The conundrum of technology turnover
It’s December, and beyond time I upgrade my workstation to keep up with the times. What to get…what to get?
I’ve been loosely researching the alternatives. As a designer, I’ve worked with both platforms, Windows and Mac OS, and I’ve owned both Apple and Dell products in the past.
On the one hand Apple has finally just released the new MacBook Pro with their “magic touch bar”, and on the other hand, Dell has the very comparable and powerful Precision 5510, with a debatably better Xeon processor, an Ultra HD monitor where the entire monitor is a touch screen, rather than a little strip above the keyboard.
But then, for the last 4+ years, I’ve been extensively working on Apple products, and I do have an affinity for MacOS…I always have. Some of the attractive features of the MacBook Pro…the ease of integration with my iPhone for one. Their monitor is still really nice, but really the two are comparable. The new monitor on the MacBook Pro claims to have a wider gamut of color range in reds and greens than normal sRBG.
MacBook Pro
I thought this was a useful review.
The Pros
- Most of us designers are well adapted to the OS
- Ease of use with my iPhone
- Less susceptability to virus and malware?
- Fingerprint ID login
- Claimed better sound
The Cons
- I think we’re sick of all the friggin adapters necessary to plug it in to industry standard periphorals
- Why a touch strip rather than a touch screen?
- 10 hour battery life (some complaints are surfacing that it’s not all that this is highly inaccurate)
- It’s expensive
- Ships in 2-3 weeks
Dell Precision
PC Magazine review is available here
The Pros
- Xeon processor
- Twice as much RAM (32gb at similar price point)
- Twice the hard drive size (1tb SSD comes in at a similar price point to the Mac at 500gb)
- Touch Screen UHD monitor (as good as Mac, potentially better)
- Faster delivery and better included support (ships in 3-6
- Normal connectors including Thunderbolt, USB 3, Ethernet
- More cost effective, and includes Microsoft Office
- Ships in 5-7 business days
The Cons
- Windows 10 OS…there’s a new learning curve here
- Shorter battery life (although both the MacBook and Precision have middling battery life)
What do do? What to do? It’s hard to be on the fence…
Since I published this, it appears that Consumer Reports is not recommending the MacBook Pro for the first time in it’s coverage history. Read the story here.
