What 13" Laptop in 2022

[grrrmountainman]

Need a new laptop for personal and home business.. current use an HP Elitebook 1030 G3 for regular work (13") and like the touchscreen capability and the keyboard - rarely flip it into tablet mode.

Parameters:
13" screen
Under $1500cdn ($1200 us)
528mb storage

Otherwise for my use I just need something to access the internet on the daily, and store documents/photos. I use outlook, word and excel mainly but I can also use the apple equivalents and or google docs as well if need be.

Some I've been looking at are:

Macbook Air
Hp Envy
Dell XPS (too much $$?)
others?

Thanks - and yeah I see a laptop thread but it's not really super current or specific to the 13" request. One thing I don't do whatsoever is game or use drawing/cad software.

[RShea]

Need a new laptop for personal and home business.. current use an HP Elitebook 1030 G3 for regular work (13") and like the touchscreen capability and the keyboard - rarely flip it into tablet mode.

Parameters:
13" screen
Under $1500cdn ($1200 us)
528mb storage

Otherwise for my use I just need something to access the internet on the daily, and store documents/photos. I use outlook, word and excel mainly but I can also use the apple equivalents and or google docs as well if need be.

Some I've been looking at are:

Macbook Air
Hp Envy
Dell XPS (too much $$?)
others?

Thanks - and yeah I see a laptop thread but it's not really super current or specific to the 13" request. One thing I don't do whatsoever is game or use drawing/cad software.

Storage will be either 500 GB or 512 GB for SSD drives. Only way to get 528 GB is to have a 16 GB SD Card in a slot or Intel Optane in addition to the SSD Drive.

You did not mention Lenovo- Yoga, Thinkpad or Thinkbook series are all available in 13" screens.

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/d/13-inch-laptops

You can find CDN pricing on their web site also- I only know US pricing and no idea about Canada with your $1500 budget point.

Macbook maybe either the Air or maybe the Pro and some of the units unless you go refurbished are going to be over your budget limit. There are some 13" models in the $1000 to $1300 price range new direct from Apple though for sure. There are Mac versions of Microsoft Office for your needs of Word, Excel and Outlook, but the Apple or Google packages are not going to be Outlook for Email, calendar, etc. client- so how important is that?

One I forgot to mention in 13 inch Windows are the Microsoft Surface Pro's. More like a tablet hybrid (with keyboard), but they have their issues too- hard to repair, have had some battery issues (at least in the past years- swelling up and splitting or breaking the case if left to go too long)... They are a bit more money also, so closer to the Mac budget in my opinion.)

Is your budget with the Microsoft Office software license included ($250 or so or subscription model for Office 365 or Microsoft 365...)

Definitely a realistic budget for Windows PC and many options out there in even business class units (that would have better screens, cases, and all over the consumer units sold at big box retailers...)

[Falcon3]

If you decide to go Mac, wait a few months until the new MacBook Air 13” gets released. It should be way faster and have a better camera. They’re thinking sometime this summer.

[::: :::]

You didn’t ask for them, but your use profile suggests them: tablets are pretty robust these days (might be worth a second look if you can stomach more cloud storage over local). They are good w/ photo apps too if retouching/editing enters your photo world.

[grrrmountainman]

Yep meant 512MB storage (can you tell how tech savvy I am?) - I do appreciate a keyboard hence why not looking into the tablets but appreciate the thought! I'll take a look into the Lenovo's and thanks for the beta on the Macbook Air's

[ex-powderbroker]

If you decide to go Mac, wait a few months until the new MacBook Air 13” gets released. It should be way faster and have a better camera. They’re thinking sometime this summer.

yeah i agree. the new mac pros are so fast and so cheap... they will have to update and improve the laptops to go with it. I think they're bringing back the magnet chargers which was a feature i really liked too compared to the usb c jack and no one else has it.

[Falcon3]

yeah i agree. the new mac pros are so fast and so cheap... they will have to update and improve the laptops to go with it. I think they're bringing back the magnet chargers which was a feature i really liked too compared to the usb c jack and no one else has it.

I still use my 2011 MacBook Pro every day as my primary machine and literally every day either me or my dog trips over the cord and unplugs it from the laptop. The MagSafe connector has saved me thousands in broken laptops I’m sure.

[::: :::]

I do appreciate a keyboard hence why not looking into the tablets but appreciate the thought!

Not an issue really

[RShea]

Yep meant 512MB storage (can you tell how tech savvy I am?) - I do appreciate a keyboard hence why not looking into the tablets but appreciate the thought! I'll take a look into the Lenovo's and thanks for the beta on the Macbook Air's

There are tablets that have keyboards- Microsoft Surface Pro are basically a tablet with a keyboard clam type of setup. Samsung and others have some tablets with keyboards also. Many of the keyboards though are chicklet type and smaller keys with very little downstroke...

A few others in the Windows (compared to Apple iPad or Android Tablets out there that run other OS's other than Windows or Apple Mac software) There are a few other limitations on tablets though that would want to consider, including 11 or 12 inch screens most of the time are the larger tablets and to go up to 13" screen, you are now in the convertible models with the KB that folder over behind the screen...

[NBABUCKS1]

Macbook Air.

/thread.

[Self Jupiter]

Pretty impressed with the way my MacBook Air has functioned flawlessly for a couple years after being left out in the pouring rain (shut) for around an hour.

[Falcon3]

Pretty impressed with the way my MacBook Air has functioned flawlessly for a couple years after being left out in the pouring rain (shut) for around an hour.

Nice. I spilled a full 16oz beer in my 2011 Pro (straight down the keyboard while running) back in 2014. Still runs like a champ.

[TexasGortex]

I was a long time Apple MacBook Pro user (dating back to PowerBooks) that switched over to Microsoft Surface Pros a few years back. I’ve been very happy with the trade. Surfaces can frequently be found on discount, which makes them very competitive against Apple products. I agree that looking at MSRP vs MSRP doesn’t make them super appealing.

My wife has a MacBook Air that is also nice, but suffers from the same thing Apple computers always do: the base models don’t include enough RAM and it’s a much more pleasant experience with an upgraded model.

[alpinevibes]

Yep meant 512MB storage (can you tell how tech savvy I am?) - I do appreciate a keyboard hence why not looking into the tablets but appreciate the thought! I'll take a look into the Lenovo's and thanks for the beta on the Macbook Air's

The Air's display will top this, along with the processor. But for your uses, those pluses probably aren't worth the Apple price tag. The AMD processor on this is a small step below the performance capability of the M1, but totally adequate for your needs. Bumping to 16GB of Ram on this (vs 8GB on the Air) would provide a more-noticeable improvement for multi-tab/multi-program usage:

$730, pretty damn good value. Not as fancy, but similar form factor to MB Air and half the price: https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp...p-13-be0097nr?

You can get 3% off by buying through BeFrugal

Edit: a couple decently discounted 13" laptops from Lenovo right now, but nothing below $1200 that get's to a similar level of spec.

[JPaul]

Costco (In US, dunno if Canada has similar sale) has 13.3” MacBook Air for $1050 and Pro for $1250 right now. Both with 512GB SSD.