How do laptops from major manufacturers compared with the MBP?

[BayouTiger]

I tried the XPS13, and a couple Surface Pros, and they were nice hardware but (especially the Dell) they suffered from fatal hardware issues, mostly when connecting to external displays. One of my employees uses an HP Spectre and though it’s a bit flimsy for a business machine, it has actually held up pretty well .
My X1Carbon is not her beast altogether. Everything on it works flawlessly and with a 14” screen, 2.5lb weight and a full port complement. It i# the best business laptop I’ve owned, maybe ever, but bear in mind that it’s the same cost as a MBP.

 

[shaunp]

Hello, I have been using Apple's laptops since the Apple II c. I don' know about the products for the past two years but in general the build quality of the MacBook Pro are very good. Even there were some hardware faults in some models, Apple took responsibilities as long as we got Apple Care. Unfortunately the 2016-2017 ones are not my cup of tea. Regardless of the OS, are laptops made by other manufacturers (such as Razer Blade, Microsoft, current Lenovo, Asus, etc.) really that bad in terms of quality and after sales surfaces? How long do those laptops usually last?

Thinkpads were good under IBM. (The only complaint was that the black coating on the surface of the case got worn off quickly. So, one could see shinny corners/edges on the case.) Don't know about Lenovo.

It really depends upon the brand, and the model range from that brand. Dell, HP and Lenovo all make both great and terrible laptops. Lenovo are still pretty good, and are definitely more functional than pretty although the X1 Carbon looks great. As for build quality, I have a T430 that is over 5 years old. It's a Lenovo rather than an IBM laptop and while the keyboard isn't as good as old thinkpads, it's still miles better than anything else I've tried recently (XPS15, Surface, MBP) and overall build quality is good.

Yes the corners of the lid have become shiny, but overall the machine has stood the test of time. I replaced the keyboard not long ago, not because it was broken, but it just looked a bit old and for £20 I thought why not. I was also able to upgrade the RAM and swap out the HDD for an SSD. Try doing that on a MBP.

My T430 was only supposed to be a temporary laptop while I waited for a MBP with more than 16GB RAM, but I really like it. Sure the Mac is faster and has a better screen, but the keyboard is horrible, it effectively has no ports unless I go out an buy a load of dongles and the touchbar really doesn't work for me. I can wait until early next year to see if anything new is released that meets my requirements, but if not I'll just get a better ThinkPad. Probably a P51,

 

[hajime]

I tried Surface Book 2 today. Keyboard comfort is between pre-2016 MBP and current MBP. Screen is very nice but it still has wobble issue. Shaking it very lightly and the screen started to tilt more and more. My 8 years old MBP 2010 17" does not have such issue. Also, I could not till the SB2 to a larger degree than my MBP 2010 17". It might not be tilt enough to be used comfortable while sitting on public transportation. Although one could charge the detached screen alone using the included AC adapter, one cannot charge it through an external battery such as those from Anker.

Also tried Asus Zenbook. Very light but same wobble and limited tilt angle issues. The Yoga 2 is much better. If the SB2 were having the hinge of the Yoga 920, that would be nice. For both laptops, I don't like my fingers touching the keyboard when I flipped the screen by 180 degrees.

Why for all three laptop in tablet mode, there is a large lag when switching between laptop and tablet mode? Is this setting issue or Windows issue.

The 2017 MBP seems to be better in terms of not tilting more and more easily with slight shaking. Perhaps because of tighter hinge?

 

[hajime]

I tried Surface Book 2 today. Keyboard comfort is between pre-2016 MBP and current MBP. Screen is very nice but it still has wobble issue. Shaking it very lightly and the screen started to tilt more and more. My 8 years old MBP 2010 17" does not have such issue. Also, I could not till the SB2 to a larger degree than my MBP 2010 17". It might not be tilt enough to be used comfortable while sitting on public transportation. Although one could charge the detached screen alone using the included AC adapter, one cannot charge it through an external battery such as those from Anker.

Also tried Asus Zenbook. Very light but same wobble and limited tilt angle issues. The Yoga 920 is much better. If the SB2 were having the hinge of the Yoga 920, that would be nice. For both laptops, I don't like my fingers touching the keyboard when I flipped the screen by 180 degrees.

Why for all three laptop in tablet mode, there is a large lag when switching between laptop and tablet mode? Is this setting issue or Windows issue.

The 2017 MBP seems to be better in terms of not tilting more and more easily with slight shaking. Perhaps because of tighter hinge?

Doesn't sound good for the Surface Book 2.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/323...softs-surface-book-2-has-a-power-problem.html
[doublepost=1510970463][/doublepost]How is MBP connected to Nvidia 1060 via eGPU compared with Surface Book 2 with the same GPU? I guess in the eGPU case, there may be no throttling issue and the card could have more VRAM.

 

[alphaod]

I think the lag to switch between docked and clipboard mode on the Surface Book is Windows, but then again when I disconnect my eGPU on my Mac, it just logs me out.

How is MBP connected to Nvidia 1060 via eGPU compared with Surface Book 2 with the same GPU? I guess in the eGPU case, there may be no throttling issue and the card could have more VRAM.

An eGPU isn't exactly portable, therefore doesn't seem like a good comparison.

 

[hajime]

I think the lag to switch between docked and clipboard mode on the Surface Book is Windows, but then again when I disconnect my eGPU on my Mac, it just logs me out.



An eGPU isn't exactly portable, therefore doesn't seem like a good comparison.

When I separated the screen and the base of the Surface Book 2, I used the screen as a tablet. This is when I noticed the lag when I changed the orientation between portrait and landscape modes.

 

[hajime]

I have seen SB2 running MacOS on YouTube. They seem to have succeeded in getting the touch screen working as well. Sounds good.

Just concern about screen shaking, GPU throttling and somebody mentioning that the laptop cannot be charged while using 4K display at the same time.

 

[shaunp]

Really? I have never worked for any company from a ****** little Indian perfumery to GlaxoSmithKline to the nhs ( the worlds bggest employer) that used any computers even close to the specs of a mac. They paid through the nose for them and spent a fortune in IT keeping them running. Any software can be loaded on a mac and the hardware will match anything but the most high end workstations (see iMac Pro). All reports of longevity and reliability can have ever seen showe Apple computers way out ahead of the competition it’s that simple.

I have no idea what you mean by business grade I haven’t used a work computer that was as good as my home machine in 10 years, so business grade to me just means rubbish!

And pretty much every Mac laptop I have had has had GPU issues, but I've never had this on a single PC laptop. Apple used to be way ahead, but those days are gone.