Which notebook compares to 13" MacBook Air 2013 ?

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I planning to upgrade my laptop to an ultra-book. Mainly to be used for surfing and content consumption. Minimum life expected from the laptop is around 4-5 years. Would definitely want USB 3.0. I already use a 15" with low res display. Would like max of 14" with high res display. Don't really care for touch enabled display but SSD is highly desired. Also considering a 13" MBP but the display is a let down on that.

What I really like about MBA is OSX with ability to run other OS, Backlit KB, Battery life(2013 claimed battery life is 12 hours :eek:), magasafe charger port, dimensions and looks in that order. What I don't like is the IPS display, price and zero upgradability.

I will carry the lappy from my home to office everyday and back and I use my current lappy for more then 10 hours a day 6 days a week. I also use my lappy for torrenting but that I guess can be shifted to some other device with a little bit of a effort cause with SSD I would not like to take that chance. Again there is no heavy duty work which goes on. Some word processing, some tally and mainly YT and Surfing with TV serials. If I were to make a choice to some other windows based Ultrabook then it would mainly be cause of a better display and lower price. But again everything which MacBook offers should be there. Hopefully there is something somewhere which is sturdy enough to last me for at least 4 years and is sanely priced.

TIA

Switch

Ohh forgot to add. I just love the MBA's multitouch, gesture supported trackpad. The alternative should have a really good trackpad cause gestures in MacBooks are to die for.

Also if anybody can give an idea as to the availability of 2013 MBA in the market.
 
I was in kinda similar situation like yours last year. I wanted a light weight laptop with good battery backup and lighter OS. But I had my budget very limited at 30K. I searched in market for Windows based laptop but best offered was Asus U32 model with AMD E450. I ended up buying Used MBA 2009 model (C2D|2GB|128GB SSD|9400GM 256MB). It really is serving me good till now. I m using it mainly for MS Office suit, Surfing and watching movies(when away from home and with no other device :(). I get battery life of close to 4+ hours. Also I could run COD 4 on it :p. At-least one point I learned is, it is tough to full-fill all our wishes of MBA features in Windows based laptop. Best you can get is a good laptop and replace HDD of it with SSD. But IMO nothing will match all the features of MBA.
 
The thing is that I am kind of okey with the price. Also the new models have decreased in price while upped in storage and speeds along with incredible battery life. Also I have been dying to try my hands on OSX as my hackintosh PC without a trackpad just wasn't that much fun. I just dont know about the other notebooks which are available in the market. And the ones which I come to know of aren't as slick as MBA are.
 
If you are having budget of getting MBA then nothing like that. You wont regret you decision. It will easily serve you well for 3-4 years.
 
Get the MBA. There should be options from Sony, Samsung and Dell but they will all actually be more expensive, though likely to have a higher screen resolution.

The Mac will beat them hollow as far as battery life is concerned.
 
That's what I realized. Also the latest offering by Sony is quite fragile as the verge reviewed it. Though Verge guys are Mac enthusiasts but they are bashing Apple left right and center after the last WWDC still they with quite a lot of others still prefers Macbooks over the other Laptops.

I am struggling to find the dates for the availability of the latest MBA's. Whats the best way to get it directly from US.
 
Acer Aspire S7 if you gonna all out or Acee Aspire S3 if wanna be a little budget conscious. In both cases I am talking about the latest release with Haswell. 1080p displays on both IIRC.
 
The obvious thing to do would be wait a couple months and let the dust settle on Haswell ultrabooks. Judging by what was showed at Computex there will be plenty of exciting options. The norm for high-end Haswell ultrabooks seems to be 2560x1440 IPS (some even 3200x1800!) touch displays, <15mm thick chassis, 10+ hour battery life, etc.

Perhaps the most interesting is the Zenbook Infinity, which ships with the Iris GPU which could finally enable decent graphics on ultrathins. It does also make some previous gen ultrabooks (including Macbook Air) look very dated.

One word about touchscreens - once you start living with it, there's no going back, particularly for casual usage with Windows 8. I strongly recommend it, I can't do without it anymore.
 
In the ultrabook market, competing devices are usually in the same price range and have the same lack of upgradability. You will be trading the better trackpad (MBA) for possibly better screens (upgraded buying option on other ultrabooks). With the new claimed battery life of the MBA, I don't think there is anything close at the moment.
 
Switch said:
Already. Thats impressive. Please share the stores in NCR. Would appreciate it.
Click to expand...
No idea about ncr, my kid sis's firm has ordered one for her already in Mumbai. They have some kind of a contract with apple that gets them equipment and software.
 
Considering that people who reviewed it got 12-13Hr battery life with ease, I cant suggest anything other than a 2013MBA.
That said, availability might be an issue now. They say it might take 2 weeks for them to come, and we cant choose 8GB RAM here in India. Your best bet is to ship it from US via PPOBox or ICCWorld or some alternative
 
F3niX said:
Considering that people who reviewed it got 12-13Hr battery life with ease, I cant suggest anything other than a 2013MBA.
That said, availability might be an issue now. They say it might take 2 weeks for them to come, and we cant choose 8GB RAM here in India. Your best bet is to ship it from US via PPOBox or ICCWorld or some alternative
Click to expand...

Exceptional battery life is by no means exclusive to Macbook Air and a feature of Haswell ULT. Even an Acer S7 which clearly prioritizes thinness over battery life is getting by with nearly 9 hours! Many other ultrabooks showed at Computex are regularly claiming 12-15 hours. Of course, some are choosing to target 8 hours instead and make their machines as thin and light as possible with smaller batteries, which also makes a lot of sense. For example, Acer S7 does make Macbook Air look rather clunky and 9 hours is enough to get almost everyone through the day. In any case, Macbook Air's battery life will hardly be an unparalleled advantage once all Haswell ultrabooks are out and the dust has settled. There will be slicker designs getting by with less battery life, and bulkier ones with more, so the choice is for you to make.
 
My 2 cents just get the MBA, if your budget allows then MBP.
1. All discussion about battery life, latest MBA will give you 12 hrs in real use vs advertised for others which in real life is much lesser.
My 2 year old MBP still gives me 5hrs of battery life vs 7:30 hrs when new.
No other 2 year old laptop can achieve this.
2. The trackpad is just so awesome , i havent found any competitor in any brand.
3. Rock solid stability , still runs as it ran on day 1.

Saying all that i dont think india prices make sense to buy MBA. If you can get it from someone from US /HK then great otherwise stick to something cheaper and upgrade in 3 years. would work out same in terms of cost and you would have a more updated system.

Please note that you'll get international warranty on MBA MBP bought from US / HK in India as well.
 
Thanks for the suggestions everybody. Now searching for a source to get me a MBA. Don't really want MBP as
1. Don't want something heavy.
2. Don't want so much power.
 
Can't wait for another year. Also there is already a 13" retina MBP which is thinner then a normal MBP but then again don't need that much power @ that price.
 
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