Win-Alternative to MacBook Air

[johnscully]

Hi,

wanted to upgrade my MacBook Pro (2015) to a current model but all the M1-Macs I've tested give me headaches and eye irritation (probably because of PWM displays). So finally I'm looking for alternatives in the Windows camp – never thought it would come to this. The Win laptop should be as close to the current MacBook Air as possible, meaning among other things:

• No PWM display
• silent fan (with everyday tasks – I don't mind if it gets hearable or loud during video encoding and things like that)
• "Retina"-like resolution of the display (+ high quality display)
• great keyboard
• good trackpad
• not too much weight would be good too
• doesn't need to have highend performance, but should run well with a external 4k display

Heard good things about Lenovo Thinkpads. Any recommendations?

 

[tbayrgs]

Hi,

wanted to upgrade my MacBook Pro (2015) to a current model but all the M1-Macs I've tested give me headaches and eye irritation (probably because of PWM displays). So finally I'm looking for alternatives in the Windows camp – never thought it would come to this. The Win laptop should be as close to the current MacBook Air as possible, meaning among other things:

• No PWM display
• silent fan (with everyday tasks – I don't mind if it gets hearable or loud during video encoding and things like that)
• "Retina"-like resolution of the display (+ high quality display)
• great keyboard
• good trackpad
• not too much weight would be good too
• doesn't need to have highend performance, but should run well with a external 4k display

Heard good things about Lenovo Thinkpads. Any recommendations?

What about the Surface Laptop 4? Microsoft has some discounts presently—can grab a version similarly spec’d as the base MBA (AMD CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD), nice display with 3:2 aspect ratio and a touch screen for $899. I test drove one a while back and found the keyboard typing experience great and the trackpad better than any I’ve tried on another Windows machine. Hardware was really nice—try reaffirmed I’m not a fan of using Windows on a daily basis.

 

[johnscully]

Thanks for the recommendation – but according to Notebookcheck the Surface Laptop 4 has a PWM display.

 

[chabig]

You might have better luck by just doing a web search for "Laptops without PWM".

 

[maflynn]

the Surface Laptop 4 has a PWM display.

In all honesty I don't recall every coming across any mention, complaint or highlight regarding PWM.

Given the lack of current information (just googling is brings back articles/links from 2017 and earlier) I don't know if that's something that should be a concern.

 

[johnscully]

You might have better luck by just doing a web search for "Laptops without PWM".

I did - but then I geht some “generic“ results without my listet other criteria. So I thought maybe someone here has more specific advice.

 

[chabig]

I did - but then I geht some “generic“ results without my listet other criteria. So I thought maybe someone here has more specific advice.

Yeah. I tried the web search but didn't come up with anything recent. Though I did find lists of brands with machines that didn't have PWM at all. That could be a starting point for researching current machines from those manufacturers.

 

[kazmac]

Not sure how often NotebookCheck updates this PWM list but...

https://www.notebookcheck.net/PWM-Ranking-Notebooks-Smartphones-and-Tablets-with-PWM.163979.0.html

They do mention if displays have PWM in every laptop review, so you may want to check their reviews first.

I have a 2021 15” HP Envy that is fine, but it’s more an mid level intel MBP replacement than MBA.

 

[bobcomer]

The Thinkpad X1 series are seriously nice machines, that's what we buy at work. Lighter than an M1 MBA, carbon fiber shell, reliable.

 

[TSE]

The Thinkpad X1 series are seriously nice machines, that's what we buy at work. Lighter than an M1 MBA, carbon fiber shell, reliable.

The Thinkpad X1 Carbon or the LG Gram are the PC laptops I would purchase if I had to go PC.

 

[TechRunner]

The Thinkpad X1 series are seriously nice machines, that's what we buy at work. Lighter than an M1 MBA, carbon fiber shell, reliable.

+1 for X1 Carbon as an alternative to MBA . My wife has a 6th gen, and it's a great machine still going strong after three years. Recommended!

 

[Technerd108]

No there really is nothing in the windows world comparable to MB air. The reason I say that is the M1 chip allows a finless design that doesn't hamper performance. There is no mobile processor in the Windows world except for a Surface running Windows on ARM that can run finless and perform really well and have great battery life and the Windows machine is no where near as optimized and fast as the air.

Now there are a lot of ultra portables. I like the Aero13 from HP. It has an AMD processor and a very good screen. Battery life should be good and performance should be good. I think the Aero would be the closest and would be a very good Windows machine to have!!

 

[MBAir2010]

seems to me every PC laptop manufacture are releasing ultra thin,
16 hour plus hour battery and 12 core processors around the early spring time,
by then the pundits will know how good they are and of course if they are comparable to the MacBooks of 2021.

 

[Madhatter32]

If you want a good MBA competitor in the thin and light category you may want to consider the LG Gram. It is truly thin and light and very portable. You have to do your own research on the PWM issue, but a good resource is Notebook Check Review, which suggests it was not detected at least on some models.

LG Gram 14Z90P in review: Superior endurance and finally more performance

The LG Gram is known as an endurance runner among laptops. The new LG Gram 14Z90P 14-inch model weighs less than a kilogram but once again convinces with extremely long battery life. Our review will reveal other compelling features of the subnotebook.

www.notebookcheck.net

LG gram Laptops | SuperSlim, Style and 2-in-1 Laptops

Shop LG gram Laptops Designed For Work, Gaming and More. Explore Touchscreen Laptops and SuperSlim Laptops for Lightweight Portability and Powerful Performance.

www.lg.com

 

[ghanwani]

Thanks for the recommendation – but according to Notebookcheck the Surface Laptop 4 has a PWM display.

Are you 100% sure it's a PWM issue and not something else? Notebookcheck also mentions a 60Hz flicker and then there's also temporal dithering. Many folks think temporal dithering is the culprit.

I'm currently laptopless so also looking for something. I bought an M1 MBA, it seemed to be working and so I traded in my Intel MBA, and then within a couple of weeks I started to have really bad headaches and eye pain so I returned the M1 MBA.

I'm not sure if there's anything fanless on the Windows side.

I've been looking at Vaio because they have a super lightweight 12" model, but I guess it could look at a Lenovo as well. It's been such a long time since I dealt with researching/purchasing a windows laptop and the landscape is so much more complex. On the plus side, matte display is an option and I think that itself will help a ton because of lower glare.