Advice please. New laptop needed. What is best Apple Macbook or Apple MacBook Air, or a new Microsoft Laptop?

[Kili01]

Hi All,
I have just been told that my old Toshiba Laptop is on its last legs as the hard drive is making ominous clunks. It is also running very slow despite a stay with my computer specialist. Who was trying to sort it out!

Now for my dilemma. What should I replace it with? I already have an Apple iPad, which I really like. At the same time I don't get on well with the Windows operating system. A new Microsoft laptop will have Windows 10, which I haven't used before.
Apple laptops are expensive so should I go for a windows replacement, but with a faster operating system? Or save up for an Apple product?

Please will some computer wizzards out there spell out the pros and cons and advice would be very useful as I am not experienced with the ins and outs of these high tech computers!
I need something not too difficult to understand so I can use it to send emails, write the odd letter or document, occasional internet banking and to surf the web!

Many thanks for any useful advice,

Dee

[Lofos-5]

I have been using Macs all my life and they are good and far less virus prone.

For what you are using it though a windows 10 operated laptop will do just fine though and will be less expensive for sure.

A.

[Jimgward]

I'd buy a second hand Macbook. They hold their life well. For a reason.

I have a 7 year old iMac, a 4 year old Macbook and they also both run windows 10 using Parallels, faster than most PCs.

A 3 year old PC laptop is with peanuts and getting aged. A 3 year old mac is running as well as the day it Was made.

IMO. No contest. And that from someone with a company using only PCs. Rather reluctantly. Only for one reason and not applicable to most.

[J B]

I'm with RW - hate Apple stuff

You can buy a decent W10 laptop for £250 - would an iThingy be double the price??

[Dominic]

Provided you don't open unsolicited email attachments or surf for mucky porn, the threat of viruses is tiny anyway, especially with a new machine. It is the creaking XP boxes that are the ticking timebombs.

[PaphosAL]

There's another solution here, guys 'n gals...

The Apple OS is Linux based. So if your'e happy with that GUI and ease of use, consider this idea please! Download Ubuntu 16 Desktop from here:

https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

This gives you an ISO image that you can then 'burn' to a bootable DVD disc...

Buy a Win 7 or 10 laptop with a huge (500gb+) hard drive and 4gb+ memory, that has a DVD drive as well. Boot the laptop with that dvd disk inserted, then just follow the on screen instructions for Ubuntu install..

It will basically create a new partition on the hard drive (allowing YOU to choose the size, 50% would be cool), then install itself as a dual boot system! In other words, it will PRESERVE your existing Windoze OS as an alternative at boot, if you wish. After a 30 second timeout, if you don't touch anything, it will boot to Ubuntu, where you'll find a more 'Apple' like experience!

Great thing about Ubuntu is that it's totally FREE and supported well into the future..

As regards Windows 10, I have this on my multi-boot machine, but absolutely detest its GUI. Much prefer Win7, personally, so that's what I've set it to auto-boot to!

Hope this info helps you to make a considered choice, as well as saving you a few hundred quid!

For example, something like this from fleaBay, to start with?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Asus-Laptop-K ... Sw-K9ZNTO8

Cheers- AL

[paulok]

My main laptop is a 2011 Macbook Air and its still going strong.

In that Timeframe Windows laptops have changed the User interface FOUR times Win7, Win8, Win8.1 and Win 10. Each upgrade requires more Horespower in terms of CPU and Ram and they really want you to buy a new Laptop with each upgrade.
I would recommend a Refurbished Mac and plan to keep it for as long as possible. It does not have to have a big harddrive and just subscribe to Dropbox or some other cloud storage service.

Ubuntu is an option if you have some IT skills but there are still issues with Printer drivers , Wifi, and other peripherals so it could be a frustrating experience if you just want a laptop for day to day use.

[trevnhil]

Whatever you decide... Do spend and hour or more in the computer shop trying it out.
On my new 'Lenovo' laptop the sound is terrible .. You could not listen to a film or a broadcast on it..
So try out all the things you would use it for at home... before you buy it..

[Dominic]

You may just need to update your sound drivers.

[DavidatLWH]

My main laptop is a 2011 Macbook Air and its still going strong.

In that Timeframe Windows laptops have changed the User interface FOUR times Win7, Win8, Win8.1 and Win 10. Each upgrade requires more Horespower in terms of CPU and Ram and they really want you to buy a new Laptop with each upgrade.
I would recommend a Refurbished Mac and plan to keep it for as long as possible. It does not have to have a big harddrive and just subscribe to Dropbox or some other cloud storage service.

Spot on. Five years ago, whilst running my own business, I decided to buy a MacBook Air. It's still going strong. In the office we still had several Windows machines. If I was still working, I would have replaced all of them with Macs.

Here's a good example. You reboot a Windows machine (and how many times a month do you have to do that, or it does it itself) and go and have your breakfast while it's sorting itself out. Reboot a Mac (and that's not a job you need to do very often) and you're working in less than half a minute. With Macs you don't get irritating updates every five minutes. They rarely break down and they are virtually immune to viruses.

[Dominic]

My main laptop is a 2011 Macbook Air and its still going strong.

In that Timeframe Windows laptops have changed the User interface FOUR times Win7, Win8, Win8.1 and Win 10. Each upgrade requires more Horespower in terms of CPU and Ram and they really want you to buy a new Laptop with each upgrade.
I would recommend a Refurbished Mac and plan to keep it for as long as possible. It does not have to have a big harddrive and just subscribe to Dropbox or some other cloud storage service.

Ubuntu is an option if you have some IT skills but there are still issues with Printer drivers , Wifi, and other peripherals so it could be a frustrating experience if you just want a laptop for day to day use.

If you have a Windows 7 laptop, there is no need at all to upgrade it. Security updates are still available. So the fact that Windows have brought out new versions of their operating system is irrelevent. Besides, wasn't Yosemite released in 2014 for the Apple?

Personally I like Windows 10. It's a great OS.

And as to the minimum specs, according to this chart, they haven't increased.

https://www.download3k.com/articles/Com ... 1-10-00143

Now, with regards to Kili01, in my mind the only benefit she would get from going with Apple is that it would talk more readily to her tablet. In terms of spec, it would be nigh on impossible for her to find a laptop on the market that won't do what she wants.

[trevnhil]

You may just need to update your sound drivers.

The shop have done that with (unfortunately) only a little improvement..

[PeteandSylvi]

I never cease to be amazed at the amazing marketing job Apple, the world's greediest company, have achieved in making people believe that by paying enormously more for their products they getting something better. They have pulled so many strokes at ripping their customers off who still come back in droves.

There was a time, many years ago, when Apple provided the best machines for graphic design work. Those days are long gone and I'd like to hear from anyone that can offer me something an Apple laptop can do that a Windows laptop cannot. For the kind of day to day use that most of us have there is nothing to choose between Windows/Apple OS/Linux based machines.

As for reliability my 9 year old Toshiba laptop is still going strong and does everything I need. I updated from Vista to Win 10 and treated it to an SSD disk both of which gave it an extra boost of performance and life. I do still maintain the Linux Mint partition that became my alternative when Vista was slowing everything down but haven't used it in anger since Win 10 loaded.

I do run virus protection and why not, it costs nothing and has no noticeable overhead. I have never had a virus on my laptop. I firmly believe that most viruses will enter machines by being invited in when fingers press daft requests without any common sense being applied.

The suggestion that you need more power for every Window upgrade because they want you to buy a new laptop is utter nonsense not only in my opinion but by the evidence. For example who is "they"? It certainly isn't Microsoft because they don't sell you the laptop!

So the decision on which laptop type to buy becomes simple. Either go for a Windows based machine and pay a reasonable amount or go for an Apple and pay through the nose and end up with the same functionality.

As for the current machine, if the disk drive is clunking why not have a new disk drive installed? It's just a plug-in component and unless there is anything else wrong that you haven't mentioned you may get many more years from the machine, possibly something the computer shop don't want you to have.

Pete

[Lofos-5]

For an average user a Win10 box is really quite adequate I agree. Public has a 10 years anniversary now and have a Lenovo laptop (formerly IBM I believe) on offer for Eur 399. Not bad and for surfing and email certainly good enough I would say.

A.

[Dominic]

I never cease to be amazed at the amazing marketing job Apple, the world's greediest company, have achieved in making people believe that by paying enormously more for their products they getting something better. They have pulled so many strokes at ripping their customers off who still come back in droves.

There was a time, many years ago, when Apple provided the best machines for graphic design work. Those days are long gone and I'd like to hear from anyone that can offer me something an Apple laptop can do that a Windows laptop cannot. For the kind of day to day use that most of us have there is nothing to choose between Windows/Apple OS/Linux based machines.

As for reliability my 9 year old Toshiba laptop is still going strong and does everything I need. I updated from Vista to Win 10 and treated it to an SSD disk both of which gave it an extra boost of performance and life. I do still maintain the Linux Mint partition that became my alternative when Vista was slowing everything down but haven't used it in anger since Win 10 loaded.

I do run virus protection and why not, it costs nothing and has no noticeable overhead. I have never had a virus on my laptop. I firmly believe that most viruses will enter machines by being invited in when fingers press daft requests without any common sense being applied.

The suggestion that you need more power for every Window upgrade because they want you to buy a new laptop is utter nonsense not only in my opinion but by the evidence. For example who is "they"? It certainly isn't Microsoft because they don't sell you the laptop!

So the decision on which laptop type to buy becomes simple. Either go for a Windows based machine and pay a reasonable amount or go for an Apple and pay through the nose and end up with the same functionality.

As for the current machine, if the disk drive is clunking why not have a new disk drive installed? It's just a plug-in component and unless there is anything else wrong that you haven't mentioned you may get many more years from the machine, possibly something the computer shop don't want you to have.

Pete

AN SSD drive can revitalise a laptop. Seriously so. On my laptop I have two. It shipped with one, and I bought a special caddy which enabled me to unscrew the DVD player and replace it with a second SSD drive. I bought a USB dvd player for a few quid, for the few times I need it, but with two SSD drives, my work rate increases substantially.

So if you don't play DVDs on your laptop, consider adding an SSD that way, that way you can still use the existing HDD for extra storage.

[Kili01]

Thank you all for your most enlightening and helpful responses.
At least I feel much better prepared for the business of selecting a new laptop. My first inclination is to go for an Apple one and will be checking out prices of both new and refurbished ones while I am in the UK, but will also look at comparible Microsoft based ones as well.
Thanks again.
Dee

[Dominic]

Actually for what you pay for a Mac, you can get double the performance in a PC.

[J B]

And of course Apple products looks so dammed good.....you get what you pay for, simply the best....looks and performance.

It has always amused/bemused me that, particularly in the younger generation, somehow an iPhone is a fashion accessory!

[robf]

Hi

I would recommend apple too. My laptop is updated to windows 10 and is proving to be a real frustration. It was really slow for a while until I tracked down the problem to windows defender, it was in a continuous loop checking itself (turned off defender, not easy, then installed 3rd party virus software) . Sat down to do some work this morning and it took 1 hr to boot up properly (got its knickers in a twist over chrome). It is really irritating in so many ways, I just cannot begin to tell Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Rob

[PeteandSylvi]

Hi

I would recommend apple too. My laptop is updated to windows 10 and is proving to be a real frustration. It was really slow for a while until I tracked down the problem to windows defender, it was in a continuous loop checking itself (turned off defender, not easy, then installed 3rd party virus software) . Sat down to do some work this morning and it took 1 hr to boot up properly (got its knickers in a twist over chrome). It is really irritating in so many ways, I just cannot begin to tell Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Rob

I never recommend an upgrade to Win 10, everyone I know who has upgraded had had issues with connectivity, mouse/touchpad, peripheral compatibility however, factory installed it is an excellent OS.

Well you now know me. Win 10 upgrade was a massive improvement and remains so.

The frustrating laptop mentioned above clearly has some internal problems as it is not operating as it should. I have run Windows Defender when I first had Win 10 with no problems. I have disabled it and use Avast (free) as it gets better reviews. Windows 10 does not get it's knickers in a twist with Chrome. Chrome may be giving problems and may be worthy of a reinstall to check. This is being written using Chrome as the browser which is my regular browser. I occasionally use Firefox but never use Edge and have removed Internet Explorer. I strongly urge you to check out your Win 10 installation and drivers.

Pete