What laptop would you buy, now?

[buckworks]

FWIW I do a lot more work in the easy chair with the 11" than I ever did with its predecessor the 13" Air.

It's just easier to handle.

[Brad]

buckworks, you and RC are challenging my pre-conceived notions: I was looking at a 15 inch Macbook Pro and now you two are chopping it down to 13" or less. 

Now I'm looking again at the 13.3" Macbook Pros.  I think I would be squinting too much with an 11 inch screen.

[rcjordan]

What size does your writer friend have?  13.3 would be max for me.

[nffc]

>Parallels

I think you can just use bootcamp, no need for virtual machine.

[Travoli]

Might be worth a trip to your local laptop store to sit with a couple screen sizes. Do you rest your wrists on the laptop while typing in your recliner?  If so, make sure the model you choose is comfortable in that respect.

[rcjordan]

And where does it *really* tend to sit for most of your sessions --on a desk or in your lap?

[Brad]

Definitely sits on lap.

[rcjordan]

Well, the 13" might be better then.  I think a tabletop gives you more leeway in positioning a smaller laptop for viewing comfort and vision.  And the ultra-small laptops like the now ancient Toughbook R4 was kind of hard to balance on my lap and type.  

[Brad]

>lap

My current laptop gets pretty warm.  Feels good on my knees in the winter.  Cheaper and less trouble than a cat or dog.

This really comes down to portability vs. seeability.

[jetboy]

How about a 13" screen in an 11" chassis?

http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/dell-xps-13-2015

[Brad]

I had to get 'er done.

I ordered a 13" Macbook Pro  with Retina Display:
2.9GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
16GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM
512GB PCIe-based Flash Storage
Intel Iris Graphics 6100
Force Touch trackpad
Accessory Kit
Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide

It was the only civilized thing to do. 

Thanks all of you for your help this was a very valuable thread as it settled numerous issues:

1. Removed my lingering doubts about SSD and got me to go the digital memory route.
2. Backlit keyboard
3. Buying a Mac and then running Kubuntu on it by various nefarious means.

Again thanks to you all!

[Chunkford]

I've been looking to replace my laptop and almost went with a Mac Pro 13".
But I've never had anything apple and I've found it hard to click that buy button.

Looking around I really do like the Dell XPS 13 (http://www.dell.com/uk/p/xps-13-9343-laptop/pd).
Ticks all the right boxes apart from it has Win 8.1
So I'm hoping I can hold out until Win 10 gets released so I can push that button.

[rcjordan]

>Win 8.1
Absolutely not a problem. There are 2 tweaks (boot to desktop, and I forget) that make it very much like XP.

>Win 10

From what I'm reading W10 will be a free upgrade for W8 users

[Brad]

I've owned several Apple computers over the years and hardware failure wise they are not much better than the quality name brand Windows machines. Apple is more stylish but not better with hardware and Apple's quality seems to get better after they have a few months to work the bugs out of a new model.

So a good Dell, or Asus or Toshiba laptop is a fine buy, Chunkford.  It's the OS that is the big difference anymore.  I have to admit that Apple offering free OS X upgrades from Maverick on played into my decision to go with Mac.



>Win 10

I heard W10 will be a free upgrade back to Win 7, if your hardware can handle it.

[Chunkford]

ummm, maybe I should take another look-see then
Cheers