Macbook Pro 13" or wait for 15"

wba31

shortchanged wrote: »

Jeez talk about overkill on spec for what are pretty basic tasks the OP will be doing. And of course you have to pay the apple premium for these already overkill specs.

Seriously you have to be mental to spend over £1500 on a computer to carry out basic tasks and shame on you for encouraging people to waste so much money.

Put it this way. People would think you were mental if you suggested this equivalently priced laptop to the OP http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Asus_G751JY_Core_i7_24GB_1TB_256GB_SSD_17.3_inch_Full_HD_NVIDIA_GTX980_Gami_G751JY-T7117H/version.asp?refsource=LDadwords&cr!!!!!LD&gclid=CJeL-_SP7MQCFQXmwgod1acAsw

To add my 50p on this.

I once bought a top spec Sony Vaio for £800, within 18 months the thing had packed up. The windows software had become unusable, I was quote about £150 to get it repaired, but fortunately the motherboard failed so i binned it.

Spent £1200 on a 13" Aluminium MacBook (just before it became a pro). This is still working fine 6 years on. I am considering buying a new battery and a SSD to give it a new lease of life.

Sony Vaio = £44 a month cost
MacBook = £16 a month cost

Now I'm sure there are people who have had opposite experiences to me, but if someone asks me why I spend extra on Macs, aside from the photo editing suites being much nicer to use and operate, the seamless home networking (Airplay and continuity), they cost more to start with, but for me tend to have a much longer lifetime.

shortchanged_2

wba31 wrote: »

To add my 50p on this.

I once bought a top spec Sony Vaio for £800, within 18 months the thing had packed up. The windows software had become unusable, I was quote about £150 to get it repaired, but fortunately the motherboard failed so i binned it.

Spent £1200 on a 13" Aluminium MacBook (just before it became a pro). This is still working fine 6 years on. I am considering buying a new battery and a SSD to give it a new lease of life.

Sony Vaio = £44 a month cost
MacBook = £16 a month cost

Now I'm sure there are people who have had opposite experiences to me, but if someone asks me why I spend extra on Macs, aside from the photo editing suites being much nicer to use and operate, the seamless home networking (Airplay and continuity), they cost more to start with, but for me tend to have a much longer lifetime.

Yes you personally may have been unlucky. I've had cheap windows laptops that have lasted years as I'm sure many others have too.

I'm also sure there have been plenty of apple users out there whose machines have been less than perfect.

But to give the impression that apple products 'just work' is a bit false. As I could just as easily say that from my perspective windows products just work as I've never had a problem with them.

almillar

Credit-Crunched:

I know that it is a pointless question, but what would YOU do?

If I wanted one now, I'd want a 15, so I would wait and make do with whatever I have, unless I literally don't have anything. The new 15 will be more bang for the same buck, for just a few months' wait.
If it's the 13 you want though, go ahead. It'll save you hundreds and might make Shortchanged happier about the overkill!

Shortchanged - despite the request that this didn't turn into a Mac vs PC debate, you're determined.
OP certainly does NOT need to spend £1500 on a computer do do those tasks.
OP has however requested a 13 or 15 inch Mac to do these tasks on.
The cheapest 15 is £1500, so that's that. Indeed I have advised OP to wait to get better value for money.
If you know of a cheaper 15 inch Mac, please do let us know.

where a sub £400 machine will do what the op needs one for.

Metal body? Magsafe connector? Retina display equivalent resolution?

this is the MSE forum.

Yup - get what you want, cheap. Get a good deal on that Ferrari, not just everyone driving round in Dacias.

BeckieChan:

Retina version. I don't like them as the tech specs aren't as good as the normal MBP

Which specs are these? Retina has it beat on everything except upgradeability and presence of a DVD drive.

shortchanged_2

almillar wrote: »

Credit-Crunched:

I http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/lenovo-z50-15-6-laptop-black-10108701-pdt.html wanted one now, I'd want a 15, so I would wait and make do with whatever I have, unless I literally don't have anything. The new 15 will be more bang for the same buck, for just a few months' wait.
If it's the 13 you want though, go ahead. It'll save you hundreds and might make Shortchanged happier about the overkill!

Shortchanged - despite the request that this didn't turn into a Mac vs PC debate, you're determined.
OP certainly does NOT need to spend £1500 on a computer do do those tasks.
OP has however requested a 13 or 15 inch Mac to do these tasks on.
The cheapest 15 is £1500, so that's that. Indeed I have advised OP to wait to get better value for money.
If you know of a cheaper 15 inch Mac, please do let us know.



Metal body? Magsafe connector? Retina display equivalent resolution?



Yup - get what you want, cheap. Get a good deal on that Ferrari, not just everyone driving round in Dacias.

BeckieChan:

Which specs are these? Retina has it beat on everything except upgradeability and presence of a DVD drive.

You won't find a cheaper mac because they are price fixed.

Retina display is marketing guff.

Here is a sub £400 laptop that has a full hd screen http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/lenovo-z50-15-6-laptop-black-10108701-pdt.html

almillar

Price fixed?
Apple make a laptop and set a price.
Dell make a laptop and set a price. What happens next that's different between the two?

Retina display. Yes, this is a typical Apple marketing term, but it does have a meaning - it's about pixel density - it's a display that is so high resolution, at the normal viewing distance, that individual pixels can't be distinguished.
So that resolution will be different on a TV, laptop, tablet, mobile, because you view all these devices at different distances.
That Lenovo has a 15.6 inch screen with 1920x1080 pixels - full HD as you say.
The current 15" MacBook Pro is 2880x1800. Can't you understand the difference? It's way above HD.
Now, tell me it's overkill, tell me OP doesn't need it, but please don't tell me a £400 laptop has the same screen.

shortchanged_2

almillar wrote: »

Price fixed?
Apple make a laptop and set a price.
Dell make a laptop and set a price. What happens next that's different between the two?

Retina display. Yes, this is a typical Apple marketing term, but it does have a meaning - it's about pixel density - it's a display that is so high resolution, at the normal viewing distance, that individual pixels can't be distinguished.
So that resolution will be different on a TV, laptop, tablet, mobile, because you view all these devices at different distances.
That Lenovo has a 15.6 inch screen with 1920x1080 pixels - full HD as you say.
The current 15" MacBook Pro is 2880x1800. Can't you understand the difference? It's way above HD.
Now, tell me it's overkill, tell me OP doesn't need it, but please don't tell me a £400 laptop has the same screen.

No it doesn't have the same screen because it doesn't need it. The apple level of resolution isn't needed because the naked eye wouldn't notice it, unless you look at the screen with a magnifying glass.

So it's not only wasting energy to power those extra pixels you won't even notice it.

It's just classic apple marketing bragging rights but if fools people, which it obviously does then apple can do no wrong in many peoples eyes.

abibee

Argos on Ebay have a selection, refurbished and new, if that's any use...

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Argos-Outlet?category=111422&categoryName=Apple%20Laptops

almillar

apple can do no wrong in many peoples eyes.

Speaking of eyes, you might want to get yours tested. The point of 'Retina Display' is that you can't see the pixels, so we're beyond worrying about resolution any more. I can certainly tell the difference between 1080 and retina at 15 inch.
My HTC phone has an HD screen, and some Android manufacturers will be bringing along quad HD screens. Since they aren't Apple, I guess you'll welcome that?!