Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacBook Pro Retina vs PC

I'll be honest, I am absolutely NO closer to knowing what to buy!

Throughout this thread I have leaned one way and then the other with regard to the MBP or not.

I was this evening looking at the Dell XPS 15, which, even if I was to order and fit a 256GB SSD myself, would still be substantially less than the MBPwR (it would come to about £1,300 for those interested).

Has anyone used the Dell and give some feedback?
 
Robert27191 said:
I'll be honest, I am absolutely NO closer to knowing what to buy!

Throughout this thread I have leaned one way and then the other with regard to the MBP or not.

I was this evening looking at the Dell XPS 15, which, even if I was to order and fit a 256GB SSD myself, would still be substantially less than the MBPwR (it would come to about £1,300 for those interested).

Has anyone used the Dell and give some feedback?
Click to expand...

What XPS 15 model are you looking at?
 
Robert27191 said:
Has anyone used the Dell and give some feedback?
Click to expand...

Dell is not the most reliable company, to be honest. But, they stand by their products, and I had my macbook air out of commission for repairs for longer than all of my Dell's, combined. And for the record, my Air had faulty RAM, where as my Dell's have gone through 11 motherboards, a few keyboards, display latches.... But Dell's next day warranty took care of it faster than the 2 week turn around time at the Apple store.

Unless the next Macbook Air is a black beauty, my next laptop is going to be a Dell Latitude 7240.
 
Robert27191 said:
I'll be honest, I am absolutely NO closer to knowing what to buy!

Throughout this thread I have leaned one way and then the other with regard to the MBP or not.

I was this evening looking at the Dell XPS 15, which, even if I was to order and fit a 256GB SSD myself, would still be substantially less than the MBPwR (it would come to about £1,300 for those interested).

Has anyone used the Dell and give some feedback?
Click to expand...

Seems to get good reviews: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-XPS-15-9530-Late-2013-Notebook.107485.0.html

I'd read some reviews by professionals and on amazon, etc and see if it is something you'd be interested. As this is a mac forum, it is unlikely that anyone here has extensive Dell XPS 15" experience.
 
TechZeke said:
What XPS 15 model are you looking at?
Click to expand...

The 'base' model of the two - the only difference being that the base model comes with a 1TB HD compared to the 512GB SSD on the top line.

Even if I order the 1TB HD version, it would still be cheaper to order and fit a 256GB SSD.

Then I would have 16GB RAM compared to the Mac's 8GB, the same processor and equal memory - you see where I'm having diffficulty...!?
 
MuffCabbage said:
I would say absolutely think about the MBPr though.
Other than that, yes the XPS 15, HP Elitebook 850, Lenovo ThinkPad of your choosing, Kirabook, Acer Aspire S7.
Click to expand...

I absolutely concur with these options above.

Personally I've used Mac Laptops for years as my personal computer of choice because I like the OS. At work Windows XP and 7 were the two best from Microsoft for my preferences.
 
Why not have one laptop Apple or Windows and or Mac desktop/Windows desktop? That is what I do with heavy video editing and closed captioning. :apple:
 
Badrottie said:
Why not have one laptop Apple or Windows and or Mac desktop/Windows desktop?
Click to expand...

Tad overkill.

Has anyone used both machines and can give a direct comparison? Or, and I think I asked this before - can anyone give good info and feedback on Mac for Office?
 
Robert27191 said:
The 'base' model of the two - the only difference being that the base model comes with a 1TB HD compared to the 512GB SSD on the top line.

Even if I order the 1TB HD version, it would still be cheaper to order and fit a 256GB SSD.

Then I would have 16GB RAM compared to the Mac's 8GB, the same processor and equal memory - you see where I'm having diffficulty...!?
Click to expand...

Straightforwardly the Mac is more expensive. The question is which is nicer to use?

I would go into an Apple store and just have a play. Take your time and browse the web, type and get a feel for OSX, multitouch and all the features. You won't believe what a difference the OSX environment + multitouch gestures make for user experience.

Thats how Apple get people to buy Macs, they just put them out to use in the store and after a few mins using one you want one. When you put the hardware and software together its the overall experience you get that is the reason people love their Macs. Plus if you have an iPhone the integration between OSX Yosemite and IOS8 will add a huge reason to have the rMBP.

By the way money wise here is a trick. The top spec rMBP 15" is £2199gbp, if you buy in new York its £1650 including taxes. Thats £549 less. Enough to pay for a return flight and and night in a hotel. So you get a Mac and a trip to New York.

OSX + iPhone + rMBP + free trip to New York = Win


http://www.skyscanner.net/transport...ts-from-united-kingdom-to-new-york.html?rtn=1
 
whitedragon101 said:
Thats how Apple get people to buy Macs, they just put them out to use in the store and after a few mins using one you want one.
Click to expand...

I'll be honest, I'm now leaning more toward the rMBP (don't say I didn't admit to being fickle at this point!) and that's one of the reasons why. I cannot find ANYWHERE a stocker that has a Dell XPS 15 that I can get to grips with.

I accept this is an Apple forum so the views will be predominantly pro-mac, but even so thus far things have been fairly even-handed and some of the info has been very helpful.

whitedragon101 said:
OSX + iPhone + rMBP + free trip to New York = Win
Click to expand...

Genius :)

----------
mripadmini said:
i would get a refurbish Macbook Air or Pro and also buy or build a desktop or laptop PC.
Click to expand...

That was suggested before, but the truth is that would satisfy almost no criteria for me.

In the first place, I do 90% my work on the move, from the house to the office etc, meaning I work from my laptop. Therefore not having much use for a desktop and not having the top-end Mac wouldn't solve the issue.

I want to rMBP for more than just the specs in general, the cooling and fan noise for one thing are markedly better than on the air.
 
Rmbp and either bootcamp or parallels if u feel office for Mac isn't up to snuff.
 
One word:

Xcode

Mac required - done.

Next

Robert27191 said:
Hi,

I'll start of by saying I understand the basics of laptop technology and what makes a good unit/better unit, but I'm certainly not the most clued-up when it comes to heavy jargon.

My current laptop (an HP) is coming to the end of its life and I'm looking for a replacement. I work in a high-performance job that requires a very capable machine, and have it in use for at least 15+ hours a day. Along with that, I do some fairly heavy-duty music recording and editing.

I have been looking at getting a Macbook Pro with Retina Display (15"), but really want to know what people thing of any alternatives, if any exist. The Dell XPS 15 seems fairly good, but reviews of it complain about heat, noise and the trackpad - things which I know the MBP excel at.

The price is one issue - although I would pay it. There don't seem to be any alternatives for the specs I'm looking for (quad-core i7, SSD, minimum 8GB RAM), although some online manufacturers do build laptops for relatively low prices. I'd be slightly nervous about purchasing one without a known manufacturer/make behind it. Does anyone have experience of these?

I accept posting on here will likely get me mainly pro-apple comments, but I would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back