A PC equivalent to a macbook pro???

hey guys, I am planing to buy a new laptop at the end of august and right now I am planning to buy the macbook pro 15 inch with all the hardware specifications to their highest. As you might know, this will cost me about 4000 Canadian dollars. Now since this is a lot of money I need to make sure that it is well worth it so I have been trying to find a PC equivalent to a macbook pro in order to compare the two laptops and which is relatively small, has very good hardware and a long battery life for a maximum price of 4000$ but so far I have not found anything that comes even close!?

so my questions is, do you guys know any pc laptops that can match the macbook pro?

thank you

 

sorry?4000 canadian dollars?

 

what do you mean?

 

MBP is not a high-end gaming machine. There is ton of machine that you can listed with half of what you can buy for a macbook pro.
Look for any machine with a mid-range graphic card (9600GT) and a decent CPU (core 2 duo 2.0ghz or above)
Right now, I can think of Dell XPS1530 and Dell Studio XPS16. And yes, there is a ton of them out there.
BTW, if you are only do normal web surfing and office thing, any machine should meet your need. If you game, I strongly recommend you to stay away from the MBP. MBP is lack of cooling for a gaming machine.

 

I mean what you are adding to get 4k?

 

Look like he add every possible options.

 

I was thinking of buying the SSD hard drive so I think that is why the price is so high!

 

Sony Vaio FW with 1920*1080 screen. Or Dell Studio XPS 16.

 

IMO, you don't need to max out everything to have a very good notebook. The large capacity SSD & 8GB RAM are still "too expensive" currently & since you're getting them directly from Apple, that's gonna cost you more.

I would think that you're better off spending like $2,500 Canadian dollars for your MBP & saving the other $1,500 for future upgrades. That will be a better deal for you & you'll be very glad you did. However, if money is not a problem to you at all, then there's something else.

 

Clevo's M860TU is a good bet.

You can load it with T9400+Nvidia 260M GTX for half of your budget

Then if you want to go crazy, you can load it with Intel QX9300 quadcore CPU, as well as a WUXGA screen; both options are't available on the 15" mac.

 

macbook pro
2.6ghz c2d , 4gb ram, 320 gb hd, 9600GT, 1440x900
$2500USD


ASUS L50 Series L50Vn-B1
2.53GHz c2d , 4GB RAM, 320GB HD 1440x900, 9650M GT
$1300 USD

ASUS G50
# Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
# CPU Type: Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 2.66G
# Screen: 15.4" WSXGA+
# Memory Size: 4GB
# Hard Disk: 640GB
# Optical Drive: DVD Super Multi
# Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS
$1700USD

DELL xps16
Studio XPS 16:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8700 (3MB cache/2.53GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
Edge-to-Edge FullHD Widescreen 16.0 inch RGBLED LCD (1920x1080)
ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 3670 - 512MB
500GB HD
4GB ram
$1499


Thats just to name three, there are tons of them out there though. just stay away from alienware as they have a similar "tax" as apple.

if you want a 17in the number of options that compare and beat the pants off apple pricing is so vast it is not even funny.

 

I too would recommend the Clevo/Sager with the GTX 260m. For tht price range you could really pimp one out, with blue-ray and Quad core.

 

dont buy a SSD from apple. they charge you so much....

so a nice looking gaming/quick laptop look at the MSI gt627 / gx 620. (or gt725 and gx720 for 17")
its got a ATI 4850 and a quad core processor and can be overclocked.
so gaming and quality, its a very good laptop.

otherwise, in style and features, nothing beats the macbook pro.

the dell studio xps is crap compared to a macbook.
its sort of ugly, not good for gaming and the onlydeent thing going to it is the screen. thats why mine is being sent back. im trying to get a mac.

 

never buy upgradable staff from _apple/_hp/_dell!get base model and upgrade yourself

macbook pro has best spec/battery/dimensions/weight ratio in its class.

 

Why would you do that unless you have a ton of cash to burn. All computer resellers overcharge for upgrades (and out of them Apple is perhaps the guiltiest). If you are looking for value, get the low end MBP (hell you could get two for the price you are willing to spend). If you want more performance upgrade the ram yourself and perhaps get a SSD. Or you could just upgrade often if you want to stay ahead of the tech curve. Anyway, no matter how much money you spend on a laptop today, in 2 years you will be able to get a $400 laptop that will easily beat it (in terms of raw performance).

 

i will take anything that has RGB full HD screen + at least a 260m GPU... but unlikely since i would rather have a strong desktop + <10" tablet.

 

Msi Gx630.
Hp dv5
dell xps 16
thinkpad t500

 

The best laptop to recommend depends on your needs, budget, preferences, etc.

To find the best laptops for your particular needs and budget, post in the "What notebook should I buy?" forum. Be sure to fill out the FAQ in that section.

 

dell e6400
Supposedly more efficeint than Apple Macbook Pro. It can get up to 19 hours of battery life. The performance can be highier than Apple Macbook Pro as well if you choose the best parts.

 

no ones named one as good as the MBP yet taking into account everything... to me... so it depends what's better for you.... there can't be a better or worse that fits for everyone. I'd get the 15" MBP with the fastest processor available.. and the lowest everything else.. then buy a SSD and more ram and upgrade myself.. even if you just throw away the ones that came with it (don't do that though) you still save money... but its an awesome machine none of those others can quite touch. Theres much more to a computer than GPU or CPu speed or amount of ram....

 

Well said, no one has taken into account the build quality which is hard to match on the MBP or the backlit keyboard or multi-touch trackpad or ambient light sensor for keyboard and screen or Firewire 800 or the optical line in for pro audio recording or slot loading optical drive or native dual booting capabilities of 2 of the major operating systems or the magsafe power connector. As usual the PC people have to use the same basic specs (HDD, ram, GPU and CPU) to make the PC look better than the MBP for the price.

Now to the rest of you, find the OP a PC equivalent with the features I mentioned to match the MBP.

 

HP EliteBook 8530w. It's got both good build quality and good performance, as one would want from a MBP. Still only DDR2 unfortunately. Graphics are about equal (the 770M is based on the 9600M GT).

One has to keep in mind, however, that the MBP has a few features that make it hard to find a 100% Windows based equivalent. It has a metal construction (most business notebooks will meet or beat this). It's got DDR3, which, for some reason, still isn't very widespread. The switchable graphics are essentially nonexistant in the Windows world, with a few exceptions. And it's pretty light for it's class, though there's a few laptops that get close.

 

We are all trying to convince each other which is better but the OP himself hasn't state what he wants a laptop for. Is he looking for something portable? Or a DTR laptop? Is he going to be gaming? What king of resolution he prefers? Without some of these its really hard to choose a laptop.

 

spending 4000 anything for a 15.4" laptop with 1440x900 resolution is crazy

 

Build quality of the MBP has dropped over the past few updates IMO. Dell Latitude/Precision, Lenovo T/W/X, and HP Elitebook notebooks all exceed the MBP on average. FW800 is pretty rare to find in any non-Apple computer as no one really supports it. Personally, I find the MBP (like Sony's) to be overpriced and more focused on looks than performance, hence why you can spec most PCs better for a lower price (though to be fair, both companies don't have lotteries and give you a very good screen).

DDR3 notebook memory is terrible ATM. It has no real life performance or power consumption benefits and is higher priced. Right now it's all marketing. No wonder only so called high end computers have it.

 

There's no real reason to have this thread in the Mac forum. It really belongs in the "Which notebook should I buy forum". Why would the Mac forum be the proper place for which PC to buy that's equivalent to the MacBook Pro? Somehow, IMO, the OP started this thread to create a Mac vs. PC flame war. This is really getting nowhere other than that, hopefully the moderator will close or move this thread.

 

why focus on accessories that has no actual benefit to computing?
i am as happy without trackpad as i still find trackpoint to be just as good if not better since i don't have to take my hand off the keyboard.
i am as happy to trade in backlite keyboard for a better keyboard as i loved the old ibm thinkpad's(if couple with the light)
i have no use for firewire but i would take esata or even a CF/SD card slot over one.(and i would even trade that for extra USB too)
i am as happy with one OS than two, waste of space. while OS/x does offer a satisfactory user experience, windows provide me the same satisfaction+games.
magsafe is nice but it has its good and bad anyways(it get too easy to come off)
ambient sensor is nice, but i mostly adjust that myself before it gets changed.
slot loading means it is difficult to take smaller sized discs.


does apple create a good product? no doubt. can i look for something as good at the price range? why not? besides having the same features i look at the utilities(economic term here) of the benefits it offers.

ps. i take magnesium alloy/carbon fibre anyday over aluminium.

only thing that i find difficult to get apple replaced is the back venting design; i would seriously miss it.

can i say as usually mac users(some) always have to mention the gimmics to feel superior?(i don't mean it, but since you've said it )

comparing macbook/pro to pc is somewhat different since there are too many windows notebook maker but too little that have their focus between 2 separate markets(casual/professional, 9600mgt means they are out of the gamers league).

 

Yeah its hard to find a pc equivalent because there are so little pcs in the same price range as the MBP. Most pc laptops over $2000 are business notebooks with high build quality and support, or ultra high spec gaming laptops. And the only pcs in the 17inch mbp price range would probably be high end "mobile workstations."

If you had to pick one I'd have to say the Sony Vaios, because its also a premium computer and focuses on design and home/personal use like the Macbook pros. However the vaios have better screens and are somewhat cheaper, while the macbooks support OS X and all the other bells and whistles. If you wanted to check them out I think they have pretty much the same upgrading options as the macbook pros. Would also save you money if you don't mind having windows.

 

"relatively small, has very good hardware and a long battery life for a maximum price of 4000$ but so far I have not found anything that comes even close!?"
The OP doesn't seemed to care about the backlit keyboard, multitouch trackpad, ambient light sensor, firewire 800, slot loading optical drive..etc.
According to his post, he wanted something that has good hardware, long battery life and something below $4000.

There are at least 10 15" laptop that fits that description.

 

yes you are definitely right, I am looking for a computer that can run very smoothly, is very reliable, able to do video editing with great speed , good portability with a battery lasting a very long time, and minor gaming from time to time. I will also do a lot of school work on it and I would like it to serve me for a good 2-4 years.

thanks again

 

no you are wrong, I have definitely been seriously considering to buy a macbook pro and been researching about for the last 4 month, only lately though I decided that maybe I have not done enough research and there is something better out there that I might be missing on, so my full apologize if this seemed like a flame war and you are probably right, I should of posted in in the other section.

 

If you go to fill out the FAQ in the what notebook should I buy section, you will get response with many good machines beside the macbook pro.

 

Then i would tell you to get the 17" MBP. It has awesome screen resolution for the video editing you need to do and frankly iMovie and Final Cut are soooooo good for video editing, it will be very hard to find easy and accesible programs like that for windows. Also the battery life is pretty good cant really think of any other 17" laptops that can achieve that battery life without swapping batteries.

 

Original poster, please follow the above advice. Thanks. This thread is closed.