About a month ago, the MacBook Air<\/strong> I had been using broke down. Given my rough handling and my youngest daughter scratching and dropping the screen… it\u2019s actually amazing it lasted this long. One day, after closing the laptop as usual and reopening it a while later, the Mac was completely unresponsive with a black screen.<\/p>\n Although it could still charge, no matter what I tried, the laptop wouldn\u2019t turn on. I heard repairs would cost around 50,000 to 60,000 yen, and thought, \u201cThat\u2019s too expensive,\u201d so it was ultimately the end of the line.<\/p>\n This Mac lasted only two and a half years… pretty short.<\/strong> So, what to buy next? I\u2019ve been using Macs for about 10 years, so switching to a non-Mac laptop now feels like a hassle.<\/p>\n That said, my laptop usage has changed since I last bought one, so I decided to look into other brands this time.<\/p>\n I tried searching online for \u201cbest laptops for bloggers\u201d<\/strong>, but since blogging isn\u2019t my full-time job and everyone\u2019s situation differs, I figured I\u2019d do my own research.<\/p>\n I realized that I no longer buy Japanese-brand laptops at all.<\/strong> (Though I used only domestic brands until about 10 years ago.)<\/span> What I noticed after buying a Mac is that Japanese laptops often come preloaded with lots of manufacturer-installed software.<\/p>\n Things like New Year\u2019s card software or antivirus programs… I don\u2019t need those, and I don\u2019t like my precious storage space being taken up by unnecessary software that slows down the laptop.<\/p>\n Also, I don\u2019t like the look of Japanese laptops with all those stickers (like Intel logos)<\/span> stuck on them. (Maybe this has changed recently\u2014I haven\u2019t checked lately, so it might be different now.)<\/span><\/p>\n So first, I thought about how I actually use my laptop.<\/p>\n \u2460 Writing blog posts That\u2019s about it… basically, \u201cwriting\u201d is almost everything.<\/strong> When I consulted my husband,<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not an engineer or designer, so if writing is your main thing, you don\u2019t necessarily need a Mac. You can make eye-catching images without Photoshop, too.\u201d<\/p>\n That made sense. I don\u2019t always need Keynote for presentations either… so maybe a different brand would be fine.<\/p>\n After some research, I focused on three options. First,<\/p>\n It made a bit of a splash recently with a new commercial boldly challenging Apple and Microsoft<\/strong> (laughs).<\/p>\nWhat Do I Use My Laptop For?<\/h3>\n
\n\u2461 Occasionally making presentation materials
\n\u2462 Occasionally editing eye-catching images
\n\u2463 Occasionally creating documents
\n\u2464 Sending messages via SMS<\/p>\nNarrowed It Down to Three!<\/h5>\n
\u2460 Chromebook<\/h4>\n