M14X vs Macbook Pro 15

What are your thoughts between these two? I have about $2,500 max that I can spend on a laptop for college and have narrowed my choices down between these two.

What I'm looking for is something that can:
- Do college work (take notes, write essays, browse the web)
- Watch Movies, Listen to Music
- Program and Graphics Design (I'm a a CS major)
- Gaming: Team Fortress 2 (the game I play 90% of the time) and maybe Left for Dead 2 or CIV 5
- Dolphin Emulator
- Something with good battery life, durable, and able to last 4 years

The GT 555M and the AMD 6750 offer about the same performance, and both can be configured with the same processors.

The Macbook is more expensive, but has a better screen than the M14X (well, I haven't seen a detailed review of the M14X screen yet or % of Adobe RGB) and better battery life.

Also, if you're/were a college student, how much battery life do you think is needed? Would it be weird to take Laptop and Desktop to college? I have a good desktop that has spoiled me into high FPS, but I feel that bringing with me would be awkward, especially because of all the bright blue fans inside.

 

Won't the MacBook price suck up your entire 2,500$ when the M14X will only suck up half your budget? I personally believe Macs are an awful choice since PC offers better specs for 50% less in most cases.

For battery life, it all depends on lectures. Mine are 50 minutes each x3, plus I use it in class a little, so 4+ hours is excellent (the M14X provides up to 6).

Why would it be weird to take a laptop to college? 75% of the students at my school have laptops; others have desktops in their dorm. Just get/bring a laptop because you'll need to take an astonishing amount of notes and pen+paper doesn't cut it anymore these days.

Profs go through a power point slide every 30-60 seconds and if you can't keep up, you're SOL. Just to give you an idea of how big of a deal having a laptop is in school, while my laptop was at the repair center, I used pen+paper.

The power point note taking presentations were so fast, that I couldn't even write 50% of the information in time and I'm a fast writer (ended up getting a friend to e-mail me the notes, but you get the picture).

Edit: I see you edited your post! Now my entire answer looks out of place lol.

 

If you are doing graphic design get the high res macbook 17" or else you are wasting your time trying to get the right colors etc on any other laptop screen you will come across in 2011.

 

Well it really depends.
What kind of performance do you expect?

The M14x has a bit better performance.
According to my research:
1. According to notebookcheck.net, the AMD6570 is roughly 13% slower than that of the GT555M. (Based off of the 3DMark 05)

2. While both processors can be quad core i7's clocked at 2.3 Ghz, the Macbook does specify turbocharging, nor does it specify the exact model number for that matter (which I find sketchy...). With turbocharging, the M14x would be capable of reaching much higher clock speeds during CPU intensive stuff (like games).

As for battery, it depends how your schedule works.
If your taking a standard 15 credit semester, I'd honestly say a good 4 hours of battery will be enough for most of your classes on a day to day business. Now if you plan on using your laptop between classes, that might push the boundaries a bit, especially when gaming. Both laptops will suck up battery life really quickly when gaming, though. I'm not sure about the numbers.

As for Laptop And Desktop:
Sure why not? Though if you plan on bringing both, I don't see the point of having another gaming unit when you have the desktop (unless of course you want to game anywhere).

I myself use an Alienware M11x has my main computer. Serves all my needs (gaming, programming, taking notes etc.)
I personally bring my laptop into class so I can take notes (mainly for my CS201 class).

 

It's not odd at all for people to bring desktops. I have the one in my signature sitting in my dorm, as well as an old Dell junker of a laptop. I have an ASUS TF101 on order, and I'll probably be getting an M14x as well.

TF101 will be for note-taking purely, maybe offsite access to my desktop. M14x will be for labs, when I need more processing horsepower (maybe a bit of gaming too. ), and the desktop for gaming, and any serious work that needs doing.

 

You're asking this on an Alienware forum. Quite frankly, what do you expect the majority of the answers will be?

If gaming isn't the main priority, and if you're willing to spend the extra, I'd personally go for the MBP 15" from what I've read about your needs.

 

I ordered an M14x, hoping that it will be able to replace my MBP 15" - because it is half the price for about the same performance.

Everything you outlined can be done pretty well in Windows, and since you're in college - save some money. Try the M14x and see if it fits your needs. That way you won't know the bliss of the 15" MBP for comparison's sake.

 

To be frank:
MBP 15- can do everything the M14x can do but can achieve longer battery life. I think the AMD 6750m is a tad bit faster than the GT 555m but the difference is insignificant. You pay $2000 after the student discount. Then you need to buy Windows 7 for all your gaming needs.

M14x- starts at about $1300 with the 1600x900 screen. Cheaper and probably has better cooling. We won't know exactly how the cooling is yet.

So, in my eyes it comes down to battery life and price. The MBP's 8 hr battery life (yes, Laptopmag got 8 hrs for video playback) seems like a huge plus... but WHY IS IT SO EXPENSIVE!?

 

I feel like these notebooks are diametrically opposed. One is all about design and simplicity. The other is full of options and may not run as smooth nor have the battery life. My girlfriend's macbook pro is of the new generation, and I am so glad I didn't get one. Waiting for things to happen in chrome and watching that little wheel spin annoys me like no other. That said, don't buy the alienware unless you want to play games.

 

I only have one sentence to sum this up...

HELLO, MY NAME IS STEVEN, AND I AM A PC.

Have a great easter holiday.

StevenX

 

The Apple hardware and OSX are very tightly integrated and that's what shapes the user experience. If the OP will be running windows most or all the time then there's really no point getting a MBP IMO. Only get a MBP if you're going to be really using OSX.

 

WIN /10 char

 

currently i have the mac book pro 2011. However, because i am a programmer and use Visual studio 100% to program, i can't use my Mac with that. Reason because Mac run FREAKING HOT in window and won't have long battery life as u run OS X. So i will consider to buy a PC and the alienware m14x will be the option . Goodluck

 

Pretty sure my campus is going to stop officially supporting macs soon (for majors other than photo or maybe graphic design).. Many of the professors just aren't familiarized with them and they'd rather not go out of their way to support them if only a fraction of the students use them.

I know for my information systems major, they want you running windows 7. They've got several programs we use that are only for windows. Might also be something to consider. Aid you're going to have to end up running windows anyways, I don't see the point in spending more money on the hardware..

 

If anyone was wondering, I went with the M14X.

Why? (my justification to anybody who may be on the fence between the same two laptops)
- The MacBook pro gets at least 10% lower FPS
- The MacBook Pro 15 with a graphics cards starts at $2,200 ($2,000 for students). So it is significantly more expensive.
- Alienware has a very distinct and unique look (cool lighting and design)
- I prefer not chiclet keyboards
- USB 3.0 (maybe thunderbolt will pick up but there are no devices for it)
- Mac Annoyances (only having display port compared to mini displayport, HDMI, and VGA on Alienware)
- Option for an accidental warranty through Dell

What I regret from not getting the macbook pro:
- Long battery life and Slim design

 

I just hope that you dont use your laptop to work on the uni, if you are in a meeting with lights shooting the sky its going to be quite a vision

 

I too was deciding between the m14x and MBP 15

My GF wanted to purchase me a gift and she really wanted to get me a MBP15 (She doesn't work, so both purchases would have been very expensive, I decided to pay for my choice in the end)

Like KillerJuice said the battery life and slim design was really pushing me towards the MBP15. Still , I needed the better graphics card because I want to enjoy SC2 / WoW on highest settings on the go. I know that SC2 on the OSX doesn't get the best FPS and I would need to run it in the Windows partition which has lower battery life overall because it's not running on the integrated graphics card. ( I guess overall gaming on battery life will be terrible on either machine regardless )

Still

m14x + 3 years + accidental is like $1500

MBP 15 + AppleCare = $2000 + $350

I decided to save myself the $800 difference, hell with that much I can pickup the MBP 13 inch if I really wanted a separate laptop with awesome battery life to carry around to classes and such.

I guess bringing the alienware to presentations and such wouldn't look too professional, but I guess that's the only negatives.

Last point, I kind of wanted to have a replacement desktop so when I'm at home I can hook it up to my monitor + mouse + keyboard, and then when it's time to head out, just disconnect it and carry all my programs / files / important documents for when I'm on the go. Both would have been suitable upgrade from my 1st gen core i5, 4GB 1333 RAM, Radeon 5770 HD, etc. (or at the very least, pretty comparable results I already get in games and such)

 

awesome choice dude... I fully expected another flame war to start... I think i really like this forum! so surprised no one flamed anything and it was professional and pointed out all weaknesses of both laptops!