Is there a Windows laptop that fits the bill?
I'm in the market for a new laptop and I'd prefer it be a Windows laptop for the possibility of having some control over the components (replace dead SSD or RAM) and OS (ex: put Linux on it).
I have a few requirements, but I haven't been able to check these boxes on any laptops in the 1000-2000$ range (tax included if possible). I'm hoping you can help!
- I use my laptop a lot throughout the day so I'm looking at the screen for hours in all kinds of lighting. I'm looking for a 2K or higher resolution on the screen to reduce strain on my eyes.
- Screen must be matte or have anti-glare coating. I don't use or need touch screens. I like the anti-glare coating on Macbooks, or will happily use a matte screen.
- I don't plug it into a monitor or external anything, so I end up using the laptop's keyboard and trackpad exclusively. I can adjust with whatever keyboard you throw at me, but I cannot stand mushy or imprecise trackpads. My current dead Dell latitude has a glass trackpad with seperate buttons for left and right clicks, and it's very good. The new-age trackpads that push down for clicks don't seem to be tuned for good feedback.
- i5 or AMD-equivalent will do. My personal workload is light, mostly with Chrome / video consumption, and ocassional self-learning using virtual-machines. I'll be running WSL for this.
- Upgradeable RAM or atleast 16GB of it
- Upgradeable SSD or atleast 512GB of it
- Throw in one or two type-C ports for future proofing.
So far, I only found a few laptops that satisfy the 2K OR no-glare requirement. I found the Acer Swift 3 but the 8GB RAM is non-upgradeable. The Acer Spin 5 has a touchscreen and has no anti-glare coating because it needs to support a pen. The LG Gram fits the bill mostly, but I purchased it and returned it because of the horrible trackpad and keyboard backlight that shines into your eyes. The Surface 3 laptop seems great, but opting for the 16GB RAM version pushes it into 2.4K$ territorry and I _still_ get no anti-glare screen.
Looking at my options, the MBA ticks all my boxes for around that the 2K$ price, and I love Apple products' build and hardware, but generally shy away from locked-down devices. Are there no devices that can check all these boxes?
Like Clarkson says (if you've watched Top Gear), "How hard can it be?"
I have a few requirements, but I haven't been able to check these boxes on any laptops in the 1000-2000$ range (tax included if possible). I'm hoping you can help!
- I use my laptop a lot throughout the day so I'm looking at the screen for hours in all kinds of lighting. I'm looking for a 2K or higher resolution on the screen to reduce strain on my eyes.
- Screen must be matte or have anti-glare coating. I don't use or need touch screens. I like the anti-glare coating on Macbooks, or will happily use a matte screen.
- I don't plug it into a monitor or external anything, so I end up using the laptop's keyboard and trackpad exclusively. I can adjust with whatever keyboard you throw at me, but I cannot stand mushy or imprecise trackpads. My current dead Dell latitude has a glass trackpad with seperate buttons for left and right clicks, and it's very good. The new-age trackpads that push down for clicks don't seem to be tuned for good feedback.
- i5 or AMD-equivalent will do. My personal workload is light, mostly with Chrome / video consumption, and ocassional self-learning using virtual-machines. I'll be running WSL for this.
- Upgradeable RAM or atleast 16GB of it
- Upgradeable SSD or atleast 512GB of it
- Throw in one or two type-C ports for future proofing.
So far, I only found a few laptops that satisfy the 2K OR no-glare requirement. I found the Acer Swift 3 but the 8GB RAM is non-upgradeable. The Acer Spin 5 has a touchscreen and has no anti-glare coating because it needs to support a pen. The LG Gram fits the bill mostly, but I purchased it and returned it because of the horrible trackpad and keyboard backlight that shines into your eyes. The Surface 3 laptop seems great, but opting for the 16GB RAM version pushes it into 2.4K$ territorry and I _still_ get no anti-glare screen.
Looking at my options, the MBA ticks all my boxes for around that the 2K$ price, and I love Apple products' build and hardware, but generally shy away from locked-down devices. Are there no devices that can check all these boxes?
Like Clarkson says (if you've watched Top Gear), "How hard can it be?"
