Best high-resolution Windows laptop

[skaertus]

Which, in your opinion, is the best ultra-high resolution laptop running Windows? By ultra-high resolution laptop, I mean a laptop with a resolution higher than 1920x1080. There are plenty of them being released, and it is also possible to run Windows on a Mac.

Not all of them have the same screen quality, though. Brightness may vary, and so color calibration. In addition, the specs are different; the touchpad is different among models, and so are keyboards; some of them have touch-screens and some do not... and some are heavier than others.

Well, which one do you think is the best one and has the fewer trade-offs?

In your vote, please do not take into consideration the fact that Macs also run OS X. Vote as if Macs were just Windows laptops, and would never be used to run OS X.

 

[Ccrew]

Lenovo Yoga 2, 3200x1800

But you're asking on a Mac board, so you'll get the inevitable "Eww, it's Windows" or Eww, the trackpad isn't as good"

Yes it's Windows. NO manufacturer makes a trackpad as good as Apple. But to be fair, you're also comparing Windows Ultrabooks against Macbook Pro's, so the comparison's are skewed a bit out of the gate. If it's a pure resolution shootout + optional functionalitythe Yoga wins. The Dell, well, it's a Dell

 

[skaertus]

Lenovo Yoga 2, 3200x1800

But you're asking on a Mac board, so you'll get the inevitable "Eww, it's Windows" or Eww, the trackpad isn't as good"

Yes it's Windows. NO manufacturer makes a trackpad as good as Apple. But to be fair, you're also comparing Windows Ultrabooks against Macbook Pro's, so the comparison's are skewed a bit out of the gate. If it's a pure resolution shootout + optional functionalitythe Yoga wins. The Dell, well, it's a Dell

I don't know about the trackpad. The trackpad drivers under BootCamp are just terrible. So, while the trackpad on OS X is just great, the very same trackpad under Windows underperforms and is worse than most other laptops out there. You can try TrackPad++, which is definitely much better, but it's not great either.

And Windows laptops have touchscreens as well, while Macs don't.

 

[Renzatic]

I'd go with either the Asus Zenbook UX301LA, or the retina Macbook Pro.

I'd almost give the nod to the Zenbook here, because it's about the same size and sports the same hardware as an equivalent sized Macbook Air, but uses an Iris 5100 iGPU over the HD5000, and has a much, much higher resolution screen (2560x1440 in case you're wondering).

edit: I should also add that Asus finally got around to fixing the trackpad issues, so they're good all around machines now, instead of good, if you use a mouse machines.

Downsides? The battery life isn't as good as the MBA (7-8 hours vs. the 12-14 of the Air), and it costs a helluva lot of money (starts at $1999 for a 13").

 

[skaertus]

I'd go with either the Asus Zenbook UX301LA, or the retina Macbook Pro.

I'd almost give the nod to the Zenbook here, because it's about the same size and sports the same hardware as an equivalent sized Macbook Air, but uses an Iris 5100 iGPU over the HD5000, and has a much, much higher resolution screen (2560x1440 in case you're wondering).

edit: I should also add that Asus finally got around to fixing the trackpad issues, so they're good all around machines now, instead of good, if you use a mouse machines.

Downsides? The battery life isn't as good as the MBA (7-8 hours vs. the 12-14 of the Air), and it costs a helluva lot of money (starts at $1999 for a 13").

The battery life isn't as good, but it may have a faster processor, is lighter and has a brighter screen with a higher resolution. In addition, OS X consumes less battery than Windows anyway, so even the Air is not as good in this respect under Windows as it is under OS X.

 

[Ccrew]

I don't know about the trackpad. The trackpad drivers under BootCamp are just terrible.

I'm sorry, I had to chuckle a bit. Considering the Bootcamp drivers are Apples, I kind of see how they don't exactly lose a lot of sleep over a "meh" windows experience on one of their machines.

I'll tip the hat to Renzatic's Asus recommendation, but frankly the machine is overpriced for my tastes. If you're going to spend that much $ I'd opt for the Mac, as 2 years down the road you'll have some semblance of a resale value. I'm in IT, I generally replace my own hardware yearly, and my experience is that at best you can get 50% of cost back on a Windows machine, and that number only if it's a popular model. After year 2 might as well use it until it dies. A Macbook usually has a resale until year 4/5 depending on whether it's currently supported by the latest OS. While you shouldn't base purchase based simply on resale, as it's never a winner and should base it on what you need, it's still a viable factor in a purchasing decision.

 

[skaertus]

I'm sorry, I had to chuckle a bit. Considering the Bootcamp drivers are Apples, I kind of see how they don't exactly lose a lot of sleep over a "meh" windows experience on one of their machines.

Have you ever tried to use the BootCamp drivers? They are crap. The experience is totally different from using a Mac under OS X.

I'll tip the hat to Renzatic's Asus recommendation, but frankly the machine is overpriced for my tastes. If you're going to spend that much $ I'd opt for the Mac, as 2 years down the road you'll have some semblance of a resale value. I'm in IT, I generally replace my own hardware yearly, and my experience is that at best you can get 50% of cost back on a Windows machine, and that number only if it's a popular model. After year 2 might as well use it until it dies. A Macbook usually has a resale until year 4/5 depending on whether it's currently supported by the latest OS. While you shouldn't base purchase based simply on resale, as it's never a winner and should base it on what you need, it's still a viable factor in a purchasing decision.

The Mac will have a higher resale value, but I didn't take that into consideration. Here in Brazil, we don't usually have a great resale market, so I don't count on that.

 

[Ccrew]

Have you ever tried to use the BootCamp drivers? They are crap. The experience is totally different from using a Mac under OS X.

I'm not denying that. What I'm saying is that those Bootcamp drivers are written by Apple. Do you really think they care hugely that Windows is inconvenient to use on a Mac? That's what I was getting at.But that said, the Mac's really aren't a "Windows Laptop" per say as much as they're an Apple laptop that can run Windows. I think if you want more rounded input back on the question you should define what you want that "Windows Laptop" to do. It's not all about screen resolution either and you'll find that with that crazy resolution (and as the owner of a Yoga 2 I know well) that a lot of stuff is frigging annoying to use. Dialogs that don't scale, dialogs that don't that have buttons that do, etc.

Just for example I tried to install Diablo III on my Yoga and the install screen in it's entirety was less than 3/4" high and an inch wide.

 

[skaertus]

I'm not denying that. What I'm saying is that those Bootcamp drivers are written by Apple. Do you really think they care hugely that Windows is inconvenient to use on a Mac? That's what I was getting at.But that said, the Mac's really aren't a "Windows Laptop" per say as much as they're an Apple laptop that can run Windows. I think if you want more rounded input back on the question you should define what you want that "Windows Laptop" to do. It's not all about screen resolution either and you'll find that with that crazy resolution (and as the owner of a Yoga 2 I know well) that a lot of stuff is frigging annoying to use. Dialogs that don't scale, dialogs that don't that have buttons that do, etc.

Just for example I tried to install Diablo III on my Yoga and the install screen in it's entirety was less than 3/4" high and an inch wide.

Apple should care about that. After all, BootCamp and Windows drivers are a feature of OS X, and Apple should care about the standard of quality of its software as much as it does with its hardware.

A good laptop is a well-rounded laptop: good materials, ergonomic, comfortable, good trackpad, good keyboard, thin, light. I can certainly tell the differences between the configurations of the laptops, but I cannot tell without testing each one which trackpad or keyboard is good or which is crappy.

I see some very high resolution laptops being released and I wonder if they are really good or if only the screen is gorgeous. So, I would like to have some input on the overall quality of these laptops. A high resolution laptop can have a bad keyboard, or a bad trackpad, or just heat too much, or have a short battery life. I want to know how these laptops compare to each other. And I would like to know how these laptops compare to Macs running Windows.

 

[Ccrew]

So, I would like to have some input on the overall quality of these laptops. A high resolution laptop can have a bad keyboard, or a bad trackpad, or just heat too much, or have a short battery life. I want to know how these laptops compare to each other. And I would like to know how these laptops compare to Macs running Windows.

Seriously, how many here do you think have subjective knowledge or own all the laptops on your list? Seems as if you either others to do your homework for you, and yet even then you succinctly shoot down any mention that doesn't correspond to what you think. I have the Yoga2 on your list, and I have the Retina Macbook. I can't speak to all myself, and I work IT for a living.

You want to run OSX? Buy a Mac. You want to run OSX AND Windows? Buy a Mac. You want a good dedicated Windows machine? Oh, that's right, it's all about resolution yet you haven't stated why you NEED that resolution. And an 11" Dell laptop is not even in the same continent as a 15" retina for comparison.

A computer is a tool. You buy it for a purpose. So if you want advice from folks here explicitly state that purpose. Understand when you do, you're on a Mac board, and you yourself have to determine how much weight to put to any opinions you do get, because obviously most here are here because of their Mac's, and that's what they can speak to.

 

[skaertus]

Seriously, how many here do you think have subjective knowledge or own all the laptops on your list? Seems as if you either others to do your homework for you, and yet even then you succinctly shoot down any mention that doesn't correspond to what you think. I have the Yoga2 on your list, and I have the Retina Macbook. I can't speak to all myself, and I work IT for a living.

It's not too hard. Probably many people have it. You don't have to be the owner of a laptop to have the knowledge of this. Anyone who has gone into a Best Buy store and has played around with some of these laptops may have this knowledge.

You want to run OSX? Buy a Mac. You want to run OSX AND Windows? Buy a Mac. You want a good dedicated Windows machine? Oh, that's right, it's all about resolution yet you haven't stated why you NEED that resolution. And an 11" Dell laptop is not even in the same continent as a 15" retina for comparison.

A computer is a tool. You buy it for a purpose. So if you want advice from folks here explicitly state that purpose. Understand when you do, you're on a Mac board, and you yourself have to determine how much weight to put to any opinions you do get, because obviously most here are here because of their Mac's, and that's what they can speak to.

It's just a comparison, you don't have to get mad at me because of that. A high resolution laptop means sharp text on the screen, something even a Full HD display cannot deliver.