Hi all, having recently bought and tried a few high end Windows notebooks and a fully loaded 2016 TB MacBook Pro 15, I wanted to give you a quick comparison just in case it's helpful to anyone.
Quick backstory - long time Mac user, got tired of the lack of MacBook Pro 15 updates and lack of innovation so I decided to get a fully loaded Windows laptop over the summer. I tried out the XPS 15, Razer Blade 2016 (w/970m), and ended up with a Lenovo P50. As much as I tried to find the right powerful laptop, just couldn't find the right balance, so I picked up a fully loaded SG 2016 MacBook Pro 15 last week.
My main use case is heavy business apps like Excel and PowerPoint and amateur photo editing via Lightroom. I also travel a lot.
Quick blurb on laptop experiences:
- XPS 15 (UHD/960m/16GB/1TB): Thin but heavy, decent screen, decent power. I say decent screen because it was bright and 4K, but had horrendous backlight uniformity and could see some serious color banding. Also, it had a sub-par keyboard - the left key started "sticking" after a couple of weeks of use. Power adapter was decent size but had a loud clicking sound. Tried 2 different ones and both had the screen and clicking issue. Battery life was around 5-6 hours at best with lowest brightness.
- Razer Blade 2016 (QHD+/16GB/970m): Size and power were main positives. A lot of power in a small form factor, but got VERY hot until gaming/benchmarking. Power adapter was compact which was great. Screen was awful, looked like they took a matte display and slapped glass on top of it, so it looked a bit weird (marbling effect on a white background) and also had bad uniformity and contrast. Worst issue was that the laptop had loud electric noice under load (coil whine). Tried two different ones and both add all these issues. I really wanted to like the Razer since it was the only Windows laptop that was on the smaller size with such power.
- Lenovo P50 (XEON/UHD/64GB/512GB/Quadro M2000M): This is the one I still have but will soon sell. Positives include build, power, screen color gamut, price, and upgradeability. The build quality is standard Thinkpad, which is built like a tank. Compute power is insane, especially with the XEON processor and 64Gb of ram. GPU is pretty weak for such a large laptop (like a 960m). I got a great deal on it for about $2400 included 3 year onsite warranty and accidental damage. The screen has an amazing color gamut but there is a pretty large brightness shift by slightly leaning left or right, which is most noticeable when working on white background like excel and word. Battery life is MAX 5 hrs, but got worse with the latest Windows anniversary which made it like 3.5 hrs. Battery is removable and there was a recent power manager update but I haven't tested it since. Expandable is pretty awesome - slots for two m.2 and one 2" thin drive or two 2" drives. Only issue is they require special brackets which are cheap but a pain nevertheless to get. The power adapter is also HUGE, we're talking 1LB+ and massive - the laptop + power supply puts the total travel weight close to 7lbs.
- TB Macbook Pro 15 (2.9/1TB/460): Size and build quality is absolutely awesome coming from the Windows laptops (and some older MacBook Pros). My wife bought the new TB MacBook 13 for work and when she went back to her 2013 MacBook Pro she commented on how much more modern these new MacBooks feel. Need for dongles hasn't raised any major issues yet. Screen has an great color gamut but poor uniformity, the left side is dimmer which gives a tad bluer color that the rest of the screen. I checked display units at both Best Buy and Apple store and almost all of them had sort of uniformity issue. Speed has been great no issues with either graphics or processing compared to P50. Battery is a mixed bag - sometimes it is absolutely amazing and others is drains very quickly.
Compared to the windows laptops, the MacBook Pro has better battery life and much better form factor. In my opinion everything is a compromise, for people like me who travel a lot and need power, this is the best laptop in the market. I do believe, however, Apple should offer a thicker/heavier version which addresses people's need for ports and battery life. I also think all the MacBook Pro 15s should have more memory for the price they charge (at least on the higher end).
Just my thoughts, if anyone has any specific questions on these laptops just let me know.
Quick backstory - long time Mac user, got tired of the lack of MacBook Pro 15 updates and lack of innovation so I decided to get a fully loaded Windows laptop over the summer. I tried out the XPS 15, Razer Blade 2016 (w/970m), and ended up with a Lenovo P50. As much as I tried to find the right powerful laptop, just couldn't find the right balance, so I picked up a fully loaded SG 2016 MacBook Pro 15 last week.
My main use case is heavy business apps like Excel and PowerPoint and amateur photo editing via Lightroom. I also travel a lot.
Quick blurb on laptop experiences:
- XPS 15 (UHD/960m/16GB/1TB): Thin but heavy, decent screen, decent power. I say decent screen because it was bright and 4K, but had horrendous backlight uniformity and could see some serious color banding. Also, it had a sub-par keyboard - the left key started "sticking" after a couple of weeks of use. Power adapter was decent size but had a loud clicking sound. Tried 2 different ones and both had the screen and clicking issue. Battery life was around 5-6 hours at best with lowest brightness.
- Razer Blade 2016 (QHD+/16GB/970m): Size and power were main positives. A lot of power in a small form factor, but got VERY hot until gaming/benchmarking. Power adapter was compact which was great. Screen was awful, looked like they took a matte display and slapped glass on top of it, so it looked a bit weird (marbling effect on a white background) and also had bad uniformity and contrast. Worst issue was that the laptop had loud electric noice under load (coil whine). Tried two different ones and both add all these issues. I really wanted to like the Razer since it was the only Windows laptop that was on the smaller size with such power.
- Lenovo P50 (XEON/UHD/64GB/512GB/Quadro M2000M): This is the one I still have but will soon sell. Positives include build, power, screen color gamut, price, and upgradeability. The build quality is standard Thinkpad, which is built like a tank. Compute power is insane, especially with the XEON processor and 64Gb of ram. GPU is pretty weak for such a large laptop (like a 960m). I got a great deal on it for about $2400 included 3 year onsite warranty and accidental damage. The screen has an amazing color gamut but there is a pretty large brightness shift by slightly leaning left or right, which is most noticeable when working on white background like excel and word. Battery life is MAX 5 hrs, but got worse with the latest Windows anniversary which made it like 3.5 hrs. Battery is removable and there was a recent power manager update but I haven't tested it since. Expandable is pretty awesome - slots for two m.2 and one 2" thin drive or two 2" drives. Only issue is they require special brackets which are cheap but a pain nevertheless to get. The power adapter is also HUGE, we're talking 1LB+ and massive - the laptop + power supply puts the total travel weight close to 7lbs.
- TB Macbook Pro 15 (2.9/1TB/460): Size and build quality is absolutely awesome coming from the Windows laptops (and some older MacBook Pros). My wife bought the new TB MacBook 13 for work and when she went back to her 2013 MacBook Pro she commented on how much more modern these new MacBooks feel. Need for dongles hasn't raised any major issues yet. Screen has an great color gamut but poor uniformity, the left side is dimmer which gives a tad bluer color that the rest of the screen. I checked display units at both Best Buy and Apple store and almost all of them had sort of uniformity issue. Speed has been great no issues with either graphics or processing compared to P50. Battery is a mixed bag - sometimes it is absolutely amazing and others is drains very quickly.
Compared to the windows laptops, the MacBook Pro has better battery life and much better form factor. In my opinion everything is a compromise, for people like me who travel a lot and need power, this is the best laptop in the market. I do believe, however, Apple should offer a thicker/heavier version which addresses people's need for ports and battery life. I also think all the MacBook Pro 15s should have more memory for the price they charge (at least on the higher end).
Just my thoughts, if anyone has any specific questions on these laptops just let me know.
