MBP or W520? (and where is the latter?)

Hi all,

I'm a Mac fan in general but lately I'm been using office extensively for work and found the Office for Mac 2011 to be a POS.

I need to buy a new powerhouse laptop and have 2 options:

MBP 15" quad-core with 8GB RAM and a regular HDD or a similarly equipped W520 (when is this thing out btw?)

If I go Mac, I'll still have to run Windows 7 (vmware maybe) on it so I really don't see the point of buying it except having the option of running OS X when I feel like it. OTH, the configuration of W520 is appealing. I love having all those ports, docking station, FHD screen etc.

One thing I noticed about the W520 is the Quadro 2000M. This thing is not for games is it? I'm not a gamer in any means, but would be nice to be able to actually run some graphics extensive games.

TIA for your input.

Cheers.

 

Quadros are not for gaming, however there are a myriad of drivers for Quadro cards. You will be able to game, but not have the highest frame rates.

You are comparing an essentially high end multimedia laptop to a mobile workstation laptop. Macbook Pro have always had a crappy cooling system design and cannot do CPU intensive tasks for long before it turns into a portable space heater. By buying the W520 you get a proven mobile workstation.

If you want durability, reliability get the ThinkPad. If you want something that looks pretty...get the Macbook Pro.

 

I have a 11" Air and the Sony in the signature. And also a T400 from work. Need a laptop with a big screen so thought a FHD 15.6" would be ideal.

Couldn't care less about looks. I want something that works, and works well. I don't do CAD or graphics stuff so the Quadro is pretty much useless to me. Might be running some games. How good/bad is the Quadro compared to the ATI in the MBP when it comes to games?

 

The way I understand Quadros is they go for accuracy of the polygons while GeForce are about massive throughput as fast as possible to get the highest frame rates.

Quadro are based off GeForce cores but run at much lower clock speeds. Again you'll be able to play modern titles but not at highest resolution/detail. You might be able to experiment with different drivers or get modded drivers that will allow GeForce ones to recognize a Quadro chip.

The W520/T520 are good bets then. If you don't really CAD or rendering, then Quadro graphics will only decrease battery life and generate additional heat.

 

If you want a thinkpad to play games, go for the w series (even if you cannot play games on highest quality, its better than the t series).

From my perspective, it seems to me as if you want a different windows brand. ie: Asus G73/G71/G51 or a Dell XPS.

If you really want a thinkpad, you can get an external GPU for your thinkpad via express card slot.

 

I would wait another month and configure a T520 with the proper hardware you need. Unless you do a lot of CAD work, I wouldn't bother with the W series.

 

Actually I rarely game, but when paying $2000 I expect to be able to, you know, game. My main use will be vmwares, emails, browsing etc. The most important part is the FHD screen.

I do have a T400 currently from work and I like the build and quality of the Lenovo's. That's why I'm going either Lenovo or MBP.

 

I don't do CAD at all actually. I want a snappy laptop that could do whatever I throw at it.

The T520 is only dual core though right? How would it do with multiple vmware's running?

 

The T520 could be quad if you configure it to be quad.

It's probably possible to install GeForce drivers on a Quadro card (AFAIK, the hardware's the same); there was a thread earlier that claimed 30% FPS increase in SC2 on the NVS3100M.

Also, in case you haven't noticed, the 2011 MBP's are overheating and freezing at the moment.

 

Yeah read the news. I think 10.6.7 addresses that issue though?

And wanted to ask what wait a month? I can configure the T520 right now but there is no quad-core option.

If I do play games, it's gonna be some strategic games, last one I played was Generals by EA if you know that one.

BTW, I did have a 15" MBP pro before, core i7 and 8GB RAM. I wasn't comfortable using the damn thing because of the sharp edges. If I do get a MBP again, I'm so using it with an external keyboard and a mouse. I'm leaning towards the Lenovo though.

 

Not sure if 10.6.7 fixes it (don't think you can fix a poor thermal design by software, except by throttling your components).

Generals was awesome, but it runs fine on netbooks, so a T520 with discrete graphics is a bit overkill.

 

I won't be playing Generals specifically. Need to catch up on strategy games

Tell me, why would you wait a month to order the T520? I don't see the Quad core CPU option?

 

iBimmer,

Most of the OEMs aren't like Apple. When Apple announces a machine, it's usually available that day or within a few days.

Lenovo doesn't do that. They announce a machine a month or more before it's available for purchase and order. And on top of that, their .com buying site rarely if ever lets you order all of the available options.

For instance, you have never been able to order the SATA RAID option on the W510 from the lenovo.com site. Another more current example is the T420 with only the Intel integrated GPU option.

My suggestion is to study the tabook.pdf carefully for the model you want. The W520 should be orderable in a few days and from what I've seen of your requirements it should fit the bill nicely from a performance perspective. I'm not sure you are going to be happy with the size, weight, noise, etc.

 

nvidia quadro gpus are basically odd skus. it's almost impossible to predict how the 1000m and 2000m will play games until benchmarks are available. it's probably in your interests to just wait and see what the benchmarks say.

i think the people here are, quite frankly, making things up about the drivers. i highly doubt geforce drivers would change anything as these cards are neutered at the hardware level. for instance, the quadro 2000m in the w520 has a 128bit memory bus instead of the expected 256bit on fermi geforce cards.

if someone has evidence to the contrary, please link this thread where people get huge advantages from drivers alone.

that said, i fully expect the 2000m to be able to play almost all modern games at 1600x900 with medium settings.

 

If you're not going to play any recent games, go for the T520. If you're trying to play anything from the past three years, get the W520 with the Q 2000M. It's going to be a much better machine for running games than the T520, even if the Quadro card doesn't allow for its GPU to be used to its full gaming potential.

As for the MBP, I would recommend any Thinkpad over it for running Windows or any OS outside of OS X. If you absolutely want to use OS X, the MBP is a good option, otherwise, it pretty much sucks. You won't be able to switch the graphics from integrated to discrete in Windows, which makes the heat situation go from bad to worse. If you're going to be using this laptop on your lap for any period of time while running Windows, do not buy the MBP. The W520 will be a much better option for Windows.