PROCESSOR\tIntel® Core? 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM\tGenuine Windows ® Vista Home Premium Edition (Only real differance between this and ultimate is lack of video wallpaper and domain client support, OSX doesnt have that either without 3rd party tools)
DISPLAY\tHigh Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch display (1680x1050)
VIDEO CARD\t256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8600M GT\t
MEMORY\tFREE! 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz\t
BATTERY OPTIONS\t56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)\tedit
SOUND OPTIONS\tHigh Definition Audio 2.0
PRICE: $1,593
Now the Macbook pro
MacBook Pro, 15-inch, 2.2GHz
Part Number: Z0EB
Accessory Kit
MacBook Pro 15-inch Widescreen Display
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
160GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
Apple USB Modem
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
$2,273.00
DIFFERANCE: $680
and that has a 256MB 8600 which is $100 more than the 128MB 8300 and is double the ram than the low end MBP has.
I know what I am doing..
APPLE: PLEASE PLEASE PUT AN DISCERRT GPU IN THE BLACK MACBOOK...It would seal the deal for me and Apple!
Ok yeah I found this:
Inspiron 1520 from the home section
Intel® Core? 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
Genuine Windows ® Vista Home Premium Edition
High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch display (1440x900)
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8600M GT
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
CD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)
Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
$1544
vs
lowest MBP
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz
OS X
15" 1440x900
128MB Geforce 8600M GT
2GB Ram
160GB HD
DVDRW
airport
bluetooth 2
webcam
$2074
So $530 difference, close to what you said. I guess it depends on what model you go with because some other models with similar spec are more expensive. I'd still go with the MBP though based on design, magsafe etc.
Genuine Windows ® Vista Home Premium Edition (Only real differance between this and ultimate is lack of video wallpaper and domain client support, OSX doesnt have that either without 3rd party tools)
Apart from there being a ton of differences between Home Premium and Ultimate, it should be noted that the video wallpaper feature (know as "DreamScene") is something you need to download separately. It falls under the category of "Windows Vista Ultimate Extras" and is still in a beta stage.
I recently purchased my first mac and it happened to be the New MBP 2.4 with 7200rpm HD. I have had what I would call sufficient experience to say that running OS X on mac hardware is worth the price. Your question to me seems more pointed towards the argument "Why do I need to pay the extra to run the OS on your (meaning apple) hardware?". Well you dont, there are plenty of guides to help you setup a pc to run OS X on it. In the experience that I have had with computers I have never seen such harmony between hardware and software (pointing more towards the OS) than in a Mac. I have run different versions of Linux on my PC machines, Red Hat mainly and even Ubuntu (which to be honest I kinda of like), and I have never seen a machine run as good as my new MBP.
Sounds like your just making excuses to shy away from Mac's hardware.
I spent a good part of my week specing out SantaRosa laptops and the Macbook pro that I am/was looking to buy at the end of the year rings up to $2200 (base model with 160g 7200rpm drive)
A system with the same specs can be had from Dell for $1500. that includes vista...so I must ask myself is OSX worth $700 when I will also need Paralells to run Office 2007?
The "apple premium" used to be reasonable, but it isn't now.
Is the privilege of using OSX worth $700?
Yes and no. OSX is definitely worth a little bit more as is Apple's premium hardware on a 1:1 ration. However, you rarely see Apple and Dell/HP match up well because they compete in difference segments. Apple makes great machines, they just tend to operate in the spaces where nobody else goes, at least since Jobs came back. If you want a tower, you have to move up past even the most high end consumer offerings right to the workstation ranks. If you want a screen that is larger than 13", you need a premium thin and light machine. If you're priced in to a segment that is much higher than your needs or budget because you would like an otherwise standard feature, it can be rather annoying. As can the Apple is infallible attitude of the Jobsian Apple users. The old days where the Mac was just a better computer are sadly past. Now, you have to be a member of the religion.
Im new to these boards and somewhat new to mac. However I've been a die-hard pc man for a long time. Finally, as I became a working man and finished college the mac has been the perfect decision for me.
Heres a few points I went with mac, maybe you can find revelance to some of them
I settled on the 2000$ MBP with the standard configuration. My only mistake I feel was not getting more memory, but I own about a TB of external memory so I will be fine.
I edit video fulltime, so its nice to have access to a powerful industry standard like FCP at your disposal. And it runs amazing. I can be rendering, running photoshop, have warcraft open, and a dvd playing and the thing still goes right along like nothing is in its way. Amazing.
I owned a dell laptop before this, and the thing just feels and operated like a piece of junk. No offense to software, i believe that windows will do things better, but honestly, If im going to spend money on something Id like for it to be designed for NOW. Laptops made by other manufacturers are relics compared to a macbook. The ambient lighting, LED screen, backlit keyboard, smooth design, low weight, thing dimensions, trackpad, magnetic battery chord, etc etc. These are all innovations, so you're not just buying something that looks cool. And it does look as cool as anything else out there
I never used OSx before, in a matter of weeks I'm flying around on it with no errors, no spamware, no viruses, smooth as ever.
Working all day, the last thing I need is to go home to a blue screen on my computer and deal with that nonsense.
OSx is also very un-intrusive. I made the joke that when I use OSx I feel truly alone with my computer. As if nobody is bothering me, but with windows there was always a warning from MS like " Firewall no adequate" , or a virus scanner slowing me down, or a bunch of backdoor processes hogging resources.
And when it comes down to it. i can run parallels, so if I want to use windows the option is there.
Coming from a long time windows user I wont go back after using a mac. It just doesnt make sense.
You speak of the very issues that I hold dear. I want my computing environment to be tranquil and functional.
Windows is such a distraction with the incessant warnings and what not I simply cannot bear to use it when I'm not at work.
With a MBP you can edit video and audio with relative ease. I'm not sure that Dell laptop is going to offer the same level of performance despite offering the same chipset and CPU.
Im new to these boards and somewhat new to mac. However I've been a die-hard pc man for a long time. Finally, as I became a working man and finished college the mac has been the perfect decision for me.
Heres a few points I went with mac, maybe you can find revelance to some of them
I settled on the 2000$ MBP with the standard configuration. My only mistake I feel was not getting more memory, but I own about a TB of external memory so I will be fine.
I edit video fulltime, so its nice to have access to a powerful industry standard like FCP at your disposal. And it runs amazing. I can be rendering, running photoshop, have warcraft open, and a dvd playing and the thing still goes right along like nothing is in its way. Amazing.
I owned a dell laptop before this, and the thing just feels and operated like a piece of junk. No offense to software, i believe that windows will do things better, but honestly, If im going to spend money on something Id like for it to be designed for NOW. Laptops made by other manufacturers are relics compared to a macbook. The ambient lighting, LED screen, backlit keyboard, smooth design, low weight, thing dimensions, trackpad, magnetic battery chord, etc etc. These are all innovations, so you're not just buying something that looks cool. And it does look as cool as anything else out there
I never used OSx before, in a matter of weeks I'm flying around on it with no errors, no spamware, no viruses, smooth as ever.
Working all day, the last thing I need is to go home to a blue screen on my computer and deal with that nonsense.
OSx is also very un-intrusive. I made the joke that when I use OSx I feel truly alone with my computer. As if nobody is bothering me, but with windows there was always a warning from MS like " Firewall no adequate" , or a virus scanner slowing me down, or a bunch of backdoor processes hogging resources.
And when it comes down to it. i can run parallels, so if I want to use windows the option is there.
Coming from a long time windows user I wont go back after using a mac. It just doesnt make sense.
Disk space, not memory.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmurchison
slowloris
Welcome to the fora and great first post.
You speak of the very issues that I hold dear. I want my computing environment to be tranquil and functional.
Windows is such a distraction with the incessant warnings and what not I simply cannot bear to use it when I'm not at work.
With a MBP you can edit video and audio with relative ease. I'm not sure that Dell laptop is going to offer the same level of performance despite offering the same chipset and CPU.
I just installed boot camp on my new MBP for when I want to play Halo and I realized I had forgotten in the 2 weeks that I've been using OS X how much of a pain windows really is. Just doing simple things like bluetooth, internet, and changing settings is confusing, time consuming, and hard to do. I tried to set up a bluetooth mouse and windows said they recommended a passkey between 8 and 16 characters long, and the one on my mouse is 17 characters. ##:##:##:#c:##:#f When they say they recommend it in this length, they mean that they will not accept anything outside this range. Just makes me mad, especially since I will definitely need the mouse for playing Halo.
three years from now, a day after your warrantee is gone, and you trip over the power cord making your machine useless and causing yourself no end of grief. you'll wish you had a machine with magsafe.
That innovation alone is worth 500$.
Think of it as klutz insurance.
also, asking apple to compete with dell atm is kind of ludicrous. Dell has zero customer service, machines that suck, and a biz that is falling through the floor. they might not even be in biz in 3 years.
Seriously, get a macbook pro. This machine is the best computer I've ever seen.
Comments
PROCESSOR\tIntel® Core? 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM\tGenuine Windows ® Vista Home Premium Edition (Only real differance between this and ultimate is lack of video wallpaper and domain client support, OSX doesnt have that either without 3rd party tools)
DISPLAY\tHigh Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch display (1680x1050)
VIDEO CARD\t256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8600M GT\t
MEMORY\tFREE! 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz\t
HARD DRIVE\t160G 7200RPM SATA HDD\t
OPTICAL DRIVE\tCD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)\t
WIRELESS NETWORKING\tDell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini-Card
BLUETOOTH OPTIONS\tBuilt-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)
INTEGRATED WEBCAM\tIntegrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam\tedit
BATTERY OPTIONS\t56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)\tedit
SOUND OPTIONS\tHigh Definition Audio 2.0
PRICE: $1,593
Now the Macbook pro
MacBook Pro, 15-inch, 2.2GHz
Part Number: Z0EB
Accessory Kit
MacBook Pro 15-inch Widescreen Display
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
160GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
Apple USB Modem
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
$2,273.00
DIFFERANCE: $680
and that has a 256MB 8600 which is $100 more than the 128MB 8300 and is double the ram than the low end MBP has.
I know what I am doing..
APPLE: PLEASE PLEASE PUT AN DISCERRT GPU IN THE BLACK MACBOOK...It would seal the deal for me and Apple!
Ok yeah I found this:
Inspiron 1520 from the home section
Intel® Core? 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
Genuine Windows ® Vista Home Premium Edition
High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch display (1440x900)
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8600M GT
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
CD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)
Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
$1544
vs
lowest MBP
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz
OS X
15" 1440x900
128MB Geforce 8600M GT
2GB Ram
160GB HD
DVDRW
airport
bluetooth 2
webcam
$2074
So $530 difference, close to what you said. I guess it depends on what model you go with because some other models with similar spec are more expensive. I'd still go with the MBP though based on design, magsafe etc.
Genuine Windows ® Vista Home Premium Edition (Only real differance between this and ultimate is lack of video wallpaper and domain client support, OSX doesnt have that either without 3rd party tools)
Apart from there being a ton of differences between Home Premium and Ultimate, it should be noted that the video wallpaper feature (know as "DreamScene") is something you need to download separately. It falls under the category of "Windows Vista Ultimate Extras" and is still in a beta stage.
More details on the "Ultimate Extras" here: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...rrassment.html
Is the privilege of using OSX worth $700?
To not give you the run around YES.
I recently purchased my first mac and it happened to be the New MBP 2.4 with 7200rpm HD. I have had what I would call sufficient experience to say that running OS X on mac hardware is worth the price. Your question to me seems more pointed towards the argument "Why do I need to pay the extra to run the OS on your (meaning apple) hardware?". Well you dont, there are plenty of guides to help you setup a pc to run OS X on it. In the experience that I have had with computers I have never seen such harmony between hardware and software (pointing more towards the OS) than in a Mac. I have run different versions of Linux on my PC machines, Red Hat mainly and even Ubuntu (which to be honest I kinda of like), and I have never seen a machine run as good as my new MBP.
Sounds like your just making excuses to shy away from Mac's hardware.
I spent a good part of my week specing out SantaRosa laptops and the Macbook pro that I am/was looking to buy at the end of the year rings up to $2200 (base model with 160g 7200rpm drive)
A system with the same specs can be had from Dell for $1500. that includes vista...so I must ask myself is OSX worth $700 when I will also need Paralells to run Office 2007?
The "apple premium" used to be reasonable, but it isn't now.
Is the privilege of using OSX worth $700?
Yes and no. OSX is definitely worth a little bit more as is Apple's premium hardware on a 1:1 ration. However, you rarely see Apple and Dell/HP match up well because they compete in difference segments. Apple makes great machines, they just tend to operate in the spaces where nobody else goes, at least since Jobs came back. If you want a tower, you have to move up past even the most high end consumer offerings right to the workstation ranks. If you want a screen that is larger than 13", you need a premium thin and light machine. If you're priced in to a segment that is much higher than your needs or budget because you would like an otherwise standard feature, it can be rather annoying. As can the Apple is infallible attitude of the Jobsian Apple users. The old days where the Mac was just a better computer are sadly past. Now, you have to be a member of the religion.
What do you pay for the OSX privilege
It's more like what would I pay to have a Mac rather than a PC. Whatever the cost.
DL DVD-R
Thickness
Weight
Backlit
Magsafe
Accelerometers
FW 800
802.11n
Remote
LED Backlight
aluminum case
optical audio in/out
60WHr Battery
DVI
6-Pin Powered Firewire 400
Gigabit Ethernet
Free iPod (if you're a student ($200 off the price as well))
And just a comparison on volume:
Dell: 219.8 cubic inches
MBP: 135.4 cubic inches
These two posts sum up why the the MBP costs more. It's not like Apple is charging $700 for nothing. It's a more svelte and complete notebook.
Heres a few points I went with mac, maybe you can find revelance to some of them
I settled on the 2000$ MBP with the standard configuration. My only mistake I feel was not getting more memory, but I own about a TB of external memory so I will be fine.
I edit video fulltime, so its nice to have access to a powerful industry standard like FCP at your disposal. And it runs amazing. I can be rendering, running photoshop, have warcraft open, and a dvd playing and the thing still goes right along like nothing is in its way. Amazing.
I owned a dell laptop before this, and the thing just feels and operated like a piece of junk. No offense to software, i believe that windows will do things better, but honestly, If im going to spend money on something Id like for it to be designed for NOW. Laptops made by other manufacturers are relics compared to a macbook. The ambient lighting, LED screen, backlit keyboard, smooth design, low weight, thing dimensions, trackpad, magnetic battery chord, etc etc. These are all innovations, so you're not just buying something that looks cool. And it does look as cool as anything else out there
I never used OSx before, in a matter of weeks I'm flying around on it with no errors, no spamware, no viruses, smooth as ever.
Working all day, the last thing I need is to go home to a blue screen on my computer and deal with that nonsense.
OSx is also very un-intrusive. I made the joke that when I use OSx I feel truly alone with my computer. As if nobody is bothering me, but with windows there was always a warning from MS like " Firewall no adequate" , or a virus scanner slowing me down, or a bunch of backdoor processes hogging resources.
And when it comes down to it. i can run parallels, so if I want to use windows the option is there.
Coming from a long time windows user I wont go back after using a mac. It just doesnt make sense.
Welcome to the fora and great first post.
You speak of the very issues that I hold dear. I want my computing environment to be tranquil and functional.
Windows is such a distraction with the incessant warnings and what not I simply cannot bear to use it when I'm not at work.
With a MBP you can edit video and audio with relative ease. I'm not sure that Dell laptop is going to offer the same level of performance despite offering the same chipset and CPU.
Im new to these boards and somewhat new to mac. However I've been a die-hard pc man for a long time. Finally, as I became a working man and finished college the mac has been the perfect decision for me.
Heres a few points I went with mac, maybe you can find revelance to some of them
I settled on the 2000$ MBP with the standard configuration. My only mistake I feel was not getting more memory, but I own about a TB of external memory so I will be fine.
I edit video fulltime, so its nice to have access to a powerful industry standard like FCP at your disposal. And it runs amazing. I can be rendering, running photoshop, have warcraft open, and a dvd playing and the thing still goes right along like nothing is in its way. Amazing.
I owned a dell laptop before this, and the thing just feels and operated like a piece of junk. No offense to software, i believe that windows will do things better, but honestly, If im going to spend money on something Id like for it to be designed for NOW. Laptops made by other manufacturers are relics compared to a macbook. The ambient lighting, LED screen, backlit keyboard, smooth design, low weight, thing dimensions, trackpad, magnetic battery chord, etc etc. These are all innovations, so you're not just buying something that looks cool. And it does look as cool as anything else out there
I never used OSx before, in a matter of weeks I'm flying around on it with no errors, no spamware, no viruses, smooth as ever.
Working all day, the last thing I need is to go home to a blue screen on my computer and deal with that nonsense.
OSx is also very un-intrusive. I made the joke that when I use OSx I feel truly alone with my computer. As if nobody is bothering me, but with windows there was always a warning from MS like " Firewall no adequate" , or a virus scanner slowing me down, or a bunch of backdoor processes hogging resources.
And when it comes down to it. i can run parallels, so if I want to use windows the option is there.
Coming from a long time windows user I wont go back after using a mac. It just doesnt make sense.
Disk space, not memory.
slowloris
Welcome to the fora and great first post.
You speak of the very issues that I hold dear. I want my computing environment to be tranquil and functional.
Windows is such a distraction with the incessant warnings and what not I simply cannot bear to use it when I'm not at work.
With a MBP you can edit video and audio with relative ease. I'm not sure that Dell laptop is going to offer the same level of performance despite offering the same chipset and CPU.
I just installed boot camp on my new MBP for when I want to play Halo and I realized I had forgotten in the 2 weeks that I've been using OS X how much of a pain windows really is. Just doing simple things like bluetooth, internet, and changing settings is confusing, time consuming, and hard to do. I tried to set up a bluetooth mouse and windows said they recommended a passkey between 8 and 16 characters long, and the one on my mouse is 17 characters. ##:##:##:#c:##:#f When they say they recommend it in this length, they mean that they will not accept anything outside this range. Just makes me mad, especially since I will definitely need the mouse for playing Halo.
three years from now, a day after your warrantee is gone, and you trip over the power cord making your machine useless and causing yourself no end of grief. you'll wish you had a machine with magsafe.
That innovation alone is worth 500$.
Think of it as klutz insurance.
also, asking apple to compete with dell atm is kind of ludicrous. Dell has zero customer service, machines that suck, and a biz that is falling through the floor. they might not even be in biz in 3 years.
Seriously, get a macbook pro. This machine is the best computer I've ever seen.