Is there a 100% ML compatible laptop that...

[cpl593h]

Hello,

My Macbook Pro mid-2010 (Core i5, 2,4Ghz, 128 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM, matte 1680x1050 screen) just died of mostly unknown causes (probably an electrical overload problem). I'm not sure yet, but the keyboard, the battery and maybe even the motherboard are to be replaced.

I can't stand Apple's technical support (in Europe at least, I think it's better in the US) anymore. The "authorized reseller" (no geniuses here) told me that replacing the dead components would cost me about the same as a low end MacBook. Were it a Dell, I'd just order a €35 battery and a €65 keyboard and would do the replacements by myself. New macs being next to impossible to fix by oneself and incredibly stupid design choices (in order to replace a few dead keys, I have to replace the whole topcase? Really, Apple?) have finally disgusted me of Mac hardware.

Now, I've been hackintoshing for years on desktop PCs and know that it is easy as pie. I also know that you can hackintosh almost any laptop, but most of the time, you'll lose sound, wifi or something else that is important.

So here is my question: does a serious PC brand (the likes of Lenovo, Dell, HP, Samsung) offer à 100% ML compatible laptop that:

- has a matte screen, 15" or less (14 is ideal, 13 is ok) with a good resolution (1440×900 is a minimum -- or 110 or better PPI, according to the screen size), I don't care if it has a 16:10 ou 16:9 ratio;
- has a powerful enough CPU (a recent Core i5 is ok, but a Core i7 is better);
- has an autonomy at least as good as a MacBook Pro (4 or 5 hours in a real working environment) when running ML;
- is easily serviceable, with easy to find parts;
- has a video-out (real VGA, DVI or HDMI without the need for a stupid cable);
- a better power brick than the MagSafe (these things are jokes, on a 2 years period I had mine replaced five times);
- has a US Keyboard (ANSI layout, I hate the ISO layout);
- has a good trackpad -- I'm ok if it is not multitouch and real buttons are a plus in my book;
- easily upgradable HD and memory;
- has _everything_ working perfectly (no hiccups with the trackpad, no KP's, no wifi drops).

Thinks I don't care for:

- webcam;
- thunderbolt;
- memory and HD -- I will probably upgrade them on day one anyway with more memory and a good SSD;
- optical drive: even better if it hasn't this obsolete thing;
- stupid design considerations. A soviet-looking plastic-y Lenovo that is easily serviceable is orders of magnitude better than an unibody buzzworded unrepairable machine.

It's better if the price is lower than its Apple equivalent, but I don't go the hackintosh route for a cheap machine, I'm looking for quality and maintenance. If the price is the same as its Apple equivalent, it's OK for me.

Does anyone know if the wonder I just described exists?

 

[beelzebozo]

Hello,

My Macbook Pro mid-2010 (Core i5, 2,4Ghz, 128 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM, matte 1680x1050 screen) just died of mostly unknown causes (probably an electrical overload problem). I'm not sure yet, but the keyboard, the battery and maybe even the motherboard are to be replaced.

I can't stand Apple's technical support (in Europe at least, I think it's better in the US) anymore. The "authorized reseller" (no geniuses here) told me that replacing the dead components would cost me about the same as a low end MacBook. Were it a Dell, I'd just order a €35 battery and a €65 keyboard and would do the replacements by myself. New macs being next to impossible to fix by oneself and incredibly stupid design choices (in order to replace a few dead keys, I have to replace the whole topcase? Really, Apple?) have finally disgusted me of Mac hardware.

Now, I've been hackintoshing for years on desktop PCs and know that it is easy as pie. I also know that you can hackintosh almost any laptop, but most of the time, you'll lose sound, wifi or something else that is important.

So here is my question: does a serious PC brand (the likes of Lenovo, Dell, HP, Samsung) offer à 100% ML compatible laptop that:

- has a matte screen, 15" or less (14 is ideal, 13 is ok) with a good resolution (1440×900 is a minimum -- or 110 or better PPI, according to the screen size), I don't care if it has a 16:10 ou 16:9 ratio;
- has a powerful enough CPU (a recent Core i5 is ok, but a Core i7 is better);
- has an autonomy at least as good as a MacBook Pro (4 or 5 hours in a real working environment) when running ML;
- is easily serviceable, with easy to find parts;
- has a video-out (real VGA, DVI or HDMI without the need for a stupid cable);
- a better power brick than the MagSafe (these things are jokes, on a 2 years period I had mine replaced five times);
- has a US Keyboard (ANSI layout, I hate the ISO layout);
- has a good trackpad -- I'm ok if it is not multitouch and real buttons are a plus in my book;
- easily upgradable HD and memory;
- has _everything_ working perfectly (no hiccups with the trackpad, no KP's, no wifi drops).

Thinks I don't care for:

- webcam;
- thunderbolt;
- memory and HD -- I will probably upgrade them on day one anyway with more memory and a good SSD;
- optical drive: even better if it hasn't this obsolete thing;
- stupid design considerations. A soviet-looking plastic-y Lenovo that is easily serviceable is orders of magnitude better than an unibody buzzworded unrepairable machine.

It's better if the price is lower than its Apple equivalent, but I don't go the hackintosh route for a cheap machine, I'm looking for quality and maintenance. If the price is the same as its Apple equivalent, it's OK for me.

Does anyone know if the wonder I just described exists?

Buy a new MacBook.

 

[cpl593h]

You misunderstood something: I'm very unhappy with MacBooks' hardware, its general quality, the price of its parts and the impossibility to repair them myself.

I want a laptop that can bear to be transported twice a day, something robust, not a piece of pseudo-art as robust as a feather. And I'd like not to use Windows, that I can tolerate, but don't like like I like OS X. Since I have to be 100% MS Office compatible, Linux is not an option. But if I can't find a hackintosh-able PC, I'll go for the Windows PC. Apple has lost me as a hardware customer.

 

[blink999]

You misunderstood something: I'm very unhappy with MacBooks' hardware, its general quality, the price of its parts and the impossibility to repair them myself.

I want a laptop that can bear to be transported twice a day, something robust, not a piece of pseudo-art as robust as a feather.

You had one bad experience with Apple hardware. I lug my Apple hardware around daily (for 5+ years it was the first generation Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro, that I recently upgraded with an SSD drive and still use (daily) at home; now my "luggable" is a MacBook Air; when I was in school I also commuted with a white MacBook C2D and before that an iBook G3-600). It's been stepped on, motorcycle-crashed-with, tossed unceremoniously in a briefcase... Most recently, I had my (large, usually mellow) dog tied to a cafe table outside; something caught his attention, he bolted, before I could even react the table was upended and my MacBook Air was arcing towards the sidewalk. Impact. No damage, aside from some scuff marks on the case.

The unibody aluminum design is exceptionally robust. I'd put pounds-to-pence you're not going to find a Wintel laptop with higher build quality or lower failure rate than Apple's offerings, barring one of the flukes Apple (like all manufacturers) has had over the years (like the bad batch of chips NVIDIA shipped a few years ago).

 

[anakin2solo]

I too would love to see suggestions to 100% compatible laptops. I just built my first desktop and it is perfect. I wouldn't mind a cheap laptop to go with it.

 

[mildj84ns]

I've been using Apple computers for almost a decade, only problem i've ever had was a MBP 17" 2007 battery, and even that was after few years of usage, besides that i never had any problems with Apple hardware, you had one bad experience and you don't want to use it anymore...Apple hardware usually last longer then any other brand, there are still some people out there that are still using 7-8 yo PowerBooks..

 

[Philly42O]

your answer is no there is not