Teacher / Staff Work Machine – MacBook Air vs Alternatives

This year I am finishing replacing all teacher workstations at the High School with MacBook Airs.   With Apple considerably raising prices and competitors offering solid machines it took sometime to settle on this for a replacement option.   Here are the models that were looked at and how I scored them as a viable replacement options.  Staff members were using MacBook Pro 2010-2012 Education Models.

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Disclaimer:  My reviews are based on this school districts environment and user base.   For example legacy USB ports are still needed as are VGA connectors to Projectors etc.  Many end users in other environments or at home I am sure are likely looking for all USB-C and next-gen ports,  however my mini reviews are based on a more realistic fit for what offers the best value to the education and work environment how it currently exists and it will most likely exist over the next 3 years.

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MacBook Pro 13 inch (Latest Model)
Price 1299$
Storage 256 SSD
Processor: i5
RAM 8 gb
OS: MacOS Sierra 10.12.4

Thoughts:  Solid Machine.  Priced too high.  USB C ports are nice but with the amount of equipment in schools today needed USB 3.0 ports as well.  If you add in the price of dongles this machine gets closer to 1400$ per teacher which is way too high.  (VGA to USB C adapter,  USB-C to USB 3.0/2.0 Adapter = both 100$)

Overall score 7 out of 10.  Again price major factor here drop 300$ per unit and this would be 9 out of 10.

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Dell XPS 13 inch

Price: 1199$
Storage: 256 SSD
Processor: i5
RAM: 8gb
OS: ubuntu or Windows 10

Thoughts:  I am Linux guy at heart and if the price was right I would honestly consider trying to move people to Linux.  However at 1299$ price is still a bit steep and Microsoft Office & significant software availability issues makes this untenable for Linux model(developer edition) .   Dell is interested in lowering prices to get into education but as a school district that has run MacOS for over 15 years a switch to Windows 10 has to be factored in terms of overall costs.  Training, support, malware protecti0n, group policy changes, adds to the cost of this machine.

Overall score 7 out of 10.  Changing OS from Mac back to Windows is doable but would need an agressive price point to make this happen, something around 899$ or less.

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Microsoft Surface (latest model)
Price: 1229$
Storage: 256 SSD
Processor: i5
RAM: 8gb
OS: Windows 10 Pro/Education

Thoughts:  I had high hopes that Microsoft would make some aggressive moves to get Surface back into schools.  Machine is solidly built, runs quick, has a great screen, pulls off touch screen and traditional computing better then any other device.  Price is the big killer here,  this device needs to be priced under 1000$ to be competitive and to warrant an full OS change in our district.

 

Overall score 8 out of 10.  Probably best device Microsoft has ever made.  Runs well and is quite versatile.  To move people back into Windows need to price a bit more aggressively for education.

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HP Spectre

Price: 1150$
Storage: 256 SSD
Processor: i7
RAM: 8gb

OS: Windows 10 Pro/Education

Thoughts:¬† This machine surprised me the most.¬† You get a lot of bang with your dollar here and cannot say much of anything negative.¬† This is probably the best laptop I have ever seen from HP.¬† The only downside is they don’t have a i5 reduced price model at the 999$-1050$.

Overall Score: 9 out of 10.  This machine is shown and often descreibed  as a copy/clone of the MacBook Air but even if that is the case they have done a great job.  Priced just a bit too high.

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MacBook Air (latest model)

Price: 999-1050$
Storage: 256SSD
Processor: i5
RAM: 8GB
OS: MacOS Sierra 10.12.14

Thoughts:  Okay so this is the machine that really created the ultra book market and did so for a reason.  There is nothing I can say bad about this machine except perhaps its screen resolution is dated compared to other computers.  However at a price point of just over 1000$ machine has it all.  I would venture to say that Apple will likely kill off this model because to be honest it probably hurts sales on their new lineup of MacBook and MacBook Pros.

Overall Score: 9 out of 10.  The only thing keeping this machine from a perfect 10 is not retinal level display.  Battery life excellent, durable, fast, proven design.

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Surface Book
Price: 999$
Storage: 128 SSD
Processor: i5
RAM: 4GB
OS: Windows S / Windows 10 Pro

Thoughts:  Okay so this was a late challenger and really missed the deadline to be a true competitor. However I am adding to my list since it was considered but due to dissapointing specs and price point quickly dismissed.  Machine is solid/built well has a great screen but at the 999$ price point that is about all it has going for it.  128 SSD is too small for a machine at this price point as is only 4 GB of RAM.  These specs look more like 2012-2013 prices and not sure what Microsoft is thinking here.  Windows S looks to be a late coming clone of ChromeOS and does not seem to fit this price point.  However it can be configured for Windows 10 Pro and this would be the config used for teacher machines.  Microsoft will need to regroup and work on marketting here of this could be another RT.

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Winner MacBook Air.  Although HP Spectre is a great machine with great specs and decent price point, it still was more expensive then the Air and runs Windows 10.  Since our staff/admin/teachers have used Mac for years there is a cost associated with switching platforms.  Had the Spectre been around 950$ this would have warranted a change.  The MacBook Air has a fast SSD, is extremly durable, has a proven engineered design and at a price point of just over 1000$ it is still the best value offered by Apple.

Note: The iPad Pro was considered and quickly dismissed.¬† Although a great device it is still limited in functionality and cannot replace a full laptop.¬† I say this as a owner of an iPad pro and iPhone 7… locked garden and restrictive iOS is just not ready to fully replace a teacher/admin workstation.