[Resolved] Need Some New Laptop Help (Budget Is Anything under $3000)

Lmujitee on 22/02/2020 - 11:32
Last edited 23/02/2020 - 13:53 by 2 other users

Hi guys,

As a current graphic design/media/IT student that has a 4-5 year old mid 2015 Macbook Pro 15" I've been thinking of getting a new Windows laptop for a while now. I've been searching for a laptop similar to the Macbook Pro 15" in terms of how well it lasts (in my experience) and that has the perfect processing abilities for me. That being said, I don't mind it falling short on a few things but main thing is, it should be great for what I might do which will include some video processing, some gaming, some graphic design, coding, HD streaming etc. My budget is anything under $3000.

My mid 2015 15" Macbook specs are:
Processor: 2.2GHz Intel Core i7
Memory: 16GB 1600 MHz DDR3
256GB Storage
Graphics: Intel Iris Pro 1536MB

I've been looking around and I thought the Surface Laptop 3 15" would be a good option. The only problem I have is that I heard the Intel version is a lot better, but for some reason Microsoft Store only offers the AMD version. Maybe there might be another trusted website that has the Intel version if anyone knows?

My main questions are:

• If you have any recommendations other than the Surface Laptop 3 that will suit my needs, I'd love to know about it!
• If there's someone who owns a Macbook Pro AND Surface Laptop 3, I'd love to know the differences.
• If you have a Surface Laptop 3 15"(Intel or AMD), I'd love to know what are the shortcomings you noticed or what are the things you loved about it.

Thanks a lot!

Computing

closed Comments

    • mujitee on 22/02/2020 - 11:51

      Thanks! Although I still can't find the 15" with intel on those resellers

    • mujitee on 22/02/2020 - 11:52

      Oh thank you! I realised this is for Business, is there a difference? Upon research it seems to have some additional features for businesses, and is therefore a bit more pricey. Is the 15" intel not offered to just consumer purchase? As I don't think I need those business features.

    • gomelbcityfc on 22/02/2020 - 12:02

      If going for slate, i would recommend hp over surface, BUT TRY IN STORE before buying, that they fixed touchscreen issues, see my writeup below

  • gomelbcityfc on 22/02/2020 - 12:01
    +1

    Just my 2c worth:

    There will always be "fanboys/girls" for one or other brand/platform

    Myself Ive been in pc tech industry for 30yrs, and can honestly say what mileage you get from either brand/camp is quality of parts, but mostly how lucky you are in getting a good specimen, honestly, some people would say the same is true in the new car you buy (or spouse/life partner you choose lol ;)

    After owning MANY desktops/laptops/pcs/macbooks,I found best mileage from following:

    Laptop - 2012 asus 12" vivobook i5, bought on clearance for $400 from hardly normal, still my daily driver, which even today gives many modern low-end laptops a run for their money

    Slate - 2016 hp spectre x2 12" i5 very very speedy, excellent, would highly recommend (these have issues with touch screen out of the box, but with my friend google, i managed to fix it, now its excellent)

    Apple - 2012 macbook air i5, used pretty much 24/7, excellent, one daughter used it for 5 yrs in high school, now other daughter has it, been around the world, still going. Im not a fanboy, but you cant beat apple realibility (as much as i hate to say it).

    Just my experience, YMMV.

    • mujitee on 22/02/2020 - 12:32

      Yeah that makes sense. I've only had Apple laptops (and a few WIndows computers) but never a Windows laptop so I have no idea what brand to go for.

      Thanks a lot for the recommendations! I'll definitely check them out, although I think I do prefer bigger screens (15") but thank you!

  • gomelbcityfc on 22/02/2020 - 13:39
    +1

    Oh, Something just came to mind

    You could get a Macbook Pro 15" and dual-install Windows 10 on it. If you do a FRESH INSTALL you wont take a performance hit, but if you use it with VMWARE or PARALLELS or VIRTUALBOX (free) then it will be slow (but ok for browsing or word).

    Legit Win10 licences can be bought cheap on ebay, or if a relative has an old win7/8 you could "upgrade" to win 10 for free.

    You can have your cake and eat it too 🍰

  • Daabido on 22/02/2020 - 16:10

    Dual boot is the way to go. Virtualisation is very slow on an i5. It might be faster for you. I played around with dual boot as well. It had a few idiosyncrasies with the touchpad from memory, although this was a couple of years ago. I tend to have a play around with Windows every couple of years just so I can remember how much I dislike it.

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