Convince the boss

[DavoteK]

Looking to upgrade my works laptop.

Currently, we just buy Dells for everyone that needs a new laptop, but I wanna change it up to a MacBook Pro.

I think this is the Dell I'm gonna end up with.

How can I state to my boss that buying either this 15" MacBook Pro or this 17" MacBook Pro is a better option, even though its £300 or £600 more expensive (ex VAT prices)?
(btw, I'll be upgrading the Macs RAM to 16GB and swapping out the HDD for an SSD)

I have to run virtual machines (and also use a secondary display), regardless of whether its a windows or mac computer and I use VMware fusion at home on my Macs and find it seamless and far less clunky than it is on a Windows machine.

Anyway, how would you guys go about trying to convince your boss that either of those two is a better option?

 

[MonkeySee....]

If you're boss is anything like mine it will be a no go.

If he buys dells he may have an account with them where he gets preferred pricing or better support.

Also the continuity across the company with everyone have the same machine can be important.

 

[DavoteK]

If you're boss is anything like mine it will be a no go.

If he buys dells he may have an account with them where he gets preferred pricing or better support.

Also the continuity across the company with everyone have the same machine can be important.

Yep, thats what I'm thinking, although, its a small company and there's no real importance lumped on getting the same machine. Any technical issues with machine, I deal with myself.

What I really need is something performance based, a way to compare both machines (tried looking on geekbench), or someone who has had a similar situation and what they used to blag/convince that Mac was the way to go.

EDIT: One Major plus point I've just noticed. The Dell has a max of 8GB RAM, while the Macs have a max of 16GB.

 

[MonkeySee....]

Yep, thats what I'm thinking, although, its a small company and there's no real importance lumped on getting the same machine. Any technical issues with machine, I deal with myself.

What I really need is something performance based, a way to compare both machines (tried looking on geekbench), or someone who has had a similar situation and what they used to blag/convince that Mac was the way to go.

The best way to appeal to your boss is either pay the difference yourself or advise him the Macs have a very good resell value and un-matched support.

Its better in the long run to own a Mac.

Money talks

 

[DavoteK]

Resell value. I think thats my angle to cover the extra cost.

3 year old MacBook Pro goes for about £500 to £600. 3 year old Dell, £100 haha.

 

[MonkeySee....]

Resell value. I think thats my angle to cover the extra cost.

3 year old MacBook Pro goes for about £500 to £600. 3 year old Dell, £100 haha.

exactly. I don't think I've ever sold on a Windows PC/Laptop. Either passed it on to someone else for free or chucked it

 

[mmomega]

Resell and cost of support over 3-5 years.

Do some research starting off with the price of each machine then the cost of supporting each machine over 3 yrs and 5 yrs, which is the normal amount of time I keep machines in our office before switching them out.

Most of the time Windows machines have more downtime due to general tech support issues + antivirus software costs, etc. but also Joe Schmoe general public is more familiar with Windows over OS X which also equates to downtime for them to learn a new system. Every minute lossed to trying to find something is another minute the boss is paying the employee and them not producing and those minutes add up to hours over weeks.

You also have to understand where the boss is coming from, they are fronting the money for something you say you can produce more work from, if you toss graphs and tech specs around that show you are much more capable of producing more work in the same amount of time you previously did, then be prepared to do said work or if he/she does purchase a MacBook for you it may be the last time.
Usually if you can keep them happy, they will keep you happy.

Just trying to give some pros and cons.

 

[designs216]

The longevity point above is stronger, but maybe you also make the point that you'll be freeing up TAC resources by doing your own desktop support. The boss won't know that Macs need substantially less of that than your average PC.