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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?
$1699 fully loaded w/ coupon - 6+ hours battery life out of the box on default Fedora 24 install! Everything "just worked". Windows seems fine, too.
Are you ever going to get blasted, you want to replace an Apple laptop with Windows instead of going for Linux? Just about the only thing people around here hate more than Apple is Microsoft.
A recent Speak-N-Spell could probably come close.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
It comes with 16GB ram, up to 1TB disk, a detachable screen, touch screen, stylus and NVidia dedicated graphics.
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 $10,000 2U system that runs a bunch of VMs. Neither is remotely comparable to each other in any way, however both have a range of needs they can fill. I don't hate on the cheap unit for not matching the performance of the expensive one, or hate on the powerful one for not matching the size of the weak one.
The Lenovo T-series thinkpad laptops have always been good for me. The matte black non-slip exterior is a bit of a fashion statement all by itself and I guess some people won't like that, but the build quality is great.
Plus, you can field-strip it and replace literally any part of the laptop anytime anywhere using only one techie screwdriver. My thinkpads have lasted over 7 years each, and 2 of the 3 I owned were repaired in extremely austere environments (temporary plywood building in the middle of Iraq for one of them).
Lenovo spent a couple years building these with only super craptastic LCD panels, but now I think their entire lineup has an available IPS panel, and many offer optional touchscreen.
The ability to replace/upgrade/repair every part including increasing RAM and SSD size a few years after buying is a HUGE bonus that I think outweighs the stylistic differences.
Seriously.
We get that you want a comparable system to your macbook pro. We get that you don't want to pay 2000$+ 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?
Chromebook pixel.
https://www.amazon.com/Super-G...
It can completely ditch chromeos, and run pure Linux.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/ind...
http://marksolters.com/program...
Like other Chromebooks, battery life is obscenely long.
Dell XPS 13. Generally nice build quality. Sadly the "nice" 3200x1800 screen is rather reflective and very power hungry (about half the battery life). If you go with the 1080P option you have limited CPU/GPU/ram options. Also note the kaby lake version (2016) does NOT have the IRIS. So if you want faster graphics get the 2015 version with the IRIS graphics. Also the "nostril" cam is a common complaint.
Lenovo Ideapad 710S (13") is also quite nice. Aluminum unibody, chicklet keyboard, looks kinda apple like. They have an ugly hack for some weird RAID driver (despite there being a single storage device). They disable ACPI which breaks microsoft and linux install media. So you have to use their install media (unless hacking install media is your thing), so you can't do a fresh install to get rid of whatever rootkit/malware/crapware that lenovo includes. They did (finally) release a bios to reenable ACPI, but seem to REALLY not want windows folks to use it, it's explicitly unsupported for windows. Makes you wonder why lenovo REALLY doesn't want users reinstalling the OS. The good news is it does have the IRIS graphics (like the macbook pro 13" and the 2015 dell XPS), but can get gotten with a top spec (i7 and 16GB ram) and still get a nice matte 1080P screen. I'm all for more pixels, but don't really think that 3200x1800 is worth it on a 13" screen screen, especially if it significantly impacts battery life.
Only one really springs to mind right now: Dell Precision 17 7000 Series.
For the same money as a tricked-out MacBook 'Pro' you get a Xeon CPU with 64GB of ECC RAM, and plenty of useful configuration and IO options.
Also: next-day on-site service for 3 years, extendable to 5 for a bit more money.
Having used a laptop for paid work in the field I can tell you for sure that not having undiagnosable OS crashes or silent data corruption is, y'know, professional.
Having the ability to call out an engineer with parts to fix the damn thing if it breaks while you're on-site at a client location and thus get working again quickly? That's also professional.
Having a sleek Apple MacBook. Sure, that conveys the impression of professionalism, but right now, that's all it is.. superficial. It's finely crafted consumer-grade appliance tech undeserving of the 'Pro' moniker right now.
...an Englishman in London.
That system has a slower processor and slower GPU than the MacBook Pro 15". Also slower RAM and storage.
Both have 16GB RAM, the nVidia 965m is rated as approximately the same as the Radeon Pro 455 (which is the fastest one available for the MacBook) and with the performance base is claimed to have a 16 hour battery life. I can't find the CPU specs for the surface book but the chips are the same generation. While the MacBook has a touch bar the Surface has a touch screen plus a pen and can function as a tablet as well but only a 13.5 inch screen. In Canada it also costs ~$500 less than the 15" MacBook Pro with maxed out GPU. It also has a USB-A port.
Of the two I would go for the Surface and I say that as someone who has used Macs for around a decade now - it's far more like a Mac used to be than the new MacBook Pro. However I'm waiting for the refresh of the Dell XS 15 which, if it comes with a Kaby Lake CPU and a 10-series nVidia GPU will be what I'll probably get.
Having already upgraded my desktop to Windows 10 (after getting fed up of waiting for the Mac Pro to be updated) I've found it is nowhere near as bad as Windows XP (which was the last time I seriously used Windows) and frankly it is faster and more responsive than OS X - that maybe the old hardware I am running it on but since Apple has not updated the Mac Pro for 3 years that's hardly my fault. With modern machines it is easy to spin up a Linux VM for programming and data analysis - although the Linux subsystem for windows might even avoid the need for that too soon.
I've been very happy with the Dell Precision line since the MacBooks stopped being Pro machines (thus a Precision M4500 (first gen i7, 16GB RAM, Dual 250GB SSD, Quadro FX 880m replaced my original 2006 MacBook Pro, even though I would later buy a refurbed 2012 (non-retina) MBP as a lightweight machine). Plus they have docking stations. I've run Linux on the M4500, M4700, and M4800 without issues - the Quadro and FirePro cards seem to work just fine, especially if you use the closed source drivers.
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
I'm looking for a good Linux machine. I haven't bought anything other than a MBP in over a decade. I don't mind the price, I just want a fast, reliable laptop.
If price is no problem: Upgrade to the iPad pro, you can get a blue tooth keyboard and the Linux app.
Does the Linux app come with SystemD as an in-app purchase?
lucm, indeed.
Battery life is more important to me than ultra-high performance.
Suggestions?
Thinkpad X260. Battery lasts for 17 hours.
lucm, indeed.
Because this is a news "shill" advert from MS, that is why.
This question was discussed on Hackaday about a month ago. The criteria for the solution being high-end laptop with Linux capabilty. The conclusion was Lenovo Thinkpad models X, T and P. Here's the link: http://hackaday.com/?s=thinkpa...
That was the turning point of my life--I went from negative zero to positive zero.
On a more helpful note I would probably chose from this page:
http://store.asus.com/us/categ...
The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
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.
I have a great machine from ZaReason in Berkeley CA. Great company, maintains their drivers and THOROUGHLY tests their builds. I run Warcraft and Flash and tons of video and audio on mine and never have issues. Beautiful machine. Going to get another here after this MacBook dies. http://zareason.com/shop/Lapto...
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
No, it comes with it as standard. You can pay to have it removed.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Why do I have to read about other people's pedestrian shopping problems on a "news for nerds" site?