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Earlier this week Apple announced updates to its entire notebook lineup, bringing it up to date with Ivy Bridge processors and a few other goodies. Like them, many other computer manufacturers have been showcasing new and updated laptops over the past few days and weeks at trade events like Computex as key partners including Intel, AMD and Nvidia roll out their latest and greatest products.
Ultrabooks in particular received quite a bit of attention, and we’re not surprised. Intel is putting a lot of weight behind the concept and expects it to be the main driver of PC market growth in the short term. Apple has already experienced some of this with the MacBook Air, which has rapidly become one of the best sellers in the Mac lineup. Arguably it's the laptop to beat if you are looking into buying an ultrabook-styled portable.
With all that in mind, we’re taking a couple of Wintel alternatives to check how well they stack up next to the new 13-inch MacBook Air and perhaps settle the old debate about the so-called “Apple Tax” — at least in this category, since there's no way a single comparison can be representative of the entire Apple Tax argument.
User Comments: 35
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Buy any Windows PC today, get a $14.99 upgrade to Windows 8 Pro when it's released.
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according to other tech blogs, windows 8 will be available as an upgrade for win 7 users for around 15 dollars. Unless you are upgrading from vista or xp (not sure about the upgrade fee for these two), the "upgrade tax" is still lower than that of apple. my 2 cents.
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spydercanopus said:
Ultrabooks are to Macbook Air as Android was to iPhone. Apple is the only innovator on the field at the moment. Windows 8 will change that, hopefully.
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Nice linkbait Tech Spot, this proves nothing. Cherry-picking only 3 comparisons out of potentially hundreds, at the low end at that, and then not even drawing a solid conclusion.. yeah sorry. Linkbait.
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I'd pay the price of an ultrabook to not have to use Apple OSanything.
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There is definitely an Apple tax, but it is not so much on the hardware as it is in the peripherals. Try and buy a laptop charger... 80 bux. I can goto radio shack and get a generic plug for a windows machine for 1/2 that price. As someone mentioned before, usb cables and wall plugs that are white with an apple on them... insanely priced. Goto the Apple accessory isle in any store and see the $20 price hike on anything made for an iPad, iPod, or Macbook and that is from third party companies cashing in on the Apple tax.
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I love reading some of the stupid posts here. You people are so blinded by your ignorance. I used to be a PC nut. I build my own pc's and have used every OS Microsoft has ever put out. About two years ago my brother got a macbook pro and I tried it. Almost immediately I loved it. Now we have a MBpro, a macbook air, and several PC's in the house, and I can say Mac is better than Microsoft. Windows just fails far too ofter, MAC OS never does.
OSX updates are free (as are windows updates) and easy to apply. New OSX versions are $20-$30. OSX is much faster and less cluttered than windows. I have also installed and tested Win8, and imo Microsoft is admitting defeat to OSX, by trying to make windows look more like OSX's app driven GUI. It may work on a tablet or phone, but it's just retarded on a PC. I won't be using it.
OH, and by the way, with bootcamp (free with OSX) I installed windows 7 on my Macbook and it runs better than it does on a PC. Conversely, I have also built a 'hackintosh' (google it); that is, installing OSX on a PC as it's only OS. Runs awesome, and I used OSX Lion which I had already purchased for $29.
Mac wins.
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Who said something about these machines not coming with an OS? The Zenbook Prime comes with Windows 7 and can be upgraded to Windows 8 (which, by they way, will be a much more significant upgrade from Windows 7 compared to Snow Leopard and Mountain Lion) for only 14.99 as soon as it is available.
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worry about updates, etc. later.
Later? Really.... Wow.
Worry about saving money later too? That is why people are reading this article isn't it? To save money that is..? Later.???
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OSX fails plenty. I'm not saying that because I'm a Windows fanboy, but because I've had as many OSX crashes as Windows crashes. I push my computers hard, and both operating systems have their breaking points and bugs.
I just had a 3 year old iMac die. The cost of repairs would have been as high as buying a new iMac. Doing it myself would cost $400. The Apple tax isn't just from purchases, it also applies to repairs by authorized repair centres.
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