I don't currently have a viable laptop. I do have a very nice Dell XPS desktop with plenty of power and storage capacity, and an aging iPad. I'm thinking the LT will replace my iPad. There's nothing wrong with tablets, but I do favor full function computers over the tablet

I'd like a small form factor laptop. 12 or 13 inch light weight. Say under 3 lbs. After some research, I've got it down to a Apple MacBook Air with 256 SSD for $1200, Dell XPS13 for $1000 and a Huawei Matebook X Pro for $1200.

I've had very good luck with Dell products and it is the least expensive of the three so I'm leaning in that direction. I'm a bit Leary of the Mac as fall should bring some new models.

What say the brain trust.

Well I'm an Apple Fanboi, so you know what I'd recommend. I had a Dell once when the USB ports would just die on you and Dell basically told you to eat a dick, you still have a working one.

I'm still on my mid-2014 MBP 13" and it's great. Faster than the brand new iMac the company bought me for the office.

It's not on your list but my recommendation would be a Lenovo Thinkpad T460s/470s/480s; pretty durable and have enough ports you probably won't need any adapter. You can generally find them used, with a factory warranty for a pretty good price.

I go through laptops like most people drink coffee, I upgrade constantly and sell the older model.

In the last 5 years, I’ve “owned” (rented?) about 15 laptops, I’d go with the Dell XPS 13. Not all Dells are alike, they make high quality and low quality systems and it’s important to differentiate between professional, consumer and “prosumer” systems. The XPS is what is considered a “prosumer” system, and therefor has higher quality and build than a generic Inspiron build.

You can’t go wrong with any of your three choices, but the Dell would be my pick.

My wife and I switched to Apple stuff eight or ten years ago. We have had far fewer headaches than we had with Windows PCs. The rare occasions when is a need for help, the folks at The Apple Store have been super helpful and got the job done.

We don't buy new retail if we can avoid it: we always look for equipment that has been refurbished by, and sold by, Apple. That saves a few bucks, the equipment is indistinguishable from new retail, and carries the same warranty as new retail.

https://www.apple.com/shop/bro...ome/specialdeals/mac

I bought a Microsoft Surface 2 earlier this month and love it so far.

I'm in the Dell camp. The build quality of my XPS 15 and my wife's XPS 13 is top notch.

I liked my Surface products when I had them, but they're a little pricier than an equivalent spec'd Dell.

Lenovo is OK, but their builds are a little uninspiring lately.

If you give up the iPad will you have any other machines in the iOS or OSx ecosystem? Do you want to stick with Apple? If so, the MacBook air is a really good machine. Actually any computer (Apple or Win) you buy for $1000+ will be fine. It just comes down to what ecosystem you want to live in.

I have a small Dell works good but has a small memory chip instead of actual hard drive..

I’ve had my 13’ MacBook Air for 6 years, and it is doing fine. I use it for web stuff, movies, music, word processing. Much as I love new toys, I can’t justify a new one yet, so cost per year is looking pretty good. I use pc lap tops for work ( and they do get some abuse) and they crap the bed with some regularity. I vote Mac

Do a search on Newegg, Gazelle, or Amazon for refurbished electronics. I've bought a couple of refurbished laptops from Newegg and Amazon, and I just bought a refurbished iPad Air from Gazelle that is pretty much in "like new" condition.

I've been using my 13" MBP for 8-years now. Daily usage, travel, hooked-up to TV's and playing music/videos, still going strong. I've had near zero problems, never had to go thru tech support/Apple genius whatever team. I'm not a 'computer guy' but I know my way around a handful of programs, and the Mac is arguably, the best purchase I've ever made; pricy in the beginning but, well worth the investment.

If I had to purchase a PC based laptop, it would be a XPS. I've used them before at an office where everything was on laptops. Inpirion stay away from and HP I had before the Mac and if it wasn't rebooting every 6-months, it was a problem that would crop-up or, some virus that was trying to dig-in. After 3-years, it would overheat and the battery couldn't hold a charge, starting up was measured in 10-minute increments, the Mac fires up near instantly...even after 8-years.

If you're not wed to the Apple ecosystem, I'd go with that Dell XPS 13 in a heartbeat. Its a terrific little machine. I'm also quite fond of the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon which is a direct competitor of the Dell.

Another Dell vote here, but were 100% Dell in my office, so it's what I'm most familiar with.

My prior personal laptop was an older XPS 13 that served me well.

My work computer is a Latitude E7440, i7, SSD, 16GB RAM.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
Do a search on Newegg, Gazelle, or Amazon for refurbished electronics. I've bought a couple of refurbished laptops from Newegg and Amazon, and I just bought a refurbished iPad Air from Gazelle that is pretty much in "like new" condition.

I've bought a few refurbished items from NewEgg, and all have shit the bed within 30 months, some as soon as 15 months.

My recommendation is that if you use or enjoy Mac, get a Mac book air of old style Mac book pro. They can be had for under 599 if you shop around (not pro models). If you like windows, think about the Microsoft Surface Go. It will release on August 1 (8 days from now), and has a relatively reasonable starting price of $399 at Best Buy, or if you have a Costco, you can get a 4gb RAM and 128 GB of hard drive with a keyboard cover for $449.

For what it is worth I have a business Windows laptop (32gb of RAM and 512 GB SSD hard drive with a I7 chip, and I only really push it when I have databases open, with three excel files, a few word files, and chrome running.

It is all about pairing how you use your computer with what you need. FWIW - I read the Matebook beat the shit out of the XPS and Mac Book Pro in a recent test.

Thanks for the input. I'll sleep on this a few nights but I'm leaning towards the Dell. I will be installing and running a light install of Adobe CS5; that is Photoshop, ID and Acrobat. That will chew up a good deal of the SSD. I do a little graphic work occasionally to help out a friend who is still in the industry. Mostly do this on my desktop, but having access on a LT as well might be beneficial. I no longer have the Mac version of this Adobe Suite. That's not a complete deal breaker, just something I think about. I'll not be throwing my iPad away as it still works, although the OS does not support any of the updates, and it's to the point that I have to jockey apps because it's near out of storage space and it's pretty slow.

I bought the latest pimped out version of the Dell XPS from Costco when it was on sale ($1500 I think) IT IS AMAZING!!!! Best laptop I have ever own BY FAR.

Buy with confidene

As said, Costco has some good prices on laptops. I don’t think they have iMac, but their prices on Dell were better than sale prices at Dell’s website. Also Dell has an outlet where I got a great Alienware desktop for about $800 off, they have laptops as well.

I would go with a Dell 2 in 1 that is a laptop but doubles as a pad notebook.

I am also a great believer now in getting the Dell Premium Support for the first year then waiting for a 50% discount on the 3 year additional premium support.

I keep up my backups. But if anything goes screwy, I just call them up.

Another vote for Apple.

I am not a fan of Dell, and I absolutely hate Windows 10.

I do have a Dell (Inspiron 13 convertible) for the few things that require Windows but 99% of what I do is on my MacBook Pro or iPad Pro.

I wouldn’t worry about new models, check the Apple Refurb site and save some money. Being one (or even two) iterations on Mac isn’t that bad performance wise. Apple returns have the same one year warranty as new, are eligible for the AppleCare extended nd are usually about 15% off.

The only real difference is a plain white box and having to wait a couple days for the FedEx guy to bring it to your door.

Also while Dell may be cheaper upfront, Mac’s tend to hold resale value if decide to sell and upgrade down the road.