Help me decide

phly

phly

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Hi all,* I need help in deciding my next laptop. I formerly had a core i7 dell xps laptop and it served me well. It had all the features I would need. I now want to invest in a new more capable but lighter and more portable laptop. I have narrowed my choices down to a MacBook 13inch probably won't be retina and Dell xps 13 but other suggestions are welcomed. Also I don't mind considering a sale on Gumtree or a used but still in great condition laptop.
I'm a graphic designer so the laptop should be able to breeze through adobe suite and also be able to do video rendering to a certain extent. IPS display, a core i7, dedicated graphics card and backlit keyboard are my main lookout points. Bright screen since I will be looking at it. Working late nights hence backlit keyboard. Dedicated graphics for premiere and after effects renders. Long battery life will be a huge plus. Portable yet formidable.

The problem here is some suggest a MacBook 13inch will be perfect. No dedicated graphics card but if I can score a retina one I won't regret it as long as it's a core i7 one. On the other hand the Dell xps or similar powerful laptop will be more powerful than a mac or so I'm told. Dedicated graphics card will assist the core i7 in renders etc tremendously.

Size wise, Will a 13inch Mac or Windows laptop be decent enough for design? The Dell xps was a 16 inch with bright screen backlit keyboard, dedicated graphics card with 1gb ram. I'm primarily into graphics so video is just something I want to get into as time proceeds. I travel daily so a portable light laptop would be a plus.

Stick to Windows or take the plunge to Mac ? If windows which laptop and if Mac,* even though this is not a mac forum,* 13inch or 15inch. Or must I aim for the 15inch with dedicated graphics card and not any lower? Just need to know what would be ideal for my needs and I take it with the experts here I cannot go wrong. Budget is only 7k.
 
First you need to try out a 13 inch laptop. Personally I found the screen a bit cramped for this type of work, but your experience may be different.
 
if you go mbp go retina. there is no turning back. (besides retina it also has SSD and thinner due to no optical drive that no-one uses anymore like ever)
 
phly said:
Budget is only 7k.
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Yeah, no. You need to double or triple this budget in order to get something that's actually suitable for your workload. R7k isn't going to get you anything near what you've specified.
 
As others have said. Double your budget to get something lower end, but semi-close to your needs, or triple it to actually meet all your needs properly.
 
I'm looking for a laptop with specs similar to your requirements and my budget is R20 000. Still haven't been able to find anything...
MBP Retina is way too expensive :(
 
I can recommend the MSI Prestige PE60 2QD to both OP and d7e7r7.

http://www.evetech.co.za/n/1250/msi-pe60-2qd-prestige-series-core-i7-professional-laptop.aspx

Factory-calibrated IPS display, quad-core hyper-threaded Intel Core i7 processor, discrete graphics with GDDR5, and NVMe SSD capability. It's the only notebook that I know of with a calibrated display for under R30k. You might find a Dell with better connectivity and a good deal on a docking station, but the PE60's display is pretty much alone in this segment.

Edit: That is, of course, if both of you are using it for graphics work. If it's going to be playing games most of the time, there are better options.
 
Thanks for the recommendations but I want to future proof my purchase as much as possible and hence why I want to go with 6th gen processors. Best I've seen is the Dell Inspiron 7559 but can't find it available locally. http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-7512GRY-Touchscreen-Generation/dp/B015PZ0EHS/

Dell Inspiron i7559-7512GRY 15.6 Inch UHD Touchscreen Laptop (6th Generation Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD + 128 GB SSD) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
 
d7e7r7 said:
Thanks for the recommendations but I want to future proof my purchase as much as possible and hence why I want to go with 6th gen processors. Best I've seen is the Dell Inspiron 7559 but can't find it available locally. http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-7512GRY-Touchscreen-Generation/dp/B015PZ0EHS/

Dell Inspiron i7559-7512GRY 15.6 Inch UHD Touchscreen Laptop (6th Generation Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD + 128 GB SSD) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
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How do you future proof you laptop purchase :confused:

You going to replace your CPU in the laptop? Future proof means you want to use the most up to date parts so that they are still compatible in the future with new parts coming out: Example: Mobo with DDR5 compatibility. Skylake CPU Mobo and the like. In a laptop it's a none issue tbh :o
 
Pitbull said:
How do you future proof you laptop purchase :confused:

You going to replace your CPU in the laptop? Future proof means you want to use the most up to date parts so that they are still compatible in the future with new parts coming out: Example: Mobo with DDR5 compatibility. Skylake CPU Mobo and the like. In a laptop it's a none issue tbh :o
Click to expand...
Maybe I didn't use the right term. I meant I'd like to purchase a laptop with the most modern specs. I.e. Don't want to buy a broadwell or haswell when skylake has just been launched...
 
d7e7r7 said:
Maybe I didn't use the right term. I meant I'd like to purchase a laptop with the most modern specs. I.e. Don't want to buy a broadwell or haswell when skylake has just been launched...
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O I get it :o

Apologies. Honestly though, the gains don't justify the price difference, well not yet for me anyway. (Yes I also want a Skylake, but will have to change my Mobo too :()

So no go.
 
Thanks for all the input. The reason I mentioned Mac is I have two or so buyers that can sell me their pre-owned macbooks and I'm trying to justify paying for a Mac compared to something like a Dell XPS 13. Yes the budget is not much for any of the systems new but I'm willing to settle for one of the several deals that pass through here in the classifieds section. The one Mac offer is a macbook air 13inch. The other a macbook pro 13inch but core i5. Both close to 10k but i can haggle for abit less.

I think my main concern is will I have issues doing rendering on these 13inch or basically any system without a dedicated graphics card. Or if given half a chance to go the Mac route I should jump on it even if its core i5 and non retina as at the end of the day the primary usage is graphic designing and Macs are perfect for such?
 
CamiKaze said:
http://www.engadget.com/products/acer/aspire/s7-392/
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That's really expensive.

http://www.laptopdirect.co.za/Acer-NX-MT5EA-001-lp-112552.php

Getting a Macbook Pro instead of the S7 would be a more sensible option.

phly said:
I think my main concern is will I have issues doing rendering on these 13inch or basically any system without a dedicated graphics card. Or if given half a chance to go the Mac route I should jump on it even if its core i5 and non retina as at the end of the day the primary usage is graphic designing and Macs are perfect for such?
Click to expand...

Even if it's non-retina and a Core i5, it's a good deal. Video rendering on the CPU has always been more preferable for quality reasons, so a dedicated GPU would only accelerate parts of the process. I've seen other Windows lappies with the same or even better quality sell on Carbonite.

For under R10k you could buy one of those Macs, or you could get something like this...

http://www.takealot.com/toshiba-satellite-i5-5200u-15-6-black/PLID40640444

But it lacks a backlit keyboard among other things, something which you requested.
 
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CataclysmZA said:
That's really expensive.

http://www.laptopdirect.co.za/Acer-NX-MT5EA-001-lp-112552.php

Getting a Macbook Pro instead of the S7 would be a more sensible option.



Even if it's non-retina and a Core i5, it's a good deal. Video rendering on the CPU has always been more preferable for quality reasons, so a dedicated GPU would only accelerate parts of the process. I've seen other Windows lappies with the same or even better quality sell on Carbonite.

For under R10k you could buy one of those Macs, or you could get something like this...

http://www.takealot.com/toshiba-satellite-i5-5200u-15-6-black/PLID40640444

But it lacks a backlit keyboard among other things, something which you requested.
Click to expand...


Thanks alot for that info. I'm now at ease knowing such. Now I will be able to make an informed decision. Was steering away from anything core i5 but now I know better. Might have to increase my budget abit but it will be worth it I'm sure.

Will report back in about two weeks when I get my hands on a new device.

Thanks once again.
 
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