Which Laptop Should I Buy?


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Sledge - you're exactly right - my bad.

I didnt look @ the details - even the MBP is pretty meh


OP:  The machines are very high quality machines - all respectable.

You need to do a Ben Franklin list (I think thats the nickname) on these and use that to decide.
( Pros & Cons of each side by side - which ever one has more Pros... wins)

 

each model list all the good, and all the not so great.
for every bad item, cross out a good item
whichever model has the most Pros left wins

 

OR decide what is most important --   But only you can answer the question of "is it worth it" -

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Sledge - you're exactly right - my bad.

I didnt look @ the details - even the MBP is pretty meh

OP:  The machines are very high quality machines - all respectable.

You need to do a Ben Franklin list (I think thats the nickname) on these and use that to decide.

( Pros & Cons of each side by side - which ever one has more Pros... wins)

 

each model list all the good, and all the not so great.

for every bad item, cross out a good item

whichever model has the most Pros left wins

 

OR decide what is most important --   But only you can answer the question of "is it worth it" -

obviously, was not going to be depend on your answer, but your answer would help me as a reference

if you could still choose your option out of the two would be appreciated :)

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OS X is fine if you get used to it. I was a full-time Windows guy, but last summer I had to use Linux at work for a month because of security. After a few weeks you're used to it. And since January I've had to use OS X at work, and again, after a few weeks you're used to it. Nowadays at home I just switch around depending on what I'm doing. For some things Windows is excellent (Office and Microsoft software, games, video, ...). For others Linux is probably what you want (anything serverish). OS X is a nice compromise with UNIX compatibility and a good GUI.

 

There's little you can't do on either OS by the way. There are torrent clients for everything, there is Chrome/Firefox for everything, there are video players for everything, there are good IDEs for everything, ... OS X is really nice with the touchpads is you make the effort to learn the gestures (and maybe even add some more with BetterTouchTool).

 

I'd simply go for a new, 8GB RAM MacBook Air. Remember that you can't upgrade anything at all on a MacBook Air though, so get what you want from the start. 8GB RAM is a requirement if you are going to do development (especially with VMs). And know that Bootcamp does not limit performance in any way. A Mac running Windows with Bootcamp is just as fast as a PC with the same specs.

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The Lenovo Y510p is a great laptop for the money. The Carbon X1 is a disappointed in my opinion. The build quality for a premium ultrabook is kinda meh. Macbook Air are still great machines and priced quite well with other ultrabooks although if I was you I would wait for the retina Air which will no doubt be out later this year. 

 

The retina Macbook Pro is a fantastic machine but it still has the bit-too-much price tag on it for being the first super high res laptop. I am sure when the retina Air hits you will see the priced drop on the Pro as they have competition from Lenovo, HP and Dell in the Pro space now which they didn't until recently.

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OK GUYS HELP ME WITH THIS!!

 

I've ended up ordering a thinkpad edge 431 by customizing to 128SSD and 4GB of a slot, since for the other empty slot, I could insert with my own 4GB of ram

This costs for $780

 

Now..I have an option to cancel it for sure since it hasn't been shipped ("released to manufacturing").

But it starts to bug me how it's going to take at least two and a half/three weeks to be delivered.

 

I might as well just cancel it and order a MBA of 128 flash storage 8GB (around $1220?) or 2012 MBP refurb and customize by buying and replacing to 128SSD($100 from ebay?) and replace to my existing 4gb ram so it will be 6gb (which in total it will be around $1200?), but the downside is I will lose the warranty. if i want to keep the warranty and get upgraded from apple, then i will have to buy their 128SSD (165) plus 8gb of ram as a pair for 100, so the total is more than 1300, which is ridiculous

 

The reason why I am trying to cancel the thinkpad all of a sudden is..now I think about it..not only the waiting time is that horrible, but also even under warranty, if there is a problem, I have to ship it back, which will take around a week and more to get it assessed and fixed..while for apple, i can walk into a store and get fixed..

the thing that worries me about MBA though is 128 built-in flash storage. I wish this is just a standard SSD so I can later keep it or resell it..

 

but looking in the long run, I know MBA 12 retina will come out (I can't wait till then) so this current model may fade away..i dunno.. the reason I'm thinking about this is because I wonder which one I should pick if I want to sell it decent in the future.. please don't recommend me MBP retina..

 

pls help

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You need to make a choice. Don't factor in returns/issues, as while you can just walk in to an Apple store, they may still need to ship the device off to get repaired for whatever reason.

The Thinkpad is a solid device for the price, personally. If you're having doubts for other reasons - other than returning the device - I would say that it is up to you.

Forget the delivery time. It will take time regardless of who you buy from unless you walk in to a store and walk out with a device - something I don't think I've ever had the fortune of doing.

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Eh, the Thinkpad Edge is a good laptop series, but it is way too expensive for what it is. If it's the Edge E431 that you ordered for $780, that is a bad deal. First, you're getting an Ivy Bridge CPU which in itself is last generation. The current generation (Intel Haswell 4xxx) has made significant improvements in battery life. If you are paying that much, you better be getting at least a model with Haswell. 

 

Also, the Thinkpad Edge E431 is no way a competitor to the MBA. It's form factor is way bigger than an MBA. It's not to say the Edge E431 is a bad laptop, but you're not comparing apples to apples. Lenovo compares the MBA vs. the X1 Carbon. The X1 Carbon starts at ~$1200, which is MBP territory. Other Thinkpads you could look at are the X240 or the T440S. 

 

I recently was shopping the MBA vs. MBP Retina vs. Thinkpad T440S vs. Thinkpad X240 vs. Thinkpad X1 Carbon, and decided on the MBP Retina. I ruled out MBA because of the display (no retina yet). The Thinkpads are an excellent lineup, but they actually got expensive compared to the MBP Retina (spec. wise). Bestbuy has some great deals on MBP/MBA, you get $150 off with an .edu email address, and they also offer this with the Yoga 2 Pro. The Yoga 2 Pro is not for me; I just dislike that form factor. I have to say I'm happy with the MBP Retina - excellent build quality, fast, and with Parallels loaded up, it serves all my needs.

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Thanks guys. I truly appreciate all of your comments and I guess I can close the case now

 

@Admin - please close this case. Thanks!

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