Apple Macbook Pro Alternatives

Vegeta

Vegeta

Vegeta

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Hi. I like both the Macbook Pro's and Air's because you're guaranteed great thin design, good materials, guaranteed performance and I guess that's reflected in the price. However doing more research they don't even seem expensive? If you go for the other manufacturers equivalent laptops we're talking the Sony Z series, the HP Envy, Dell Adamo etc they cost the same or even more! And they don't look half as good as the Apple range and I doubt they retain their value half as much.

So before I buy a Apple Macbook Pro or Air (probably not air due to the lack of CD drive and I CBA carrying around a portable thing) is there any other products out their i'm missing that match the Macbooks for looks/functionality and performance? I was hoping there would be cheaper options to go for that do the exact same thing with the great casing but I can't seem to find anything.


P.S I did like the look of the Dell Studi XPS 13 but they're no longer available and the battery life was horrid according to reviews, just to show what kind of thing i'm interested in. 13-15" screen ideally I wouldn't want something too big and not easily portable.
 
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ATM, nothing comes close to the macs in terms of quality and feel. HP thinks it has a Macbook beater in the HP Envy 14, but it's quite expensive itself, and I would only consider the Radiance Screen option as a viable alternative, but it's not available in the UK AFAIK. Not exactly thin and light either, more like a MBP 15 challenger.

Business class laptops have the best quality, but very austere and expensive. Consumer laptops aren't a patch on macbooks in terms of quality. IMO, the closest are the HP dm4t (not available in the UK, unsurprisingly), Asus U33JC, Dell Vostro 3300, and the new Samsung's RF, QX, SF, Q430 series. You also have the Dell Adamo, but it's a luxury item and not that good.
 
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no backlit. Hard to find on PC notebooks, but it's a great feature imo, and not that expensive. Manufacturers should start making it more available.

Screen is the HP brightview, so decent.

Battery life is good.

No dedicated graphics (except the dm4t).
 
I looked at the MBP as a smaller, lighter and higher quality replacement to my ageing XPS M1530 but I just couldn't commit myself to a Mac for every day business use. Instead I;ve got my head set on a new Vaio Z-Series with all the trimmings.. had a play with one in the Sony Centre in Heathrow T5 and it feels and looks great... a bit pricy at 2.5K fully specced but should be good for a few years.
 
I personally prefer Sony because their laptops are considerably lighter than Apple's. The 13.3" macbooks weigh nearly half a kilo more than the Sony laptops yet cost £300 more and have half the memory and a smaller HDD.
 
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Thought I'd continue in this thread instead of starting a new one.
Anyone here own an hp envy 14? And whats the situation with the screens; I read that certain options (raidance) aren't available here in uk?
There's one on hp's site with an i5 460, at £999.
Its a toss up between this or 13" mbp, but I am open to other options (~£1000 or less).
 
It's a real shame they don't ship the Radiance screen. It's a very nice machine, although the battery life isn't as good as the MBP. I'd look at the Samsung QX410, but the problem with these PCs is their lack of HD screens (it's 768 :/). If they had a 900p I'd be interested.

you can look at the forums.nobebookreview.com forums for user experience. But here in the UK, we're not getting the best deals.
 
I've been having the same thoughts lately, was all set on a macbook of some sort but thought I'd check out what windows alternatives there were.

Sadly I've come to the conclusion that to get something as well built as a Macbook you need to spend a few quid more.

I know the Macs aren't as well specced generally, but things like the Dell 4310 new are pretty pricey once specced up (cheap-ish from the outlet store though).

The 4310 has a backlit keyboard iirc.
 
blah blah, macs are so well built yet they are all made in the same factory in Taiwan as are Dells, Sonys, Acers, HPs, etc.

The outside casing is well built, not going to argue with that, but they aren't the only alluminium laptops anymore, and the components inside are all the same, also if you're paying £1500 for a laptop it better be "well built":rolleyes:
 
franco_22 said:
blah blah, macs are so well built yet they are all made in the same factory in Taiwan as are Dells, Sonys, Acers, HPs, etc.
Click to expand...

So? No matter where they are built, The only laptop I've found to compare in battery life, quality and specs are proper business notebooks, and the Vaio Z, which cost about the same. I still think the MBPs are overpriced for what they actually offer, but I haven't found a laptop with decent specs that can really compete, for 1/2 of what the MBP ought to cost.

Doesn't take much imo, a QX410-type machine with a decent 900p screen non-gloss, a GT425M, a 500GB 7200 rpm HD, and backlit keyboard for under £900 will do me fine. It's still a lot of money, and I recon that'd be really a really tight budget for such a design anyway.
 
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MBP with Bootcamp and Windows, job done!

Failing that I also think the Sony Vaio Z are totally gorgeous but are a little pricier offhand.
 
I guess its best to wait until the 13" mbp is updated before making a decision, if it is within the next few months.
 
Is the Samsung QX410 for sale in the UK?

By the way, it took like 2 years for Apple to get i series processors, now that sandybridge is coming out you accept that Apple will put the intel left overs on their 13in models which they will probably buy really cheap since it's old technology and you're quite happy to pay for it.
 
Personally couldn't really give a stuff what processor they put in, I'm just curious as to whether they'll make the 13inch mbp a bit slimmer/lighter and give it a higher screen res.

I'm after a 'nice' portable machine which at the moment is a toss up between a Lenovo X201 or an MB Air.

Both weigh in at less than a grand for me, not sure what else is out there though.

I looked at the Dell 4200 and 4310 series but not too sure on the 4310, list price is higher but can pickup some cheap ones on the outlet store.
 
Ev0 said:
Personally couldn't really give a stuff what processor they put in, I'm just curious as to whether they'll make the 13inch mbp a bit slimmer/lighter and give it a higher screen res.
Click to expand...

Sorry I didn't realize that with 10,000 posts you were one of those that as long as it looks pretty it doesn't matter what's inside :D
 
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