Dell more Expensive than Apple!
Dell Inspiron 9400 v Apple Mac Book Pro
Is the Dell better value? Check out this quick analsys. (Uk specs)
The Dell sells for £999 + Vat & Delivery - Total = £1233.83
The Mac Book Sells for £1275.75+Vat - Total = £1499.01 (upgraded to 1Gb ram)
So on paper the Dell looks £265.18 less expensive, But is it better value for
money?
How do they compare?
They both share the following: Intel Core Duo (1.67Ghz), 667 Front Bus,1GB of ram, 80 Gb Hard drive, Firewire,USB,Wifi, Express Slot, 1400x900 display (17inch on Dell) plus more.
The Mac has the following: iSight, Illuminated Keyboard, Bluetooth, Sudden Motion Sensor, Front Row with remote control. iLife 6, Faster Memory, Faster ethernet.
The Dell has 5-1 Card reader, Microsoft Works, Free printer - Dell 720.
Notably the Dell has inferior components. To even the deals up (if you could) you would have to spend the following:
Mac - Multi card reader £7, 720 Dell Printer £32.90. Total=£39.99
Dell - iSight £99, Bluetooth £29.38, Fast Ram £58.75, 15 Month Anti Virus etc £29.67 (not needed on mac
) Total=£216.80
So Mac=£1539 and Dell equals=£1450.63
Dell is £88.37 cheaper in reality!!
So what do you get for £88.37 from Apple
Front row with Remote control,
Illuminating Keyboard
Sudden Motion Sensor
Mag Safe Port
iLife 6
PhotoBooth
OS X Tiger (10 month old operating system) Latest Revision 10.1.06
contrast Windows XP (4 years 2 months old) latest Revision 2.7.03
Also you lose 1 kilo in weight and the height is only 1 inch compared to 1.65 inches on the Dell.
Suddenly Dell looks expensive!!
Lets face it, you?ve got to be nuts to buy the Dell !!
Is the Dell better value? Check out this quick analsys. (Uk specs)
The Dell sells for £999 + Vat & Delivery - Total = £1233.83
The Mac Book Sells for £1275.75+Vat - Total = £1499.01 (upgraded to 1Gb ram)
So on paper the Dell looks £265.18 less expensive, But is it better value for
money?
How do they compare?
They both share the following: Intel Core Duo (1.67Ghz), 667 Front Bus,1GB of ram, 80 Gb Hard drive, Firewire,USB,Wifi, Express Slot, 1400x900 display (17inch on Dell) plus more.
The Mac has the following: iSight, Illuminated Keyboard, Bluetooth, Sudden Motion Sensor, Front Row with remote control. iLife 6, Faster Memory, Faster ethernet.
The Dell has 5-1 Card reader, Microsoft Works, Free printer - Dell 720.
Notably the Dell has inferior components. To even the deals up (if you could) you would have to spend the following:
Mac - Multi card reader £7, 720 Dell Printer £32.90. Total=£39.99
Dell - iSight £99, Bluetooth £29.38, Fast Ram £58.75, 15 Month Anti Virus etc £29.67 (not needed on mac
) Total=£216.80So Mac=£1539 and Dell equals=£1450.63
Dell is £88.37 cheaper in reality!!
So what do you get for £88.37 from Apple
Front row with Remote control,
Illuminating Keyboard
Sudden Motion Sensor
Mag Safe Port
iLife 6
PhotoBooth
OS X Tiger (10 month old operating system) Latest Revision 10.1.06
contrast Windows XP (4 years 2 months old) latest Revision 2.7.03
Also you lose 1 kilo in weight and the height is only 1 inch compared to 1.65 inches on the Dell.
Suddenly Dell looks expensive!!
Lets face it, you?ve got to be nuts to buy the Dell !!
Comments
Positives on the Dell at $2899:
2Ghz Core Duo
100 Gig 7200RPM SATA
17? screen
S-Video connector
Modem
2Gigs of memory
Positives on the MacBook Pro at $2899:
iSight built in
iLife apps
MacOSX
MagSafe connector
Apple Remote and FrontRow
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600
Bluetooth2.0
Gigabit ethernet
You can't really argue that the faster processor, faster drive and double memory allotment would not give a substantial performance edge to the Dell. And going from 15" to 17" makes a difference. Other than OS X and the ATI card, the extras on the Mac seem like nicities, while the advantages on the Dell seem more tangible.
I would still go with the MacBook if/when the time is right for me to get a new system, but it would be a tough call in some ways. But, then I guess we have always paid a premium. It just somehow seems more glaring in the light of more similar hardware platforms.
My brother just ordered a MacBook Pro today. He already has the high end Dell XPS notebook, ordered just a couple months ago. He works for the govenment. His boss received a memo today from their ministry finance department actually asking for assitance in finding new expenditures for a sudden windfall in their budget. So he ordered the Macbook, a couple large LCD displays and some other toys. My tax dollars at work. bastard.
Originally posted by Tulkas
I did a similar comparison at the Dell Canada site. The higherend MacBook in Canada is $2899, so I spec'd out a Dell 9400 for the same price.
You can't really argue that the faster processor, faster drive and double memory allotment would not give a substantial performance edge to the Dell. And going from 15" to 17" makes a difference. Other than OS X and the ATI card, the extras on the Mac seem like nicities, while the advantages on the Dell seem more tangible.
I would still go with the MacBook if/when the time is right for me to get a new system, but it would be a tough call in some ways. But, then I guess we have always paid a premium. It just somehow seems more glaring in the light of more similar hardware platforms.
How big and heavy is that DELL?
I also really cannot work out why people buy DELL laptops. There are plenty of superior, equally priced PC laptops from the likes of Acer and Asus.
Originally posted by Mr. H
How big and heavy is that DELL?
I also really cannot work out why people buy DELL laptops. There are plenty of superior, equally priced PC laptops from the likes of Acer and Asus.
People buy dell because they know the name. People buy ipod because they know the name
As to the heavyness/size issue: I had a buddy tell me that even if it vould dual boot windows, he would avoid the PB because they are "too thin and thus fragile" this is not a dumb person, this is a computer person too...freaky
Originally posted by a_greer
this is not a dumb person
Are you sure?
Originally posted by Mr. H
I also really cannot work out why people buy DELL laptops. There are plenty of superior, equally priced PC laptops from the likes of Acer and Asus.
I agree with you there. Acer and Asus make some nice laptops. If I wanted a PC that's the brands I'd be looking at.
A few of my friends ended up getting Dells because of this.
Aso, just look through the "Small Medium Company" Dell catalogue and the "Personal" catalgue and you'll see the ExACT same computers at different prices (costs less if you buy on the Small Medium Company catalgue btw)
So... if you want to compare sticker prices to sticker prices, yes, Apple does pretty darn wel.. but I've NEVER gotten a discount whether through online or at an Apple store.
I also have a feeling he iBook (MacBook? iMacBook?) will get trashed price-wise with othr low end offeres.
The problem now that we're Intel based is that a low-end Dell, HP, etc will be almost identical to an iBook feature wise. And them people sell low end for REALLY low end prices.
Will the iBook be marketed as a medium-end laptop then? Then what wil Aple offer to the Edu market?
Originally posted by ZO
its all good and well to bash Dell and stuff.. but dont forget one thing: you can give Dell a call and just ASK for a better price quote and they'll slash off anywhere between 15-30% of the quoted price... just like that.
I was only bashing their laptops. Seriously, I have never, ever seen a decent Dell laptop. It just seems to me that people sometimes don't even consider how big or heavy they are, or how long the battery will last.
Originally posted by ZO
I also have a feeling he iBook (MacBook? iMacBook?) will get trashed price-wise with other low end offers.
The problem now that we're Intel based is that a low-end Dell, HP, etc will be almost identical to an iBook feature wise. And them people sell low end for REALLY low end prices.
Will the iBook be marketed as a medium-end laptop then? Then what wil Aple offer to the Edu market?
I don't think that Apple has ever offered a truly low-end system. For example, all of their machines, including iBooks and Mac mini, have dedicated GPUs and FireWire. The iBook has built-in 802.11 and Bluetooth, the Mac mini has a DVI monitor output. Also, both iBook and Mac mini are very compact, I'm sure it's much cheaper to design and manufacture larger machines. The question is, Do Apple need to offer proper low-end systems to expand their market share, or would this simply devalue their brand?
Originally posted by Mr. H
I was only bashing their laptops. Seriously, I have never, ever seen a decent Dell laptop. It just seems to me that people sometimes don't even consider how big or heavy they are, or how long the battery will last.
Yeah, when I started grad school (fall 2003) Dell must have had some real good deal, because everyone had the same crappy ass inspiron laptop, and they all hated them.
I would hardly ever see a mac. The next year though, lots of the incoming people had ibooks.
so basically, we're going to be seeing the SAME laptops from everyone, but packaged slightly diferently...
in the subways of Paris I see ads for 699euro (8-900usd?)laptops that have some pretty sweet specs! Yeah, I know... they'll fall apart in 2 months... but still...
Anyway... in Apple We Trust... they'll deal with it in due time...
A faster Core Duo.
A faster hard drive.
Ability to burn dual layer DVDs.
Why does the MacBook "Pro" lack these basic features? Why indeed? Because Apple is fucking cheap, and they know that Mac users are fucked when it comes to buying hardware. Totally fucked over a barrel.
The faster Core Duo for the MacBook Pro is a given. There is simply no excuse for Apple to be putting out lame hardware when they share the same damn supplier with Dell. This isn't rocket science, just match Dell's specs!
The hard drive is a big deal. Maybe Apple wanted the slower drive to boost battery life, but as far as performance goes, OS X on a 7400 rpm HD is on another plane compared to OS X on a 5400 rpm drive. There is just no comparison at all, and battery life or no, a 7200 rpm drive should at least be BTO for all the speed freaks.
Dual layer DVDs. Maybe not so important. Won't matter at all when BluRay arrives, but then, will Apple have the balls it takes to put BluRay drives in their products? I seriously doubt it. Apple will wait until Dell, Gateway, Sony, and eMachines have all installed BluRay drives in all of their computers right down to the $299 MegaTower Supercharged Edition before dipping their corporate toe in the water to slip a BluRay drive in a Powermac or whatever they're called. Oh, no slot loading BluRay drives? Fuck it, the Mac Book Pros don't need 'em anyways.
Actually that 2.0 GHz is nothing - there are some Wintel makers using Duo Core CPUs above 2 GHz (I forget exactly the speed rating). Apple is using the same CPUs as everyone else, but they are already abysmally behind.
Originally posted by Junkyard Dawg
Fuck all that, the Dell is a better piece of engineering, no question.
A faster Core Duo.
A faster hard drive.
Ability to burn dual layer DVDs.
Jeez... forget to take your pills today?
Those Dells are bigger! A lot bigger, and significantly heavier. It really is not hard for them to fit faster processors and a dual-layer burner inside. If you really think that Dell's laptops are better engineered than Apple's, something is seriously wrong with you.
btw, Apple do offer a 7200 rpm drive in the MacBook pro.
Now, whether or not Apple should introduce a second line of laptops that are bigger and heavier such that they can fit the biggest, badest, fastest of everything inside to satisfy people such as yourselves, is another matter.
Originally posted by His Dudeness
The one drawback to a Dell... it comes preloaded with XP. Now take that Dell laptop and put Debian/Ubuntu on it, and I'll take it.
Not necessarily. You can buy a Dell with no OS, or even FreeDOS.
And installing Ubuntu/Debian is trivial nowadays. You can easily do it yourself. Just think of it as re-installing OS X for the first time when you buy a Mac.
Originally posted by His Dudeness
The only ones I've seen with no OS installed are the desktops. I would love to be able to buy a laptop from Dell with no OS or anything. That would probably cut about 300 or 400 off the price, right?
Just out of interest, why a laptop from Dell? Why not another PC manufacturer? Like I said, I just don't get why people buy Dell laptops, I'm curious to know if you wouldn't mind explaining.
Originally posted by His Dudeness
I have an Inspiron 8600. It's actually a very nice laptop. No dead pixels, nice keyboard, still going strong. Plus, I only paid about 1300 for it, brand new. I couldn't find a better deal for a laptop with a 15.4" screen, 80 gig drive, 512 ram, and wifi. I'm very happy with it.
Before I continue, please note I'm not trying to make you regret your purchase, make you agree with me, make you look stupid, etc. I just want to understand.
Did you consider any other PC laptop manufacturer?
If so, what did Dell offer that the others did not?
If not, why did you go straight to Dell? Confidence in the brand?
Was your main consideration price? Did it over-ride all other factors such as portability?
According to the specs I found on Dell's website, your laptop measures 1.5 x 14.1 x 10.8 inches, and weighs 7.2 lbs (3.7 Kg!!)
edit...
CDW currently sell a 15" (4:3, not widescreen) Acer (the travelmate 4654LMi) for just under $1300. I'm assuming that when the 8600 was around, so was this Acer form-factor, but with a slower processor. It measures 1.4 x 13.2 x 11.2 inches, and weighs 6.2 lbs.
bugger! sorry! I thought the Dell was 4:3. CDW sell the Acer 4404WLMi for just under $1300, it has a widescreen 15.4". Again I'm assuming the form factor was around when the 8600 was. It measures 1.3 x 14.3 x 10.9 inches and weighs 6.6 lbs.
And no, I didn't know too much about Acer at the time, and I still don't. Plus one of the big reasons I went with Dell, they gave me credit after my bankruptcy when others wouldn't. Not that it has swayed my opinion on the laptop or anything. It is actually quite nice.