Alternatives to a macbook?

[eBoy]

Hey guys, I'm going to school and I was hoping to get a macbook. It is however, very expensive and I also want other options.

Could you guys give me some other brands or laptops that you might recommend for me? I've heard good things about acer/asus, heard to stay away from the sony vaios, and toshiba is okay?

I'm going to school in a month, so i'd like to get it in the next 2 weeks. Recommendations would be awesome, cheers.

[Ojam]

Have you considered a refurbished Macbook? Were you looking at the Air? Or one of the Pros, Retina? If I was still in university and in the market got a Macbook I'd be looking at the air for it's size. I used an IBM X31 for 4 years, size was great for carrying around. Depending on why you wanted the Macbook there is no comparison. Was it the OS? was it the look? Build quality? I would stay away from Acer, but people on here tend to swoon over Asus, and Samsung seems to have some nice offerings too. What is your budget?

[Mr.Sea]

Asus makes good quality laptops. They have a variety of different laptops to suit a variety of needs. Give them a look see.

[Forhad]

From my point of view I'll say Dell but you can check Lenovo too. It's also good.

[spena]

Any ultrabooks out now can be an alternative to macbook in terms of power and weigth

[gnuman]

Asus Zenbook Pro is the alternative to the MBA. It's much more powerful than the Air but I'm sure by the way you're wording your recommendation you want something cheaper

[uber_shnitz]

What are you planning on doing with the laptop?

Every company has good and bad models (well Acer has mostly bad ones but still ) so it's a case by case thing generally speaking. It'd be more productive to know both what you plan on doing, what kind of size/weight you're comfortable with as well as how much you're willing to pay.

[gilboman]

5 series by Samsung is pretty good. The higher/business segments of HP/Dell are actually really good despite what some people tell you who only have experienced their $300 range consumer offerings. I'd personally get a Lenovo or HP elitebook series.

There's no reason for you to need a macbook for general school unless you want to look like teens on TV.

[eBoy]

I think I'd be looking at the pro more than the air? I'm drawn by the UI and OS after using a couple of friend's macs. It just works really well and feels so efficient. The programs it offers to sort and organize photos etc all seem very useful as well.

Samsung and Lenovo are pretty good options I hear, but i'm not sure where to start.

I took a look at the Zenbooks? Are they only 13 inches? I was actually hoping to get a 15 inch. I have a 15 inch now and if I got a 13 inch I feel like it'd seem like such a tiny screen lol. My friend with a 15 inch pro said its not too much of a hassle to carry around and I'm a decently built guy.

I tend to stay away from dell just due to poor experiences with their computers before...

I don't plan to do anything too intensive with my laptop. Mainly what I need for school (whatever programs I need to run) and I tend to stay away from games also due to bad experiences in the past haha. I do like the aesthetic appeal of the mac, I can't lie.

I'll be studying in science btw, and potentially do a double major with mathematics.

[cloakster]

The Lenovo T530 is the best alternative to the 15" macbook pro. Via their EPP a T530 configured with i5 3210m, 4GB ram, 320GB HDD, 1920x1080 display, backlit keyboard, webcam is $860. If you don't need the DVD drive, you can get a 128GB SSD + a 500GB HDD that goes where the DVD drive would be, which brings up the total to $1075. Still much cheaper than a 15" mbp.

[eBoy]

I'm not very good with tech talk unfortunately.. How does that compare to the mbp

Without the DVD drive, would there still be a cd drive?

Edit: How's the weight of it? I've heard good things about the thinkpads. I'm not sure how much i like the trackpad and such.

[Catherine111]

I think Thinkpads would be the best option to go.

[hugh_da_man]

I own thinkpads and asus laptops and I've liked them better than dells and all the rest. Like other people have suggested, the T530 would probably be a good option.

Also, it depends on what you're doing in school. A lot of people I know were surprised to learn that they needed windows to run certain programs and so they had to shell out extra to get a copy since they didn't have the MSDNAA (MS academic alliance) to get it for free.

[Ojam]

I think I'd be looking at the pro more than the air? I'm drawn by the UI and OS after using a couple of friend's macs. It just works really well and feels so efficient. The programs it offers to sort and organize photos etc all seem very useful as well.

If it's the OS you want your only option is a Macbook. What is your budget? Have you looked at the refurb Macbooks, they are refurbished by Apple and come with the same warranty. As been mentioned though make sure there isn't any special programs you need that will only run on windows before you buy a Macbook.

[TruE SkiLLS]

One thing you should really consider is if you need to commute with your laptop. Every extra pound is a burden for commuting. Also, a 13 inch screen isn't bad if you connect it to a monitor when you go home/residence.

Look at the refurbished section for the 15 inch mbp that is $1369, it's a pretty good price for being brand new. It's just called refurb, but it's really old stock for the previous generation and since you're not doing anything intensive, you don't really need the latest and greatest.