5 ms·

A Macbook Air Competitor?

18 points by rlmw 16y ago

brk 16y ago
That is a great deal for $900, but I'm not sure it's an MBA competitor. Screen res is lower than the 13" MBA's screen (1440x900), which to me is a pretty big deal. I find the 1440x900 res on my 13" MBA just barely workable, I wouldn't want any less vertical resolution these days. The other thing is that the Dell runds Windows. While this is totally a personal preference, I just do not like working in Windows. Had this machine been available for $500 with a higher-res screen when I got my MBA, I still would have opted for the Mac. I'm aware of the hackintosh projects as well, but I don't really enjoy fighting with my OS anymore.
- lachyg 16y ago
  I agree, I think the OS X is a major selling point for the Air. As well as the design (which is very Mac)
- daeken 16y ago
  I run Windows full time on my MBP due to loving the hardware, and yet the Adamo is still not competitive for me. If I could get a 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM, I'd probably go for it over the MBA, but that isn't possible. Shame.
- wyclif 16y ago
  It's a good deal and an attractive alternative, but I don't know why you're hung up on a Windows install. There's nothing stopping you from installing Ubuntu Lucid or Maverick, and away you go.
  - liuhenry 16y ago
    For me, Linux didn't cut it with application support to become my primary OS. Even dual-boot was a hassle. Microsoft Office, Adobe CS, Solidworks, ACAD, etc. aren't supported, and although Ubuntu has come a long way so far, the UX is still somewhat lacking. Granted, I'm virtualizing Ubuntu right now for dev. It integrates seamlessly, and has been working beautifully so far.
    - djacobs 16y ago
      When you use Ubuntu natively, it runs like a charm. Compositing makes for an even more beautiful OS than OS X (in some respects, though there is sometimes tearing), and the whole thing really jives quite nicely.
  - brk 16y ago
    I've run linux on and off as my desktop for the last 12 years or so. The current iterations are much better than even what existed a few years ago, but still lacking in application support for what I spend a lot of time doing. There is no Final Cut, or even iMovie for linux. Despite all the raves, I could never get the hang of Gimp and found it lacking for things like photo editing and cataloging ala Aperture. Not to mention the countless times there some application I wanted to use and it seemed I could only find a binary or package for an linux varient that wasn't what I was using at the time. Chasing dependencies, etc. When I used linux as my desktop, it just seemed that I was always fighting the OS if I wanted to have full support for my hardware features, decent applications, and up to date patches. Now, for a server, I'll use almost nothing but linux.
norswap 16y ago
An equivalent model is the Asus U35jc (which I just bought) : http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-U35JC-A1-13-3-Inch-Laptop-Silver/dp/B003UNHGFQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293377216&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-U35JC-A1-13-3-Inch-Laptop-Silver/... In particular, the 10h battery life is pretty neat, didn't saw the numbers for the Adamo.
- adamt 16y ago
  Am I missing something? That Asus is 1.9KG and 2.5cm thick. The current-gen 13" MBA is 1.3KG and 0.3-1.7cm thick? So the Asus is 50% heavier and twice the thickness. The Adamo is also considerably heavier than the MBA at 1.8KG (and 1.64cm thick)
- liuhenry 16y ago
  I've got a http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-UL80JT-A1-14-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp/B003UNMVRO http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-UL80JT-A1-14-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp..., which looks like equivalent specs but on a 14 inch screen. It's been great so far (had it for almost a year), and IMO what an ultralight really should be. The battery life really is phenomenal: 10 hrs vs. 7 hrs sounds like a moot difference, but after you look at "usable" numbers (8 and 5, in my experience), it boils down to pretty much a full day vs. not quite. As a student, I never have to worry about grabbing my power cord on the way out, compared to everyone else I know always having one on hand. On the other hand, OS X really is a big selling point. Windows simply isn't natively compatible with what I need, and Ubuntu is a pain with consumer apps (Office, Adobe CS5, Mathematica, etc.) My cheap solution? Virtualize Ubuntu under Windows with VMWare Player and VMWare Unity (which is free). I do all my coding and dev work in Ubuntu, and everything else in Windows.
- e40 16y ago
  From the comments on Amazon, it appears it has the usual issues with quality control that most ASUS laptops have. I was all set to buy a 1900x1200 ASUS laptop until I read the reviews of it on newegg. I just couldn't buy it after reading those. I ended up with a 17" Apple laptop, at $1000 more. I haven't regretted the decision, but the decision did hurt the pocketbook.
kungfooey 16y ago
I don't own a MBA, but I have owned a lot of Dell laptop's over the past decade (including some of their higher-end XPS laptops). I don't know how good the MBA build-quality is, but if it's even slightly better-than-average, then this Dell is in no way a "competitor." I swore off buying Dell laptops after the last XPS I bought burnt through two separate motherboards (it's still warm to the touch when idling). Previous Dell laptops had an array of different issues: hinges that became brittle and broke, fans that stopped working, etc. Their hardware just seems ridiculously error prone, which explains why they're able to price themselves so competitively.
- cal5k 16y ago
  For reference, I own a 13" MBA and the build quality is exceptional. It is quite simply the best computing product I have ever owned. Lots of gents around our office have Dells, and they tend to be built like brick shithouses, so to speak.
imbriaco 16y ago
The comparison of technical specifications leaves out one very large detail: weight. At 3.97 pounds, the Dell is more than a third heavier than the MacBook Air at 2.9 pounds. The form factor and weight of the MacBook Air is its killer feature, not its CPU/GPU/RAM/SSD.
mark_l_watson 16y ago
Not for me. I bought an awesome spec'ed Toshiba laptop early in 2010 and tweaked the Windows and Ubuntu installations. All was good until I discovered that I just missed the keyboard and trackpad arrangements on MacBooks. In the last few months I have bought a MacBook Pro and the tiny 11" MacBook Air. The tiny MBA is awesome to use and as needed I plug into a large monitor. I still occasionally use the MB Pro when I need a heavy weight Java IDE, large local data stores, etc., but for most of what I do for work (Ruby, Clojure, Common Lisp, and writing with Latex) the Air is fully capable and a great experience. I use the Air about 80% of the time, the Pro about 15% of the time, and the Toshiba about 5% of the time.
bkudria 16y ago
Am I better off buying the new (13") MBA, or a Sony VAIO Z? http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10551&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644570897 http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryD... FWIW, I'd want to install Ubuntu on either one (anticipating that the MBA will be much more difficult in this regard.) Any advice?

18 points by rlmw 16y ago

brk 16y ago

That is a great deal for $900, but I'm not sure it's an MBA competitor. Screen res is lower than the 13" MBA's screen (1440x900), which to me is a pretty big deal. I find the 1440x900 res on my 13" MBA just barely workable, I wouldn't want any less vertical resolution these days. The other thing is that the Dell runds Windows. While this is totally a personal preference, I just do not like working in Windows. Had this machine been available for $500 with a higher-res screen when I got my MBA, I still would have opted for the Mac. I'm aware of the hackintosh projects as well, but I don't really enjoy fighting with my OS anymore.

lachyg 16y ago
I agree, I think the OS X is a major selling point for the Air. As well as the design (which is very Mac)
daeken 16y ago
I run Windows full time on my MBP due to loving the hardware, and yet the Adamo is still not competitive for me. If I could get a 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM, I'd probably go for it over the MBA, but that isn't possible. Shame.
wyclif 16y ago
It's a good deal and an attractive alternative, but I don't know why you're hung up on a Windows install. There's nothing stopping you from installing Ubuntu Lucid or Maverick, and away you go.
- liuhenry 16y ago
  For me, Linux didn't cut it with application support to become my primary OS. Even dual-boot was a hassle. Microsoft Office, Adobe CS, Solidworks, ACAD, etc. aren't supported, and although Ubuntu has come a long way so far, the UX is still somewhat lacking. Granted, I'm virtualizing Ubuntu right now for dev. It integrates seamlessly, and has been working beautifully so far.
  - djacobs 16y ago
    When you use Ubuntu natively, it runs like a charm. Compositing makes for an even more beautiful OS than OS X (in some respects, though there is sometimes tearing), and the whole thing really jives quite nicely.
- brk 16y ago
  I've run linux on and off as my desktop for the last 12 years or so. The current iterations are much better than even what existed a few years ago, but still lacking in application support for what I spend a lot of time doing. There is no Final Cut, or even iMovie for linux. Despite all the raves, I could never get the hang of Gimp and found it lacking for things like photo editing and cataloging ala Aperture. Not to mention the countless times there some application I wanted to use and it seemed I could only find a binary or package for an linux varient that wasn't what I was using at the time. Chasing dependencies, etc. When I used linux as my desktop, it just seemed that I was always fighting the OS if I wanted to have full support for my hardware features, decent applications, and up to date patches. Now, for a server, I'll use almost nothing but linux.

norswap 16y ago

An equivalent model is the Asus U35jc (which I just bought) : http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-U35JC-A1-13-3-Inch-Laptop-Silver/dp/B003UNHGFQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293377216&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-U35JC-A1-13-3-Inch-Laptop-Silver/... In particular, the 10h battery life is pretty neat, didn't saw the numbers for the Adamo.

adamt 16y ago
Am I missing something? That Asus is 1.9KG and 2.5cm thick. The current-gen 13" MBA is 1.3KG and 0.3-1.7cm thick? So the Asus is 50% heavier and twice the thickness. The Adamo is also considerably heavier than the MBA at 1.8KG (and 1.64cm thick)
liuhenry 16y ago
I've got a http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-UL80JT-A1-14-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp/B003UNMVRO http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-UL80JT-A1-14-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp..., which looks like equivalent specs but on a 14 inch screen. It's been great so far (had it for almost a year), and IMO what an ultralight really should be. The battery life really is phenomenal: 10 hrs vs. 7 hrs sounds like a moot difference, but after you look at "usable" numbers (8 and 5, in my experience), it boils down to pretty much a full day vs. not quite. As a student, I never have to worry about grabbing my power cord on the way out, compared to everyone else I know always having one on hand. On the other hand, OS X really is a big selling point. Windows simply isn't natively compatible with what I need, and Ubuntu is a pain with consumer apps (Office, Adobe CS5, Mathematica, etc.) My cheap solution? Virtualize Ubuntu under Windows with VMWare Player and VMWare Unity (which is free). I do all my coding and dev work in Ubuntu, and everything else in Windows.
e40 16y ago
From the comments on Amazon, it appears it has the usual issues with quality control that most ASUS laptops have. I was all set to buy a 1900x1200 ASUS laptop until I read the reviews of it on newegg. I just couldn't buy it after reading those. I ended up with a 17" Apple laptop, at $1000 more. I haven't regretted the decision, but the decision did hurt the pocketbook.

kungfooey 16y ago

I don't own a MBA, but I have owned a lot of Dell laptop's over the past decade (including some of their higher-end XPS laptops). I don't know how good the MBA build-quality is, but if it's even slightly better-than-average, then this Dell is in no way a "competitor." I swore off buying Dell laptops after the last XPS I bought burnt through two separate motherboards (it's still warm to the touch when idling). Previous Dell laptops had an array of different issues: hinges that became brittle and broke, fans that stopped working, etc. Their hardware just seems ridiculously error prone, which explains why they're able to price themselves so competitively.

cal5k 16y ago
For reference, I own a 13" MBA and the build quality is exceptional. It is quite simply the best computing product I have ever owned. Lots of gents around our office have Dells, and they tend to be built like brick shithouses, so to speak.

imbriaco 16y ago

The comparison of technical specifications leaves out one very large detail: weight. At 3.97 pounds, the Dell is more than a third heavier than the MacBook Air at 2.9 pounds. The form factor and weight of the MacBook Air is its killer feature, not its CPU/GPU/RAM/SSD.

mark_l_watson 16y ago

Not for me. I bought an awesome spec'ed Toshiba laptop early in 2010 and tweaked the Windows and Ubuntu installations. All was good until I discovered that I just missed the keyboard and trackpad arrangements on MacBooks. In the last few months I have bought a MacBook Pro and the tiny 11" MacBook Air. The tiny MBA is awesome to use and as needed I plug into a large monitor. I still occasionally use the MB Pro when I need a heavy weight Java IDE, large local data stores, etc., but for most of what I do for work (Ruby, Clojure, Common Lisp, and writing with Latex) the Air is fully capable and a great experience. I use the Air about 80% of the time, the Pro about 15% of the time, and the Toshiba about 5% of the time.

bkudria 16y ago

Am I better off buying the new (13") MBA, or a Sony VAIO Z? http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10551&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644570897 http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryD... FWIW, I'd want to install Ubuntu on either one (anticipating that the MBA will be much more difficult in this regard.) Any advice?