Laptop purchase ideas/help

[John -- '02 HAWK]

Hey all I need some help looking at laptops. First I have desktop rig that is pretty beefy, I use it for AutoCAD, Inventor, schoolwork, and some gaming. Im looking to get a laptop for portability what should I be looking for? Any particular specs, what about power use, battery life, etc

I'm pretty sure I wont be doing any cad work on the laptop, but it would be nice to to do the occasional presentation and do some quick work in front of the client. I might do some schoolwork, and I would probably like the option of using it as a media player

A friend recommended a macbook air and pointed me at 1.6ghz I5 with 2gig ram. I'm not really a big mac person but I know Apple does a good laptop, and I kind a like the idea of having a device that is not as targeted in attacks. At the same time I hate having 2 different formats.

And since Im looking at ideas can I remote client a PC with MAC without much difficulty?

[jakesford]

Hey all I need some help looking at laptops. First I have desktop rig that is pretty beefy, I use it for AutoCAD, Inventor, schoolwork, and some gaming. Im looking to get a laptop for portability what should I be looking for? Any particular specs, what about power use, battery life, etc

I'm pretty sure I wont be doing any cad work on the laptop, but it would be nice to to do the occasional presentation and do some quick work in front of the client. I might do some schoolwork, and I would probably like the option of using it as a media player

A friend recommended a macbook air and pointed me at 1.6ghz I5 with 2gig ram. I'm not really a big mac person but I know Apple does a good laptop, and I kind a like the idea of having a device that is not as targeted in attacks. At the same time I hate having 2 different formats.

And since Im looking at ideas can I remote client a PC with MAC without much difficulty?

You can do remote desktop, citrix, etc. with OSX just fine. If you don't have a problem with OSX, then I would recommend an apple laptop. Their hardware is well designed and pretty robust.

[roliath]

Hey all I need some help looking at laptops. First I have desktop rig that is pretty beefy, I use it for AutoCAD, Inventor, schoolwork, and some gaming. Im looking to get a laptop for portability what should I be looking for? Any particular specs, what about power use, battery life, etc

I'm pretty sure I wont be doing any cad work on the laptop, but it would be nice to to do the occasional presentation and do some quick work in front of the client. I might do some schoolwork, and I would probably like the option of using it as a media player

A friend recommended a macbook air and pointed me at 1.6ghz I5 with 2gig ram. I'm not really a big mac person but I know Apple does a good laptop, and I kind a like the idea of having a device that is not as targeted in attacks. At the same time I hate having 2 different formats.

And since Im looking at ideas can I remote client a PC with MAC without much difficulty?

I love my mac, but I only bought one because my previous job required it. I wouldn't spend the money on an Air either. I'd rather own a 13/15inch mid tier model. Steam has Mac games now, so you can game on them if you wish. Just make sure you get the right GPU because the 13inch has integrated as does the air. So that leaves the 15mid/top tier as well as the 17inch.

Don't kid yourself when thinking that a Mac is not targeted in attacks.

Windows has a remote desktop client for Mac.


My next PC laptop will be a Sager NP8170. Best of all worlds imo.

[ram57ta]

If you like the smaller size and the missing optical drive I'd say get a Macbook Air (not sure how good the video capabilities are). I've never owned a better laptop than my 13" Macbook Pro and the battery life is far better than any Windows laptop I've owned. I'm kinda biased but my personal recommendation is the Macbook Pro in whichever size you want. God forbid if you feel the need...you can install any modern flavor of Windows you want using bootcamp and have dual boot capability (I have Win7 Home Premium 64 bit installed on mine), or you can run Windows within the Mac OS using parallels. Once you get used to Mac OSX you may find yourself not using Windows very often anymore though.

[John -- '02 HAWK]

I love my mac, but I only bought one because my previous job required it. I wouldn't spend the money on an Air either. I'd rather own a 13/15inch mid tier model. Steam has Mac games now, so you can game on them if you wish. Just make sure you get the right GPU because the 13inch has integrated as does the air. So that leaves the 15mid/top tier as well as the 17inch.

Don't kid yourself when thinking that a Mac is not targeted in attacks.

Windows has a remote desktop client for Mac.


My next PC laptop will be a Sager NP8170. Best of all worlds imo.

After I did some more reseach the 13" air seems like a better buy for the Air line. Larger Screen, Slightly faster cpu, more mem, more hd, and a sd slot. Do you not like the Air line because its not really a gaming rig and has the integrated GPU? or does the GPU really hinder the system?

I know macs are attacked but they attacked less than win, which is why I said "having a device that is not as targeted"

I ran across the MS and APPLE remote clients after I asked. Just haven't had the time do any research onto the subject .

The Sager NP8170 seems like a nice machine but definitely not the direction I want to go since i like gaming on a desktop

[Jose]

As much as I consider myself an Apple fanboy I have no problems with a Win7 computer either, especially considering the price difference. Have you looked into the new Ultrabooks that PC manufactures are coming out with?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397811,00.asp

[John -- '02 HAWK]

As much as I consider myself an Apple fanboy I have no problems with a Win7 computer either, especially considering the price difference. Have you looked into the new Ultrabooks that PC manufactures are coming out with?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397811,00.asp

Thanks for the link I'm not an apple fanboy, which is why I keep leaning back to the windows side. But it still looks like the air is still a decent performer in that line up and it looks like your paying about 100 to 200 just for the apple name as I suspected.

Im still debating ...

[roliath]

After I did some more reseach the 13" air seems like a better buy for the Air line. Larger Screen, Slightly faster cpu, more mem, more hd, and a sd slot. Do you not like the Air line because its not really a gaming rig and has the integrated GPU? or does the GPU really hinder the system?

I know macs are attacked but they attacked less than win, which is why I said "having a device that is not as targeted"

I ran across the MS and APPLE remote clients after I asked. Just haven't had the time do any research onto the subject .

The Sager NP8170 seems like a nice machine but definitely not the direction I want to go since i like gaming on a desktop

I don't like the air period, too weak hardware wise for my liking.

While the Sager is meant for Gaming, it is a powerful powerful workstation when spec'd out.

[Jose]

Thanks for the link I'm not an apple fanboy, which is why I keep leaning back to the windows side. But it still looks like the air is still a decent performer in that line up and it looks like your paying about 100 to 200 just for the apple name as I suspected.

Im still debating ...

Right now I'm looking at a Dell XPS 14z or 15z. I miss my first gen Intel MacBook, that thing was bullet proof and booted up just as fast and ran just as good as day one. Loved the build quality but hated paying extra for it over a comparable PC.

[Jose]

I don't like the air period, too weak hardware wise for my liking.

While the Sager is meant for Gaming, it is a powerful powerful workstation when spec'd out.

Are you saying the Air is to weak for what you want to use it for or for what it costs?

[roliath]

Are you saying the Air is to weak for what you want to use it for or for what it costs?

spot on (mix of both)

too expensive for what it is, too slow for what I would need it for.

[Jose]

spot on (mix of both)

too expensive for what it is, too slow for what I would need it for.

Agreed. The Air is a niche product that isn't for everybody, certainly not for any "power" user.

[motoman]

Right now I'm looking at a Dell XPS 14z or 15z. I miss my first gen Intel MacBook, that thing was bullet proof and booted up just as fast and ran just as good as day one. Loved the build quality but hated paying extra for it over a comparable PC.

I'll be picking up a XPS 15z within the next month or so, those are some solid laptops! I was looking at a similar build from HP but it lacked a back lit keyboard which is a deal killer for me.

[Lason]

I wouldnt consider any laptop with anything under 4gigs of RAM. Especially with any mention of Autocad.