I have been using Macs for many years, but recently started experimenting with (and liking) a Surface Pro 3 as well, so I'm very open to either Mac or Windows as I replace my main portable editing system. I’d prefer a Mac if all else were equal, but there are many more options on the PC side. I'm looking for a powerful notebook with a great high-resolution, color-accurate display, good internal storage and RAM potential and a versatile collection of ports. On the PC side, the purpose-built notebook workstations from a couple of vendors look appealing, although there are also gaming-focused notebooks that could be turned into photo powerhouses. On the Mac side, it's of course the Retina MBP 15", take it or leave it. The Mac would appeal to me more if it were more customizable (the most galling flaw is that the RAM is soldered and the SSD proprietary).
The three most interesting machines I've found are the Lenovo W541, the Dell Precision M3800 and the rMBP. Razer and Asus thin gaming notebooks look appealing, but I can't see why to choose them over the workstations from Lenovo and Dell. The lighter Lenovo W550 is a dual-core, while everything I'm looking at is a quad. The Dell M4800 seems a lot bigger and heavier than the others, even the Lenovo W541, and I can't quite see why.
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The Lenovo is bigger and heavier than the others (6 lbs), but it has a nicer keyboard, built-in color calibration, the fastest processor (many choices, up to a VERY expensive Extreme Edition that's not worth bothering with), the only 32 GB RAM capacity in the bunch and probably the fastest graphics (Quadro k2100 available, about 1.5x the speed of the Quadro k1100/GeForce 750m in the others). It's extremely customizable, so it can cost almost anything (it starts around $1200, but goes over $2000 quickly with the desirable options). The display I’d choose is a 3K IPS model (probably from Panasonic) with a matte screen. Lenovo's RAM and SSD choices are hugely expensive, BUT it takes standard, easily accessible RAM and drives. It's actually possible to shoehorn THREE SSDs into this machine (one of them is a half-size mSATA slot limited to 256 GB that I'm unlikely to bother with – although it’s interesting that I could, in fact set it up with applications, data and cache, all on separate SSDs). My most likely configuration is a 32 GB/1.5 TB (512 plus 1 TB) combo for around $2500 (using an existing 512 GB SSD), depending on processor and graphics card.
The Dell looks (and weighs) just like a MacBook Pro, but it'll take up to 2 standard SSDs (one 2.5" plus one full-size mSATA), for a maximum capacity of 2 TB - I'm likely to use a 1.5 TB configuration, largely because I have a nice 512 GB SSD around. Maximum RAM is 16 GB, which is an easy choice – install all it will take. The display is a true 4k Sharp IGZO panel, although without the built-in color calibration of the Lenovo, and in glossy only. The processor is about 20% slower than the most likely option on the Lenovo (very similar to the base option, but the Lenovo has some reasonably priced upgrades), and about the same as the midrange rMBP. The graphics card is the professional (Quadro) version of the same card the Mac uses. Keyboard and touchpad are better than most laptops, but probably not up to Mac/high end ThinkPad standards. About $2300 once I add RAM and drives.
The Mac is the most expensive, largely because I can't use my existing drive or add my own RAM or terabyte drive. For about the same price as the others, I'd get a 16/512 configuration with the midrange processor. The fastest processor adds a couple of hundred, and is probably almost but not quite as fast as the Lenovo. To get a terabyte drive costs an extra $500, and deletes the 512GB drive (the other two accommodate two SSDs). The display is the same resolution as the Lenovo, but quite a bit lower than the 4k Dell, and glossy is the only option. Mac OS X IS nice - Windows is catching up, but not quite there yet. The concern with the Mac besides cost due to proprietary/soldered parts is repair - replacing the keyboard or touchpad on recent Macs is a $500+ job, because these frequently broken parts are permanently attached to the case, along with 15 other things. Both the Dell and Lenovo have good repair manuals and the obvious moving parts are reasonably easy to replace without replacing half the computer to get at them!
Between the PCs and the Mac, the question is basically whether or not to pay a $500 “Apple Tax” and accept reduced upgradability and repairability to get Mac OS X. If it weren’t for the operating system difference, I clearly like the Apple hardware the LEAST of the three – the PCIe SSDs are a bit faster, but the SATA SSDs in the others are already very fast, and I’d gladly trade off PCIe for multiple drives and improved access. The screen on the Mac is also my third choice – I’d rather have either 4k or matte (with built-in calibration) than neither of the above. The Adobe CC suite is essentially the same on Mac and Windows, so the only argument for the Mac comes down to Mail and Safari being nicer than Outlook and Firefox (they are, in my opinion, although I prefer MS Office on Windows to Office for Mac), and to the core OS being somewhat better, although significantly less so than it once was.
If I don’t go with a Mac, the decision between Dell and Lenovo (and between CPU and GPU options in the case of the Lenovo) comes down to a few questions:
1.) Does the GPU matter to the Adobe suite? Nothing else I use will ever access the GPU, so I’d get either the Dell or the Lenovo with the cheaper GPU unless Adobe cares about the k2100. Relatedly, does the fact that the two PCs use workstation Quadro cards, and the Mac uses a (closely related, but gaming-focused) GeForce matter? The GeForce is certainly not an advantage, but is it a disadvantage for Adobe the way it is for AutoCAD?
2.) How much difference will 20% in CPU speed (Lenovo’s upgraded CPU vs. Dell) and the ability to use 32 GB of RAM make for working with really big RAW files and some 4k video?
3.) How spectacular is that Dell 4k IGZO display going to be? Is it worth forgoing the faster CPU and GPU for?
4.) How much will I hate a 6 lb laptop instead of a 4.2 lb laptop – we’re getting spoiled – it wasn’t long ago that even the portly Lenovo would have been called an ultralight.
5.) How big a deal is the difference between decent (Dell) and spectacular (Lenovo) for the keyboard and trackpad (Lenovo also includes a trackpoiunt).
Depending on the answers to these, I could end up with the Dell, a somewhat cheaper Lenovo configured a lot like the Dell (the base CPU and GPU on the Lenovo are very close to the Dell), or a more expensive Lenovo with upgrades the Dell just doesn’t offer, or the Mac.
Any suggestions? Either suggestions on one machine over another or ideas about how to think about these questions are most welcome!
