Well, there are reasons why my main workstation is a workstation tower, and not my MacBook...

Well, there are reasons why my main workstation is a workstation tower, and not my MacBook...

You might be surprised how uncommon that is these days. Almost everyone I work with uses a MacBook as their daily driver - if you need more power, work gets offloaded to the cloud.

Outside of specialised fields (mostly those requiring a powerful GPU attached to the local computer), workstation-class hardware is the exception, not the rule.

Yea, this is true. Where I work, most people don't really have workstations/desktops, unless they are PC gamers, or somebody like me, who's into CG/game dev on the side. A lot of people will just get an external monitor and hook it up to a MacBook Pro or something and hook up a keyboard to top it off.

Apple does have quality parts and hardware though. With whatever Windows machines I've come into contact with, many a time they tend to not be at the standard that Apple is at. I'm onto my third MacBook Pro, and my last two lasted a good while. My last one had run for 4 years and there was no reason it wouldn't keep on rolling. I just decided that this was a good time to get an upgrade rather than wait, so I upgraded. Apple has not failed me in terms of quality.

Still, $5000...that's really pushing the budget. It's easier to justify something like a MacBook Pro, but this might be a bit tougher. @Gian-Reto, I can definitely see why this would be the kind of machine that you'd really have to think twice about. I would definitely be curious to hear how often people in this forum have upgraded a desktop machine before basically swapping out the entire machine.

I am more than happy to accept an all in one system for a laptop, given that I have one and frequently use it more often than the full desktop due to the mobility, but I really can't say I support the all-in-one concept for something that sits on a desk anyway when a standard tower setup achieves much of the same, and more thanks to the flexibility.

Apple does have quality parts and hardware though. With whatever Windows machines I've come into contact with, many a time they tend to not be at the standard that Apple is at. I'm onto my third MacBook Pro, and my last two lasted a good while. My last one had run for 4 years and there was no reason it wouldn't keep on rolling. I just decided that this was a good time to get an upgrade rather than wait, so I upgraded. Apple has not failed me in terms of quality.

Not saying anything against the Quality of Apple hardware, been mostly amazed about that in the past myself actually (apart from their insistence to keep using aluminium for laptop casings when other manufacturers have moved to sturdier metallic casings looking almost like aluminium... my Surface has yet to get dented anywhere even though it gets treated quite roughly).

But if you haven't had a single good expierience with PC hardware I must ask which manufacturers you did try? I had so chummy hardware in the past, my first Acer laptop was crap. Lasted me a year and then gave out, while being heavy, big and loud while it lasted. But then that was at a time when Acer was still a crap manufacturer of cheap throw away machines, I was commuting to school daily and treating the laptop badly (fell down from shoulder height in the backpack multiple times), and I tried to cheap out on that laptop. The Toshiba I got after that was good, only the Keyboard failed after 2 years because of intense emulator gaming.

Sony Vaio I got after that wasn't too cheap, but lasted me a long time and was really good. All the other PCs since have been DIY towers as I no longer have to commute to school, save for 3 pen tablets. All of them very good and sturdy, especially my Surface, which I love. I guess this will not give in before its totally obsolete given how sturdy it is.

The Wacom Cintiq Companion 2 is a dream to work with, if only a little bit too noisy. Seems like Wacom is still figuring out how to built great PCs (their newest Cintiq computers must be much better in this regard though), but they already know how to build the best digitizers in the world... I wouldn't want to use this as my main computer or for serious commuting, but as a drawing tablet for use around the house its perfect.

Comparing DIY PCs to Apple Computers make little sense... you get what you pay for here, and the lifetime of the total package depends on the quality your money bought, the selection of parts you picked, and the craftsmanship used for assembly (if you zapped a part with electrostatic fingers by mistake, that might only show years later in a failing part). Having said that, my main Work rig is going strong since 2010/2011, and most probably will be good for another 2 years (fingers crossed). Not exactly cheap, but powerful hardware. Still faster than most mainstream i7 machines. As long as you pick good quality parts, stay away from overclocking and make sure the airflow in the case is good, you DIY PC will last you a long time.

Really, the only reason why people complain about PC hardware compared to Apple is because in case of Apple, you can only get high-quality hardware... while on the PC side, you get everything from cheap low quality crap up to the highest of high-end quality. Naturally you will hear some people complain about not getting quality when they cheaped out on their latest PC.

@Gian-Reto, I can definitely see why this would be the kind of machine that you'd really have to think twice about. I would definitely be curious to hear how often people in this forum have upgraded a desktop machine before basically swapping out the entire machine.

Really, its an impressive piece of kit like the Dell AiO Workstation before it. Its also a confused mish-mash of concepts that tries to be too many things at once.

Also interested on hearing how many people are upgrading their rig. I find it really good to be able to swap out GPUs regularly, because these tend to get outdated much faster than CPUs. Until Apple starts using MXM modules and makes their GPUs accessible, AND MXM GPU module prices come down from the outrageous heights they currently are at, this is not possible for most Apple machines besides their Mac Pro.

But what do you know, seems like some of the small gaming PC manufacturers in the PC space are starting to use laptop grade GPUs in their small sub-mITX gaming PCs, and after they got complaints about the inability to swap the GPU out for their first few such models, are starting to use exchangeable MXM modules. Maybe that gives Apple ideas? I mean, thanks to their certification Apple already gets some part of the profits on upgrades sold... pretty please?

Yeah, I know profits for selling a whole new machine when the GPU gets obsolete are probably higher, still.... :P

Ok, so over the years, the Windows machines I've used/been exposed to are Dells (not great in my experience), Lenovo (garbage), Vaio (I didn't like these much either tbh), HP (so far so good), and Fujitsu (this one was a truly good machine). The only recent machines I've used are HP, but nowadays I haven't really used much in terms of Windows based machines, since I'm mostly just Mac.

You're probably right though: Apple has a sort of confirmation bias in that no-one else makes Apple machines, so you're more or less guaranteed quality Mac products. That being said, even amongst the best of Windows I've used, I'd still say that Mac edges them out. I've had next to no problems with most of my Apple machines. Sure, every once in a while, I've encountered an issue or two, but it's fairly rare. What is the best Windows based machine out there these days? What brand?

What is the best Windows based machine out there these days? What brand?

My most recent laptop was a Gigabyte and I love it. It's got the power of a gaming laptop without all the wank that comes with gamer branded things, the form factor of an Apple product and the price of a boring Dell product.

I have never seen one in the wild. What is the construction and material quality like?

My laptops get a lot of physical abuse. I travel around with them, bash them on walls, drop them, leave them on the floor and accidentally walk on them... the usual. Consequently build quality is a high priority for me.

Lenovo Thinkpads are really good build quality. My Macbook Pro's unibody has so far done a fair job at protecting the internals but the metal is pretty flimsy so it's covered in dings and scuffs.

Regarding the iMac Pro, is this still a distinct product line from the bin-shaped Mac Pro? As in, there will still be an upgrade coming for the Mac Pro that will out-perform the iMac Pro? Seems confusing to me.