[kkkkkaran]

Originally Posted by partha379

All,

On the hunt for laptops with requirements similar to that of TrueDreamer - this will be for our small startup. Thought of sharing my experience and also get some tips.

Why arent you looking at mini ITX desktop builds? They will barely take up more desk space compared to laptops, will provide much more power at similar price.
Also, if you are considering Macbook Pros, which i assume are the top spec 15 inchers at close to 2L INR a pop, why not the iMac Pro instead?
The cooling solutions are just not good enough for constant high load on most of the laptops listed. If you really want laptops, you should consider gaming systems like the Dell Alienware or the Asus ROG series. Those are much better desktop replacements, as compared to large ultra portables mentioned. I use an MBP myself, but only because im constantly on the move, and need MacOS.

Mod Note: Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

[navin_bhp]

Originally Posted by partha379

Cons:
1) Maybe specific for me - I am particular about keyboard and trackpad feel. Dell/Lenovo have no experience centers to try out their business offerings!! Given that we are talking about something that will be used for 3-4 yrs, I am really keen to know what I will be getting. Went to Dell/Lenovo experience showrooms and no one even offers to get a demo piece. To make matters worse, some sales reps end up asking us to try the models present there claiming that response will be similar.

Dell/Lenovo really need to fix this - they don't have to stock a demo piece for every config, but they need to have a representative piece for every product line.

I own a Dell Latitude 7980 and a Lenovo T460 and feel the dell has a quieter keyboard. Both are excellent to type and way better than a butterfly kb.

The only pro the mac has over Dell and Lenovo is the trackpad.

[partha379]

For ppl short of time, summary is this - got X1 carbon 6th gen, 8th gen i7/16GB/512GB SSD/WQHD Non glossy screen.

Wanted to share the process for people who are in a similar boat. To be clear, the requirement was a powerful laptop and no desktops in our place. This simplifies a lot of device/data management issues. Plan was to get a laptop and a docking solution to provide desktop like experience at work. Budget wasn't an issue as its a productivity tool for us.

Ruled out the current gen Macbook pros due to the butterfly keyboard issue (Apple has announced a free service for this now). Shortlisted Dell and Lenovo business line laptops (Precision and Thinkpad) - preference was Dell as I have always had good experience with their support. The quotes for Dell precision and Thinkpad X1 with equivalent specs was very close - the reason for choosing carbon was very simple, this was the laptop I could actually physically touch and feel !. Dell refused to find a way to allow me experience the laptop and I didn't feel comfortable spending nearly 2L on something that I can't experience.

X1 Carbon is a really nice piece of equipment and I am happy with the initial impressions.

Pros
------
1) Super light, you have to feel this - one of the lightest devices, yet powerful enough for non-gaming business tasks.
2) Typical high quality keyboard, really good feel touch pad is good (mac is better here), no heating during normal work (code editing, small compiles). This is something that boils down to personal preference and photos/specs/reviews can't show. This is why I wanted to physically feel the machine.
3) Didn't go for the HDR screen as I will be using this for coding tasks at home and glossy screens don't play nice with Vim (For non Linux/unix folks, Vim is a 'simple' code /text editor, black background makes glossy screens unsuitable due to heavy reflections)
4) Warranty terms are good, but hopefully I never get to test it :-).

Cons
------
1) Win 10 is pretty nice - but it still doesn't have the polish and stability of Mac OS. I am not talking about crashes, but drivers and stuff. For eg in 2 days I have reconfigured drivers for printer, external monitor etc twice. It will recognise the devices, work well and then either a sleep or reboot makes it forget it !!
2) Touch pad is fine - but superior in the Mac, for me this wasn't important. So I am fine with this.

P.S
This is for another thread, but I got a NUC for family use - really nice device for someone who wants a simple desktop.

[carboy]

Look for a Windows 10 Laptop with i7, 16 GB RAM & at least enough SSD for the OS Partition. What can I get in a bugdet of 50-60K with good after sales service?

[lamborghini]

I have been contemplating a new laptop for a while, and finally boiled it down to these two options (budget strictly at INR 50,000 +/- 10%):

1) Microsoft Surface Pro (i5 7th Gen, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD).

Advantages:
- It's small, it's light, and I can take it everywhere! It works like a tablet and a laptop at the same time, which is a big boon when travelling.
Disadvantages:
- Service support is horrible from what I've read, and there are bugs.

2) MacBook Air (i5 5th Gen, 128GB SSD, 8GB RAM):
Advantages:
- Easier to service & maintain, I'm currently using a 2011 MacBook Pro so the OS etc. will be familiar.
Disadvantages:
- It's still a laptop. I can't see myself using this on a long drive / flight as easily as I would a tablet.
- Core i5 5th Gen sounds pretty old to me, and not sure if it is the right product for the next 5 years.

My usage is fairly simple: I browse the internet, Outlook, and Word/Excel/Powerpoint. On some days I'll use it to upload and view and edit photos from my digicam / phone (not PS level editing, just a combination of Paint etc. to primarily crop / blank out my car number plates when uploading a pic here, etc.)
If I get a tablet, the added jobs would be watching movies / music / netflix as I would take it with me on my travels - at the moment I use my phone / wifey's laptop (she has a proper gaming laptop but it weighs a lot so a lighter computer during our travels would be better) for all of this but a bigger screen has it's benefits.

Since the usage is pretty basic I have set a cap of INR 50,000 for the laptop, and I would like something that works reliably for the next 5 years.

Having recently bought a custom made PC each for mom & dad, I'd ideally prefer something with 8GB Ram + 256GB SSD + i5 8th Gen processor but there aren't many out of the box laptops offering that. IMO all of this would be better should I need to run a heavier app on my laptop (like AutoCAD) but I can work around it at the moment.

My wife prefers the Surface Pro (being a Windows convert for a while now), where as my very close friend is suggesting the Mac as it's like a Honda of the PC world (looks good, is light, no major problems, charge it and forget it laptop, and may not be the most powerful in pure specs but performance isn't a let down in real world).

Thoughts guys?
Any other options to consider / wait for?

Please keep in mind that my laptop is on the brink of death at the moment, after 7 years and some abuse - battery needs servicing, when opening heavier files there is a lag, charger is slowly failing on me, etc.
An option is to replace the battery, charger, HDD to SSD, and increase Ram but the fact is that the laptop is still 7 years old.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

My usage is fairly simple: I browse the internet, Outlook, and Word/Excel/Powerpoint. On some days I'll use it to upload and view and edit photos from my digicam / phone (not PS level editing, just a combination of Paint etc. to primarily crop / blank out my car number plates when uploading a pic here, etc.)

I was in the same boat as you last year. And I brought a refurbished 2015 13-inch MacBook Pro for Rs. 50,000 from UK. Asked a friend to buy it and an uncle carried it down to India.

Reason was : Pro vs Air
Width =14.13 inches / 12.8 inches
Depth = 9.73 inches / 8.94 inches
Weight = 2.04 kg / 1.35 kg

For my money, I got a laptop with proper USB ports (new Pro get usb C), faster CPU, and 512 GB ssd and a retina display.

Frankly the Air display is mediocre at best in 2018. Go with the Surface unless you are open to get a refurbished model from outside. While the Apple ecosystem is still awesome, the VFM factor has substantially reduced.

Upgrading the HDD and the RAM on your 2011 MacBook should do wonders for the speed of it. Thankfully it is very easy unlike the modern ones. I upgraded my 2011 iMac to a DIY fusion drive and more Ram and its still going good. You could look at online videos on upgrading and if you think you are up for it get it done and push your laptop purchase for a year or two with an increased budget.

[ToyotaFan]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

I was in the same boat as you last year. And I brought a refurbished 2015 13-inch MacBook Pro for Rs. 50,000 from UK. Asked a friend to buy it and an uncle carried it down to India.

Reason was : Pro vs Air
Width =14.13 inches / 12.8 inches
Depth = 9.73 inches / 8.94 inches
Weight = 2.04 kg / 1.35 kg

For my money, I got a laptop with proper USB ports (new Pro get usb C), faster CPU, and 512 GB ssd and a retina display.

Frankly the Air display is mediocre at best in 2018. Go with the Surface unless you are open to get a refurbished model from outside. While the Apple ecosystem is still awesome, the VFM factor has substantially reduced.

I have a 2011 Macbook pro which is on its last leg and had bought a new macbook air 2017 last year during flipkart sale for 45k. I agree with you that spec wise air is pretty mediocre and I don't think it would be a good investment for 5 years. Tough it works pretty nicely as of today but with just 128gb HDD it just cant replace a primary laptop. I bought the air as I too feel Macs today are very expensive with nothing worthwhile coming under a lakh. My sister is currently working with the nhs in the UK and I am seriously interested if I can a refurbished one like you did. It would be great if you could guide me on how I should go about procuring one.

[akshay81]

I was planning to replace by late 2013 retina MacBook Pro with a newer MacBook / MacBook Pro. This system was primarily for browsing, mails, occasional use of MS office (since for all office work, I have a dell laptop). However, settled for an iPad Pro 10.5 with Apple keyboard and pencil. Cost is much less than the apple laptops and the pencil is a boon for taking notes. Also the small footprint and amazing screen are added advantages.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by ToyotaFan

I agree with you that spec wise air is pretty mediocre and I don't think it would be a good investment for 5 years. Tough it works pretty nicely as of today but with just 128gb HDD it just cant replace a primary laptop. I bought the air as I too feel Macs today are very expensive with nothing worthwhile coming under a lakh.

I completely agree with your last statement on here - the new Mac's are just too expensive to warrant a good look.
Coming to the Air - the 128GB SSD is definitely on the lower side, but I was reading that it is possible to upgrade to a 256GB Samsung EVO SSD which should be plug & play and will solve one of my key concerns.
The only concern is the 4GB ram but it is going to be the same for the Surface too.
Experts, please correct me if I am wrong.

Originally Posted by blackwasp

I was in the same boat as you last year. And I brought a refurbished 2015 13-inch MacBook Pro for Rs. 50,000 from UK. Asked a friend to buy it and an uncle carried it down to India.

Reason was : Pro vs Air
Width =14.13 inches / 12.8 inches
Depth = 9.73 inches / 8.94 inches
Weight = 2.04 kg / 1.35 kg

For my money, I got a laptop with proper USB ports (new Pro get usb C), faster CPU, and 512 GB ssd and a retina display.

Frankly the Air display is mediocre at best in 2018. Go with the Surface unless you are open to get a refurbished model from outside. While the Apple ecosystem is still awesome, the VFM factor has substantially reduced.

Upgrading the HDD and the RAM on your 2011 MacBook should do wonders for the speed of it. Thankfully it is very easy unlike the modern ones. I upgraded my 2011 iMac to a DIY fusion drive and more Ram and its still going good. You could look at online videos on upgrading and if you think you are up for it get it done and push your laptop purchase for a year or two with an increased budget.

Thank you!

Problem isn't only the ram & the SSD, but also the battery etc. which will increase the costs significantly.
Unfortunately a refurbished model isn't possible for me but I will try and see if I can make it work out.
Is there a warranty on refurbished devices? And is it an international warranty?

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by ToyotaFan

. My sister is currently working with the nhs in the UK and I am seriously interested if I can a refurbished one like you did. It would be great if you could guide me on how I should go about procuring one.

Keep a look out on the apple UK site (https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/browse...ecialdeals/mac). Though do note that these keep on changing depending on stocks. Laptops purchased from Apple directly get the same warranty as new ones. You can also explore laptops that are under a year old who's warranty can be extended further upto max 3 years.

Originally Posted by akshay81

Cost is much less than the apple laptops and the pencil is a boon for taking notes. Also the small footprint and amazing screen are added advantages.

Just yesterday an uncle got the 10.5 inch (I think) iPad Pro. For most people, this is sufficient and quite powerful. Only limitation (or boon) is the lack of Mac OS running on it.

Originally Posted by lamborghini

I completely agree with your last statement on here - the new Mac's are just too expensive to warrant a good look.

+1 on the new Macs. Simply outrageous prices - worth it, but costly none the less.

Try for the 256 GB models. For a small differential, they offer double the storage. Also new Airs come with 8GB ram from the factory. Generally, with an SSD, your limited ram won't pose much of a problem (incase a program need more ram).

Is there a warranty on refurbished devices? And is it an international warranty?

Yes and No. If you buy a refurbished product from Apple store you get same as new. Even models less than one year old are good. Mine was in a 3rd party store and I have got an invoice incase some problem comes up. However, when I checked online on the Apple site, the warranty says expired and asks me to submit proof of purchase. Franky, I'm not too worried about the warranty for the price I paid. Generally prior experience has told me that nothing goes wrong and even if its something terribly bad, the company has given goodwill warranty as well as good buyback deals in some cases that I know.

[Keynote]

Originally Posted by GTO

i7, full HD screen (better than my bro's Macbook in quality) for 1.3 lakhs (including 5-year onsite warranty & 20k GST). Dell India beat the Dell USA price .

Hey GTO, I'm unable to see the entire spec in the Dell India website. Do you mind sharing the URL for the configuration you opted for.

Thanks in advance

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Keynote

Hey GTO, I'm unable to see the entire spec in the Dell India website. Do you mind sharing the URL for the configuration you opted for.

Dell's India website no longer offers full customisation options for the Latitude. I built mine on the USA website and told them to give me the same config & price match (which they did). Here's mine:

[Keynote]

Originally Posted by GTO

Dell's India website no longer offers full customisation options for the Latitude. I built mine on the USA website and told them to give me the same config & price match (which they did). Here's mine:

Thanks a lot GTO for the quick one. This is certainly of great help

[carboy]

What would be a good laptop in the 50-60K range? Mainly for programming. Should be able to host at least 1 VM on Virtual Box. Should be running Windows 10. Would something with SSD HD be available in the range?

[ghodlur]

Experts, need an advise.

I have a HP630 laptop which had issues with the palmrest. The mouse pad had become erratic when operated and hence decided to get the palmrest replaced. Along with the replacement also change the OS from Windows XP to Windows 8. Since then I have been hearing squeaking noise from the laptop which I assume is mostly from the Hard disk. This was totally absent before the recent modifications. Even the cooling fan now sounds loud. Is there something I need to do before I can show it to the laptop servicer?