Shall I get a MBP? Decisions!

Paul. W · 13 Mar 2013 at 09:14

Hi all,

In a bit of a conundrum. Work have just released a salary sacrifice scheme which includes selected Apple products.

Here's the two highest spec ones available:
MacBook Pro 15" 2.3GHz Quad-Core i7 (none-retina)
4GB RAM
500GB Hard Drive
GT650m

MacBook Pro 13" with Retina display
2.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz
8GB 1600MHz memory
256GB flash storage
Intel HD Graphics 4000

I currently have a MSI GX740m with the following spec:
Intel i5 2.3ghz
4gb ram
ATI Radeon 5870m

I use my laptop for everything, including gaming. Not overly intenstive games, more like Trackmania, CS:GO, COD series, TF2 etc. Oh and GRID 2 when that comes out

Both Apple deals are approx £60 per month over 2 years (gross pay) and should work out ever so slightly cheaper than buying from the store taking into account tax/NI savings. However for something I may not need, £60 a month is nearly a tank of fuel.

I suppose I want to know wether the non-retina model will satisfy my needs? Will it out perform my current windows laptop and play games equal to or better when in bootcamp?

I dont need a Mac for work, its just something their offering. I need to make a decision within the next week or so before the deal closes. I think its one of those 'man maths' cases where I'm trying to justify my needs of getting something!

Other Applie products I have are my iPhone 4S, and an iPod shuffle for the gym.

manic111 · 13 Mar 2013 at 10:30

I switched from a Windows PC to a Macbook Pro - 2011 13" base spec - and haven't looked back. It plays most games that I need it to (Football Manager and Civ!), and for working on it's fantastic.

That said, it sounds like your gaming needs are a little more intensive than mine, so it might be best to wait for a second opinion.

Raymond Lin · 13 Mar 2013 at 11:04

£60 a month for 24 months?

That is £1,440 over 2 years. It is cheaper than buying it on finance and if you were planning on buying one then it would be a good way to go but seeing you have a laptop already with a spec similar to that of the 15" model, I wouldn't bother unless you really want to use OSX, which you will end up installing windows on it anyway to play your games. How desperately are you after an upgrade to your laptop?

I wouldn't have the 13" retina for games because of the onboard graphic and althought it is SSD, the GFX will hold you back.

Why not upgrade the RAM and SSD in your existing laptop? I would guess that would result in the biggest improvement.

I put in an SSD in my C2D 2.4Ghz MBP and it is night and day different to what it was before. I've already had it almost 3 years and I can see it lasting another 3 years.

ActiveM · 13 Mar 2013 at 11:11

Raymond Lin said:
£60 a month for 24 months?

That is £1,440 over 2 years. It is cheaper than buying it on finance and if you were planning on buying one then it would be a good way to go but seeing you have a laptop already with a spec similar to that of the 15" model, I wouldn't bother unless you really want to use OSX, which you will end up installing windows on it anyway to play your games. How desperately are you after an upgrade to your laptop?

I wouldn't have the 13" retina for games because of the onboard graphic and neither are SSD either.

Why not upgrade the RAM and SSD in your existing laptop? I would guess that would result in the biggest improvement.

I agree (especially making use of OSX and Apple software, which is intuitive to use) BUT if you do move to Macbook, you'll never look back to Windows laptops again. Apple products are in a class of their own, rarely go wrong and you spend so much more time being productive rather than tweaking settings and fighting viruses etc... And you can upgrade to SSDs and extra RAM as well for a bit more future proofing. But it starts getting expensive.

Paul. W · 13 Mar 2013 at 11:50

You're all right with your comments. I'm not in any sort of rush to upgrade my laptop. It satisfies my needs and plays all the games / runs all the programs I need it to do. Bit of a typo above, yes its £60 over 24 months.

I'll probably knock the idea on the head.

lamboman · 13 Mar 2013 at 12:38

Just having a look, your laptop appears to be pretty big! If you're looking for something more portable than it's a great choice, however if this laptop is mainly being used as a desktop replacement and rarely gets moved, there's little reason to move.

As said by ActiveM above, the biggest factor is more whether you will be moving to the Mac platform - it's not just about getting a new system. I wouldn't agree with all the points however (I wouldn't say Apple products are any more reliable than the current competition, nor do Windows users have to spend time "fighting off" viruses - a bit of common sense and you will have no problems whatsoever).

Paul. W · 13 Mar 2013 at 13:49

Moving to the Mac platform isnt the main reason for entertaining the idea. I suppose the main things were the lack of depreciation (would still be worth a bit after 2 years) and the build quality.

In terms of portability, I do carry my existing laptop round a lot. Its a 17". I have a rather large laptop bag! I also go to a couple of LAN events a year. Turning up to LAN with a MBP might raise a few tempers even though it'll do the job!

theheyes · 13 Mar 2013 at 14:36

It truly is a salary sacrifice scheme if you have no compelling reason to get one. An offer is only good if it is something you intended to buy anyway. It just sounds to me like impulse is taking over. The deal isn't that good - it's only going to work out slightly cheaper.