Hi guys,
I'm looking for a laptop for work/study in the $1200 to $1500 budget range. Will mostly be using it for website browsing and work on the go, I've got a gaming desktop already. Main priorities are battery life, longevity and value.
The few I'm considering are:
Would love to hear opinions/thoughts. Thanks!
That's $1850. and theres the 12-inch macbook for $50 more. both are available refurbed at around $1600
Got a 12" macbook at the moment. had 13" macbook pro and air before. All similarly good for light use. the 12" is obviously the least practical, but the main limitation for light use is the screen size more than the power, which is only matters much heavy use. and even then, its still pretty good. I've done music editing and photoshop stuff on it without any trouble, but the screen gets cramped quicker.
but if its a second machine, and you want something that feels super portable, the 12" is decent, and a used one is probably a good deal
The 13" MBP non-touchbar is only $50 than the MBA too if you wanted to go that route - but that will have a dual core 7th processor vs the 8th quad cores of your listed ultrabooks (and touchbar MBP).
Personally I have found Asus Zenbooks still lacking in build quality compared to the X1 and XPS so would not even consider. Both the X1 and XPS are good options and comparable in spec - the XPS is very often discounted by 20% as you have found. Pick the one at the best price and/or best looking and you can't go wrong
Good point. the apple lineup makes zero sense
For Windows platform, as phr0 said, I'll pick ZenBook. There's an Asus ZenBook Flip UX461 on sale at Bing Lee for $1.099, worth considering if couples with 10% off or 20% off eBay coupon code.
It's worth considering macOS platform, if you can stretch you budget to ~$1,700-$2,000. My pick would be MacBook Pro 13 Non-touchbar (2017).
The last time i checked, it's currently 2019.
I have the XPS 13 9370, very happy with it. It terms of bang for buck it definitely isn't the best from what I found, the competitors normally offer similar specs for a lower price. However, in terms of build quality, I feel like it's worth its money.
What would you recommend instead of the XPS for more value?
xps looks nice.
thinkpads have the best keyboards.
I'm in the same position as OP but a brief search told me that the Zenbook has the worst battery life out of all 3 (and 4 if you include the macbook air) so unfortunately I've eliminated it in my decision which is a shame since they've always looked awesome.
I have an XPS13. If you plan on getting one, be prepared for QC issues. I recommend getting additional warranty otherwise the X1
Whatever you do, I strongly advise against getting the Macbook Air. If you do, you'd better pray to the Tim Cook god that the butterfly keyboard does not fail.
Out of the ones you listed. I’m more of a fan of the zenbooks. Especially if you can get a good 20% off eBay deal.
But honestly, although many will hate on this, i think for your budget you definitely shouldn’t rule out a 2018 MacBook Air. It fits your requirements perfectly in my view.