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Lenovo Thinkpad or 13 inch MacBook Pro.
- Thread starter Bankaimadness
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Yes, a MacBook will have better build quality and a more premium "feel" than a ThinkPad. Consider this, the main case of a ThinkPad is made of at least 2 pieces of plastic while the main case of a MBP is made from a single solid piece of aluminum.
I know my experience in using thinkpads owned by other people as well as current education models has been good. They are definitely good quality for the price. My father has owned them for the past ten years and they have survived being Carter around the continent every week with no problems what so ever. However aesthetically they are black bricks. Well designed for what they are, but black bricks none the less.
Now all the machines I have used have been intended for Windows 7 the one exception being a very cheap education model. The touchpad on it was atrocious for the gestures needed to operate windows 8. I would hope that lenovo has refined their design for the more premium models.
A few more things. The thinkpad will be heavier, but not ridiculously so. Usually the batteries are quite good on them but nothing can beat the efficiency of Os X on a macbook. Also unless you order a very expensive model with a dedicated GPU, you are likely to get a model with Intel graphics 4400 which is less powerful than the iris 5100 in the MBP which is itself a bit under powered for intensive work.
All of this comes from someone who does not yet own a Mac but has done extensive research and consulted with other professionals on the exact same question. As a Windows user, I am excited to migrate to mavricks as it seems like a very productivity driven operating system.
Now all the machines I have used have been intended for Windows 7 the one exception being a very cheap education model. The touchpad on it was atrocious for the gestures needed to operate windows 8. I would hope that lenovo has refined their design for the more premium models.
A few more things. The thinkpad will be heavier, but not ridiculously so. Usually the batteries are quite good on them but nothing can beat the efficiency of Os X on a macbook. Also unless you order a very expensive model with a dedicated GPU, you are likely to get a model with Intel graphics 4400 which is less powerful than the iris 5100 in the MBP which is itself a bit under powered for intensive work.
All of this comes from someone who does not yet own a Mac but has done extensive research and consulted with other professionals on the exact same question. As a Windows user, I am excited to migrate to mavricks as it seems like a very productivity driven operating system.
Probably, but I have never broken any part of a laptop regardless of brand, despite some drops here and there. I wouldn't worry about it unless you're really rough with your computers. The Thinkpad is a better buy IMO.
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.
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they can always stick a picture of a banana on the back
Windows 7 isn't that bad, it's Windows 8/8.1 that's bad.
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I disagree. Are you seriously ok with using windows or linux ?
I am; windows 8.1 is an excellent OS - rock solid fast and does everything I want it too.
Win 7 was the second worst right after Win 3.11.
Ive used win 1 through 8 and win 8 is the only one I considered using voluntarily.
I really liked win 8.
It crashed on me after a few startups --> called MS --> reinstall? No thank you!
Mac Os does everything i want it to. No need for windows.
Nah. Windows 7 was reasonably stable and useful, IMO. XP was the best but there was nothing really wrong with windows 7 which is why it's so infuriating that they went in the direction they did with windows 8.
Windows 8 is horribly yucky and drove me to an apple laptop. Very happy I did.
I have to disagree with that - windows 7 has been one of the most stable versions, and because its been so great, it hindered my adoption of windows 8, since it was so great.
I too used all the versions of windows starting at version 1. I've never needed to reinstall windows 7 or windows 8 because of a crash.
If you search through the forums, you'll see similar advice about clean installs on OSX, so keep that in mind as well, i.e., while both are stable, people have had to reinstall OSX because of issues.
Since both platforms, OSX and windows are rock solid at this point, its up to the OP whether he wants OSX and a MBP or a Lenovo. Depending on his needs, apps to run, dictates which machine is a better choice.
imo, I don't think he can go wrong with either one.
Win7 has a reputation of being the most popular Windows.
I also had to reinstall Mac Os once right after I bought my current rmbp.
Every person I have ever talked to in real life acknowledges Mac Os as more pleasant.
No viruses, no firewalls, intuitive, stable, safe.
After 20 years of Windows I cannot with a clean conscience recommend windows to anyone.
I still use it for work related things on different PCs, but it never runs without problems.
You Must be one of the rare happy Windows customers. I wish I could like It, because its cheaper.
Just out of curiosity, why doesn't Linux work for you?Win7 has a reputation of being the most popular Windows.
I also had to reinstall Mac Os once right after I bought my current rmbp.
Every person I have ever talked to in real life acknowledges Mac Os as more pleasant.
No viruses, no firewalls, intuitive, stable, safe.
After 20 years of Windows I cannot with a clean conscience recommend windows to anyone.
I still use it for work related things on different PCs, but it never runs without problems.
You Must be one of the rare happy Windows customers. I wish I could like It, because its cheaper.
i tried ubuntu and some other version on mac and an acer.
I found it to be complicated and obtruse.
When I was a younger I got joy out of assembling computers, programming and solving problems, now I just want a computer that works and is fast. mac Os does this.
How long ago was this? Because installing Linux has got easier over time. (UEFI boot related issues notwithstanding - something that seems to have been done for 'your security and nothing else')
And stuff like Linux Mint (and many many others) work and look smooth as butter out of the box.
I was this close to buying a low cost nice little machine and using it as a dedicated linux laptop (Lubuntu is my flavor of choice) but I'm too reliant on various photo processing software and ended up with an rmbp since it allowed the best of all worlds.
I agree with you, I like programming and solving problems but don't want it to be an every day type deal with Linux just to get something simple working.
I turned my old Dell desktop into a server with Debian (mostly running samba share server and MySQL db server) until it died recently.
Depends what you mean by build quality.
There's perceived build quality i.e. look, feel, materials used, accuracy of shut lines, accuracy of mounting of seals, do screws sit flush all at the same level as each other, consistency of cosmetic appearance from machine to machine, etc, etc ...... When people talk about build quality in this sense, its unlikely to impact reliability, but will affect your perception of the machine and probably how you feel about it each time you pick it up/look at it (which isn't as superficial as you may think at first, there's no reason why you shouldn't care about these aspects in a laptop you use and look at for hours a day, but deliberate over such concerns when choosing an ornament you look at once a week).
Then there's build quality in terms of internal assembly, component assembly, component choice, etc. When people talk of build quality in this sense, it will generally provide an indication of reliability.
Anecdotal evidence is inherently unreliable, but at least you can walk into a store and get a sense of perceived build quality (after all actual statistically sound measurements aren't as important, its how you perceive it that matters most). My observations are that Apple products, including the rMBP tend to be better when it comes to perceived build quality. I get the sense they spend a lot of time and effort to get this right.
When it comes to build quality in terms of reliability, anecdotal evidence is useless. But I very much doubt there's a massive difference between any manufacturer when considering machines in the same price bracket. Otherwise sooner or later there would be uproar and the poorer manufacturers would soon lose all their customers.
WRT Lenovo's I only have experience with the T series. Perceived build quality has steadily dropped IMO since the takeover from IBM. I also feel they've added several other budget lines which aren't built nearly as well, essentially I wouldn't just rely on the brand telling me the machine will be built well and look/feel good in the hand as I once used to. But from the last T series we had, I still felt they were very good machines and well worth considering.
Example from 5years ago:
Running Ubuntu on laptop. -> Wifi breaks. -> i buy wifi usb adapter. -> Adapter comes with little cd with mac os and windows driver + do-it-yourself-instructions to program the drivers For ubuntu ... in ****ing japanese!!!
Example from 1 1/2 ago:
Installed ubuntu on mac mini --> multiple drivers dont work including the one for the screen
I heard good things about linux, but its to complicated for me.
is quick and customer friendly.
From what I've understood they assemble the things in the same factory at Quanta Computer in Shenzhen. So in terms of how good the people doing final assembly are I can't imagine there being much of a difference. As for the internal components most of them are assembled at various Foxconn plants so I can't say there's much of a difference there ether.
As for the materials used, I personally prefer Apple's brushed aluminum over the cheap plastic any day and the only thinkpads that aren't cheap plastic are the X1 Carbon's, but they cost more than that and come with a much worse screen.
Like I said, it doesn't take much to stand out from Dell specially when the better machines are in minority like that. It's like talking about how good Ford's are when your motor pool most consists of Opel's (GM's european arm, sold in the U.K under the Vauxhall brand).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence
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Tried installing Ubuntu on my old desktop back in 2006 and it wouldn't install for some reason (installer would fail for some unexplained reason, same thing with Vista).
My attempts after that have been much more successful, Ubuntu has worked flawlessly in a Virtualbox VM and on my landlord's desktop after he paid me to install it to get rid of the Vista install his technically inept wife had him pay someone to put on there. Other than that most of the machines my university's IT side uses also run Linux and I've never had any problems with them ether.
If you know what you're doing and know how to avoid hardware from manufacturers that are a bit... Well... Difficult with the open source crowd (like Broadcom or Nvidia before Linus made his "**** you Nvidia"-speech), Linux is easily manageable. If Apple goes and ruins OSX with some future version I'll probably switch over to windows myself.
Everyone who thinks it's too complicated to install and maintain linux, I would highly recommend giving it a shot.
Try Linux Mint, try Lubuntu or try Debian. Straightforward installation, not much in the way of upkeep.
It's a lightweight way to run your hardware. Everything is SO much snappier compared to Windows/OSX and you won't burn a hole in your pocket.
The horror stories are true for certain hardware manufacturers that don't play nice with Linux. But again, it's easier than ever to install it.
You will love how no non-sense and powerful the whole set up is.
If they had a hardware of the rMBP caliber, I would pick it up and install rEFIT + Lubuntu.
If you have an older laptop lying around, give it a shot, you might just fall in love.
Try Linux Mint, try Lubuntu or try Debian. Straightforward installation, not much in the way of upkeep.
It's a lightweight way to run your hardware. Everything is SO much snappier compared to Windows/OSX and you won't burn a hole in your pocket.
The horror stories are true for certain hardware manufacturers that don't play nice with Linux. But again, it's easier than ever to install it.
You will love how no non-sense and powerful the whole set up is.
If they had a hardware of the rMBP caliber, I would pick it up and install rEFIT + Lubuntu.
If you have an older laptop lying around, give it a shot, you might just fall in love.
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.
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they can always stick a picture of a banana on the back
I used Lenovo laptops for work for many years. Good solid machines. Significantly bulkier than a MBP and somewhat heavier. If you have to have a Windows machine, I think it's the best choice. Once nice feature is a route for liquids reaching the keyboard to flow out the bottom doing little damage. I wish Apple would figure out something like that.
On my last PC before retiring I stuck a Apple decal on the back of the lid. Got some reactions from the Microsoft fanboys.
The Thinkpads are classic laptops. They're built like tanks and you can spill coffee on the keyboard just for fun (ok, not at all, but they're a lot more spill-safe than Macbooks). Thinkpads are heavier, but they're usually tougher than Macbooks. Its focus is business and engineering (although there are notable video/photo-oriented ones).
Choosing a Macbook or a Thinkpad is a matter of preference. Windows is less user-friendly than OSX, but it supports a lot more devices. I'm still using Windows Vista on my Mini just because my DTV usb adapter doesn't have Mac drivers...
Choosing a Macbook or a Thinkpad is a matter of preference. Windows is less user-friendly than OSX, but it supports a lot more devices. I'm still using Windows Vista on my Mini just because my DTV usb adapter doesn't have Mac drivers...