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Alternative to macbook retina 15 inch

A

anthonyreid

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hi all!

I currently own a MacBook Pro retina 15, with 2.7 quad core, 16gb ram, 512 ssd. My girlfriend does graphics design and she just lost her own retina laptop and most probably she will steal my laptop 😱 soon, as she needs mac for work, when I really dont😀. And I was thinking, is there any same level alternative laptop from other brands, but bear in mind, that I would love to get the same screen and same characteristics but not mac.

Waiting for your suggestions.
 
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Nope.

Specs-wise you could get a Razer Blade or Asus Zenbook U500VZ which are pretty close in a similar form factor, but you'll get a worse screen and generally a worse bang for your buck.

The only laptop with a similar screen is the Chromebook Pixel, but the rest of the specs don't match the 15" rMBP at all, plus it runs Chrome OS, and again, bad bang for your buck.
 
No.

I've previously owned a UB 2009 17" and thought the UB design was awesome. I just sold it a few weeks ago and bought the same model Retina 15" as you have, except with the 768 GB SSD.

The design is literally second to none. You won't find one as thin, light, quiet, or cool (temperature wise, though the adjective easily applies IMO). Also, I don't believe anyone else is putting a display with the pixel density the rMBP has, or with the design - i.e. the reduced number of glass layers which result in reducing glare and improving contrast. You will also be missing OS-X, which, aside from not being Windows or Linux, uniquely handles resolution independence (see the Anandtech review from last summer for an excellent description of how that all works).

Good luck with your shopping though!

(oh, and it's bear 😉 )
 
I just spec'ed out a Lenovo W530 workstation laptop for a photographer friend ..clunkier form factor, but has a 1920*1080 screen with a color calibrator, I7, platter versus SSD ( easy to upgrade Thinkpads) ...comes in about 1500.00 .. but I told her it's just 'close' to my Retina 🙂
 
Yep, thanks to all your answers.

I will probably stay with it, and get same retina for my girlfriend then😉

The only thing that was really pushing me to get something different was the fact that I have owned around 4 MacBooks including this retina from 2007, and I am tired of the design, even though it is thin, light and bla bla boa, but common, the UB macs staid same for the last four years.
 
Couple things.... how does one "lose" a laptop and if you don't mind a 13" screen the XPS 13 from Dell has an HD screen, MBA sizing, slick design and at a pretty good price.
 
anthonyreid said:
Hi all!

I currently own a MacBook Pro retina 15, with 2.7 quad core, 16gb ram, 512 ssd. My girlfriend does graphics design and she just lost her own retina laptop and most probably she will steal my laptop 😱 soon, as she needs mac for work, when I really dont😀. And I was thinking, is there any same level alternative laptop from other brands, but bear in mind, that I would love to get the same screen and same characteristics but not mac.

Waiting for your suggestions.
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Refurb 13" Retina
 
thekev said:
What do you dislike? Is it an issue of functionality or you just don't care for how it looks?
Click to expand...

I dont care about the cost, I care about the way it looks and the characteristics. I am just tired of the same design of the unibody design macs, thats all, want a refresh. I was expecting apple to introduce a refreshed design with the new retina, but as you can agree with me, it staid same really.

----------
AFDoc said:
Couple things.... how does one "lose" a laptop and if you don't mind a 13" screen the XPS 13 from Dell has an HD screen, MBA sizing, slick design and at a pretty good price.
Click to expand...

she left it in star backs with her bag and when she returned the bag was gone. I know lol, I was well angry at that point...
 
anthonyreid said:
I dont care about the cost, I care about the way it looks and the characteristics. I am just tired of the same design of the unibody design macs, thats all, want a refresh. I was expecting apple to introduce a refreshed design with the new retina, but as you can agree with me, it staid same really.
Click to expand...

I was just curious. I never cared how they looked. I wanted to see improvement in areas like thermal performance. I'm considering sending my cMBP in for Applecare service as the display gains some dark spots that originate from the bottom when it's hot. I can think of a few things that might cause that, and none of them are really good. It's just a matter of when I can afford to be without it for some time. The potential for throttling also exists. I also wish they would make bigger chargers. Given the scope of their sales, I'm sure the aesthetics do make a difference, but they aren't a critical point to me.
 
thekev said:
I was just curious. I never cared how they looked. I wanted to see improvement in areas like thermal performance. I'm considering sending my cMBP in for Applecare service as the display gains some dark spots that originate from the bottom when it's hot. I can think of a few things that might cause that, and none of them are really good. It's just a matter of when I can afford to be without it for some time. The potential for throttling also exists. I also wish they would make bigger chargers. Given the scope of their sales, I'm sure the aesthetics do make a difference, but they aren't a critical point to me.
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I had 15 inch 2011 model high specs with anti glare screen before I got the retina last summer, and I had the same issues with the display, because of the air flow from beneath of the display, there are black spots on the screen, I also went to apple store to solve the issue, and I was told that it was a fine thing and it was within their tolerance as they said. As I do a lot of excel and 1c work as well as a bit of photography, I decided to get retina at that point. Since then I had the screen replaced twice due to the dead pixels. But I must say, sometimes you receive good service from apple and some times you do not.
 
Rodster said:
ThinkPad X1 Carbon
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I just recently had the chance to hold one in my hands and while that is a nice little machine, it does not come close to the rMBP. The build quality is substantially worse and of course, the specs. It could be seen as a competitor to the 13" model though.
 
anthonyreid said:
I had 15 inch 2011 model high specs with anti glare screen before I got the retina last summer, and I had the same issues with the display, because of the air flow from beneath of the display, there are black spots on the screen, I also went to apple store to solve the issue, and I was told that it was a fine thing and it was within their tolerance as they said. As I do a lot of excel and 1c work as well as a bit of photography, I decided to get retina at that point. Since then I had the screen replaced twice due to the dead pixels. But I must say, sometimes you receive good service from apple and some times you do not.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have never seen the issue elsewhere, so it's interesting to know that I'm not the only one, although that is a silly way to hide vents. Mine would be the early 2011 with max specs, so basically same design. I have an older mac pro too and a large external display (when at my desk) that is of much higher quality. It was just disturbing to see such an odd thing.
 
Yes.. its called the Retina 13" XD. Anyway, jokes aside, really there isn't "another brand" laptop that even comes close the the Retina(s). The only "retina" based laptop other then Apple is the newly launched crappy Google Pixel. which has a odd 12" screen and a "big" 32GB SSD. *sarcasm*. But yeah, love my 13" rMBP. Maybe she can consider that 🙂
 
I will just stick with mine and get her a new retina then lol.

Really look forward seeing some competitors on the market with the same specs as well as a renewed design for the retina from :apple:

To be honest I think that there is one very good competitor, for the 13 inch, that is the sony vaio Z series, but I do not know why, sony discontinued the production of those laptops.
 
anthonyreid said:
I will just stick with mine and get her a new retina then lol.

Really look forward seeing some competitors on the market with the same specs as well as a renewed design for the retina from :apple:

To be honest I think that there is one very good competitor, for the 13 inch, that is the sony vaio Z series, but I do not know why, sony discontinued the production of those laptops.
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13" Sony SVZ. i7-quad, FHD LCD, raid-0 SSD in a package as thin-and-light as a MBA. It packed the most performance in the smallest chassis. An engineering piece of art.

15" Asus U500. i7-quad, FHD LCD, GT650M, 74Wh battery. Close match to the rMBP but will see signficantly longer battery life.

13" Samsung Series-7. FHD LCD, HD8750M.

See others at the ultrabook comparison page.

15" Macbook Retina is otherwise unmatched: GT650M, thin-light, i7-quad, SSD, high res panel with great viewing angles. Only two areas wish Apple would improve them are related to battery life under Windows. MacOS doesn't have these issues.

(i) use a PS2 mouse/kbd interface instead of the internal USB hub they've got going now. That adds a fair bit of power consumption overhead.

(ii) allow the iGPU to be activated so could run Optimus under Windows. Currently can only get the GT650M to be active which drains battery.
 
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nando4 said:
13" Sony SVZ. i7-quad, FHD LCD, raid-0 SSD in a package as thin-and-light as a MBA. It packed the most performance in the smallest chassis. An engineering piece of art.

15" Asus U500. i7-quad, FHD LCD, GT650M, 74Wh battery. Close match to the rMBP but will see signficantly longer battery life.

13" Samsung Series-7. FHD LCD, HD8750M.

See others at the ultrabook comparison page.

15" Macbook Retina is otherwise unmatched: GT650M, thin-light, i7-quad, SSD, high res panel with great viewing angles. Only two areas wish Apple would improve them are related to battery life under Windows. MacOS doesn't have these issues.

(i) use a PS2 mouse/kbd interface instead of the internal USB hub they've got going now. That adds a fair bit of power consumption overhead.

(ii) allow the iGPU to be activated so could run Optimus under Windows. Currently can only get the GT650M to be active which drains battery.
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Non of those 3 can compare to 15" Retina MacBook Pro. Screen and built quality not even close to 13" MBPR.
 
hackerwayne said:
Non of those 3 can compare to 15" Retina MacBook Pro. Screen and built quality not even close to 13" MBPR.
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If that is the OP's priority. If on the other hand the OP wants the most performance in the smallest chassis then the 13" Sony SVZ is the victor by a considerable margin over the 13" rMBP you mention.

Consider, it's a full 1 pound lighter at 2.57pounds, yet has a faster raid-0 SSD storage subsystem, can be equipped with a 35W i7-quad CPU and even has a PMD external dock with a HD7670M dGPU so is more gaming capable. Only problem is Sony US appears to have stopped selling them.

The 15" rMBP is harder to top. It's got a quad-core, GT650M dGPU and retina panel in a lightweight chassis.
 
Presumably, you've already tried find my mac, right?

Hell, I'm just trying to figure out a way I can date you!😉
 
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