• Trying to find a decent 15" laptop, your opinions please?
    72 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Muscar;16733007]There is a reason why macs are the standard in the design community. And why most big corporations that design stuff use macs.[/QUOTE] And what reason would that be? I know Macs are used a lot in the design community. I'm currently studying Interactive digital design (University lingo for graphic/web design). I've always been told that Macs are better for multimedia or design, and for a while I used to even believe that. I really shouldn't start a whole 'thing', but I just think that there probably was a point, once upon a time, where Macs were a lot more suited to design, but the PC I think, has caught up to the Mac, or at least, has been closing the 'gap'. After all, Macs used to have a close association with Adobe design applications (which they still do), to go from that, to the point where the PC versions sometimes outperform the Mac equivalents to me speaks volumes. The rationale 'macs are the standard in the design community' with no elaboration on why is something I hear a lot. People like to hate on Vista, but Leopard isn't [i]that[/i] much faster (it's just more secure, responsive, UI is more consis-- er, I'm getting off-topic now). I wonder if the reason macs are still so prevalent in the industry is because once upon a time they were much more suitable for multimedia than PC was, or because there's still that partially unsubstantiated notion that Macs are better for multimedia/photography. No, I'm not naive to think that's the [b]entire[/b] reason - using Macs does have benefits, but not anything that would put Windows based designers at a severe disadvantage. I'm not hating on Mac (well, maybe just a little :3:) I'm just challenging the idea that 'macs are better for multimedia'. You could argue that Macs are more reliable which is important when working on projects, which is fair enough, but at the same time, I've had no real difficulties with Windows. I'm also a PC gamer primarily - yeah, Macs can play games, but it's not the most cost-effective platform to build a gaming rig on. [b]tl;dr[/b]: I'm just saying that I think platform choice is secondary - I'm willing to bet there are dozens of excellent designers who use Windows. I think if you're good at digital based design, it doesn't matter which platform you use - both have all the necessary tools to create amazing things. Platform choice won't help you be a good designer, as [url=http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper_beta/details/1924/mac_is_greater.html]this 'design' reminds me[/url]. And to attempt to divert back on topic - OP, I'd say either the ASUS or the Macbook Pro. Good quality either way.
[QUOTE=Odellus;16743000]just a blind fanboy, jesus christ. the ASUS will provide a lot better performance as well as having a higher resolution [editline]07:04PM[/editline] the ASUS has a better warranty as well [editline]07:05PM[/editline] I don't see how it running hot could deter people from buying a laptop, it just doesn't make sense. The same thing with the weight argument "oh god I can't carry 7 pounds". And yeah you can add a Blu Ray player. [editline]07:07PM[/editline] "And what about getting Windows Vista Ultimate for the Windows 7 Upgrade" what do you mean[/QUOTE] Raging much? OP, between those two laptops, you'll have more fun with the XPS. Odellus here has the worst advice in history. Oh, and Odellus, my laptop which came last week, fitted with an HD4330, which you called shit, can run Bioshock on all settings maxed out, and can run FEAR 2 with all settings maxed out minus the AA. With a solid 60 or more FPS. Just like you said it wouldn't. And the Bluray is eye sex. [editline]11:35PM[/editline] Oh, and your link isn't working anymore.
[QUOTE=Odellus;16743000] "And what about getting Windows Vista Ultimate for the Windows 7 Upgrade" what do you mean[/QUOTE] I'm talking about how you get the equivalent version of Windows 7 with that upgrade thing. For some reason all resellers that I've looked at in Canada only offer Home Premium. Also, they only seem to offer a regular DVD drive, whereas on the ASUS website the specifications say that yes, it has a Blu-Ray Drive and Windows Vista Ultimate - Upgradeable to WIndows 7 Ultimate.
A major selling point of Macs for use in design applications is stability, I have been using vista since launch and I love it, but the occasional and sometimes routine crashes of applications such as CS4 and 3dsMax (no OSX version of that so I'll have to live with that) can be a real bother, nothing that autosave can't fix but still a hassle.
[QUOTE=BrettJay;16743465]And what reason would that be? I know Macs are used a lot in the design community. I'm currently studying Interactive digital design (University lingo for graphic/web design). I've always been told that Macs are better for multimedia or design, and for a while I used to even believe that. I really shouldn't start a whole 'thing', but I just think that there probably was a point, once upon a time, where Macs were a lot more suited to design, but the PC I think, has caught up to the Mac, or at least, has been closing the 'gap'. After all, Macs used to have a close association with Adobe design applications (which they still do), to go from that, to the point where the PC versions sometimes outperform the Mac equivalents to me speaks volumes. The rationale 'macs are the standard in the design community' with no elaboration on why is something I hear a lot. People like to hate on Vista, but Leopard isn't [i]that[/i] much faster (it's just more secure, responsive, UI is more consis-- er, I'm getting off-topic now). I wonder if the reason macs are still so prevalent in the industry is because once upon a time they were much more suitable for multimedia than PC was, or because there's still that partially unsubstantiated notion that Macs are better for multimedia/photography. No, I'm not naive to think that's the [b]entire[/b] reason - using Macs does have benefits, but not anything that would put Windows based designers at a severe disadvantage. I'm not hating on Mac (well, maybe just a little :3:) I'm just challenging the idea that 'macs are better for multimedia'. You could argue that Macs are more reliable which is important when working on projects, which is fair enough, but at the same time, I've had no real difficulties with Windows. I'm also a PC gamer primarily - yeah, Macs can play games, but it's not the most cost-effective platform to build a gaming rig on. [b]tl;dr[/b]: I'm just saying that I think platform choice is secondary - I'm willing to bet there are dozens of excellent designers who use Windows. I think if you're good at digital based design, it doesn't matter which platform you use - both have all the necessary tools to create amazing things. Platform choice won't help you be a good designer, as [url=http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper_beta/details/1924/mac_is_greater.html]this 'design' reminds me[/url]. And to attempt to divert back on topic - OP, I'd say either the ASUS or the Macbook Pro. Good quality either way.[/QUOTE] I think the reason why macs are use is because you know you get good hardware, they almost never crash (I've had mine for 11 months and not a single crash) They have good 3rd party hardware support and have a better UI design when it comes navigation and performance. I'm not saying that windows sucks at design and so on, I am (was) a windows user and I've used most UI based linux distors. And so far mac (OS X) have been the easiest, most stable os I've ever used.
[QUOTE=Ajacks;16735834]For those who doubt the quality of the Macbook Pro touch pad over any other brand then you haven't actually used one. The multi-touch I've seen on multiple laptops, but what I haven't seen is the fluid motion and the proportionally large touch pad compared to the size of the laptop. The new uni body touch pads are the most fluid accurate ones I've used sofar. If you have the money, get the macbook 15".[/QUOTE] Used an MBP touchpad feels exactly like my G50VT
Well either way, I'm off for a week with sporadic internet availability at best, so I'll keep pondering. You guys have fun, and thanks for all the help again. Feel free to stay tuned for a final decision later. :wink:
[QUOTE=JohnEdwards;16746160]Used an MBP touchpad feels exactly like my G50VT[/QUOTE] Did you use the multitouch one? It's way bigger and has real multitouch so scrolling is super smooth, you can use 3 fingers to go back/forwards in browsers, 3 fingers for top/bottom in firefox. 4 fingers up shows the desktop, down for exposé and sideways for task switching (like alt-tab in windows) And it has better finger tracking and accidental tapping detection as it works with electricity, so if you put another object on it, like a pen it doesn't move the mouse, only a finger (or a nose, dick or any other part of the body)
I disagree, the MBP touchpad is pretty unique, because the finger gestures do things only OS X does (without modding Windows to do the same thing) Once you get into using Expose, you'll love it. With Edwards I mean
I would get a Mac, but i don't know if it can run windows games on boot camp (sorry if im wrong, i know nothing about bootcamp) or this [QUOTE=BrettJay;16713581]I got a Dell Studio 15 earlier this year for University. I was originally going to get a netbook, but I was like [i]'meh, for $500 more (Australian) I could get a notebook with a bigger screen and bigger keyboard[/i], which is important for taking lecture notes. Then I saw the Studio 15 and thought [i]meh for $600 more, I get a fairly decent notebook which will be capable of running the majority of games[/i]. Anyway, I've been pretty happy with my Studio 1555. I paid $1,600 AUD for it, and I'd definitely recommend it. The specs: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4ghz 4GB DDR2 (800mhz) ram 320GB HDD Slot loading 8x DVD Burner 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon (I'm not too sure about the model number, but it's sort of low-mid end - I'd say equivalent to somewhere between a *500 and *600 mobile Nvidia card) The only downside is the resolution of the Studio 15 (and many of the studio series) is pretty low (at least when I bought it); the screen's native resolution is 1366x768 - in other words, the same vertical resolution as 1024x768 but with a 16:9 aspect ratio. However, this does mean you can play games on the screen's native resolution and get good performance. I don't have any hard numbers but from memory CSS gets around 80-100ish fps all on high (and with AA and AF at like 2x), and Left 4 Dead with everything on medium gets around 60-70fps. It's no gaming laptop, but it's more than adept enough to take to any lans without hauling around a tower, monitor and keyboard. Also I got the 9 Cell battery - it sticks out of the Studio 15 (and probably the XPS 16 as well - making it raise on an angle), but it does give a lot of bang for buck, at around 5-7 hours depending on usage. So yeah, I'd recommend Dell, especially over a Macbook, but it all depends on what you really want.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Muscar;16746349]Did you use the multitouch one? It's way bigger and has real multitouch so scrolling is super smooth, you can use 3 fingers to go back/forwards in browsers, 3 fingers for top/bottom in firefox. 4 fingers up shows the desktop, down for exposé and sideways for task switching (like alt-tab in windows) And it has better finger tracking and accidental tapping detection as it works with electricity, so if you put another object on it, like a pen it doesn't move the mouse, only a finger (or a nose, dick or any other part of the body)[/QUOTE] I don't use alt-tabbing because clicking with a mouse is just as easy, or scroll to taskbar and select what you want. I have used a 17 in MBP from June, my friend showed me the features and stuff practical use is slim. I mean I guess you can use it if you want to just have 2 programs up at the same time and have one program on each side of the screen but you don't need multi touch for that
the asus is amazing i have a g50 and it is good enough for everything i need
[QUOTE=JohnEdwards;16746831]I don't use alt-tabbing because clicking with a mouse is just as easy, or scroll to taskbar and select what you want. I have used a 17 in MBP from June, my friend showed me the features and stuff practical use is slim. I mean I guess you can use it if you want to just have 2 programs up at the same time and have one program on each side of the screen but you don't need multi touch for that[/QUOTE] what? you don't make any sense. Ho have a look on what exposé really does, and how damn useful it is.
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