Hardware Need a new laptop

[Yil]

My MacBook air 13 2013 (i5 8g, 128) started to freeze and I can afford a new one.
A MacBook pro 15 2016, hp spectre, or surface pro 4 i7. Definitely not surface book and I am pretty sure MacBook pro 13 2016 can blow top surface book out of the water.
Also there is note taking and I do not feel like taking a tablet with me.
My current choice is spectre 13 but it has no m.2 or iris 540.

 

[Qtis]

What's your usage in general regarding software? Do you intend to do gaming on it? What's your budget for the laptop?

(Side note, how did your mba start having issues? My 2010 i7 mbp is still stellar in performance not counting the GPU issue in the model)

 

[raystriker]

I'd go with the HP Spectre
*Ahem* What are the specs of the laptops in your list?
Do you want better ergonomics? better aesthetics?

 

[loco365]

From what you have there, the HP Spectre seems like your best bet, but I've heard that HP's quality is starting to go downhill as of late. I have an absolutely ancient HP desktop that's still kicking, but I had a friend go through THREE HP laptops in around a year. All of them died on him.

I actually just dropped $1240 on a new laptop just last week and got it on Wednesday evening and it's just great. I went with an MSI gaming laptop, so if you're wanting some oomph in your laptop (That is, a decent processor and even dedicated graphics for some demanding things like gaming or even some work with designing, say, 3D or videos) you could also look at some cheaper gaming laptops as well. Judging by the fact that you are also looking at the Surface 4 with an i7, you have quite a budget, so you could also get a fairly decent gaming laptop, although two things to look out for is form factor: thickness and screen size. The laptop I got has a 17.3" display, but if I had spent $100 more I could have jumped down to a 15" display with slightly better specs. With what you have for a budget and your selections, you can get much better than pretty much anything you listed and probably for less.

Keep this in mind: Tablets will never replace laptops, while laptops will never replace desktops. You have to find that middle ground that you're comfortable with.

 

[Yil]

From what you have there, the HP Spectre seems like your best bet, but I've heard that HP's quality is starting to go downhill as of late. I have an absolutely ancient HP desktop that's still kicking, but I had a friend go through THREE HP laptops in around a year. All of them died on him.

I actually just dropped $1240 on a new laptop just last week and got it on Wednesday evening and it's just great. I went with an MSI gaming laptop, so if you're wanting some oomph in your laptop (That is, a decent processor and even dedicated graphics for some demanding things like gaming or even some work with designing, say, 3D or videos) you could also look at some cheaper gaming laptops as well. Judging by the fact that you are also looking at the Surface 4 with an i7, you have quite a budget, so you could also get a fairly decent gaming laptop, although two things to look out for is form factor: thickness and screen size. The laptop I got has a 17.3" display, but if I had spent $100 more I could have jumped down to a 15" display with slightly better specs. With what you have for a budget and your selections, you can get much better than pretty much anything you listed and probably for less.

Keep this in mind: Tablets will never replace laptops, while laptops will never replace desktops. You have to find that middle ground that you're comfortable with.

I am pretty sure quad core i7/e3 can handle the job. Anything beyond that can be classified as a proper server. Should I wait for the high end macbook pro 15? It seems it will have at least 965m since intel's new gt4e can come on par with 750 ti with much better fp64.

 

[loco365]

I am pretty sure quad core i7/e3 can handle the job. Anything beyond that can be classified as a proper server. Should I wait for the high end macbook pro 15? It seems it will have at least 965m since intel's new gt4e can come on par with 750 ti with much better fp64.

I'm not much a person for Apple products as I find them to be generally overpriced, but the specs do sound quite good if it's what you're after.

 

[Yil]

Both surface seems to be disastrous, and now it is just hp and apple, but which one?

 

[VinsCool]

just go with an old thinkpad t61

those are unkillable :^)

 

[Yil]

just go with an old thinkpad t61

those are unkillable :^)

I'd like to, but the fans cannot spin like a blade.
By the way, nice new logo.

 

[VinsCool]

I'd like to, but the fans cannot spin like a blade.
By the way, nice new logo.

My fan does the job just fine lol.

and thanks.

 

[2Hack]

My MacBook air 13 2013 (i5 8g, 128) started to freeze and I can afford a new one.
A MacBook pro 15 2016, hp spectre, or surface pro 4 i7. Definitely not surface book and I am pretty sure MacBook pro 13 2016 can blow top surface book out of the water.
Also there is note taking and I do not feel like taking a tablet with me.
My current choice is spectre 13 but it has no m.2 or iris 540.

Have you attempted to format and start from scratch again? maybe that will help it get back to speed.

I really say do not get a surface, or any tablet for note taking. It just doesn't work. Compare battery life also. More is probably more important for a student, when you can't find a plug everywhere.
Mine lasts 3h on the lowest settings. bad idea, but I wont be using it for note taking in class 7times out of 10.

From what you have there, the HP Spectre seems like your best bet, but I've heard that HP's quality is starting to go downhill as of late. I have an absolutely ancient HP desktop that's still kicking, but I had a friend go through THREE HP laptops in around a year. All of them died on him.

I actually just dropped $1240 on a new laptop just last week and got it on Wednesday evening and it's just great. I went with an MSI gaming laptop, so if you're wanting some oomph in your laptop (That is, a decent processor and even dedicated graphics for some demanding things like gaming or even some work with designing, say, 3D or videos) you could also look at some cheaper gaming laptops as well. Judging by the fact that you are also looking at the Surface 4 with an i7, you have quite a budget, so you could also get a fairly decent gaming laptop, although two things to look out for is form factor: thickness and screen size. The laptop I got has a 17.3" display, but if I had spent $100 more I could have jumped down to a 15" display with slightly better specs. With what you have for a budget and your selections, you can get much better than pretty much anything you listed and probably for less.

which one? I got the apache pro 15.6" with the i7, 128gb ssd, 1TB HDD, and 970m about CAD$1.7k.

 

[VinsCool]

about CAD$1.7k.

My 150 bucks lappy is jelly

 

[2Hack]

My 150 bucks lappy is jelly

When your laptop runs GCN on the highest settings in HD, with a 1080p screen, at the highest available frame-rate, then come back

Also, LED KEYBOARD FTW

 

[VinsCool]

When your laptop runs GCN on the highest settings in HD, with a 1080p screen, at the highest available frame-rate, then come back

Also, LED KEYBOARD FTW

It does run, but with a very slow framerate. But who am I to do that? I have A WiiU, a Wii, and 2 GC doing the job just fine

 

[2Hack]

It does run, but with a very slow framerate. But who am I to do that? I have A WiiU, a Wii, and 2 GC doing the job just fine

and a massive collection to go with it

I got a wiiU, Wii, and GCN. Only console with a lot of games is my wiiU

 

[loco365]

which one? I got the apache pro 15.6" with the i7, 128gb ssd, 1TB HDD, and 970m about CAD$1.7k.

I got the Leopard Pro GP72 with the i7, 1TB HDD and GTX950M. It was good for the budget that I had set for myself. I really like it, although it's a real pain in the ass to install Linux on it.

 

[filfat]

My MacBook air 13 2013 (i5 8g, 128) started to freeze and I can afford a new one.
A MacBook pro 15 2016, hp spectre, or surface pro 4 i7. Definitely not surface book and I am pretty sure MacBook pro 13 2016 can blow top surface book out of the water.
Also there is note taking and I do not feel like taking a tablet with me.
My current choice is spectre 13 but it has no m.2 or iris 540.

Even though you said "Definitely not surface book", I would say definitely the Surface Book or the Surface Pro 4

 

[Haloman800]

I'd go with the HP Spectre
*Ahem* What are the specs of the laptops in your list?
Do you want better ergonomics? better aesthetics?

I'm typing this on the HP Spectre & it's glorious. My only complaint is the battery life (About 4 hours).

OP, if you don't care about the touchscreen, go with the Dell XPS 13 or 15.

 

[jonthedit]

If you are going for hackintosh/anything with UEFI modification, stay clear of HP.
HP UEFI coders were drunk or something- UEFI USB boot will not working properly without legacy on ( a huge flaw ) and will be prone to the "stuck on secure boot" issue until an OS is launched successfully. If you are constantly switching bootloaders HP is not the way to go.

 

[2Hack]

I got the Leopard Pro GP72 with the i7, 1TB HDD and GTX950M. It was good for the budget that I had set for myself. I really like it, although it's a real pain in the ass to install Linux on it.

Yea, I considered that one as a 15,6", but figured the SSD and GTX970m was essential for me. Super fast load times and great performance. how's the battery though?