Changing from Mac to Windows Laptop....

mumof2

Any do's and don'ts? I am looking for a decent speed laptop. Am coming from Mac (use windows every day at work so switching is no bother).

Im leaning towards a HP14" CoreI3 but will be doing my research first - because I don't want something I'll regret. It needs to have a numeric keypad on the side...the little things:D

All help appreciated - I know theres millions of choice out there.

I had a Mac book pro mid 2012, two of them, both died suddenly:(

Thanks!!!

Don’t?

IMHO, you will likely rue the day. For office productivity, windows still wins out for many reasons, especially in a corporate environment.

For home use, assuming you’re not gaming, Mac OS is painless and hassle free. A windows laptop will drive you demented now that you’re used to just doing what you want without interruption from updates and restarts and all that lark.

I bought a high end Thinkpad and ended up back on Mac 3 months later. Windows just pissed me off delaying and interrupting me. ‘Fine’ when you know no better, but you do.

mumof2

JayZeus wrote: »

Don’t?

IMHO, you will likely rue the day. For office productivity, windows still wins out for many reasons, especially in a corporate environment.

For home use, assuming you’re not gaming, Mac OS is painless and hassle free. A windows laptop will drive you demented now that you’re used to just doing what you want without interruption from updates and restarts and all that lark.

I bought a high end Thinkpad and ended up back on Mac 3 months later. Windows just pissed me off delaying and interrupting me. ‘Fine’ when you know no better, but you do.

I know exactly what you mean, however you can change the updates in windows to suit yourself....but I agree totally. Windows is annoying. But the amount of money I have spent on Apple products is crazy and to think even my I pad mini is sitting there redundant now as it can't be updated.....

I still have this Apple Mac Mini PC thankfully.:D

CatInABox

To be honest, I only ever recommend the Microsoft Surface products these days. Some of the OEMs take the absolute **** with some of their products, even the super high end ones. HP kept putting low end trackpads into their high end laptops, even though the Microsoft Precision Trackpad was out for years, not significantly more expensive for them, and light years ahead of the ones that they were using.

Dardania

If you're moving from Mac, be aware of it's strengths that aren't there in all Wintel laptops:

build quality
screen quality
good thermal management / direction of the fan exhaust in a logical direction
good iCloud integration
the pro media apps (like FCP X etc.) are one off fees, compared to likely rental with Adobe
not a huge amount of bundled crapware to irritate you

also, the series of laptop you're coming from was renowned for it's ports - most modern laptops aren't so well endowed so check out what you need.


JayZeus makes a good point - if this is a personal machine, you don't want to have to trouble shoot crap in the evenings. There are options (like hackintoshing a wintel machine) but maybe investigate hardware support in advance of purchasing (things like wifi cards need to be replaceable or the right chipset from the off)

mumof2

Dardania wrote: »

If you're moving from Mac, be aware of it's strengths that aren't there in all Wintel laptops:

build quality
screen quality
good thermal management / direction of the fan exhaust in a logical direction
good iCloud integration
the pro media apps (like FCP X etc.) are one off fees, compared to likely rental with Adobe
not a huge amount of bundled crapware to irritate you

also, the series of laptop you're coming from was renowned for it's ports - most modern laptops aren't so well endowed so check out what you need.


JayZeus makes a good point - if this is a personal machine, you don't want to have to trouble shoot crap in the evenings. There are options (like hackintoshing a wintel machine) but maybe investigate hardware support in advance of purchasing (things like wifi cards need to be replaceable or the right chipset from the off)

Great advice! Thank you everyone!!

If I had €1500 for an apple laptop I wouldn’t be asking for advice🀣

Decisions.....difficult😊

kippy

It's amazing what great marketing does.

The reality is there are plenty good value laptops out there running Windows that literally hundreds of thousands of people manage to use daily.

The amount of parents who I see going out buying their kids apple products "for college" at significant expense is crazy - when a well looked after machine of 1/3 or less of the price would do perfectly fine.


OP, what is your budget?

kippy

kippy wrote: »

It's amazing what great marketing does.

The reality is there are plenty good value laptops out there running Windows that literally hundreds of thousands of people manage to use daily.

The amount of parents who I see going out buying their kids apple products "for college" at significant expense is crazy - when a well looked after machine of 1/3 or less of the price would do perfectly fine.

OP, what is your budget?

Perfectly fine is entirely subjective. As is the value of an item when purchased for personal use with your own money.

I'd rather totally hassle free use of technology in my own time than have to waste ANY of it with irritating nonsense, just to save what, a few cents per day?

My own mid-2012 macbook pro is still playing a blinder here. 7 years, still running latest OS release, latest FCPX build, never - and I mean never - interrupting me in using it for what I want to do. And never once requiring me to pay for a subscription to a cloud licensing platform, purchase an upgrade of the OS or any other money-bleeding crap like that. TCO over 5-7 years, a good Macbook is in the same ballpark as a Wintel laptop using decent hardware/build quality. I'm not talking about budget plastic chassis built rubbish, packed with bloatware and low end components.

It was expensive but it's been a pleasure to use it. It's a common theme amongst people who move to Apple devices from Windows.

In the office I couldn't care less how much aggro I have. It's paid time. What would I care? At home, totally different story. I just want something that works. Always.

In the OP's case, it's unfortunate that the hardware has failed, but that happens a hell of a lot more often on windows laptops than people might like to admit. I had 30 Lenovo laptops and 4 macbooks in the last job to look after. The Lenovo hardware was about on-par with other manufacturers. The macbooks needed keyboards replaced under the service program.

Not once, not a single time, did I have to spend any time on OS nonsense with the Macbooks. The Windows machines were a f'n nuisance by comparison. They were never done with updates. Always something needed patching, updating, upgrading. A pain in the hole and why anyone who can afford to use a Mac and especially who has experienced the difference in use would actually WANT to settle for a Windows machine is beyond me. Even blowing 3k on a higher end Wintel laptop won't get you the same experience.

All of this if you don't actually need Windows for something. If you want to 'play' with your computer, buy a Windows machine, certainly.

Otherwise, life's too short for dealing with that stuff.

kippy

JayZeus wrote: »

Perfectly fine is entirely subjective. As is the value of an item when purchased for personal use with your own money.

I'd rather totally hassle free use of technology in my own time than have to waste ANY of it with irritating nonsense, just to save what, a few cents per day?

My own mid-2012 macbook pro is still playing a blinder here. 7 years, still running latest OS release, latest FCPX build, never - and I mean never - interrupting me in using it for what I want to do.

It was expensive but it's been a pleasure to use it. It's a common theme amongst people who move to Apple devices from Windows.

In the office I couldn't care less how much aggro I have. It's paid time. What would I care? At home, totally different story. I just want something that works. Always.

In the OP's case, it's unfortunate that the hardware has failed, but that happens a hell of a lot more often on windows laptops than people might like to admit. I had 30 Lenovo laptops and 4 macbooks in the last job to look after. The Lenovo hardware was about on-par with other manufacturers. The macbooks needed keyboards replaced under the service program.

Not once, not a single time, did I have to spend any time on OS nonsense with the Macbooks. The Windows machines were a f'n nuisance by comparison. They were never done with updates. Always something needed patching, updating, upgrading. A pain in the hole and why anyone who can afford to use a Mac and especially who has experienced the difference in use would actually WANT to settle for a Windows machine is beyond me. Even blowing 3k on a higher end Wintel laptop won't get you the same experience.

All of this if you don't actually need Windows for something. If you want to 'play' with your computer, buy a Windows machine, certainly.

Otherwise, life's too short for dealing with that stuff.

As I said, marketing works.

kippy

kippy wrote: »

As I said, marketing works.

Don't be foolish.

Experience trumps marketing and 20+ years dealing with client computing devices tells me that a €2k Macbook will give a better home user experience over 5-7 years than a €2k Windows laptop.

kippy

JayZeus wrote: »

Don't be foolish.

Experience trumps marketing and 20+ years dealing with client computing devices tells me that a €2k Macbook will give a better home user experience over 5-7 years than a €2k Windows laptop.

The OP ain't looking for a 2K laptop and most likely doesn't need a 2K laptop.

kippy

kippy wrote: »

The OP ain't looking for a 2K laptop and most likely doesn't need a 2K laptop.

Yeah, I get that. The point you're choosing to ignore is that the OP is a Mac user and the recommendation I've made is that they hold off and get a Mac, rather than end up with a Windows laptop that might drive her nuts in short order.

That's valid advice. Your comments are equally valid, except when it comes to dismissing (likely out of ignorance as a consequence of never being a Mac owner yourself, I assume) the decision to buy a Mac at some greater initial expense as being crazy.

People decide to buy things against their own better judgement all the time. For some, that's buying into a Mac to browse the internet. For others, that's settling for a Windows machine when what you really want is a Mac experience.

It's not about marketing. The experience is different and that needs to be acknowledged.

As for €2k? I'd rather spend €1000 on a used Macbook Pro than buy a new Windows laptop. Is that doable? I'd definitely rather spend €500 on a Mid-2012 MBP with a ram upgrade than buy a €500 windows laptop. And that's writing as someone who uses both Windows and Mac machines daily.

mumof2

JayZeus wrote: »

Yeah, I get that. The point you're choosing to ignore is that the OP is a Mac user and the recommendation I've made is that they hold off and get a Mac, rather than end up with a Windows laptop that might drive her nuts in short order.

That's valid advice. Your comments are equally valid, except when it comes to dismissing (likely out of ignorance as a consequence of never being a Mac owner yourself, I assume) the decision to buy a Mac at some greater initial expense as being crazy.

People decide to buy things against their own better judgement all the time. For some, that's buying into a Mac to browse the internet. For others, that's settling for a Windows machine when what you really want is a Mac experience.

It's not about marketing. The experience is different and that needs to be acknowledged.

As for €2k? I'd rather spend €1000 on a used Macbook Pro than buy a new Windows laptop. Is that doable? I'd definitely rather spend €500 on a Mid-2012 MBP with a ram upgrade than buy a €500 windows laptop. And that's writing as someone who uses both Windows and Mac machines daily.

I agree, as both a windows user (at work) and have been apple user since day one at home.

I have been there already early this year - bought a windows laptop thinking it would do me (think it was Fujitsu). It drove me nuts. I ended up buying a secondhand identical to mine MacBook Pro (impulse decision I might add - but thought it was my lucky day). It was of French origin so I had to replace the keyboard (used my original) and changed the OS.
All fine. Till the other night. It just gave up and I’ve tried to resurrect it but no luck. I’m now saving my files externally to my apple pc.

So to answer the question - how much do I have to spend? Zero! I don’t have spare cash flow. I have bills coming up, holidays coming up. So I thought windows is cheapest and will do - but thankfully having the advice here especially yours @JayZeus, I now think I’ll have to wait. Or go mad.... but either way I’ll get an apple laptop. I don’t want high ended stuff. But I do want something not annoying me to update my antivirus every day or OS every week or do restarts when I’m trying to do something in my down time.

So yes - needs are important. Thanks to everyone for their input. It made interesting reading to hear everyone’s opinion.

Cheers!!

maccored

i first bought a mac in 1994 and Ive been keeping myself going by buying second hand off Adverts. I got a 2010 imac for 200, I have a 2012 mini for 300, plus a 2012 macbook for around 300. Because of the build quality, they're all running excellent. My day job involves working in a Windows environment so I only use that OS when Im being paid to

PropJoe10

The easy approach here is "dont". I wouldn't recommend anyone to move to Windows - Windows 10 is a privacy invading virus and the constant updates are absolutely infuriating.

Typing this message on a 2012 MacBook Pro running all the latest software and its running like a champ. I'd suggest even a 6 or 7 year old Mac over a Windows machine.

mumof2

PropJoe10 wrote: »

The easy approach here is "dont". I wouldn't recommend anyone to move to Windows - Windows 10 is a privacy invading virus and the constant updates are absolutely infuriating.

Typing this message on a 2012 MacBook Pro running all the latest software and its running like a champ. I'd suggest even a 6 or 7 year old Mac over a Windows machine.

Totally agree:D