New Laptop for Personal+Work for ~ $1000?

Ldyzfunctioned on 26/10/2017 - 10:27

Hoping to get some suggestions on a new laptop as my 6 year old Macbook Air is struggling to keep up these days and I'd prefer to keep my Lenovo X1 Carbon solely for work purposes.

Requirements:

13-15" screen

Reasonably lightweight - the laptop travels frequently with me and both of my current laptops are <1.5kg. Doesn't have to be as light but much over 2kg is probably pushing it.

SSD is a must

Looking for a gen8 processor - not much for Australian stock yet as I understand but not opposed to ordering from Amazon/Ebay

8GB+ ram

Not interested in any of the tablet style laptops

Would prefer to keep it around the $1000 mark but can spend a little more. Not in a big rush - by end of year would be good but can wait longer. I've looked into the Xiaomi Air (no gen8), Macbook Pro (above $1000, no gen8), Dell Inspiron 5000 (bit big/heavy), another X1 Carbon (pricy), the XPS 13 (probably too pricy). One that does seem to fit the bill is https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/336296 (Acer Swift 3) but I've never had an Acer and can't say I've heard a ton about them. Also not sure if that deal posted is about as good as I'm going to get with my criteria or if I'm better off waiting for Cyber Monday/holiday season.

Any other recommendations or thoughts on the ones I've posted, as well as when the best time to buy is would be appreciated. Thanks!

Computing

Comments

  • Sunny84 on 26/10/2017 - 10:48

    Im in the same boat and have been looking around for similar specs… have you considered Dell Inspiron 7000 it was around 1500 with an ebay coupon recently

    • dyzfunctioned on 26/10/2017 - 11:31

      13 inch seems like it'd fit the bill but $1500 is definitely up there - would an XPS on sale not be a better option in that price range?

  • scrimshaw on 26/10/2017 - 12:07
    +1

    This is a very lightweight notebook, however you give up the Gen8 CPU for it's lower price point.

    ASUS Zenbook 3 (12.5" i5-7200U 8GB 256GB SSD, Fingerprint Sensor, Harman Kardon Audio)
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/337532

    And here is a Gen8 variant

    ASUS Zenbook UX330UA (i5-8250U, 13.3" FHD, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM)
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/335411

    • dyzfunctioned on 26/10/2017 - 12:11

      Is the Zenbook with Gen8 a better buy than the Swift 3 with gen8?

      • scrimshaw on 26/10/2017 - 12:23
        +1

        Try searching on Notebookcheck.com for reviews.

        example. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Google-Search.36690.0.html?cx=…

        The Acer is less portable and has a bigger screen and Nvidia GPU. ASUS is smaller and lacks a discrete GPU. However, I haven't extensively read reviews, but key things to look out for that you should read, and compare…

        1. Build quality
        2. touchpad responsiveness
        3. keyboard quality and key durability
        4. battery life

        They're the main things I look for in a work laptop. I wouldn't pay too much attention to the graphics chipset. You don't need that for work :)

        • dyzfunctioned on 26/10/2017 - 13:30

          Thanks! Notebookcheck doesn't seem to have a review for the gen8 Asus yet and only for the 15" version of the Acer gen8. Looking at last year's model though I found that Notebook check had it 82/81 for the Asus and this review (https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/acer-swift-3-versus-…) slightly favored the Asus as well.

          I guess I'll keep an eye out for the new reviews but seems like Asus is slightly better choice from these.

      • akaakmdm on 26/10/2017 - 13:47
        +1

        The Acer has a dedicated graphics processor for the same amount of money, making it great value - this is useful for games, video editing and 3D modelling. The Zenbook uses integrated graphics which is fine for everyday things if you don't do the above.

        The screen on the Zenbook is supposedly better than the Acer and the battery life too. Some older versions of the Zenbook had hinge issues - I'm assuming they've been redesigned by now. The Zenbook is lighter than the Acer and is (in my opinion) more aesthetically appealing.

        • dyzfunctioned on 26/10/2017 - 14:15

          Thanks! I do my gaming on my PS4 so not a big concern there. Working with big data sets is probably the most strenuous thing I put my laptop through. I do slightly prefer the 14" screen but of course that comes in a lot heavier package.

  • Quantumcat on 26/10/2017 - 13:31
    +1

    Any reason for dismissing the tablet style laptops? They are incredibly portable.

    • dyzfunctioned on 26/10/2017 - 14:14

      Old fashioned maybe but never saw the need for anything other than a lightweight laptop, have never found the touchscreens to be useful. Maybe I shouldn't dismiss them on that alone though.

      • Quantumcat on 26/10/2017 - 17:06

        You should give it a go at least once. You could get a surface pro 3 or 4 for $1000 I believe.
        If you're reading something you can scroll through with the flick of a finger, if you want to move things around in the screen you can do so quickly without needing to wave your mouse around to find out where the cursor is before clicking and dragging. Of course you can use a mouse or trackpad as well if you choose to.
        And if you are just going to read for a while or watch videos you can take off the keyboard and hold it in your lap like an iPad, whereas with a traditional laptop you'd have the keyboard in the way restricting what viewing angle you can have.
        The battery is great, and they weigh so little (I carry my surface pro 2 everywhere in my shoulder bag with no issues). Of course you can look up actual reviews to see how the battery and weight compare to other laptops - I don't have the numbers (my 4 year old (I think) surface pro 2 gets through the whole day without needing a recharge)
        Even if you don't think you'll use the touchscreen as long as you're not paying a lot extra there's no harm in having it in case you find you like it.

  • FeRGan on 26/10/2017 - 14:05

    Have you looked the Xiaomi mi Notebook Pro 15.6 inch?

    • dyzfunctioned on 26/10/2017 - 14:17

      Hadn't looked into it but cheapest I see it for is around $1700?

      • FeRGan on 26/10/2017 - 14:40
        +1

        I saw it on gearbest for AU$1310.78 (https://www.gearbest.com/laptops/pp_786412.html)
        A week or so ago there was a coupon that got the price down to around AU$1100. I will be waiting till it gets to just under a grand. It hasn't been out for long.

        • dyzfunctioned on 26/10/2017 - 14:41

          Cool, I'll keep an eye out on that as well.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join