Sure, Apple launched its new range of MacBooks last week, and the whole world has gone crazy for their aluminium-clad loveliness. But what if you don’t fancy the near four figure price tag? Can you look as stylish sitting in a Wi-Fi hotspot, sipping on a frappuccino with a plain old PC instead?
Actually you can, and we’ve rounded up the top five MacBook alternatives to prove it. None of these laptops will come bundled with Mac OS X, so you’re stuck with Windows Vista. But if you can cope with that, they’re just as glamorous, and several even pack more power under the bonnet.
Best for graphics
Alienware Area-51 m15x
At 15.4 inches, Alienware’s gaming notebook is about the size of a MacBook Pro, and just as beefy, but at £949 costs the same as a MacBook. The NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX graphics card means visuals sweeter than the inside of a Creme Egg, while four gigs of RAM means it’ll handle any apps you can throw it. It’ll double up just as well for design professionals too with an optional NVIDIA Quadro FX 3600M card, and with the savings compared to a MacBook Pro you can even boost your coffee size from Tall to Venti, darling.
Best for looks
Sony VAIO VGN-SR29XN/S
Apple doesn’t have a monopoly on stylish notebooks, as Sony VAIO’s new SR series shows. This widescreen 13-inch wonder packs a Core 2 Duo processor and up to 4GB of memory inside its slim shell. It has the same silver looks and black keypad of the MacBook, with added power and portability. It does cost a teeny bit more at £1,169 but when it looks this good, what’s £200 between friends?
Best for extras
Toshiba Satellite Pro A300-1G0
At almost half the price of a MacBook (From £530, don’t you know), this 15-inch laptop comes with face recognition software. If it doesn’t like the look of you, it’ll lock you right out, so it’s probably a good excuse to make yourself shave too. That’s on top of a built-in card reader, webcam technology to scan and understand business cards, and an S-Video output, so you can hook it up to a TV without any hassle. Vista Business is included too, a rarity in the budget price bracket.
Best for value
Acer Aspire 5920G-3A2G25Mi
It may have an absolutely unpronounceable name, but it’s ridiculously good value nonetheless. A Core 2 Duo processor, 250GB hard drive, 3GB of memory, a built-in card reader, TV-Out plus HDMI output all help to make this everything from a monster media machine to a perfect budget business option. There’s even a copy of Windows Vista Home Premium thrown in too. All for £390. You’d struggle to get half a MacBook for that!
Best non-Mac for OS X
MSi Wind
This might be a bit controversial, but compared to clunky Windows Vista, Mac OS X is famously user-friendly, virus-free and fairly crash resistant. Unfortunately, Apple has some quite tough restrictions on what you’re supposed to run OS X on, and while many desktops can run Apple’s sleek operating system with some hacking and illegality, most laptops can’t. MSi’s hotcake selling Wind netbook bucks that trend, and if you’re prepared to face the wrath of Steve Jobs’ legal team, you can get OS X running on it at lightning speeds, as this MSi Wind video shows.
