Best Macbook Alternative

[MrConcrete04]

Hey guys,

Im looking for a good macbook alternative for my sister. She will mainly need it to watch YT, use MS Office, play Minecraft and Star stable.

Her budget is around 700eur (amazon.de).

The screen size should be around 13 to 15 inches and the I/O should be... well better than a macbook. The resolution should be 1080p or higher and the laptop itself should be thin enough to adequately cool the components. She also wants the keyboard to be backlit (doesnt have to be RGB, white is enough). The build quality should be decent at least.

Thanks

e.

[19_blackie_73]

I suggest filtering here: https://www.notebooksbilliger.de/ for your specific wishes and get a general idea of what or if anything is available in this spot. Amazon will most likely have the same prices, or will be higher, but it gives you a rough idea what you can expect to get.

[Zando_]

Just now, Lord Vile said:

There isn’t really a MacBook alternative... your best option is the surface laptop 2 but it still runs windows which I personally can’t deal with for everyday use after using MacOS 

Matebook/Matebook X are the usually suggested alternatives. Surface Laptop, Surface Book, the XPS line, all solid too. Razer's laptops used to be solid but since 2014 their QC has been garbage by all accounts. There's a good stack of laptops that can compete with a MacBook Pro if you don't need macOS. 

[Zando_]

11 minutes ago, Lord Vile said:

Matebook is made by Huawei though and from people around me using their stuff I wouldn’t trust the construction. The XPS line has poor build quality and Razer is flat out too expensive. 
 

MacOS is the major selling point though, it is a much better OS than windows just to use and a lot of value is in the trackpad. Every windows laptop I’ve used I required a mouse to get anything done without wanting to put my fist through the screen. With the MacBook you just don’t need that. 

I know, I'm typing this on my 2012 13" MacBook Pro, one of the ones with the good keyboard and still a solid trackpad. The XPS 13 I've had experience with is incredibly well built though, and it's the only trackpad I've used on a windows machine that is nicer is on the Surface Book (also very well built, easily on par with the MacBook Pros I've used) I got to mess with at the Microsoft store for a bit (they let you pick it up, remove the screen for tablet mode, fiddle around with it all you want). They're not on par with the MacBooks but they're very good. I think that's down to the OS though, windows handles mouse input a little bit better than macOS, and macOS handles trackpads much better than Windows. Haven't used any decent trackpads on Linux so I can't say how that handles them. 

[genexis_x]

15 hours ago, MrConcrete04 said:

Her budget is around 700eur (amazon.de)

Mind low sRGB display and non-upgradeable RAM? Any preference on weight and battery life?

[MrConcrete04]

1 hour ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Mind low sRGB display and non-upgradeable RAM? Any preference on weight and battery life?

The weight is irrelevant as long as the build quality and the battery life doesn't have to be amazing, about 4 hrs should get the job done. The display should be decent

thx

e.

[genexis_x]

Unfortunately I don't think you can get high sRGB display with this budget

 

Lenovo Thinkpad E490/E590 customize

Lenovo Thinkpad E495/E595 customize

 

Lenovo Ideapad S540 15 81NE009SGE

Lenovo Ideapad S540 14 81ND00E7GE / 81ND005DGE

Lenovo Ideapad S540 14 AMD 81NH002YGE

 

Lenovo Ideapad S340 15 81N800SGGE

Lenovo Ideapad S340 14 81N70063GE

Lenovo Ideapad C340 15 81N5004RGE

Lenovo Ideapad S340 15 AMD 81NC005BGE

Lenovo Ideapad S340 14 AMD 81NB0046GE

Lenovo Ideapad C340 14 AMD 81N60038GE

 

(for Ideapad - there are many models so check out in Lenovo website)

 

Yes all of them are Lenovo models - others are too expensive / not worth it (let me know if you have other options in mind)

[MrConcrete04]

18 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Unfortunately I don't think you can get high sRGB display with this budget

 

Lenovo Thinkpad E490/E590 customize

Lenovo Thinkpad E495/E595 customize

 

Lenovo Ideapad S540 15 81NE009SGE

Lenovo Ideapad S540 14 81ND00E7GE / 81ND005DGE

Lenovo Ideapad S540 14 AMD 81NH002YGE

 

Lenovo Ideapad S340 15 81N800SGGE

Lenovo Ideapad S340 14 81N70063GE

Lenovo Ideapad C340 15 81N5004RGE

Lenovo Ideapad S340 15 AMD 81NC005BGE

Lenovo Ideapad S340 14 AMD 81NB0046GE

Lenovo Ideapad C340 14 AMD 81N60038GE

 

(for Ideapad - there are many models so check out in Lenovo website)

 

Yes all of them are Lenovo models - others are too expensive / not worth it (let me know if you have other options in mind)

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