Laptop/Macbook/Netbook dilemma

Iceuil

So I got accepted into college and I am starting this september. I have been planning to get myself a Macbook, but now I start to think that its not the best option really.

I have a laptop, which is almost 4 years old. It works quite well, but is much slower than it was when I first bought it. It never crashed or anything, works perfectly. And also, it is very heavy.

1) So I was thinking of buying a Macbook Air to replace my laptop, but I heard that its not really worth the price.
2)My other option was to buy a new laptop, but Im afraid its gonna be too heavy for me to bring it to college every day(my old laptop is very heavy, thats the main reason I want a new one).
3)And another option is to buy a netbook in addition to my old laptop. It would be used just in college and just for on-the-go stuff. But on the other hand, having 2 computers is a bit too much, dont you think so?

I use my computer for internet surfing, music and photo editing, project-doing, watching movies and other stuff other teenagers/students do.

What would be the best option for me? I want a portable computer, thats gonna last for long hours in college.

Thanks

Sad Professor

You won't get good battery life or performance from a netbook. If you want those things plus ultra portability the MacBook Air is probably your best bet. The current models are worth the price IMO. Despite the false perception that everything Apple makes is overpriced, PC manufacturers are currently struggling to make an ultra portable notebook with the same the price, design, performance and battery life of the MacBook Air.

machalla

Iceuil wrote: »

But on the other hand, having 2 computers is a bit too much, dont you think so?

I'm not mentiong how many machines are floating round my place then..

The air is nice but have you used a macbook before and do you like them?
If you need to run a specific application for College it could be a problem.

It very much depends on what you need. You will gain a really nice speed upgrade from your old laptop due to the SSD drive in the Air. For that you sacrifice hard disk space. Your main gain from an air is portability and speed.

If you need that it might be worth it. If not you can a get reasonably decent netbook for around 200-300.

For instance

https://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Samsung_N150_Plus_1041042.html

Another option might a tablet. Something like the Asus transfomer with the keyboard/dock. Thats supposed to give you about 16 hours of battery life. How good it would be for photo/music editing would be debatable. The Ipad 2 with a decent bluetooth keyboard could be another option.

Something like this

http://www.reghardware.com/2011/08/24/logitech_launches_fold_up_keyboard_for_apple_ipad_2/

or this

http://www.reghardware.com/2011/08/12/accessory_of_the_week_iluv_ick826_ipad_pro_case_bluetooth_keyboard/

Or soemthing like this perhaps Acer Aspire Timeline 1830T

https://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_Timeline_1830T_1053000.html

Having a search on saveonlaptops should give you some alternative ideas.

marco_polo

This Asus U30 is probably worth a look. 10Hr battery life, i3 second gen processor, dedicated graphics, optical drive (a bonus on ultra slim notebooks) and just under 2kg so fairly lightweight.

Currently €650 on Komplett (Edit: Note this has US keyboard layout, can't find any suppliers with UK layout as of yet, it has only recently be released in europe)
http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_02PC/02_NOTEBOO/20_121/productdetails/80002587/Asus_13_3_U30SD_RX135V_NL_i3_2310_4GB_500GB/90N3ZXD15H1524VL533Y/default.aspx