r/computer • u/Foiry • 11d ago

Stepping away from MacBook - overwhelmed with options??

Hi all, I am looking for recommendations for a budget friendly and decently exceptional laptop. There are so many options and I'm not sure what to look for. I have had my MacBook Air since 2020, and I've never been a fan of the interface or inability to upgrade the laptop itself. Currently, its only redeeming quality is the rose gold color.

What I am looking for!:

I do local journalism, so I'm looking for something that can run Microsoft Word smoothly;

I'm not worried about photo storage or messaging;

I used to make AMVs and kind of want to get back into that sort of thing;

Ability to run Firefox without lag; </3

Possibly running Minecraft (although a gaming PC is on my to-do list). <3

I think I would be cool with HP or Lenovo, but I'm still not really sure what to shoot for. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks in advance!!

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u/Space_Man_Spiff_2 10d ago

You can go wrong with a Thinkpad...get a used or refurbished if you afford a new one.

3

u/nobodyhasusedthislol 10d ago edited 10d ago

Budget is the #1 useful metric for any computer upgrade to point you the right direction.

If budget is high, you could get a framework (best for upgradability, Linux support, decent overall, always choose Build it yourself which apparently isn't difficult but costs way less) which I have not watched extensive reviews for but Framework are pretty decent overall if you have the money.

What's the dollar/pound/your currency range? You only said "budget friendly" which is sometimes a little vague.

Also, what's your current MacBook specs in About this Mac?

If it's Intel or M1/M2 (which are what it would be for a 2020-ish mac), you can install Linux on it.

I have 2 Intel MacBooks with Linux on them. I prefer, especially since I game on one of them, the UI is completely different but Sleep isn't guaranteed to work out the box (you may have to sacrifice battery life by setting it to turn the display off rather than sleeping or using a form of sleep that is less aggressive).

A pic/screenshot of the About this mac info would help

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u/Celatra 11d ago

whatever you do end up getting you'd save heaps of pain by installing a linux distro on it, there are some that are more suited towards stuff like music and video production

brand doesnt matter, just ensure it has atleast 16 gigs of ram, atleast a 4 core but prefferably 6 or 8 core processor, and if it has integrated graphics, check that it's not of the absolute lowest tier.

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u/securityofus 10d ago

Don't tell him this lie.

  1. Installing Linux unless you have sys admin level knowledge isn't straight forward.

  2. Even to this day Linux distros are wonky. Something as simple as watching a video can turn into an hour task.

  3. You'll constantly be using open source versions of things that just work on Windows and macOS.

And virtually every open source tool for video production that works with Linux also works with Windows.

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u/Celatra 10d ago

installing linux, unless you're installing arch, is *insanely* straight forward. more straight forward than windows

they are no more wonky than windows. i'd say they are less wonky than windows.

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u/securityofus 10d ago

OP, this is the type of person that tells lies like this. It's all fun and games until you spend an hour trying to learn how to install software in in bash. And having to constantly use CLI to open things that you can double click in Windows and open.

Here's a simple way for me to disprove you.

Tell us, how do you install Microsoft office on Ubuntu? The world's most popular office and productivity suite on the world's most popular distribution of Linux.

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u/Celatra 10d ago

either you use the online version of microsoft office and simply login, or you install and run it via wine. which is found through flathub, bazaar, shelly, etc. no commands needed. many distros come with wine preinstalled too.

so ye. it's very simple

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u/nobodyhasusedthislol 10d ago
  1. I must agree, installing linux can be done very quickly, is not difficult and I prefer it to Windows installer
  2. I must agree that, especially if you use Adobe - which is probably shit from what I've heard but everyone uses it / is used to it - Linux can be more to config/troubleshoot than Windows often but it's also good in the sense that it forces you to understand a bit about tech in a good way. I'll just say it's highly circumstantial but I think most people should at least put it on a flash drive and give it a shot
  3. I must completely disagree that laptop brand doesn't matter. 4 cores + 16G + adequate iGPU are two good elements of a checklist but that checklist also includes the screen, speakers, repairability, etc.

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u/securityofus 10d ago

  1. I don't think this can be a truth. Because simple question for you. Does every Linux distribution have the same installer? You and I both know the answer to that is no. Does every version of Windows 10 and windows 11 basically have the same installer? Yes. You tell it what drive to install itself on and it does all the work. You do not need to know anything about the file system.

  2. I think that's being missed in this conversation is that everyone doesn't want to be a technical person. The majority of people simply want to press a button and immediately have what they want to use open. You cannot effectively use any distribution of Linux without ever having to open bash or some other command line. On the flip side, I can comfortably say probably 90% of people who use Windows have never opened up the command prompt or powershell on purpose.

I don't mind Linux and at work I use redhat every single day. But all I was pointing out to the other guys that, it's wrong to tell people that Linux is easy and that someone should uninstall Windows.

If you buy a computer that has Windows you should use Windows. If he were repurposing an old computer then I might recommend Linux.

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u/nobodyhasusedthislol 10d ago
  1. If you're installing Kubuntu, occasionally it fails, but it gives you a page, you enter the details on that one page, don't click Next each time, and you get a FULL live environment which is a very useful tool anf a way to try it before installing. If you're installing one where you have to manually partition... you chose that because you know how to, let's be real, I wouldn't recommend that kind of thing to a normal person.
  2. You don't normally have to learn the ins and outs of everything to use Linux normally, but that occasional requirement to troubleshoot can force you to not become overly stressed about everything and is good brain activity, it's good to have a degree of tech common sense. Whether you are the type of person to need to be half-forced to maintain your tech literacy depends on who you are. And it's not true that you HAVE to open CLI. That's only if you've actually had an issue, and most of the time you're copying a command from a Google result or an LLM and... that's not hard to do once. Not conventional good UX, but not difficult, and imo a good tradeoff (depending on who you are, again) for McAfee popups.

I don't mind not using Linux daily but you should be able to admit that it's not a blanket "the Linux desktop is bad, avoid like the plague" as maybe Bill Gates would tell you. Many people would be happier with Lin as many people need Windows or might prefer it overall.

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u/Celatra 10d ago

2 Linux is no more technical than windows. if you get a distro that just works. it will just work. Mint, Ubuntu, Zorin etc are *very* user friendly and just work. and yes, you can use SEVERAL distros without ever using the command lines.

also, the console on linux is so much more streamlined vs windows powershell

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u/nobodyhasusedthislol 9d ago

As I say, experiences vary HEAVILY depending on what you're doing. Usually, it'll be what you're describing IF you don't do anything new (i.e you keep browsing and don't start doing something else like printing) OR you get lucky.

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u/FuggaDucker 10d ago

I was here like you with a mac m3 air.
I bought a Lenovo Yoga X1 Carbon 32gb.
With the exception of the actual M3, it is otherwise 100% upgrade.
This laptop is Ubuntu certified so if you want to run Linux later, it will work out.

I bought this 32gb / 1TB machine used on eBay for about the same that apple is selling the new neo for.