New Laptop Purchase Assistance, please?

Tibbsy

Estimable
Aug 7, 2014
4
0
4,510
I am currently in the market for a new laptop for work. I have been given $3000 for equipment (software, computers, books, etc.). I currently have a 7+ year old macbook. I am limited in what I can get as we order through our University's store, but we get a discount on most computer things. I would prefer to not use ALL of it on a laptop, leaving me some room to get other lab things I might need.

Here are the ones I am looking at -

2014 Macbook Pro Retina, 15" http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/macbook-pro?product=MGXC2LL/A&step=config#

ASUS ROG G750JM-DS71 17 https://www.cdwg.com/shop/products/ASUS-ROG-G750JM-DS71-17.3in-Core-i7-4700HQ-Windows-8.1-64-bit-12-GB/3325188.aspx#TS

MSI GE60 Apache Pro-03 15" https://www.cdwg.com/shop/products/MSI-GE60-Apache-Pro-003-15.6in-Core-i7-4700HQ-Windows-8.1-8-GB-RAM/3351904.aspx#TS

Lenovo Y50 series:
Regular - 15", http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y50/
UHD - 15", http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y50-uhd/
Touch - http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y50-touch/

I'm leaning to the Lenovo, as it has decent reviews for a similar price point as the MSI and ASUS. I'm finding that the MSI has questionable build quality, but I can't really find a decent review. Notebookcheck.com has a pretty good review of the Lenovo y50.

I'm not really sure where to go, to be honest. I need a laptop for work (graphpad prism, Office, adobe photoshop/illustrator, internet, etc.) but I would also like to be able to play Steam Games on it (Borderlands 2, Torchlight I/II, indie games, Skyrim, TF2, etc.) without having to worry too much about graphic problems. I'd prefer to play on high settings, but I can live with medium.
 

volcanoscout

Honorable
Jan 5, 2014
169
0
10,710
I would vote for the Lenovo for a number of reasons, build quality, noise levels, and temperatures being among them. If gaming was not a priority, I would go with the MacBook Pro for all-around productivity performance.
 

Tibbsy

Estimable
Aug 7, 2014
4
0
4,510


If gaming wasn't involved, I would have gone with a mac - probably an air, actually.

I'm hoping to pick up a laptop and a tablet for work.

Thanks for your reply - which of the lenovos do you think? The UHD?