MacBook Pro 16- inch or better alternative?

RedViking

RedViking

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Must be portable with excellent battery life. Good build quality and excellent display. Must be relatively powerful (although not a replacement for my 'workstation' ). I am not planning to do intense renderings but will want to open big CAD files and projects on the move and still need a relatively good GPU for some graphic tasks, Radeon Pro 5300M or better.

Must not be bulky like a kick-ass gaming brick.

Easy to travel with or go sit at a coffee shop.


At least 15-inch or bigger.

Any alternative to Macbook Pro that will be better in cost and spec or similar? (Would be nice if there was something that cost less than R50K, yakes!! )

Software I will use, available for Windows and Mac: https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/knowledgebase/25883/

Recommended Laptop Specs.


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You don't need to tell me to get a desktop or that a desktop is more powerful and cost less etc.


Thanks in advance for the input!
 

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Insane specs you're after
Clearly Covid19 has been good for you
Good Luck
 


I'm hoping when the time comes next year, we get the new XPS15 at work. They look really awesome.
 
RedViking said:
Where do I find the price for Dell XPS 15 or 17 with a GeForce RTX 20XX ?
Click to expand...

Your best bet is the Dell US website.
Buying the XPS13 2in1 proved to be a pain in the ass. Ordering directly from Dell (our company allows us to use their acc) was bloody expensive. In the end I chose one of the Evetech options.

I saw Flashgear had sold XPSes as well, and at a very good price. If you know your spec, I would chat to him and see if he can help.
Otherwise, you will have to import or buy what's available on TAL.
 
Barbarian Conan said:
Your best bet is the Dell US website.
Buying the XPS13 2in1 proved to be a pain in the ass. Ordering directly from Dell (our company allows us to use their acc) was bloody expensive. In the end I chose one of the Evetech options.

I saw Flashgear had sold XPSes as well, and at a very good price. If you know your spec, I would chat to him and see if he can help.
Otherwise, you will have to import or buy what's available on TAL.
Click to expand...

What is interesting to me is, and I might be wrong, looking at comparison videos, when you weigh the price and specs, it doesn't seem to be a better option than the mac performance wise. I have never worked on a Mac before, but looks like I must consider it. Although the price is extremely steep and doubt it will be possible without making debt. The storage limits also bothers me as I would need at least 1 TB storage, and more ram and storage seems to have a big impact on the price.
 
From what I've seen in reviews, the Mac gets more expensive quicker when you up the specs. The Dells are also user upgrade-able, so you can probably pop any NVMe into the empty second slot.
That said, the Dell XPS line does pretty much cost MBP money, and considering the pain in the ass to get a Dell configured to the spec you want in SA, it might be better to go for the MBP.
But, I saw a thread a while ago which made it seem like getting an MBP configured to your desired spec is not any cheaper or easier.

Edit: To get the Quadro options, you might have to look at the new Precision line, which is the business version of the XPS.
Alternatively, the Impression and Latitude lines are the slightly cheaper, slightly less sleek alternatives to the XPS/Precision.
 
Another option is something like this: (Sorry for linking Evetech, they sadly have the best range of laptops)
www.evetech.co.za

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Ryzen 9 RTX 2060 Gaming Laptop

Buy ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Ryzen 9 RTX 2060 Gaming Laptop at discounted price. Evetech is your one source for the best laptop deals in South Africa.
www.evetech.co.za www.evetech.co.za

I remember it getting very good reviews, and looks quite civilized for a gaming laptop.

I'm a big Dell fan though and don't quite trust the service levels of other manufacturers, especially for a work machine.
 
Barbarian Conan said:
Another option is something like this: (Sorry for linking Evetech, they sadly have the best range of laptops)
www.evetech.co.za

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Ryzen 9 RTX 2060 Gaming Laptop

Buy ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Ryzen 9 RTX 2060 Gaming Laptop at discounted price. Evetech is your one source for the best laptop deals in South Africa.
www.evetech.co.za www.evetech.co.za

I remember it getting very good reviews, and looks quite civilized for a gaming laptop.

I'm a big Dell fan though and don't quite trust the service levels of other manufacturers, especially for a work machine.
Click to expand...
Yeah, anything that is Part Serve or fetch and repair will be a big no.

Dell is awesome and also their onsite warranty.

Any links to the precision notebooks locally?

Looks like choices here are indeed very limited.
 
RedViking said:

Search results for: 'hp spectre x360 convertible 15 eb0001ni i7 laptop' | HP Store

HP Store South Africa | Get HP Laptops, HP Printers & More
www.hpshop.co.za www.hpshop.co.za


Looks nice, but:

GPU Meh!
1 year warranty! Meh!
Part Serve! Meh!
Windows 10 HOME! /sick !
Click to expand...
Mac also has a 1 year warranty, you need to buy an extended warranty for it(trust me you need that warranty)
Part serve suck, Im not sure they suck more than Core but they are both atrocious.
Dell warranty on the other hand is amazing.
 
Rocket-Boy said:
Mac also has a 1 year warranty, you need to buy an extended warranty for it(trust me you need that warranty)
Part serve suck, Im not sure they suck more than Core but they are both atrocious.
Dell warranty on the other hand is amazing.
Click to expand...
I'll maybe check on the Graphisoft websites what works the best. Maybe I don't need such a beefy system. As I said above I don't plan to replace my PC, but would like to be portable now and then. I guess Dell is still then the best choice in terms of value for money and support. The last thing I want is a 30-50K notebook and have no support. Won't make that mistake again... cough cough... MSI.. cough
 
Last edited:
RedViking said:
Yeah, anything that is Part Serve or fetch and repair will be a big no.

Dell is awesome and also their onsite warranty.

Any links to the precision notebooks locally?

Looks like choices here are indeed very limited.
Click to expand...

Nope, sorry.
As for when the laptop is out of warranty, in my experience the SSD is the most likely point of failure, and with the MBP's (and my wife's XPS13 2-in-1) SSD soldered onto the motherboard, you will probably have to throw the machine away when it breaks.
The XPS 15 and 17 at least allows you to swap the SSD and the RAM out.
 
RedViking said:
I'll maybe check on the Graphisoft websites what works the best. Maybe I don't need such a beefy system. As I said above I don't plan to replace my PC, but would like to be portable now and then. I guess Dell is still then the best choice in terms of value for money and support. The last thing I want is a 30-50K notebook and have no support. Won't make that mistake again... cough cough... MSI.. cough
Click to expand...
Personally I would get a Dell, they dont have the resale of the MBP but the warranty support is next level.
Mac's used to be different when they werent using x86 Intel processors, they were faster in certain aspects. That is all gone now, they are no different performance wise than Windows machines. Their only advantage still is with OS level optimization because of limited hardware choices.
 
RedViking said:
It is a bad time to buy anything more than the cost of bread.
Click to expand...
Are you just gonna end up running Windows on the mac anyway? All the CAD software etc.

Edit: I see you mention Archicad. What about everything else and all the other random ups you end up using.
 
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