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As somebody who got later into macbooks, and begrudingly had to admit they were objectively superior, here's what I'd like to know about a competitor. 1. Does

As somebody who got later into macbooks, and begrudingly had to admit they were objectively superior, here's what I'd like to know about a competitor. 1. Does the screen ever flicker? 2. Has a key ever come off? 3. Does it ever fail to sleep when you close the lid 4. Would you worry if you drop it from waste height 5 times (closed, but running, onto a hard-wood floor) ? 5. Have you had any driver problems, have you ever had to reinstall the OS? 6. Have you had it crash one you more than once every 3 months? 7. Have you had any glitches (audio dying, network problems, charging problems) Saying no to all of these is my personal benchmark for my air. I haven't used PC laptops in a while now, so I'm genuinely curious if the higher-end competitors can compete on this reliability benchmark.

peterashwell 9y ago
big +1 to this response. I got a lenovo (thinkpad x series) and it hit 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7, obviously implying 4. I tried really, really hard to like the lenovo. It just was not built good enough for every day use. It was just a piece of shit. One more very important point: If it breaks and you need support, what happens then? MBP: take it in to a nearby apple store. if not immediate fix or replacement then very rapid turnaround Lenovo: Send it to china! and wait 6 weeks and maybe you'll get the right computer back, and maybe the problem will be fixed
- detaro 9y ago
  You can bring a Thinkpad to any authorized service partner and have them fix it, just like with Apple. And unlike Apple, Lenovo actually has on-site support if you want it (even standard with some models). I had one Thinkpad that developed issues, but they always quickly fixed it.
- soperj 9y ago
  I've had a problem with my thinkpad hardware once. They had a guy actually come to my house.
NiceGuy_Ty 9y ago
I'd be terrified about #4 with any laptop that I use. I run Fedora on an XPS 13. I've never run into #1 or #2. I hit super+L by habit before closing the screen so I don't know about #3, but closing it while typing this comment put it to sleep. I've only reinstalled the OS once to get rid of the built in Ubuntu in favor of Fedora for #5. For #6 I haven't had it crash on me, but I have been RAM-swapped to death after having too many Firefox tabs and Docker builds at once. The only audio/network/charging problem I've run into is that Spotify doesn't bind to the keyboard Play/Pause events.
andrewaylett 9y ago
I have a 2015 rMBP from work, and I answer "yes" to 1, 3, 4, seen 5 several times with colleagues, 6, 7. My personal rebadged Clevo running Linux is "better", as the screen never flickers and it pretty much never crashes. The Linux laptop is also more reliable at waking from sleep than the Mac. I do like the Mac's body -- it's got a much better build quality. But it also cost twice as much for half the spec.
52-6F-62 9y ago
Reading this entire thread has been enlightening. I use a 2015 15" MBPro at work (should be upgrading to a current model around June or July). It's been OK, but it runs into weird quirks on the regular. It also occasionally runs real hot and loud, though that could be entirely due to some [ineffectual and circumventable] corporate malware they force on us to prevent "leaks", etc. My personal 13" 2013 MBPro has been fantastic. I haven't had an issue. My only complaint would be that it doesn't have some updated physical features but otherwise its great. If I upgrade my laptop, I'll be sure to keep this and go to town modding or whatever with it. It's been indestructible. And frankly I am hooked on the Mac trackpads—nothing else has been better for me yet

peterashwell 9y ago

big +1 to this response. I got a lenovo (thinkpad x series) and it hit 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7, obviously implying 4. I tried really, really hard to like the lenovo. It just was not built good enough for every day use. It was just a piece of shit. One more very important point: If it breaks and you need support, what happens then? MBP: take it in to a nearby apple store. if not immediate fix or replacement then very rapid turnaround Lenovo: Send it to china! and wait 6 weeks and maybe you'll get the right computer back, and maybe the problem will be fixed

detaro 9y ago
You can bring a Thinkpad to any authorized service partner and have them fix it, just like with Apple. And unlike Apple, Lenovo actually has on-site support if you want it (even standard with some models). I had one Thinkpad that developed issues, but they always quickly fixed it.
soperj 9y ago
I've had a problem with my thinkpad hardware once. They had a guy actually come to my house.

NiceGuy_Ty 9y ago

I'd be terrified about #4 with any laptop that I use. I run Fedora on an XPS 13. I've never run into #1 or #2. I hit super+L by habit before closing the screen so I don't know about #3, but closing it while typing this comment put it to sleep. I've only reinstalled the OS once to get rid of the built in Ubuntu in favor of Fedora for #5. For #6 I haven't had it crash on me, but I have been RAM-swapped to death after having too many Firefox tabs and Docker builds at once. The only audio/network/charging problem I've run into is that Spotify doesn't bind to the keyboard Play/Pause events.

andrewaylett 9y ago

I have a 2015 rMBP from work, and I answer "yes" to 1, 3, 4, seen 5 several times with colleagues, 6, 7. My personal rebadged Clevo running Linux is "better", as the screen never flickers and it pretty much never crashes. The Linux laptop is also more reliable at waking from sleep than the Mac. I do like the Mac's body -- it's got a much better build quality. But it also cost twice as much for half the spec.

52-6F-62 9y ago

Reading this entire thread has been enlightening. I use a 2015 15" MBPro at work (should be upgrading to a current model around June or July). It's been OK, but it runs into weird quirks on the regular. It also occasionally runs real hot and loud, though that could be entirely due to some [ineffectual and circumventable] corporate malware they force on us to prevent "leaks", etc. My personal 13" 2013 MBPro has been fantastic. I haven't had an issue. My only complaint would be that it doesn't have some updated physical features but otherwise its great. If I upgrade my laptop, I'll be sure to keep this and go to town modding or whatever with it. It's been indestructible. And frankly I am hooked on the Mac trackpads—nothing else has been better for me yet