[Rajat347]

Well,

You can have a HP Elitebook 16 GB with Touch screen. Its 14" system with a SIM slot, no DVD ROM because its too thin to sport it. Bang & Olufsen audio with noise cancellation MIC. C type slot available and so is fast charging.
Cost wise I am not sure but HP's service is equal or may be more pathetic than Dell unless its onsite assistance.

[riokiar]

Originally Posted by beemer5499

Even a Macbook Air 2020 would suit your requirements perfectly and would be even better for typing as it has a wedge shape and the hands rest easier on it.

I wouldn't reccomend the 2020 MacBook Air as it performs very poorly on the thermals front. Upon teardown, it was noticed that the CPU heatsink and fan aren't even connected, causing the poor cooling performance. It also heats up quickly performing basic tasks,
leading to a shortened CPU lifespan. The new MacBook Pro however doesn't seem to have this issue, and it comes with the new and improved Magic Keyboard from the Air as well, which is miles better than the previous few iterations of the Butterfly keyboard.

[skatte]

I've used both Dell and HP top of the line laptops for work since a few years now. Dell quality has reduced but it's still miles ahead of HP. ThinkPads used to be good when they were made by IBM and Lenovo's are probably not as reliable anymore (from what I've heard).

Choosing a MacBook is probably the best decision right now.

On a personal front, I'm trying out Ubuntu on my home desktop computer and I'm impressed at how it performs on a low end processor with 8 GB RAM and a non-SSD hard drive. For day to day tasks without heavy processing work - I've never felt it's slow. You may want to try Linux on your outgoing laptop as a fun activity.

[GTO]

Interestingly, unlike before, I don't see much of a price difference between India & USA. I have a close relative who is flying to India in the next month, but prima facie, I might buy from India only. Reasons:

- In India, I get GST input tax credit, straight away making it 18% cheaper than MRP.

- Some stores are giving an exchange offer. A BHPian pointed out on this thread that Maple (authorised Apple dealer) has a minimum of 25,000 off on 2016+ laptops in working condition.

- The main advantage of USA over India is the option of 32 GB RAM, but that seems to be overkill for my usage (Team-BHP + content creation + music etc.). Correct? I don't need 32 GB RAM even to make it future-proof, right? 16 is enough for me for 10 years?

[viXit]

That's amazing, for once it might work out cheaper for you in India then.

Originally Posted by GTO

....

- The main advantage of USA over India is the option of 32 GB RAM, but that seems to be overkill for my usage (Team-BHP + content creation + music etc.). Correct? I don't need 32 GB RAM even to make it future-proof, right? 16 is enough for me for 10 years?

Only you can answer your question,
Go to task manager and check your RAM usage under the performance tab.
Content creation might demand a little more, What kind of content are we talking?



If it's below eight. 16 should be great for you.
I have been running on 16 gigs and have never maxed it out.
Maximum is 8 gb usage with 2 more apps running in the backgroud.

16 IS good enough future proofing for 10 years.

EDIT:Just to be sure, keep your task manager open on the side to continuously monitor your RAM usage for a day or two and monitor your trend. That should really help.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by viXit

Go to task manager and check your RAM usage under the performance tab.

Compared to Windows 10, is Apple easier on RAM or harder? I'm currently at 11 GB constant with my multiple Chrome tabs & windows + background Youtube (I use it for music too) + a couple of other programs running (including multiple excel sheets + word docs + cloud syncing etc. etc.). My content creation is text only, for Team-BHP.

[saisailendra]

Originally Posted by GTO

One reason is I'm fed up of Windows laptops. Of the last 4 Windows laptops I have owned over 20 years, just 1 has been absolutely trouble-free (my Latitude E6430 from 2013 - 18). But all the computers before that & after have been a mess to own, including a Dell desktop.

- Am looking forward to good reliability, aesthetics (am a sucker for vanity) and the OS experience that so many of you claim to be superior.

While MacBook looks great and works great, before you buy, I think I'll also caution you about a few points regarding MacBook (Apple in particular).

The chances of spontaneous failing of MacBooks are very low and that's one of the reasons why they're such a big hit. Their display and sound are amongst the best. They work great for years. They're reliable. As long as your MacBook is under warranty, you can be rest assured that your notebook is unmatched. But the real tension starts after the warranty period is over. Over the internet, I've read across cases where MacBooks displays go kaput or some issues with the MacBook not turning on, etc. When inspected by a third party repair person, the issue is often very minor, requiring just a cable to be replaced or a metal pin being bent. The same MacBook, when taken to an authorised apple service center, the guys give a repair bill of what's almost equal to or greater than a new device and (personally) suggest the user to get a new one instead. And in these cases, the data too is lost. Apple doesn't encourage third party repair persons and allegedly spares are very difficult for them to get hold of. I'm not sure if it's the same case in India.

Anyway, there are some high quality windows laptops too out there, which won't give up on you. Some which you can get only from the USA. It's just like cars, when you go a segment higher, the quality goes up by a lot and so does reliability (eg. Vento - Jetta). And before buying one, you might want to check the modularity of the laptop. Some laptops allow users to change/upgrade RAM and/or Storage in the future, if the owner feels the need for more. Some laptops on the other hand, make this task very difficult or almost impossible like MacBook and many others. And trust me, it's fun to have a user upgradable system

Also I suggest you might want to look at laptops with NVMe type of storage, which is way way faster than a SATA SSD (Which by itself is insanely fast). Before heading for a computer, do a research on its thermals. Some laptops are designed so well with very good heat losing designs, whereas some aren't just so well managed. This could determine how well your CPU performs, without being limited due to heating. There are various places on the internet which can give you these details. A youtube channel called LinusTechTips does reviews of tech and laptops, then open up the back panel and give us a fair idea of what's inside.

Hope this helps.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by GTO

Interestingly, unlike before, I don't see much of a price difference between India & USA. I
- In India, I get GST input tax credit, straight away making it 18% cheaper than MRP.

Yes & No

Prices - almost at par if you consider GST credit, some retailers are offering 16 inch Mac-Pro deal with free AirPods.

Warranty - In India, we can only buy 3 Year additional warranty whereas overseas, it's three years of accidental damage coverage. I paid 24 K yesterday for an additional 2 year warranty that just covers the product malfunction.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by GTO

Compared to Windows 10, is Apple easier on RAM or harder? I'm currently at 11 GB constant with my multiple Chrome tabs & windows + background Youtube (I use it for music too) + a couple of other programs running (including multiple excel sheets + word docs + cloud syncing etc. etc.). My content creation is text only, for Team-BHP.

Attachment 2051758

16GB should be enough unless you are thinking about a dual screen set up with video/photo editing on one side and general browsing on the other.

[viXit]

Originally Posted by GTO

I'm currently at 11 GB constant with my multiple Chrome tabs & windows + background Youtube (I use it for music too) + a couple of other programs running (including multiple excel sheets + word docs + cloud syncing etc. etc.). My content creation is text only, for Team-BHP.

Attachment 2051758

16 gb is cutting it too close for something you’re looking to keep for ten years.
apps and websites are getting only more demanding

Compared to Windows 10, is Apple easier on RAM or harder?

That’s a yes and a no.
Mostly a yes, though.
Lot of IT professionals claim to be able to run the same programs on Mac at half the memory capacity. Mac users almost never felt the need to upgrade to more ram because of features like memory compression and AppNap that puts background apps to sleep but wakes them up instantly when needed.

Some use cases may have different results.[Very Rare]
In 90% of the cases MacOS has better ram management that windows.
The gap has reduced further after windows ten introduced memory compression too.

But Mac has been ahead of the curve by a slight margin.
I see you using less RAM on a Mac than a windows laptop.
.

But only one way to know how your use will be on a Mac.
If you can get a hold of a Mac and check by opening the same apps and files, there’s nothing like it.

Launch pad>Utilities>Activity monitor >Ram usage

But otherwise you’re a little safer with less ram in a macOS than windows.
It’s mostly a yes.
You have 5 gb extra if you go for 16gb ram. And Mac OS will help further.
16GB should be great

EDIT: Switching to safari will help your ram situation by a huge margin , chrome is ram greedy like that

[amit1agrawal]

Let me share my personal experience with MacBook. In 2016, I brought MacBook Pro mid-2012 non-retina version as it was available for a reasonable price and this was the last model where you could upgrade the RAM and hard drive by yourself without violating the warranty of the whole laptop. So when I had the moolah I upgraded the RAM to 16GB & 256GB SSD. It has been performing very well since then *touchwood*. My wife & I share it so there are 2 users logged with all sorts of windows open (Chrome/Safari/Mail Client/Word/Excel/Ppt etc) and I have never seen any performance issues to date. It seems it can even take more. I even once ran an SAP HANA VM (It's in-memory Enterprise DB from SAP; it is super heavy on resources) on it and it performed Okay.
I also have Lenovo T470 & HP EliteBook 840G provided by the company. HP is pathetic though it costs $2k and Config is high-end. Lenovo is good too. IMO both pale in comparison to the MacBook pro; remember this is an 8-year-old model. I have owned multiple Lenovo's in the last 13 years and I can say that there are second best to MacBooks.
The color reproduction of the screen on the MacBook is better than the other 2 laptops & the keyboard is fantastic.
The only downside of MacBook, for that matter any Apple product, is that the repairs are very costly. You need to get the maximum extended warranty the company provides no matter how costly it is. After the warranty just pray that it does not go kaput
Lenovo is the best in the Windows ecosystem but isn't we supposed to not buy Chinese products.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by GTO

Some stores are giving an exchange offer. A BHPian pointed out on this thread that Maple (authorised Apple dealer) has a minimum of 25,000 off on 2016+ laptops in working condition.

This is only if you exchange an old MacBook, not any laptop. It was in the papers some time back.

Cheers

[GTO]

This is it! Checked out the 13 and it's too small for writing content. I'm going with the 16 because:

- I find it to be the better size (14 - 15 would be perfect).

- While it is a little bigger than my Latitude 7490, it's about the same size as my Latitude E6430 which I happily used for 5 years.

- Rather than the size, I would say the weight is a disadvantage. It is heavy. Period. 28 days of the month, I have to lug it only from my home office -> hall -> home gym. 2 or 3 days a month, I would take it out in a backpack which I am okay with. But yes, it is heavy.

- Another big reason for the 16" is that my laptop doubles up as my entertainment screen (movies & shows) in my home gym on a daily basis for 90 minutes. Watching a movie on 13" is no fun.

Am just going to wait for the update to the Macbook 16 that is around the corner. Everyone says its going to be a minor one, but no harm in waiting another 2 - 3 months, just in case a useful feature is added.



My lousy Dell currently hangs up unexpectedly if I use the docking port or shut the lid (without docking port) or engage standby, so I've kept it docked since 10 days & running 24x7. The battery is gone, so it's permanently plugged in. One key broke, so I'm using an external keyboard. Dell really lost me as a customer for life due to their shoddy reliability. This, after paying them Rs 1.46 lakhs for the Latitude + docking port + 5 year warranty. I will retain this computer as a backup (just hope it doesn't become like a punctured spare tyre):


My E6430 was the only Dell that served me well. But all the Dells before that had issues. This is my Dell workstation during one of its warranty repairs during working hours (loss of productivity):

[sv97]

Originally Posted by GTO

Am just going to wait for the update to the Macbook 16 that is around the corner. Everyone says its going to be a minor one, but no harm in waiting another 2 - 3 months, just in case a useful feature is added.

Since you are interested in the 14 inch maybe Apple will grant your wish. They will be launching a 14 inch version when they update the MacBook pro line sometime later this year or early next year.

But I think it might come with the ARM processor(not sure on this) so you could wait a bit for the reviews and then decide.

Because when you are talking about keeping something for the next 10 years it doesn't make sense buying something which is heavy and less portable and especially carrying heavy weights for long hours in case of some situations can be really tiring.

So would suggest you to wait and you won't be disappointed.

[bharanidharang]

Just got a used 2017 Macbook pro from office. It was used by the mobile development team which has since been shut for the project. Hence this was donated to some of us to be used till we quit the organisation. I can claim warranty if i buy extended warranty myself. Can i buy apple care now after warranty over ?

I am new to macbook. My ideal usage would be documents (word, excel and ppt) + browsing + some entertainment. Other than office, what are the other interesting apps i should install. i have already done OneNote.