Macbook Pro alternative for work

[kuzemchik]

I know this question was asked million times on this forum but couldn't find anything that would cover my case.

 

I've been something like 10 years on mac, and now I need to upgrade to one for work, and touch-bar macs are awful.

If I'm not gonna find anything I probably gonna go with Macbook pro Silver, even though they asking $2200 for 2 years old CPU.

• Need something that will feel as much as possible to mac.
• Touch pad — very important, I don't use mouse and very get used to do everything on it.
• Keyboard — somewhat important. I get used to mac keyboard (not the latest crap, late 2008 -> late 2013). 
• GPU doesn't matter (not for gaming), would even preferred integrated to save battery. Though eGPU ability (read thunderbolt 3) would be plus.
• Long battery life (6h min)
• 16/32GB of memory
• Good CPU (4 cores minimum)
• Size 13"/15", Lighter — better
• Some kind of support for Linux

Budget: 15" Macbook Pro Touch bar with CPU upgrade ($2900), maybe more if it is worth it.

 

I'm gonna be using it around 8-10 hours a day, so the quality should be good enough to handle that.

Also I would really want to hear from people who did similar migration.

[DarkEnergy]

Perhaps a Dell XPS 15 or a Thinkpad of some variety. 

[kuzemchik]

@DarkEnergyI looked through xps 15 configurator, and you can build pretty sweet configuration there. But there are questions that they are not answering like what kind of battery life it will have and will it overheat on compilation of big project.

Also I read that Thinkpad touch-pads are awful.

[DarkEnergy]

9 minutes ago, kuzemchik said:

@DarkEnergyI looked through xps 15 configurator, and you can build pretty sweet configuration there. But there are questions that they are not answering like what kind of battery life it will have and will it overheat on compilation of big project.

Also I read that Thinkpad touch-pads are awful.

Reddit is a good source for opinions on battery life and whatnot instead of trusting an article written by one or two people. On average, the XPS appears to get around 7 hours but this depends on configuration and usage of course. I currently have the Thinkpad x1 Yoga and the touchpad is ehhhhh. I've been on worse but it's not super. Of course, this is a first gen yoga so they might have improved it since. Try a local BestBuy or something similar to test out the laptops. Thinkpads have amazing keyboards, configuration options, and battery life if you get one that you can attach an external battery to (would add weight however).

 

Edit: As far as overheating goes, while I don't know about those two laptops, I've heard macbooks aren't great at thermals either. At least according to Louis Rossman. 

Edited July 2, 2018 by DarkEnergy

[MiRe_Tech]

I have the MSI Stealth GS63VR, the Razer Blade 14", a Macbook Pro 13" 2013, and a Lenovo T460S. The specs aren't as good on the Razer compared to the MSI for the cost but by FAR the Razer machine has been my go to Laptop. It's slightly louder than the MSI but the build quality isn't even remotely the same (Razer is way more durable). Touch Pad on the Razer is significantly better than the MSI and Lenovo, but not as good as the mac.  The keyboard on the Razer beats out all the other 4 (even the Mac in my opinion). I would get a 1080p model for the Razer because my battery life has been pretty sucky at 4k (around 4 1/2 hours). 

[genexis_x]

26 minutes ago, kuzemchik said:

Touch pad — very important

XPS 13?

[DarkEnergy]

4 minutes ago, MiRe_Tech said:

I have the MSI Stealth GS63VR, the Razer Blade 14", a Macbook Pro 13" 2013, and a Lenovo T460S. The specs aren't as good on the Razer compared to the MSI for the cost but by FAR the Razer machine has been my go to Laptop. It's slightly louder than the MSI but the build quality isn't even remotely the same (Razer is way more durable). Touch Pad on the Razer is significantly better than the MSI and Lenovo, but not as good as the mac.  The keyboard on the Razer beats out all the other 4 (even the Mac in my opinion). I would get a 1080p model for the Razer because my battery life has been pretty sucky at 4k (around 4 1/2 hours). 

I'm surprised you'd say the keyboard is really good. I've read some meh things about the keyboard on the Razer laptop and even looking at pictures, there's like no travel on the keys. The touchpad however is supposedly quite good. 

[MiRe_Tech]

3 minutes ago, DarkEnergy said:

I'm surprised you'd say the keyboard is really good. I've read some meh things about the keyboard on the Razer laptop and even looking at pictures, there's like no travel on the keys. The touchpad however is supposedly quite good. 

Yeah, It's not nearly as good as an actual mechanical keyboard by any stretch. However, if you are comparing it to other laptops, especially like MSI or lenovo, then I would comparatively say it is quite good. I have to use the Lenovo T450S for 8 hours a day and I hate that keyboard. Actuation sucks, the keys are curved and I bump them all the time when I dont mean to, etc. MSI feels like it has less travel because they packed in a 10 key which for me is useless. It is way more cramped than the Razer. I think Apple actually got the keyboard right on the Mac (just not recently...). If you use the Razer everyday, you get used to it pretty quick. 

[genexis_x]

DON'T buy Razer laptops. Terrible quality.

[kuzemchik]

@ZM Fong is it bad like Louis Rossmann about macs bad? Or just bad?

[genexis_x]

8 minutes ago, kuzemchik said:

@ZM Fong is it bad like Louis Rossmann about macs bad? Or just bad?

About the same IMO

[kuzemchik]

Can anyone say anything about surface book 2? Went to BestBuy and liked its touchpad.

[genexis_x]

35 minutes ago, kuzemchik said:

Can anyone say anything about surface book 2? Went to BestBuy and liked its touchpad.

Questionable reliability. Also non-upgradable (anti consumer)