I am on a real quest for a new laptop and I would like some feedback from you. Sorry if this post goes on to be too long, and I understand if you do not have the patience to read it until the end, it feels like a novel... but anyway, here I go.
First, a little bit of backgroud, so you can understand the reasons for my search. I live in Brazil, not in the US. In Brazil, the prices of consumer electronics are sky high, and we have perhaps the most expensive computers in the world due to heavy taxes charged by the government, which are really out of this world. I will give you an example of how prices here are insane: a low-end 13-inch MacBook Air (US$ 1,199 in the US) costs US$ 2,500 in Brazil; and a low-end 15-inch MacBook Pro with a retina display (US$ 2,199 in the US) costs US$ 5,000 in Brazil. Due to this fact, most laptop computers sold around here are very low-end models, and not every manufacturer sells every model here.
I am travelling to the US later this month, and I will stay until October 28 (shortly after Windows 8 is released). As you may wonder, I intend to purchase a new laptop while I am in the US, benefitting from both the lower prices and the higher availability of models. Of course I would like to wait for the release of Intel Haswell, but unfortunately I don't know if I will be able to go to the US again next year, so I could well purchase the laptop now (and another one next year, if that is the case - it is still cheaper to buy two of them in the US than buying just one in Brazil).
Now, I'll tell you what I want, from my past experience.
I bought a 13-inch MacBook (white polycarbonate model) in May 2008. It had a Core 2 Duo T8300 2.4 GHz processor, 2 GB RAM, a 160 GB HD, and a screen with a 1280x800 resolution. Although it was one of the cheaper MacBook models (and it still paid over US$ 2,000 for it), I found it to be very good. It had a fast processor in the beginning, and an adequate, if not large, amount of RAM. And it was polished. It felt polished. The trackpad was not yet the multi-touch trackpad, but it was comfortable. The keyboard was very pleasant to type on - perhaps the best keyboard I've ever used on a laptop, and I still thinks that it beats the keyboards in current MacBook models. The webcam had a good quality. No heating issues. And it was thin and light enough to be carried around without much trouble.
There were, of course, some drawbacks, from the beginning. The screen resolution was far from ideal. I like to have as much working area as I can in my computer screen. With a 1280x800 resolution, I just couldn't put two documents side-by-side, and I felt that impacted my productivity. There were only two USB ports, and they were positioned in a way that made it difficult to plug two devices at the same time. And, while it was fast at the beginning, I found the 5,400 RPM HD to be real slow - I could feel it was the bottleneck of the laptop. When I tried to connect an exteral monitor to it - to increase the low resolution and give me a larger work area - I felt the limitations of the integrated Intel video card. As time went by, the processor and RAM were not adequate anymore. I like fast computers and immediate response, and the MacBook was not delivering it anymore.
Then I decided that I had to buy another computer. It was early 2011. There are not many options in the Mac world. And, in addition, I felt the need to move back to Windows. Mac OS was great, but it didn't have everything in terms of software and, particularly, I felt that Microsoft Office was a much better product on its Windows version. It was probably a good time to buy a new computer, since Sandy Bridge had already launched.
In my new purchase, I tried to address the issues that bothered me so much in the MacBook. Then I bought a custom Sager NP5160, a big departure from the MacBook. Prices being what they are in Brazil, I found it to be affordable at about US$ 2,500. It came with a Core i7-2720QM processor, 8 GB RAM, a dedicated video card, a 500 HD (hybrid with SSD), and a 15-inch screen with a 1920x1080 resolution. I have to tell that this is a fast machine. Very powerful and fast. The screen is very good and bright (although there is a dead pixel on it!), and the resolution is much better for seeing documents side-by-side. And it has a dedicated video card, which, in fact, I think I never made use of.
However, it lacks polish. First, it is heavy and cumbersome. It weighs 2.6kg, and it may not be too far away from the 2kg of the MacBook. But it feels much heavier. And bulky. Hard, very hard to carry it around. It doesn't feel well built at all. The keyboard feels cheap and it is displeasing to type on. It is also chicket-type, like the one in the MacBook, but it is dreadful. I hadn't realize how good the keyboard on te MacBook was until I typed on this Sager. The trackpad is even worse, I just can't use this laptop without a mouse. Not comfortable at all to use it, and I can't put my arms in a good position. The webcam is also terrible; it can't capture light well enough, people can't see me at all. First, I thought it was a problem with the drivers, but it is not. The webcam in the MacBook is so much better. It has four USB ports, but not all of them seem to work all the time. Sometimes they work, sometimes just one or two seem to work. And it goes hot - very hot, and sometimes I can feel the heat while I am using the mouse. In fact, the laptop may be adequate for playing games or something, but it delivers a less-than-optimal experience.
That is why, even having such a high-end machine, I intend to buy another one. I would like a laptop that has all the features I liked in the MacBook and all the features I expected to have with the Sager. I would like a laptop which delivers a premium experience, with no (or few) loose ends. I want a good keyboard, which is comfortable to type on (this turns out to be very important to me, since I type a lot, as you may see from the size of this post). I want a good trackpad so I don't have to use a separate mouse. I want to rest my hands in a comfortable position while I am using it. I want a webcam which is at least OK. I don't want the laptop to run too hot or to make strange noises. I want a good screen with a large work area, so I can see two documents side-by-side to boost my productivity. And I want it to be fast. I will not use it to play heavy games or to edit large videos. I will use it mostly to surf the Internet (sometimes with dozens of browser tabs and windows opened at the same time), use Microsoft Office programs, reference management software (Endnote, Zotero, that kind of stuff, with really large libraries), use OCR software (ABBYY Fine Reader), PDF readers and searchers, and do it all at the same time - lots of multi-tasking here. While I'm not doing tasks which are really intensive, but I really like instant responses all the time, no matter how many tasks I am performing at the same time (and this is why I bought a quad-core i7). I would also like an SSD instead of an HD or an hybrid drive - I just feel that the HD is slow and sluggish and I want software to open immediately. I don't care if I don't have too much storage space; I don't use so much of it anymore. I care about speed, and I don't want to wait for the computer to boot, or for software to open.
From this background, I hope you are able to help my on my quest. I could test some laptops around here, but not all options are available. As computers in Brazil are so insanely expensive, I could still buy a premium laptop in the US and find it cheap. So, there are no real budget constrains here, but I wouldn't like to spend more than what I've spent before (a maximum of US$ 2,500 perhaps, but preferably much less than that). Some of the laptops that could possibly meet my needs are as follows:
15-inch MacBook Pro with a retina display: A gorgeous machine. It has everything I would possibly want on a laptop. The IPS screen with a 2880x1800 resolution is what really pushes me towards this one. And a fast processor and SSD. But it is expensive. And it runs OS X and I would have to buy a separate license for using Windows. In addition, it still weighs 2kg and I found the keyboard to be not so good and not having as much key travel as the one found in the previous MacBook Pro models, but I did not have the time to test it through.
Sony Vaio Z: Looks like a great laptop. Very small and thin, but it still has a fast processor and an SSD. Full HD screen. But I felt the keyboard was not so nice, as I would expect in sucn an expensive laptop. In addition, I heard about build and heating issues. Can somebody confirm it? How is the battery? Sony announces the laptop as having an 8-hour battery life, but I've read several complaints about it.
Sony Vaio S: Nice laptop, there are two models, the 13" and the 15". I would prefer the screen resolution of the 15-inch, but the 13-inch is lighter. I am not sure if I like the keyboard, though. In addition, they both come with an HD and I will have to replace it with an SSD: is it easy to do?
Asus Zenbook Prime: thin and light, and with an IPS 1920x1080 screen. And SSD (I would prefer it over the models with a hybrid drive). Looks good. A low-voltage processor might be fine, but I am not sure if it is fast enough. My sister has a first generation Zenbook, but I feel the keyboard and the trackpad are both bad. I read things got better in the second generation (I haven't seen one yet), but that there were still issues with ergonomics.
I didn't have the opportunity to test any more models which would fit my needs. I would like to test the Lenovo X1 Carbon, for instance, but I can't find one around here. Almost all laptops are low-end with Sandy Bridge i5 processors, slow HDs, dreadful keyboards and 1366x768 screens.
Would you recommend me to take a look at something else?
First, a little bit of backgroud, so you can understand the reasons for my search. I live in Brazil, not in the US. In Brazil, the prices of consumer electronics are sky high, and we have perhaps the most expensive computers in the world due to heavy taxes charged by the government, which are really out of this world. I will give you an example of how prices here are insane: a low-end 13-inch MacBook Air (US$ 1,199 in the US) costs US$ 2,500 in Brazil; and a low-end 15-inch MacBook Pro with a retina display (US$ 2,199 in the US) costs US$ 5,000 in Brazil. Due to this fact, most laptop computers sold around here are very low-end models, and not every manufacturer sells every model here.
I am travelling to the US later this month, and I will stay until October 28 (shortly after Windows 8 is released). As you may wonder, I intend to purchase a new laptop while I am in the US, benefitting from both the lower prices and the higher availability of models. Of course I would like to wait for the release of Intel Haswell, but unfortunately I don't know if I will be able to go to the US again next year, so I could well purchase the laptop now (and another one next year, if that is the case - it is still cheaper to buy two of them in the US than buying just one in Brazil).
Now, I'll tell you what I want, from my past experience.
I bought a 13-inch MacBook (white polycarbonate model) in May 2008. It had a Core 2 Duo T8300 2.4 GHz processor, 2 GB RAM, a 160 GB HD, and a screen with a 1280x800 resolution. Although it was one of the cheaper MacBook models (and it still paid over US$ 2,000 for it), I found it to be very good. It had a fast processor in the beginning, and an adequate, if not large, amount of RAM. And it was polished. It felt polished. The trackpad was not yet the multi-touch trackpad, but it was comfortable. The keyboard was very pleasant to type on - perhaps the best keyboard I've ever used on a laptop, and I still thinks that it beats the keyboards in current MacBook models. The webcam had a good quality. No heating issues. And it was thin and light enough to be carried around without much trouble.
There were, of course, some drawbacks, from the beginning. The screen resolution was far from ideal. I like to have as much working area as I can in my computer screen. With a 1280x800 resolution, I just couldn't put two documents side-by-side, and I felt that impacted my productivity. There were only two USB ports, and they were positioned in a way that made it difficult to plug two devices at the same time. And, while it was fast at the beginning, I found the 5,400 RPM HD to be real slow - I could feel it was the bottleneck of the laptop. When I tried to connect an exteral monitor to it - to increase the low resolution and give me a larger work area - I felt the limitations of the integrated Intel video card. As time went by, the processor and RAM were not adequate anymore. I like fast computers and immediate response, and the MacBook was not delivering it anymore.
Then I decided that I had to buy another computer. It was early 2011. There are not many options in the Mac world. And, in addition, I felt the need to move back to Windows. Mac OS was great, but it didn't have everything in terms of software and, particularly, I felt that Microsoft Office was a much better product on its Windows version. It was probably a good time to buy a new computer, since Sandy Bridge had already launched.
In my new purchase, I tried to address the issues that bothered me so much in the MacBook. Then I bought a custom Sager NP5160, a big departure from the MacBook. Prices being what they are in Brazil, I found it to be affordable at about US$ 2,500. It came with a Core i7-2720QM processor, 8 GB RAM, a dedicated video card, a 500 HD (hybrid with SSD), and a 15-inch screen with a 1920x1080 resolution. I have to tell that this is a fast machine. Very powerful and fast. The screen is very good and bright (although there is a dead pixel on it!), and the resolution is much better for seeing documents side-by-side. And it has a dedicated video card, which, in fact, I think I never made use of.
However, it lacks polish. First, it is heavy and cumbersome. It weighs 2.6kg, and it may not be too far away from the 2kg of the MacBook. But it feels much heavier. And bulky. Hard, very hard to carry it around. It doesn't feel well built at all. The keyboard feels cheap and it is displeasing to type on. It is also chicket-type, like the one in the MacBook, but it is dreadful. I hadn't realize how good the keyboard on te MacBook was until I typed on this Sager. The trackpad is even worse, I just can't use this laptop without a mouse. Not comfortable at all to use it, and I can't put my arms in a good position. The webcam is also terrible; it can't capture light well enough, people can't see me at all. First, I thought it was a problem with the drivers, but it is not. The webcam in the MacBook is so much better. It has four USB ports, but not all of them seem to work all the time. Sometimes they work, sometimes just one or two seem to work. And it goes hot - very hot, and sometimes I can feel the heat while I am using the mouse. In fact, the laptop may be adequate for playing games or something, but it delivers a less-than-optimal experience.
That is why, even having such a high-end machine, I intend to buy another one. I would like a laptop that has all the features I liked in the MacBook and all the features I expected to have with the Sager. I would like a laptop which delivers a premium experience, with no (or few) loose ends. I want a good keyboard, which is comfortable to type on (this turns out to be very important to me, since I type a lot, as you may see from the size of this post). I want a good trackpad so I don't have to use a separate mouse. I want to rest my hands in a comfortable position while I am using it. I want a webcam which is at least OK. I don't want the laptop to run too hot or to make strange noises. I want a good screen with a large work area, so I can see two documents side-by-side to boost my productivity. And I want it to be fast. I will not use it to play heavy games or to edit large videos. I will use it mostly to surf the Internet (sometimes with dozens of browser tabs and windows opened at the same time), use Microsoft Office programs, reference management software (Endnote, Zotero, that kind of stuff, with really large libraries), use OCR software (ABBYY Fine Reader), PDF readers and searchers, and do it all at the same time - lots of multi-tasking here. While I'm not doing tasks which are really intensive, but I really like instant responses all the time, no matter how many tasks I am performing at the same time (and this is why I bought a quad-core i7). I would also like an SSD instead of an HD or an hybrid drive - I just feel that the HD is slow and sluggish and I want software to open immediately. I don't care if I don't have too much storage space; I don't use so much of it anymore. I care about speed, and I don't want to wait for the computer to boot, or for software to open.
From this background, I hope you are able to help my on my quest. I could test some laptops around here, but not all options are available. As computers in Brazil are so insanely expensive, I could still buy a premium laptop in the US and find it cheap. So, there are no real budget constrains here, but I wouldn't like to spend more than what I've spent before (a maximum of US$ 2,500 perhaps, but preferably much less than that). Some of the laptops that could possibly meet my needs are as follows:
15-inch MacBook Pro with a retina display: A gorgeous machine. It has everything I would possibly want on a laptop. The IPS screen with a 2880x1800 resolution is what really pushes me towards this one. And a fast processor and SSD. But it is expensive. And it runs OS X and I would have to buy a separate license for using Windows. In addition, it still weighs 2kg and I found the keyboard to be not so good and not having as much key travel as the one found in the previous MacBook Pro models, but I did not have the time to test it through.
Sony Vaio Z: Looks like a great laptop. Very small and thin, but it still has a fast processor and an SSD. Full HD screen. But I felt the keyboard was not so nice, as I would expect in sucn an expensive laptop. In addition, I heard about build and heating issues. Can somebody confirm it? How is the battery? Sony announces the laptop as having an 8-hour battery life, but I've read several complaints about it.
Sony Vaio S: Nice laptop, there are two models, the 13" and the 15". I would prefer the screen resolution of the 15-inch, but the 13-inch is lighter. I am not sure if I like the keyboard, though. In addition, they both come with an HD and I will have to replace it with an SSD: is it easy to do?
Asus Zenbook Prime: thin and light, and with an IPS 1920x1080 screen. And SSD (I would prefer it over the models with a hybrid drive). Looks good. A low-voltage processor might be fine, but I am not sure if it is fast enough. My sister has a first generation Zenbook, but I feel the keyboard and the trackpad are both bad. I read things got better in the second generation (I haven't seen one yet), but that there were still issues with ergonomics.
I didn't have the opportunity to test any more models which would fit my needs. I would like to test the Lenovo X1 Carbon, for instance, but I can't find one around here. Almost all laptops are low-end with Sandy Bridge i5 processors, slow HDs, dreadful keyboards and 1366x768 screens.
Would you recommend me to take a look at something else?
I think the best you can do is the Sony Vaio S with the i7 3612QM.
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