Laptop suggestions

[Melvang]

Alright guys I need suggestions for a new laptop for the wife.  I do have a few requirements.

min 500gb hard drive does not matter if mechanical or SSD
USB 3.0
Intel processor
at least be able to run WoW enough to chat and do auction house stuff no raiding on it
would prefer to be under $1k
as little bloatware as possible without reinstalling OS.

Thanks guys

Melvang

[tp4tissue]

If your wife will be taking this thing "outside" the house,  she will need a macbook.

That's the only laptop that's fashionable.

Anyother brand for women looks outdated.


The question you need to ask yourself is,   Do you want your wife to look out-of-style ?

If you ask her, she'd probably be like, oh-no, it's ok, I'll be fine with a (budget) laptop...

So, don't ask her, because you already KNOW that she'd love to have one.  AND, that apple has a vice grip on laptop fashion trend.


as far as macbook pros go, there's really only one choice,  the Haswell version is coming in October.

You HAVE TO WAIT.

[Melvang]

I don't care what it looks like and neither does she.  Forgot to state that it has to be a Windows OS.  I am not going to deal with only one system in the house that is Mac and it will be for her photography stuff on site.  Basically she wants to be able to dump the camera cards to the laptop do a little quick editing and be able to hand the client a thumb drive with a sample of the sitting.  She does not do any photography in house it is all on site. 

[tp4tissue]

I don't care what it looks like and neither does she.  Forgot to state that it has to be a Windows OS.  I am not going to deal with only one system in the house that is Mac and it will be for her photography stuff on site.  Basically she wants to be able to dump the camera cards to the laptop do a little quick editing and be able to hand the client a thumb drive with a sample of the sitting.  She does not do any photography in house it is all on site. 

Hm.. if that's the case, then she should definately get a macbook pro.

It makes you look professional.

My buddy does this stuff down in LA, he says, if you're  not rocking a macbook, people won't even take you seriously, and all you're doing is a little photoshop


Appearance makes a huge difference in the "art biz".


+ Macbook pros run windows quite well.

[Melvang]

I am not going to spend the money for the name on a Macbook.  Here in the Midwest in the photography world its about your images not your appearance so you posts have no bearing on what I am looking for and am beginning to think you are just trolling.

[tp4tissue]

I am not going to spend the money for the name on a Macbook.  Here in the Midwest in the photography world its about your images not your appearance so you posts have no bearing on what I am looking for and am beginning to think you are just trolling.

LOL.. i don't  know a great deal about the Midwest,  but doing work that so many people can and are doing, what exactly sets one apart.

sure, when you've already setup a long work relationship, your appearance no longer matters as much..

but, for the initial phase, it sadly does come down to appearance.


They've done numerous studies on "perceived- competence"  relative to "appearance/ attractiveness"

Attractive people are perceived as more competent..


THIS has no relation to whether the person is actually competent.


So, from this we know that you are very much judged for how you look.

This fact is doubly true in a world where your client has VERY little time "to judge you"  or wish to spend "little time" to do so.

[Melvang]

That maybe but what sets one apart in that industry is your ability with Photoshop and your ability to create montages.  If you want to see some amazing examples from my wifes photography instructor when she was in college for it check out this link.  www.woodywalters.com 

Now back to my original question.  Any suggestions??  Would the selection process be any easier if I was willing to reinstall the OS to get rid of bloatware?

[Topre]

I would recommend a Tablet PC over a laptop these days. It's more portable, small (which is really what I am looking for in a laptop), and you have a pressure sensitive stylus that you can use in Photoshop or whatever you want. The Microsoft Surface Pro comes with zero bloatware, I believe computers that are sold with the Microsoft store will come with minimal bloatware. It will run WoW just fine. One of the things I do dislike about the Surface Pro is battery life. I get six to eight hours while lightly using it, however it can drop down to three hours or less when heavily using it.

[tp4tissue]

I would recommend a Tablet PC over a laptop these days. It's more portable, small (which is really what I am looking for in a laptop), and you have a pressure sensitive stylus that you can use in Photoshop or whatever you want. The Microsoft Surface Pro comes with zero bloatware, I believe computers that are sold with the Microsoft store will come with minimal bloatware. It will run WoW just fine. One of the things I do dislike about the Surface Pro is battery life. I get six to eight hours while lightly using it, however it can drop down to three hours or less when heavily using it.

the NEXT surface pro will be pretty beast, rumored to have Haswell.

Current surface pro uses an i5 and the battery can be drained in 2 hours with "semi-serious" work.

[tp4tissue]

That maybe but what sets one apart in that industry is your ability with Photoshop and your ability to create montages.  If you want to see some amazing examples from my wifes photography instructor when she was in college for it check out this link.  www.woodywalters.com 

Now back to my original question.  Any suggestions??  Would the selection process be any easier if I was willing to reinstall the OS to get rid of bloatware?

I agree with your assessment of "ability".

But I am merely pointing out the importance of appearance in our Time sensitive modern world.

Your wife's work may very well stand out above the rest,  but to even get people to look at it, she needs some bait.


This is also the reason young korean men AND women pursue cosmetic surgery.


Given that females are judged especially harsh based on their appearance, I'd say it's any investment in aesthetics is worth it.

-- this covers both external accessory and physical modifications.

----I'm not saying your wife is ugly and needs cosmetic surgery,  )

------ Just saying it helps.   A bit too much actually, to the point that it's just plain unfair.

[Topre]

I would recommend a Tablet PC over a laptop these days. It's more portable, small (which is really what I am looking for in a laptop), and you have a pressure sensitive stylus that you can use in Photoshop or whatever you want. The Microsoft Surface Pro comes with zero bloatware, I believe computers that are sold with the Microsoft store will come with minimal bloatware. It will run WoW just fine. One of the things I do dislike about the Surface Pro is battery life. I get six to eight hours while lightly using it, however it can drop down to three hours or less when heavily using it.

the NEXT surface pro will be pretty beast, rumored to have Haswell.

Current surface pro uses an i5 and the battery can be drained in 2 hours with "semi-serious" work.

I would be surprised if they don't use Haswell, what else are they going to go for? AMD? That sure will save a lot of battery and run faster at the same time...

[tp4tissue]

I would recommend a Tablet PC over a laptop these days. It's more portable, small (which is really what I am looking for in a laptop), and you have a pressure sensitive stylus that you can use in Photoshop or whatever you want. The Microsoft Surface Pro comes with zero bloatware, I believe computers that are sold with the Microsoft store will come with minimal bloatware. It will run WoW just fine. One of the things I do dislike about the Surface Pro is battery life. I get six to eight hours while lightly using it, however it can drop down to three hours or less when heavily using it.

the NEXT surface pro will be pretty beast, rumored to have Haswell.

Current surface pro uses an i5 and the battery can be drained in 2 hours with "semi-serious" work.

I would be surprised if they don't use Haswell, what else are they going to go for? AMD? That sure will save a lot of battery and run faster at the same time...

yea..... pretty much..... I'm not a fan of haswell due to the weak gpu.  It's good enough for a tablet, but it's RIGHT under the threshold needed to run Madvr for high quality video playback.

It's just RIGHT UNDER... pisses me off. If they made it 10% faster, everything would be golden. it'd be the perfect HTPC chip all in one.

[Topre]

I would recommend a Tablet PC over a laptop these days. It's more portable, small (which is really what I am looking for in a laptop), and you have a pressure sensitive stylus that you can use in Photoshop or whatever you want. The Microsoft Surface Pro comes with zero bloatware, I believe computers that are sold with the Microsoft store will come with minimal bloatware. It will run WoW just fine. One of the things I do dislike about the Surface Pro is battery life. I get six to eight hours while lightly using it, however it can drop down to three hours or less when heavily using it.

the NEXT surface pro will be pretty beast, rumored to have Haswell.

Current surface pro uses an i5 and the battery can be drained in 2 hours with "semi-serious" work.

I would be surprised if they don't use Haswell, what else are they going to go for? AMD? That sure will save a lot of battery and run faster at the same time...

yea..... pretty much..... I'm not a fan of haswell due to the weak gpu.  It's good enough for a tablet, but it's RIGHT under the threshold needed to run Madvr for high quality video playback.

It's just RIGHT UNDER... pisses me off. If they made it 10% faster, everything would be golden. it'd be the perfect HTPC chip all in one.

I haven't looked at chip specs in a while. But how does the i7-3770T or i7-4770T compare to a laptop Haswell CPU? I personally would still rather use an i7-3770T/4770T with a Streamcom FC8 case for a HTPC.

[tp4tissue]

I would recommend a Tablet PC over a laptop these days. It's more portable, small (which is really what I am looking for in a laptop), and you have a pressure sensitive stylus that you can use in Photoshop or whatever you want. The Microsoft Surface Pro comes with zero bloatware, I believe computers that are sold with the Microsoft store will come with minimal bloatware. It will run WoW just fine. One of the things I do dislike about the Surface Pro is battery life. I get six to eight hours while lightly using it, however it can drop down to three hours or less when heavily using it.

the NEXT surface pro will be pretty beast, rumored to have Haswell.

Current surface pro uses an i5 and the battery can be drained in 2 hours with "semi-serious" work.

I would be surprised if they don't use Haswell, what else are they going to go for? AMD? That sure will save a lot of battery and run faster at the same time...

yea..... pretty much..... I'm not a fan of haswell due to the weak gpu.  It's good enough for a tablet, but it's RIGHT under the threshold needed to run Madvr for high quality video playback.

It's just RIGHT UNDER... pisses me off. If they made it 10% faster, everything would be golden. it'd be the perfect HTPC chip all in one.

I haven't looked at chip specs in a while. But how does the i7-3770T or i7-4770T compare to a laptop Haswell CPU? I personally would still rather use an i7-3770T/4770T with a Streamcom FC8 case for a HTPC.

depends on if you care for Madvr.

Madvr produces the best video playback quality on the PC hands down.

and neither the 3770 nor 4770 iGPU has the horsepower to run it. 


Now if you OVERCLOCK the iGPU 4600 on the 4770k,  you can get above the threshold for Madvr.

The problem is, Madvr is getting more demanding all the time as the author add features and improve the renderer,  so 50% overhead is not unreasonable.

[Topre]

I would recommend a Tablet PC over a laptop these days. It's more portable, small (which is really what I am looking for in a laptop), and you have a pressure sensitive stylus that you can use in Photoshop or whatever you want. The Microsoft Surface Pro comes with zero bloatware, I believe computers that are sold with the Microsoft store will come with minimal bloatware. It will run WoW just fine. One of the things I do dislike about the Surface Pro is battery life. I get six to eight hours while lightly using it, however it can drop down to three hours or less when heavily using it.

the NEXT surface pro will be pretty beast, rumored to have Haswell.

Current surface pro uses an i5 and the battery can be drained in 2 hours with "semi-serious" work.

I would be surprised if they don't use Haswell, what else are they going to go for? AMD? That sure will save a lot of battery and run faster at the same time...

yea..... pretty much..... I'm not a fan of haswell due to the weak gpu.  It's good enough for a tablet, but it's RIGHT under the threshold needed to run Madvr for high quality video playback.

It's just RIGHT UNDER... pisses me off. If they made it 10% faster, everything would be golden. it'd be the perfect HTPC chip all in one.

I haven't looked at chip specs in a while. But how does the i7-3770T or i7-4770T compare to a laptop Haswell CPU? I personally would still rather use an i7-3770T/4770T with a Streamcom FC8 case for a HTPC.

depends on if you care for Madvr.

Madvr produces the best video playback quality on the PC hands down.

and neither the 3770 nor 4770 iGPU has the horsepower to run it.

If I remember correctly, doesn't the GPU of the Intel chips change depending on the chip itself as well? For example, an i3 with Intel 4000 will not have as fast of a GPU compared to an i7 with Intel 4000.

[tp4tissue]

I would recommend a Tablet PC over a laptop these days. It's more portable, small (which is really what I am looking for in a laptop), and you have a pressure sensitive stylus that you can use in Photoshop or whatever you want. The Microsoft Surface Pro comes with zero bloatware, I believe computers that are sold with the Microsoft store will come with minimal bloatware. It will run WoW just fine. One of the things I do dislike about the Surface Pro is battery life. I get six to eight hours while lightly using it, however it can drop down to three hours or less when heavily using it.

the NEXT surface pro will be pretty beast, rumored to have Haswell.

Current surface pro uses an i5 and the battery can be drained in 2 hours with "semi-serious" work.

I would be surprised if they don't use Haswell, what else are they going to go for? AMD? That sure will save a lot of battery and run faster at the same time...

yea..... pretty much..... I'm not a fan of haswell due to the weak gpu.  It's good enough for a tablet, but it's RIGHT under the threshold needed to run Madvr for high quality video playback.

It's just RIGHT UNDER... pisses me off. If they made it 10% faster, everything would be golden. it'd be the perfect HTPC chip all in one.

I haven't looked at chip specs in a while. But how does the i7-3770T or i7-4770T compare to a laptop Haswell CPU? I personally would still rather use an i7-3770T/4770T with a Streamcom FC8 case for a HTPC.

depends on if you care for Madvr.

Madvr produces the best video playback quality on the PC hands down.

and neither the 3770 nor 4770 iGPU has the horsepower to run it.

If I remember correctly, doesn't the GPU of the Intel chips change depending on the chip itself as well? For example, an i3 with Intel 4000 will not have as fast of a GPU compared to an i7 with Intel 4000.

that doesn't matter, since the top end Iris will not run Madvr.

Which is why I mentioned it will come down to whether you care about playback quality.

If you don't mind using a low demand renderer, then even the Sandybridge iGPU which is Gen 2, Haswell is gen 4, will be more than enough for an HTPC

[Topre]

I would recommend a Tablet PC over a laptop these days. It's more portable, small (which is really what I am looking for in a laptop), and you have a pressure sensitive stylus that you can use in Photoshop or whatever you want. The Microsoft Surface Pro comes with zero bloatware, I believe computers that are sold with the Microsoft store will come with minimal bloatware. It will run WoW just fine. One of the things I do dislike about the Surface Pro is battery life. I get six to eight hours while lightly using it, however it can drop down to three hours or less when heavily using it.

the NEXT surface pro will be pretty beast, rumored to have Haswell.

Current surface pro uses an i5 and the battery can be drained in 2 hours with "semi-serious" work.

I would be surprised if they don't use Haswell, what else are they going to go for? AMD? That sure will save a lot of battery and run faster at the same time...

yea..... pretty much..... I'm not a fan of haswell due to the weak gpu.  It's good enough for a tablet, but it's RIGHT under the threshold needed to run Madvr for high quality video playback.

It's just RIGHT UNDER... pisses me off. If they made it 10% faster, everything would be golden. it'd be the perfect HTPC chip all in one.

I haven't looked at chip specs in a while. But how does the i7-3770T or i7-4770T compare to a laptop Haswell CPU? I personally would still rather use an i7-3770T/4770T with a Streamcom FC8 case for a HTPC.

depends on if you care for Madvr.

Madvr produces the best video playback quality on the PC hands down.

and neither the 3770 nor 4770 iGPU has the horsepower to run it.

If I remember correctly, doesn't the GPU of the Intel chips change depending on the chip itself as well? For example, an i3 with Intel 4000 will not have as fast of a GPU compared to an i7 with Intel 4000.

that doesn't matter, since the top end Iris will not run Madvr.

Which is why I mentioned it will come down to whether you care about playback quality.

If you don't mind using a low demand renderer, then even the Sandybridge iGPU which is Gen 2, Haswell is gen 4, will be more than enough for an HTPC

I see. I don't do much with my HTPC anyway, other than RDP to my desktop.

[tp4tissue]

I would recommend a Tablet PC over a laptop these days. It's more portable, small (which is really what I am looking for in a laptop), and you have a pressure sensitive stylus that you can use in Photoshop or whatever you want. The Microsoft Surface Pro comes with zero bloatware, I believe computers that are sold with the Microsoft store will come with minimal bloatware. It will run WoW just fine. One of the things I do dislike about the Surface Pro is battery life. I get six to eight hours while lightly using it, however it can drop down to three hours or less when heavily using it.

the NEXT surface pro will be pretty beast, rumored to have Haswell.

Current surface pro uses an i5 and the battery can be drained in 2 hours with "semi-serious" work.

I would be surprised if they don't use Haswell, what else are they going to go for? AMD? That sure will save a lot of battery and run faster at the same time...

yea..... pretty much..... I'm not a fan of haswell due to the weak gpu.  It's good enough for a tablet, but it's RIGHT under the threshold needed to run Madvr for high quality video playback.

It's just RIGHT UNDER... pisses me off. If they made it 10% faster, everything would be golden. it'd be the perfect HTPC chip all in one.

I haven't looked at chip specs in a while. But how does the i7-3770T or i7-4770T compare to a laptop Haswell CPU? I personally would still rather use an i7-3770T/4770T with a Streamcom FC8 case for a HTPC.

depends on if you care for Madvr.

Madvr produces the best video playback quality on the PC hands down.

and neither the 3770 nor 4770 iGPU has the horsepower to run it.

If I remember correctly, doesn't the GPU of the Intel chips change depending on the chip itself as well? For example, an i3 with Intel 4000 will not have as fast of a GPU compared to an i7 with Intel 4000.

that doesn't matter, since the top end Iris will not run Madvr.

Which is why I mentioned it will come down to whether you care about playback quality.

If you don't mind using a low demand renderer, then even the Sandybridge iGPU which is Gen 2, Haswell is gen 4, will be more than enough for an HTPC

I see. I don't do much with my HTPC anyway, other than RDP to my desktop.

   Pretty sure if RDP is all you need, then a pentium 4 with 865 chipset integrated graphics would suffice.

[Melvang]

alright guys back to my questions.  Does anyone have an idea how bad Asus is with bloatware on their laptops?  I know it wasn't bad at all with my motherboard

[tp4tissue]

alright guys back to my questions.  Does anyone have an idea how bad Asus is with bloatware on their laptops?  I know it wasn't bad at all with my motherboard

Why are you completely against reinstalling windows,

achem...  Arrrrg, matey...

[Melvang]

not completely against it but if it can be avoided it would be nice.

[Malphas]

Macbooks fashionable? What is this, 2005? North America really is so passe sometimes.

[Melvang]

I don't see them as fashionable really.  Hell I don't really care for anything mac on the aesthetics side.  I will say their OS is damn stable though.  But my wife (user of said planned new laptop) doesn't do well with software changes let alone OS changes but I think that is inevitable.  Plus everything else in the house is windows aside from my android phone.

[Topre]

alright guys back to my questions.  Does anyone have an idea how bad Asus is with bloatware on their laptops?  I know it wasn't bad at all with my motherboard

Motherboards should not come with bloatware because you are buying your own operating system. Asus laptops do come with bloatware though. I highly recommend purchasing from a computer Microsoft Store if you want minimal or no bloatware.

[tp4tissue]

alright guys back to my questions.  Does anyone have an idea how bad Asus is with bloatware on their laptops?  I know it wasn't bad at all with my motherboard

Motherboards should not come with bloatware because you are buying your own operating system. Asus laptops do come with bloatware though. I highly recommend purchasing from a computer Microsoft Store if you want minimal or no bloatware.

or the vizio, didn't get good reviews, but it has almost no bloatware.

[tp4tissue]

I don't see them as fashionable really.  Hell I don't really care for anything mac on the aesthetics side.  I will say their OS is damn stable though.  But my wife (user of said planned new laptop) doesn't do well with software changes let alone OS changes but I think that is inevitable.  Plus everything else in the house is windows aside from my android phone.

it's not even considered high fashion, it's considered a "mainstream must have"

If you have anything else.... You're either considered against mainstream or worse "poor"


I have a friend, couldn't get laid because he had a lenovo, then he got a macbook boom, success..

It's not that women are actually shallow,  it's just like when you wear shabby clothing, people judge accordingly...


I am not making a statement about what's right, or how things should be,  This is just how it IS right now...


Anyone who knows about computers know that the above perceptions are misguided, but that's how the world is right now..

This is true for most anyone NOT into tech.  There are a surprising number of these people.  problem is, these are the same people who have money and would buy things from you or your services..

[microsoft windows]

MAC OS IS NOT STABLE. NOTHING I HAD CRASHED MORE OFTEN THAN MY MACS.

AND THEIR LAPTOPS ARE HIDEOUS AND OVERPRICED. WHY PAY ALL THIS MONEY FOR A HIDEOUS AND OVERPRICED LAPTOP?

GET A WINDOWS LAPTOP AND YOU WON'T LOOK BACK.

[tp4tissue]

MAC OS IS NOT STABLE. NOTHING I HAD CRASHED MORE OFTEN THAN MY MACS.

AND THEIR LAPTOPS ARE HIDEOUS AND OVERPRICED. WHY PAY ALL THIS MONEY FOR A HIDEOUS AND OVERPRICED LAPTOP?

GET A WINDOWS LAPTOP AND YOU WON'T LOOK BACK.

I suspect biased opinion..

[Melvang]

Mac will almost always be more stable than windows just because of the way each is handles the registry.

[tp4tissue]

Mac will almost always be more stable than windows just because of the way each is handles the registry.

there's no way to really prove this one way or the other.

But given that windows usually runs on very different computers for different people.. while mac oses usually runs on standardized hardware,  this is probably the biggest difference..

[microsoft windows]

Mac will almost always be more stable than windows just because of the way each is handles the registry.

MAC OS WILL NEVER BE MORE STABLE! WINDOWS IS SUPERIOR IN EVERY WAY. THERE IS NO RATIONAL REASON TO USE MAC OS X UNLESS YOU HAVE ONE OF APPLE'S POWERPC COMPUTERS THAT WON'T RUN A CLASSIC MAC OS. WINDOWS IS MUCH BETTER AND MORE DESIRABLE.

[tp4tissue]

Mac will almost always be more stable than windows just because of the way each is handles the registry.

MAC OS WILL NEVER BE MORE STABLE! WINDOWS IS SUPERIOR IN EVERY WAY. THERE IS NO RATIONAL REASON TO USE MAC OS X UNLESS YOU HAVE ONE OF APPLE'S POWERPC COMPUTERS THAT WON'T RUN A CLASSIC MAC OS. WINDOWS IS MUCH BETTER AND MORE DESIRABLE.

well, also some programmers need unix, this is like a must..

[microsoft windows]

IF YOU NEED UNIX, JUST USE LINUX. I'D TAKE LINUX OVER MAC OS X ANY DAY.

[tp4tissue]

IF YOU NEED UNIX, JUST USE LINUX. I'D TAKE LINUX OVER MAC OS X ANY DAY.

well, none of this changes the fact that Macbook pro is the better hardware here, windows OR macos..

pretty sure you can get linux on there.

[Topre]

IF YOU NEED UNIX, JUST USE LINUX. I'D TAKE LINUX OVER MAC OS X ANY DAY.

well, none of this changes the fact that Macbook pro is the better hardware here, windows OR macos..

pretty sure you can get linux on there.

What do you mean by hardware? Build quality or parts? Parts are the same in most other computers. However for build quality, I noticed about the same build quality in the Surface Pro and Mac's. Infact, the Surface is the only portable computer that I can think of with a vapor magnesium case.

[tp4tissue]

IF YOU NEED UNIX, JUST USE LINUX. I'D TAKE LINUX OVER MAC OS X ANY DAY.

well, none of this changes the fact that Macbook pro is the better hardware here, windows OR macos..

pretty sure you can get linux on there.

What do you mean by hardware? Build quality or parts? Parts are the same in most other computers. However for build quality, I noticed about the same build quality in the Surface Pro and Mac's. Infact, the Surface is the only portable computer that I can think of with a vapor magnesium case.

Well we don't know how the surface will fare even with haswell. also, 4gig ram for photowork may be problematic

at least 8gigs for mild photoshop.

Bigger raws will need 24g or better 32g

[Topre]

IF YOU NEED UNIX, JUST USE LINUX. I'D TAKE LINUX OVER MAC OS X ANY DAY.

well, none of this changes the fact that Macbook pro is the better hardware here, windows OR macos..

pretty sure you can get linux on there.

What do you mean by hardware? Build quality or parts? Parts are the same in most other computers. However for build quality, I noticed about the same build quality in the Surface Pro and Mac's. Infact, the Surface is the only portable computer that I can think of with a vapor magnesium case.

Well we don't know how the surface will fare even with haswell. also, 4gig ram for photowork may be problematic

at least 8gigs for mild photoshop.

Bigger raws will need 24g or better 32g

Yes, that's true. Don't know how well it would do with Haswell, or even when it would come out with Haswell. 4 gigabytes is actually fine for mild photoshop on Ivy Bridge with Windows 8. The stylus doesn't lag unless if you are using some huge number of pixels with the brush, like over 500 and a weird shape. Not sure if OP wants a portable laptop that is able to handle just a bit of work, or if he is looking for a desktop replacement. However the maximum SSD capacity it comes with right now is 256GB, and not 500GB+ like OP wants. His best bet for one with the least amount of bloatware will be to look at the Microsoft Store and let his wife pick it out by herself.

[tp4tissue]

IF YOU NEED UNIX, JUST USE LINUX. I'D TAKE LINUX OVER MAC OS X ANY DAY.

well, none of this changes the fact that Macbook pro is the better hardware here, windows OR macos..

pretty sure you can get linux on there.

What do you mean by hardware? Build quality or parts? Parts are the same in most other computers. However for build quality, I noticed about the same build quality in the Surface Pro and Mac's. Infact, the Surface is the only portable computer that I can think of with a vapor magnesium case.

Well we don't know how the surface will fare even with haswell. also, 4gig ram for photowork may be problematic

at least 8gigs for mild photoshop.

Bigger raws will need 24g or better 32g

Yes, that's true. Don't know how well it would do with Haswell, or even when it would come out with Haswell. 4 gigabytes is actually fine for mild photoshop on Ivy Bridge with Windows 8. The stylus doesn't lag unless if you are using some huge number of pixels with the brush, like over 500 and a weird shape. Not sure if OP wants a portable laptop that is able to handle just a bit of work, or if he is looking for a desktop replacement. However the maximum SSD capacity it comes with right now is 256GB, and not 500GB+ like OP wants. His best bet for one with the least amount of bloatware will be to look at the Microsoft Store and let his wife pick it out by herself.

you can't just let someone who has not done the research "pick",

She could either just pick the pretty one, or try to save money in the wrong place.

Macbook it is.

[Topre]

That's the point, just buy the "pretty" one. I would gladly pay a bit more for better style. How hard is it for him to go with her, or shop online with her and just say "those specs are not what you want" the move on to the next one?

[tp4tissue]

That's the point, just buy the "pretty" one. I would gladly pay a bit more for better style. How hard is it for him to go with her, or shop online with her and just say "those specs are not what you want" the move on to the next one?

IDK, it could be pretty hard.

[Trent]

Thinkpad, that it all.

[microsoft windows]

Thinkpad, that it all.

TRENT IS RIGHT! THINKPADS ARE GOOD QUALITY LAPTOPS. I'D GET ONE OF THOSE OVER A CRAPPLE TRASHBOOK PRO ANYDAY!

[SidusNare]

I would go for something like the Thinkpad T410 or X201, the i5 is a decent processor and Lenovo hasn't messed up the Thinkpad line yet.

[SidusNare]

tp4tissue and Topre, don't feed the trolls.