Best laptop for Windows..a Macbook?

In my search for a new laptop, I have tried the MSI GS60 and it had a disappearing wireless card. The Dell XPS 15 gets average reviews due to inconsistency in quality. It seems that the most consistently best reviewed laptop is the Macbook line.

I have been using Windows on my Macbook Pro for 3 years. It has started to really slow down, hence searching for replacements.

Maybe the best solution is to just install windows on a new Macbook?

What are your thoughts on this Windows laptop dilemma?

 

The problem lies in that most Windows laptops can come with a variety of hardware, this can both be a good and bad thing. Good in that you can custom tailor your device for your needs and budget. Bad in the way that inevitably issues are much easier to run into. Even with windows on a MAC you can run into issues and of course the hardware is much more limited.

If the system has slowed down in performance after 3 years maybe it is time just for cleaning up and or getting a good SSD?

 

Trying to compare two different O/S is akin to Apples vs Oranges. They at the end of day will they do what your looking for and also affordable price also a factor Mac software cost more then PC and also there is more software for PC compared to Mac as well. So there alot of factors you should look into before jumping to Windows considering commands and UI will be different and respond differently. If the software you use doesn't come in PC and only Mac that will limit your change as well. Also remember Mac is one computer so why wouldn't it get good review - PC are so many and different there are good and bad so what your asking is not only short sightedness but a unfair comparison to make to start with. Now is PC was only one brand/computer vs Mac then the comparison would be more valid but as of now Mac vs PC is of no value.....in itself.... PC vs PC that is a different story. So unless your here to really go Windows one should refrain from making such comparisons when Mac is just One company and PC already out sales and have the market hold.

 

Look into getting business line notebooks such as HP Elitebooks, Dell Latitude and Lenovo. Some of the Elitebooks are MIL-SPEC. Not only is the quality superior, the customer service is head and shoulders above their consumer division. Plus Business grade notebooks tend to come with 3 year warranties. Moreover, many are user serviceable. You can replace/upgrade HDD/SSD, RAM, etc.

Many business line notebooks are at least on par with Macbooks if not superior to it in some instances.

 

No no no no no no no no no no no no no.

 

You must have misread. I am not comparing OS. You quoted my text where it states that a solution may be to use a Macbook with Windows on it.

The comparison here is between consistently good reviews for the Macbook, and consistently average reviews for all other laptops.

 

I was answering your question directly as posted. Macs are designed to run OS X. While installing Windows natively is possible, it comes with many compromises that make the experience less than ideal.

 

The Windows laptop world is full of low end to mid end to high end laptops, so you'll see more variation in reviews.

Never consider a mac if you are going to primarily use it for Windows, battery life will take a hit, the trackpad will suck (bad Windows drivers from Apple) and so on.

A mac was not designed with the intent of running Windows as its primary OS and you shouldn't use one as such either. Yes, it can run Windows, but the experience won't be as good as the experience you'd get using OS X.

You are going to have to shop around a lot for the Windows laptop that ticks all the boxes due to said extreme variations in hardware and quality between different models. All laptops comes with their pros and cons, including macbooks. Just by looking around, I've found quite a few Windows laptops that got review scores o 4 out 5 or more (or whatever is equivalent on the review site's rating system).

 

I want the Dell XPS 15, but the inconsistent quality makes me nervous.

Would you advise getting a business HP Zbook or Dell M3800 so if something goes wrong the techs come to you?

 

Those are both good choices.

 

I can speak to your feelings towards the XPS 15. I have purchased two M3800 (essentially identical hardware) last fall, and have had almost no issues with them (see below *). I know there's been a lot of noise about certain things, like the infamous "coil whine", but I think the fear you may have based on what you read on the internet is overblown. In addition to the usual issue of observation bias, where problems get exaggerated because people report those, and not the fact that they have no problems, in this particular case I firmly believe that part of the issues people reported are not real, and have nothing to do with the hardware in question. I will leave it at that.

Bottom line for me is that the M3800 (and the XPS 15 by extension) are rock-solid machines, that easily rival the quality of Apple hardware. Let's not forget that Apple hardware is not perfect, either. Let's also not forget that the mindset of the typical Apple customer is also entirely different from a typical PC customer, in that there's a large group of Apple customers for which Apple simply can do no wrong. The word "fanboy" really must have been created for Apple customers, if you ask me.

*The one issue I have seen with one of the machines are some screen imperfections (both have the FHD screen; QHD makes no sense whatsoever in my opinion, by the way). It's not dead pixels per se, and it almost looks like it might be dust particles, or possibly some localized delamination. The flaw isn't very obvious, and mostly shows up on perfectly unicolor, white backgrounds. In any case, Dell will replace that panel on warranty, so I am not too concerned about it. Other than that, this particular machine has seen very heavy use, and certainly was not babied in any way, and hasn't shown a single hiccup in the eight months it's been in use.

Final remark, ask anyone in this forum, and they'll confirm that I am certainly not an uncritical customer. If I was in the market for a high-performance machine in that form factor, I'd buy an M3800 again, no questions asked. Obviously, I'd get it with Windows 7. Funny story was that Dell offers the machine with Windows 7 plus upgrade rights to Windows 8, or alternatively with Windows 7 and no upgrade rights, for the same price. That clearly tells you the value of those upgrade rights. Of course, I ordered it without the upgrade rights.

 

Indeed, the fact that Pirx got a laptop with a 16:9 aspect ratio itself speaks volumes. For as long as I remember he was shopping for a notebook to replace his M6400. He is indeed very critical as a customer. Having seen the M3800 myself, I can attest to it being a very nice laptop, there are some things I'd have done differently, but it's still a very nice laptop.

If you're more into gaming, I'd get the XPS 15, but before that, I'd get it in writing from Dell that if it has coil whine, they'll replace it. Aside of the coil whine, I am not aware of any issues that weren't ironed out after the first production batch.

 

Well, what it says is that there are no 16:10 PC laptops I could buy. If I wanted that aspect ratio, I'd have to go buy a Mac, and that's just not a good option if you want to run Windows, or so I'm told. Apparently the drivers for those machines just aren't very good, unsurprisingly, I might add.

 

Okay you've convinced me to get the Dell. I don't do intense work, and only play League of Legends. If the M3800 is built better, I'd rather get that even though the graphics card isn't made for games. League of Legends isn't intense, thoughts?

 

There is no difference in the performance of the graphics card, I think. I am not entirely sure, but certainly the hardware is identical. It is possible that you can overclock the card in the XPS 15, but if that is the case I am guessing that someone has found a way to do the same with the M3800. The performance benefit of doing so will be minor in any case. If you need or use professional OpenGL graphics, on the other hand, the difference between a workstation-class graphics card as in the M3800 and a gaming card is HUGE.

P.S.: I almost forgot to say: As far as I know the build quality of the M3800 and the XPS 15 should be identical. Other than minor differences in firmware and pre-installed software the hardware between the two is exactly the same.

 

I would not get an XPS for a serious laptop. Only so much can be crammed in such a small space without issue. Precision line are workstations, if you need the power go ahead but for general computing Latitudes are good and reliable and to me at least feels better using experiencewise than equivalent Elitebooks from HP.

 

Um, the XPS 15 and M3800 are almost identical, making your statement fairly self-contradictory. Maybe you meant the larger precisions?

 

Those xps series were more like development model series. After Dell has settles many of them issues only they came out with the similar form factor in the Precision series. Just a tought of mine tho.

 

Nope. They were basically released concurrently


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