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Need New Laptop, but the cost...

frocco

frocco

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 27, 2009
498
43
Hello,

My 7 year old MBP died and Apple said it would be over 1500.00 if they could even get parts.
Now I am torn between a windows gaming laptop or a new MBP at twice the price.

I do web development, and had movies on my old MBP which I streamed via Plex.

Should I give windows a try or spring for the costly MBP?

Thanks
 
frocco said:
Now I am torn between a windows gaming laptop or a new MBP at twice the price.
Click to expand...
It might help if you could elaborate a little on what you're considering, specifically?


I'd be cautious about "giving windows a try" if you're not sure how well it will work for you, for work. If it doesn't work for you, what are you going to do?
 
Looking at GS63 STEALTH-010, GU501GM-BI7N8 for gaming and web development.
Also the new Razer 15
On the MBP, 2799.00 spec
 
If you're looking at a Razer or an MSI laptop because of gaming, the MBP's GPU is slower then the GTX 1060/1070/1080 and the newer GTX 2060 -> 2080

Macs have a lot of advantages, but gaming is not one of them.
 
If you really hate yourself, switch to Windows (just my personal opinion - based on direct usage). I've found that Windows 10's regular "Cumulative Update" fixes some stuff and regularly breaks other stuff. I've lost count of the number of times it's broken the connection to a NAS.
 
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I looked at hte new MBA also, I do not have to do gaming, just thought that price wise, the gaming laptops offer so much more. I am having a hard time spending 3000.00 again, and may just get a basic Macbook Air or iMac
 
Get the MacBook Air and an external GPU? It'll compete well with the gaming laptops.
 
frocco said:
I looked at hte new MBA also, I do not have to do gaming, just thought that price wise, the gaming laptops offer so much more. I am having a hard time spending 3000.00 again, and may just get a basic Macbook Air or iMac
Click to expand...

I understand what you are going through - I am using a 2012 15" MacBook Pro myself and when this one dies I'm not sure which direction I'll be headed.

It really comes down to if MacOS & superior build quality are worth it to you - in that case go the Apple route.

I will probably end up biting the bullet & going Apple again. Part of me says not to, but my laptop is a tool for me that makes money and something I spend 60% of my life on - so I need the one that I just simply most enjoy. I recently switched back to MacOS after running JUST Windows 10 for two years and forgot how good of an experience MacOS is.

Windows 10, while great, is still Windows - it has a nice UI, it has great application support, and you can get way better specs for the dollar (like Maflynn said, GTX 1060/70/80 cards are way better than even the highest-spec Vega cards in MacBooks and can be had in PCs for $1500). However, it's still Windows from my very recent experience - it comes preinstalled with a lot of garbage, uninstalling programs doesn't get rid of them all the way, it slows down overtime, & the more you install the more trouble you run into. All of this on top of worse design and some of the Mac intangibles like the audio & trackpad quality missing.
 
ncrypt said:
Get the MacBook Air and an external GPU? It'll compete well with the gaming laptops.
Click to expand...
That's probably even harder on the wallet than the MBP though?

OP - if you can live with a desktop and really don't want to leave MacOS, iMacs are still pretty reasonably priced for what you get currently. A little behind the tech curve, but if the next refresh is a redesign they will likely see a huge price increase like has happened with the various MacBook lines. Other than that it's either pony up for the MacBook (maybe find a sale, or look at refurbished items from Apple if that's possible and acceptable to you?) or go and take a good look at Windows alternatives and get the measure of them.
 
I think with an IPAD, I would have to rely on a remote server for web development. MySQL, Apache..
I was thinking about the Macbook Air because it is newer compared to the iMac or MBP.

I do also have several programs that I purchased that work only on a Mac.
[doublepost=1549558805][/doublepost]I'm seeing the light and will stick to Mac. Is it worth getting AppleCare? That is a lot of money, 379.00 for MBP.
I am still considering the MBA, MBP and iMac. I have not had a desktop for a long time and I would pick up my MBP while watching TV.
 
frocco said:
I think with an IPAD, I would have to rely on a remote server for web development. MySQL, Apache..
I was thinking about the Macbook Air because it is newer compared to the iMac or MBP.

I do also have several programs that I purchased that work only on a Mac.
Click to expand...
The MBA might be newer, but it's still a lot less powerful than an iMac (dual core 7W laptop chip vs quad core 60W desktop chip!) The iMac will come with a similar or slightly better GPU to the MacBook pro (up to radeon pro 580 - which from what I can see is competitive with a GTX 1060).

How much power do you need/ what sort of tasks will you be doing?
 
I guess I do not really need all that power. I like to have the best . :) but have a hard time justifying the price currently.
I could get buy with a base model of any of these.
at least 256gb storage
 
frocco said:
I think with an IPAD, I would have to rely on a remote server for web development. MySQL, Apache..
I was thinking about the Macbook Air because it is newer compared to the iMac or MBP.

I do also have several programs that I purchased that work only on a Mac.
[doublepost=1549558805][/doublepost]I'm seeing the light and will stick to Mac. Is it worth getting AppleCare? That is a lot of money, 379.00 for MBP.
I am still considering the MBA, MBP and iMac. I have not had a desktop for a long time and I would pick up my MBP while watching TV.
Click to expand...


That’s AC+ right? You can apparently still get AC which is cheaper, but you have to buy it through chatting with the Apple folks online.

Yes, I would 100% get AC. But not AC+.
 
frocco said:
I was not aware of AC+, thanks
Click to expand...


The difference is that with AC+ you have accidental damage coverage. So you pay more up front for AC+, then you pay again when you leverage it. I’d rather just be more careful. But it’s all about risk tolerance.
 
If you don’t need the mobility, a desktop will give you better bang for your buck, obviously.

I went the Mac mini route but it could pretty easily have been an iMac. As great as modern laptops are - mobility does have a cost both in terms of price and in terms of form & function.

Also remember both iMacs and Mac minis have upgradable memory - none of the current Mac laptops have that.
 
Why do you feel the need to spend $2,600+ on a MacBook Pro?

The one on which i'm typing this reply cost me $1,100.
 
Fishrrman said:
Why do you feel the need to spend $2,600+ on a MacBook Pro?

The one on which i'm typing this reply cost me $1,100.
Click to expand...

I guess I was just trying to replace the one I had that cost me that much.
I really do not need it.
 
Spend the extra.

Get another 7 years out of it and it will be less than the 3 to 4 years from a Windows machine.

I'm about to get £1,000 for my old 2013 MBP. The £2,500 cost new, less what I'm selling it for, means I've had over 5 years of reliable and fast service every day for less than I've spent on my morning coffee at work.

Maybe I could get the same out of a Windows machine....don't really know as I have no appetite to change.
 
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Moakesy said:
Spend the extra.

Get another 7 years out of it and it will be less than the 3 to 4 years from a Windows machine.

I'm about to get £1,000 for my old 2013 MBP. The £2,500 cost new, less what I'm selling it for, means I've had over 5 years of reliable and fast service every day for less than I've spent on my morning coffee at work.

Maybe I could get the same out of a Windows machine....don't really know as I have no appetite to change.
Click to expand...

That great! I was not so lucky, Apple would not give me anything for it. I see your point through.
 
Yeah, sold it in January, so only a few weeks ago.

Even if yours has died, you’ll be surprised what you’ll get for it on eBay. Even £100 is better than nothing.

Be tempted to remove the drive from it though, just to make sure no one recovers any data.
 
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