The Apple Lenovo Dilemma

[Hauskaz]

I wanted to make a table to present this to myself in an easier way.

	Lenovo ThinkPad SL500	Lenovo ThinkPad R500	Apple MacBook (White)	Apple MacBook (Aluminum)
Display	15.4" WXGA glossy display (1280x800)	15.4" WXGA matte display (1280x800)	13.3" WXGA glossy display (1280x800)	13.3" WXGA LED backlit glass display (1280x800)
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo T5870 @ 2.0 GHz	Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 @ 2.26 GHz	Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 @ 2.1 GHz	Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 @ 2.0 GHz
FSB	800 MHz	1066 MHz	800 MHz	1066 MHz
RAM	2 GB DDR2 @ 667 MHz	2 GB DDR3 @ 1066 MHz	2 GB DDR2 @ 667 MHz	2 GB DDR3 @ 1066 MHz
Graphics	Intel GMA X4500	Intel GMA X4500	Intel GMA X3100	NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
Hard Drive	160 GB (5,400 RPM)	160 GB (7,200 RPM)	120 GB (5,400 RPM)	160 GB (5,400 RPM)
Optical Drive	CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive	CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive	SuperDrive	SuperDrive
Bundled Operating System	Windows Vista Home Premium	Windows Vista Home Premium	Mac OS X Leopard	Mac OS X Leopard
Operating System Support	Windows, Linux	Windows, Linux	OS X, Windows, Linux	OS X, Windows, Linux
Pointing Device	UltraNav (TrackPoint + trackpad)	UltraNav (TrackPoint + trackpad)	Trackpad with two-finger scrolling	Multi-touch trackpad (up to 4 fingers, surface is button)
Keyboard	SL layout	Standard ThinkPad layout	Chiclet keyboard	Chiclet keyboard
Battery	6 cell Li-ion (3:53 at best, 1:13 at worst)	6 cell Li-ion (~3:00+)	6 cell Li-ion (~4:30)	6 cell Li-ion (~4:00+)
Camera	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Wi-Fi	802.11b/g	802.11b/g	802.11a/b/g/n	802.11a/b/g/n
Bluetooth	No	No	2.0 + EDR	2.1 + EDR
Fingerprint Reader	No	No	No	No
Weight	6.3 lbs.	6.6 lbs.	4.5 lbs.	5.0 lbs.
Price As Configured	$799.00	$1,123.00	$1,224.00	$1,399.00

Each option has its advantages. The SL500 is the cheapest option, the R500 is the performer with a large screen to boot, the white MacBook offers convenient portability with specs to par the larger SL500, and the aluminum MacBook is the graphical powerhouse of the bunch.

[solocityElectricCyan]

You have a fucking job.

Fuck the SL, and fuck the White Macbook.

the two expensive ones are your only options.

[hellomeow]

Get the Aluminium Macbook, if possible get a 9 cell battery to go along with it. Really the 9 cell battery is a huge advantage.

[Hauskaz]

Apple only offers a single battery model. 4+ hours slaughters that Satellite though, and I thought that battery life was usable enough too.

Fun fact: A Lenovo ThinkPad T400 or T500 with a 9 cell battery can go 10 hours at 60% brightness. Running heavy CPU and GPU bennchmarks at the same time, it can still go more than 3 hours. Too bad it falls to about the same price of a new MacBook, which I would have to take preference over.

Oct 28, 2008 23:55:20 GMT -5 @hellomeow said:

Get the Aluminium Macbook

Apple is a US company. As such, they call it the Aluminum MacBook. In the same vein, there is no Technicolour; it's Technicolor.

Ironically, the lead engineer of the new aluminium unibody enclosure is British.

[solocityElectricCyan]

get the goddamn thinkpad

[Hauskaz]

OS X, Final Cut and Logic are huge draws for me though.

[solocityElectricCyan]

More like huge dicks for you. I still think you should get the thinkpad. Hardware is more important.


Also, if you get the Macbook, you won't see it again after three months.

[Hauskaz]

MacBooks and ThinkPads are both of excellent build quality. MacBooks have a superior display, graphics and weight, while ThinkPads have more scalability, UltraNav, and are more attractive in price. A MacBook would be superior for traveling, yet still powerful enough to comfortably usurp the Blackbox. A ThinkPad with its larger size would make a good desktop replacement, but I would still be able to take it with me, albeit not as easily.

The MacBook leans more towards school and public usage while the ThinkPad makes a better home platform.

Apple's hardware-software knitting is what makes OS X so nice to use and allows it to slaughter XP and Vista. The hardware is still there, but Logic rapes every other DAW up the ass. FL's only useful for repetitive music.

[solocityElectricCyan]

get the aluminum macbook then, tool

[1]

I'M A HUGE SLUT

[Hauskaz]

If you're going to raise the specs on it, why not get the aluminium model? That is, unless it's a fashion thing with the whole white polycarbonate shell. The aluminium model has vastly better specs on it though.

[solocityElectricCyan]

You are not considering the thinkpad at all

you're such an asshole

[Hauskaz]

Oh, Lenovo is still definitely an option to me. On the hardware side of things, Lenovo offers more bang for the buck, save for graphics where their discrete solutions are pretty lame. Both companies are actually very high-end premium brands; I could easily get some Compaq or Toshiba with similar specs for less, but the quality won't be there. Apple and Lenovo are the only companies I really trust for that. Michael's Toshiba is a pretty capable machine, but the build quality isn't to par with a ThinkPad or MacBook. The hinge is stiff yet wobbly, the keyboard flexes, the mouse and media buttons absorb, and it was pretty easy to twist and bend the entire frame of it (not that I intentionally did that, rofl). There's no way you could do that to a ThinkPad or a MacBook. You can quite literally stand on top of a ThinkPad R500 with the lid open or closed, and it will not bend. You can run over a MacBook Pro and it will survive, and that's the old model too. The new one is a goddamn aluminium tank, yet weighs less.

Having a ThinkPad would own as much as having a MacBook. Logic and Final Cut would be nice though.

[solocityElectricCyan]

The 5,400 RPM drives those macs have are going to be huge shitcakes

[Hauskaz]

Not really, no. Besides better battery life, they're 2.5" inch drives, so everything's more dense and efficient. There's a reason the VelociRaptor is a 2.5" drive with a 3.5" headsink attached to it.

That's not to say a 7,200 RPM drive wouldn't be awesome.