My dad is shopping for a laptop. I showed him the MacBook Air (which is my fantasy laptop) and he fell in love with it. Except that there is no force on Earth that will make him switch to Macs (he has his valid reasons that do not pertain to this thread).
Is there an equivalent wintel box out there? What matters to him are the form factor (size and weight for a full fledged computer) and the solid state “HDD”. Most everything else is negotiable. He is not enough of a power user that processor matters and he is happy with not having an optical disk drive in the machine.
The last resort, of course, would be buying the Air and using it solely for Windows but I am hoping a cheaper option will be out there if we can avoid the Apple coolness tax.
The Dell Adamo would be a good option. It is similar in size to the MacBook Air, and the $1500 model has a 128 GB SSD, unlike the 120 GB HD in the $1500 MacBook Air. Note that the Air has a faster CPU (1.86 ghz Core 2 Duo vs 1.2 ghz Core 2 Duo in the Adamo).
Also take a look at Lenovo’s Thinkpad x200 series - they are 12.1" notebooks, and can be configured with SSD drives.
If you’re willing to look at netbooks, there are a few options there with a similar size/shape. They’re small, with good battery life, and waaay cheap, but performance has been traded for all of that. Still, while they’re comparatively underpowered, they’re not too bad. IME, they’re entirely good enough for basic web browsing, word processing, and viewing pictures and video, though I do notice a few slowdowns here and there. But if he’s upgrading from some ancient pentium 3 box, the current netbooks would still be a big step up.
For specific comparisons to the Macbook Air, none of these netbooks have a SSD, they won’t have the performance, and none are quite as sleek. But again, they’ve got great battery life, and are really really cheap. It’ll be hard to spend more than $600 in this category, and there are still options down around $400.
I’ve got a (smaller) Samsung NC10, and I love it, but it’s definitely my secondary computer. If I want to get any serious work done, or do any kind of multitasking, I move over to my desktop.
Anyways, some specific recommendations of things to look at:
The Samsung NC20 looks like a 12" version of the NC10, so it’s got my recommendation.
There’s also the Lenovo S12, the Dell Mini 12, and the Asus S121, and probably a bunch others. Of those, the Mini 12 and the S121 are pretty thin and sleek, but again not quite up to the standard of the Macbook Air. I think they mostly come with standard hard drives, but I think some have the option to get a SSD if that’s what you really want.
The X301 is a good alternative too. Its 13.3" display has a higher resolution than the Macbook Air. It’s the same weight as the Macbook Air but has a built-in optical drive. I think the price is higher than the Macbook Air when configured with 128GB SSD, but may be worth it.
Thanks for all the responses. Color me surprised that it seems that Apple is the cheaper option.
Some very good looking computers out there which, let’s face it, is an important factor in this segment. The Voodoo Envy (which I found through Engadget while googling one of the mentioned computers) is particularly amazing although I am no fan of HP.
The Adamo seems to be the only real challenger to the Air (despite their Flash website) as it is closest in price with similar specs. I would prefer the processor on the Air but my dad won’t notice. Sexy as hell, too. It might come down to looks between those two. Dell is also a very good brand that he knows and trusts.
Although my dad’s usage is very light, he decided against a netbook (which were my initial recommendation) because of the screen and keyboard size.
I think there’s a huge markup in this product segment, since it’s aimed at buyers more interested in aesthetics and small size than price.
By the way, I forgot there’s also the Samsung X360.
There’s also the MSI X340, which is a cheap Macbook Air lookalike. But in the US I think it’s only available from grey-market importers like Dynamism. Still, if you just want the form factor of a Macbook Air, and can live with the CULV* processor, it may be a reasonable option.
*Intel’s new line of “consumer ultra-low voltage” processors, faster than the Atom series but lower power consumption (and slower) than the Core-2 ULV processors.
I wouldn’t be surprised by the Air being cheaper. Apple’s computers have always been on par with PCs, but only if you compare them point for point. For example, even Apple’s lowest-end computers use higher quality processors than the lowest-end PCs. You have to compare Apple’s low-end computers with mid-range PCs or you’re just comparing apples and oranges. (Yes, pun intended).
Anyway, are you aware that you can run Windows natively on a MacBook? One PC Magazine review of a MacBook Pro said that it was the best computer available to run Vista on. You can use Bootcamp to start the computer up in Windows and would never have to use Mac OS on it at all.
That may be true if Apple makes exactly the hardware you need/want, otherwise it’s often possible to find a Windows PC which suits your needs, and is cheaper than the cheapest Apple product that suits your needs.
Also if you’re going to get a Mac and run Windows on it, you have to buy a copy of Windows, right? Can you get by with an OEM version (starts around $90) or do you need a retail version?
OEM versions of Windows are an option from some third party vendors. I ordered an iMac from MacWarehouse (now owned by CDW) that came with Windows pre-installed and a Windows sticker on the back. It was about $100 more than the base price, so I saved over buying a retail copy. I don’t think Apple does OEM copies of Windows, but I haven’t bought a new computer in a couple of years.
I have always thought that Apple had great prices the day they are launched. Then they spend a whole year at that fixed price while the alternatives slash theirs and end up looking way pricey.
As for using a Mac as a Windows only machine, I thought of that. That was my last resort plan if I couldn’t find a reasonable bred-for-windows machine. It is still on the race as a runner up with the Adamo. I hadn’t considered the matter of the price of Windows, though. That said, it just so happens that I have access to very cheap Microsoft products through the employee store.
Just FYI, Windows on a MacBook is at the mercy of Apple’s drivers for things like the touchpad and camera. It’s been awhile since I ditched the MacBook but at the time, they were not very good. The multitouch scroll function in particular was terrible.
Oh. That’s very interesting. Unsurprisingly, you don’t see Macs with any form of Windows installed at Apple Stores to try these out.
So you are saying that there were drivers for touchpad and camera but they were not good. How long ago was this? Anyone else with some first hand info on this (or links to relevant reviews)? Back to Google for me.
I believe I made the big switch back to PC about a year ago. I recall the touchpad drivers as being particularly bad… there were times when I simply couldn’t use multitouch scrolling because the sensitivity was way out of whack. (This was on Vista Ultimate… 64-bit, I believe, which may have had something to do with it.)
The X301 is the latest incarnation. It does get some good reviews.
It does seem to be a common issue. There are all kinds of fixes with all kinds of opinions on them according to a quick search. Again, a real pity one cannot try this first hand at an Apple Store.