So, my trusty white MacBook (Late 2009) has just died and I’m forced to get a new laptop (though I don’t really have the funds at hand - but one can always borrow money from grandparents, amirite?). While I’d like to get a MBP, I do want to see what other options there might be. I don’t really use my laptop for much else than the usual internet stuff (mostly surfing and Netflix) and TSP (though I wouldn’t want to rule out production completely). I guess most machines should be up for that. So portability (nothing bigger than 13"), battery capacity, usability (I love the Macbook’s touchpad, something equally nice would be ace) and general sturdiness are more important than stats like CPU power. I predict that prices will not be that far off if one looks for comparable stats (the MBP I’m eyeing is the last non-retina one still available with the i5 2,5 GHz), but I’m very much out of the loop for Windows laptops, so I’d be happy for suggestions to look at (obviously Thinkpads came to mind first, but the nicer models seem to go in the direction of the MBP pricewise).
In your shoes I’d buy a refurb 13’ retina or Air, either will have plenty of grunt to work with Traktor/Ableton and up to just about anything else within reason … and can be had between $800 - 1000 direct from Apple with full warranty.
Also the Refurbs actually get more rigourous testing than Brand New Production machines prior to shipping
Plus you already know how to use a Mac properly and can simply port your user profile from your old machine directly to the new one.
Don’t rule out the Air either, my GF has a 2011 i5 and it screams in comparison to my 2009 MBP which still runs everything I need it too smooth as butter.
Refurbished MBP. That will give you the most consistent user experience, given that you have one now.
That said, there are any number of reasonable offerings running Windows that will allow you to surf the net, run TSP and be portable. Dell, Lenovo (formerly the IBM brand), even Asus are making servicable laptops.
I just dropped a 2TB disc with a fresh load of Win7 into my 5 year old Dell Inspiron 14x (i5, 2.4GHz, 8GB RAM)…and it feels like having a new laptop to me.
If you are really worried about reliability with a PC, you can always buy two and clone them…it’s still cheaper than a new MBP.
+1 on Dell. I run a refurbed Dell Latitude, I dropped a SSD in it and a fresh install of Windows 7 and I’ve had no issues for nearly 3 years of regular gigging.
