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yanipheonu · Jul 19, 2016

So, needing a new computer, my mom has settled on the thinner, more portable form factor as her most desired kind of laptop.

Anything thin, but ideally relatively durable, since her last one's screen broke off the hinge. Since she already has a tablet, she doesn't need a detachable tablet screen. Though she is interested in the Surface regardless. She prefers a 13 - 15 inch thinner profile laptop, like the Macbook Air, or the HP Spectre she saw in store.

The Macbook Air, or the new thinner Macbook are certainly options, though she does prefer a windows machine.

She doesn't need anything too powerful, just something for web browsing, email and streaming music to a SONOS sound system.

Any good options out there?

If there are any good Canadian deals you can point towards that'd also help.

Enter the Dragon Punch · Jul 19, 2016

LG Gram

Guevara · Jul 19, 2016

I have an Asus Zenbook that's not bad.

family_guy · Jul 19, 2016

Dell XPS 13.

JackDT · Jul 19, 2016

For those uses you might get away with Chromebook, but be sure to get a nicer one with an IPS screen.

Otherwise: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-windows-ultrabook/

And that article is a bit old, the Samsung Notebook 9 Spin is quite well regarded as well and wasn't out at the time it was written.

univariate · Jul 19, 2016

Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby.

Ouroboros · Jul 19, 2016

I just bought my Mom a Zenbook in January. She still loves it and has held up very well.

VeeP · Jul 19, 2016

univariate said:
Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby.

Would be nice if those Air's finally received a better screen/resolution. If my air had that it would be perfect ☹️.

zer0blivion · Jul 19, 2016

family_guy said:
Dell XPS 13.

The Wirecutter recommends that one and it's really nice.
http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-windows-ultrabook/

Wowfunhappy · Jul 19, 2016

univariate said:
Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby.

I love my 11 inch Macbook Air, and the 13 inch model is my default laptop recommendation for pretty much everyone. However, if she'd actively prefer a Windows machine, I see no reason to pay the apple tax.

DOWN · Jul 19, 2016

The superthin MacBook.

univariate · Jul 19, 2016

VeeP said:
Would be nice if those Air's finally received a better screen/resolution. If my air had that it would be perfect ☹️.

Yeah, I wish Apple would just release a retina version already. It really pisses me off.

It's still my favorite computer of all time––it's near-perfect (other than the resolution).

The battery life is just insane. I rarely charge the thing, and I'm always using it to code.

Wowfunhappy said:
I love my 11 inch Macbook Air, and the 13 inch model is my default laptop recommendation for pretty much everyone. However, if she'd actively prefer a Windows machine, I see no reason to pay the apple tax.

Yeah if she prefers a MS machine, then there's probably little reason to get an Air.

If money is an issue, I suggest a new or refurbished Surface Pro 3. The Surface line is expensive, but the Pro 3 should be much cheaper now.

Al-ibn Kermit · Jul 19, 2016

I have had the 13 inch spectre for about a year and it's been awesome. The xps series is also a great pick and probably the lightest laptop you can find but I'd say the spectre has the greatest trackpad on the market (yes it REALLY is better than the MacBook one).

The Air and Surface are also great. Any of those 4 would be good choices with no real compromises and they're all in the same price range if you spec them equally.

The only real difference is in form factor, size, keyboard/trackpad feel, etc. The stuff you notice when you try it out. Once she knows which one is the one then go for whatever specs match her needs. I'd just recommend 8GB of RAM so that it can last 5 years but the rest of the specs can be whatever is in the most basic model.

neurosyphilis · Jul 19, 2016

univariate said:
Yeah, I wish Apple would just release a retina version already. It really pisses me off.

It's still my favorite computer of all timeit's near-perfect (other than the resolution).

The battery life is just insane. I rarely charge the thing, and I'm always using it to code.

Dude a MacBook Air with retina display would be the perfect laptop. I picked up my 13" MacBook Pro last year over the air mainly because the display. Using a retina 13" MBP side by side with a 13" Air, the difference is night and day. Too bad Apple seems to not give a fuck about their laptops anymore. I thought we were supposed to have the next gen laptops by now. My perfect laptop would be a 15" with retina, but as thin as the Air.

-d0hv

maeh2k · Jul 19, 2016

Wowfunhappy said:
I love my 11 inch Macbook Air, and the 13 inch model is my default laptop recommendation for pretty much everyone. However, if she'd actively prefer a Windows machine, I see no reason to pay the apple tax.

At this point, I woudn't recommend the Air to anyone. I understood the hype when they focused on battery life a few years ago and everyone declared it the best laptop ever, but it has since stagnated.

My biggest gripe with the Air is the display. In 2016 they are still selling the thing with a 1440x900 glossy TN-panel. Even in 2012 a comparably priced Asus Zenbook Prime had a Full HD IPS screen. When Apple is all 'retina' this, 'retina' that, sticking with that screen seems like sticking to 16GB in the entry level iPhone.

Dolla Dolla · Jul 19, 2016

The Lenovo X1 Carbon is a pretty sweet piece of thin and lightweight machinery.

S¡mon · Jul 19, 2016

Dell XPS 13 is pretty amazing.

cchum · Jul 19, 2016

Get a Chromebook I guess?

bionic77 · Jul 19, 2016

Al-ibn Kermit said:
I have had the 13 inch spectre for about a year and it's been awesome. The xps series is also a great pick and probably the lightest laptop you can find but I'd say the spectre has the greatest trackpad on the market (yes it REALLY is better than the MacBook one).

The Air and Surface are also great. Any of those 4 would be good choices with no real compromises and they're all in the same price range if you spec them equally.

The only real difference is in form factor, size, keyboard/trackpad feel, etc. The stuff you notice when you try it out. Once she knows which one is the one then go for whatever specs match her needs. I'd just recommend 8GB of RAM so that it can last 5 years but the rest of the specs can be whatever is in the most basic model.

Can you explain why it is better than the Macbook trackpads?

Wowfunhappy · Jul 19, 2016

maeh2k said:
My biggest gripe with the Air is the display. In 2016 they are still selling the thing with a 1440x900 glossy TN-panel. Even in 2012 a comparably priced Asus Zenbook Prime had a Full HD IPS screen. When Apple is all 'retina' this, 'retina' that, sticking with that screen seems like sticking to 16GB in the entry level iPhone.

The display is definitely not as good as other laptops of comparable price. I understand this complaint.

However, in day to day use, it's simply never an issue. 1440x900 is plenty of screen real-estate given the overall display size, and since there's rarely more than one person using a single laptop, viewing angles aren't a huge issue. And while I wouldn't object to better viewing angles and/or more accurate color reproduction, I actually don't want retina screens on this class of laptops. They lack the GPU power or battery capacity to push so many pixels at once. It's a waste of resources.

Yes, the 11inch Macbook has a retina screen, but it's also so crammed with battery that they couldn't fit a half-decent keyboard or more than one port, and had to go with an extremely slow passively cooled processor. Maybe some day we will get to the point where retina screens make sense on this class of laptop, but we aren't there now.

Al-ibn Kermit · Jul 20, 2016

bionic77 said:
Can you explain why it is better than the Macbook trackpads?

Well the glass trackpad feels great but that's a fairly standard thing to find on ultrabooks and I believe all macbooks. But it's bigger than any other trackpad I've ever used which makes zooming and swiping motions a lot easier. The things I can't comment on are like reliability and exactly how precise it is or things like that. While I like the spectre more than the others from an ergonomics standpoint, I should mention that it is definitely a but heavier than the xps 13 and that one super thin lenovo.

banefirelord · Jul 20, 2016

To echo a few other people, I've got an Asus Zenbook and it's very nice.

GifGafIsTheBestGaf · Jul 20, 2016

what about a MSI laptop

http://www.xoticpc.com/msi-gs32-shadow-004.html

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