On the fence about new Retina Mac Pro purchase

[clayton006]

So I've went and purchased another 15" retina Mac pro. I like the design, the OS, the portability, and the light gaming that I can do with it. I can spin up a couple of VMs and still have room to do whatever.

That being said, I'll most likely return it and wait for the latest model of Mac book pro to come out later this year. That got me thinking about something...

For the price I would pay for their maxed out configuration (minus the CPU) I'm looking at the same price for a Sager NP9377-S with dual video cards.

I don't really game a lot on the road and I don't see myself doing more of that if I would get the laptop. I have a desktop at home for that and my 3ds for mobile gaming. I've owned 17" laptops and power bricks that were just as heavy, but not sure if I want to go back to that. I guess what got me thinking about the Sager was that I'm spending a lot for the Apple tax (even though I like the OS and design of the unit and the screen) but I could upgrade the Sager down the road if I need to.

If I go with a larger laptop I would probably end up going dual GPU. An Alienware 15 would probably be the sweet spot but I'm not sure if I want to go to that. For me it really feels like I should go MacBook but I can't help but wonder if I am missing out even if I don't plan on gaming mobile. I wonder if the weight will eventually get to me.

I typically go through a cycle where I will use a laptop for 6 months, realize that I don't use it as much as I thought I would, then sell it. Then about 6 months later I will want a laptop again so bad I can taste it. I realize that if I go Sager it will have a lot less resale than anything else.

 

[Henri108]

Why not something with an external desktop GPU. You'll have the ultrabook performance on the road (lightweight, good battery life) and all the power you need at home (gaming).
If I needed 1 machine to do it all I would go this route... Certainly because you say you barely game on the road.

 

[Aurelius]

Here's a question: why not a 13-inch MacBook Pro? It'll give you much of the same experience as the 15-incher, but in a more portable and cheaper form factor. 3.5 pounds will still seem light compared to what you're used to, and you won't give up much functionality... in fact, you'll get Force Touch and longer battery life.

I just couldn't go with a big, clunky Sager or Alienware unless I primarily planned to play games and was willing to sacrifice a lot to make that happen.

 

[Tyler-Durden]

I second the 13" rMBP. I always bought 15" MBPs, mostly due to the higher resolution screens compared to the 13" versions. When the 13" retina became available I jumped on it immediately. I think it's the perfect road warrior laptop. Enough power and screen real estate for just about any kind of work, packed into a tight, lightweight machine. I just picked up the 2015 version for the new Force Touch track pad. It made an excellent laptop even better.