Is fine I have co-wokers who uses Mac at home and is fine using windows at work.

BTW, the girl that I was trying to help with (bus stats) she ended up picking up a cheap PC laptop. It was infuriating to help her remap all the shortcuts/processes learned in class on a PC to the shortcut/processes on a MAC.

Word Processing/Surfing/Lightroom operates pretty much the same across both platforms. The new ultrabooks have closed the gap in terms of build quality + materials. I would give the Zenbook Prime a long look before picking the MBA.

I was faced with this decision two weeks ago: MBA 13 vs Zenbook Prime and the Lenovo X1 Carbon. I picked the X1 Carbon because it was cheaper by a large margin when equipped with the 256gb SSD drive, and the fact that it has built-in 3G (no free wi-fi in Australia, have to pay to play :( ) Oh, and the fact that it has a 14" screen in a 13" chassis, weighs 5% less than the MBA, has a carbon fiber chassis, and the resolution sits in the sweet spot between the MBA and the ZBP. The CSR was also able to throw in a free adapter for my charger so I can use it in Aus !

Lenovo Thinkpad X series has my vote.

Their keyboards are legendary to type on. Black and sleek for a minimalist design. and they'll be the lightest of all the ThinkPad series for their screen size.

I think working with MS excel in windows is a legit reason to stay on windows.

1. Most companies work with Windows and Excel, so being in business, there is a good chance you'll be using it.
2. The point of being in school is to get a job at a company, so working with the standard in industry makes sense.

TBH, you could go with windows or mac, both laptops should be able to run your OS of choice.

But why go threw the work of learning 2 different operating systems when you don't have to. If here work provides her with a laptop it will be a pc.

Only reason for her to get a mac is because it looks cool.

"learn" two different operating systems?

People that just double click icons don't really need to 'learn' too much. Most people are fine using Macs and PCs. Not like it's DOS or anything.

LOL learning 2 OS. Bet you can do basic functions with both OS within 30mins or less.

Beside if you can't learn to use to do basic things with both Windows or MacOS you shouldn't be using a computer.

Yes it must be hard and challenging to learn how to double click or go to Mac menu at the top left hand side ><

look at craigslist, plug in macbook and plug in the competitors with similar specs.

the macbook is on par with all the other ultraportables in terms of specs but the service, aesthetics, overall functionality of the new OS and services(icloud, itunes match etc) gives it the edge. oh and apple provides education discount + 100dollar giftcard to itunes, app store etc(does asus or lenovo have anything similar?)

its perfect for a girl on her way to university.

because another product has a better monitor and processor does not mean it outweighs all the benefits of getting a mac.

who the hell knows how to use the windows backup and shadowcopy when mac's have time machine and icloud? Those are very important for novice users. does asus or lenovo(not gonna even bother mentioning acer) have anything on par with applecare?

malware/rootkit problems? its gonna happen, shes a girl. :troll:

I think the main benefit with Apple is that no matter what happens, you'll always have immediate service due to their retail outlets. Since she's a girl, I'll just generalize that she's probably not that tech-savvy, which is why I recommended the MBA due to the ease of use with OS X. If she does in fact need a Windows app, she can use boot camp, which isn't necessarily very hard.

And once again, she's a girl. Bitches love branding - Apple reigns supreme.

The only other company that offers comparable service would probably be ASUS with its one year accidental warranty that covers drops, spills, electric surges, and fire; but I heard the return time for RMAs can take a while sometimes.

Just saw a commercial of bestbuy selling a laptop for 399$ check it!

Where did you pick up the Carbon X1? I went to Best Buy to check some laptops out(Samsung 9 series and ASUS Zenbook) and between the two, I think the Zenbook Prime wins. Although I've heard good things about the Carbon X1 but I'm not sure which places sell it locally?

X1 Carbon can only be ordered online at the moment.

^Yup
You have to order it online on:
ThinkPad X1 Carbon - rugged business-class Ultrabook from Lenovo (CA)

To get 24% off, use this code: (expires Aug 31, 2012)
CAPREDFLAGDEALS

I followed RFD to call in to cancel my order. The CSR then offered a cash discount if I did not cancel it. I ended up saving an extra $100 on top!!! (My final price was just under $1100 on the i5, 4gb, 256gb ssd model)

Damn, the x1 carbon price went up, and now the page is down.

Lenovo does and it's better than apple care because they will sent someone to come to you the next Business Day.

Warranty services 4 Years

[add $285.35]
4YR Onsite Next Business Day + Accidental Damage Protection
Accidents DO happen. Save 35% on this Back-to-School Best Seller!

^I've been told that Lenovo has very good customer service. My original IBM T61 and my Lenovo W510 still works really well with no issues.

Acer Aspire series are pretty bad. The Timeline series are much better. My three-year old RFD special still works well with a recent SSD upgrade. The battery still holds 7+ hrs of charge.

:fulloffuck:

I'll give you customer service, but you obviously have not used anything else to say the macbook's services, specs, aesthetics give it an "edge", nor have you tried discovering the plethora of services available on Windows.

In fact, the MB/Pro/Air have sub-par specs at its price range, its construction may be aluminium, but PC makers are starting to use carbon, steel, and alloys.

Can anyone explain to my what gender has anything to do with what type of computer a person buys?

Just to throw it in there. If she goes on to be a CA, Mac is explicitly disallowed for examination purposes.

Professionally, I work extensively with all the current windows platforms, i know all of Microsoft's consumer offerings. Personally i use windows 95percent of the time and use xcode when i'm on my macbook... i am far from what you would call an apple fanboy.

The Microsoft counterparts are a joke, not to mention lacking and unrefined(in the enterprise world i would be much much more inclined to agree with you). enlighten me please....

Apple has created a very strong line up of services and features under its brand. iCloud, app store, time machine, apple care to name a few.. Majority of the consumers out there are interested in efficiency, intuitiveness and aesthetics. Unlike the other brands, apple meets most of the criteria that the average consumers want.

Pricing:Spec ratio inst as far off as some of you would like to insinuate, also it isn't the only deciding factor when purchasing. i cant believe specs is still an argument here.

also value retention is very high for resale which you ignored completely as well.

haters gotta hate :fuckthatshit:

:suspicious:

I'm not sure if you know where I work. I deal with the hardware side of everything, you trying to argue while bringing your "work" into this, therefore you must know what you're talking about, is pathetic.

Value retention is the same as any good brand laptops, look at the Asus G73/G75's, Lenovo Y Series ideapad's, they all have the same diminishing resale value as the Air/Pro. If you're comparing it to Envy's, and Qosmio's, you're doing it wrong.

Apple has created a monopoly of software that is indeed good, but you have not looked deep enough to realize there are competing software, that are just as good, if not, better, for free, or for paying software.

Garageband -> FL Studio
Time Machine -> System Restore (please don't tell me time machine is better, you would have to be half retarded to not know how to use system restore)
App Store -> Google Play
Apple Care -> NCIX Extended Warranty
Itunes -> Windows Media Player

Do tell me these "other brands" that aren't meeting criteria.

Trying to tell me spec's dont matter when purchasing a laptop is like saying you have no problem forking up 200k for a mustang because its convenient. I don't know why you would shy away from knowing what your laptop's internal's are, this should be the biggest buying factor right next to the battery life.

I only brought my work into this just to counter your assumptions on my lack of experience with Microsoft products.

you compared time machine and system restore and you work with hardware? :facepalm: hope your boss is reading this. good luck configuring the shadow copy service to be more like timemachine

google play isnt even on windows if you said chrome webstore i may have let that go(not really, webstore has a lot to catch up to). Apple is started to integrate the app store into OSX to minimize the chance of malicious software circulating which minimizes identity theft and the like. Microsoft as a result is implementing windows 8 market place.

After my own fiasco at ncix years ago, i'd gladly stay away from ncix warranty. They would nit pick just so they dont have to provide coverage. When you goto the applestore they go out of their way (many cases of unsupported issues ) to provide outstanding support. That is priceless for some people.

Specs isnt the only deciding factor when making a purchase. And some cases apple can run tasks just as fast or even faster with lower specs. Here's a better analogy. Its like purchasing a car solely on HP alone without considering the other factors.

The average consumer just wants their laptop to work. And the macbook pretty much dominates when it comes to battery life.

Ermm... system restore is time machine, without the fancy GUI, nor the ability to have your desktop filled with porn on x day. Image copying has been around for awhile, its not exclusive to Apple.

You're trying to compare Microsoft against Apple, Windows is everything, my domain is much bigger then OSX's, I am able to choose whatever I damn well please if I can access it on this laptop.

NCIX support is good, they nit pick so you don't get repeat RMA customers that constantly come back complaining shit don't work, they deal with a lot more brand's & laptops, then Apple has to with 3 models.

Even then, my own dealings with Apple is garbage, 2 ipod's dead, no replacement because of "wear & tear". To each their own experiences, your own is not the world's.

They are two different OS's, an X86 platform written from the core system files of Vista, to improve upon. OSX is a recently rewritten x86 linux OS licensed for Apple, before, it was made to work on PowerPC's. Please show me in what synthetic/real world benchmarks do Apple's run faster compared to an identical PC laptop, their GUI applies the oldest trick in the book, with an illusion of it "slipping up" on the screen, tricking the eye that its open already, when reality, its still loading.

Tom's hardware did a side by side loading test a few years back, with both of them coming up at the same time. the only major de facto Apple has over Windows is they have the ability to quick boot. Thats coming in Windows 8.

Again, Battery life is not superior to concurrent ultra books on the market, can you stop making shit up on the spot.

Samsung NP900X4C-A01CA Intel Core i5 3317UM 8GB 128GB SSD 15IN HD+ WLAN Win7 HP Notebook Ultrabook - Samsung - NP900X4C-A01CA

A competitor to the base MBP, with the same battery cell nodes used.

In fact, let me link you the entire Ultrabooks page.

Notebooks - Ultrabooks Toshiba, ASUS, Samsung, Acer, HP Consumer

If you would stop comparing $500 laptops towards the MB/Air/Pro, you'd have better facts.

thanks for proving my point that the macbook air is one of the best inclusive package for the average consumer..