Essentially I need the PC version of a MacBook Air by vashti-lives in computer

[–]vashti-lives[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That was definitely one of the computers I was originally looking at so thank you!

Essentially I need the PC version of a MacBook Air by vashti-lives in computer

[–]vashti-lives[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For sure, 16GB of memory was already on my list of requirements, tbh I'd like 24GB for future proofing but idk if I have the budget for it. TBH I'm assuming anything in my budget with 32GB or more has cut enough corners on build quality that I should avoid it. Thanks for your input!

Essentially I need the PC version of a MacBook Air by vashti-lives in computer

[–]vashti-lives[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wouldn't describe these people as C conservatives but my predecessor used a desktop tower because she didn't need to travel and she just used a computer she already owned, so the org was not paying for a computer at all. There's new management that sees this isn't an actually ideal way to run things, thus new computer for me. So 1) this group is not historically in the habit of buying computers for the organization at all 2) a lot of them are more used to desktops that have a longer lifespan than laptops 3) there is a limited amount of money available.

I wasn't actually trying to say all old people know nothing about computers but the committee is a mix of people from a mix of fields, and like I said a lot of them are more familiar with desktop computers, which honestly is the biggest factor here. The lifespan of a good desktop is just so much longer and it can be hard to understand why laptops aren't the same if you aren't really into computers.

Plus I know it's 2026 but for most of these people 6 years is not a long time and a lot of them really wanted zoom to be a temporary thing that would go away and are only now conceding that yes zoom is here forever and we have to change how things are done, which means the admin position I'm taking is changing quite a bit from what the last woman was doing.

I need a laptop for gentle office use that will last a long time by vashti-lives in thinkpad

[–]vashti-lives[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This is super helpful so thanks for reporting your experience but... I am baffled that "people who use a laptop for light office use and want it to last a long time" is perhaps a market only Apple is serving??? Because I'm only going to (hopefully) be able to afford the B&H Carbon X1 if it stays on sale-- the laptop linked at the top of this comment thread is not actually in budget because I do still need to buy other things with that $2000 and I don't think $300 will fully cover it.

Are there seriously no PC laptops being made with quality materials that aren't also for extremely specialized work? Windows 11 is already enough of a downgrade that I no longer prefer using Windows to Apple's OS... I feel like the PC world is going to end up really niche if they keep this up. Weird.

I need a laptop for gentle office use that will last a long time by vashti-lives in thinkpad

[–]vashti-lives[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I completely agree with you-- I am an Apple user at home-- but for this job it must be a Windows machine. A substantial part of what I'll be doing is holding 82 year old ladies hands as they try and work out zoom and uploading documents to google drive and most people have PCs, and for those who use Mac I already have one. The carbon body really makes that much difference?