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Slashdot Asks: Which Windows Laptop Could Replace a MacBook Pro?
Last month, Apple unveiled new MacBook Pros, featuring an OLED Touch Bar, Touch ID, and all-new form factor that shaves off roughly 3mm in thickness. There are three base versions of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Intel Core i5 processors and 8GB of memory (upgradable to 16GB RAM and dual-core Intel Core i7 processors) for $1,499, $1,799 and $1,999. The base model 15-inch MacBook Pro comes with Core i7 processors and 16GB of memory for $2,399 and $2,799. Of course, adapters and AppleCare support are sold separately. The new laptops are great for Apple users -- but what about Windows users? Is there a Windows laptop that matches the new MacBook Pro in terms of build quality, reliability, and performance? Jack Schofield via The Guardian attempts to help Patrick, who is looking for a PC that matches Apple's new offerings as closely as possible. "I use my Mac for all the usual surfing, watching videos, listening to music and so on," Patrick writes. "I also use Adobe Photoshop pretty heavily and video-editing software more lightly." Schofield writes: The Dell XPS 13 and 15 are the most obvious alternatives to MacBooks. Unfortunately, they are at the top of this price range. You can still get an old-model XPS 13 (9350) for $950, but that has a Core i5-6200U with only 4GB of memory. The latest 9360 version has a 2.5GHz Core i5-7200U, 8GB of memory and a 128GB SSD for $1,050. If you go for a 512GB SSD at $1,150, you're only saving $420 on a new 2.0GHz MacBook Pro. HP's Spectre x360 range offers similar features to Dell's XPS range, except that all the x360 laptops have touch screens that you can rotate to enable "tent" (eg for movie viewing) or tablet operation. The cheapest model is the HP Spectre x360 13-4126na. This has a 13in screen, a Core i5-6200U processor, 8GB of memory and a 256GB SSD for $1,050. You can upgrade to an HP Spectre x360 13-4129na with better screen resolution -- 2560 x 1440 instead of 1920 x 1080 -- plus a 2.5GHz Core i7-6500U and 512GB SSD for $1,270. Again, this is not much cheaper than a 2.0GHz MacBook Pro 13. You could also look at the Lenovo ThinkPad T560, which is a robust, professional 15.6in laptop that starts at $800. Do any Slashdotters have any comparable Windows laptops in mind that could replace a new MacBook Pro?
What I mean is this is the same kind of thing Apple fans seem to do every time a new Apple product launches and their pricing is somewhat sane (it gets worse as time goes on because they don't update prices as parts get cheaper). They try to run some silly comparison of trying to find a PC that matches specs and when you can't do it, or can't do it for less, declare some kind of victory.
Look, the new Macbook Pro is probably a good deal... so long as it is precisely what you want. It cannot be upgraded later and is very much a "one size fits all" design. So if that happens to be precisely what you want to have then cool, get it. However if that's not the case, then when looking at alternatives the question should be what can you get for less or more money that might more closely fit what you want. Maybe you are fine with less CPU, and a lower screen resolution so you find a computer with that and save some money. Maybe you don't care about size and weight so much but would like top of the like graphics, so you buy a big Sager or something.
The point is trying to do a "This must match this other thing precisely or it loses," is silly, and is generally only done by fanboys when they are trying to make the alternatives lose and trying to justify their product as the "right" choice.
Don't run computer analysis by starting with the specs and trying to match that, instead start with the need and then find the price/performance point that best matches it. I just bought a tiny little $500 server at work, because it matches the need the very best (small system to run a dedicated license server with hardware dongle). It will be running in the same datacenter as a $10,000 2U system that runs a bunch of VMs. Neither is remotely comparable to each other in any way, however both have a range of needs they can fill. I don't hate on the cheap unit for not matching the performance of the expensive one, or hate on the powerful one for not matching the size of the weak one.
Nah, those were the hard-core original geek types who used to hang out here. We're just the trend-chasing wannabe masses who finally figured out that being a geek was actually kind of cool. However, we don't embrace all that hard-core kernel-tweaking hacker libertarian idealist stuff. We vote for one of the two major parties and bash on the other one. We shun the pizza-and-cola diet and eat natural foods. We'd rather watch a stream of someone playing LOL than hack together a bot, cuz that violates the terms of service. We program in .NET, and we think Microsoft deserves a second chance.
The Lenovo T-series thinkpad laptops have always been good for me. The matte black non-slip exterior is a bit of a fashion statement all by itself and I guess some people won't like that, but the build quality is great.
Plus, you can field-strip it and replace literally any part of the laptop anytime anywhere using only one techie screwdriver. My thinkpads have lasted over 7 years each, and 2 of the 3 I owned were repaired in extremely austere environments (temporary plywood building in the middle of Iraq for one of them).
Lenovo spent a couple years building these with only super craptastic LCD panels, but now I think their entire lineup has an available IPS panel, and many offer optional touchscreen.
The ability to replace/upgrade/repair every part including increasing RAM and SSD size a few years after buying is a HUGE bonus that I think outweighs the stylistic differences.
Seriously.
We get that you want a comparable system to your macbook pro. We get that you don't want to pay 2000$+ for one. We get that you probably like macosx. We get that you probably want a bigger ssd, and other perks.
This is a site for nerds. It is expected that you will know certain things, like the existence of hackintoshes. These are PCs, with PC pricetags, that have damned near identical hardware to apple's offerings, as far as the OS and software is concerned, and which can be coaxed into running osx.
Since you should know that these exist, even if you do not want to run OSX, you can still see their known working hardware lists for very close analogs to macbooks, and make a good selection, without ever bothering to ask tediously redundant questions.
Example, here is a nice article breaking down last years best offerings.
http://blazinglist.com/top-10-...
So, since this info is readily available, you should already know about hackintoshes and their communities, why do you people keep asking Slashdot, instead of investing 10 seconds on google looking for a suitable hackintosh?
Really people. This is not hard.
Never spend more than $1000 on a laptop... unless someone else is paying.
Seems pretty straight forward to me. Take any current Macbook Pro, and look at a comparable Dell XPS, and it'll be $200-$400 cheaper, and have better specs. Wasn't hard. Next question?
If you go for a 512GB SSD at $1,150, you're only saving $420 on a new 2.0GHz MacBook Pro.
Who the hell thinks "only" a $420 discount on comparable hardware and build quality isn't a great deal?
This comment is fully compliant with RFC 527.