Apple MBP quality in a Windows laptop?

Gangster · 1 Dec 2015 at 19:51

As title really.

Been away from Laptops for a good while, however looking to get one. Are there any current laptops that are of a MBP build quality (e.g. unibody solid aluminum)?

I've seen a few (Dell XPS) I think, which appear to have aluminum stuck on the outside, but not full aluminum like the MBP is - which is what I want.

Do they exist? If so any examples?

Thanks

PooKer · 1 Dec 2015 at 21:09

I think the Asus Zenbook is fully aluminum. But usually the good spec version is only available in america and we always get the washed down spec. At least that was the case last time I looked at them.

ZachShaw · 1 Dec 2015 at 21:17

It's a bit harder to get hold of if you're in the UK and expensive as hell but the Razer Blade 14 is also aluminium. It probably compares as closely as possible to a MBP but I know it can be a pain to replace if it's defective.

Orcvader · 1 Dec 2015 at 23:24

Surface Book is Microsoft's answer to the MBP but you can only import it from the US currently, UK version is not due until 2016.

InQ · 2 Dec 2015 at 19:28

Buy a Macbook and install windows, job done.

Gangster · 2 Dec 2015 at 23:10

Thanks for the replies.

RE: buying MBP and putting on Windows, was thinking I'd be able to get a better spec Windows Laptop with MBP build, instead of buying a MBP and installing Windows on it.

Gangster · 5 Dec 2015 at 16:23

Thought so...

Maybe a MBP it is?

StevenG · 9 Dec 2015 at 13:49

I run bootcamp on my MBP and have always preferred this to running a windows laptop of inferior build and battery quality for the size of the machine.

MOOGLEYS · 9 Dec 2015 at 23:14

The new Dell XPS 15 is stunning build.

Maximum durability The XPS 15 is with precision from a single block of aluminum for a sturdy, durable chassis in a beautiful design. The Corning® Gorilla® Glass NBT™ 4K Ultra HD display option is up to 10 times more scratch resistant than soda lime glass.

The palm rest is made from carbon fiber. It's strong and thin like aluminum, but lighter and cooler to the touch.

http://www.dell.com/uk/p/xps-15-9550-laptop/pd?ref=PD_OC

POB · 10 Dec 2015 at 18:57

Dell XPS.

I never found Apple drivers very good for Bootcamp.

hellarda · 14 Dec 2015 at 14:16

I'm having a similar predicament, as my rMBP is dying.

Can't decide whether to get another one or to get the new XPS. I'm swaying towards the Dell but there aren't many reviews out there and I don't know where I could find one in a shop to try

PooKer · 14 Dec 2015 at 14:39

This popped up in my FB news feed today... From £1299...

http://www.asus.com/UK/Notebooks/Ze...ial Media&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=Q4

POB · 14 Dec 2015 at 16:33

hellarda said:
I'm having a similar predicament, as my rMBP is dying.

Can't decide whether to get another one or to get the new XPS. I'm swaying towards the Dell but there aren't many reviews out there and I don't know where I could find one in a shop to try

I've seen the XPS 13 (not sure about the 15) in John Lewis.

Phemo · 14 Dec 2015 at 16:47

I've got a Retina MacBook Pro 13" as my personal laptop and a Dell XPS 15 for my work laptop so have a pretty good idea of how they both compare, albeit the different sizes obviously. I quite like the XPS and think if I had it in 13" form I probably would use it for everything over my MBP, it is a nice bit of kit. It's definitely well worth looking at in detail as a Windows alternative to an MBP.

Kei · 14 Dec 2015 at 18:36

I've been using an XPS 15 9530 for a year & a half and it's been great. (I have the i7 4702HQ 16GB, 3200x1800 IGZO, 512GB SSD model) I took it with me on a two week holiday this year to work on the photos, play a few games, watch a few movies etc and it was great. Happily survived 4 hours of games on the way home too.

I use macbooks in work and it compares favourably in all respects. Battery life is similar, the screen is similar and the aluminium finish is similar. The soft touch finish around the keyboard is actually quite nice although it needs cleaning every few weeks. It's a silicone material which thankfully doesn't suffer from the gooey problem. The underside is carbon fibre, but is coated in a soft touch grippy finish. The keyboard and trackpad were both great, though the trackpad isn't quite as good as the mac. (it's very close though)

The performance is phenomenal for such a compact laptop. The CPU undervolts and overclocks using XTU. (running at 3.4 for 1 core and 3.1 for all 4) even happily playing a fair few games using the GT750 gpu. (saints row, borderlands, sanctum and most source games were great) I've used mine for photoshop, avid/premiere video editing and media encoding. The best thing from my perspective was the £1000 saving.

L33 · 14 Dec 2015 at 21:54

I currently have a 2015 top spec XPS 15 9550, MS Surface Book and a 2013 15" top spec rMBP. I also sold my 2015 revision XPS 15 9530 on the MM a couple of weeks ago.
Nothing, and I seriously mean nothing beats or even equals the rMBP's build quality.
Bottom line is that if build quality is what you are going on alone then there is simply no alternative; not only for the fit and finish but all the small things too such as fan noise, speaker quality, lack of minor annoyances and silly quirks that the others have.

If you're going to be using Windows on it full time, I'd guess the keyboard layout of a MBP would be a downside as would the fact that if you picked a model with a discrete GPU, it would be 'on' all the time which hurts battery life. These are both void if you're going to use OSX though.

Performance-wise, the top spec XPS 9550 comes close to matching it (and surpasses its discrete GPU performance, 960m vs 750m), but my MBP is running a 2 year older revision CPU which is still quicker than the 9550's i7-6700HQ and I'm assuming a Skylake revision MBP is due soon which will push it even further ahead. I've no idea why Apple is seemingly the only laptop manufacturer that makes available the very top end CPUs that include Iris Pro and large L4/LLC cache etc, but nobody else offers them. Add to that things like PCI-E SSDs (which Dell have also just started using this generation finally) and some voodoo battery magic.

n30_mkii · 14 Dec 2015 at 22:46

Two very contrasting views above....it sounds like use case will make the decision easier. I'd love to have access to all the kit L33 has!

L33 · 15 Dec 2015 at 00:01

n30_mkii said:
Two very contrasting views above....it sounds like use case will make the decision easier. I'd love to have access to all the kit L33 has!

Haha, well technically the surface book belongs to my employer, but regardless it is currently the worst of all the machines listed above. I'm sure Microsoft will fix most of the issues eventually with driver/firmware updates but at the minute it is a mess of unreliability meaning I can't really use it for its intended purpose.
You're absolutely right with the use case. Its a shame there are no retailers that seem to carry Dell XPS' as OP could get a more hands on feel.

I should have said in the post above that they are all excellent machines, but in the context of build quality there is no comparison in my opinion.
As Kei said, the XPS 9530 is a brilliant machine. Very very good. When going up against the MBP though, those "but/although" clauses in his post speak for themselves. There are many more of those, and I'd happily go into more detail if the OP would like.

n30_mkii · 15 Dec 2015 at 11:22

It's a great thread for me, as it's the same quandary I have. XPS 9550 / surface book / rMBP were the three I was considering.

tom_e · 15 Dec 2015 at 11:31

My last Windows laptop was a rather expensive fancy looking MSI gaming job which compared to the other laptops I'd had in the past felt like a real quality bit of kit but I'd always had an itch to give OSX a go so I picked up a 2nd hand rMBP and it absolutely pees all over the MSI in build quality and just generally being a lovely machine to use.

I run Windows in Parallels for the odd time I need a Windows only solution but apart from that I've come to quite like OSX and how it just works although it still has some quirks that I've not gotten used to compared to Windows.