Dude you're on an Apple forum advertising a Dell. Wth do you expect?
Go advertise your Dell on a PC forum.
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15" rMBP for College?
- Thread starter Zerka
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Dude you're on an Apple forum advertising a Dell. Wth do you expect?
Go advertise your Dell on a PC forum.
If OP wants the latest and greatest, he can get something like this:
http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-...59994d6f56e7c3baa0INT&ven3=274002994731210548
But what you will lose is portability, a nice trackpad....
People need to realize that the days of needing latest and greatest are useless. Who cares about the specs.
http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-...59994d6f56e7c3baa0INT&ven3=274002994731210548
But what you will lose is portability, a nice trackpad....
People need to realize that the days of needing latest and greatest are useless. Who cares about the specs.
Not sure what proven track record of unreliability are you talking about. I've owned two Macbook Pros and unless you provide links, I'm calling BS. The "isn't very pro" thing is also BS. Any machine used by a professional is a pro machine, so I don't see how the rMBP is any less pro than it was before. It'd be one thing if at one point Apple used Quadro or Firepro mobile GPUs in the 15", but there's nothing about the current rMBP that's any more or less pro than before.
I do however agree that the current 15" rMBP needs either a price drop, a better dGPU, skylake or any combination of the 3. The Dell XPS 15 just offers more value. With that said however, we are splitting hairs since we haven't seen a Skylake refresh of any kind from from Apple. Before the new infinity XPS 15, the rMBP 15" offered the better value.
It's just a bunch of people who have no idea what they're talking about. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of rMBPs are out there being used as daily drivers, I've never heard of major complaints.
There is definitely a price drop everywhere. You can get the rMBP for a major discount, as demonstrated in pages 1-2.
No company will ever get close to Apple in term of Trackpad usability, screen colour, chassis, etc. That to me trumps Skylake and a 950m GPU or equivalent. The screen is gorgeous, is TB3 really going to make that much difference? Or Skylake?
A redesign is inevitable, I assume around March, but if you can get a fully loaded mid-range 2014 rMBP for $1800 that's a good price. Apple still has good resale value. No doubt, when the Skylake update comes, their retail will go up to 2499 again.
Some people have gotten 2015 rMBPs for $1400 for open box ones, that's really good value.
Apple makes premium products, Dell doesn't. rMBPs are very affordable if you ignore the mouse-chasing of the latest and greatest in CPU technology.
Also the worst thing someone can say is rMBP is not a pro machine. All my friends and I use it and make tons of money with them. It replaced my desktop because it's portable.
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Either rMBP will be a good option. If you play games, then you pretty much need 15" model with a real GPU, but almost in any other case the rest of the lineup will be sufficient as well.
I used 13" MBA during freshman and sophomore years. Now I used 13" rMBP for the first semester of my junior year, and I'm looking forward to "downgrade" to 12" rMB instead. MBA was already very well capable for my uses and rMBP even more so, but I am sure I will get by with rMB just perfectly well too. In fact, I'm looking forward to using rMB at least up until my graduation. I'm an economics major and Stata is just about the most demanding software I will be using.
I value portability over performance, thus rMB seems like a perfect choice. Personally, I would never opt for 15" rMBP due to its size and weight, but I can definitely see its appeal if your usage demands more performance. Even 13" rMBP felt heavy to carry around after using MBA, resulting in a situation, where I often chose to carry around a good old fashioned paper notebook instead.
I used 13" MBA during freshman and sophomore years. Now I used 13" rMBP for the first semester of my junior year, and I'm looking forward to "downgrade" to 12" rMB instead. MBA was already very well capable for my uses and rMBP even more so, but I am sure I will get by with rMB just perfectly well too. In fact, I'm looking forward to using rMB at least up until my graduation. I'm an economics major and Stata is just about the most demanding software I will be using.
I value portability over performance, thus rMB seems like a perfect choice. Personally, I would never opt for 15" rMBP due to its size and weight, but I can definitely see its appeal if your usage demands more performance. Even 13" rMBP felt heavy to carry around after using MBA, resulting in a situation, where I often chose to carry around a good old fashioned paper notebook instead.
No BS you can search for yourself; 2011 - 2013 15" is currently under an extended warranty program due to dGPU issues, as did the 2010, 2009, 2008, possibly more...
The trend is clear, and the failure mechanism well recognised, I you don't believe search for yourself. Some look to trivialise stating it`s just few systems. Manufacturers do not place such costly extension programs in place due to few unhappy individuals, they do so lest they be compelled to by a court of law, driven by many thousands of failed systems. This is exactly why Apple put the latest program in place, after ignoring their customers for over two years. This forum reflects the same with many having issue with the 15" dGPU. Apple`s fix is to replace the poorly designed failed Logic Board with a refurbished item ever more prone to failure.
Apple can produce good hardware, equally those that do know what they are talking about do so as they have experence and have looked deeper than Apple`s sales spin & apologists. 15" MBP is a buyer beware product as longevity can be compromised by the lack of thermal headroom.
As for the 2014 -2015 models frankly no one knows outside of Apple, equally there has been no major design change. 2016 we will see. If Apple continues to push the thermals to the extreme limits then we can expect more of the same...
Q-6
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Personally I would recommend a mid range 13" rMBP as they above all else they are extremely reliable, and the most balanced of Apple`s portable lineup, unless the course demands a portable with dGPU. Buy a console or build cheap gaming PC.
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Win 10 and onenote local storage can be solved with virtualbox/parallels/vmware and a copy of windows and office. I do it with windows 10 pro and office 2013 using virtualbox. Works pretty well.
If you just need a good all around notebook, go 13". Much more portable. Anything Late 2013 or newer should be adequate. Get one with at least a 256GB SSD. I have yet to throw anything at mine that it could not handle including HD video editing. Is it as fast as a 15"? of course not, but I would only pay for that extra capability if I knew I was going to be making regular good use out of it. If you think you will, then go for the 15".
Things have really changed in the past 5-6 years. As so many have pointed out, specs are nowhere near as important as they used to be, because the technology has matured and you don't need the best or newest to get good performance from a mobile computer anymore. The whole process is more like buying a car now. Do your day to day tasks require a Pickup Truck with a V8 motor, or is a sleek fuel efficient sedan the right fit?
Things have really changed in the past 5-6 years. As so many have pointed out, specs are nowhere near as important as they used to be, because the technology has matured and you don't need the best or newest to get good performance from a mobile computer anymore. The whole process is more like buying a car now. Do your day to day tasks require a Pickup Truck with a V8 motor, or is a sleek fuel efficient sedan the right fit?
Oh i just whipped out my Ipad, download his slides and use my stylus to write on it.
It saves trees and ink too.
My daughter started college with 2011 MBP 13" i5 2.3gHz, and just graduated this year. She was a comparative lit major, and among others, that meant tons of writing, research, and presentations. It was her constant companion at school and at home. She's not a gamer, but it was/is her only entertainment (video and audio) device too as she does not do TV. Its still alive and kicking, and the only upgrades have been Yosemite in her senior year, and after graduation a new battery (bloated but could still go a couple of hours) and a RAM upgrade from 4gb to 8gb (a hand me down from upgrading my own 2012 MBP 15" i7 2.6). Now that she has a job at an online team of a fashion magazine, she occasionally takes it to the work when the office computer won't cut it.
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t
thats good news, how did you bring the slides to onenote, is thecloudstorage fast enough for audio notes?, is the palm rejection sufficient?
I agree that the 13" rMBP is probably the safest choice in Apple's lineup for an average person, 13" MBA being a close second as a more budget friendly option.
However, 12" rMB is irresistibly good looking device, and unlike many others, I actually like its keyboard quite a bit.
Unless you're backpacking somewhere and have to carry around all of your belongings, I really don't understand why somebody would pick the 13" over the 15" due to weight: I'm left rather incredulous. I would recommend the 15" for college because, at least back in "my day", we all used our laptops for class, assignments and media -- the last factor being the most important. On a personal note, I had the 13" for some time and switched up to the 15" because I couldn't really do much work (I am a software engineer, so maybe that factors in...) on just the 13" monitor. I would say, if the price isn't much of a bother, and you're doing intensive tasks or watch lots of media, then definitely choose the 15". I would go for the 13" to save cost, if you don't watch much media, or you're just writing assignments.
I agree that the 13" rMBP is probably the safest choice in Apple's lineup for an average person, 13" MBA being a close second as a more budget friendly option.
However, 12" rMB is irresistibly good looking device, and unlike many others, I actually like its keyboard quite a bit.
The 12" Retina is a fabulous Notebook if you don't have high computation needs. The New MacBook is by far my favourite portable, the best that Apple has produced in many a year. The keyboard takes a little adjustment, I found that within a week I was up to full speed on the rMB. For the 12" Retina you need to understand your usage/workflow to avoid disappointment. I find the 12" perfect for the business traveler, being far more capable than many would think. The MacBook is rather more the sum of it`s components than it`s specifications.
I use both the 12" & 13" Retina`s extensively, the 15" not so much as when you travel frequently the 15" footprint, heat & fan noise becomes tiresome, I also find that in the office or home environment a desktop solution is by far better, if you need this level of performance. I still maintain a 15" rMBP, equally it`s difficult to recommend unless there is a specific need for the quad core CPU, dGPU etc as the specs are now mediocre and the 15" has a troubled history with dGPU failure. Right now it`s a $1500 system masquerading as $2500 Notebook. Those stateside will likely find the 2014 & 2015 deeply discounted with a little digging, the rest of us are stuck with Apple`s rather amusing pricing.
The Air I don't care for, nor will consider as I strongly dislike the poor quality TN display panel, Apple should have replaced it with a decent IPS panel years ago instead of "making out" on their margin. The rest of the specifications are decent. The 11" is a bit of a struggle due to the 16:9 display, the 13" has a larger footprint than the 13" Retina, of course battery life is stellar. For me the utility & flexibility of Retina wins, nor is cost an specific driver. If on a budget the 13" Air is a solid choice, however one should avoid Apple`s in house upgrades, as their margins on the Air are already excessive to the point of greed, better to "shift gears" and move up to a 13" MacBook Pro, putting more of your $$$$ into hardware not Apple`s coffers.
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500 grams of weight difference can easily be felt if you need to carry around the laptop often. However, if one clearly benefits from the extra screen estate and power, then the tradeoff could be worth it as long as the price difference is not an issue. In my opinion, those extra two inches are not necessarily that beneficial for binge watching Netflix, but for something like large spreadsheets it would be nice to have more space sometimes.
However, 13" rMBP + 27" monitor would still be significantly cheaper option than 15" rMBP.
I find this very hard to be believe. In your bag? With books, notebooks and whatever else you carry around with you? I certainly don't notice the difference between the 13" and 15" in my backpack or satchel. If you're backpacking or travelling, I suppose, but normal "life"? Seriously?
Also, I think you're underestimating how much space those 2" actually give.
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Honestly, everyone is different but if you are using this as your primary computer I would definitely go with the 15". You'll have more power, more screen real estate, and it will last longer. I've carried around my 15" rMBP for three years now at college and it doesn't bother me at all.
I agree that the weight difference between the 13" and 15" is not really noticeable if you're carrying it in a backpack with books and other supplies.
I agree that the weight difference between the 13" and 15" is not really noticeable if you're carrying it in a backpack with books and other supplies.
Depends on how you define normal life. I don't do backpacking, but I frequently have to walk (except I could always use other methods of transportation, but I'd prefer to walk whenever possible) for an hour or more in the city, and weight differences between laptops can be easily felt. The weight difference in between 13" rMBP and 12" rMB is just 660 grams as well, and I can easily feel that my load is lighter.
I admit that if you use a backpack, then the weight is distributed more evenly, and the difference becomes harder to feel, but it still can be felt. I often use messenger bags, in which the weight difference is obvious. Also, I don't carry books that often, but I can see the point that a heavy load of books may make it more difficult to discern weight differences in between different laptops. However, in such a case I'd especially recommend to go for an as light laptop as one possibly can go, just to lessen the burden at least a little bit.
I understand that 2" increase in screen size actually gives appreciable amount of extra screen space, and now in my case a 3" increase would be even a greater difference as rMB has just 12" screen. Yet, at least in my workflow, there is nothing that I could justify spending $700 more to gain 3", especially when the 15" rMBP would be 1.12kg heavier, and also so big that it couldn't even fit in any of my bags. I also admit that I value mobility very highly.
Yes, 15" rMBP is definitely a better machine for work all around, but it is expensive and heavy. If money is not a concern, it would indeed pretty much always make sense to go with the 15" rMBP as long as you don't need to carry it around too much. However, you outlined that if one is going to consume a lot of media on the laptop, then the 15" rMBP has a clear advantage over 13" rMBP. Again, yes, 15" rMBP is going to be better for this purpose than 13" rMBP, but I would argue that you have to value that media being consumed a lot in order to justify almost half a kilogram increase in weight, and $500 price difference in between 256GB 13" and 15" rMBPs, or $700 difference in between 512GB models. In my opinion, these price differences will be better spent elsewhere, but people have different needs and I can see scenarios, where 15" model is really beneficial and easily justified, media consumption just isn't one of them.
I am a windows guy myself and just bought a surface pro 4 but I agree. Dell is crap and I rather support anybody else. Ive been arguing between a surface pro 4 and a MacBook pro 13 since I can get it for $50 more than my surface pro 4 . The one thing I am leaning toward keeping my surface is the pen which I think is the factor for me using this in college for my needs at 'east.
eh I had a Dell years ago and after that experience I will never use a Dell machine ever again.
tempores mutantur -- during the last 10 years I bought Apple Stuff for more than 160 000 $ and now Dell seams to be better and for the "pad" Microsoft is even better.
I want to use the best Machines and today this is not Apple.