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Looking for a 15" laptop - trying to decide what to get
- Thread starter maflynn
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It really depends on what you'll be using the computer for. If you want to game, get the Dell. For all other purposes however, I'd argue that the Mac will be more enjoyable to use. While Windows has come a long way, I still find macOS to be the superior OS (whether thats worth an extra $1000 is up to you).
I would go with the Dell. The price difference seems like too much for the advantages Apple is giving. The Dell on the other hand seems like a really great deal.
At the end of the day I would be happy with both. They are both great machines. But knowing me, I'd be happy with the Dell and happy to have that extra grand sitting right next to it haha.
Maybe you can think of it like this, examine these 2 scenarios:
Scenario 1:
Apple laptop on your desk.
Scenario 2:
Dell laptop with a grand sitting next to it, on your desk.
I don't know how long you are planning to keep your new machine, but keep in mind the resell value of the machines.
The MacBook will cost you more in the first place, but down the road, it has a higher resell price than any windows machine. Which means the Dell isn't necessarily the cheaper one.
Also:
I agree to 100 percent!
The MacBook will cost you more in the first place, but down the road, it has a higher resell price than any windows machine. Which means the Dell isn't necessarily the cheaper one.
Also:
I agree to 100 percent!
A sound logic, but is the difference really 1000? Edit: just saw, the OP is considering a Dell with 1080p screen and a smaller battery. Upgrade both to get it to MBP level and the price difference is much smaller.
He's really comparing two different classes of computers with that configuration, IMO.
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The screen doesn't bother me, as much as the small battery and I remark about its tiny battery as a negative.
Luckily, I have time on my hands, and I'm not looking to rush into anything
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I've seen his other reviews and I like what he has to say
I like his referencing both the positive and negatives.One thing that I've gotten so accustomed too is the fact that the MBPs are sealed and here I can open up the back and easily upgrade the ram and storage.
Not a problem at all, I just think some people missed this fact. You do get a much better screen on a MBP, but if it does not bother you - perfectly fine. Not everyone needs Retina stuff.
As for the battery - I think you can add a bigger battery, and I don't think it's a lot of money. The big battery + 1080p screen will give you amazing battery life.
People seem to forget Dells are BTO, with a few predefined builds. You can pretty much get any combination you want. You can get it with SSD, HDD, SSD+HDD, different graphics cards, different amounts of memory, 1080 screen, 4K screen, 4K with touch, battery 60 W, 90 W, .... And then you can upgrade disk, and memory later if you want. Quite different from Apple.
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Agreed. Dave 2D is one my go to reviewers. Hi also carries a 2015 15 rMBP as part of his unversity studies.
Not only can you upgrade it, but it also mean an SSD failure won't mean a whole new logic board, and a logic board failure of any other kind won't mean complete data loss.
At what cost? And at what cost when the warranty is up?
Good questions. I haven't heard of it being done yet, and who knows if they'll charge when it's out of warranty and you bring it into an Apple Store.
Funny to read this post, I could have written it. My Surface Book is great but it kinda sucks as a tablet and scaling Chrome isn't the best. Edge?? sorry. I went to Best Buy checked out Dell, Acer, HP new models. I found a great deal on a 2016 15 inch rMBP 256GB on Swappa, typing this on it. Going to pick up a iPad mini 4 or whatever update is released if it throws a tingle down my leg. I have tried device convergence that tech industry gave us, and always had to accept tradeoffs, going to try divergence again. I'm already hooked on the touchbar, spell check suggestions displayed on it alone is cool, I understand the TB concept now. Pretty sure the SB will go on Swappa.
I really do like the SB, but I think the smaller size is causing me some eye strain and making it harder then it ought. In many situations I'm ok with the smaller text but over the weekend when I was on the MBP for an extended period of time, I was surprised at how much more comfortable my eyes were, i.e., no eye strain.
Windows is inferior to OS X with regards to scaling, though that should change. The next major release of windows is purportedly to have a new windows subsystem that vastly improves things.
That's my next step, is to actually test drive a couple of these models and see if
1. Its an improvement over the SB
2. It an on par or exceeds that of the MBP experience.
3. How it feels, weight/size
The cost is definitely something I keep coming back too. I find that I do enjoy the OS X ecosystem, I'm currently texting my wife from my iMac rather then my iPhone. With that said, there's no way I can justify spending almost 3k, especially since this will serve as a secondary machine. My main computer is an iMac. Only when I'm out and about or traveling do I need something mobile. That happens a few times a month its seems.
Great question and one that I've been asking myself.
Like most things in life, there is no black and white answer. Its somewhat complicated but one of my needs (which up to now I have not communicated) is to have enough computers for my family. Basically, my kids need the ability to do their homework (they also play some games) on something and I need a portable computer. The 2012 MBP is being used by one daughter, the Surface Book the other. Its not feasible to tell one to wait while the other does her homework. Given activities they both need to get their work done in a small time frame.
As for myself, the 2012 is doing ok, though the battery needs to be replaced, but the keyboard and display is holding up. Part of my concern is that how long will a 2012 machine hold up, I'd rather not be traveling and see it fail. Peace of mind sort of stuff. Basically the laptops serve dual purposes - family needs but also when I'm traveling.
I have thought about getting a replacement battery from Apple but from the little I've researched, the battery is so tightly glued to the logic board that they may potentially give me a new logic board along with the battery and that's something I do NOT want. That's all I need is a refurb logic board that may fail in a few months (their inventory of logic boards is from other failed machines).
The other aspect is I fully expect MS to release an update to the SB line, so if I want to sell this, I may be rewarded by acting sooner then later. So to summarize the SB while a great computer has one fatal shortcoming for me - the display size. I would be saying the same thing with a 13" MBP so its not a failed design by MS, but rather my mistake in thinking the 13" would be ok with my aging eyes"
[doublepost=1486650585][/doublepost]Correction:
Bummers but my initial assumption was correct - it is glued
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Retina+Display+Mid+2012+Teardown/9462
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If your kids use Chromebooks at school then perhaps letting them choose one for themselves would score you major cool dad points. Then selling both other machines would offset you getting what you want plus the chromebooks for the double bonus round.
Are you planning on gaming on the laptop itself? If not, I'd go for the XPS 15 (the FHD has a ****** response time, slightly worse than the MacBook Pro's by like 10ms. Be sure to get a premium/onsite warranty, because nothing is quite as inconsistent as Dell's manufacturing.
To me it comes down to the price and the OS. How invested are you in MacOS? How life changing would saving the $1000 be for you?
If the money is a big deal and you can manage with Windows apps, then I think the Dell laptop is a no-brainer. If you are heavily invested in MacOS to the point where you'd have to go out and buy a bunch of new software to make the switch, then I'd buy the MacBook.
If money isn't a constraint and we're operating in a vacuum, I'd just buy the Mac. You can always install Windows on the Mac down the road if you really want to dip your toe in that water, but you can't do the opposite in the other direction.
All of the other stuff, to me, is a bit of a distraction. There is a very low percentage of the population that needs the capacity for 32GB of RAM. I'm going to assume that you aren't in that segment since that alone would likely be a deal breaker if you were. The ports issue is a bit overblown and some very inexpensive dongles can give you most of that functionality back without much hassle. I likewise wouldn't spend a ton of time overthinking the keyboard. It's one of those things that can be jarring at first, but you really do get used to it in pretty short order. That leaves the graphics card, and this is where your use case comes into play. If you are buying this thing to play really graphics intense games or run some sort of software that required some beef there, like the RAM, I would assume you wouldn't be asking for advice on what to do here. So, like the RAM, I'm going to work under the assumption that this isn't that big of a deal for you.
Doing your due diligence is a good thing when making a purchase like this, just don't let trivial details get you caught in analysis paralysis.
If the money is a big deal and you can manage with Windows apps, then I think the Dell laptop is a no-brainer. If you are heavily invested in MacOS to the point where you'd have to go out and buy a bunch of new software to make the switch, then I'd buy the MacBook.
If money isn't a constraint and we're operating in a vacuum, I'd just buy the Mac. You can always install Windows on the Mac down the road if you really want to dip your toe in that water, but you can't do the opposite in the other direction.
All of the other stuff, to me, is a bit of a distraction. There is a very low percentage of the population that needs the capacity for 32GB of RAM. I'm going to assume that you aren't in that segment since that alone would likely be a deal breaker if you were. The ports issue is a bit overblown and some very inexpensive dongles can give you most of that functionality back without much hassle. I likewise wouldn't spend a ton of time overthinking the keyboard. It's one of those things that can be jarring at first, but you really do get used to it in pretty short order. That leaves the graphics card, and this is where your use case comes into play. If you are buying this thing to play really graphics intense games or run some sort of software that required some beef there, like the RAM, I would assume you wouldn't be asking for advice on what to do here. So, like the RAM, I'm going to work under the assumption that this isn't that big of a deal for you.
Doing your due diligence is a good thing when making a purchase like this, just don't let trivial details get you caught in analysis paralysis.
Have you messed around with BetterTouchTool? And implemented settings for the TouchBar?
Not terribly, I have a nice M395 based iMac if I feel the itch, but I have a PS4 and that handles all of my gaming needs.
To me its a lot, but I'd say there's two factors:
1. the 1,000 price difference
2. The high price of the MBP.
Perhaps it a personal emotional barrier but I really do have an issue trying to justifying that price. Back when the the 2016 MBP was released I stated how Apple price itself out of the market for me. Those comments are seemingly coming back to haunt me in some respects.
I'm not trying to be down on the MBP, and if anything I think I'm trying to make the case that it's worth the price.
The argument for never having to worry/think/fuss about it is worth t to me. How long will you keep this machine? Price out $1,000 over the course of that time. Is it worth it to you per monthday in that respect? Also consider its quality of life over that lifespan. My mac machines have always more viable for a longer period of time.
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I don't think the pricing is off. You may go for the 2015 if you are looking for "value", but if you look at the pricing and comparing how the new 2016 fix most of the issues you may had with the old 2015 with dedicated graphics I understand the higher markup. The touch bar is in fact quite nice, when you want to control sound without changing the order or layout of your windows.
I got the baseline 2016 rMBP 15" and I tried the 13 nTB. I am not looking back. I don't game or daily edit video, so no need for an updated graphics adapter, and I don't need more power in the dGPU to juice out battery life.
I've tried Mac Pro, Hackintosh, rMBP 2015, MacBook 12 and the 13 nTB. For me the only computer worth buying is the rMBP 2016. I got rid of all my computers, so I could have one to rule them all. Now I only need to get a thunderbolt 3 to DisplayPort cable and my setup is complete.
I got the baseline 2016 rMBP 15" and I tried the 13 nTB. I am not looking back. I don't game or daily edit video, so no need for an updated graphics adapter, and I don't need more power in the dGPU to juice out battery life.
I've tried Mac Pro, Hackintosh, rMBP 2015, MacBook 12 and the 13 nTB. For me the only computer worth buying is the rMBP 2016. I got rid of all my computers, so I could have one to rule them all. Now I only need to get a thunderbolt 3 to DisplayPort cable and my setup is complete.
How so? Can you expound upon that.
Yeah, I was kicking around that idea as well.
I have tried them all as I wrote in the earlier post, but as much as I want to be counting my money, I also want something I would appreciate down the road for the cash I've spent. The 2015 became more and more a NO in my mind. As for docks and such, I already own a Belkin Thunderbolt 2 dock which is compatible with the thunderbolt 3 to thunderbolt 2 adapter from Apple, even the displayport works because the dock transcodes the video signals, which the dongle doesn't do alone.
Yes, the touch bar was annoying me during the first evening, but I have yet to unintentional hit it this morning, and the keyboard has grown on me. The keys are closer and the space is tighter, so expect a few mishits before you start to love it. In fact I use the touch bar often. Controlling sound without reordering open windows, and it is so much better scrolling through songs and videos with the touch bar. I also love the one touch and swipe gesture when controlling brightness and sound. It will pan out as one of things that you miss when it is gone, but don't care about it when you lack the experience with it.
I was very conservative upon reviewing the new MacBook Pro, but I love how they have packed a silent dGPU in this computer and I appreciate how cool it runs. The trackpad brings a lot more value to the computer, and so does the sound of the speakers and the screen in form of colour and nuance. When talking about dongles, the amount of cables connected to my computer is the same as on the 2015, with one for power and one for the dock for external screen, external audio and legacy peripherals. The machine also is lighter and the difference between a 13" and a 15" isn't that far away from each other, making it easy to choose the more powerful machine rather than consorting to a dual core CPU as a compromise.
The value is that the computer packs more into a single machine than ever before. Before I had to have an external monitor, now I feel the itch for a bigger, brighter and more colourful screen is gone. I no longer have to buy external speakers, but of course, a pair of studio monitors will blow the built in sound out of the water. It's the first time I feel the need for peripherals are gone. All my storage is network based, so 256GB is more than enough for my current projects along with the OS. With the new trackpad and keyboard I don't have a desire to plug in an external mouse and keyboard either. The iPhone syncs over wi-fi and is charged through a socket in my wall. You could also buy a lightning to usb-c cable.
Emigrating to the edge of technology may be both hard and a bit more expensive, but rewarding if you have the right mindset. I had to read a lot in order to be convinced, but I don't look back. A refurb base 2015 is only 20% cheaper and not worth the hassle, but the 2016 is also 20% less footprint, 10% lighter, 10% faster CPU, 50% more effective SSD and has at least a 50% faster GPU. Along with the increased specifications, the form factor accompanied by the better keyboard, trackpad, touch bar, speakers and screen you finally have a computer that can live its own life without having to enhance its properties with peripherals.
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