When comparing MacBook vs Eluktronics PA71HS-G Premium, the Slant community recommends Eluktronics PA71HS-G Premium for most people. In the question“What are the best USB-C laptops?” Eluktronics PA71HS-G Premium is ranked 5th while MacBook is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose Eluktronics PA71HS-G Premium is:
The case is made from a very durable plastic with a metal finish that does not feel cheap or flimsy to the touch.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Extremely portable
The laptop weighs just 2 pounds and is 13.1 mm thin. It's one of the thinnest and lightest laptops on the market and it's extremely portable and easy to carry around.
Pro macOS is developer-friendly
macOS is based on XNU (Darwin) kernel, it's a certified Unix and arguably a lot more developer friendly than Windows. Development for Unix is native on macOS.
There's a large selection of great development tools available for macOS. The operating system itself comes bundled with a powerful terminal emulator, called Terminal. Additionally, Apple provides tools, like Xcode, an IDE that contains a comprehensive collection of tools for developing macOS and iOS software, for free.
You can also install Homebrew, an extremely useful package manager.
Pro Amazing display
Everything about the display is very good - from its high resolution (2304x1440) to the brightness (325 nitts), uniform brightness distribution (90%), and high contrast ratio (1000:1) with over 95% of the sRGB spectrum. Overall, a great display which will come in handy for people who work with visual arts.
Pro Excellent trackpad
The MacBook has a large 4.4 x 2.7-inch Force Touch trackpad with a Taptic Engine that delivers haptic feedback whenever the user taps on it to give them the impression that they are actually clicking on it. It also supports gestures and multi-finger swiping.
The accuracy is almost perfect and there's virtually no lag or stutter when using the trackpad.
Pro Decent battery life
The battery lasts around 7h30m of continuous web browsing which is about average for this class of laptops. Where this laptop's battery truly shines though is under heavy stress where it manages to last an impressive 2h35m under a total stress test (maxed out brightness and processor usage - circumstances that you are likely never going to encounter in the real world).
Pro Completely silent operation
Thanks to the Core M processor (which doesn't require a fan) and the SSD storage, there are no moving parts the in MacBook. It will operate in complete silence.
Pro Very good speakers
The speakers, found above the keyboard produce loud and clear sound with minimal to no distortion whatsoever. They can be used for both listening to music and watching movies with no problem at all.
Pro Decent keyboard
Pro Available in 4 colors
The laptop is available in space gray, gold, silver and rose gold (pink) finishes.
Pro Excellent build quality
The case is made from a very durable plastic with a metal finish that does not feel cheap or flimsy to the touch.
Pro Overall good price/quality ratio
At this price, the Eluktronics P650RS offers a lot of features, performance, and quality compared to competitors. Gaming laptops with a GTX 1070 usually cost $100 or more and might not have the same level of build quality or other features found in this laptop.
Pro Excellent gaming performance
Both the GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 versions of this laptop offer excellent performance when gaming. The P650RS consistently hits 80+ FPS in most AAA games at ultra settings. For example, the GTX 1070 version can play Total War: Warhammer at 100FPS on 1080p with ultra settings. While the GTX 1060 version can play Battlefield 4 at 80FPS on ultra settings.
Even the relatively cheaper version of the P650RS with the GTX 1060 can pack a punch.
Pro Quality speakers
The two speakers packed in this laptop are pretty good, especially when compared with previous models. They provide reasonable bass and the mids have both good richness and deepness to them.
Pro Good keyboard
The keyboard is pretty good. It's backlit with programmable colors. The tactile feedback is decent across all keys and the travel length is about the average (1.5mm) for this kind of laptop.
Cons
Con Not very powerful
With an Intel Core M processor, the Macbook isn't a serious development laptop. While it will get the job done for lighter tasks, it will struggle with heavier jobs.
Con Non-free software
Apple doesn't release the source code for most of their software & firmware. This makes it significantly more difficult to customize, automate tasks, and verify security.
Con It's a bit hard to get used to the keyboard
The keys are pretty shallow, with a travel length of just 0.5mm. They still provide good feedback and the writing experience itself is not bad, but it's just a bit hard getting used to, especially if you are coming from a laptop that's not a MacBook.
Con Connecting more than one thing requires a hub
The laptop comes with a single USB-C port that's used for charging as well as any other peripherals or external storage devices. Connecting more than one thing at a time requires using a USB hub.
Con Premium price for not-so-premium hardware
Macbooks are one of the most expensive computers for the hardware they have. Mac is the most expensive UX to buy, as the price has low relationship to how good the hardware is and, instead, is related to how the whole experience from opening the box, to the physical shop, to the cloud and sync services they have.
Con Too fragile, compared to the competitors
Can barely handle liquid, breaks easily with bumping and, at a premium price, has the largest probability of something just breaking without apparent reason.
Con Very expensive (official) repairs
Fixing any problem with a Macbook through the official means is a very expensive investment. Usually, any problem that happens means replacing most of the laptop for 80% of the price, even if the problem can be solved by replacing a 5$ transistor or a 15$ chip or even bypassing with a 1$ wire.
Con The touchpad has issues with two-finger use
When trying to scroll up or down by using two fingers there are some synchronization issues with the touchpad.
Con The display should be better for this price
The Eluktronics P650RS uses a IPS display panel which is decent in itself but could and should probably be better for this price point.
Where it lacks specifically is in terms of contrast, colours, and response time. There's also some light bleeding when looking at a completely black screen.
Con Terrible battery life
Even when using this laptop for light activities such as web browsing, watching movies, or editing documents it averages at about three hours of independent use. This was measured at about 40% screen brightness so it would be much lower at a higher brightness.
When it's used for gaming then the average battery life drops to less than two hours of independent use because of the relatively high resource requirements that both the GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 have.
Con Has some issues with heat
Since the cool air is sucked from the bottom of the laptop, the bottom needs to stay above the sitting surface at all times.
But even when this advice is followed, the P650RS still has some issues with overheating. The center and left parts of the keyboard are the most problematic ones. It's not unusual for the keyboard to heat so much as it starts being a bit uncomfortable to use.
Con The speakers are not very loud
Even though they provide good sound, the P650RS-G speakers are not loud at all.