Best 15" Windows PC

[m85476585]

I know what you are thinking, "this is a Mac forum..."

My sister is starting college in the fall, and she needs a laptop. She is studying engineering, so Windows is a requirement in my book. Sorry, but dual-boot, virtualization, crappy Linux ports of software, or hacks like that are not good enough. I used to deal with all that, and now I just have a Windows desktop PC in addition to my MBP. Sure, the school claims to support macs, but for engineering the experience is simply not as good. My sister just needs a laptop with one OS, and it has to run Windows.

So my question is, is a 15" MBP a good windows PC using bootcamp? Are there any nagging issues, like the trackpad not working well, significantly shorter battery life, graphics switching, wireless issues, or anything like that? I've never extensively used Bootcamp. Also, does the OS X partition have to stick around for any reason (maintenance stuff, maybe), or can it be 100% Windows?

Finally, does anyone here have an opinion on what the best non-Apple PC would be? I'm having trouble finding a 15" that has good battery life, is known to be reliable, and has good support.

 

[cluthz]

So my question is, is a 15" MBP a good windows PC using bootcamp? Are there any nagging issues, like the trackpad not working well, significantly shorter battery life, graphics switching, wireless issues, or anything like that? I've never extensively used Bootcamp. Also, does the OS X partition have to stick around for any reason (maintenance stuff, maybe), or can it be 100% Windows?

Nagging issues: No, it is just like any other windows laptop, mind you have to buy a copy of windows.

Trackpad: It works well, like most windows trackpads. The trackpad is not as good as in Mac Os, but it works better than most windows trackpads.

Battery life is worse in windows, but it's still decent compared to what most PC laptops give you.

Graphics switching: It is disabled in windows, you'll always have your best card running. This is one of the reasons battery life is decreased.

Wireless: Flawless

Osx partition: It must remain, you will need this for firmware upgrades. But, you can set the machine to automatically boot windows instead of OSX. OSX isn't very large, so you can probably live with a 10GB Osx partition.

Finally, does anyone here have an opinion on what the best non-Apple PC would be? I'm having trouble finding a 15" that has good battery life, is known to be reliable, and has good support.

Good PC laptops doesn't come cheap. I'd look at Dell Latitude E Series, Lenovo T Series, HP EliteBook or Sony Vaio.

Dell Latitude E-6520 base config is about $1200, but with discrete graphics, 4GB RAM, QuadCore i7 and upgraded screen it will cost you around $1800.

 

[harcosparky]

Finally, does anyone here have an opinion on what the best non-Apple PC would be? I'm having trouble finding a 15" that has good battery life, is known to be reliable, and has good support.

my son went through several manufacturers looking for a good Windows one.

He tried ASUS, Sony, Samsung, and one other before he bit the bullet and bought an APPLE.




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