MBP vs Lenovo Y460

[animex3]

Hey guys, my 6years old ASUS laptop died on me...

Now it is time for me to get a new laptop and Im having little trouble deciding what to get.

Im debating between MBP 15inch (2.4Ghz) vs Lenovo Y460.


Both CPU and RAM are equal, the biggest difference i found were:

Graphic card (30~40% difference - http://www.videocardbenchmark.net)
Battery (10 hours for mac although it will be about 5 hours on window vs 4~5 hours on lenovo)
optical drive (DVD vs DVD + blue ray)
and the software including the OS


During back to school promo, I can buy the MBP with touch and sell it then laptop itself is gonna be about $1600 CND vs Lenovo is about $1050.

If I look at the hardware wise, I ask myself, do i want to spend extra $500?
but then i get to look at the software side...
One reason I like MBP is iLife. So easy, yet such a nice software which you dont get on Window...
I would rather get 15inch than 13inch MBP because of the graphic card since i do a bit of 3D game but again... is GT 330M gonna be enough? or should i just go with better graphic on lenovo.

So there... If i get Lenovo, sure, ill get better graphic blue ray and be the same...
if i get MBP ill be on OS X most of the time, only time ill be on window is if i have to run Fortran for school stuff and games...


Any thoughts? Thanks guys!

 

[GreatDrok]

So many people focus on the hardware specs and completely miss the point that one is running Windows and the other is running OS X. I would rather use my 7 year old iBook running Leopard than a new PC of any spec running Windows. The specs mean that little.

However, it's your money so do whatever you want with it since you're the one who will have to live with that decision.

 

[mrmcgoo]

I've just had my 4 year old MBP repaired free of charge by Apple because I experienced a fault that's occurred to many similar models. It's been out of warranty for 3 years. I didn't know it was a common fault on that model and expected a sizeable repair bill, but the Apple Service guy told me about it when I took it in ... that's the extra service you get when you pay a bit more.

I'd be very surprised if Lenovo did the same.

It also comes down to the software you need to use most of the time. If it all has to be Windows based then you'd have to seriously consider the Lenovo but there may be OSX equivalents you are not aware of.
For instance I am a Microsoft SQL Server expert but I use Aqua Data Studio for OSX to do the majority of my work which happily connects to MS SQL.

I have had 3 MBP's over a 5 year period and they are all still running nicely without ever having to completely reinstall the OS (admittedly one's been repaired). Whichever is the newest gets used heavily virtually everyday. In my PC days, I'd reckon on reloading Windows 2 or 3 times a year to keep it running sweet. I have never had to reload any MBP from scratch yet. The older two MBP's are used most days still by my family members and the oldest still runs games like Sims 3 and Half Life 2 well.

Is the extra service and the quality of the OS worth the extra $500 to you?
For me it's a no-brainer but you have to weigh up your situation to decide.

 

[animex3]

I've just had my 4 year old MBP repaired free of charge by Apple because I experienced a fault that's occurred to many similar models. It's been out of warranty for 3 years. I didn't know it was a common fault on that model and expected a sizeable repair bill, but the Apple Service guy told me about it when I took it in ... that's the extra service you get when you pay a bit more.

I'd be very surprised if Lenovo did the same.

It also comes down to the software you need to use most of the time. If it all has to be Windows based then you'd have to seriously consider the Lenovo but there may be OSX equivalents you are not aware of.
For instance I am a Microsoft SQL Server expert but I use Aqua Data Studio for OSX to do the majority of my work which happily connects to MS SQL.

I have had 3 MBP's over a 5 year period and they are all still running nicely without ever having to completely reinstall the OS (admittedly one's been repaired). Whichever is the newest gets used heavily virtually everyday. In my PC days, I'd reckon on reloading Windows 2 or 3 times a year to keep it running sweet. I have never had to reload any MBP from scratch yet. The older two MBP's are used most days still by my family members and the oldest still runs games like Sims 3 and Half Life 2 well.

Is the extra service and the quality of the OS worth the extra $500 to you?
For me it's a no-brainer but you have to weigh up your situation to decide.

If people look at the hardware spec only to compare (which many people do) they'll tell me definitely Lenovo which people around me have been telling. That is why i wanted to post this here to hear other side. Software is critical with MBP. Thanks to the bootcamp OS is no big issue and i will be able to run just about anything i would like on MBP.
My biggest concern right now is the graphic card i think.

Although the "chart" shows 30~40% difference between GT 330M vs Mobility Radeon HD 5650, I just am not sure how good they are.

Will GT 330M on MBP be enough to run most of the 3D games out there without a problem? if so im definitely going for MBP without a doubt.
Obviously 5650 will do better job since its faster but... i just want to know if GT330M can handle it without any problem (ie. heating problem)

 

[Nano2k]

My opinion is that if you are concerned about 3D performance for games you should not consider a Macbook. I mean these "new" 330M chips are basically the same 8600 stuff Nvidia has been selling for ages, hardly new technology. Just look at the beating Nvidia is taking in the desktop graphics card market, it's all ATI now.

If you will be using Windows a lot, save yourself some money and get a Core i5 notebook with an ATI graphics chip or something with Nvidia Optimus inside.

When I run Furmark in Windows on my Macbook pro (9600GT) I have seen the CPU get to 105C and the GPU at 95C it gets so hot I could not believe it, I never thought a computer could run so hot without crashing or failing instantly. Imagine with a Core i5 that runs even hotter. Anytime I use the comp in Windows it's always at least warm or even hot with doing only basic tasks vs being cold or midly warm in OSX.

Macbooks are for using OSX and basic gaming, far from high-end Windows gaming notebooks you can get for less.

 

[animex3]

My opinion is that if you are concerned about 3D performance for games you should not consider a Macbook. I mean these "new" 330M chips are basically the same 8600 stuff Nvidia has been selling for ages, hardly new technology. Just look at the beating Nvidia is taking in the desktop graphics card market, it's all ATI now.

If you will be using Windows a lot, save yourself some money and get a Core i5 notebook with an ATI graphics chip or something with Nvidia Optimus inside.

When I run Furmark in Windows on my Macbook pro (9600GT) I have seen the CPU get to 105C and the GPU at 95C it gets so hot I could not believe it, I never thought a computer could run so hot without crashing or failing instantly. Imagine with a Core i5 that runs even hotter. Anytime I use the comp in Windows it's always at least warm or even hot with doing only basic tasks vs being cold or midly warm in OSX.

Macbooks are for using OSX and basic gaming, far from high-end Windows gaming notebooks you can get for less.

Yeah, my brother has my old macbook pro i think one model lower than yours and when he installed window, his laptop got really hot he had to buy fan for it 😛

The thing is ill be using OS X most of the time and only time i will be using window is for 3d games... its really hard >.<

 

[GreatDrok]

Yeah, my brother has my old macbook pro i think one model lower than yours and when he installed window, his laptop got really hot he had to buy fan for it 😛

The thing is ill be using OS X most of the time and only time i will be using window is for 3d games... its really hard >.<

Any laptop you get won't have much of a lifespan for playing the latest 3D games. For example, my MacBook Pro came out with a decent graphics card for the time but it was unable to handle the latest games without cutting back the specs within a year or so. It was at that point that I deleted my bootcamp partition. Playing games on a laptop sucks and the fans will be working over time which is why I bought an Xbox 360.

The latest MacBooks are optimised for OS X performance and battery life. This is not what you want for gaming. However, buying a laptop for something you do infrequently is the wrong option. A MacBook will outperform the Lenovo for the main uses but not for games.

Think of if like this - suppose you buy a huge SUV because you need to tow a trailer once a year. You suffer appalling fuel consumption and dangerous handling all the time, just for this once a year requirement. I'm constantly amazed at how many people do just that and the same goes for laptops where they buy one which has lousy build quality and ergonomics and a battery life measured in minutes just so they can play the latest games.