Lenovo Thinkpad or 13 inch MacBook Pro.

[Bankaimadness]

So a 13 inch macbook pro cost around $1,199

While a configured Lenovo Thinkpad T440p

that has:

Intel Core i5-4300M Processor
14.0 (1600x900) display
Nvidia Geforce 730m GT

is around $1,184.00

So slighty cheaper than the 13 inch MBP.



Which has better build quality?

Spec-wise which is better?

 

[leman]

I guess you mean non-retina MBP? The Lenovo is better spec-wise. Build quality, I'd say MBP is better. I recommend you agains buying the non-retina MBP though, its previous-yen technology and way to expensive for what it offers. Only buy it if you can find it used for a good price (sub $800). I mean, a new 13" MacBook Air, which is a faster and lighter machine, costs the same.

IMO, the retina MBP is a better buy in this case. You can get a refurbished 13" model with 8Gb RAM and 256Gb SSD for $1,269.00 A similarly-configured Levono is much more expensive, heavier and will have less battery life.

 

[Meister]

Get the Thinkpad and enjoy the agrievation and misery!

 

[maflynn]

Get the Thinkpad and enjoy the agrievation and misery!

Actually Lenovos are an excellent laptop, and highly recommended. Much better then Dell and HP.

The Lenovo comes as you've configured it with 4GB of ram, that's a bit meager and so I'd recommend 8gb. That would bring the price up to 1,329 with the i5 processor, and dGPU. Unless you're need a discrete GPU, I'd consider the integrated one to drop the price a bit.

Another aspect to consider is that you need to choose running OSX or Windows, both have their respective advantages and disadvantages, though with the Mac you can run Windows virtualized or through bootcamp.

Personally, I like the design and look of the MBP over the Lenovo and that would help with my selection criteria

I wouldn't touch the non retina MBP with a 10 foot pole at this point. You're paying a premium for old technology. I'd consider a 13" MBA if you're not interested in the retina MBP

 

[Meister]

Actually Lenovos are an excellent laptop, and highly recommended.

... not compared to macbooks.

 

[maflynn]

... not compared to macbooks.

Actually yes, because the build quality is high, priced lower then the MBP and are very good laptops. They don't have a fruit logo on the back so that will turn off some people, but as a laptop to get work done, they are very good alternative to a MBP. They also don't have the same aluminum fit and finish of a MBP but over all its build quality is what you want and Lenovo has that (even compared to the MBPs).

Granted you're using windows, and that may or may not be something that some people want, especially here at MacRumors.

 

[Meister]

Granted you're using windows, and that may or may not be something that some people want, especially here at MacRumors.

you are right. Windows is whats turning me off about the lenovos. They also feel flimsy, but thats purely subjective. If the OP wants Windows, than you are probably right and the Lenovo might be a good decision. I personally wouldnt touch those things with a ten foot pole.

----------

They don't have a fruit logo on the back so that will turn off some people, but as a laptop to get work done, they are very good alternative to a MBP.

they can always stick a picture of a banana on the back

 

[leman]

Actually yes, because the build quality is high, priced lower then the MBP and are very good laptops.

How is it priced lower than MBP? The rMBP is $1499 (official price). The similarly configured Lenovo is $1,634.00 And that is with slow Wifi, no thunderbolt and a smaller battery — while being bulkier and heavier. The only thing that is in Lenovo's favour is a slightly faster GPU.

 

[maflynn]

How is it priced lower than MBP? The rMBP is $1499 (official price). The similarly configured Lenovo is $1,634.00 And that is with slow Wifi, no thunderbolt and a smaller battery — while being bulkier and heavier. The only thing that is in Lenovo's favour is a slightly faster GPU.

The price is lower on the cMBP which the OP was referencing.

 

[cube]

How is it priced lower than MBP? The rMBP is $1499 (official price). The similarly configured Lenovo is $1,634.00 And that is with slow Wifi, no thunderbolt and a smaller battery — while being bulkier and heavier. The only thing that is in Lenovo's favour is a slightly faster GPU.

You can put 16GiB of RAM and a 2TB hard drive in the Lenovo, so it's a computer that can actually be used.

 

[Meister]

You can put 16GiB of RAM and a 2TB hard drive in the Lenovo, so it's a computer that can actually be used.

Thats because plenty ram and a large hard drive with one of those beautiful spinning discs make any computer better

 

[cube]

Thats because plenty ram and a large hard drive with one of those beautiful spinning discs make any computer better

A slow computer that you can actually use is infinitely better than a useless one.

 

[Meister]

A slow computer that you can actually use is infinitely better than a useless one.

Omg i forgot that the new macbooks are all unuseable!

 

[cube]

Omg i forgot that the new macbooks are all unuseable!

They are unuseable for some people.

 

[Meister]

They are unuseable for some people.

Blind people with no arms?

 

[cube]

A slow computer that you can actually use is infinitely better than a useless one.

You can also put a 128GB SSD in the M.2 slot since a long time, and a 256GB SSD from July/August.

 

[SarcasticJoe]

Actually Lenovos are an excellent laptop, and highly recommended. Much better then Dell and HP.

You might have been right before Lenovo bough IBM's laptop division and slightly after that, but these days the quality's gone downhill in a major way and even the fanboys of them have admitted to that. Most fanboys I talk to generally recommend the old Core 2 Duo machines from 2007 and 2008 and tell you to stay far away from the "Thinkpad Edge" machines.

 

[cube]

You might have been right before Lenovo bough IBM's laptop division and slightly after that, but these days the quality's gone downhill in a major way and even the fanboys of them have admitted to that. Most fanboys I talk to generally recommend the old Core 2 Duo machines from 2007 and 2008 and tell you to stay far away from the "Thinkpad Edge" machines.

I never used a ThinkPad until I bought an Edge 11, and I can tell you it is very nice.

There are a lot of ThinkPad families to choose from.

 

[hallux]

You might have been right before Lenovo bough IBM's laptop division and slightly after that, but these days the quality's gone downhill in a major way and even the fanboys of them have admitted to that. Most fanboys I talk to generally recommend the old Core 2 Duo machines from 2007 and 2008 and tell you to stay far away from the "Thinkpad Edge" machines.

If the quality was as bad as you say, my shop would be a revolving door of Lenovo laptops in for hardware repairs. While our users are primarily Dell, they also have a good selection of Lenovo products and we don't see NEARLY the number of those in for repair.

I will say, the X1 Carbon is a nice alternative to a MBA and I'm not sure we've had them in for anything besides a bad screen (and only 2 at that). The T440 is a nice machine also.

The T440 looks like a decent machine, 2 of my colleagues use them but I haven't put any significant time in on one. My work machine is an L430 and has been solid for a year thus far (knock on wood though I have a MBP to back it up).

While the current Lenovo products don't rival the T41 for the build quality, they're a darn sight better than some of what Dell has put out there.

 

[case2001]

Lenovo Thinkpad or 13 inch MacBook Pro.

I like the Lenovo Thinkpads. They are great.
A big, big advantage with the Thinkpads are as mentioned above you can upgrade drives and ram. I would also agree that the build quality is on par with Apple. They are built like tanks. They feel more utilitarian. I don't mean that in a bad way.
The MacBooks are built great and beautiful at the same time.

Since you can run windows on both. I would say try to physically look at both and see which feels better. I like the keyboard on my wife's Thinkpad T510 better then the Mac. I love the Thinkpad trackpoint.

I should also mentioned the few time I contacted customer support for Lenovo they were fantastic.

 

[powerslave12r]

Something to watch out for is Lenovo's new keyboard layout and other updates to input and see if you like that!

 

[SarcasticJoe]

If the quality was as bad as you say, my shop would be a revolving door of Lenovo laptops in for hardware repairs

our users are primarily Dell

Seriously, you literally explained why that is in your own post!

In comparison with Dell, specially their consumer models, you can make anything look good. A car comparison would literally be some of the worse eastern european brands like Москвич. Inside of corporate IT departments we're literally talking legendary status.

My work machine is an L430 and has been solid for a year thus far (knock on wood though I have a MBP to back it up).

So you've had it for a year and it hasn't broken down in that time? That's like boasting about a girl friend you've been together for a week not having stabbed you.

 

[cube]

So you've had it for a year and it hasn't broken down in that time? That's like boasting about a girl friend you've been together for a week not having stabbed you.

How about a badmouthed Edge going strong for over 2 years?

 

[hallux]

Seriously, you literally explained why that is in your own post!

In comparison with Dell, specially their consumer models, you can make anything look good. A car comparison would literally be some of the worse eastern european brands like Москвич. Inside of corporate IT departments we're literally talking legendary status.



So you've had it for a year and it hasn't broken down in that time? That's like boasting about a girl friend you've been together for a week not having stabbed you.

We're a 75/25 split of Dell and Lenovo (in a 4000+ user environment), in favor of Dell, and we're talking the Latitude line for Dell. I can probably count on 2 hands the number of logic boards we've replaced in Lenovo systems over the course of the last 3 years, various models. Dell is a significantly higher number. Same applies to hard drives (yes, I know they don't make them in house). Dell also has had a number of other issues that were not present on Lenovo products (trackpad being one).

When you see the number of computers come back with hardware issues within a year of deployment that I have, a year without problems is pretty good.

 

[Bankaimadness]

So the ideal laptop at around $1200 would be a thinkpad?


Do MBP really have better build quality that the thinkpad line? 0.0