MBA Laptop

Please do not buy a Dell computer. I purchased the XPS 13 6 months ago and it has crashed 3 times already. Each time I had to
reinstall the operating system, thereby deleting everything stored on my laptop - files, pictures -everything. I would have lost
it all if I did not have cloud storage. Technicians could not help me retrive backup files from the hard drive.
To make matters worse, they asked me to pay more money above the basic warranty which I had already paid for to "fix" the issue, which
they could not do successfully. The first time it happened I was told it was a one-off event. This is
the third time this has happened. I've spent countless hours on the phone over several days, trying an
inordinate number of steps to no avail. Dell refused to give me a refund, replacement or exchange despite my "premium"
warranty. To add insult to injury, they claimed they would send someone over to fix it in 2-3 days. Being
that technicians don't work on the weekend and they have no emergency response.

Sorry to hear about the Dell.
I upgraded to the latest MacBook with the touch bar. It has not been a great experience either - i had to change all my accessories/cables/etc since it only has USB-C ports.... there seems to be an issue with display drivers and HDMI adaptors that allow me to connect multiple displays. My favorite issue is when I share my screen on hangouts with a monitor connected, my wireless connection drops. I cannot explain it - never seen anything like that. I have tried multiple HDMI adapters but all including the official apple one crap out. (I confess, I am using it with Windows, not MacOS but still.... never had anything as crazy and annoying with the last gen)
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I have the same laptop I got in 2014 (Asus). I thought multiple times to change it, but in the end - changed HDD to SSD (cost of a new SSD varies between $100 and $500) - works like new. Had problems with network connectivity, and changed the wi-fi adapter. Now it works even better than before...
I guess I'll still keep my laptop for a couple of more years

My old laptop worked just fine but it was a corporate laptop, so it was time to replace it. The new one works worse than a 3.5 year old one did... and I definitely do not see any speed improvement - at all, probably the opposite is true.... so you may not be in a bad spot with a 2016 one. That's practically new
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I had a Dell computer (a very expensive XPS 12 - the convertible tablet ultrabook) that I bought in late 2012 or early 2013. I absolutely hated it. It was very powerful but it was riddled with trackpad, network and other random issues. I jumped the gun to a macbook air and never looked back. My macbook air was perfect but unfortunately, it was stolen in 2015 . Since then I have been using the macbook pro (early 2015 retina - no fancy touch bar back then), and this seems to be fine. I have had two issues with the macbook - both of them with displays. One time the graphics card was shorted and another time the IC chip seemed to have issues. So I will probably buy a cheap laptop as a back up for business school and keep the macbook pro as my daily driver. Also, there is a lot of chatter about running windows in b school, so I will probably go for the surface laptop (under $1000) which seems to be a product aimed at students.
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I heard a lot of stories that once you get to MAC, you don't want to get back to Windows.
I'm not a fan of Macbooks though...
Surface is a good choice; I'm thinking about getting one when my laptop dies, but damn, it doesn't!
The problems with PC are mostly because of the user. I have a PC at work that I haven't changed for 4 years, built it myself (Intel i7, Samsung SSD, 32GB DDR3, 2 Nvidia 730 - 1 GB each -I don't need high-performance GPU, I just rather need to be able to connect 4+ monitors). My coworkers change PC every half year because it "lags, viruses, etc". I hate it because they bug me with the requests to help them get new one

Oh man I agree with you SO much. I really miss having a workstation with a giant monitor or a pair of monitors. It really makes multitasking easier especially if you do a lot of emails and spreadsheet/presentation work together. One of the things that I am thinking is to buy an external monitor (you get ultrawide full HD monitors for as little as $200) and use it as a workstation in school, but I don't know if that will be an overkill or totally unnecessary considering how people swear by portability.

Re: Mac - I honestly think 5 years back macbook and OSX had a significant advantage over windows just because of malwares and viruses plaguing the windows ecosystem, but I think it is pretty equivalent. Surface products, especially are built like tanks.
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Oh, yes it is true. I now have 4 23 inch monitors, and I think sometimes it's not enough :D
I use 1 monitor for emails, 1 for Skype (I have 2 Skype accounts, and most of my work is done via IM), 1 for regular browsing, and 1 for google docs - we use a lot of excel on google docs for work.
Attached a picture of how it is.
p.s.: it is also easy for my after-hours activities too :D

I'm about to start my MBA in Fall 2020 and looking to buy a new laptop for myself.

Some factors that are important to me:
1. Light weight
2. Size: 13.5/14"
3. Long battery life
4. SSD
5. i7(for Windows), 8gb RAM

I've always used Windows OS until now but I'm open to MacBook as well.
I'm confused between buying a Microsoft surface or a MacBook.

Also please suggest the best version of Microsoft surface (price must not be sky-high).

Thanks!!

Posted from my mobile device

Good questions.

Get a surface as long as you are OK with the keyboard.

... I could not convert to MacOS. I have a Mac with windows but I had to buy a separate license and it is a bit imperfect.

My suggestion is to figure out if you do want to use MacOS or windows. That would be the first step.

The latest surface that came out is pretty good. One of my family members just got it and they like it. I would not recommend running Mac with windows. I don’t feel it is worth the premium.

I think 8 GB of RAM will be plenty.
You are correct to focus on weight. I don’t think 15” is worth the extra size and weight.

Posted from my mobile device
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Hey bb,
Thanks for your suggestions.

Few more questions:
1.What's the issue with Microsoft keyboard?
2. Any sexy deal on black Friday for laptops that you know of?
3. Any other company laptops that you may have used or heard good reviews of that I may consider? How's Alienware?

Posted from my mobile device

26 months ago i would have vouched for surface now i won't.
I have pro 4 with a keyboard i bought separately. You would be surprised that i have not been able to use the touch-pen ever properly. When i bought the surface it was running smoothly only to show issues related to screen, pen and basically anything within 4-5 months

Now, since 7-8 months i can't even use the keyboard for typing(use onscreen keyboard). Following problems i face are pretty common but notorious(most recent first):
1. Screen flicker that also occurs randomly due to heating - as found on internet. But i have noticed my surface suffers even within 10-15 minutes of startup.
2. Bubbles on screen which occur randomly. So, basically whenever it happens touch input won't work either keyboard trackpad or touchscreen.
3. Random keyboard keys stop responding on pressing while typing. At times keys i,f,0,5, z, x, c, v etc. stop responding and sometimes they work just normal.
4. Touchscreen input lost permanently in the middle of screen lengthwise(2 inch wide).
There are other issues for which i have to go minutely in details.
First two are very common across users, 3rd and 4th may be with my unit only.

The laptop (4GB RAM,128GB FMSS) which i bought hoping it would offer windows flexibility just was not up to the mark. I had Mac in mind but went for windows since mac doesn't offer openness.
I am so frustrated that i wrote a user review on Amazon.in three month ago but it is yet to be published.

PS: Wrote this message on my first laptop, Acer - 10 years old almost, which now-a-days i am using regularly.
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I've got some bad reviews for Microsoft surface too so I'm inclined towards Mac. What are the cons of having a Mac?

Do you have any other laptops in mind?

Posted from my mobile device

mvictor

Oh My! That Setup! Too much.

I assume by know you have 6 monitors

Cons in any device is a relative thing. It depends on the individual's requirement and past usage. I have not been a mac user though i have one in my family. So, i think with the specs you have mentioned earlier you may get any brand, what matters more is that it should be rugged enough to handle your fast-paced usage during the entire MBA period. It should not be something that keeps bugging you for nitty-gritty things every now and then.

I see that touchscreen laptops are not that good since the touch input is vulnerable(as the case with my surface). I have met people who have used touchscreens(brand does not matter) and took a u-turn opting for a traditional one again.

Finally, if you have been a Mac user in the past then you should go for it without any doubt unless you have specific reasons to change. Also, personally, one should not buy a laptop just a couple a days before the start of an major event for which the laptop is being bought. Knowing your device is much important since you might be unfamiliar with a new one which might bog you down.
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I have used a lot of Dell’s in my life (they are not something one would put into a sexy category though). But they work and get the job done.

One piece of advice, which not many in the following, when I went to business school, I purchased the most expensive laptop I ever owned. I spent $2,200. I was poor and broke but I bought the best laptop in the world. That wasn’t the smartest move really.... so try not to overspend.

PS. I Alienware is great if you want to lug it around. They tend to be on the heavier side in my experience. And the brand is mostly past its days of glory and sexy image (since dell aquiisition)


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An Update:

Yesterday, i got my surface pro 4 replaced by Microsoft . MS claims to have extended warranty for this model(not sure of other surface models or MS products) by two years i.e. a total of three years of warranty. So, after 28 months from purchase the main unit() was replaced but the harsher part i anticipate is that there would be other problems as i start using it. For Example - The replacement laptop required updating it and it took almost the whole day(waste of time if i say) to just do that.
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Congrats.... i guess updating for the whole day seems like it may have to do with the download speed potentially? I have had to setup a computer from scratch a few days ago and it took only a few hours for the whole process including me setting up office, software/etc. It was a 2-year old Macbook Pro that was messed up by a Bootcamp update
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Ya that's an issue with updates. Reminds me of Windows 8.1 from 8.0 and then 10. All had some or the other issues.

Download speed may be down but with same connection on another laptop i watched youtube videos which were buttery-smooth.. of course not at the same time. Yes, there were interruptions during those updates installations and removal of old Windows version.
I checked my data usage and it shows only 10-12GB used data. The replacement laptop, however, showed free 40GB something free space which was initially 87GB something when it arrived early in the morning. 117GB is disk space, don't know how 40GB is used up by OS/recovery may be.

So, finally when i updated it windows installed an old version that was about 42GB leaving a free space of ~40GB space(i added 11GB of my data also). I got rid of the old version(again not in a manner suggested by MS support) by midnight and now have 78GB space. . Yet to install software though.

As amusing as it can get, when i opened it today and connected internet it started updating again. though not that painful.

Let's see how it performs after i use it with all software installed.
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