I'm looking for a new laptop atm too, I just want it to be able to run photoshop decently and maybe FM. But it is a fucking jungle. I would like a windows pc but it looks like Apple is the best way for my budget, yoga 2 looks pretty slick (and dat resolution), but battery time doesn't seem too hot which is one of the more important things for me.
I ran around for her and tried different laptops. We wanted SSD, around 600, lightweight and pretty fast. Some tips on models, I went through most brands:
- Lenovo IdeaPad U330p, but make sure it's a new one with the i5 4210u processor. That's a general advice, the easiest way to find out if the model is new is to check the processor. The 4210u was released in April I believe. We checked it out, it had a nice (I think backlit) keyboard but the screen had bad angles and pretty bad blacks. SSD though.
- Samsung ATIV Book 9 Lite for 600, I bought this one myself for cheaper. Not sure I'd pay 600 but it has SSD, but a really shit (quad-core) AMD processor. It's pretty popular but it doesn't work well for FM and probably not Photoshop.
- HP, looked around a lot but they look so weird and I never really found a good model compared to other brand.
- Acer, I didn't give a shit about Acer, they have a bad rumour regarding quality.
- Asus Zenbook UX32, these are actually pretty nice. Just make sure to check out the new ones for the right price, there's a shit ton of different Zenbook models. Keyboard seemed good. Unfortunately, with SSD they cost around 900, without they're around 600.
- Dell, never really looked at them.
- Toshiba Portege Z30, they have 1080p screens but I never found one to try in any store. Might be worth looking for, pretty good specs for that price.
There are plenty of PCs for 1100 or something, but when you can get a Macbook Pro for 1100 (1000 even) with student discount, with an amazing screen and good specs, we just went for it in the end.
