Purchasing your own work laptop -- MacBook Air or Lenovo Yoga? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Moving from midlaw to biglaw in a few weeks (yes, it can be done, in a flyover city). My current firm uses leased Dell laptops and a VPN. New firm has given me the option to buy my own device and connect using virtual desktop, and I'm trying to decide between upgrading my MacBook to a new MacBook or Air, or going the Windows route with the Lenovo Yoga series. I thought the Lenovo's touch screen and tablet features might come in handy for certain projects. Any thoughts or experiences with using either option as your work laptop?

[Anonymous User]

I have a Lenovo 3 14" yoga (I think that's the model) that I use for law school, and I absolutely love it (sorry I know this question is about using it for work, but I figured my experience might be somewhat helpful to you). It's really fast and has good specs, and I've never had any issues running too many applications at once or anything like that. I rarely use the touchscreen, but it's nice to have when I'm scrolling through Google maps or zooming in on documents.

The only concern I have with my laptop was that it inexplicably turned off a few months ago and wouldn't power back up, so I had to send it in to get it fixed. It wasn't a huge issue for me since it happened over winter break and I had everything backed up, but I'm sure if that were to happen at a firm the consequences could be a lot worse.

Hope that helps!

[Barack O'Drama]

Moving from midlaw to biglaw in a few weeks (yes, it can be done, in a flyover city). My current firm uses leased Dell laptops and a VPN. New firm has given me the option to buy my own device and connect using virtual desktop, and I'm trying to decide between upgrading my MacBook to a new MacBook or Air, or going the Windows route with the Lenovo Yoga series. I thought the Lenovo's touch screen and tablet features might come in handy for certain projects. Any thoughts or experiences with using either option as your work laptop?

What year/model is your current Macbook?

[Anonymous User]

Moving from midlaw to biglaw in a few weeks (yes, it can be done, in a flyover city). My current firm uses leased Dell laptops and a VPN. New firm has given me the option to buy my own device and connect using virtual desktop, and I'm trying to decide between upgrading my MacBook to a new MacBook or Air, or going the Windows route with the Lenovo Yoga series. I thought the Lenovo's touch screen and tablet features might come in handy for certain projects. Any thoughts or experiences with using either option as your work laptop?

What year/model is your current Macbook?

2011 MacBook Air. Works fine except for terrible battery life.

[Genius]

i never understood the appeal of iOS platform. Honestly Dell Inspirons are like hands down the best bang for buck in terms of style and baseline configuration. If you have money for Mac, why wouldn't you buy a Dell XPS? So much cheaper, faster, better, and lighter.

[lwtpl]

i never understood the appeal of iOS platform. Honestly Dell Inspirons are like hands down the best bang for buck in terms of style and baseline configuration. If you have money for Mac, why wouldn't you buy a Dell XPS? So much cheaper, faster, better, and lighter.

Do you mean OSX or iOS? The latter is for mobile devices.

For OSX, (1) Hardware is generally better. Build quality, keyboard flex/key travel, trackpad responsiveness. (2) Better hardware/software integration. (3) W10 is still somewhat buggy, especially compared to OSX. (4) Aesthetics are debatable. I think many people would be turned off by the XPS's plastic components. Also less accessories.

I use both Windows and Apple computers and there are advantages to each, no doubt. But honestly, for a laptop purchase, unless you have a very specific reason to go Windows, like needing to run rare Windows-only software or play games, I would go with a MacBook. If you need to go sub-1000 dollars, there are more options for Windows laptops, though.

[RaceJudicata]

Just make sure your firm's software is 100% compatible with Mac. I guarantee that its all compatible with Windows, but can't say the same for Mac. Inability to use the correct firm software/applications will negate any perceived mac benefits.

[dixiecupdrinking]

I'd just use the firm laptop. Using virtual desktop (eg Citrix) blows. Much better to be able to VPN in and have your laptop act like it's directly on the firm network.

[1styearlateral]

Shouldn't really matter since you can VPN (built-in) or use virtual desktop on a Mac as well. I personally would choose the Mac, but it's probably just better to ask someone in your department what they use and if they are aware of any pros/cons to either one. If the firm gives you the option between Windows/Mac, they're most likely both supported and it really just comes down to preference.

[Wild Card]

Lenovo T or X series.