Switching from Mac

[snaqvi91]

I can't believe I'm actually contemplating this. A few years ago I got sick and tired of windows xp crashing and poor hardware etc. So I switched to Mac and absolutely loved it. But now it feels very stale and windows 8 seems like a breath of fresh air.

While I have confidence and excitement towards the software, its the hardware that concerns me. Let's admit it, Apple does make VERY impressive Mac hardware. Sure it has shortcomings like being delicate but overall I find it very impressive.

So I'm thinking of switching to windows 8 but don't really know what to get. I trust Lenovo a lot, I find the surface pro hardware very beautiful but the implementation lacking (jack of all trades, master of none). So I'm wondering is there some laptop that looks as great and feels as great as a surface pro but has the reliability of Lenovo and the several great things in MacBooks.

Here's what's important and not important to me. A lot of it will be because I'm spoilt by the excellent MacBook hardware features.

Crucial:
Long battery life (around 7 hours, similar to MacBooks)
Lightweight (like MacBook air)
SSD

Important:
Backlit keyboard
Beautiful screen
Beautiful looks (like surface pro)
Decent snappy performance (not Intel atom crap but not alienware horsepower, more like macbooks)
HDMI
Comfortable keyboard and large trackpad

Don't care:
Gaming graphics (I'm happy with integrated)
Lots of storage space (I'm fine with 128GB)

I'm open to anything from 10 to 13 inches. I'm looking to spend no more than $1300 (price of 13" MacBook pro) if its worth it but looking for something cheaper but decent around $1000 (price of 11" MacBook air). If someone could recommend a system that would be awesome.

 

[radioseb]

Hi, just got an ASUS vivo book for my gf and its absolutely amaizing. Have a look at their new touch screen line up with w8. I am planning on getting a taichi next. Hope it helps.

 

[radioseb]

http://zenbook.asus.com/ here is a link, take it from there

 

[unstoppablekem]

Get the surface pro.

 

[casab1anca]

Two options from Lenovo that meet most of your requirements:
Lenovo X1 Carbon - Business-Class ThinkPad X1 Carbon Fiber Laptop | Lenovo (US)
Yoga Lenovo Convertible Laptop & Tablet PC | Ideapad Yoga 13 with Windows 8 | Lenovo (US)

 

[inteller]

don't switch because you think your computer is "stale" Digital products dont get old like bread. If what you are using works for you keep using it until something else comes along that works better (which Win8 does).

 

[pedenske]

A friend of mine got a real nice HP

HP Envy TouchSmart 14" Touchscreen Ultrabook -Black (Intel Core i5-3317U/32GB SSD 500GB HDD/8GB RAM) : Ultrabooks - Best Buy Canada

 

[CHIP72]

I've heard some very good things about the Asus Zenbook series.

One thing I STRONGLY advise - if you buy a Windows 8 laptop, make sure you buy a touchscreen laptop. You don't necessarily have to buy a convertible laptop (i.e. one that can function as either a laptop or tablet or in some cases other form factors), but I think a touchscreen is a major, major plus with Windows 8.

 

[jdhooghe]

I don't find the same quality as Macs...but then again mountain lion on my air results in a 3 hour battery life :/

 

[Samst22]

If you have a MacBook, while don't you just install it on there? I don't know how, but I've heard of people doing it.

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

I'm going to agree with Samst22 here. I'm using Windows 8 on my MacBook Pro and it runs a dream. Once you fix up the devices (I might write a tutorial for that!)

 

[Jrexxx]

Please do! I'm getting a MacBook pro next week and I'm going to install windows 8 on it. However I'm worried that the Trackpad won't work as well as on OSX, and that there is no support for windows 8 gestures.

 

[snaqvi91]

I can't control the screen brightness using the buttons on the MacBook pro. Any solutions? I think I used to be able to earlier.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[CHIP72]

I can't control the screen brightness using the buttons on the MacBook pro. Any solutions? I think I used to be able to earlier.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

Go into Windows 8 desktop mode and click on the battery icon. You can change the brightness settings there. You can also change the brightness settings in Metro/tile mode by putting your cursor in the upper-right corner and bringing up the right-edge menu (i.e. the Charms bar). Brightness should be one of the options shown in the Charms bar; you don't need to go into sub-menus. Finally, if you type something like "screen brightness" on the Metro/tile mode screen (i.e. click anywhere that isn't in a tile and start typing), you should be able to bring up the brightness settings in the Charms bar.

I should note the brightness settings are creating my biggest problem/annoyance on my Asus VivoBook X202E. My computer wants to default back to performance mode whenever I start up computer, regardless what setting I had the computer on when I powered it down after my previous use. I'm unsure if that is a VivoBook X202E-specific issue, an Asus/Windows 8 issue, or a broader Windows 8 issue impacting many/all Windows 8 laptops.

 

[CHIP72]

Please do! I'm getting a MacBook pro next week and I'm going to install windows 8 on it. However I'm worried that the Trackpad won't work as well as on OSX, and that there is no support for windows 8 gestures.

When you say there is no support for Windows 8 gestures on a Apple MacBook Pro/Air, do you mean that you (obviously) don't have touchscreen options or that you can't/don't get the hand icon to come up when you place your cursor at the top of the screen so that you can close an app/program? I'm just curious.