Macbook or asus

[Bubbis]

Hello
I will need a laptop for when i start school in a couple of weeks, I got stuck deciding if I want a macbook air 13" or Asus ux305 what are your experiences about these laptops? I have used windows my whole life but my sister has a macbook air and I like that one too. If I buy the asus it will probably be 256gb 8gb 1080p and not the 4k one. My parents will pay for it so if mac is much better money doesn't matter but if there are minor differences I will buy asus.
Thanks in advance!

 

[velo3100]

I would get the air over the asus as the m cpu is very weak. You could look into the asus 303la as that is priced similar and has the same form factor.

 

[ssddx]

a little article about the M series chips http/www.windowscentral.com/intel-core-m-broadwell-processor-versus-core-i5-haswell and benchmarks here http/www.anandtech.com/show/9117/analyzing-intel-core-m-performance/3

the M processors are designed to be more power efficient which means that your battery could potentially last longer if you do not require performance. i would still go with more traditional i-series offerings if you're looking for a bit more performance though. while an i3 would work for just basic schoolwork the i5 would offer better performance. i dont think you would need much more than that unless you were taking up something like cad design, video editing or similar high demand software programs.

compare apples to apples - if you can spend the $800+ of a macbook (you really get ripped off in terms of hardware for the price with apple) then spend an equal amount on a pc laptop. you could get the same hardware as a macbook but for at least 20-30% cheaper or for the same cash get something superior. also you need to know if the software you want to use will work on just windows or just mac - windows tends to have more software available for it while mac really doesnt have any exclusives which make it stand out as special

my personal choice would be to go for a pc windows laptop of similar hardware choices as the macbook which you can likely pick up for a nice discount over a macbook.

 

[Bubbis]

a little article about the M series chips http/www.windowscentral.com/intel-core-m-broadwell-processor-versus-core-i5-haswell and benchmarks here http/www.anandtech.com/show/9117/analyzing-intel-core-m-performance/3

the M processors are designed to be more power efficient which means that your battery could potentially last longer if you do not require performance. i would still go with more traditional i-series offerings if you're looking for a bit more performance though. while an i3 would work for just basic schoolwork the i5 would offer better performance. i dont think you would need much more than that unless you were taking up something like cad design, video editing or similar high demand software programs.

compare apples to apples - if you can spend the $800+ of a macbook (you really get ripped off in terms of hardware for the price with apple) then spend an equal amount on a pc laptop. you could get the same hardware as a macbook but for at least 20-30% cheaper or for the same cash get something superior. also you need to know if the software you want to use will work on just windows or just mac - windows tends to have more software available for it while mac really doesnt have any exclusives which make it stand out as special

my personal choice would be to go for a pc windows laptop of similar hardware choices as the macbook which you can likely pick up for a nice discount over a macbook.

Thanks so much for the answer, I'm not looking for the laptop with the most performance because I will mostly use it to type on, browse the web, watch movies, that's why I don't wanna spend so much money in a windows laptop because the asus offers all i need. I have found out that macbooks just simply work, good trackpad, good build quality with aluminium and so on, is this true?

 

[ssddx]

apple fanatics tend to overemphasis good features on macs. you can throw out ideas like "they just work", "they dont get viruses", "they are better" or similar such phrases as they are not anything more than apple fanboys spouting nonsense. the only thing i would believe are actual hardware numbers, benchmarks and non-biased comparisions

a more correct statement would be to say that the OS is more simplified and easier to understand. mac can have problems just like windows can. generally macos is also the easiest to hack and is less secure. you might have trouble getting some windows programs to run on macos as well. its not a bad system if you like the OS and infrastructure but its not for everyone.

trackpad depends on the individual laptop not so much windows vs mac. honestly its far better to carry a portable mouse like one of the small logitech ones around with you as it makes things MUCH more convenient.

i will say that apple generally does have better aesthetics on its products and they tend to use more metal instead of plastic in construction. while i personally do like this touch, it does not mean that the product is less prone to break as hardware inside can still get damaged if you drop it - metal enclosure or not.

while i'm strictly windows and android here i do have some respect for apple's design but due to their poor business practices elsewhere and limited serviceability on some of their products i refuse to use anything more than two of them: an old apple ipod classic because it plays songs for a week on one charge and is built like a tank and itunes because it has a library that is done right - its huge and has many choices. although even both of those choices have major parts i resent - the battery is nonreplaceable in the ipod unless you have special tools to open it, you can NOT transfer files off an ipod only onto it and the DRM on many itunes songs is really irritating.

in short: apple is good for the people who like apple, otherwise i stay away. completely your choice to make.

 

[0x1eef]

I was an Apple lover before, now I'm just the Apple user, but I object.

OSX is by no means easier to hack or less secure. Sure, Apple doesn't bother itself too much about backporting security patches to older versions and there were some terrible security flaws uncovered in the last couple of years but OSX is generally more secure than Windows.

As for the touchpad: no one can beat Apple touchpads in OSX. They eat portable mice for breakfast. In five years I used mouse only for playing FPS and occasional Photoshop/Pixelmator/Sketch work. In any other scenario, external mouse is a liability, not an advantage.