Razer Blade or MacBook Pro 15?

[Bei]

If you had about $1700 for a laptop, would you consider a manufacturer refurbished late 2016 razer blade w/ 512gb SSD, or a used late 2016 mbp 15 w/ more SSD capacity on it? 

I’m currently in the architecture faculty therefore will need it to perform tasks in programmes such as Vectorworks, rhino etc -beautifully- if I may ask. Im used to both systems and I have a desktop pc setup at home, so I’m opting for a considerably powerful laptop with great portability to work on my stuffs anywhere i go, while having potentials to last for another 2 or so years in the future. I dont plan to game on it as i dont game that often anymore. I do realise that i have quite a tight budget considering the specs im opting for. 

[another random person]

8 minutes ago, Bei said:

If you had about $1700 for a laptop, would you consider a manufacturer refurbished late 2016 razer blade w/ 512gb SSD, or a used late 2016 mbp 15 w/ more SSD capacity on it? 

I’m currently in the architecture faculty therefore will need it to perform tasks in programmes such as Vectorworks, rhino etc -beautifully- if I may ask. Im used to both systems and I have a desktop pc setup at home, so I’m opting for a considerably powerful laptop with great portability to work on my stuffs anywhere i go, while having potentials to last for another 2 or so years in the future. I dont plan to game on it as i dont game that often anymore. I do realise that i have quite a tight budget considering the specs im opting for. 

I'm personally a Revit CAD user so I can not recommend confidently which would be better for Vectorworks. It purely depends on if you will have access to wall sockets near where you would use the laptop and the importance of battery life. 

 

I did find a comparison of the two laptops online so if you want to check out the specifications and performance of both laptops against one another then take a look at this link: https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/razer-blade-vs-macbook-pro

 

Personally, I would opt for the Razer due to better performance as well as improved graphics, but it also comes with a measly 5 hour battery life. whereas the Mac is close to double. 

 

 

[Dackzy]

Never buy a razer laptop, they push parts beyond spec and use low-quality part, poorly put together, plus they have big heat problems and no quality control. They are overall extremely poorly made and should never be bought.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/razer-ceo-covering-up-cheap-poor-design-of-razer-notebooks.801443/

Apple has good QC and use decent/good parts, but they also have heat problems.

 

I would maybe take a look at Gigabyte Aero 15 or Aorus X5

 

Also wrong section @leadeater @Ryan_Vickers move to laptop please

[Cree340]

Honestly... maybe neither. My personal experience with the Razer Blade has been quite poor and the MacBook Pro has a lacking GPU for its price. In addition, if you cannot run MacOS, I can't recommend the MacBook Pro at all-- the trackpad drivers in Windows are bad and the MacBook has no support for dGPU to iGPU switching (or vice versa) in Windows with Boot Camp. This means the battery life is reduced significantly and the computer runs much warmer in more basic tasks. If you are able to use MacOS, the MacBook Pro is nice but definitely overpriced considering its GPU. The Razer Blade, in my experience, is a worse option than the MBP, its battery life is really short and its fans run quite audibly (much louder than the MBP)-- not to mention the smaller, lower quality display which has a PWM backlight vs the DC one in the MBP (so the blade feels more fatiguing on the eyes versus many other laptops). Also, the Razer Blade does have a much slower NVME SSD vs the MacBook Pro. So, it seems like Razer cuts corners and uses mediocre parts in their laptops. All in all, I think you should look into the Dell XPS 15 or some Lenovo Thinkpads for your usage instead of the MBP or Razer Blade.

[mrchow19910319]

If you dont have to use macOS exclusively, I think that you should look for some other windows laptop that has a dedicated gpu and a powerful cpu in it. You should avoid razer laptop, I know I would. 

But I have no idea the software you are using is gpu intensive or cpu intensive. Or does it have a mac version or not. (like final cut pro for adobe premiere). 

 

Me personally using a 2017 macbook pro 13 inch without touchbar with 16 gb of ram. It is a great machine. Light weight, powerful enough for my usage. 

 

Also I found this on vectorworks website regarding their software's system requirements: 

So I think you should oped for a more powerful windows laptop. 

SOurce: http://www.vectorworks.net/sysreq

[mrchow19910319]

I didn't see that you are gonna buy a macbook pro 15 inch. 

I think the 15inch with dedicated gpu will do you just fine. 

 

If you have to use a mac, get the 15 inch macbook pro with dedicated gpu. Otherwise see points above. 

[DnFx91]

yeah i would go for the macbook, sheer build quality of macs are head and shoulders above anything else, even since companies like razer tried to make well built laptops. Also running bootcamp, a macbook is a very capable machine. Razer stinks of fanboyism to me, seems people buy them ,because people buy them, because people buy them. 

I know this is ironic in the sense that the other option is from the company who basically invented that nonsensical marketing poison technique, however all that aside, the macbook is the better machine in this comparison

[Bei]

29 minutes ago, Cree340 said:

Honestly... maybe neither. My personal experience with the Razer Blade has been quite poor and the MacBook Pro has a lacking GPU for its price. In addition, if you cannot run MacOS, I can't recommend the MacBook Pro at all-- the trackpad drivers in Windows are bad and the MacBook has no support for dGPU to iGPU switching (or vice versa) in Windows with Boot Camp. This means the battery life is reduced significantly and the computer runs much warmer in more basic tasks. If you are able to use MacOS, the MacBook Pro is nice but definitely overpriced considering its GPU. The Razer Blade, in my experience, is a worse option than the MBP, its battery life is really short and its fans run quite audibly (much louder than the MBP)-- not to mention the smaller, lower quality display which has a PWM backlight vs the DC one in the MBP (so the blade feels more fatiguing on the eyes versus many other laptops). Also, the Razer Blade does have a much slower NVME SSD vs the MacBook Pro. So, it seems like Razer cuts corners and uses mediocre parts in their laptops. All in all, I think you should look into the Dell XPS 15 or some Lenovo Thinkpads for your usage instead of the MBP or Razer Blade.

I was previously considering xps 15(though the 4k ver) however, the pricetag for either new or pre-owned were still too much of a leap from my current budget, it costs around 2.3k usd here in japan. Ive been impressed by its built quality and specs when i got the chance to try it, just that the pricetag here isnt making much sense to me for its overall kinda-sits-in-between-mbp-and-razerblade marketing position. Or should i consider expanding my budget for it.

Edited July 25, 2017 by Bei

[Bei]

48 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

Never buy a razer laptop, they push parts beyond spec and use low-quality part, poorly put together, plus they have big heat problems and no quality control. They are overall extremely poorly made and should never be bought.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/razer-ceo-covering-up-cheap-poor-design-of-razer-notebooks.801443/

Apple has good QC and use decent/good parts, but they also have heat problems.

 

I would maybe take a look at Gigabyte Aero 15 or Aorus X5

 

Also wrong section @leadeater @Ryan_Vickers move to laptop please

both aero 15 and x5 look like great options, unfortunately neither of them are available in japan and while they do in overseas, their pricetags on ebay are a bit overwhelming to my mere $1700-1800 budget. Thanks for your suggestions!

[Dackzy]

47 minutes ago, Bei said:

both aero 15 and x5 look like great options, unfortunately neither of them are available in japan and while they do in overseas, their pricetags on ebay are a bit overwhelming to my mere $1700-1800 budget. Thanks for your suggestions!

You can also look into the Clevo p950hp6, it should be in your budget and available in Japan.

Clevo is a OEM and ODM company, so you are probably going to find it under some other name.

[BuckGup]

If you ever go to a professional meeting in the IT world EVERYONE has a macbook. If you ever go to a hacking convention like DefCON EVERYONE has a macbook. I have already gone down the route of a couple laptops ranging from cheap, gaming, and ultrabook. But the laptop they were all replacing I still use and I sold all the others. It's from 2008 but it's a macbook pro and easily held up with the competition. I saw no need to upgrade. Buy a macbook, slap windows on it and use it for 8 years

[mrchow19910319]

On 25/07/2017 at 9:10 PM, BuckGup said:

If you ever go to a professional meeting in the IT world EVERYONE has a macbook. If you ever go to a hacking convention like DefCON EVERYONE has a macbook.

True. 

[Dackzy]

On 25/7/2017 at 3:10 PM, BuckGup said:

If you ever go to a professional meeting in the IT world EVERYONE has a macbook. If you ever go to a hacking convention like DefCON EVERYONE has a macbook.

3

that might be true for the area you are in, but here it is ThinkPad and EliteBooks.

Also a MacBook with windows is going to run like a windows machine with the same hardware.

[BuckGup]

1 hour ago, Dackzy said:

that might be true for the area you are in, but here it is ThinkPad and EliteBooks.

Also a MacBook with windows is going to run like a windows machine with the same hardware.

Area as in the United States