Most "Mac-like" Windows-based laptop?

Currently on a 15" MacBook Pro -- I really like the design and aesthetics. I can see why they're so popular, to say the least. Installed Snow Leopard without a hitch yesterday.

Being a med student, my primary usage is for things like Microsoft OneNote (not included in Office 2008 for Mac), and I've got a 1GB+ folder with OneNote stuff in it. Unless I'm missing something, my options for using those same files/folders are:

1. Dual-boot Windows XP/Vista/7 on this MacBook Pro and live with the crappy battery life.

2. Use VirtualBox to create a Windows VM in which I can run Office 2007 and suffer with the performance hit.

3. Use CrossOver to run Office 2007 and deal with the occasional bug (and slight performance hit).

I am aware that Evernote can convert .one files, but only on a Windows platform. Currently experimenting with using that in a VM to convert the .one files, and then transferring the result to my Snow Leopard install.

But beyond all of that: if I end up having to return this MBP, what Windows-based notebook is the closest thing as far as design/quality/aesthetics? Any Montevina-based platform and a minimum of 250 GB / 4 GB works for me.

Thanks in advance.

 

Hard to say but in terms of laptops I always liked the Dell XPS line. HP looks pretty solid as well. Falcon Northwest has a sweet laptop but it can get pricey.

 

you have Snow Leopard.. therefor Bootcamp 3.0, which is said to run Windows much cooler and better battery life than the old Bootcamp did

 

Sony is considered as the "Apple of the PC world".

 

That is a true statement.

 

yes a sony viao is a good candidate.

 

I think Asus should also share that title, especially considering some of their recent laptops.

 

I agree with the above comments. SONY laptops are great, in terms of design and features. However, the built quality is not as good as the MBPs. In addition, they are "very" delicate. If you are a type of person who throws his/her laptop into a backpack, then SONY may not last very long....

When I was looking for my next laptop PC, the one that I wanted to get was a SONY and the price tag was around $2,200. Then, I said "well, at that price point, why dont I get a 15" MBP?" and I switched.

Before returning the MBP, I would try running Windows with Bootcamp 3 to see if it is "acceptable" to you. If yes, then your problems are solved and you get to keep a really cool computer. It would be sad to return something so good, because you cant run an MS software on it (which you can, but not as good as running it on a PC).

Good luck with your decision either way.

 

I'd think the Dell Studio line would be rivaling the Macbooks, especially since those laptops are geared to content creation. However, my only experience with that is that I bought the Dell Studio XPS desktop for content creation instead of the Mac Pro and I haven't regretted it, works just as great on Vista 64bit and has all the outputs that one would expect on such a machine.

Also, doesn't asus make the macbooks for apple? So then it would make sense for their builds to be similar?

 

Before my 15" MBP, my last laptop was a DELL XPS m1330. It was thin, portable and powerful for the applications I normally used. However, the build quality was incredibly bad -for a ~$1600 MSRP laptop- and it ran very hot (both CPU and GPU). The XPS line is now discountinued and new models are being sold as Studio XPS. The "studio" line alone is no way in comparison to any MBP. A coworker owns a DELL Studio 1515 and it is as bland as a DELL, heavy and clunky. You might have been thinking the Studio XPS line as an alternative the MBP...

 

Dell Business laptops look sleek. I'd say the new Acer Timelines are nice too.

If I were to "overpay", I would spend it on Apple and not Sony.

 

Now way Studio XPS is an alternative. One word: batterylife

 

Lol I don't think my MBP and MB will last that long if I threw it into my backpack.

 

For the 1 week that I didn't have a laptop, I borrowed a freshly configured (i.e., clean install Vista 32 bit) Acer Timeline. Although it looks sleek and nice, the computing power simply lacked big time. Even opening Firefox was quite a work for this Pentium processor. Then, I checked the reviews and it seems that the "slowness" was the main complaint.

 

That's because a lot of the timeline don't carry the Core 2 Duo CULV's. Hopefully 2010 will release nothing but Core 2 Duo's like an updated SU9400/SU9600, which run a lot more smoothly.

 

Nothing is Mac-like that does not run MacOS X.

 

have you tried any of these 3 solutions you posted?

 

i think the sony vaio fw something is the best mac look alike. it's slim, made up of metal and features the awesome chicklet keybpard.

 

no it is not from metal! and keyboard is no where as good as on macbook.

 

How so? It is the same "chiclet" style which Sony used before Apple.

 

Sony was the first ones to come up with the chiclet style keyboard but I think Apple implemented it best.

As for mac-like laptops in the pc world. I would say the Lenovo Y650 is the closest and was the laptop I was closest to buying because of this.

Its also chiclet style keyboard I believe, but it also has a huge trackpad, plus even has multi touch capabilities.

On top of all that its the thinnest 16" laptop at only 1" thick. Most laptops at this screen size is 1" in the front maybe, but are 1.5" thick in the back.

 

Well not quite a Laptop or Netbook, but here's the closest clone.

MSI X340
http://blog.laptopmag.com/hands-on-with-the-msi-x340

Dell also makes the Adamo, which I think is pretty close when it comes to construction and design. Not necessarily the style.

 

I had the impression that the sony vaio fw was made up of aluminium..Anyways, sony created the chicklet keyboard and apple perfected it.

 

And both not necessarily even close CPU power

 

I'm fully aware of that, OP asked this: "But beyond all of that: if I end up having to return this MBP, what Windows-based notebook is the closest thing as far as design/quality/aesthetics? Any Montevina-based platform and a minimum of 250 GB / 4 GB works for me."

Both are Montevina based notebooks including the MSI (which is a Core 2 Duo ULV processor). His keywords where "design/quality/asethetics".

 

Ok, You're right. I was more thinking about my needs

 

"pressure",key travel,etc...

 

dell studio xps 13 and 16

 

Durability and aesthetics considered, I think the EliteBook 8530p is a consideration. It's got the durability of a typical business class laptop, but has brushed aluminum for that simple style. The biggest issue, however, is the weight. At over 6 pounds, it's more than a pound more than the 15" MBP.

 

Hardware-wise, I mean. Snow Leopard is a nice OS, but I could live just fine with Windows 7. But I'm one of those people who never had any problems with Windows and has no loyalty to OS X.

Well, this machine has a VM -- and a Windows partition -- set up, but I don't really want to resort to that sort of thing if I can help it. Evernote's file conversion doesn't work cross-platform; I converted .one files in Evernote, but the resulting database doesn't look like it can be opened with Evernote on a Mac.

 

This should be a nice contender: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220585

I'm still waiting for the dual core version to be released.

 

link seems to be dead. the xps m1530/m1330 could be the closest thing to a macbook. of course if they refresh it...

 

Averatec makes aluminum notebooks as well so might want to check those out. There's a thread here on them.

 

Thank you for the options, all. The Sony FW looks like an idea, but that 6.4 (was it?) pound weight puts me off a bit; not sure I'd want much more over this 5.5 pound MBP.

Any other options of which I'm unaware?

 

Hmm link works for me, maybe give it a second or 2. It's the Asus UL30a by the way, in case someone wants to research it manually.

 

Another vote for the HP Elitebooks.

If you are concerned about weight, you can go to 14" on the 6930p and still have the same resolution of the 15" MBP's (mediocre) screen resolution. Then you're at 4.7 pounds.

If you're in the US...

Get a refurb here: http://h71016.www7.hp.com/html/hpremarketing/daily.asp?jumpid=re_R295_store/buspurchase-refurbished/computing/price-list#notebooks

Here's one (of many to choose from, check for the processor/ram etc you want), a Montevina with 256MB discrete graphics and 1440x900:
KS007UAR#ABA Refurbished HP 6930p XPV Duo2 P8600 2.4GHz 160GB 2GB DVDRW(LS) 14WXGA+ WLAN BT 256MB Cam Rmkt NB PC $749.00

Check the promos. Get a dock and extra battery cheap and extend the warranty to 3 years for $60.

 

As far as I know WXGA+ is not LED illuminated but standard CCFL

 

Yes, that's correct, and anti-glare.

Edit: You could go to a ThinkPad T400 w/ LED, but there are love/hate opinions on the design. Personally my ThinkPad is much more soothing to look at as all black than the silver of my MBP, but I understand if people think they are ugly. I used to think that until I bought one in an emergency, thinking I could always unload it (decent resale value), but I grew to love the design.

 

Dell Adamo, FTW .

Acer ferrari , anyone?

 

count me in for the HP elitebook.

 

elitebook series is great! only disadvantage is the weight.... And adamo is not really an option since even under virtual machine, mbp will perform as fast or even faster!

 

The Adamo is definitely a thought for me. It's handsome, on the lighter side, and isn't at some stupidly high resolution for a display of its size.

The only thing that puts me off is that CPU.

 

Realistically, the Adamo is actually competing with the MacBook Air in terms of size, weight, speed & construction. So it's a little unfair to compare it to a MBP. But unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a direct competitor to the MBP is terms of design, power and quality. I guess the Dell XPS or the new Asus UX50V / U50Vg and the Sony FW would likely be the closest in this class.

 

I have just posted a question on here asking if there are other thin and powerful options from any other brands as I am about to upgrade from my 15" Penryn MBP to either a unibody 15" or 17" MBP.

The IBM T400S is the closest I have found so far.
.83" thick, 1440x900 14" LCD, decent battery life etc.
Only issue really is that it only has the intel X4500 integrated graphics
It only takes 1.8" hard drives but this can be alleviated by using an ultrabay III which swaps the optical drive out for normal 2.5" sata or ssd

Although I am still looking

Z

 

Yeah, but Lenovos just look like as if they were built 15 years ago. The red little cursor stump in the middle of the keyboard proves that they're still stuck in the 90s. Cosmetically, it's like night and day comparing an Apple to a Thinkpad.

 

Agreed on the Thinkpad comments. Shallow though it might be, their appearance is precisely why I don't want one.

I'm also not liking this MBP much, either. Terrific design, looks nice, good hardware, great CS, but I don't care for OSX, I'm not an Apple kind of guy, and the touchpad is a little glitchy in Windows 7 via Boot Camp.

Given that my primary uses for notebooks are not technically demanding, I'm down to considering Dell's Studio XPS 13, the Dell Adamo, and... hell if I know what else.

 

I was actually in your exact position a little while back- looking for a notebook that could compete (in physical size) with Apple's notebooks. The closest I found was the Vaio FW series:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICED

And I'm not sure why those other posters said it wasn't, but the FW is indeed aluminum.

However, I ultimately just ended up getting another MacBook Pro- in terms of size, thickness, and weight, you're just not going to find another notebook brand that can hold a candle to Apple's portables (or at least I tried, and couldn't).

 

I had the unibody macbook. Your best bet is Acer Aspire Timeline AS3810T-6775
13.3 inch screen, 3.5lbs, intel ssd drive, but true 8 hour battery life with decent brightness and wifi on. Plus its less then 800$ with bing cashback. Plus its a multitouch pad, a little small but there 2 two finger scroll and tap which works great. Theres so dvd drive but i rarely use it. Its great for long hours in the med library and carrying around for powerpoint presentations.

 

The problem with the timeline series (and most of the other thin & light windows based notebooks) is the low specs and screen resolutions. Cosmetically they might be OK, but they lack the power to really compete.

 

Sony NW series