Looking for macbook pro alternative

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lollysticky

Weaksauce
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Aug 23, 2008
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Hi,


I would like to start this thread by saying: 'if you don't like Mac, I understand, everyone his own opinion -> Just don't make this into a flame thread' :)


Off we go then.
Currently I own a macbook pro (don't mind my sig as it's outdate :p). My biggest pro's for this laptop (which I have owned for 2 years) are:
- very sturdy construction (this laptop travels with me all day every day (bike, train, bus,...) and in all kinds of conditions.
- the high-ress glossy screen is superb.
- Mac OS X has command-line features. As a bio-informaticion I need a unix environment with strong CLI features. At home I have several Linux workstations but at work I cannot spend too much time into getting feature X of the operating system to work properly. This 'enhanced' user-friendlyness (compared to linux) makes it the choice for me and many of my co-workers.


Now, I'm looking to replace said laptop. My desires:
- sturdy construction, preferable unibody shell.
- high-res screen
- 11 or 13 inch max!
- video card; preferably :) Doesn't have to be top of the line though.
- at least 4Gb of memory
- hard disk space is of no real issue; got plenty of fileservers to handle that.
- preferably a sandy bridge i5 processor
- if it's a non-mac laptop, it HAS to be able to run a fedora linux distro. So all the internals should be compatible with said distro (else they're useless).
- long battery life (6hours+ with one charge)
- I DO not care about windows on this laptop... I use windows OS only to play games... I have no use for it in my working environment :)
- all of the above at a reasonable price (let's say 1300-1400 euros)

Now, I really don't like the way Apple is moving forward with their OS (they're completely ignoring more 'techy' users with their iOS feel and look), so I was looking into buying a non-mac laptop and using it as a linux platform. I looked at:
- the new HP envy 14 (2011 revision): I really liked the hardware, but the screen resolution was low + the battery life isn't that great either. If those things
- alienware mx11: screen is not that great + the design is terrible (personal taste :p)

Thus, my problem (and the aim of this thread): can someone point out a laptop that 'fits' my needs? I have seen dozen of these threads, but none really helped me out any further.

All I can do is ask....

tx!
 
Might consider a Lenovo Thinkpad? T420 or X220...

They're a bit more rugged/industrial looking... but their warranty/support is awesome and the laptops are well built.

But they typically don't do glossy screens (because matte is soooo much better). And I'm not sure if that linux distro is supported...

The Sony Vaio Z-Series is pretty sweet too, packs a lot of hardware into a tiny 13" laptop with a 900p or 1080p screen... but it starts at $2000 US... seems like they made a lot of changes with the new one though, I liked the older one better that had Nvidia GT335m switchable so you could use the on-board video to save battery.
 
Lenovo X220 sounds like it will fit your needs nicely. With the IPS panel it's the best 12.5" laptop out there now. VERY rugged and well built laptop.

I'd say T420, however that's a 14" screen on that one. so that might be a little bit of a stretch, And it doesn't have that nice IPS screen that the x220 has :(
 
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I third one of the Thinkpads. X220, T420, or T420s. X1 is frankly a ripoff; E420s might be worth a look but isn't as good as the first three.
 
Pylon said:
I third one of the Thinkpads. X220, T420, or T420s. X1 is frankly a ripoff; E420s might be worth a look but isn't as good as the first three.
Click to expand...

thanks for the suggestion. I will certainly look into the thinkpads.

And yes, ranviper, it is hard to find an alternative :/
 
The X220 line has an aspect ratio of 16:9, so keep that in mind. This series of laptop uses 7mm, instead of the 9mm standard height HDD. That is a concern, but a filer or a dremel will solve the issue as it is only 4 tabs placed close to the replacement slot opening that block the way. Lastly, this laptop does not have built-in blu-ray drive, although the dock can remedy that.

X220 even on the standard 6-cell battery should last a good 7 hours on standard usage. The slice battery can double that number. The biggest strength in this laptop is the option of Vt-d and the magnesium alloy body which supposedly met MIL-SPEC. The drive bay being so serviceable is a nice plus too from administration standpoint as well.

(I will have it for myself when my X220 tablet gets here)
 
Just look for a laptop that has the higher res option or says wide view angle. There most like still a tn panel but they have the extra film that increases the viewing angle, contrast ratio, and color gamut. Most of the time the higher res bto option will have the extra film. Also is a gpu important or does it really not matter as long as it runs compiz/aero smoothly?
 
Don't mind my previous factual comment =) Im not a fanboy (obviously, I built my own rig lol)

ANYWAYS

Considering you do like your mbp, why bother switching? I DO agree I'm not a huge fan of where Apple is taking the OS, hopefully lion will be as far as they go. BUT, the macbook (pro) is capable of dual, and even triple booting, so why not just take that and run with it? I have triple booted windows 7 and linux before.

Fruit for thought.
 
I guess I'd like to point out that 10.7 still has the terminal command line, it's just the GUI that has changed to a more iOS like look. While I find the 10.7 GUI to be . . . less appealing then 10.6, functionally it is still just as customizable and tweakable as 10.6 is via Terminal. Mind, I dont' live and breath in Terminal, so maybe there are changes to the 10.7 command line that make it less useful for you, but I am not aware of them.

I would look at the 13" MBA, or 13" MBP, and via Parallels (or just fully dual-boot) into Fedora if needed. It sounds like right now, you are existing in a OSX environment using commandline functionality, so you wouldn't need to dualboot, but I might be misunderstanding.

Oddly, the MBA will give you a higher resolution screen, but the MBP has the better processor. And the MBA gets you an SSD, though I would suggest replacing the stock HDD in the MBP with an SSD if you went that route.

A Mac platform is still going to be the only option that get's you OSX and Linux w/o fighting. If you don't give a crap about the OSX environment (it is a work machine as you say, and from the sound of it you work in both OSX and Fedora so I can understand wanting to simplify that), then other options open up.

The X220 is a fantastic option, from a build perspective. Oddly, even though you can get an IPS panel, I prefer the look of the Panel on the MBP. Weird, I know, the X220 panel is still nice, just given the option I like the look of the MBP panel.

I think the HP Elitebook series works as well, Fedora works on the 14" versions, but I can't find anything one way or the other on the 2560p, which is the 12" version. Same time, I think I like the look of the 13" MBP better from the spec's.
 
Explain to me why you're replacing your mbp? It seems to have everything on your list. If you want Fedora just fire up a Vm. That's what I do and it works great.
 
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