Today, Apple announced its new economical MacBook. At $599, it looks really impressive. While I haven’t yet tested its performance, battery life, or screen, it may prove hard to beat at this price based on some specs alone.
But that doesn’t mean the competition isn’t there. I want to recommend a few Windows laptop deals that offer various advantages over the MacBook Neo, showing where the Neo has both strengths and weaknesses.
First, check this Asus Vivobook 14a laptop that I was happy to recommend as an economical computer for the past year. In many ways, it’s the Windows version of a laptop like the MacBook Neo. It uses a highly efficient ARM chip, the Qualcomm Snapdragon It’s not as thin or light as the MacBook Neo, but it’s pretty portable for a laptop at this price.
Asus
Vivobook 14 (X1407QA)
Unlike the MacBook Neo, the Vivobook 14 comes with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. That’s double what you get in the starting configuration of the MacBook Neo. Right now, this configuration of the Vivobook 14 is on sale for $539. This is a great deal for these specs. It even comes with a healthier mix of ports, including HDMI, two USB-A, one USB-C, and a headphone jack. This also means it can support two external displays unlike the MacBook Neo, which can only handle one.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all saying that the Vivobook 14 is a slam dunk compared to the MacBook Neo. Based on the specs alone, I know the Vivobook 14 is a serious step forward when it comes to display. It’s less sharp, stretches across a larger screen, and color performance isn’t that good. The Vivobook 14 maxes out at 280 nits, while Apple says the MacBook Neo can go up to 500 nits. I have a feeling that the MacBook Neo will offer a much better display in almost every way.
There is also the touchpad. It’s a bit complicated to use, which is typical of budget Windows laptops. This is just a guess, but the MacBook Neo’s touchpad will probably be smoother. It’s a mechanical trackpad (unlike the MacBook Air’s haptic feedback trackpad), but Apple has almost never made a bad trackpad.
If you are not convinced by the Asus Vivobook 14, I also recommend the HP OmniBook 5, which is currently on sale for $500 and uses the same Snapdragon It’s not brighter than the Vivobook 14, but it gives you much better color performance and contrast. It’s also only 0.50 inches thick, which matches the MacBook Neo exactly in terms of portability.
As for the Neo, we don’t yet know exactly how it will perform. It has the A18 Pro, which is an iPhone chip. Apple makes some impressive claims against the equivalent Intel chip, but I’m very curious how it compares to the Snapdragon X.
But I was seriously impressed both by the Vivobook 14 and OmniBook 5 for the money, especially when it comes to battery life. If you’re considering a Windows laptop, the Asus Vivbook 14 and HP OmniBook 5 are by far the best laptops you can buy at this price, and they’re the lowest prices I’ve ever seen. If you have a few hundred dollars more to spend, be sure to consider some of my other options best budget laptop recommendations.
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