Laptop!!!@#!!@#WWJD
I am officially exhausted and done with this laptop shopping. I’ve considered Lenovo T420, X220, X1; Macbook Air, Pro; Asus Zenbook. Asus was eliminated in the category of durability (and keyboard design..so sticky ><), leaving two very different but well-tested brands.
Disregarding human rights controversies (pretty sure they both source from similar factories in China..), the largest differences were between overall design and popular utility. Macs are very sleek and smooth while Thinkpads tend to be very angular and plain, but I like the relative take-apart-ability of the Thinkpad because I want to be able to maintain my machine without having to consult them geniuses at the store. From just my own observation, Macs seem to be popular for graphic designers (screen res+size, program compatibility, OS X), while Thinkpads for business folks, engineers, programmers, field scientists (sturdiness, battery life, program compatibility). Both can be super portable (Air & X220) and super powerful depending on your customized specs, with the Lenovos tending to be a bit cheaper for the same performance. Now see, I’m definitely going to be doing graphic design work, but I also want to be doing field work. And hmm now I’ve actually come back to complete indecision because I just realized I have the Windows version of Adobe CS5 and the trial ArcGIS…which means I kind of need to have a PC. I thought I had decided on a Macbook Air just a few minutes ago after looking up the recyclability and melting points of carbon-fiber+plastic/magnesium+ABS (T420/X220) v aluminum (Mac)…(aluminum is definitely much more recyclable right now even though it takes more energy to melt).
T____T Now, I’m going to have to take a trip to test out the X220 to see if the 12.5” screen will do (Macbook Air 13.3” was pretttty nice, Asus Zenbook sucked for typing).
Ideally, my laptop will be long-lasting (life & battery), fairly portable (3 lbs..for my aging back :P), decent screen res for the 13-14” size (1400x600?), able to handle large data files in Excel/Adobe CS/GIS/etc (i5 or i7 processor), easily maintained, easily returned to producer for recycling, and affordable ($1000). I’m still confused about RAM & hard disk drive, but it looks like 4+GB and 256GB would be good.
HELP??!
