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You get a graphics card for $550, many types of ports... And you think the Air is Superior?

lotsofpulp 5y ago
For most people who just want basic spreadsheet, web browsing, photo managing, email, word processing, or other similar purposes where a graphics card makes no difference, yes. We are long past the times where the average person needs to even think about laptop specs other than whether or not it has a sufficient size SSD, the battery life is long, and it does not get hot.
- gfxgirl 5y ago
  Here you are arguing people don't need any power because all they do is "basic spreadsheet, web browsing, photo managing, email, word processing, or other similar purposes" in which case they can get 3-4 windows laptops for $199-$299 for the price of one air. If you have 3 teens that all need a laptop to do "basic spreadsheet, web browsing, photo managing, email, word processing, or other similar purposes" you can cover them all for $900 if you go non Mac or you can spend nearly $3k if you go mac. I'm posting this from a Mac but my sister is unlikely to ever decide she's willing to spend 3x to 40% more for a laptop. She can get 2 Dells with 8gig of ram and 256gig of storage, same as the Air for under half the price of the Air. I'm not saying the Dell is as good as the Air and neither is a Kia as good as a BMW (probably) but a Kia costs 1/2 the price and will still get you from point A to point B and a $300-$500 Windows PC will also still do "basic spreadsheet, web browsing, photo managing, email, word processing, or other similar purposes"
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    Is the probability of the $300 windows laptop performing 5+ years the same? Will it run hot in your lap? Will you have to recharge it 3x as often? Will you have to spend time uninstalling malware first? Will it have a screen comparable to a retina screen? Will you be able to shut the lid and walk away at a moments notice? Going back to my very first comment: > They seem to have made all the right compromises. Yes, a MacBook Air is not the cheapest. It doesn’t have a GPU. But my point is what it does have provides more utility overall to the average buyer per dollar spent. And there are other manufacturers that have come out with similarly good machines at similar prices, but whether it is because of Windows’ shortcomings or now M1, the Air seems to be the ideal.

For most people who just want basic spreadsheet, web browsing, photo managing, email, word processing, or other similar purposes where a graphics card makes no difference, yes. We are long past the times where the average person needs to even think about laptop specs other than whether or not it has a sufficient size SSD, the battery life is long, and it does not get hot.

gfxgirl 5y ago
Here you are arguing people don't need any power because all they do is "basic spreadsheet, web browsing, photo managing, email, word processing, or other similar purposes" in which case they can get 3-4 windows laptops for $199-$299 for the price of one air. If you have 3 teens that all need a laptop to do "basic spreadsheet, web browsing, photo managing, email, word processing, or other similar purposes" you can cover them all for $900 if you go non Mac or you can spend nearly $3k if you go mac. I'm posting this from a Mac but my sister is unlikely to ever decide she's willing to spend 3x to 40% more for a laptop. She can get 2 Dells with 8gig of ram and 256gig of storage, same as the Air for under half the price of the Air. I'm not saying the Dell is as good as the Air and neither is a Kia as good as a BMW (probably) but a Kia costs 1/2 the price and will still get you from point A to point B and a $300-$500 Windows PC will also still do "basic spreadsheet, web browsing, photo managing, email, word processing, or other similar purposes"
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  Is the probability of the $300 windows laptop performing 5+ years the same? Will it run hot in your lap? Will you have to recharge it 3x as often? Will you have to spend time uninstalling malware first? Will it have a screen comparable to a retina screen? Will you be able to shut the lid and walk away at a moments notice? Going back to my very first comment: > They seem to have made all the right compromises. Yes, a MacBook Air is not the cheapest. It doesn’t have a GPU. But my point is what it does have provides more utility overall to the average buyer per dollar spent. And there are other manufacturers that have come out with similarly good machines at similar prices, but whether it is because of Windows’ shortcomings or now M1, the Air seems to be the ideal.