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General => Random Chat => Topic started by: Oli on January 24, 2013, 07:54:08 pm

Title: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Oli on January 24, 2013, 07:54:08 pm
Hello all

I need a new laptop.  It will mostly be used for photo's, surfing the internet, editing my go pro vidoes, music and emails etc for work.

I have been looking the the MacBook Pro 15" with Retina display which is £2000!  :surprised:

I presently have an ipad and iphone, do I make the final move over? 

Any help much appreciated
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Hedge on January 24, 2013, 08:02:31 pm
I say go Dell Outlet. Watch it for a few days then strike while the iron is hot.

Usually the good stuff is on early in the morning and it disappears as the day goes on.

Mac is the same as a PC with a pretty dress but a price tag to match.  :evilgrin:

<flame suit on>
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: cupra87 on January 24, 2013, 08:14:08 pm
im on mac. DO NOT buy windows. you can get windows on mac if you must. buy mac and your never go back!
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: R32UK on January 24, 2013, 08:17:02 pm
I say go Dell Outlet. Watch it for a few days then strike while the iron is hot.

Usually the good stuff is on early in the morning and it disappears as the day goes on.

Mac is the same as a PC with a pretty dress but a price tag to match.  :evilgrin:

<flame suit on>

+1

my dell xps pretty much murders apple products for half the price
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: camfollower on January 24, 2013, 08:17:32 pm
I have an iPhone 5 and iPad 4 and a overclocked 4.4Ghz i7 PC for the number crunching - with a home server on Gigabit ethernet and Wireless AC; all streams and works very well.

Don't think I could justify 2k on a 15inch laptop, no matter how sexy it was; although I don't need real power on the move, do you?

If the laptop was to make way for your desktop and you need it for regular mobile activity, then I'd probably consider it.
The good thing about Apple products is their resale value.
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Hedge on January 24, 2013, 08:22:48 pm
I say go Dell Outlet. Watch it for a few days then strike while the iron is hot.

Usually the good stuff is on early in the morning and it disappears as the day goes on.

Mac is the same as a PC with a pretty dress but a price tag to match.  :evilgrin:

<flame suit on>

+1

my dell xps pretty much murders apple products for half the price

I have an XPS-15 with i7, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 2GB Graphics card all for less that £580 18 months ago.  :happy2:
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Deako on January 24, 2013, 08:24:52 pm
It's not £2k with student discount!!!  :happy2:
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: camfollower on January 24, 2013, 08:25:03 pm
I say go Dell Outlet. Watch it for a few days then strike while the iron is hot.

Usually the good stuff is on early in the morning and it disappears as the day goes on.

Mac is the same as a PC with a pretty dress but a price tag to match.  :evilgrin:

<flame suit on>

+1

my dell xps pretty much murders apple products for half the price

I have an XPS-15 with i7, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 2GB Graphics card all for less that £580 18 months ago.  :happy2:

Yikes... great price esp. near on 2 years ago!!  Only thing I'd swap out there is the HDD for SSD... does it have twin SATA bays?
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Oli on January 24, 2013, 08:57:07 pm
It's not £2k with student discount!!!  :happy2:

I'll get the Vat back  :P
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Oli on January 24, 2013, 08:57:52 pm
I say go Dell Outlet. Watch it for a few days then strike while the iron is hot.

Usually the good stuff is on early in the morning and it disappears as the day goes on.

Mac is the same as a PC with a pretty dress but a price tag to match.  :evilgrin:

<flame suit on>

+1

my dell xps pretty much murders apple products for half the price

I have an XPS-15 with i7, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 2GB Graphics card all for less that £580 18 months ago.  :happy2:

Yikes... great price esp. near on 2 years ago!!  Only thing I'd swap out there is the HDD for SSD... does it have twin SATA bays?

From what I can see that brings it up to nearly as pricey at the MAc though, on a like for like basis
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Hedge on January 24, 2013, 09:14:38 pm
How do you work that one out Oli?  :confused:
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Oli on January 24, 2013, 09:37:21 pm
How do you work that one out Oli?  :confused:

http://www.dell.com/uk/p/xps-15-l521x/pd?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn

On the right, or am I missing something??
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Hedge on January 24, 2013, 09:41:41 pm
That's not the outlet.

Any good? http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dfh&cs=ukdfh1&puid=970e85f9

Or from here. http://www.dell.com/uk/dfh/p/?c=uk&cs=ukdfh1&l=en&s=dfh&~ck=bt&redirect=1
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Greeners on January 24, 2013, 11:01:38 pm
Yeh buy a Windows laptop. You'll be sure to get at least £50 for it in twelve months!  :grin:
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: rich83 on January 25, 2013, 12:03:15 am
Yeh buy a Windows laptop. You'll be sure to get at least £50 for it in twelve months!  :grin:

 :laugh:

Mac all the way... 2.2ghz with SSD HD.... lightening quick! Just need 16GB of RAM in it now...  :evilgrin:
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: n13cah on January 25, 2013, 12:28:08 am
I got a desktop from the dell outlet early last year, within 2 weeks kept getting the blue screen of death. Tried their technical support, but the computer wasn't registered to me as it had already been sold. This went on for 2 weeks before i threatened them with court if i didn't get a refund.
Got a 15" Mac book pro with retina when it was launched, would never go back now.
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: h4rdy on January 25, 2013, 02:09:10 pm
If you can get one shipped here, how about a Razer Blade?

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade

http://www.cnet.com/laptops/razer-blade-fall-2012/4505-3121_7-35433773.html

The Switchblade UI is awesome as well. Lots of updates have cured its flakyness.

Some good vids on YouTube.
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: ConeKiller on January 25, 2013, 02:41:39 pm
Recently got a macbook air, love it!!! But ive had a macbook for years!

Would never go back to a windows machine! Hate working on them at work  :sick:
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Stanipkiss on January 25, 2013, 10:17:51 pm
Yeh buy a Windows laptop. You'll be sure to get at least £50 for it in twelve months!  :grin:

 :laugh:

Mac all the way....  :evilgrin:

+1  :happy2:
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: majinvash on January 25, 2013, 10:35:41 pm
I'm an IT Consultant

My job is to supply PC's, Laptops and Servers ( amongst other geeky things ) day in and day out...

I have a 13.3" Macbook in the Aluminium Unibody

I would not buy anything else, I still have the same Macbook that I bought back when it came out in 2008. ( This was before they became Macbook Pro with the light up keyboards )

It has been around the world twice with me, been kicked, dropped, abused.

In the years that I have had it, I have upgrade the RAM to 4GB, I had replaced the battery once 7 months ago because it was only lasting 2hrs and recently I changed the hard disk to a solid state just well cos..
Oh and the DVD Drive died but that was my fault for traveling with a DVD I had forgotten about in it.. ( FYI dont do that it breaks drives )

It is still as fast and solid as the day I bought it .. I cannot say that about any laptop I have owned before.. Or that I could supply now to any of you.
In the time I have owned it, I have only needed to reinstall the OS twice and once was because of the new SSD hard drive.

They are truly amazing and worth the money.

I would personally avoid the new 13.3" Retina books because they are just too thin and far to fragile.. but the rest of the range.. Worth their huge cost.
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: MAT ED30 on January 25, 2013, 10:56:12 pm
As said above buy a mac the rest just is not worth the hassle
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Oli on January 25, 2013, 11:50:07 pm
Best deal I've found so far;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B008BEYC3I/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1359157480&sr=8-2&pi=SL75

Anyone know of better?
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Degudodger on January 26, 2013, 12:23:43 am
It's the Ford/VW argument. They both do the exactly the same thing just one does it better and utilises system resources more effectively. I'm talking about Mac of course :)

Was looking at a 15" MBP for Mrs DD and can get one for £1650 after tax back here in Cancun. I currently use a 17" MBP and and ticks all of my boxes. I can honestly say I will not go back to a windows based machine for personal use. Just my opinion.
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: rich83 on January 26, 2013, 12:35:12 am
Best deal I've found so far;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B008BEYC3I/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1359157480&sr=8-2&pi=SL75

Anyone know of better?

2,013.60... but that includes apple care.
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Degudodger on January 26, 2013, 12:41:15 am
Do you have any student friends of any who could (cough as I know others on the forum know how to) get a student discount?
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: rich83 on January 26, 2013, 12:45:30 am
Do you have any student friends of any who could (cough as I know others on the forum know how to) get a student discount?

You dont need friends... you just need the correct URL  :wink:
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: majinvash on January 26, 2013, 05:42:03 am
As the current exchange rate you would be best off flying to NY for the weekend.
Have a 4 day mini break and buy the entry 15" Retina in an apple store there. ( Dont forget to get your tax back )

At current exchange rate the US cost is £1390 as apposed to £1799 over here :)

You really dont need the apple care, these things are amazing and any fault is going to show up in the first 12 months anyway.
You are better off getting it insured as that covers you for screen damage and dropping, those are far more likely.

Be aware that the screens on the Retina units although stunning are very very very very thin..  I personally feel a little too thin to last as well as the normal Macbooks but that will be seen over time if I am right.

So insurance over warranty is definitely the way forwards. Keep it backed up via the Time Machine or better get a home NAS setup and store the majority of your stuff on that and just access it remotely ( easier to setup that you think ) . Then in the unlikely event the unit actually goes wrong. Drop it down some stairs and get a new unit.

Replacement screens are crazy expensive. I have no idea what the current cost is as one of my engineers said that he opened his Retina unit up and then stopped and walked away crying, they are pretty much unrepairable since much of the internals are glued or soldered into place.
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: n13cah on January 26, 2013, 09:55:30 am
I got mine with the student discount last summer. I was a student one day a week at the time. Ordered it on my home PC, i think i just had to select the college i went to. Around 12% off.
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Oli on January 26, 2013, 01:39:56 pm
Thanks to Rich, Ive just had my order accepted for a 15" MacBookPro with Retina display and external drive, got a healthy discount and cheaper Apple care.  Top man :happy2:
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Hedge on January 26, 2013, 03:42:21 pm
 :sad:
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Oli on January 26, 2013, 05:22:31 pm
:sad:

You'll get over it.  :laugh:
Title: Re: New Laptop - Mac or ?
Post by: Hedge on January 26, 2013, 05:36:02 pm
I did many years ago and bought a nice Windows laptop with the same components for a 3rd of the price.  :P