Torn between Macbook 15 and Razer Blade products... Looking for input.

[sktittles]

Here are the laptops I'm considering: Please note I will be buying the refurbished models directly from the retailer (i.e. apple/razer). My max budget would probably be about 2000USD.

Macbook Pro 13 inch (refurbished), Minimum 256GB SSD. 1200-1500USD
Macbook Pro 15 inch (refurbished), Minimum 256GB SSD. 1600-1900USD
Razer Blade 14 QHD (2015 refurbished), Minimum 256 GB SSD. 1799.99USD
Razer Blade Stealth, Minimum 256GB SSD. 1000USD

Background Information (About Me):

I have never owned an apple product, I have all my money invested in widows and android platforms.

I do want the laptop to be able to do some light gaming while away. Things like WoW would be nice other things like Insurgency, TC: R6 Siege, L4D2 would be a plus, but not a deal breaker! I do a lot of gaming on my desktop PC and Xbox One.

I am a college student studying Business Informatics (basically Information Technology in a business setting).

What's Important to me:

1. Build Quality
2. Longevity.
3. Stability.
4. Battery Life.
5. Screen (I want an excellent looking screen).
6. Gaming.

What do I need the laptop to do/what would be a bonus: This list is not ordered from most important to least, fyi.

1. Programming (Visual Studio would be nice, even if I have to dual boot to use it, but not a deal breaker) I also use Microsoft Expression Web. I am open to alternatives of Mac Programs.

2. Video Editing (I have sony vegas for PC, adobe premiere and photoshop PC.

3. Light gaming while not at home. Again, not a deal breaker but would be nice.

4. Awesome screen with good viewing angles, great picture quality and can be used in direct sunlight.

5. Microsoft office products.

6. Quality trackpad that won't make me wanna kill myself when i have to use it.

Last bit of notes:

I have a Gaming PC at home: Specs below

Intel core i5-3570k
GTX 980 TI
m4 128GB SSD
1TB WD green HDD
2TB WD caviar black
16GB of ares g.skill RAM
HAF 932 advanced case
Razer Chroma Deathstalker keyboard
Logitech G502 proteus core
2x LG 29um55-p ultrawide 2560x1080p monitors

I have a Surface Pro 3, 256GB, i5 model and a Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 inch tablet.

I am not a fan of the small screen on the SP3 its also super hard to type and use on ym lap these are huge drawbacks, also seems to have a video driver issue, annoying. While at home I'd probably only use the laptop in bed for minor tasks like web browsing, youtube and other miscellaneous tasks (all big tasks would be on PC). Living room use, outside use, ect. The big purpose for this laptop is travel (while at school going on trips, ect.

 

[KLawinger]

Razer by far. a discrete gpu is way better than an integrated. plus you get windows and similar build quality

 

[robinwing14]

Get the razor blade stealth, its the cheapest, and it gets great battery life and a great screen, so good for web browsing and maybe some light gaming. You already seem to have a pretty decent rig at home to play games on.

 

[sktittles]

I you have a gaming rig at home just buy the 13 inch macbook and maybe use the money to buy a bigger ssd and some movies. The razor blade is for people who want to play games like crysis 3 on the plane.

That's kind of the way i'm leaning at the moment as well. I think it would be kinda fun to learn a new OS, but I'm not at all invested into the apple space (no iphone, no mac apps purchased, ect). I don't really need a discrete GPU (I wont be gaming on the go really, maybe some WoW and insurgency, but yeah gaming not so important really.)

I'm not sure i'll like OSX though and that part makes me iffy.

 

[robinwing14]

Actually i edited it get a razor blade stealth, its a great bargain at a grand especially for what you want to do, and then you already have all the apps for it

 

[sktittles]

Actually i edited it get a razor blade stealth, its a great bargain at a grand especially for what you want to do, and then you already have all the apps for it

How do you think the Razer Blade Stealth will compare to the 13 inch macbook pro retina display (2015 model)? I can't find a comparison between the two. Will the Blade/Macbook Pro 13 retina out perform a SP3? Again, comparisons are bleak atm.

 

[robinwing14]

I'm not positive about that because i'm not exactly sure if the blade stealth is even out yet, but a retina mbp 13 would outperform it by a little bit, because the stealth has a dual core i7 as opposed to a quad core. I just remember seeing it and thinking it was a great bargain because its basically a faster windows macbook air for cheaper with a qhd screen.

 

[sktittles]

I'm not positive about that because i'm not exactly sure if the blade stealth is even out yet, but a retina mbp 13 would outperform it by a little bit, because the stealth has a dual core i7 as opposed to a quad core. I just remember seeing it and thinking it was a great bargain because its basically a faster windows macbook air for cheaper with a qhd screen.

Gotcha, the Razer Blade Stealth is currently shipping for the QHD model, not sure about 4k, but 4k at 12.5 inches seems like a bad decision. The 13 inch macbook is dual core as well though. The razer one starting shipping on Jan 29, so not much info on it really.

 

[robinwing14]

I didn't know that about the macbook, so the performance should be better than with the razor because its skyline i think. Personally I would get the who model if you get it, 4k at 12.5 inches is a little too much, plus the qhd one most likely gets a lot better battery life