Need a new laptop.

[Kirihuna]

I need a new laptop for school. I want this to last at least 3 years, if not longer.

However, I don't know how long I can wait.

I was looking at the rMBP 15" since it has a dGPU, though only 1GB. I want 16GB of RAM and 256GB for dual OS. 13" rMBP has only iGPU.

But Haswell is said to come out in October. Is it worth the wait? Battery life won't mean much to me since I won't be gone for 12 hours at a time.

I like the retina display plus in Windows, 2880x1800 is nice, I like to have the desktop space. But apparently the dGPU has frame rate issues because of the high resolution? It has problems keeping up a decent FPS. Is this true? Or was this solved with Mountain Lion (Anandtech's review is pre-Mountain Lion I think?).

The uses:
Coding
JMOL
Video editing
Word Processing
Movies
Few games (not demanding. Mostly either Dota 2 or some old games or indie games. Nothing top of the line. That's what my PC desktop is for)

Edit: Is it worth going from the 2.4GHz to 2.8GHz CPU?
Also, apparently wireless AC is coming to the new rMBP, but there isn't a single router that has AC at college or home, so it's not a necessity.

 

[jadAce]

I need a new laptop for school. I want this to last at least 3 years, if not longer.

However, I don't know how long I can wait.

I was looking at the rMBP 15" since it has a dGPU, though only 1GB. I want 16GB of RAM and 256GB for dual OS. 13" rMBP has only iGPU.

But Haswell is said to come out in October. Is it worth the wait? Battery life won't mean much to me since I won't be gone for 12 hours at a time.

I like the retina display plus in Windows, 2880x1800 is nice, I like to have the desktop space. But apparently the dGPU has frame rate issues because of the high resolution? It has problems keeping up a decent FPS. Is this true? Or was this solved with Mountain Lion (Anandtech's review is pre-Mountain Lion I think?).

The uses:
Coding
JMOL
Video editing
Word Processing
Movies
Few games (not demanding. Mostly either Dota 2 or some old games or indie games. Nothing top of the line. That's what my PC desktop is for)

Edit: Is it worth going from the 2.4GHz to 2.8GHz CPU?
Also, apparently wireless AC is coming to the new rMBP, but there isn't a single router that has AC at college or home, so it's not a necessity.

rMBP is a great investment. At this point in time, rumors say Haswell rMBPs are due in October, so I would just wait.

When you buy Apple computers, IMHO, you make a significant investment. You might as well invest in whatever best suits your needs. Haswell (+ Mavericks) is going to greatly enhance battery life and even add to performance, and the rMBP might even come with additional improvements (perhaps thinner form factor? Or other, additional features?). This would definitely help you for school.

 

[RedCroissant]

I need a new laptop for school. I want this to last at least 3 years, if not longer.

However, I don't know how long I can wait.

I was looking at the rMBP 15" since it has a dGPU, though only 1GB. I want 16GB of RAM and 256GB for dual OS. 13" rMBP has only iGPU.

But Haswell is said to come out in October. Is it worth the wait? Battery life won't mean much to me since I won't be gone for 12 hours at a time.

I like the retina display plus in Windows, 2880x1800 is nice, I like to have the desktop space. But apparently the dGPU has frame rate issues because of the high resolution? It has problems keeping up a decent FPS. Is this true? Or was this solved with Mountain Lion (Anandtech's review is pre-Mountain Lion I think?).

The uses:
Coding
JMOL
Video editing
Word Processing
Movies
Few games (not demanding. Mostly either Dota 2 or some old games or indie games. Nothing top of the line. That's what my PC desktop is for)

Edit: Is it worth going from the 2.4GHz to 2.8GHz CPU?
Also, apparently wireless AC is coming to the new rMBP, but there isn't a single router that has AC at college or home, so it's not a necessity.

The retina display is pretty nice, but what laptop will you be replacing? If it's one that you use to connect to external devices and an external display, then you might want to consider buying a new laptop that won't require you to buy a single adapter. The rMBP will require that if you have any FW drives or if you like to have your machine connected via ethernet every once in a while.

I would go with a 15" cMBP. You still get the dGPU, most often a larger HDD, I/O awesomeness, and the built-in superdrive that you could eventually replace with a SSD for your other OS needs. You'll also be able to maximize the RAM to 16GB AND, you'll be bale to do most(or all depending on your expertise) of the upgrading/modifying yourself. With the rMBP, replacing the HDD/SSD, RAM or battery is going to be expensive.

Oh, and about the 802.11ac stuff. I would get that if it were available on the cMBP or whatever machine you get. That being said, in order to use that speed either at school or at home, you'll have to have the internet plan that supports those speeds to begin with and the modem as well. In my area, the only plan that allows for those speeds is the Internet "Ultimate" package that costs $100 a month by itself(and cannot be bundled with anything for any kind of savings). A good DOCSIS 3.0 modem is also going to cost around $80-100(although a one-time charge unless you rent it).

I might be living in the past with my PowerPC Macs and their generally considered slow speeds, but I am more than fine with those speeds given my budget.