note the "N" in there and the "with Update", any ideas?

[Sack]

The Mac Air don't have a lot of grunt tbh, it's more of a student's facebook/typing-my-essay kind of machine, and the screen is absolutely horrendous. The MBP is more expensive, but you can swap the drive on it, just get the right amount of RAM and you'll be fine. This is all I can say for your mac air question, I assume there will be someone with awesome knowledge about a good windows laptop comming soon.

[Sack]

I finally got to the point where I need something portable for my studies/free time.

I'm studying mathematics and I also need to do some computer science and I'll focus on statistics+stochastic later on so there should be at least some power in the CPU (so I can't go for a cheap tablet). 

Apart from that battery life and portability are the most important things for me.

The ones I'm considering right now are the macbook air 13" (would dual-boot windows, got a free win 8/8.1 key from my university anyway) or the Sony Vaio pro 13.

The MBA would cost my 940€ in Germany with the student discount. The Vaio is hard to find but I might be able to get a good deal for it because I know some people in retail (assuming they still have some).

Their specs are relatively the same, 1.35kg vs 0.94kg is the biggest difference I can actually find that would affect me.

 

Things I'm not yet sure about:

- resolution, the macbook has a lower resolution but I think the density should be high enough

- sony's warranty, well considering vaio is no longer in Europe (at least that's how I understood it) how would I work out troubles that I can't fix myself?

- touch screen, the biggest disadvantage from the macbook is the lack of a touchscreen if I'm going to run windows dual-boot on it

- battery life, the macbook is pretty much the king in this category

- Vaio screen, I also heard the screen and trackpad from the Vaio are not that great, need to look into that

 

Tl;Dr:

MacBook Air vs Vaio Pro

battery life, warranty, good screen and unibody vs 400 grams less weight, higher resolution, touchscreen

 

 

Assuming both would cost the same, which one would you pick?

On as sidenote: I also use an iPhone, so I'm already using apple stuff anyway.

 

 

Question regarding windows:

What's the difference between

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional 32/64-bit (English-United Kingdom) - DreamSpark 

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional N 32/64-bit (English-United Kingdom) - DreamSpark 

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional N with Update 32/64-bit (English-United Kingdom) - DreamSpark 

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional with Update 32/64-bit (English-United Kingdom) - DreamSpark

Note the "N" in there and the "with Update", any ideas?

also you should follow your own topic, that way you get a notification when someone writes here.

[vorticalbox]

 

 

This version of Windows 8.1 N includes the same functionality as Windows 8.1, except that it doesn't include certain media-related technologies (Windows Media Player, Music, Video, Skype). As a result, you'll need software from Microsoft or a third party to play or create audio CDs, media files, and video DVDs, stream music, take and store pictures, and use a webcam.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-8/n-editions

[Shyxlol]

The Mac Air don't have a lot of grunt tbh, it's more of a student's facebook/typing-my-essay kind of machine, and the screen is absolutely horrendous. The MBP is more expensive, but you can swap the drive on it, just get the right amount of RAM and you'll be fine. This is all I can say for your mac air question, I assume there will be someone with awesome knowledge about a good windows laptop comming soon.

 

I don't need any "grunt", but it should be able to run some easier simulations or algorithms. I'd have to go for the retina MBP because the normal one just isn't worth it's money. The MBP is 1033€, the retina one 1221€. 2 hours battery life, SSD and 4gig RAM as difference. SSD is a must for me, as would be the battery life.

But I don't think I'll need 4 more gigs of RAM and I'd lose ~3 hours of battery life. The small increase in CPU power won't make a difference most likely because I'll still keep my desktop for any demanding applications&games.

 

And while I don't mind spending more if I think it'll let me keep the thing longer, my view on ppi will most likely stay the same. So unless I really need those few MHz I could also get the 8gig MBA to futureproof but I'm not sure about that yet.

[Sack]

I don't need any "grunt", but it should be able to run some easier simulations or algorithms. I'd have to go for the retina MBP because the normal one just isn't worth it's money. The MBP is 1033€, the retina one 1221€. 2 hours battery life, SSD and 4gig RAM as difference. SSD is a must for me, as would be the battery life.

But I don't think I'll need 4 more gigs of RAM and I'd lose ~3 hours of battery life. The small increase in CPU power won't make a difference most likely because I'll still keep my desktop for any demanding applications&games.

 

And while I don't mind spending more if I think it'll let me keep the thing longer, my view on ppi will most likely stay the same. So unless I really need those few MHz I could also get the 8gig MBA to futureproof but I'm not sure about that yet.

So you allready have a desktop, valuable information right there mate. My MBP usually last for a full day if I use it to type notes, and carry it around with me, never shutting it down and it's a retina. The CPU is much more power effcient than the one in the non-retina, the SSD is pretty good, and it's upgradeable if you should find it too small at some point. I chose 8GB as this should be enough for my use, my desktop has the same amount and I have thought of upgrading to 16 GB, but it is also used for a lot of other stuff, and very often it does everything at the same time.

 

The reason I chose the MBP was because I wanted the damn thing to last me a while, and a friend of mine has had his for atleast 4-5 years and it's still going strong, he has upgraded the memory and HDD though.

[Captain_Slow]

personally I'd rather have a 256 mba as opposed to a 128 rmbp.

 

the display is not terrible like everyone says, it's fine for daily use.

 

the batterylife on the other hand is fantastic. I get 11 out of the 12 hrs advertised.

[Shyxlol]

personally I'd rather have a 256 mba as opposed to a 128 rmbp.

 

the display is not terrible like everyone says, it's fine for daily use.

 

the batterylife on the other hand is fantastic. I get 11 out of the 12 hrs advertised.

 

Yeah, considered that as well. Especially because I'd be running Windows on it as well.

Though I generally don't fill my harddrive. The only fillers on my harddrive right now are music and videos considering I wouldn't install games on the thing. But I was considering using the SD card slot with one of those shorter SD cards to store stuff/install certain programs. Considering the additional 128gb SSD cost 200€, might as well buy an enclosure+Samsung SSD.

 

And yea, the battery life sounds really great! The biggest downside I can find is the lack of a touch screen. But I'll admit, I actually never had one but think it could be good for Win8/10.

 

 

@Sack Well, I'm still not fully convinced. The MBP also has a slightly higher volume. That combined with the reduced battery life don't make up for those 400-500MHz and the display. Though I have to admit the deal is relatively ok. The difference between mba and mbp is 300€, 200€ if you add RAM to the mba. So it's 200€ for 400MHz boost clock and ~3.7x the resolution. But the downsides are ~3 hours less battery life, I have to get the RAM and CPU even if I don't want them 100% (would love a mba with a retina display ), 200 grams more weight and more volume.

 

 

I also looked at some Acer/Asus ultrabooks/convertibles but didn't really find anything. Normally I'm not convinced of Lenovo but this ultrabook-convertible sounds good, almost too good. (It's a German link, but the specs further down are pretty much self-explanatory)

1150€ after student discount for: 256GB SSD, 8gb RAM, 3200x1800 touchscreen, intel 4400 graphics (same as most, macbook got 5000), up to 9 hours of battery, though not specified under what use.

I'll need to find reviews of it somewhere regarding the keyboard, trackpad, screen and battery life.

[davidvu396]

Yeah, considered that as well. Especially because I'd be running Windows on it as well.

Though I generally don't fill my harddrive. The only fillers on my harddrive right now are music and videos considering I wouldn't install games on the thing. But I was considering using the SD card slot with one of those shorter SD cards to store stuff/install certain programs. Considering the additional 128gb SSD cost 200€, might as well buy an enclosure+Samsung SSD.

 

And yea, the battery life sounds really great! The biggest downside I can find is the lack of a touch screen. But I'll admit, I actually never had one but think it could be good for Win8/10.

 

 

@Sack Well, I'm still not fully convinced. The MBP also has a slightly higher volume. That combined with the reduced battery life don't make up for those 400-500MHz and the display. Though I have to admit the deal is relatively ok. The difference between mba and mbp is 300€, 200€ if you add RAM to the mba. So it's 200€ for 400MHz boost clock and ~3.7x the resolution. But the downsides are ~3 hours less battery life, I have to get the RAM and CPU even if I don't want them 100% (would love a mba with a retina display ), 200 grams more weight and more volume.

 

 

I also looked at some Acer/Asus ultrabooks/convertibles but didn't really find anything. Normally I'm not convinced of Lenovo but this ultrabook-convertible sounds good, almost too good. (It's a German link, but the specs further down are pretty much self-explanatory)

1150€ after student discount for: 256GB SSD, 8gb RAM, 3200x1800 touchscreen, intel 4400 graphics (same as most, macbook got 5000), up to 9 hours of battery, though not specified under what use.

I'll need to find reviews of it somewhere regarding the keyboard, trackpad, screen and battery life.

Don't trust any battery life specs from any Windows notebook! Most all of them is pure crap... Except the VAIO Pro 13 maybe...

 

If I were you I would spend a bit more into a rMBP. I got mine from the online Apple Store for 1189€. (see specs below)

Battery life depends on usage, I get 9h of battery when watching movies in VLC and baybe about 10 when surfing with Safari (Safari uses less CPU power as Chrome or Firefox or Opera).

As everyone already said, The screen on the MBA isnt that good. But its enough for typing and surfing needs. Wouldnt do any graphical work on it... 

Funny thing is, the rMBP is smaller than the MBA, which is wider and longer. On the thickest end of the MBA, you can see that is even slightly thicker.

 

And touchscreen? Really? Why would you want that in a laptop? Personally I dont like to have fingerprints on my screen but hey it's my opinion...

 

Keep in mind that IF you have good resolution on your Windows laptop, you will have terrible UI scaling, everything is pixelated to that you might be better off with a lower resolution to save some money...

I'd say give OS X a try when working.

 

All this is just my opinion, you don't need to losten to me

[Shyxlol]

I put my search on hold because I though I could maybe wait another year but I think I need something soon and I just got a email with a few good deals so I'm considering those (but I'm also kind of an impulse-buyer if I got my mind on something-- assuming that's a word).

 

I'm going to leave this German link here for their "normal" prices. Those prices are about 70-100+€ cheaper than apple.de WITH a student rebate. But right now they are offering the following deal: 

Buy a new apple product for 500-899€, get 60€ back, for 900€+ get 120€ back. So now I'm kind of unsure: is this a sign of a price reduction that's coming either way (soon-ish?) and considering a macbook is kind of a high-end product, is it "too late" into the refresh cycle to buy it?

Now here what would interest me now:

macbook air 13.3" 128GB 4GB ram: 809€    Sadly they don't offer the 8GB version because I'd most likely go for that one

macbook air 13.3" 256GB 4GB ram: 959€    150€ more for 128GB, not the best €/GB deal but the other option would either be a high cap. SD card unless I'd want to carry a e-HDD all the time, not the cheapest thing either but if I want to go for dual-OS more SSD cap. might be good

macbook pro retina 13.3" 128GB 8GB ram: 1019€    200€ more for +4GB ram, slightly better CPU, display upgrade and -~3 hours of battery life  -- further up in the thread I said no to this but that was for 300€, for 200€ and considering I can't get a 8GB MBA it sounds nice now

macbook pro retina 13.3" 256GB 8GB ram: 1239€    Getting pretty expensive here imho

 

 

I'd really appreciate some final thoughs, the 60/120€ cashback offer expires Monday so I'd want to order tomorrow/Monday.

I'm inclined to buy the 128GB mbP. Generally I'm pretty good at managing battery life (except for my phone which dies at 35% battery now... :\ ) and considering I can't upgrade ram/CPU the upgrade sounds actually worth it's money - I'm just afraid that the 4GB might not be enough on the air.