Durability of new aluminum macbook pro

You, my friend, have never used a Dell precision.

There is a reason they are more expensive than even the MBPs, which puts it out of reach of most college students. Then again, I thought a 2k laptop was out of the reach of a college student too.....

At least the "tough" in toughbook has real evidence to back it up. I remember one being demoed near where I work and they poured water all over it. And then poured a Coke. And then threw it to a guy a couple rows back.

I'd like to see a unibody Mac go through a physical abuse trial and compare it with laptops which have proven to be durable.

 

The dells also offer better edu discounts.
I got my precision 17" M6400, RGBLED, 250GB 7200rpm, 2.66Ghz, 3 year onsite warranty+ 3 year accident protection from dell premier for just under $2000

It has a full metal chassis, and a full metal encasing

 

The Dell Precisions has been proven to especially take quite a beating. Free fall sensors, roll cages, etc etc.

 

These are the students who begged their parents to get them the Pro over the vanilla Macbook. Otherwise, they are in even more debt. These are also the students that want to be "cooler" than other students who use PCs. These are also the same students who get their notebook stolen or broken but Apple does not offer accidental warranty coverage.

 

FYI:

I'm getting just under 6 hours in my normal undemanding-mode duty cycle (for me) tests using the 9500M, wifi, at about 3 segments of screen brightness. Very respectable for sure for a 17-inch and the longest among current machines with a single battery, but then with a 12800mah battery, it's not spectacular given that I get an approx 3:45 runtime from a replaceable 7200mah battery (not hugely dissimilar whr variances, BTW) in the same mode of use with the XPS 16, which has no IGP.

7 hours with the 9600M is bunk.

The 'Unibody' body is basically the keyboard/palmrest plate plus the side frame in one piece. There's some internal bolstering, but not much - it's pretty packed in there. Then you have the rolled plate bottom, which is as (not) strong as the previous MBP shell.

The plate at the bottom is quite critical to resist bending of the notebook. Any deformation of it will be detrimental to the structural integrity of the notebook.

I'll upload pictures later if I feel like it.

For the most part correct. There's definitely elements of that with most Mac users. I needed OS X - not the hardware, which is frankly shockingly bad in terms of reliability and support from an actually 'pro'fessional standpoint - and yet I'm not entirely surprised at how certain types of people rabidly hype / defend inferior hardware which happens to be very pretty. It doesn't just go for computers - people, cars, etc etc.

Fact is - in real life among typical Apple users, it's going to be desk garnish, so it's really only going to be a real perceived issue for those of us who carry other, better-built (if not better presented) non-Apple notebooks as well - because the majority of these machines are going to lead a very pampered existence among people who don't know how to use computers to the full.

One of the attributes of a seamless, plain face is that you do get paranoid about scratching it, and even I find myself treating the Apples differently. It's one of the reasons they get an extra-easy ride from many users who have a positive impression of the ultimately slightly laughable Apple QC when viewed as a 'premium' manufacturer.

 

i always rate battery life by manufacturer's claim. YMMV. not that i agree with their claim what so ever

i always prefer interchangeable battery over built-in anyways. and the fact that mbp's "pro" rely on battery to claim its "pro-ness" is embarrassing.

there is also one thing i agree with you is that people treat apple differently than the more rugged-built notebooks; we handle with care.
apple's durability is not a requirement and pointless to argue in this case.

i would throw my x41t around but i never see myself doing the same to my mbp, at all, for example.

and if people want rugged device, fully rugged toughbook is definitely one of the toughest comparing to other major brands. i would stretch a little further to say their business rugged performs better than most others too as far as sturdiness goes: drop/spill/etc.



there is no roll-cage inside mbp.

i bought my mbp b/c i wanted to try OSX, better design and since it was a refurb and older model, the apple tax in consideration was around 200~400(comparing to sony FW which has similar spec, plus full HD res. and blue ray)

it is good for a change and a peace of mind; only issue is that there my hard drive seems lose some of the space to no where, 250gb hdd, 50gb of my misc stuff(not ) 100gb app and 50gb free space, where had the other 50gb went? -_-'

 

We're not talking about rugged notebooks - we're talking about the inferior robustness in everyday use compared to everyone else's regular business and consumer offerings.

 

sturdiness is always a selling point and if you are paying premium for something of cuz it is in question.

consider thinkpad T-series's roll-cage, panasonic's business-rugged design(still spill proof but not fully-rugged), toshiba's magnesium alloy chassis.

my point is, you don't compare a 500dollars notebook and claim to be superiorioty with a macbook that cost almost 3times the price, right?

i believe those that i listed had undergo various tests and survived; had macbook done so yet? even sony's bz series did something similar.

fyi, when i say rugged i don't mean military grade of robustness(cf19,etc), that's fully-rugged.

and if it is a test of wether a notebook will remain in "one piece", working or not, macbook has a fair chance of winning for sure.

 

It would be much appreciated

So the non-unibody MBPs have some sort of inner casing below the Al ? Was there an inner casing at the bottom too, making it more resistant to deformities ?

 

Macbook pro plastic after crashing with a truck

 

HEY I have 3 that look similar to that after a fast impact. 2 in vehicles and 1 after a 12 foot drop

 

look how easily they bend!

 

lol i do hope thats sarcasm. it was hit by a TRUCK.

 

That's how most CARS look after getting hit by a truck. Not too shabby for a laptop.

 

The question is how it was hit.

I'm betting on the wing mirrors

 

thats also about how they look after they fly off a seat and whack the dashboard in a 60kph accident

 

That's some pretty serious heat warping!

 

I'm pretty sure the new macbook pros would have been less warped under the same circumstances!!!

 

No. They'll probably crack more easily.

 

how do you guys know that?

 

Properties of formed cold-rolled sheet vs properties of machined cold-rolled/extruded sheet

 

+1 on that one

 

Seems like almost everything is more expensive in the UK

 

15% (used to be 17.5%) sales tax doesn't help either.

 

I would want to stab the tax collector!!

 

http://60gp.ovh.net/~lantech/allegro/macbook/unibody/DSC03802.JPG
http://60gp.ovh.net/~lantech/allegro/macbook/unibody/DSC03803.JPG

Ouch.

 

lol looks like someone put a bit too much pressure on their mac. sucks.

 

No - it's just familychoice's fanboyness. You'd get a seriously better-specced machine for the same money *in the UK*. What Apple fanboys do is to basically tick every option in any Dell build and go "See? It's the same price! / more expensive!".

A loaded XPS 16 isn't the machine to compare with an MBP15 in any case - it is far more of an MBP17 equivalent. A competing spec to an MBP17 2.9 with the 320Gb 7200rpm drive and Applecare is £1850 vs £2450 - and that's with 4-year onsite and accidental damage insurance - leaving you £600 to spend on whatever software or accessories you feel is appropriate for your use.

Not to mention much less downtime if (in the case of the Dell) or when (in the case of the Apple) it goes wrong if you actually use it. i.e. not as desk garnish

 

I like to do the processor as well. ;-p Just so I get to take it apart and tinker with it.