Which laptop for frequent traveller?

[KitKat]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread I love my MBA 13 inch however the battery life is terrible and drives me mad.

Bring it to the the apple store - make an appointment first with the Genius bar - may be an issue with the battery
h
They can do some diagnostic tests to check the battery - I went for a different issue but they checked the battery also, so it was replaced as well (under the extra 2 yr apple care), did not know there was an issue

 

[hummel]

Really? What life are you getting?

QFT. My old HP lasted 15min off the charger... my MBA 12 hours if I have brightness at a reasonable level.

 

[djfuzz]

I looked at the Air, but I think I talked myself out of it.

I asked the guy at Dick Smith what the differences were between them and he said basically a MacBook Air is an iPad with a keyboard. That sort of put me off.

I need to but another one for my fiancé later this year and I will prob look more so at the iPad Air for her.

I should of read this thread first as it seems most people are happy with the Air.

You shouldn't be disappointed with the MBP at all, but as expected the person at DSE was talking out of their rear end - and I say that as someone who uses an iPad with a keyboard as much as possible for note-taking and day-to-day document work (thank you Office for iPad!), and a 15 inch MBP for the rest.

For most office work-related purposes, a laptop like the MBA (or an Ultrabook - don't want to limit it to Apple, though naturally that's where my preference lies) is by far the best tool for the job - something small, light, battery-efficient with a reasonable amount of RAM and a decent keyboard. If you can get away with less (e.g. the maligned iPad with keyboard example above) then great, but unless you specifically have a need for greater processing or graphics power, anything more is probably overkill. If and when it comes out, my next workhorse will probably be the new 12 inch MBA form factor for these very reasons.

Having said that, the MBP is still a great laptop which doesn't sacrifice that much portability and gets you a fair bit more power (if you need it) and a very sharp screen, so not a bad choice either.

 

[cambriamarsh]

QFT. My old HP lasted 15min off the charger... my MBA 12 hours if I have brightness at a reasonable level.

My 2 yo 13.3 inch HP ProBook 4330s is still getting 4 hrs off the charger, but it's not a consumer model.

 

[PLANT]

Right mate wondering if can run both windows and Mac on the air that they have?
Looking at getting lenovo carbon 1 or better suggestion for a work laptop with windows on it please?
They had Sony Z1 that just died.
I have Z2 but Sony stopping laptops.... So no go there.

 

[JessicaTam]

Right mate wondering if can run both windows and Mac on the air that they have?
Looking at getting lenovo carbon 1 or better suggestion for a work laptop with windows on it please?
They had Sony Z1 that just died.
I have Z2 but Sony stopping laptops.... So no go there.

Yes, Macs can run Windows, either as a switchable OS, or simultaneously - but that needs third party software.

 

[TonyHancock]

Mbp.........

 

[Fifa]

Bring it to the the apple store - make an appointment first with the Genius bar - may be an issue with the battery
h
They can do some diagnostic tests to check the battery - I went for a different issue but they checked the battery also, so it was replaced as well (under the extra 2 yr apple care), did not know there was an issue

Thanks - I'll definitely do that.

 

[Fifa]

Really? What life are you getting?

Only a 3-4 hours, but I'll time it next week when I have it on for a while.

 

[djfuzz]

Only a 3-4 hours, but I'll time it next week when I have it on for a while.

Yeah, that's not right at all - definitely get it looked at. If you don't want have to worry about monitoring it manually, you can try the app Coconut Battery which will give you the stats you need (in particular, how the current battery capacity compares with its original capacity).

 

[Territory-cr]

Has anyone had any experience with the Dell Latitude 7240 ultra book? Dell gave me one the other day (work is a BIG Dell buyer), haven't travelled with it yet but on first impressions it doesn't look too bad - battery seems to outlast the Win8 HP elite pad I have been travelling with, and of course the I7 in it totally outclasses the Atom in the HP...

 

[moa999]

QFT. My old HP lasted 15min off the charger... my MBA 12 hours if I have brightness at a reasonable level.

Batteries have a habit of losing charge and efficiency over time, particularly if not regularly discharged and recharged.

One of the reasons I see an ultrabook/mbp as a 3-yr purchase. While battery technology has improved, I used to make a point of replacing laptop/mobile batteries every 12 months

 

[jetlagger]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread I love my MBA 13 inch however the battery life is terrible and drives me mad.

I usually get around 7 -> 10 hours battery life out of my MBA 13 inch, which i'm more than happy, comparative to my old Sony which was cough for battery life.

 

[Archphoto]

Just bought a new Mac Book Pro with Retina, 13.3". 8gb/256... Couldn't get the 512gb without ordering it which sucks but I think 256gb will prob do me just fine.

Didn't want the 15" as I think it's just too big for a tray table, but I like that the 15" has more memory. Oh well... Bought it at David Jones an my DJ's Amex with a Dick Smith price match, so a handy 8,000 points in the bank..

Can always upgrade that memory, Rok, my 13" 2008 Macbook unibody now has 8GB RAM and a 1TB HDD - she powers through everything like a hot knife through butter! Next up is a second HDD in the DVD caddy. Sweeeeet.

 

[djfuzz]

Can always upgrade that memory, Rok, my 13" 2008 Macbook unibody now has 8GB RAM and a 1TB HDD - she powers through everything like a hot knife through butter! Next up is a second HDD in the DVD caddy. Sweeeeet.

Unfortunately, memory on the new Retina MacBook Pros is soldered to the board like the MacBook Airs, so no upgrades there. I do believe it may be possible to upgrade the SSD, but it's not cheap (or easy). I do miss being able to max out the RAM and HDD on the older MacBooks / PowerBooks, and the SSD in the DVD caddy was a fantastic way to maximise their usefulness.

A less than perfect solution for getting a bit more storage space is to get one of those flush / shortened SD cards (http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-JetDrive-Storage-Expansion-TS128GJDL130/dp/B00K73NT0S ; PNY StorEDGE 64GB Flash Memory Expansion Module (P-MEMEXP64U1-EF) at Amazon.com) or a Nifty Minidrive with a Micro SD (Amazon.com: Nifty MiniDrive for MacBook Air 13": Computers & Accessories).

 

[Archphoto]

Ahhh, misread the Retina reference; is a PITA that you can't upgrade - I'm still toying with another 1TB in the DVD caddy option. . . .

 

[Limewood]

Should I say MacBook Air?.

 

[hummel]

Should I say MacBook Air?.

Isn't it MBA?

 

[Limewood]

Isn't it MBA?

yeah that'll do.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Isn't it MBA?

A tool that makes fancy presentations?