Premium 13'' Laptop for my wife

[Pacorebon]

Hi all, 

I have to buy a new laptop for my wife, she wants something with rly good build quality (like xps or surface laptop) 

 

Usage: work with big excell sheets, photoshop, light gaming. 

Needs: aspect ratio 16:10 or 3:2, no 16:9.

 

Price: till 1500 euro it's ok. 

Country: Italy. 

 

If surface laptop 4 with 11gen intel xe grapthic was a thing i had with no doubt wait and take that, but cant wait anymore.. 

 

Any good alternative to Xps? 

 

Ps: no HP, she hate that brand. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LpoolTech]

why not xps then they are hard to beat 

[Aereldor]

The most practical laptop is always going to be the one with the longest battery life, and you can't beat the Zenbook 14 UM425IA with 20 hours.

 

But if vanity>practicality then I guess XPS 13 for 16:10, Zenbook S for 3:2, and the M1 Macbooks. 

[LpoolTech]

1 minute ago, Aereldor said:

The most practical laptop is always going to be the one with the longest battery life, and you can't beat the Zenbook 14 UM425IA with 20 hours.

 

But if vanity>practicality then I guess XPS 13 for 16:10, Zenbook S for 3:2, and the M1 Macbooks. 

I was going to mention the M1 mac but he mentioned gaming so 

[Aereldor]

3 minutes ago, LpoolTech said:

I was going to mention the M1 mac but he mentioned gaming so 

You can game on an M1 mac. It's not straightforward but it's actually no slouch once you learn to use Crossover. I've seen it run Witcher 3 at 1080p medium, 45ish fps. Devs are seeing the potential and making mac versions, releasing drivers etc. so it's only getting better

 

[LpoolTech]

Just now, Aereldor said:

You can game on an M1 mac. It's not straightforward but it's actually no slouch once you learn to use Crossover. I've seen it run Witcher 3 at 1080p medium, 45ish fps

 

 

well colour me impressed. Didn't know that was an option... each day these macs are getting more and more attractive 

[Pacorebon]

11 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

The most practical laptop is always going to be the one with the longest battery life, and you can't beat the Zenbook 14 UM425IA with 20 hours.

 

But if vanity>practicality then I guess XPS 13 for 16:10, Zenbook S for 3:2, and the M1 Macbooks. 

Really the Zenbook 14 with ryzen 7 can do 20 hours? The only laptop as far as i know that can do that is the macbook pro M1. 

 

She like a macbook but i will not buy an apple product. Never in my life.

 

I do not unserstand the difference between zenbook S series and normale zenbook. 

 

What do you think of msi prestige 14?

 

 

[dizmo]

With large spreadsheets I sure wouldn't be getting something like a 13" laptop. Talk about a hard time on the eyes.

3 hours ago, Pacorebon said:

Really the Zenbook 14 with ryzen 7 can do 20 hours? The only laptop as far as i know that can do that is the macbook pro M1. 

 

She like a macbook but i will not buy an apple product. Never in my life.

 

I do not unserstand the difference between zenbook S series and normale zenbook. 

 

What do you think of msi prestige 14?

If the Macbook is fine and works for her applications, why not? They make fantastic products.

Also, it's not for you. Don't push your prejudices on someone else.

[Pacorebon]

7 hours ago, dizmo said:

With large spreadsheets I sure wouldn't be getting something like a 13" laptop. Talk about a hard time on the eyes.

If the Macbook is fine and works for her applications, why not? They make fantastic products.

Also, it's not for you. Don't push your prejudices on someone else.

When she's home she have a 27inch external monitor, so no problem for eyes. 

For apple it's not prejudices but it's becouse my wife it's the kind of person that fall in love with one ecosystem and i do not want to buy all the apple Products to get use of it, and not like being restricted to only one manufacturer.. 

 

So.. Windows alternative to xps? 

[Pacorebon]

53 minutes ago, DriftMan said:

Not many with 16:10 or 3:2, perhaps the Surface lineup

Do someone heard rumors about surface laptop 4? Or atleast 3 but with new 11gen intel? 

[Roswell]

20 hours ago, Pacorebon said:

Really the Zenbook 14 with ryzen 7 can do 20 hours? The only laptop as far as i know that can do that is the macbook pro M1. 

 

She like a macbook but i will not buy an apple product. Never in my life.

 

I do not unserstand the difference between zenbook S series and normale zenbook. 

 

What do you think of msi prestige 14?

 

 

So you’d rather force your preferences on her rather than getting something she actually wants.

 

Sounds like a healthy marriage!

[Darkseth]

22 hours ago, Pacorebon said:

Really the Zenbook 14 with ryzen 7 can do 20 hours? The only laptop as far as i know that can do that is the macbook pro M1. 

Nope, the Zenbook doesn't do 20 hours, not even close. That's just a number from specsheets, some specific laboratory scenario, not happening in any real life situation.

It's sad, but it's always like that on Windows Notebooks. Whatever the manufacturer says, you can take at least 30% away of that.

While Apple is somewhat realistic tbh.

Was doing Office on my Macbook Pro M1, i lost 15% in 3 hours working.

 

See here: https://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/review-asus-zenbook14-um425-review-singapore-price-amd-renoir
They get 10~ hours (610 minutes) in modern office, with a larger 67 Wh Battery.

 

And Ultrabookreview: https://www.ultrabookreview.com/40887-asus-zenbook-14-um425ia-review/#a6

They hit 12~ hours at best, including the Watt consumption, sometimes even 6-7 hours or 8-9 hours, depending on what exactly you do.

Probably 1-2 hours more if it's a Zenbook with the 1w Displaypanel.

 

No matter what the spec sheet says, there is no Windows Laptop with a similar battery life of a Macbook Pro M1 - which also has even remotely the same performance.

Either it's a super weak low-power CPU, that couldn't even beat a 2 year old iPhone, or it's a modern Ryzen, but then you're stuck to 10-13 hours at the very best.
And x86 CPUs can skyrocket in Powerconsumption when you do something.

 

My MBP 16" went HOT as hell from just downloading OneDrive documents in the background. Macbook Pro 13" M1 doesn't even care.

Zoom conference with 100 people, 50% Brightness, 75% speakers? Yup, 20% Battery Lost in 3 Hours. Not just the Intel Macbooks (MBP 13" 2020 Intel 10th Gen, lost 61% Battery in 1 Hour, on a 8-people Teams meeting), but even Windows Notebooks can't hold their battery life during that.

 

Battery life during some laboratory-tests is one thing. But if you do all kinds of stuff, it's a different Story.

 

 

Don't get me wrong: For a Windows Notebook, the Zenbook 14 has a good battery life.

But it just can't compete with the M1 Macbooks. That level of efficiency simply does not exist in any other Notebook. Not just with Intel, but even Ryzen 5000 can't compete here.

 

 

As for the Dell XPS, which some consider as one of the best Windows Notebooks... I personally say, there is simply 1 single Reason to chose this over the M1 Macbook Air or even Pro: You need Windows. Period.

Macbook M1 Performance is better, battery life is better, Screen is better resolution (XPS has 4k options tho, but they are useless, and reduce Battery life down to a joke). Build quality is at least as good, it's quieter (macbook Air is silent), the Webcam is better, les throttling under Load, speakers are better.

There's almost nothing really, the XPS 13 does better. it's even more expensive.

Well yes, SSD can be upgraded. But Ram is not.

 

So yeah. If you don't need Windows (some special windows only games maybe), i don't know why you should take the Dell XPS 13, if you can get a M1 Macbook Air or Pro.

 

16:10 or 3:2 alternative would be.. Surface Laptop 3? But that's also something, i don't see competing with a M1 Macbook.

22 hours ago, Pacorebon said:

She like a macbook but i will not buy an apple product. Never in my life.

Disclaimer here: Don't take it personal, i'm just trying to make you think in a different way  

 

Why not? Because you're a "blinded Apple Hater" (or whatever you call the opposite of blinded Fanboy)? Is there any technical Argumentation for not wanting any Apple product, even those that don't exist yet? Why is apple bad, and Dell is okay? or Lenovo? or Asus?
Beeing against a Brand is even worse than beeing a Fanboy for any brand. It just doesn't make sense and is pure stupidity.

 

View the Product for what it is. Compare it RATIONALLY against the competition. Every single Aspect of the Product by itself (Performance, Power consumption, Display, Keyboard, Trackpad, Software, Webcam, Ports, Warranty, etc.).

 

It shouldn't matter what brand it is. If the Product is better than the competition for whatever you need, it's better. Simple as that.

And since it's your Wife that will be using it, your own personal Opinion about anything shouldn't matter tbh. HER Pros/Cons should be fulfilled with the Notebook, since she needs to be happy using the Product.

 

i'm not saying, the Macbook is always the best choice. But here, it's absolutely worth considering, beause like Linus said "it is just that good

 

You just need to find out, of those "light games" run on MacOS.