Stop Me Before I Press Buy!

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
So the time has come to buy a new laptop and the odds are really split between DELL and APPLE. It would either be between the midrange TiBook with 60 gig HD and a gig of ram or the Dell Inspiron configured with a gig of ram, Radeon 9000 Mobile, 60 gig HD, 2.2ghz and 60 gig hd.



Basically Im a business student and will probably use this computer to play games. I am way too close to pressing the buy button on the Dell side! AHHHH HELP ME!
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 34
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Press buy, go on, do it!



    Don't buy an Apple machine untill the price matches the spec.



    However, Dells lose resale value faster than chewed gum, so if you have upgrade plans for the near future, better be ready to repay full price in 2 years.
  • Reply 2 of 34
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    radeon 9000 is awesome chip for gaming, but the TiBook Radeon is def no slouch either.



    Just remember that a Dell is a POS.



    If I were you, get a TiBook and enjoy the gaming on it, and then eventually, in a year or so, get yerself a PC tower for just gaming...
  • Reply 3 of 34
    ZO you say:

    [quote] If I were you, get a TiBook and enjoy the gaming on it, and then eventually, in a year or so, get yerself a PC tower for just gaming...<hr></blockquote>



    I mean no disrespect by saying this but, in this day and age where it is almost 2003 and video cards are running at blazing fast speeds it seems dumb and plain uneconomical to buy a machine just for gaming.



    Apple markets the TiBook as a desktop replacement in every spotlight they have on it. Hence I want it to replace my desktop.
  • Reply 4 of 34
    defiantdefiant Posts: 4,876member
    [quote]Originally posted by Shanksta:

    <strong> (...) it seems dumb and plain uneconomical to buy a machine just for gaming.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    you're still studying, no ?



    press buy on the powerbook.



    ?longer battery life (5hrs) (good for those loong meetings)



    ?sleek looks (everyone will look on your tiBook and not what you say, so you can say what you want and everybody finds it cool)



    ?and just for christ' sake, that you can tell a story of a switcher
  • Reply 5 of 34
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    [quote]Originally posted by Defiant:

    <strong>



    you're still studying, no ?



    press buy on the powerbook.



    ?longer battery life (5hrs) (good for those loong meetings)

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    let's be realistic here... powerbook doesn't get close to 5 hours.... I can squeeze out maybe 4 if I turn the screen down to one bar of brightness and just leave it on. nevermind doing anything or actualy having a decent screen brightness.



    And when you are using it and taxxing that g4 with a decent screen brightness (meaning around 75%), you're lucky to eek out 2 hours....



    Powerbook may be a lot better in battery life than most PCs but it doesn't get anywhere near 5 hours in even light usage
  • Reply 6 of 34
    nebrienebrie Posts: 483member
    Dell's laptops are a flimsy piece of crap - you're getting what you pay for in this instance. If you must get a PC laptop, at least take a look at other brands!
  • Reply 7 of 34
    Speaking of flimsy peices of crap, my girlfriends Titanium 550 looks like the wing of a B-17 bomber back from a bombing mission over Germany,



    The iBook is pretty durable, but the Titanium powerbook is more delicate than bone china
  • Reply 8 of 34
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    if the Mac is within $500 of the Dell, get the Mac. if not, then it's up to you what your money's worth.



    that P4 will be running at butt slow speeds when it's not plugged in for its speed step crap. if you want to game you're stupid to get a laptop anyway, no matter what platform.



    there are about 100 better ways to game than with a laptop.



    the Mac is the better laptop, no question. i've used both, the TiBook gets all the useage now.



    [ 10-27-2002: Message edited by: alcimedes ]</p>
  • Reply 9 of 34
    Don't do it. Buy that RAM somewhere else and put it in yourself. Come on void that warentee, you know you want to.
  • Reply 10 of 34
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    [quote]if the Mac is within $500 of the Dell, get the Mac. if not, then it's up to you what your money's worth.<hr></blockquote>



    even if the cheaper PC has much better specs? that makes no sense at all.... maybe if they were similarly configured but they aren't



    [quote]that P4 will be running at butt slow speeds when it's not plugged in for its speed step crap. if you want to game you're stupid to get a laptop anyway, no matter what platform.<hr></blockquote>



    1.) Speedstep is optional

    2.) Apple also has a reduce processor speed option which does the exact same thing

    3.) Running at 2.2 Ghz, the speedstep option even when on likely blows away a 667 or 800 Mhz G4

    4.) You're comment about gaming is ridiculous... The radeon 9000 mobilitity and even the 7500 outperforms most desktop machines.... portables make very good gaming machines now... especially if hooked up to a cheap CRT.



    [quote]the Mac is the better laptop, no question. i've used both, the TiBook gets all the useage now.<hr></blockquote>



    perhaps, but that's opinion... and while the Powerbook may very well be a better portable.... it's very hard to justify spending so much more for so much less.



    [ 10-27-2002: Message edited by: applenut ]</p>
  • Reply 11 of 34
    telomartelomar Posts: 1,804member
    I think the simple answer is wait until November 5. If something new comes out and you like it then great. If you still prefer the Dell then no matter. Personally I would prefer the TiBook but then again I wouldn't use my laptop for games.
  • Reply 12 of 34
    If you must get a gaming laptop, then buy an alienware. Those kick major butt for gaming. Only downside is that they come with the actual desktop P4 so the battery life is extremely short.



    <a href="http://www.alienware.com/main/system_pages/area51-m.asp"; target="_blank">ultimate gaming laptop</a>



    [ 10-27-2002: Message edited by: trailmaster308 ]</p>
  • Reply 13 of 34
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Originally posted by trailmaster308:

    <strong>If you must get a gaming laptop, then buy an alienware. Those kick major butt for gaming. Only downside is that they come with the actual desktop P4 so the battery life is extremely short.



    <a href="http://www.alienware.com/main/system_pages/area51-m.asp"; target="_blank">ultimate gaming laptop</a>



    [ 10-27-2002: Message edited by: trailmaster308 ]</strong><hr></blockquote>



    That's gotta be the ugliest laptop ever.
  • Reply 14 of 34
    [quote]Originally posted by EmAn:

    <strong>



    That's gotta be the ugliest laptop ever.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Your opinion. I disagree. However, you can't deny the specs. No other laptop comes close as far as raw power. For gaming that is.
  • Reply 15 of 34
    At least wait until mid-november, when many are predicting that the Titanium will be upgraded. The new revision will probably have a 1 GHz G4 and perhaps a new, faster video card.



    But even the current Titanium is far better than the Dell. Not only does it have better quality parts, and a higher resale value, but it runs OS X. If you haven't used OS X yet, then that would explain why you're even considering the Dell. Most people who have used OS X are blown away by it, and would gladly pay the extra money for the Titanium.



    As for your intended usage, it seems an odd choice to buy a laptop for gaming. If you plan on using the laptop for work and will be playing games only part-time, then the Powerbook should be fine. Quake 3 screams on current Titaniums, but don't expect Doom 3 to rock on it.
  • Reply 16 of 34
    my ti manages 4 hours running photoshop and me working on it the whole time. Have to say that this is the nicest computer i have ever used and I have used quite a broad range of computers (pcs/macs/amigas/sgi's/even eww acorns)
  • Reply 17 of 34
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    alright... fully charged Powerbook G4/667... just unplugged it... have screen brightness one notch below high and just have IE 5 open and typing this... letting it sit for a while to get as near an estimate as possible.... estimated battery life remaining = 1:49



    now, estimated means not all that much... fluctuates a lot and could be much longer... but it is an estimate... and doing nothing... fully charged... running OS X.... the estimate is less than half of what apple claims and also less than half of what you cliam doing actual work.



    I've used other Powerbooks... used iBooks.... iBooks are the only ones I have ever come close to Apple's advertised battery life with. Powerbook G3 lombard was also close.... at times.



    I'm not really complaining... my battery lasts long enough to watch a decent length DVD... which is more than many PC laptops can claim... but the battery life is no where near 5 hours which was originally stated as an advantage of the powerbook.
  • Reply 18 of 34
    he mentioned games.....



    look for pure games get a laptop with a good

    nvidia card

    dell or toshiba or a sony vaio



    otherwise get the ti.
  • Reply 19 of 34
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    [quote]Originally posted by madmax559:

    <strong>he mentioned games.....



    look for pure games get a laptop with a good

    nvidia card

    dell or toshiba or a sony vaio



    otherwise get the ti.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    ATI makes the best portable gaming solution right now... not nVidia
  • Reply 20 of 34
    [quote]If you haven't used OS X yet, then that would explain why you're even considering the Dell. Most people who have used OS X are blown away by it, and would gladly pay the extra money for the Titanium.<hr></blockquote>



    I have tried OS X. I am blown away with it. However I BUY TECHNOLOGY FOR WHAT IT CAN DO FOR ME! If it can't run every program I need to run or do what I need to do I will not buy it. If everyone bought what they thought was a revolutionary idea then the .com burst would not have happened. Lets be realistic not idealistic.



    About the gaming - once Unreal Tourney 2k3 comes out I'll be fine....



    However I will need to run all of the statistical programs like @RISK and such for the business school, thats what my main use will consist of. And I don't want to hear any VPC recommendations.



    [ 10-27-2002: Message edited by: Shanksta ]</p>
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