Honestly so fed up with my current laptop right now. Its a massive 15-inch brick that weighs a ton and the battery dies if I even look at it wrong. Im traveling for work to Chicago next month and I absolutely cannot deal with lugging this thing through the airport again, my back is literally killing me. I tried using it at a coffee shop yesterday and the screen brightness was basically non-existent and I couldnt even get through a single spreadsheet without the fan sounding like a jet engine about to take off.

My logic was to just get a MacBook Air but honestly I dont know if the base model is enough for my Excel files and like fifty browser tabs at once? I have a budget of maybe 1200 bucks, give or take, but I need something reliable that wont crap out on me during a client presentation. Should I look at a Dell XPS or maybe just bite the bullet on the Mac? Im just tired of wasting money on gear that doesnt do the job when I need it to. Does anyone actually travel with these ultra-light ones and find them usable for real work or is it all marketing hype...