The World of MacBooks

Hey guys, this week we are talking about the World of Mac products, specifically their laptops and ecosystem. I am not generally a Mac user but I support them and have an iPad at home so please remember I am not the authority here.

Apple products have been a staple of go-to computers for designers and similar minded people for many years now and only have 2 distinct models to choose from, the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. This is where Apple shines though. With their ecosystem so small they don’t have to deal with the fragmentation issues that Android and Windows users have to deal with. They also stick to a very specific development and distribution cycle that is so specific you can generally set your watch to it, this is where they might be lacking especially when they are trying to acquire new customers. The same development and distribution cycle is very short with a new model coming out every year or two depending on the product. I have heard complaints from new customers saying that by the time you really learn your Apple products, the new one is out. To this I will simply end with this, I am a Supporter of computers in general so I like Mac products. Now without any more delay here are the MacBooks.

The MacBook Air is classified as a notebook but I would call it more of an Ultrabook because of its truly pleasing aesthetics and its very slim design. Everything on the MacBook Air is designed for maximizing speed and efficiency in a very slim and streamlined fashion. They do this with a solid mix of hardware and software usability. Running the latest Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processor with 4 GB of RAM, these never really feel sluggish and they always have a snappy response. They also use flash memory with a 512 GB storage cap. These allow very fast read and write speeds keeping your data close at hand. The thing that I really like though are the other amenities like the multi-gesture track pad and thunderbolt port. The speeds of thunderbolt are a thing to be reckoned with, from a storage stand point that is, with read and write speeds in the 10 GB/second area, or you could use it for one of their 27” Thunderbolt displays and those are magnificent. Pricing starts at $1099 for the base 11” model and $1399 for the 13” model.

The MacBook Pro is a different beast all together. This comes in 2 distinct configurations, with Retina and without Retina and believe me Retina is worth it. Imagine if you will, a beefier version of a MacBook Air and you have a general understanding of how a MacBook Pro works. Another very good trait is that it extends the maximum specs threshold. The RAM is upgradeable to 16 GB and the storage to 768 GB of flash storage. Everything else it pretty much comparable to the MacBook Air with one very notable except, it comes with a mobility series NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M graphics card. For you gamers out there this make as a huge difference as the MacBook Air comes with integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 which will not give you much of any 3D gaming potential. The pricing here is a little different as the have 2 models with two configurations apiece. The Pro without Retina starts an $1199 for the 13” and $1799 for the 15”, while the 13” with Retina will run you $1499 and the 15” will set you back a smooth $2199 (ouch).

The MacBook Pro section brings up another issue that plagued me until I figured it out. I didn't start serious gaming on my laptop until the last one that I brought and I didn’t understand completely why I had to sacrifice good graphics to make my games playable and then I figured it out. The internet is a informative place. So I am going to save you the trouble of having to find out….next week’s topic is the difference between a APU and a CPU/GPU Combo.

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Sub-classes of Laptops

First I have to apologize to the people that read the blog. Work and Life have a way of throwing you a curve ball here and there. To give you some perspective one what is coming in the future, we have a few great blogs lined up for you over the next few weeks. Some are centered around hardware others around troubleshooting common place problems, but we WILL be back on schedule of Friday postings and incremental weekday postings here and on our Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus pages (which you can find in the bottom of the post).

Without further ado, let’s talk about sub-classes of laptops. There are many different types of laptops with more and more popping up all the time. Each has a different use case scenario, but they all fit into one or more of the archetypes I am about to list. To make the transition between them easier I will be giving an example of each type to guide you along the path. * Disclaimer* If I have classified something that you don't agree with or make a mistake, please let me know.

Let’s start it off with what everyone has at least one of in their household, normally reserved for budget-conscious people, the Economy notebook. The concept of an economy notebook is always one of the fastest changing classifications. This is because as technology advances the parts that were high-end 1 or 2 years ago are replaced with newer and higher end products. The first laptop that I purchased myself (with the help of my Battle Buddy Martin) fit very neatly into this one. For those who are wondering it was a Dell B120, which I still have running Linux Mint and working nicely might I add. These laptop are very low side & middle of the road parts and are inexpensive. The do many things well and easily and are generally for web browsing, low impact gaming and Microsoft Office type products. They can do more, but the higher (depending on the specs) you go in terms of software the more you will strain the system and the more noticeable that strain will become.

Dell Inspiron 15

Next up we have the thing that most of the adult work force is familiar with the Professional laptop. These are what companies like Dell and HP market to businesses and home office users. They are generally powerful machines but are made specifically for portability and power in a light(ish) package. These will generally have later model processors (Core i5 and Core i7) and mostly utilize integrated graphics on the CPU and have good amounts of RAM (6 GB or 8 GB). These are designed with mid to upper level parts to facilitate higher functions like analytic work and are a staple IT shops everywhere.

HP Elitebook 8470p

Dell Precision M4700

Now is time to get into the meat and potatoes of laptops. Two of the next three sections revolve around what most people think about when they think high tech laptops. The third is what I consider a "dead" class, but might be making a resurgence....maybe.

Let’s start with my personal favorite class of laptops: Gaming Rigs. Gaming laptops are horribly bulky in this day and age, with the possible exception of the Razer's Edge, and there is good reason for this. The parts are almost entirely high end parts, think of a souped up version of a Professional laptop, but this is where the similarities end. These laptops have dedicated graphics card, extremely high resolution displays, high fidelity audio, TV tuners and all other manners of cool add-ons. This is why they are so heavy. These are made for high end gaming, Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, Audio Synthesis and all mannerisms of high level computing. These are the literal can do anything laptop, but you are going to pay the price for all the amenities. To me they are worth it though. A sub category of these are slight less expensive and less powerful Entertainment laptops, which I own myself. I haven't given them their own section because they fit very nicely here.

Alienware M17

Mobius ES

The Ultrabook is the (mostly) new kid on the block. It has an emphasis on being a light weight powerhouse laptop while being both "beautiful and artistically inspired". The new breed of them have all sorts of cool moves like turning into tablets and being ultra-thin. They come equipped with a similar disposition to a Professional notebook but with the aforementioned lightness and cool features. They are breaking onto the scene in a big way especially since lots of laptops are going touch screen, which is where the really shine. 

IdeaPad Yoga 13

Samsung Series 9

The last in this list is a dying breed of laptops that Google might be helping make a resurgence, the Netbook. Netbooks are small ultra-portable laptops that are more on the economy side in terms of power but much smaller. Because of this they are never really that powerful, that is until Chromebooks came along. Chromebooks started showing up a little while ago and come in 3 flavors, two on the low end and one on the HIGH end. The Samsung and Acer C7 Chromebooks are perfect for you student types out there, cheap and will do everything you want it to do, except game, unless browser games work for you. The Pixel on the other hand I wouldn't personally bother with, it’s too expensive for what it does, but WOW the screen is great and the design is top notch.

Chromebooks

That closes us out for this week and for the perceptive one's out there who noticed I didn't bring up Macs, don't worry the will get there spot light very soon...

For more info on Team Revolution Technology, please visit is at the following social media sites:

FaceBook: Team Revolution Tech
Twitter: @TeamRevTech
Google+: Team Revolution Technology
Web (Coming Soon): http://teamrevolutiontechnology.com/