Macbook Pro 15' (2012) vs Alienware MX17 R4 (2012)

Seeing as you're in the MacBook Pro subforum of the Notebooks forum of the Apple Hardware section of the MacRumors forum of the MacRumors website........most will probably advise/recommend you go with the Mac.

 

Dude really. It's not out. No one knows anything for sure. Bottom line Alienware is dell. Dell= crap. End.

 

Wait for the new MBP to be released, go to an Apple store and play with it, then go play with a gaming PC of your choice. Make your own mind up. Job done.

 

i would have to agree with above, it seems you being here alreay means u are looking for the confirmation that youd be making a good selection on MBP.... im in the same boat, coming from years of Dell notebooks, jumping finally to apple...(own everything else apple minus computers)

Im serious into photo and video editing and find windows computers to slowly but surely lag out and die slowly over time, while the consensus is, with care and maintenance, apple computers are much stronger in the long run and are less proned to run slower depending on the user, and the care level as i stated recently.

i for one, am typing from an ancient dell xps with 2gb ram and core 2 duo cpu, and CANNOT WAIT for the new MBP.......... and a MBA for the wife

buy with confidence, these machines are meant for what youre looking for.

 

Since you aren't into gaming, I think that the Alienware would be the wrong machine.

As long as the laptop you get has a dedicated AMD or NVidia GPU, that part will be more than fine for the applications you've listed.

We don't yet know the actual specs on the processor, RAM, storage options, etc. for the 2012 Macbook Pro because it hasn't been announced yet. Once it has been announced you can make a real comparison.

The rumored "retina display" would be much higher resolution than 1920x1080, more like 2880x1800.

The new MBP will most likely have plenty of power to run the applications you've mentioned and will probably be more portable than the Alienware.

Once the new Macbook Pros are announced, I would actually look at buying the one with the lowest end dedicated GPU that they offer for your situation, depending on what options are available. A high end gaming capable GPU may lead to more heat and lower battery life and it isn't something that you really need for your applications.

Even if you choose not to go with the Macbook Pro, I would recommend against an actual "gaming" laptop if gaming isn't what you want to do.

 

As most of us say here: wait at least for new MBPro's to come out and then decide.

Personally, I think that MBPro is capable of everything you need it to do. I'm speaking from personal experience as I feel we're in the same boat.

I do DJing (Mixxx), most of the time VJing (Modul8), video editing (Adobe Premiere CS5) and VFX (After Effects). Believe me or not, I do this on my backup computer for a while now and it's Macbook Air 11". It's not a "real" workstation but I lost my Macbook Pro and this is just a replacement until new MBPro's come out (my father borrowed it to me).

You say that budget is not a concern so I say go with customizations on MBPro. DEFINITELY get SSD - it's so much better that regular drive and speeds up your computer at least 2x.

It is also important if you have already invested in software - if you have a Mac software already, I don't think it's worth going the Windows route.

BUT

Windows machine, especially with Win7 can be great workstations IF the hardware choice is right. The best is to lurk forums for individual applications, for example Avid is very picky about certain hardware.
Although I can't see any good laptop (not even Alienware) being close to build quality/reliability as MBPro.

I'd go with high-end 15" MBPro with maxed RAM and large SSD, get Thunderbolt display for working at home. Unplug it when you do live gigs. That is, if the budget is really no concern to you.

 

I have such a bad experience with Dell/Alienware customer service it's not even funny.

I live in an apartment complex, and for some reason Dell would just cancel my orders 10 minute after ordering with absolutely no explanation. After spending some time on the phone with their indian reps, they finally told me it was because the address was red flagged. After another couple of hours over multiple days trying to reach the right department through the maze of indian reps, they said I had the green light to order and it wouldn't get cancelled.

10 mins after ordering, it was cancelled again. Another round on the phone, but I couldn't get back to the department I was talking to earlier, and neither did they know what was wrong.
After a while I realized that it wasn't going anywhere, they just kept transfering me over to new reps who didn't know how to help me.

Result was around 20 cancelled orders, probably around 10 hours on the phone over 3 weeks, and just no way I could order a laptop, I had to buy a used one over at ebay.
I didn't talk to a single american rep during this time.

So I'm staying far away from Dell, never have I imagined customer support this bad.... I couldn't even start thinking about what to do if my computer broke.

 

This is a tough decision and this forum will most likely slant your decision on a MBP. To tell you the truth both machines have their pros and cons. I would go for the MBP due to your needs as a DJ (portability) but would definitely go for the Alienware due to connectivity and expandability. I've read a lot of rumors that the new MBP will not have a ODD and USB slots are always too few (at least for me). I don't think you need the amount of power the Alienware can offer and though the MBP will fit fine.

Definitely the new MBP will not have the GPUs you mentioned, specially if Apple decides to make it thinner. I would bet Apple will fit either a Radeon HD 7770M or a Nvidia GT 650M at most. This puts the MBP in huge disadvantage for gaming compared to the Alienware. But since you will not be gaming that wouldn't be a problem. Regarding the CPU the new MBP will most likely have the new Ivy Bridge CPUs from Intel so there is no big difference. Again the Alienware is much more customizable and can stand lots of TDP so it is almost certain that it will offer a faster CPU than the maxed out MBP.

My choice would be the MBP, I would say its enough for your needs.

 

How do you know these MBP details?

 

I've had 2 Macbook Pros before and to tell you the truth both have been very reliable. I had one trouble with my first one. It came with a defective chip and after 4 years of owning it finally gave up. I took it to a Apple Authorized dealer and they changed the entire logic board and fix it free of charge and the warranty was over also, so not only the computer is reliable but the service as well.

 

I can't speak to the M17x personally, but from reading around on notebookreview I see a lot of people who still own their R2's and some R1's, and lots who are still very happy with their R3's.

As far as the MBP goes, I am still using a late 2008 unibody 15" and have no intention of getting rid of it anytime soon. It's still a heck of a machine that has proven to be more reliable than any computer I've ever owned. I recently had my original hard disk fail and replaced it with a Momentus XT SSD hybrid drive, doubled the ram, and picked up a new battery to replace my old bloated one. My MBP runs smoother and faster today than it did when I bought it nearly 4 years ago.

That said, I'm currently saving up my last few hundred to place an order for a M17x R4. My intention is to use the Alienware solely for gaming while I'm working out at sea. It's a gaming laptop and, while it is powerful enough to do other things, gaming is what those computers do really, really well.

The MBP will be my main computer for everything else. This includes browsing, Photoshop work, audio work (musician), and anything else I need it for. It's light, it's portable, and I know I can rely on it anywhere I need to go.

The M17x comes off to me as more of a desktop replacement with some mobility, but it's not nearly as portable as the MBP. I believe the M17x weighs in at around 10lbs. or so. Don't quote me on that, but something to consider.

 

I'm a fan of Alienware laptops from my experience with an m11x R3.

Alienware's have better internal speakers by far - many insist that they are indifferent to laptop sound and always use headphones, but the m11x's are pretty nice, and much better than those used by the Macbook Pro 13" i had last. I also find, counter to what most have said, the Alienware easier to type on because the sharp edges on the 13" aluminum body to kind of dig in just a little in my hands over time. Alienware laptops are probably more customizable.

OTOH, the fit and finish on the Apple is superior overall. The Apple chicklet keyboard is a better keyboard, though i find typing on Alienware a bit less tiring. Apples have a generation or two better iSight cameras and microphones. Mac OS is a better day to day OS for lighter tasks and comes with everything basic a home user needs, and have access to inexpensive Apple software like GarageBand that doesn't have a clear analog in the PC world. Also, not an insubstantial difference, Apple uses Lithium Polymer batters where Alienware uses Lithium Ion. After two years you will see significant degradation in the ability of your Alienware to hold a charge. But the Alienware's battery is probably easier to change yourself.

If you plan to game more or less exclusively get an Alienware. If you intend it to be your sole computer, dual boot into Windows and get an Apple. But whichever you get, get an SSD drive. After getting that Alienware with an SSD upgrade i'm done with spinning disks at this point.

 

have you looked at the HP envy?

how would that stack up to the two you listed?

 

You mention you do VJing, video editing and video effects using Modul8 and the CS5 applications on the Macbook Air, how do they perform without a dedicated GPU?

 

Me 2!!! I currently have a Dell XPS but I think I wanna replace it with a Mac

 

Modul8 uses Quartz (at least for the in-built effects) which is super fast, it does a great job even on C2D macbooks. I have already played three live shows on Air and never had a hiccup. I use standard definition so I don't know how it would cope with HD - but I do have 5 layers activated at one time, with filters (also animated or BPM synced) and it's going fast.
I don't think that dedicated GPU would help you much in Modul8, not really sure if they support any.

CS5 is OK too - Air is not a workhorse so rendering takes time but I did project recently where I had to edit 10 hours of HD footage that was loaded in one Premiere Pro project and had no problems.

Compared to my old MBPro with C2D - this is like 2x-3x faster, even the rendering times are slightly faster.

 

I have a Dell laptop and I must say that the hardware is diesppointing. Within 5 months, my hard drive and trackpad failed. Based on my experience with Apple products, I think that Apple is a better choice.

 

No one on here can give you verifiable figures on that. What are they supposed to say? There's a good chance that no one reading this has purchased an alienware computer, especially not in the past couple years. Many of the parts are commodity parts. Just look for known issues and remember whichever one you buy, your experience may vary.

 

Arh sounds alright then! Cheers.

 

Bought the m14x right when it came out here. Came with multiple dead pixels and dust between the screen. Alienwares quality is total crap now. Get the MBP, I did after the Alienware.

 

Alienware uses desktop CPU.
MBP uses mobile CPU.

But I would still stick with the MBP.