Can't decide between a macbook pro or a normal win notebook

[Žarbon]

Hello guys,

i would like to have an macbook pro with retina (2015 version) 15 inch. But the price is pain in da ass. I am able to buy a 13 inch version but it is still fucking to expensive. 1499 € for a 13 inch notebook!!! And its too small! How can people be satisfied watching in this little shit?

Is there any windows notebook that is at least 15 inch, is very fast, very quiet, has a good resolution and display, is reliable, is made of metal (alluminium) and looks noble like the macbook pro but is not very expensive?

[Vash]

Well, really good Windows laptops, in the same quality range like the Apple device, are more or less in the same price range as well.

So if you want to save money I can highly recommend you looking at used/refurbished models from like 1 or 2 years ago. You can find pretty nice deals there.

[Žarbon]

Na I don't like used notebooks. I want something new and from 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHZ8ek-6ccc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Vash]

You might want to look at "Lenovo Campus" - it's a student discount offer from Lenovo.

Look at the T-series:
https://www.lenovocampus.de/produkte/no ... -serie.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

One of my favourites is product no. 20BWS1UT00. It should have everything you need I guess.

If you really prefer 15-inches instead of 14 and the "retina" display, look at product no. 20BFS05L00.

You can buy these from any "Lenovo Campus" store. The company I work for is a campus partner, too. I could sell you one of these. ;-)

[Žarbon]

They all are really powerfull but I am not convinced by the design of the laptop. Look all like tanks.

[Žarbon]

This seems to be interesting but its 13,3 inch...

https://www.caseking.de/asus-zenbook-ux ... m/geizhals" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Vash]

They all are really powerfull but I am not convinced by the design of the laptop. Look all like tanks.

These are business grade laptops. Made to work with.

Magnesium cases, docking station compatible, 3 years on-site warranty, best laptop keyboard ever.... who cares about the design, seriously.... also, I personally like the design.

Asus has the worst service ever. Also, this is a shitty consumer laptop. You can't compare it with a ThinkPad...

Here you can see some "real life" pictures:
http://www.randombrick.de/testbericht-l ... pad-t450s/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Penguin]

MacBook is worth it. It's not running Windows, for starters.

The only true competitor in terms of like for like is the Dell XPS, but it is the same/more expensive spec for the price and in my opinion not as nice construction.

Lenovo Thinkpads are for business, don't consider one unless that is its purpose. No need for an ugly laptop for personal use. With your budget you would be mental to consider refurbished... Their 3 years warranty isn't a scratch on AppleCare either.

Have you looked at the Surface Pro 3? Not a laptop, but cheaper, can be used as a tablet or laptop if you buy the type cover, HD+ screen, good specs, excellent battery life. If I did not have a MacBook, this would be my portable computer of choice.

If you just want a nice powerful laptop with a good screen and are willing to sacrifice aesthetics, look to the new Dell Inspiron 15 5000. The top spec one with the i7, 1080p panel and 16GB RAM. You should pick it up under 1k.

[Vash]

Dell is bullshit.

Lenovo Thinkpads are for business, don't consider one unless that is its purpose.

Define "business". So many students use them. In my university 50% use MacBooks other 50% uses ThinkPads. They are great for your daily student stuff, such as typing on a really good keyboard using the digitizer to write down things or notes (digitizer is only available in a few ThinkPads) and of course having a really good battery life, which can be extended using optional batteries (no need to shut it down, you can change it hot-swapping).

I really can recommend them.

No need for an ugly laptop for personal use.

It is a matter of taste. I really like their classic design.

Their 3 years warranty isn't a scratch on AppleCare either.

You get on-site service! You don't have to go anywhere, you just call Lenovo and a technician comes to you. And no, he's not taking it away to repair, he repairs it right there. They even replace motherboards right at your location if needed...

Also, you get student discounts on warranty extensions as well. You can extend the warranty even up to 5 years and add stuff like "accidental damage protection" where your own fault is covered as well. AppleCare is bullshit in comparison... and way too expensive.

Have you looked at the Surface Pro 3? Not a laptop, but cheaper, can be used as a tablet or laptop if you buy the type cover, HD+ screen, good specs, excellent battery life. If I did not have a MacBook, this would be my portable computer of choice.

Surface Pro 3 is a nice piece of hardware. But how is it cheaper than the others? If you want i5/8GB/256GB you pay like 1400€.... without the type cover keyboard. It costs 130€ extra...

It's by far not cheaper, but it's nice indeed. Though the reparability sucks balls. You can't even open the case without breaking the glass front, it's impossible. When the battery is dead, you can throw it into the trash can.... pretty poor.

[Penguin]

Dell is bullshit.

>.>

Define "business". So many students use them. In my university 50% use MacBooks other 50% uses ThinkPads. They are great for your daily student stuff, such as typing on a really good keyboard using the digitizer to write down things or notes (digitizer is only available in a few ThinkPads) and of course having a really good battery life, which can be extended using optional batteries (no need to shut it down, you can change it hot-swapping).

The ones you like are the Enterprise line, you can tell because they have the same aesthetic merit as a toaster.

It is a matter of taste. I really like their classic design.

He's looking at MacBook Pro's, we can assume he likes it to look reasonably like a MacBook style design, not a CRT from the 90's.

Apple care is about £50 for students and they will swap your laptop same day if they can't repair it then and there, so I guess they are equal. In the UK Lenovo do not have such warranties so I won't comment on how good they are.

[Vash]

As I said, maybe he should look into refurbished/used laptops. Esspecially for Apple you can find nice stuff.

Asus Zenbooks etc. look nice indeed, but the quality lacks in comparison with Apple or Lenovo.

If you want a combination of thin MacBook style and a ThinkPad you might wanna look at the X1 Carbon, I really like it and I didn't find anyone yet who said it is ugly.
It's thinner than the MacBook, got better material (carbon/magnesium mix) and is really light weight. 3K display, PCIe SSD, 4G.... all included. Though they are not cheap, but you can get them in "Lenovo Campus" student shit as well.

Student prices start from 1300€. Includes i5/8GB RAM/256GB SSD/3K display and 3 years on-site warranty service. 4G is not included in the cheapest one, but you are able to upgrade it later, as it's "WWAN prepared".

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/4/749147 ... d-ces-2015" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In the UK Lenovo do not have such warranties so I won't comment on how good they are.

Hmm I doubt that. The german ones are covered by international on-site service. So if I buy a german ThinkPad and it fucks up in UK I can call Lenovo UK for on-site service as well.

Maybe the on-site service is "only" within the EU, I'm not really sure. But I think it's international.

EDIT: I found this at the Lenovo UK website:

If Lenovo determines your product problem is covered by the product warranty and cannot be resolved over the telephone, a technician will be dispatched to arrive onsite, typically the next business day. Onsite service is available in metropolitan areas only.

In the Lenovo UK online shop it says "3 years on-site" for the X1 Carbon.

[Penguin]

Vash in reference to the warranty, you must be looking at the premium warranties. There is no on-site for Lenovo by default. It's £70 for 1 year.

See here: http://www.lenovo.com/shop/emea/content ... MEA_en.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

AppleCare is £50 for 3 years and extremely hassle free provided you live near an Apple store.

In the UK it is not our issue anyway for the first year, we simply return to the retailer, you would never deal with Lenovo. Metropolitan areas only is also an extremely bullshit thing to do, gets them out of a lot of stuff.

The only thing I would say with Lenovo is to clean re-install Windows immediately. The one we bought at work was the worst PC I ever saw for bloatware (it was not an Enterprise laptop). Been running nicely since I reimaged it though. And of course, their spyware. I still consider them an extremely fuckshit company for that.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31533028" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Friend just bought a lenovo for his housemate:

[Vash]

Vash in reference to the warranty, you must be looking at the premium warranties. There is no on-site for Lenovo by default.

It depends on the model you buy! The T-series and the X1 Carbon have both 3 years on-site by default what can be extended to 5 years for 150€ extra.

And no this is not only in Germany, see the UK store:
http://shop.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/th ... x1-carbon/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The only thing I would say with Lenovo is to clean re-install Windows immediately. The one we bought at work was the worst PC I ever saw for bloatware (it was not an Enterprise laptop). Been running nicely since I reimaged it though. And of course, their spyware. I still consider them an extremely fuckshit company for that.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31533028" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes, these are the "Idea" series. Lenovo is separated into two different divisions that don't even talk to each other. Idea and Think. The Think-series such as the ThinkPads are the business class devices without any bloatware or other bullshit. There is almost a clean installation on them by default. I agree that the Idea series need to be re-installed instantly after you buy them and the quality also can't compete with the Think-series.

Lenovo ruins their own name by doing this kind of bullshit. If you stick to the Think-series, everything will be fine.

[Sunny]

My two cents: Idk if I'm too late but I just bought the older model of the macbook pro, I guess from Late 2013, you can still buy it on apple.com (atleast in switzerland):

Hidden content:

there are some Pros why I choose the older one:
-save money (it's abit cheaper)
-upgrade yourself a SSD and more RAM (on the new ones both are soldered)
-> you can repair it yourself and cheaper cause of that reason
-cd drive


the contras:
- it's heavier and not that slim (personally I dont mind that at all)
- no retina
- can't rly find more contras


If you want to get the old one and build yourself a SSD, you want to wait for el capitano because of TRIM , so just mind to get the i7 processor


If you want to get the new one, wait for skylake

[Penguin]

Ok Vash, that makes sense as I have only used their 'Z' line which I imagine is the 'Idea' one.

@Sunny
I have a late 2014 MacBook Pro Retina 13 and the SSD can be changed. They are not soldered on, they are just pci-e.

I would never in a million years recommend anyone to get the non retina. You're paying high end prices for a 2009 spec laptop just to save £100 from the base spec retina. The retina screen is worth the extra £100 before you consider the SSD and that all MacBook Pro's come with 8GB ram standard now :)

Actual cons of the old style MBP
Ridiculously overpriced for specs even by Apple standards
Non retina display, even iPhones have better resolutions now
Slow hard drive
4GB vs 8 GB RAM
Huge
Has a CD drive taking up space that no one uses since 2005
Worse battery life.

It basically takes all the points that make the MacBook Pro the best laptop except for OS X and removes them.

I would get the 13" Retina in the base 128GB and add a 128GB NiftyDrive to it if you want to save money and still go Apple.