Help: Macbook Pro 13" or Lenovo Thinkpad 420?

[endlesspearl]

For the same price of $999 would you guys get macbook pro 13 inch 2.3 i5 or the thinkpad t420 2.7 i7?

Specs for the thinkpad:Lenovo - Customize your ThinkPad T420 laptop - Web Special

Will the thinkpad be that much faster with the i7?

Thinkpads, I do believe have a good build quality so I'm not really worried about that.

I would love the hear your opinion on this topic. thanks

[AESdecryption]

The Macbook Pro 13" with 2.7Ghz is $1500 compared to the $1000 Thinkpad T420. From my knowledge of using a T61, it is the most robust laptop I've ever used (I used to own a Dell Inspiron 1525). I also doubt that the Thinkpad will overheat (unlike this). Also, someone please fix the poll (it is a T420, not a T40).

[Bronsky]

The $999 13" MBP from Microcenter packs an I5-2410M. Plenty of power for the MBP. Far better display on the MBP than the T420. If the new gen is anything like the last gen, you can tell the difference between the baseline I5 and the I7 (I had an I3-370M, I5-450M and I5-540M in my Acer and could tell the difference between each CPU), but the 2410M should be plenty fast.

The real question is "will you use OSX". I would not buy an Apple to run windows.

Bronsky

[sugarkang]

The only problem with the MBP is the screen resolution. If you don't have any problems with 1280x800, then this is the best notebook for a number of reasons. Just looking at Lenovo's website, it's pretty clear to me that they don't have their house in order. It looks like they modeled themselves after HP's site, another fine example of an atrocious web experience.

Now, Mac OS is fairly uncustomizable. That is a huge niggling point for me, but the quality of the large and accurate trackpad is worth $500 IMO alone. Just with trackpad gestures, you will not have to use anymore hotkeys (at least, substantially less).

[AESdecryption]

For the same price of $999 would you guys get macbook pro 13 inch 2.3 i5 or the thinkpad t420 2.7 i7?

Specs for the thinkpad:Lenovo - Customize your ThinkPad T420 laptop - Web Special

Will the thinkpad be that much faster with the i7?

Thinkpads, I do believe have a good build quality so I'm not really worried about that.

I would love the hear your opinion on this topic. thanks

Also if you believe Macbooks are durable in realistic situations, you are wrong (go here to watch a Thinkpad thrown at 35 MPH and survive without any problems) because the Macbook Pro's screen (glass) will shatter if you drop it and I doubt the Macbook Pro will survive a coffee spill.

[sugarkang]

Good point. If you are a total klutz that doesn't know how to take care of electronic gadgets and frequently have a habit of throwing your laptop out of the window of moving vehicles, definitely buy a ThinkPad.

All others with IQs greater than Forrest Gump may want to take day to day characteristics into consideration rather than unlikely accidents.

[ZaZ]

Just looking at Lenovo's website, it's pretty clear to me that they don't have their house in order. It looks like they modeled themselves after HP's site, another fine example of an atrocious web experience.

You'd buy a notebook based on how the website looks?

[Lieto]

Just buy what you like the most, both are good value for money.

[sugarkang]

You'd buy a notebook based on how the website looks?

No. A poorly created website is a sign of larger internal problems and a tip off that you should NOT buy. A well made site is an extra point in the plus column, but not a deciding factor. In other words, I would only choose NOT to buy based on how a website looks.

[Thermal Compound]

I'd get the Lenovo. While the Macs are nice. They aren't ideal for daily usage as there are tons of applications / devices not compatible with a Mac.

I for one know that you cannot update a BlackBerry device using a Mac and would have to revert to virtualization of Windows to do it. Big hassle.