Best windows laptop under $800 usd.

[NT1440]

It's far from useless.

Just because Apple refuses to come out with a 2-in-1 Mac doesn't mean there's no use case for them.

Yes they don't replace a dedicated tablet and yes I would not want to use a pen on a laptop all the time. But they are great for quick on-the-fly markups or notes while working on the laptop. If I ever buy a Windows laptop again it will only be a 2-in-1.

Sure.

I didn’t say anything about Apple.

You’re also discussing the use case for a foldable tablet, not a laptop with a touchscreen. I’ve deployed thousands at this point, the vast VAST majority of users only remember it’s a touchscreen (not 2 in 1) when they accidentally brush the screen.

 

[NT1440]

... which will never replace a Windows laptop that the OP actually needs as he clearly stated.

And using it for as a main device to do some real work in business school would be extremely labor intensive and frustrating due to Apple's idea of what "multitasking" is on an iPad.

I had to create multiple presentations and spreadsheets drawing data from various sources simultaneously (other presentations and spreadsheets, web, pdfs, even emails). Not being able to have multiple windows on screen side by side would be a major hindrance. Not having a reliable clipboard history manager running in background at all times would be a hindrance. iPad's memory management would not be very helpful either. The lack of a proper filesystem would be a problem for my Engineering part of the program, perhaps not as much for Business.

iPad is not good as one and only device for most degrees.

Agreed. The kid should get a windows laptop. It’s not worth the hassle and the professor is absolutely not going to help constantly.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

Sure.

I didn’t say anything about Apple.

You’re also discussing the use case for a foldable tablet, not a laptop with a touchscreen. I’ve deployed thousands at this point, the vast VAST majority of users only remember it’s a touchscreen (not 2 in 1) when they accidentally brush the screen.

I would say it depends on what their use case is.

I need to review and mark up 3d designs, drawings and specifications, and sketch things up all the time. I use the Surface pen on a daily basis.

E.g. someone sends me a proposed 3D design, I take a screenshot, draw my idea of changes, and email it right back within a minute. Beats having a Teams meeting.

And a foldable tablet will not have the laptop functionality that I primarily need.

Unfortunately, Surface Pro is a steaming pile of dung, hardware wise. But it doesn't mean that a 2-in-1 laptop idea is useless.

 

[JaredB985]

Im going into college and have to use a windows laptop; i really wanted a Macbook but they run programs that macs cant run. What is the best windows laptop that is $800 or less i dont need anything to pwoerful and dont care about the touchscreen aspect of it.

Why don't you just buy a MacBook (Intel based processor) and just install Windows via Bootcamp or a MacBook (Apple silicon) and install a virtual machine with Windows?

 

[NT1440]

I would say it depends on what their use case is.

I need to review and mark up 3d designs, drawings and specifications, and sketch things up all the time. I use the Surface pen on a daily basis.

E.g. someone sends me a proposed 3D design, I take a screenshot, draw my idea of changes, and email it right back within a minute. Beats having a Teams meeting.

And a foldable tablet will not have the laptop functionality that I primarily need.

Unfortunately, Surface Pro is a steaming pile of dung, hardware wise. But it doesn't mean that a 2-in-1 laptop idea is useless.

That’s…neat. This thread is about a student looking for a laptop.

 

[Milly342]

Why don't you just buy a MacBook (Intel based processor) and just install Windows via Bootcamp or a MacBook (Apple silicon) and install a virtual machine with Windows?

I have a MacBook with a intel

 

[Milly342]

Agreed. The kid should get a windows laptop. It’s not worth the hassle and the professor is absolutely not going to help constantly.

Can I run parallels on apple silicon?

 

[SnowCrocodile]

That’s…neat. This thread is about a student looking for a laptop.

Yes. You brought up deploying thousands of 2-in-1 and how you feel that they were useless in whatever environment you deployed them in, was it also about students ?

 

[NT1440]

Yes. You brought up deploying thousands of 2-in-1 and how you feel that they were useless in whatever environment you deployed them in, was it also about students ?

No, no I didn’t. Please for the love of god read my posts.

A touch screen laptop (a laptop where the screen doesn’t fold all the way back to “tablet mode”) is NOT a 2-in 1.

 

[NT1440]

Can I run parallels on apple silicon?

Yes, but honestly it’s not worth the hassle to bridge compatibility.

You wrote previously that you have not yet gotten the syllabus for the course. I would reach out to your professor and find out precisely what programs you’ll be using for your courses.

I’m assuming you’re an undergraduate?

 

[SnowCrocodile]

No, no I didn’t. Please for the love of god read my posts.

A touch screen laptop (a laptop where the screen doesn’t fold all the way back to “tablet mode”) is NOT a 2-in 1.

If it has pen support, it still allows doing pretty much anything you can do on a foldable 2-in-1. The foldable don't make good tablets anyway, too large and heavy.

But as far as PDF or screenshot markup, quick notes, sketching things up, using Whiteboard more effectively with a pen - they are great.

Which, of course, doesn't mean that people are using them to their full potential.

But then most of these people would be equally well served with a Chromebook.

 

[NT1440]

If it has pen support, it still allows doing pretty much anything you can do on a foldable 2-in-1. The foldable don't make good tablets anyway, too large and heavy.

But as far as PDF or screenshot markup, quick notes, sketching things up, using Whiteboard more effectively with a pen - they are great.

Which, of course, doesn't mean that people are using them to their full potential.

But then most of these people would be equally well served with a Chromebook.

Alright, I’m trying to give advice to a student who asked a specific question. Pen support on a vertical screen (which is just plain stupid) has nothing to do with the topic at hand

Suggest something to the OP based on THEIR needs or move on. I’m done interacting with you.

 

[Milly342]

Yes. You brought up deploying thousands of 2-in-1 and how you feel that they were useless in whatever environment you deployed them in, was it also about students ?

Is the m3 chip more powerful than the core 7 ultra?

 

[Milly342]

Alright, I’m trying to give advice to a student who asked a specific question. Pen support on a vertical screen (which is just plain stupid) has nothing to do with the topic at hand

Suggest something to the OP based on THEIR needs or move on. I’m done interacting with you.

So I actually found out tha reason they want windows is because of office 365 and apparently excel doesn’t work to great on macs and some people told me it works fine

 

[NT1440]

So I actually found out tha reason they want windows is because of office 365 and apparently excel doesn’t work to great on macs and some people told me it works fine

Oh, so Excel hasn’t ever been feature equivalent to the windows version. But M365 works right in the browser, and as a new student I doubt you’ll be doing anything complex enough to hit those missing features.

Get a MacBook Air, I think the M1’s are like $699 now?

 

[Milly342]

Oh, so Excel hasn’t ever been feature equivalent to the windows version. But M365 works right in the browser, and as a new student I doubt you’ll be doing anything complex enough to hit those missing features.

Get a MacBook Air, I think the M1’s are like $699 now?

I have the 2020 i3 MacBook Air and just wanted to upgrade I know people in the program that use a Mac and they say it’s fine but they do say excel sometimes causes issues. I was looking at the Leno yoga 9i laptop

 

[NT1440]

I have the 2020 i3 MacBook Air and just wanted to upgrade I know people in the program that use a Mac and they say it’s fine but they do say excel sometimes causes issues. I was looking at the Leno yoga 9i laptop

A colleague of mine has that machine, nice little device. If it’s in your price range, I say go for it.

 

[Milly342]

A colleague of mine has that machine, nice little device. If it’s in your price range, I say go for it.

Are the m3 still the fastest processor in thag class

 

[NT1440]

Are the m3 still the fastest processor in thag class

Yes, but I’m going to be honest with you. Nothing you’re going to do in your major is going to come close to taxing any modern laptop. Find the machine you’re looking for that fits your preferences for size, weight, screen, RAM (go 16GB minimum) and battery life within the budget you’ve set for yourself.

There’s nothing in a business major that a modern laptop can’t handle.

 

[Milly342]

Yes, but I’m going to be honest with you. Nothing you’re going to do in your major is going to come close to taxing any modern laptop. Find the machine you’re looking for that fits your preferences for size, weight, screen, RAM (go 16GB minimum) and battery life within the budget you’ve set for yourself.

There’s nothing in a business major that a modern laptop can’t handle.

At first I was looking at the m3 air with 16gb ram and a 512 ssd but it would be a waste if it’s not practical

 

[Technerd108]

At first I was looking at the m3 air with 16gb ram and a 512 ssd but it would be a waste if it’s not practical

If you are reconsidering a Mac then I would highly recommend waiting for a sale at BestBuy for the 14" M3 Pro MacBook Pro with 512gb ssd and 18gb ram. It usually goes on sale for $1799 and I bet it will go lower than that at around $1699. Either way that or buying through Apple using your student discount. That model would be perfect and able to run anything you through at it.

Excel on a Mac is Okay. I am assuming you are not going to do expert level Excel work just the basics and intermediate which means the Mac version might be just fine. On top of that, as others have said you can get an Office 365 subscription and use the office suite online through your browser if your Mac version runs into compatibility issues. They have sales on stacksocial and other sites on Office for Mac which would probably run a little better natively than over the web but probably not even noticeable unless your internet connection is poor.

Since you are familiar with MacOS and Apple ecosystem buying a Windows laptop for one program alone seems rather useless. If you need a Windows laptop just for Office maybe buy a used Windows laptop. An Asus model I recommended earlier, the Oled 14.5" x with 12th gen Intel would still run fine and be pretty cheap down the road if you absolutely needed it.

 

[Technerd108]

Is the m3 chip more powerful than the core 7 ultra?

They are close but the M3 has several advantages in terms of efficiency and cpu raw performance. The Ultra 7 is Intel's first somewhat competitive chip and the start of advancing process map in order to catch up with and potentially exceed Apple's process advantage. Intel and TSMC has different naming nomenclature for their process density and Intel claims their Process 4(Ultra 7) is as dense as Apples M3 even though the nanometer size for Apple is much lower. With a cpu process density or the number of transistors in a space vs. Nanometer size reported by TSMC of 3nm is much more advanced than Intel's process 4 or 7nm. So who do you believe?

What I can say is I have an M2 Apple MBA and Ultra 7 laptop with same ram. The M2 is probably 30% more efficient but not as fast. So I would imagine the M3 is even more efficient while being faster than the Ultra. Graphics on Ultra are very good compared to M2 but M3 Pro is much better.

The Ultra is by far, Intel's best effort yet at bridging the gap between efficiency and performance but is still behind Apple overall. Lunar Lake should be the processor that is possibly disruptive and finally matches Apple m series. We will see. Interesting times!!

 

[SnowCrocodile]

They are close but the M3 has several advantages in terms of efficiency and cpu raw performance. The Ultra 7 is Intel's first somewhat competitive chip and the start of advancing process map in order to catch up with and potentially exceed Apple's process advantage. Intel and TSMC has different naming nomenclature for their process density and Intel claims their Process 4(Ultra 7) is as dense as Apples M3 even though the nanometer size for Apple is much lower. With a cpu process density or the number of transistors in a space vs. Nanometer size reported by TSMC of 3nm is much more advanced than Intel's process 4 or 7nm. So who do you believe?

What I can say is I have an M2 Apple MBA and Ultra 7 laptop with same ram. The M2 is probably 30% more efficient but not as fast. So I would imagine the M3 is even more efficient while being faster than the Ultra. Graphics on Ultra are very good compared to M2 but M3 Pro is much better.

The Ultra is by far, Intel's best effort yet at bridging the gap between efficiency and performance but is still behind Apple overall. Lunar Lake should be the processor that is possibly disruptive and finally matches Apple m series. We will see. Interesting times!!

How is the real world battery life on your Samsung?

My biggest problem with Windows laptops is that most of time, their battery life claims are grossly inflafed.

 

[Chuckeee]

While I love Apple and Mac, this is important and you need to be serious. School recommended you get a Windows machine. You should get a Windows machine. As you get further on In school, there is the distinct likelihood some professor somewhere is going to throw customize software that they wrote at you. You might be able to get it to work in an emulator, but that’s a big might. You’re dedicating a lot of time and possibly a lot of money going to college. You will face many challenges, that’s what colleges about but it’s silly to introduce additional ones.

So you should absolutely get a Windows machine and (It hurts to say this a lot) You probably wanna make sure it’s an Intel machine too. The people making the recommendations probably don’t even understand the difference between arm and Intel but once again why do you want to take an additional risk?

 

[Milly342]

If you are reconsidering a Mac then I would highly recommend waiting for a sale at BestBuy for the 14" M3 Pro MacBook Pro with 512gb ssd and 18gb ram. It usually goes on sale for $1799 and I bet it will go lower than that at around $1699. Either way that or buying through Apple using your student discount. That model would be perfect and able to run anything you through at it.

Excel on a Mac is Okay. I am assuming you are not going to do expert level Excel work just the basics and intermediate which means the Mac version might be just fine. On top of that, as others have said you can get an Office 365 subscription and use the office suite online through your browser if your Mac version runs into compatibility issues. They have sales on stacksocial and other sites on Office for Mac which would probably run a little better natively than over the web but probably not even noticeable unless your internet connection is poor.

Since you are familiar with MacOS and Apple ecosystem buying a Windows laptop for one program alone seems rather useless. If you need a Windows laptop just for Office maybe buy a used Windows laptop. An Asus model I recommended earlier, the Oled 14.5" x with 12th gen Intel would still run fine and be pretty cheap down the road if you absolutely needed it.

Why the pro over the air? Just curious not trying to be rude or anything and also I was able to install windows through bootcamp on my MacBook so I have a windows laptop with me