I would like to upgrade my laptop. Basically specification requirements are quad core, as light weight as possible, as high resolution as possible, enough connectivity and good general quality. I know of only two lightweight alternatives:

1. macbook pro retina 15" (abt. 2kg)
2. Dell Latitude 6430 (14", abt. 2kg)


Currently I am considering latitude 6430 seriously as it has very good connectivity but it is only 1600x900 resolution and I would prefer at least 1920x1080. Thunderbolt would also be nice and it does not have it. Macbook retina is two expensive and not really an alternative as you can upgrade nothing inside it and 512GB or 768GB versions are expensive like hell.

I am also looking for a laptop that has minimal fan noise, my current laptop (Thinkpad SL510) has really loud fan and when using a lot of plugins (as I do) it rotates all the time with maximum power.

Opinions...?

I think Lenovo has some Thinkpads (W530, T530, perhaps even the 14" versions) but they dropped both eSata and expressCard and didn't add thunderbolt, only USB3 which is too slow for serious usage of storage.

MacBook Pro Retina wins by a very high margin.

You can go up 2880x1800 if you wish. http://www.macrumors.com/2012/06/21/running-the-retina-macbo ok-pro-at-full-2880x1800-resolution/

Check out this review of the MBP w/ Retina display, it might help ...

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/06/pixelpalooza-ars-review s-the-15-retina-macbook-pro/

Yes but it is just far two expensive, the version with 16GB RAM and 512 or 768GB of storage is like 4000eur or something, far beyond my budget. (and yes I would not buy the 256GB/8GB version because you cannot upgrade retina macbook at all so you are stuck with the specs you buy it with.

macbook retina would have been so much more appealing if it had standard SODIMM slots for RAM, standard mSATA slot for SSD and easily replaceable battery, but nooo, Apple is an evil company that wants to rip off every penny out of you

Yes, too expensive now. Maybe affordable in 1 or 2 years

Dell laptops have had a bad reputation for low latency audio. Several on KVR couldnt solve the problems with them. I couldnt find problems with that model through Google but just a heads up. Toshiba/Lenovo/HP/Sony seem to be ok.

That is good to know.

But it is essential to notice that most of laptops have now new chipsets and new ivy bridge processors including the new Dells (Latitude 6430 and 6530 at least), so it should be a new game at least in theory. Anybody still have experience of these...?