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trewyn15

macrumors 6502
May 13, 2013
391
1
Your sig says you have an Elitebook. Most people who buy HP laptops buy the cheap models and then complain about how all Windows based laptop suck after they switch to a $1000+ Mac.

This was my school issued laptop, its a tank and will take more of a beating than any apple ive seen to be completely honest.

My protege on the other hand is cheap plastic construction but is super light and works excellently.

My dad has a plastic toshiba and my brother and mom have the plastic cheaper hp laptops.

Their laptops stay mainly in the house tho so construction isnt a big deal, whereas mine is in and out of my bag and car all the time.
 

Cubytus

macrumors 65816
Mar 2, 2007
1,436
18
I keep some of my PCs on 24/7 and I don't have a problem.
To be honest, I got some of my longest uptimes on Windows 2000. 3 weeks was not unusual back then. But with such a crappy RAM management, doing heavy work requires more frequent reboots. Plus all these updates that never seem to install without requiring a reboot.
 

thekev

macrumors 604
Aug 5, 2010
7,005
3,343
This isn't so much a PC vs Mac issue. It's one of researching what you buy prior to purchase, especially if you lack prior experience with that line. Asus is known to be terrible when it comes to obtaining service. $60 in shipping is especially ridiculous, as they probably have contract rates with Fedex, UPS, or both that are way below that. Your options in terms of returns are based on their stated return policy. No one can help you with that here, but I suggest a straight out return if you're having that many issues from day one.


To be honest, I got some of my longest uptimes on Windows 2000. 3 weeks was not unusual back then. But with such a crappy RAM management, doing heavy work requires more frequent reboots. Plus all these updates that never seem to install without requiring a reboot.

I don't think Windows 7 is bad in that regard. As far as updates are concerned, I end up having to reboot after most in OSX too. Most of the time I just use Windows through a VM, so I'm personally barely affected by Windows side reboots. The VM just reboots while my OSX windows remain normal.
 

Altemose

macrumors G3
Mar 26, 2013
9,189
487
Elkton, Maryland
We all know that a new Retina will cream a cMBP. The OP wanted 500 GB of storage, an Apple warranty, and for it to be a Mac. The cMBP is what is afforded under $1000 with that 500 GB requirement. If the OP can go external for storage then a Retina or Air could be afforded and still provide enough storage. I was simply pointing out an option.

That being said, plenty of PCs match Apple in terms of quality. I recommend Lenovo ThinkPads and HP Elitebooks as mentioned earlier. Both are solid business class machines which are going to be comparable in build.
 

Cubytus

macrumors 65816
Mar 2, 2007
1,436
18
(...)Asus is known to be terrible when it comes to obtaining service. (...) I suggest a straight out return if you're having that many issues from day one.
Then it's not just a matter of service, but of overall quality.

I just use Windows through a VM, so I'm personally barely affected by Windows side reboots. The VM just reboots while my OSX windows remain normal.
Same here, and ironically enough I had to restart OS X more often than I did Windows 2000 back then, mainly because of hard-crashes in essential frameworks. That include that infamous FW800 bug that has persisted for years. :(

We all know that a new Retina will cream a cMBP. The OP wanted 500 GB of storage, an Apple warranty, and for it to be a Mac. The cMBP is what is afforded under $1000 with that 500 GB requirement. If the OP can go external for storage then a Retina or Air could be afforded and still provide enough storage. I was simply pointing out an option.

That being said, plenty of PCs match Apple in terms of quality. I recommend Lenovo ThinkPads and HP Elitebooks as mentioned earlier. Both are solid business class machines which are going to be comparable in build.
Disagree on both. Not only a cMBP, given proper upgrades, will burn a rMBP, but it is more upgradeable also, without needing cumbersome external storage.

And not many PCs match Apple build quality and service. Business-class machines are typically not available to individuals. How would the OP solve that?
 

Altemose

macrumors G3
Mar 26, 2013
9,189
487
Elkton, Maryland
Then it's not just a matter of service, but of overall quality.

Same here, and ironically enough I had to restart OS X more often than I did Windows 2000 back then, mainly because of hard-crashes in essential frameworks. That include that infamous FW800 bug that has persisted for years. :(

Disagree on both. Not only a cMBP, given proper upgrades, will burn a rMBP, but it is more upgradeable also, without needing cumbersome external storage.

And not many PCs match Apple build quality and service. Business-class machines are typically not available to individuals. How would the OP solve that?

Some business class laptops are available to the consumer. It isn't like they are locked down behind brick walls only for CEOs and large IT departments to order. You can order ThinkPads and Elitebooks easily online, so how could the OP not solve that?

A late 2013 MBP vs a mid 2012 cMBP is going to clearly have an obvious winner. The cMBP is expandable, but it is far behind in terms of SSD speed (PCI vs SATA III), processor (Haswell vs Ivy Bridge), and graphical power. There is no way even an upgraded cMBP will "burn" a new rMBP. That being said, given the proper upgrades a cMBP would *probably* feel just as fast as an rMBP in day to day use.
 

blooperz

macrumors 6502
Dec 10, 2013
287
1
Disagree on both. Not only a cMBP, given proper upgrades, will burn a rMBP

...no...just no...

13 inch cMbp on the apple store --> dual core i7, 8 gig Ram, 512g ssd--> 2149
13 inch rMbp on the apple store--> dual core i7, 16 gig Ram, 512g ssd--> 2199

Basically identical in price and still the rmbp wins even after the upgrades...so unless you plan on spending even more to try and bring the cMBP up to par with the rMBP I really see no point. Why spend so much trying to update a machine that's already on it's way out the door?
 

Cubytus

macrumors 65816
Mar 2, 2007
1,436
18
...no...just no...

13 inch cMbp on the apple store --> dual core i7, 8 gig Ram, 512g ssd--> 2149
13 inch rMbp on the apple store--> dual core i7, 16 gig Ram, 512g ssd--> 2199

Basically identical in price and still the rmbp wins even after the upgrades...so unless you plan on spending even more to try and bring the cMBP up to par with the rMBP I really see no point. Why spend so much trying to update a machine that's already on it's way out the door?
You can easily install 16GB RAM in a cMBP. Just not BTO. Does it make a really large difference to have a Haswell instead of an Ivy Bridge, I mean, in common situations? How fast does a SSD over PCI performs compared to SATAIII, in a slim notebook setting?

So the cMBP may not be as fast from an absolute standpoint, but definitely more upgradeable than a rMBP. Losing the ODD in the cMBP makes room for another HDD or SSD, and both SSDs can theoretically be linked in RAID0, boosting performance, maybe well above the rMBP.
 

notjustjay

macrumors 603
Sep 19, 2003
6,056
167
Canada, eh?
I feel for the OP. During an after-Christmas sale I picked up a Lenovo Yoga 11S for a good price. I was excited about my first touchscreen, convertible, lightweight, Windows 8 ultrabook.

24 hours later I was back in the store returning it, and buying a 13" retina MacBook Pro instead.

I wrote a much longer post about my experience, but the bottom line was there were so many "little" issues that put together made it an annoying and disappointing experience. Glitches, crashes, software updates that didn't work, Windows 8 oddities... I gave up. No one thing was a real deal-breaker, it was like a death by a thousand cuts.

I had not planned on buying the rMBP. But after being frustrated with the Yoga and seeing the rMBP on sale at just the right time, it was exactly the right setting to make my biggest impulse buy ever. And, honestly, I am SO much happier with the rMBP.
 

Meister

Suspended
Oct 10, 2013
5,456
4,310
Here in germany u can get a brandnew macbook pro 13" 2012 for 950€.
Also the mba 13" 4/128 for under 900€.

----------

I feel for the OP. During an after-Christmas sale I picked up a Lenovo Yoga 11S for a good price. I was excited about my first touchscreen, convertible, lightweight, Windows 8 ultrabook.

24 hours later I was back in the store returning it, and buying a 13" retina MacBook Pro instead.

I wrote a much longer post about my experience, but the bottom line was there were so many "little" issues that put together made it an annoying and disappointing experience. Glitches, crashes, software updates that didn't work, Windows 8 oddities... I gave up. No one thing was a real deal-breaker, it was like a death by a thousand cuts.

I had not planned on buying the rMBP. But after being frustrated with the Yoga and seeing the rMBP on sale at just the right time, it was exactly the right setting to make my biggest impulse buy ever. And, honestly, I am SO much happier with the rMBP.

Ive been using windows for almost 20years now and i second that.
Always frustrating.
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
...no...just no...

13 inch cMbp on the apple store --> dual core i7, 8 gig Ram, 512g ssd--> 2149
13 inch rMbp on the apple store--> dual core i7, 16 gig Ram, 512g ssd--> 2199

Basically identical in price and still the rmbp wins even after the upgrades...so unless you plan on spending even more to try and bring the cMBP up to par with the rMBP I really see no point. Why spend so much trying to update a machine that's already on it's way out the door?

Well, the cMBP is _only_ worthwhile if you buy it with a Hard Drive, not SSD, and possibly throw out the optical drive for a second Hard Drive or for an SSD drive to build your own fusion drive. cMBP with 500 GB is slower and a lot cheaper than rMBP with 500 GB SSD. cMBP with 1,000 GB is still cheaper than rMBP with 500 GB SSD. But once you want an SSD drive, cMBP is pointless.
 

keysofanxiety

macrumors G3
Nov 23, 2011
9,539
25,302
Some advice in this thread is crazy. The OP wasn't looking for a MacBook Air killer. They were looking for a laptop that they could use for light work. A laptop that turned itself off spontaneously and began falling apart within a day just doesn't cut the mustard, however you spin a 'budget' computer.

Yes, you have to pay through the nose if you want a quality experience from a Windows OEM. But if you're an Apple user, as the OP is, and you're being asked to pay the same, or more, than a MacBook ... why buy a PC in the first place?
 

blooperz

macrumors 6502
Dec 10, 2013
287
1
Yes, you have to pay through the nose if you want a quality experience from a Windows OEM. But if you're an Apple user, as the OP is, and you're being asked to pay the same, or more, than a MacBook ... why buy a PC in the first place?

You have to pay through the nose to have ANY experience from apple. I've had no real problems with my lenovo, and while still $1000+ dollars it was a good bit cheaper than my rMBP.

I kept the first lenovo that I picked up. I had to exchange my 15" rmbp 3 times before getting one without issues. IMO apples quality is no better than other high end PC makers. The OP just learned the hard way what most people on here already know --> "you get what you pay for."
 

alphaod

macrumors Core
Feb 9, 2008
22,183
1,245
NYC
There are plenty of good computers out there that are cheap.

Don't let one dud dissuade you. I've seen plenty of DOA Macs.
 
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