Bad shopping experience, Need advice for a uni/multimedia laptop

Forums › Laptops and mobile computers › Bad shopping experience, Need advice for a uni/multimedia laptop

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9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1149920 8-Oct-2014 13:11

Your assumptions are mostly correct

hence my ignorant questions >.< i'm thinking this is all too much and I might just stick with what I have got lol >.<

lxsw20

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#1149924 8-Oct-2014 13:19

MadMaxX: I've decided putting windows on a mac book is silly but I am however interested in mac books, regardless. If I was to get a 15" 2.2GHz macbook pro or a 13" 2.6ghz macbook pro , what is worth paying extra for to upgrade

Did your budget just double or are you looking at second hand?

http://store.apple.com/nz/product/G0QC1X/A/refurbished-133-inch-macbook-pro-28ghz-dual-core-intel-i7-with-retina-display

Consider referb Apple stuff, it's as new same warranty etc, just the box isnt as flash.

timmmay

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#1149926 8-Oct-2014 13:20

Unsure why you'd buy a mac and put windows on it. PCs are generally cheaper than macs for similar specifications so you're going for the high priced option, unless you get a great student discount.

macuser

2120 posts

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#1149929 8-Oct-2014 13:23

timmmay: Unsure why you'd buy a mac and put windows on it. PCs are generally cheaper than macs for similar specifications so you're going for the high priced option, unless you get a great student discount.

Macbook air's are really well priced, not sure about the rest of the line though.

lxsw20

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#1149937 8-Oct-2014 13:31

timmmay: Unsure why you'd buy a mac and put windows on it. PCs are generally cheaper than macs for similar specifications so you're going for the high priced option, unless you get a great student discount.

Spec for spec I'm not so sure that's true now days. Sure there is more at the bargain basement end in Windows devices.

zaptor

745 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1149938 8-Oct-2014 13:32

MadMaxX:
Aspire Acer V5 552g
12gig ram
2gig AMD raedon HD8750 graphics
AMD Quadcore processor up to 3.5gh
1 TB harddrive

Ah, I see.

I tend to not recommend laptops with AMD CPU's unless you're after the GPU "discount" that AMD provide if using both an AMD CPU and GPU.

Whatever way you decide, it's probably worth it to return that laptop. It's not really that great a deal tbh.

Plus, I'm guessing your budget isn't really restricted to $1500 anyhow.

zaptor

745 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1149941 8-Oct-2014 13:38

Having been through several budgeting/purchasing exercises with laptops I'd have to say if one is comparing apples-to-apples (pardon the pun), then it's unlikely one will find an equivalently specc'ed Windows laptop for the same - let alone cheaper - price of a MacBook Air.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

MadMaxX

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1149951 8-Oct-2014 13:58

zaptor: Having been through several budgeting/purchasing exercises with laptops I'd have to say if one is comparing apples-to-apples (pardon the pun), then it's unlikely one will find an equivalently specc'ed Windows laptop for the same - let alone cheaper - price of a MacBook Air.

If I was to get a Macbook Air would I be able to open a Microsoft Word document that I created on the Macbook on my windows desktop that runs 2013 Microsoft Word or would it not be compatible?

Hammerer

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#1149953 8-Oct-2014 14:01

zaptor: Having been through several budgeting/purchasing exercises with laptops I'd have to say if one is comparing apples-to-apples (pardon the pun), then it's unlikely one will find an equivalently specc'ed Windows laptop for the same - let alone cheaper - price of a MacBook Air.

I don't believe you without showing specific examples.

I've done the same sort of comparisons and the Macs never got cheaper than equivalent Windows devices. Even one-off clearance prices could be beaten.

You need to be more specific exactly how you specified the comparison because it is real easy to stack the deck in either direction:

Specify Mac requirements that don't have a Windows equivalent.
Only consider if specific features matched in which case you can exclude most Windows laptops by default. For example, if you wanted the exact same screen resolution or Intel HD 5000 graphics.
Set the floors to match the Mac specs. Generally, that would force the Windows laptops up to a higher spec.
etc

lxsw20

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#1149960 8-Oct-2014 14:17

MadMaxX:
zaptor: Having been through several budgeting/purchasing exercises with laptops I'd have to say if one is comparing apples-to-apples (pardon the pun), then it's unlikely one will find an equivalently specc'ed Windows laptop for the same - let alone cheaper - price of a MacBook Air.

If I was to get a Macbook Air would I be able to open a Microsoft Word document that I created on the Macbook on my windows desktop that runs 2013 Microsoft Word or would it not be compatible?

Pages can save in MS Office format, but it may change some fonts/formatting. You can buy MS Office for Mac also.

zaptor

745 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1149964 8-Oct-2014 14:18

MadMaxX: If I was to get a Macbook Air would I be able to open a Microsoft Word document that I created on the Macbook on my windows desktop that runs 2013 Microsoft Word or would it not be compatible?

One of the reasons we got Parallels was because there were document incompatibilities between implementations of Office on OSX and Windows. I simply didn't want any of those issues to be a stumbling block. Although, Parallels isn't perfect. If you want %100 Windows compatibility, your best bet is to get a Windows computer.

However, that's not to say things are still that way today.

Hammerer

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#1149969 8-Oct-2014 14:20

MadMaxX: *excuse my ignorance* I recently went to buy a laptop and got told by a very pushy salesman that the laptop I was looking at would only have 3-4 hours battery life and so the man advised me to buy a different product which he assured me would have far greater battery life. When I got it home it too (even when running power saving) only has 3-4 hours battery life. Due to him feeding me false information in order to make a sale I will Hopefully be getting a full refund this weekend.

While I do my best to understand PC hardware lingo I really don't know much about what I should actually be getting. I'm studying at uni over the summer and next year so word docs will be it's primary use but I also like to surf the web, watch movies, listen to music and game (rpgs/ elder scrolls online) Although the gaming probably isn't super important as I have a desktop. I could really use some advice, please! I need something with the following attributes:

- light weight and portable
- good battery life is a must
- quick start up time
- Windows please, not mac.
- Budget up to $1500ish (is this realistic? student so funds are lacking)

Other bits I'd like:

- i5 or i7
- Solid state hard drive
- 2gig dedicated graphics

If there's anything else you think would be beneficial in a laptop for me, or something I don't really need - please don't hesitate to say so. *really don't know what I'm talking about*

thanks guys :)

I've read the entire thread and I can't see where you say what you need in practical terms. You're having a go at specifying some technical requirements but they keep changing. It is hard for other people to say what you should get if you never tell us what you are trying to achieve and the ground keeps shifting. If you tell us what you need then the technical specs can be set to meet that.

Here's an example of what a student might need: run Adobe graphics products; watch full HD video while running on battery; store 500 HD movies plus large graphic files; play Call of Duty Black Ops 2 on at least medium quality; ...
The technical specs that come out of that would be roughly:
CPU: game need at least Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz or Phenom 9650 Quad-Core
RAM: game needs at least 6GB pref 8GB; Adobe products best with at least 8GB
disk size: 3TB (say 500x5GB=2.5TB + games 100GB + docs 400GB)
graphics: dedicated, game needs at least GeForce GTX 560 Ti Radeon HD 5870 1GB
screen resolution: 1920x1080

[Edited to fix typos]

macuser

2120 posts

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#1150015 8-Oct-2014 14:52

MadMaxX:
zaptor: Having been through several budgeting/purchasing exercises with laptops I'd have to say if one is comparing apples-to-apples (pardon the pun), then it's unlikely one will find an equivalently specc'ed Windows laptop for the same - let alone cheaper - price of a MacBook Air.

If I was to get a Macbook Air would I be able to open a Microsoft Word document that I created on the Macbook on my windows desktop that runs 2013 Microsoft Word or would it not be compatible?

Yea you can, there is Microsoft Word for Mac! and the entire office suite...

As above, you could use Pages, which is made by Apple itself, and that allows you to save your documents as Microsoft Word documents, but it screws up the formatting, so when you submit essays they look weird and not how you intended. That's why you get Microsoft Office for Mac.

NZCrusader

646 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1150024 8-Oct-2014 15:04

macuser:
Try use any Surface device in bed, or on the couch, or wherever... horrible.

Microsoft continues to not bother releasing a rigid keyboard dock, which makes the device really unusable in a multitude of situations.

I can tell you must be a regular in the fiction isle at the library, because that is just rubbish.

Surface is fine anywhere and the type cover is built well and has back lit keys.
When I don't need the keyboard, I just fold it around the back and it disengages the keys so I can hold the tablet normally without disconnecting the keyboard.

Also the SP3 is lighter, cheaper and faster than the Mac (no surprises there... its becoming a cliche that every vendor is cheaper than Apple).

Fanboy, go back home and come back when Apple actually have something worthy of competing in a 2014 market.

NZ / AU Battlefield 4 Gaming Community
http://www.sonsofvalour.net/forums/forum.php

zaptor

745 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1150060 8-Oct-2014 15:52

Hammerer:
zaptor: Having been through several budgeting/purchasing exercises with laptops I'd have to say if one is comparing apples-to-apples (pardon the pun), then it's unlikely one will find an equivalently specc'ed Windows laptop for the same - let alone cheaper - price of a MacBook Air.

I don't believe you without showing specific examples....

Thought I'd have a look via Pricespy.

11" MBA still seems hard to beat. I just used 4GB/1.2kg or less/SSD/i7-i5-i3 as criteria.

13" screens are a different story (pleasant surprise).
HP ProBook 430 looks like an interesting option. Especially given the price. Not sure about the build quality (only question mark). Still that price is fairly compelling.

I don't have any particular allegiance to one platform or another.

Always interested in a good deal. Most things are a good deal if the price is right.

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