Mac, Windows and Android question

[Gonzo]

Redundancy at the end of the year means that I'll need to sort myself out my own portable and durable laptop asap. Mainly for the purposes of job hunting and self employed / contracting type work. I don't need profligate processing power.

For the sake of my abused neck, it'll need to be light with a screen around 13/14 inches.

At home we've survived on a diet of cheap Dell laptops which have served us very well but I would not want to carry one around and wouldn't trust one to last very long travelling.

For the last 16 years my employer has provided me with a variety of high end Lenovo and Dell machines which have been impressive. I was astonished to find that my current small Dell would cost me over 1400 of my own pounds to buy - a bit pricey for me.

I've pretty much narrowed my search down to either a MacBook Air or a thin Lenovo ultrabook, the quality of both being top notch.

And so to the question. My home ecosystem is Windows dominated and must remain so for Mrs G's work, my phone is Android and won't be changed anytime and I really like the look of the MacBook. Would that be a sensible buy from a compatibility perspective or should I really stick with a Windows machine?

And no.....I don't need convincing around ascending to the higher being that is The Apple God but I am worried about three different operating systems.

 

[RedRick Esq.]

If you go for the Mac book ( and i would recomend you do) they will Sync with Outlook for calendars and such. E mail is easy so not an issue.We have Windoze based systems at work but Apple at home and portable with no issues

 

[Greg Masters]

When BR switched from steam to electric, they made the switch as soon as they could because they knew how difficult it would be to maintain and operate two different means of doing the same thing.

In many respects Apple is better than Windows products, but my 2d is that you should either go entirely Apple or entirely non-Apple.

Others will have a different view, I'm sure ....

 

[cookie]

When BR switched from steam to electric, they made the switch as soon as they could because they knew how difficult it would be to maintain and operate two different means of doing the same thing.

In many respects Apple is better than Windows products, but my 2d is that you should either go entirely Apple or entirely non-Apple.

Others will have a different view, I'm sure ....

not me. i think you are spot on

 

[islandbob]

Go Apple, I spent years with windows based systems and had numerous issues, despite anti virus etc always being installed there were always problems. Since the move to Apple I have not had a single issue. The system takes a bit of getting used to but its fantastic. I also agree with the above, go fully apple, its so easy then, I have ipad and iphone and they all speak to each other effortlessly, without a doubt the best system for me.

 

[cookie]

Go Apple, I spent years with windows based systems and had numerous issues, despite anti virus etc always being installed there were always problems. Since the move to Apple I have not had a single issue. The system takes a bit of getting used to but its fantastic. I also agree with the above, go fully apple, its so easy then, I have ipad and iphone and they all speak to each other effortlessly, without a doubt the best system for me.

all very well but....

"My home ecosystem is Windows dominated and must remain so for Mrs G's work"

 

[Walowiz]

I'll need to sort myself out my own portable and durable laptop asap. Mainly for the purposes of job hunting and self employed / contracting type work. I don't need profligate processing power.

For the sake of my abused neck, it'll need to be light with a screen around 13/14 inches.

I've pretty much narrowed my search down to either a MacBook Air or a thin Lenovo ultrabook, the quality of both being top notch.

I've worked and travelled myself with Apple and Lenovo kit, both are good. The last products guy I worked with bought his own Macbook Air (Company we were working for used Dells) for working and travelling as its powerful enough and runs OS X and Windows and it weighs bugger all. It was so light and portable and damn durable from the amount it travelled and used !

If budget doesn't stretch to the Air AND you need to use windows at home, the Lenovo S540 and 440 are both metal chassis, light, easily serviceable and have the same rugged industrial build quality that you come to expect from Lenovo, Windows only obviously. They probably do other models now, but if durability and Windows compatibility are key, Lenovo.

My 2 cents.

 

[Leasouth]

Travelling with large touch screen Lenovo at the moment light and thin, seems to do everything. My Android Note 3 phone also works seamlessly with it and syncs with Outlook.

 

[Dahoum]

And so to the question. My home ecosystem is Windows dominated and must remain so for Mrs G's work,

the devil is in the detail - depends on what you mean by 'ecosystem' and how far into it you are/need to be.

 

[shay]

If you aren't already doing so, switch to Gmail and Gcal. They are platform independent, web based if you want, mac mail in yosemite will handle gmail properly (mavericks didn't). Same with Android phone, gmail and gcal will work with it and changes made on one device will reflect on the other.

Google docs for your document needs, Gdrive or dropbox for saving your documents, etc and you should be good to go.

 

[(RIP) Bin Ridin]

I was going to ask about all the problems with Windows, but decided not to bother.

 

[Dansin]

I have an Android phone, iPad, Windows pc, Linux pc and Linux laptop. No problems at all synchronising and using documents, email, contacts and calendar. Provided you have don't any specialist software then the Mac will work if that's the one you want.

 

[adventuredon]

mm, I'd say go with the one you (and the Mrs knows the most about) so you can fathom and set it all up just so. Without having to spend numerous hours getting it to sync (because they do sync, but maybe you need an hour here and there to make it ...)

 

[cookie]

I have an Android phone, iPad, Windows pc, Linux pc and Linux laptop. No problems at all synchronising and using documents, email, contacts and calendar. Provided you have don't any specialist software then the Mac will work if that's the one you want.

but won't you be using some rag bag assortment of 3rd party apps to do it?

one of the nice things about apple gear is that it all uses the same software (more or less).

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

i have everything at home and it all works with each other.

My work laptop is a lenovo thinkpad and is also flawlessly running windows 7.

However, herself has an apple macbook and seems to have more issues printing than mine - however for travelling the lenovo is actually more robust and no heavier, the apple would get scuffed and dented - better as a home showpony really, although seems to have better battery life.

Samsung phone syncs with everything and loves google stuff, her iphone 4S works well too but is physically too small for me

just go with whatever you want.

 

[Gonzo]

Thanks to all for the views. Having sat down and done a bit of thinking on what exactly would need to be compatible, the Mac seems do-able. It's either documents in Office, Google stuff such as cloud, mail and photos, web apps such as Facebook etc and Skype etc. Nothing too technical. I've test driven a Macbook Air (luverly ) and will go and have a look a Lenovo, probably one of these: http://www.johnlewis.com/store/lenovo-u430-ultrabook-intel-core-i7-8gb-ram-500gb-8gb-sshd-14-touch-screen-grey/p1639550?navAction=jump&_requestid=3064933. They look nice and come in at around £200 cheaper and I sort of trust the sturdiness of a Lenovo.

 

[Walowiz]

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Thanks to all for the views. Having sat down and done a bit of thinking on what exactly would need to be compatible, the Mac seems do-able. It's either documents in Office, Google stuff such as cloud, mail and photos, web apps such as Facebook etc and Skype etc. Nothing too technical. I've test driven a Macbook Air (luverly ) and will go and have a look a Lenovo, probably one of these: http://www.johnlewis.com/store/lenovo-u430-ultrabook-intel-core-i7-8gb-ram-500gb-8gb-sshd-14-touch-screen-grey/p1639550?navAction=jump&_requestid=3064933. They look nice and come in at around £200 cheaper and I sort of trust the sturdiness of a Lenovo.

Try lenovo direct and for less than the JL price get a thinkpad like one of these : http://shop.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/s-series/s440-touch/

Better build than the U series.

 

[Gonzo]

Well, a deep breath has been taken and the MacBook has been bought (via a relative working for John Lewis ) and is on its way to Daddy right now.

Expect a steady stream of threads entitled "Mac - How the fuck do you do xxxxxxx?" where xxxxxxx = a wide range of simple tasks such as copy and paste etc......

Thanks for all the advice thus far.

 

[Skippy]

Well, a deep breath has been taken and the MacBook has been bought (via a relative working for John Lewis ) and is on its way to Daddy right now.

Expect a steady stream of threads entitled "Mac - How the fuck do you do xxxxxxx?" where xxxxxxx = a wide range of simple tasks such as copy and paste etc......

Thanks for all the advice thus far.

Secretly, I really like mine but, read my Rant for a couple of excellent tips.

 

[Gonzo]

Secretly, I really like mine but, read my Rant for a couple of excellent tips.

Oh yes, I saw that one but in view of the fact I will get my hands on mine in about 30 mins, thought it better to stoically ignore your rant for a couple of weeks until I feel precisely the same way.........