Budget 51-70k Goodbye Macs, going back to Windows

red dragon

Justiceforall
Skilled
Hi, posting after a very long time. Completely lost interest in tech and stuff. Was using Macs ( a MBP 2011 followed by a 2014 Air) and they were perfectly fine for my purpose. But the lack of ports in the newer models makes me wanna puke.
My requirements are simple, just some music production (minor audio edits and some midi stuff) in Ableton and Lightroom. But the laptop needs to be light, below 1.5 kilograms as I have to travel a LOT. 8th gen i5 with 8 gigs of memory and minimum 256 gigs for programs (Ableton live suite, without live packs, Kontakt without libraries, Melodyne and very few smaller programs like Izotope Neutron, Ozone, some Fabfilter stuff and LR and a small free office suite, not MS office)
Budget: not an issue but around 70k INR should be ideal.
Please help me guys, I’m not in touch with tech stuff anymore.
BTW, it would be great if the warranty is valid in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia area.
Thank you all
 
I'm not really aware of the different models and brands in vogue now, but this was something I was checking out recently for a friend, and it suits almost all of your requirements.
It doesn't come with a dedicated graphics card, so you might want to keep that in mind. And there are reviews mentioning that it's touchpad is moody. However, it weighs less than a kg, has a matte display (only full HD), backlit keyboard, etc. and a 1 year limited international warranty (you should probably read the TnC in detail).
 
Thanks mate, I am considering it. What about Acer swift 3? LG gram looks good, but somewhat overpriced.
I can extend my budget and get a xps13, but the port situation is worrisome. What about thinkpad X1?
 
Thanks a lot. Does Acer/Asus come with international warranty?
You won't believe, some East European countries have worse after sales service compared to India.
For an iPad screen replacement I had to go to Prague from Kosice!!
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BTW it feels wonderful after posting here after such a long long time. And the replies were great, concise and to the point.
Think I will buy the Acer and save some money.
Is it normal to loose interest in tech after certain age?
 
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Does Acer/Asus come with international warranty?
I think Asus has it on few models. Dell and/or HP has something called as warranty transfer across region. Acer Swift listing on FK mentions 1 year International warranty though.

For an iPad screen replacement I had to go to Prague from Kosice!!
That's a hell of a trip for just a screen replacement.

Is it normal to loose interest in tech after certain age?
Yeah, its usual cycle. Interests gets fine with age like wine !
 
You are right, brand names, latest/ greatest gadgets don’t interest me anymore, anything usable, which doesn’t break is fine.
 
Getting a 70k laptop after using 1.5 Lakh one may not feel comparable and then you will say macbook was much better, this is usually what happens when people move from Macbook to windows laptops, they spend half the money and then compare and complain.

Also, the rupee dollar exchange is 50 per cent more expensive in 2019 than 2010/2011, so important to keep dollar values in mind while deciding the budget.
 
I'm not ditching the Mac completely, just for travel purpose. And of course my expectations/ needs are fairly basic.
And I'm way past the brand loyalty/ consciousness thing. Just want to get the job (music ) done.
But I did get your point though. And my budget is not fixed, if you can suggest a MBP level Win laptop, will definitely look into it.
If the price difference is huge, I can always buy from Europe. But since I plan to stay in India till March, it can be slightly problematic, but doable.
 
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Hi, everyone. I came across the Zenbook Duo line yesterday and loved the concept. Shall I go with the non pro 14 inch version (i7, 1TB, 16 GB version)
I can probably use the second display as the mixer window in Ableton Live / Studio one or even Samplitude.
Yes, the trackpad is a concern, but can always use a mouse.
Your valuable opinions please.
 
But the laptop needs to be light, below 1.5 kilograms as I have to travel a LOT. 8th gen i5 with 8 gigs of memory and minimum 256 gigs for programs (Ableton live suite, without live packs, Kontakt without libraries, Melodyne and very few smaller programs like Izotope Neutron, Ozone, some Fabfilter stuff and LR and a small free office suite, not MS office)
Budget: not an issue but around 70k INR should be ideal.
Please help me guys, I’m not in touch with tech stuff anymore.
BTW, it would be great if the warranty is valid in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia area.
Thank you all
That means the largest screen you can have is a 13 incher

My first choice is Huawei Matebook X pro. This has a 3:2 screen so its as tall as 15 incher.

The closest competitor is a Dell XPS 13 but if you want ports then it has to be the 2060 series, they went all usbc after that. The downside with dell is the 16:9 screen which will appear smaller. Also the speakers are downwards facing. The good news here is you are likely to find older models in India, not so easy to find the latest and greatest gen CPU.

The Huawei's speakers are top facing and sound great. Important if you are doing Audio.

The problem is political. Who knows if support will be withdrawn. I've got all windows updates without issue to date. The thing looks gorgeous. The screen is gorgeous. The audio is amazing. Has a USB A port which was important.

And the bigger problem is availability. I don't know where you can get one in India. Given your base is in Central Europe maybe its better you buy something from there ? Huawei invested $1.5bn in a fulfilment centre in Hungary so maybe you get better stuff there and they are not going to dump China.

Keep in mind whatever laptop you get whether you will be hooked up to the mains for extended period of time. That means adapter is constantly connected. If that is how you will be working then its imperative the laptop firmware allow you to set a maximum battery charge percent. Lenovo, Dell, Huawei allow you to set max charging level of the battery. HP does not. The reason is what kills the battery is being on trickle charge all the time. If you stop those top ups then the battery life will not be cut short.

How important is battery life to you. How many hours do you expect to work without a recharge ?
 
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That means the largest screen you can have is a 13 incher

Not necesaarily. I have been drooling at the Lg Gram 17. A 2560x1600 17 inch screen and the laptop weighs in at 1340g. On top of that, LG offers 3 years warranty as standard. This might be my next laptop when I have the funds in place next year.
Also there are many options in 15.6 inch under 1.5kg as well.
 
Not necesaarily. I have been drooling at the Lg Gram 17. A 2560x1600 17 inch screen and the laptop weighs in at 1340g. On top of that, LG offers 3 years warranty as standard. This might be my next laptop when I have the funds in place next year.
Also there are many options in 15.6 inch under 1.5kg as well.
LG Gram i hear has good battery life but lighter fifteen inchers will not. I'm big on battery so more battery, more weight. You want the biggest battery possible. Next to get it to last longer you have to forego touch screens, if possible. Dell offers options here but in India its quite limted. Macbooks squeeze out more battery because they don't come with touch screens and on top of that they are no better than FHD which further conserves battery.

How much is the LG gram is seemed exorbitant for what it offered when i looked a year ago.

Battery is the key highlight with the gram. Real 10h backup. Downsides are no NVMe so write/read speeds are a third as fast as competitors. And audio is subpar. WTH do these people place speakers on the bottom. Are my ears there ? no they are above the keyboard. Therefore Speakers MUST BE top firing !!

This is the 14 incher



Why would you spend this money for just 8 GB RAM. Maybe it can be upgraded later.
 
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5-6 hours of battery would do. The new XPS is out, if the ports weren't issue, would stick to the MBP.
My main use is music production and I need ports for TBs of samples in various ssds and HDDs, and audio interface.
Also worried about ASIO drivers for Windows and latency issues. Macs didn't have this problem.
Think I will go either with a T series ThinkPad/ carbon X1 or the Asus Zenbook Duos (14 inch one, the pro variant is very heavy)
My fellow musician friends on Windows (very few) mostly use Latitudes or thinkpads.
I'm seeing these strange articles in net, where people randomly suggesting gaming laptops or ideapads/ inspirons for production. But in real life even non pros don't use these, as they eventually break with travel and live shows. I do sometime perform live with push 2 and a computer, so something with reasonable build is necessary, guess the Acer is out.
 
Latitudes and think pads have ports but you will have to deal with the extra weight. I doubt they would be under 1.5KG.

Both are corporate grade and well built.

You might be able to find refurbs in outlet stores at a discount. India has no such concept to date.
 
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1.5 kg is the max I can go. Latitude 7490/7480 is probably slightly lighter, and Ireally like the understated design.
One thing I don’t understand why the XPS 13 costs so much more than lg Gram. Almost all Dells are overpriced here. Is it considered a “premium” brand now? In Europe it’s probably the commonest brand, with practically no resale value, even lower than hp.
 
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