The Student Room Group

Which laptop should I buy?

So my MacBook Air 2017 died a week ago and I’m looking to get a new laptop. I’m currently looking at two: MacBook Air 2020 i3 8GB 256GB or the Acer Swift 5 i5 8gb 512GB SSD.

I’ve been in the apple ecosystem for quite some while. Now the only problem I have is that the new air base model has i3 so I need some help deciding.

I’m a second year university student so I’ll be using it for Microsoft office, browsing (opening many tabs for academic sources / articles), possibly Netflix, Zoom and stuff like this. Also I’d like it to have a decent screen (nothing all that fancy just pleasantly visible throughout the day).

Would it be worth going for the air 2020 base model? Or should I opt for acer or other windows laptops?

Although I’ve been using Mac OS for some time now, I wouldn’t mind using windows again but as I’m already in the apple ecosystem it makes sense to get a MacBook. But hey, why not opt for a windows laptop with better specs and better screen?

Oh and my budget is under £1000

Thank you!

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Original post by plant chef
So my MacBook Air 2017 died a week ago and I’m looking to get a new laptop. I’m currently looking at two: MacBook Air 2020 i3 8GB 256GB or the Acer Swift 5 i5 8gb 512GB SSD.

I’ve been in the apple ecosystem for quite some while. Now the only problem I have is that the new air base model has i3 so I need some help deciding.

I’m a second year university student so I’ll be using it for Microsoft office, browsing (opening many tabs for academic sources / articles), possibly Netflix, Zoom and stuff like this. Also I’d like it to have a decent screen (nothing all that fancy just pleasantly visible throughout the day).

Would it be worth going for the air 2020 base model? Or should I opt for acer or other windows laptops?

Although I’ve been using Mac OS for some time now, I wouldn’t mind using windows again but as I’m already in the apple ecosystem it makes sense to get a MacBook. But hey, why not opt for a windows laptop with better specs and better screen?

Oh and my budget is under £1000

Thank you!


New Macs are expected to be announced at an event next week, hold off on any decision until then. Apple will be moving to their own "Apple Silicon" processors compared to the Intel ones they've been using for the last 15 years, which is a substantial move that will see focus steadily move away from supporting current machines as they transition over. Third party support will also dwindle much quicker.

With that said, the i3 Air is absolute garbage. No other company in the world could get away with charging more than about £500 for a dual core laptop, and Apple are trying to do it at double the price; no amount of niceties make up for that horribly outdated foundation in such an expensive notebook, especially as we move into a world where quad cores become the norm and Apple start to wind back their support for their Intel machines. If your budget can't accommodate the £1300 that the quad core Air/Pro models cost, or whatever the new models we see next week are, then Windows options are the way to go.
I think performance wise, the acer is better with the i5 chip. If you have an iPhone etc, it could make more sense to buy the MacBook. Although personally, with the education pricing I'd get the i5 air or even the pro, although I get that you have a budget and that these exceed it.

If you can, head to a store and check them out (not ideal because of lockdown). The usage which you have mentioned doesn't require huge operating power as such, so I think factors such as battery longevity are more important than processing power, for example. Although a factor worth considering is the current apple keyboard. If you do not have any experience with using it, I would 100% recommend checking it out before you purchase as many people have found that they do not like it.

Overall: if you enjoy the connectivity of your devices and the Mac OS in general, get the Mac. If you fancy a change, get the acer. They're both great laptops which will do the job.
Thank you for your reply! Well then that’s settled then, the air 2020 is off the hooks 😂 Honestly I’m not surprised as it’s Apple after all. I think I might opt for a windows laptop. Any good recommendations? Is the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 a good one? Or the ASUS Zenbook? Thanks again 😄
Original post by Venture_interpol
I think performance wise, the acer is better with the i5 chip. If you have an iPhone etc, it could make more sense to buy the MacBook. Although personally, with the education pricing I'd get the i5 air or even the pro, although I get that you have a budget and that these exceed it.

If you can, head to a store and check them out (not ideal because of lockdown). The usage which you have mentioned doesn't require huge operating power as such, so I think factors such as battery longevity are more important than processing power, for example. Although a factor worth considering is the current apple keyboard. If you do not have any experience with using it, I would 100% recommend checking it out before you purchase as many people have found that they do not like it.

Overall: if you enjoy the connectivity of your devices and the Mac OS in general, get the Mac. If you fancy a change, get the acer. They're both great laptops which will do the job.

Thanks for replying! You’re absolutely right, battery longevity is crucial for me. Even when I used my mac, I never really used it for connectivity with other apple devices so that’s why I’m not that bothered. Would you recommend the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5in? Or is the ASUS zenbook or acer better?

Thank you again 😁
Original post by plant chef
Thank you for your reply! Well then that’s settled then, the air 2020 is off the hooks 😂 Honestly I’m not surprised as it’s Apple after all. I think I might opt for a windows laptop. Any good recommendations? Is the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 a good one? Or the ASUS Zenbook? Thanks again 😄

I personally really like both the Surface Laptop and Zenbook lines and have recommended both heavily on TSR in the past. The Zenbook line offers excellent value for money as far as premium ultrabooks go, for example this model for £750 gets you a tenth core i5, 8GB of RAM, a full terabyte of SSD storage, and even a few extras like an entry level graphics card (not useful for the tasks you listed, but it's nice to have) and the "smart" trackpad. The Surface Laptop 3 feels very much like a direct answer to the MacBook lines, with an excellent high resolution screen, exceptional build quality and the best combination of keyboard and trackpad quality of any laptop I've tested (something I used to give to Apple laptops before they ruined it with the advent of butterfly keyswitches), but only 128GB of storage in a £999 laptop feels downright stingy.
I absolutely agree! The surface 3 is definitely better than the MacBook Air. But the 128gb storage is a bit stingy. I personally always use an external hard drive for documents, files etc. I really got my eye on the Microsoft surface 3 but the Alcantara material. Seeing as this is the baseline model, do you think I should go for that one? I was a bit sceptical about the material but there are people saying the material doesn’t wear down drastically over time.

Thanks again
Original post by plant chef
I absolutely agree! The surface 3 is definitely better than the MacBook Air. But the 128gb storage is a bit stingy. I personally always use an external hard drive for documents, files etc. I really got my eye on the Microsoft surface 3 but the Alcantara material. Seeing as this is the baseline model, do you think I should go for that one? I was a bit sceptical about the material but there are people saying the material doesn’t wear down drastically over time.

Thanks again

If you're not deterred by the internal storage then it's well worth considering. Yeah the alcantara fabric has stood the test of time over the last few years, it holds up just fine to wear and tear.
Thank you so much for helping me decide. I decided to go with the Surface 3. And I’m sure as long as I won’t be silly, the Alcantara fabric won’t degrade significantly.
Maybe, but nobody buys an Air for its processing might. I have a recent quad core i5 Air and I suspect its only practical difference from the i3 is that it runs a little hotter, gets a bit more fan noise, and was a bit more expensive. I doubt whether I'd notice any substantial performance difference using the i3 model, given that what I (along with every other Air user) use the machine for is microsoft office, chrome, pdf viewing, video conferencing, and the occasional other processor-light app.

Of course this is probably going to become something of a moot point in a few hours.
Original post by TimmonaPortella
Maybe, but nobody buys an Air for its processing might.

People don't buy cars for the airbags but it would still be stupid to buy one without them.

It's not a matter of processing might, it's a case buying something that's not hamstrung by poor component choices right out of the gate, which I went on to elaborate on, and having reasonable expectations for the bare minimum that a four-figure laptop should provide.
As I went on to elaborate on, your "reasonable expectations" consist of hardware demands that do not translate into superior function.

I'm not saying that it doesn't have its issues, or even making any argument about how good a machine it is overall. I'm just pointing out that obsession with headline technical specs without regard to the use case doesn't get anyone closer to finding the best machine for them.

It would do me no good whatsoever to have better processing power than the Air gives, because I never even feel the inclination to do anything processor intensive on my laptop. As such, I don't really see why I should be mad that the Air doesn't give me more processing power. Yes, I'm paying a premium, but that is for other aspects of the device, that play a much greater role in my daily interactions with my laptop.
Original post by TimmonaPortella
As I went on to elaborate on, your "reasonable expectations" consist of hardware demands that do not translate into superior function.

I'm not saying that it doesn't have its issues, or even making any argument about how good a machine it is overall. I'm just pointing out that obsession with headline technical specs without regard to the use case doesn't get anyone closer to finding the best machine for them.

It would do me no good whatsoever to have better processing power than the Air gives, because I never even feel the inclination to do anything processor intensive on my laptop. As such, I don't really see why I should be mad that the Air doesn't give me more processing power. Yes, I'm paying a premium, but that is for other aspects of the device, that play a much greater role in my daily interactions with my laptop.


I'd argue that the improvements to the machine's longevity could be considered a"superior function". This isn't just arbitrarily arguing about a number on a spec sheet, the downsides of buying a dual core laptop in 2020 will make themselves apparent over the course of time you'd reasonably expect to be able to keep a £1000 machine for.

Either way, as you mentioned this will hopefully be a moot point after tonight.
Original post by plant chef
So my MacBook Air 2017 died a week ago and I’m looking to get a new laptop. I’m currently looking at two: MacBook Air 2020 i3 8GB 256GB or the Acer Swift 5 i5 8gb 512GB SSD.

I’ve been in the apple ecosystem for quite some while. Now the only problem I have is that the new air base model has i3 so I need some help deciding.

I’m a second year university student so I’ll be using it for Microsoft office, browsing (opening many tabs for academic sources / articles), possibly Netflix, Zoom and stuff like this. Also I’d like it to have a decent screen (nothing all that fancy just pleasantly visible throughout the day).

Would it be worth going for the air 2020 base model? Or should I opt for acer or other windows laptops?

Although I’ve been using Mac OS for some time now, I wouldn’t mind using windows again but as I’m already in the apple ecosystem it makes sense to get a MacBook. But hey, why not opt for a windows laptop with better specs and better screen?

Oh and my budget is under £1000

Thank you!

In what way has it died?

3 years is not old at all for a computer. It's only just worn-in.

If it's the motherboard it's probably BER (Beyond Economical Repair).
If it's the infamous butterfly keyboard, that's replaceable.
If it's the hard drive, that's replaceable.
If it's the screen, that's replaceable.
If the chassis is totally busted it's probably BER.
If it's the battery, that's replaceable.
Original post by TimmonaPortella
As I went on to elaborate on, your "reasonable expectations" consist of hardware demands that do not translate into superior function.

I'm not saying that it doesn't have its issues, or even making any argument about how good a machine it is overall. I'm just pointing out that obsession with headline technical specs without regard to the use case doesn't get anyone closer to finding the best machine for them.

It would do me no good whatsoever to have better processing power than the Air gives, because I never even feel the inclination to do anything processor intensive on my laptop. As such, I don't really see why I should be mad that the Air doesn't give me more processing power. Yes, I'm paying a premium, but that is for other aspects of the device, that play a much greater role in my daily interactions with my laptop.

I agree totally. You properly understand laptops. And what's important in them and what's not.

For the applications run by plant chef, the CPU and RAM are irrelevant. The hard drive speed is relevant to how quickly the laptop boots and loads applications.

For any computer of any price I think it's reasonable to expect it to:
Not start downloading stuff at inconvenient moments.
Not start nagging me for a reboot at inconvenient times.
Not have a load of stuff running in the background that is useless to my needs or that, even worse are spying on my useage of the computer.
Be stable. Such that if one application fails I can still keep working on other applications, and can close the failed application and restart it without having power cycle the computer.
Is not prone to viruses, trojans, key-loggers, security breaches.
Any default software that it comes with, eg web browsers, should actually work properly and not be an utter joke.
Have a reasonable set of peripherals that are OK for my hands and eyes to interact with.
Be something that I can expect to work fine for over 15 years, assuming I don't spill coffee all over it, or chuck it out of my 1st floor window.
Hell we're even starting to see the impact of dual core CPUs today. There's a reason nobody else tries to pretend a dual core CPU is premium, and they're only seen on budget laptops. Not to mention even if we did just boil it down to raw numbers on a spec sheet, more modern and powerful hardware has better longevity.

Of course the Apple Silicon launch has changed things up a bit. Now the Pro is a hard sell over the Air. But given how many problems are being reported already it's going to be really hard to recommend anyone touches a MacBook of any kind for a long time.

Thank god someone else round here actually knows what they're talking about though.
Original post by TimmonaPortella
I replaced it a year or two ago with a windows laptop that was on paper much better. Better processor (quad core!), better thermal performance, better, discrete GPU, and, for all of that, cheaper. It had a far better price to performance ratio.

That one, however, I hated from the outset. Not least because the build quality was not even in the same league. The hinge was quickly a mess, and instead of the very sturdy feet that macbooks have, it had sort of strips underneath (like the XPS) that kept coming off, which was infuriating. It just didn't feel anything like the same quality of product. The trackpad, in particular, felt like a really huge downgrade, which is another important part of actual interaction with the device. It doesn't work anything like as easily and effortlessly with other devices, and windows 10 is just not as nice an experience as Mac OS.

So you purchased a cheap (compared to the MacBook you owned) Windows gaming laptop, and unsurprisingly found that the quality wasn't as good? I'm not sure what you'd expect, paying less and getting better hardware naturally means you're going to compromise on the quality.

It also seems like a really bizarre choice to go from MacBook Air to gaming laptop with dedicated GPU. I can only assume you expressed that you wanted a GPU, hence why you ended up paying for that vs buying some other premium ultrabook and maintaining the build quality/user experience.

It does beg the obvious question. If you liked the MacBook Air, why did you end up buying a Windows gaming laptop instead of another MacBook? I don't personally recommend MacBooks all that often, but nobody with half a brain would think that a Windows gaming laptop is a logical replacement and try to make that recommendation.
Original post by AcseI
So you purchased a cheap (compared to the MacBook you owned) Windows gaming laptop, and unsurprisingly found that the quality wasn't as good? I'm not sure what you'd expect, paying less and getting better hardware naturally means you're going to compromise on the quality.

It also seems like a really bizarre choice to go from MacBook Air to gaming laptop with dedicated GPU. I can only assume you expressed that you wanted a GPU, hence why you ended up paying for that vs buying some other premium ultrabook and maintaining the build quality/user experience.

It does beg the obvious question. If you liked the MacBook Air, why did you end up buying a Windows gaming laptop instead of another MacBook? I don't personally recommend MacBooks all that often, but nobody with half a brain would think that a Windows gaming laptop is a logical replacement and try to make that recommendation.

I got an HP Envy 13. I believe it was very well recieved. My point is it beat the hell out of the MacBooks on paper, provided you only looked at things that didn't matter.
Original post by plant chef
So my MacBook Air 2017 died a week ago and I’m looking to get a new laptop. I’m currently looking at two: MacBook Air 2020 i3 8GB 256GB or the Acer Swift 5 i5 8gb 512GB SSD.

I’ve been in the apple ecosystem for quite some while. Now the only problem I have is that the new air base model has i3 so I need some help deciding.

I’m a second year university student so I’ll be using it for Microsoft office, browsing (opening many tabs for academic sources / articles), possibly Netflix, Zoom and stuff like this. Also I’d like it to have a decent screen (nothing all that fancy just pleasantly visible throughout the day).

Would it be worth going for the air 2020 base model? Or should I opt for acer or other windows laptops?

Although I’ve been using Mac OS for some time now, I wouldn’t mind using windows again but as I’m already in the apple ecosystem it makes sense to get a MacBook. But hey, why not opt for a windows laptop with better specs and better screen?

Oh and my budget is under £1000

Thank you!


I have a Dell i5 Ultrabook 8GB RAM 128GB SSD which I got second-hand, very good condition for just £240 and my brother got the same thing but in i7 16GB RAM 128GB SSD for £370 and they both have good screens and specs, work well, have a long battery life and are not crazy overpriced like Apple :smile:

So if you want a new Dell laptop with these specs they shouldn't be as expensive as Apple lol and you can always get a slightly older model or second-hand which will be a lot cheaper and definitely a better deal
Original post by TimmonaPortella
I got an HP Envy 13. I believe it was very well recieved. My point is it beat the hell out of the MacBooks on paper, provided you only looked at things that didn't matter.

Depends on what you're defining as "things that don't matter". For some people, raw specs do matter. From a longevity perspective, you'll undeniably get more life out of a more powerful laptop.

When it comes to user experience, there's also a lot of subjectivity involved. Things like the keyboard matter for example, and under normal circumstances I always recommend someone go try a laptop in person to get a feel for it. You'll always get people who claim stuff like MacBook/Dell/ThinkPad has the best keyboard, but it's entirely up to personal preference. In much the same way Windows vs MacOS is personal preference. Naturally some people aren't willing to pay a 2x or 3x premium just to get something shiny. Others are, and that's fine too.

At the same time though, some of these are seriously exaggerated. In much the same way the average person doesn't care about raw specs, the average person also doesn't care about how many mm of key travel, or a slightly subpar key layout.

Raw specs, or what's on the paper, matter because it's the only thing you can discuss objectively. Whether someone wants to pay a huge premium for build quality, or prefers one keyboard over another though is personal preference and isn't something you can actually make recommendations on. This is made worse by the fact Apple doesn't offer budget laptops, so you're exclusively comparing them to other premium devices. In that respect, it often comes down to premium MacBook vs similarly priced premium laptop with better hardware. I personally own an XPS 13 that's just as premium as a MacBook and costs similar, but performs better. I could have paid less, gotten the same performance and not gotten the quality if I wanted.

What this basically boils down to is "you get what you pay for". If you buy a cheap crappy laptop, you'll get a cheap crappy laptop. If you spend more money, you'll get a premium device. But from a performance perspective the hardware may not change so it comes down to whether the premium price is worth it to an individual.
It is complete and utter nonsense to say that you will get more life out of a laptop if you have one with "better" CPU and RAM specs - if you are a user that only runs basic Office, email, web browsing, video conferencing type applications.

You will get more life out of a laptop if:
you don't spill coffee over it
the lid or the chassis don't get too smashed up when it's subjected to whatever rough treatment, knocks of drops happen to it
the hinge / hinge area of the lid don't fail after so many thousands of openings and closings
parts are replaced as they reach the end of life, instead of sending it to landfill and buying another laptop - which may also depend on ongoing availability of spares, which is best in HP, Dell and Lenovo business laptops because they include models that sell the most, in the UK and worldwide.
the laptop isn't replaced when it suffers a software failure. And is instead given a software rebuild.
the owner is happy to be seen with an old looking laptop.
the motherboard is decently well engineered - which includes things like the manufacturer not using cheap, shoddy capacitors
the laptop is not left in the boot of a car during a -15c cold snap

It is also complete nonsense to say that you get what you pay for when it comes to laptops.
Because getting what you pay for goes out the window when you compare used IT equipment to new.

I own a 9 year old laptop with a Genesis RT. After the initial training, it will perform 3 times better than a 2020 Dell XPS for writing assignments. TimmonaPortella hit the nail on the head when he or she spoke about paying attention to the things that matter.

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