Macbook alternative

[BudgetEngineer]

He's asking for an $1100 Mac. No reason not to let him.

 

That Lenovo has awful battery life, no SSD, and is way thicker than a MacBook Pro. Basically all PC trackpads suck too, I've yet to find a good one in my ~20 years of using PC laptops.

 

OP's friend is looking into a Mac.  OP is asking for a windows alternative under 1200 good for editing.  

 

Any 1100 mac is not going to be retina.  Let's compare some specs between a new Lenovo Y50 and a new Macbook Pro.  No wonder the mac has longer battery life, the Y50 needs to make room for a discrete GPU.  I've seen a variety of good touchpads in my years of using PC's, I personally have no complaints with the samsung or vizio touchpads, neither do my mac-using friends.  Got my hands on a Y50 at PAX yesterday and the keyboard (like all lenovo keyboards) is excellent.  Touchpad wasn't as good as a Mac but It wasn't bad.  I don't know what OP's friend likes or is used to.

 

• Processor:
  • Mac: Dual core i5 @ 2.5Ghz 3mb of L3 cache
  • Y50: Quad core i7 @ 2.5Ghz 6mb of L3 cache
• RAM:              
  • Mac: 4gb of 1600mhz DDR3
  • Y50: 8gb of 1600mhz DDR3
• GPU:
  • Mac: Intel integrated HD Graphics 4000
  • Y50: Intel integrated HD Graphics 4600 and Nvidia Maxwell 860m with 2gb of 
• Screen:
  • Mac: 1280x800 display
  • Y50: 1920x1080 display 
• Hard drive:
  • Mac: 500gb 5400rpm drive
  • Y50: 500gb 5400rpm Hybrid SSHD with 8gb NAND flash
• Thickness:
  • ​Mac: 0.95"
  • Y50: 0.9"
• Weight:
  • ​Mac: 4.5 pounds (13.3" laptop)
  • Y50: 5.3 pounds (15.6" laptop)
• Battery Life:
  • ​Mac: 7 hours (63.5 WH battery)
  • Y50: 5 hours (54 WH battery)
• Price:
  • ​Mac:   $1099
  • Y50:    $1099

If OS is preference, then looks like the lenovo wins in every department but battery life and touchpad.

[Builder]

-snip-

Sigh...it just goes in one ear and out the other with you, doesn't it?

[BudgetEngineer]

Sigh...it just goes in one ear and out the other with you, doesn't it?

Just trying to help OP.

[Builder]

Just trying to help OP.

I realize. However did it not occur to you that what the OP is doing might not be right?

[BudgetEngineer]

I realize. However did it not occur to you that what the OP is doing might not be right?

Sure, I don't know his friend. Maybe he really really wants a Mac and then OP should let him. If he's under the false guise that macs are better at video work simply because it's a mac and that's his best option then OP should talk to him.

[Builder]

Sure, I don't know his friend. Maybe he really really wants a Mac and then OP should let him. If he's under the false guise that macs are better at video work simply because it's a mac and that's his best option then OP should talk to him.

I'd take a Mac over a PC for video work any day of the week. I don't need blue screens and crashes and maintenance on a rig that needs to get serious work done.

[BudgetEngineer]

I'd take a Mac over a PC for video work any day of the week. I don't need blue screens and crashes and maintenance on a rig that needs to get serious work done.

I've been video on PC for two years. Never had a blue screen. Rarely has any PC of I've owned ever crashed.

[Builder]

I've been video on PC for two years. Never had a blue screen. Rarely has any PC of I've owned ever crashed.

Consider yourself the exception and not the rule. After a certain point blue screens just become a fact of owning a PC.

 

To contrast with that, nobody I've ever known including myself has ever had a kernel panic in OS X OR Linux.

[infamous_last]

Consider yourself the exception and not the rule. After a certain point blue screens just become a fact of owning a PC.

To contrast with that, nobody I've ever known including myself has ever had a kernel panic in OS X OR Linux.

Maybe in XP days, but win7 onwards is extremely stable.

I use PCs at work (CAD) & home daily, and I can count on my thumbs how many blue screens I've seen in the last 5 years... Usually due to questionable third party drivers/software.

[BudgetEngineer]

Consider yourself the exception and not the rule. After a certain point blue screens just become a fact of owning a PC.

To contrast with that, nobody I've ever known including myself has ever had a kernel panic in OS X OR Linux.

So everybody's happy then?

[steffen_anywhere]

Probably looking at a lenovo laptop in that price bracket, y50 Is excellent.

Windows would get more performance per dollar for sure. As far as gpu acceleration is concerned majority of Macs are integrated graphics only, higher end one's have discrete. Nvidia cuda acceleration has always been supported by Adobe software but I do believe OpenCL and AMD cards are very close, Mac Pro has dual AMD graphics for example so the difference is decreasing.

 

Intel Iris graphics have excellent OpenCL performance, better per watt than red or green. Just pointing that out. Of course they don't offer the most powerful GPUs available, but for Opencl based workloads, higher end Intel graphics are very much suitable. 

[xox]

I would recommend the mace to be honest. Macs are good at things like that.

 

Oh, and you get women if you have a Mac.

[davidvu396]

Firstly, buying a non-Retina Macbook now is a mistake. You should buy the Retina ones since they cost more or less 1100€.

[BudgetEngineer]

Intel Iris graphics have excellent OpenCL performance, better per watt than red or green. Just pointing that out. Of course they don't offer the most powerful GPUs available, but for Opencl based workloads, higher end Intel graphics are very much suitable.

At $1100 USD all you get is Intel HD graphics 4000. That's last gen tech on the newest non-retina MBP, current gen PC's have the HD 4600 graphics. If he could afford a new retina Mac then by all means it would probably be ok.

[Heisenbleurgh]

If he's decided on getting a MacBook Pro at least get him to spend $100 over his budget for the cheapest retina one. Has twice as much memory, an ssd, slightly faster cpu, better integrated graphics, a better screen and a longer battery life for just $200 more than the lowest level Macbook Pro.

[mr moose]

If he's decided on getting a MacBook Pro at least get him to spend $100 over his budget for the cheapest retina one. Has twice as much memory, an ssd, slightly faster cpu, better integrated graphics, a better screen and a longer battery life for just $200 more than the lowest level Macbook Pro.

I think this is the way to go, if he can push a few more $$ then get the mac, otherwise the lenovo offers the best performance for what he wants to spend.  And in this day and age the only real difference between the two operating systems is subjective.

[WerkHeads tDames]

So everybody is going against the grain and forgetting about he's using it for producing too lol. I think the mac is terrible for that. Especially when he needs multiple cores to run Pro Tools 10/11 and a shit ton of memory and even the Graphics card matters too. I just wanted him to have a good solid laptop that can run everything you throw at it and have the factory warranty because I've seen the Mac 2011 edition for $1000 or $1100 and I think it's not worth that price just because of the aluminum housing and Name.

[mr moose]

So everybody is going against the grain and forgetting about he's using it for producing too lol. I think the mac is terrible for that. Especially when he needs multiple cores to run Pro Tools 10/11 and a shit ton of memory and even the Graphics card matters too. I just wanted him to have a good solid laptop that can run everything you throw at it and have the factory warranty because I've seen the Mac 2011 edition for $1000 or $1100 and I think it's not worth that price just because of the aluminum housing and Name.

 

Mate, It sounds like you have already made your mind up before starting this thread.  You asked for advice and you got it.  No body is going against the grain, several users thrashed out the pros and cons of both options and came to a conclusion.  To be honest your lucky the thread didn't escalate into 15 pages of the hate wank special.

 

Here's the best fit  conclusion you should present to your friend:

 

 

If he's decided on getting a MacBook Pro at least get him to spend $100 over his budget for the cheapest retina one. Has twice as much memory, an ssd, slightly faster cpu, better integrated graphics, a better screen and a longer battery life for just $200 more than the lowest level Macbook Pro. Otherwise the lenovo offers the best performance for what he wants to spend.  And in this day and age the only real difference between the two operating systems is subjective.