Laptop Thoughts and Options Jul 2021

So i was thinking of getting an upgrade for my current dell insperon 7000, its a decent little laptop has a couple of things that annoy me, but i guess all hardware does (does it not?).

Current laptop:

i5, 256gig ssd, 8gig ram. Its fine for work and other small things, but the battery life is terrible, and thats not even doing anything on it, it gets under 2 hours away from the charger just doing web based stuff, so its not great. 

Reason for upgrade, mostly battery life i think the performance is fine.

I have a larger pc that i use for day to day stuff and gaming, and use the laptop as an addition.

Options that i have been thinking of:

• Mac M1 Air or Pro
• HP Omen 15
• Lenovo (something) Pro

Mac Book Air or Mac Book Pro

Switching to apple and macos, its a big leap really, i have been on windows machines since windows began and never really used a mac or macos, i do have an iphone and watch and airpods so i guess they will play nicely together. 

I have watched endless videos on the pro and air the m1 versions, and all are good really, just the switching of os and also the cost is quite high compared to similar windows laptops. I have almost convinced myself to get one and thats without even used the macos. 

I was thinking of getting the air with 8gig ram and 512hdd. Thats about $1664 on amazon at the moment, not sure if thats a common price. I kinda like the idea of no fan noise and the touch bar thing does not really worry me. battery life is amazing as well and it even plays some of the more basic games fine apparently. 

Price: $1664 AUD

Pros:

• battery life is awesome
• amazing keyboard and trackpad
• connects with existing apple stuff
• silent running
• nice and light weight. 

Cons:

• MacOS (this is a con as its something new i guess, so maybe not a con) 
• fear of the unknown
• not a gaming powerhouse (but still plays most major titles)
• does not run all the same apps as current windows pc's
• not windows
• No Ports (well it has 2, but really that is low)
• Not Upgradable, how you buy it is how it will be forever.

HP Omen 15

This is one of the top rated gaming PC's of this year. I have not watched as much stuff on this one, but i have heared its good and the specs are nice. 

https://www.hp.com/au-en/shop/laptops-tablets/personal-laptops/omen-laptop-15-en1044ax-48j25pa.html

This is a bit more expensive than the mac air but look at the specs of this thing. 

"At the end of the day, if gaming is your only (or main) purpose, it would probably be better to go for an ASUS ROG Strix G15 G513, or an MSI GP66 Leopard. However, its low-key design makes it very appealing to content creators, and the great display will surely make designers happy." via laptop media

Fan Noise: 57db at max? so it does get a bit noisy, but its a gaming laptop so this is expected. 

Price

$1839 AUD

Specs

• Ryzen 5
• 16 Gig Ram
• 512 SSD
• 15.6" screen
• GeForce RTX 3060 Graphics 
• Battery (11 hours ish, web browsing)

Pros

• Windows (this is a pro for me as its familiar)
• Can run all games
• Upgradable

Cons

• Battery Life may be low
• Noisy?
• Heavy and Large
• According to this article it runs 

https://laptopmedia.com/au/review/hp-omen-15-2021-15-en1000/ 

HP Omen Review and Noise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63BE6RklUeE 

Lenovo 15 pro vs HP Omen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JppgwyKpRFE 

Gaming on Mac M1 via Steam
https://youtu.be/CBLiTtDqjNk 

Do you want a potentially noisy gaming machine with windows and something farmiliar or go with something new quiet, reliable and silent. I cant decide. 

Legion 5 Pro 16" - AMD starting at $2124 i mean thats pretty pricey.

So i have watched the video on these the Omen vs the Legion, and im kinda still sweying towards the mac. Silent, Fast and No Fans. Its a hard decision. i think the mac m1 is still a better choice in the long term. 

I wonder if the M1 can run new world.