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Bugger, I need a new laptop.
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| DJ RANN |
Need some help here people;
My Asus piece of laptop just died on me (apparently known fault with the integrated video chip but the laptop is nicely just out of warranty so it's time to get a new one).
I'm split as to get another PC or get a macbook, and I'm not sure what PC brands are a good buy right now or if I should just go with mac and be done with it.
My main criteria is actually office and design work (adobe suite etc) with a secondary use for a bit of audio now and then.
Any help, as ever, most greatly appreciated. |
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| tehlord |
Something that i've noticed in the past 4-5 years or so is that laptops have become progressively cheaper. You can now get something relatively decent for about £400 over here. I wouldn't like to rely on it for anything though. Well made, well specced laptops still reside in the £700-1000 pricerange, and on that point alone i'd put my money on a MBP.
On the other hand, perhaps a 17" screen would be better for design work in which case a PC laptop ham gonna be cheaper.
Lenovo is a good place to start for functionality though, but they ain't cheap. |
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| cryophonik |
I never thought I'd see the day that RANN would have a Mac-vs-PC dilemma. :wtf:
:p
My practical side would look at where most of my software investment lies. As I recall, you have a Mac desktop, right? How much money do you have invested in PC-only software that you rely on for your day-to-day business? Or, put another way, would you have to buy replacement software if you were to go 100% Mac? When you consider that along with the already higher cost of a MacBook, the cost of getting away from PC can really start to add up. As you probably recall, I started a thread a while ago about replacing my wife's HP laptop with a MacBook Pro. I'm still considering doing that early next year, but the cost of replacing some of her software (and her needing to relearn some new software, which she's not too keen on) has me leaning toward sticking with a PC. Those are the kinds of things I think about, at least. |
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| meriter |
i had a middle-of-the-line Thinkpad (~$800) and ended up selling it after about 6 months. The Thinkpads are great but I think you need to spend at least a grand on one for it to be worth it.
No matter how good of a PC laptop you get it's still going to run Windows. (I can't stand using windows) |
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| DJ RANN |
Thanks Guys - the thing is, if this was for producing, I'd already know excactly what to buy and probably be installing the updates to OSX right now, but as it's for general office use and a bit of design work, it's a completely different criteria for me.
I've always got the trusty imac at home so no need for anything big on the screen as I'll always proof on the imac, but just want something that can take a kicking and is nice and snappy when I'm rendering big graphics files or transferring large ones etc.
The software issue is a valid point but I've got all the disks from my previous asus that died as well as the mac so either way I^ve got everything I need,
I'd love get a MBP, but I'm just not sure if it's overkill for the task, and I have that nagging feeling a $500 staples/best buy/office depot will do the job for the next 2 years.
I think I'm leaning towards PC (gasp!) as if I want a MBP, I know I couldn't get the base model, and that means I'm going to have to go all out and I won't get much change for $2k (not a smart option right now).
Anyone know of any good deals and what PC brands are trustworthy at the moment?
I'm certainly not buying Asus anytime soon. |
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| tehlord |
| Windows 7 is a revelation for me tbh |
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| DJ RANN |
SO I ended up getting a PC laptop for an absolute steal.
I went to a few different places but believe it or not Best Buy had the largest selection and best store prices. Even though I hate the blue shirted muppets in there, I somehow found one guy who actually knew his (to a small degree at least) and was only working there to pay off his student loans from is classical music degree.
Anyway, it turns out Asus is probably the better brand out there at the moment - I told him I was pissed that my previous asus had only got 2.5 years (I realised later it was actually closer to 4.5) and he said that was really good going. Apparently, with a toshiba laptop you're lucky if you get 1.5 years before something major fails. Lenovo are meant to be OK but the built quality can be flimsy and the sony vaio range are complete hit or miss depending on the model (not to mention bad value).All of the IBM thinkpads worth anything start at $1k and below that they are crap quality and performance.
For some unknown reason they had the Asus K53e (i5 2.4ghz, 4g Ram) marked down to $409. The guy was stumped as the discounted RRP is meant to be $479 but they had to do it as that was what the ticket said.
This thing is ridiculously fast and I have to admit, really nicely made.
One observation though about mac vs PC in terms of processing:
This is a horrible and broad simplification, but it seems that with PC's, you gradually run out of processing power as you add more tasks/ processes/tracks, starting quite early on. With my mac, it doesn't show any sign of crunch, until you start to get to the top of it's capacity where it rapidly begins to struggle. Not a problem either way just it seems one is more gradual and one is more binary.
My final observation is that if I had $1200 to spend, the MBP is better, all things considered (performance, design, quality of build etc) than anything else I saw in the same price range. |
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| meriter |
| quote: | Originally posted by DJ RANN
blue shirted muppets |
:D |
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| DJ RANN |
| quote: | Originally posted by meriter
:D |
Seriously, I've never met a bunch of more densely skulled, bone idle, work dodging, mouth breathers in my life. Honestly, you get better tech info at a séance. |
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| KilldaDJ |
| quote: | Originally posted by tehlord
Lenovo is a good place to start for functionality though, but they ain't cheap. |
yeah IBM machines are built like brick houses. my gf has a T60 and that machine is still kicking ass. i do my sets on a T40 and T41 :) |
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| Looney4Clooney |
| Apple rainbow squad are way worse. |
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| cryophonik |
| quote: | Originally posted by DJ RANN
This is a horrible and broad simplification, but it seems that with PC's, you gradually run out of processing power as you add more tasks/ processes/tracks, starting quite early on. With my mac, it doesn't show any sign of crunch, until you start to get to the top of it's capacity where it rapidly begins to struggle. Not a problem either way just it seems one is more gradual and one is more binary.
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The first thing you should do with laptop is wipe the HD, do a full format, and reinstall the OS using the minimum settings. Best Buy is notorious for installing all that extraneous crap that will kill your performance. |
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