iBook vs. Ispiron 1100

[maraczc]

What do you think of the Inspiron 1100 notebook by Dell? I was thinking about how it will compare with the iBook. Do you think that it will hurt iBook sales not that the price has been dropped on it?

It has:
-2" screen space than the iBook (14", upgradeable to 15" at an extra $100)
-a faster proccessor 2 GHZ Celeron
-128 MB more RAM
-DDR RAM
-Microsoft Office Included
-3 Months Free DSL over Apple's 1 Month Dailup
-a full year of telephone support
-much more options
-USB 2
-free shipping
-$200 CND CHEAPER!

Yes it seems rather nice. I was thinking about selling my iBook to buy one.

[tazo]

Originally posted by maraczc
What do you think of the Inspiron 1100 notebook by Dell? I was thinking about how it will compare with the iBook. Do you think that it will hurt iBook sales not that the price has been dropped on it?

It has:
-2" screen space than the iBook (14", upgradeable to 15" at an extra $100)
-a faster proccessor 2 GHZ Celeron
-128 MB more RAM
-DDR RAM
-Microsoft Office Included
-3 Months Free DSL over Apple's 1 Month Dailup
-a full year of telephone support
-much more options
-USB 2
-free shipping
-$200 CND CHEAPER!

Yes it seems rather nice. I was thinking about selling my iBook to buy one.

First off you should note that a celeron and a pentium4 are not the same.

Note that laptop will be heavier, will not have the iApps, nor OS X. The dell does not have firewire either, and Apple also gives freeshipping. Its all about what matters to you, do you value the stabilltiy and easy of the mac platofrm, the great iApps? I guess my main question is why you want to switch? Is there a major problem with your ibook you are tired of? Also what speed is your ibook?

[maraczc]

Originally posted by tazo
First off you should note that a celeron and a pentium4 are not the same.

Note that laptop will be heavier, will not have the iApps, nor OS X. The dell does not have firewire either, and Apple also gives freeshipping. Its all about what matters to you, do you value the stabilltiy and easy of the mac platofrm, the great iApps? I guess my main question is why you want to switch? Is there a major problem with your ibook you are tired of? Also what speed is your ibook?

Nothing is wrong with my iBook. But the Inspiron 1100 just seems like such a great deal. I prefer Macs usually but look at the improvements. My iBook is 800 MHZ, even though Celeron<Penium 4<G3, a Celeron 2 GHZ has got to be much faster than a 800 MHZ G3.

[tazo]

Originally posted by maraczc
Nothing is wrong with my iBook. But the Inspiron 1100 just seems like such a great deal. I prefer Macs usually but look at the improvements. My iBook is 800 MHZ, even though Celeron<Penium 4<G3, a Celeron 2 GHZ has got to be much faster than a 800 MHZ G3.

that is probably true. Not to be critical or anything, but the way you put that, with the greater/lesser than symbols, it reads as:
the G3 is better then the pentium which is better then the celeron.

This is true to an extent although I doubt the G3 is better then the P4.

If speed is the main issue and it bothers you then by all means buy the dell. It seems like a good deal. despite the lack of firewire and small form factor of the ibook. Also, what kind of optical drive is that dell sporting?

[macktheknife]

Make sure you realize that the Inspiron 1100 is 7.22 lbs vs. 4.9 lbs for the 12 inch iBook and 5.9 lbs for the 14 inch model. The 2 GHz Celeron is not as fast as the 2 GHz Pentium 4-M, but it will probably be faster than the 900 MHz G3 the iBook has.

You actually might want to consider the Inspiron 600m and 500m models. The 1.3 GHz Pentium-M performance is comparable to a 1.6 - 1.8 GHz Pentium 4-M. It also weighs about 5 lbs, which is exactly the weight of the TiBook.

You must be careful in putting too much weight on the raw clockspeed of processors. Nonetheless, I am considering getting a Dell too (I have a 550 MHz TiBook), and I also feel that the speed of my Mac has been less than desirable.

[tazo]

Originally posted by macktheknife
Make sure you realize that the Inspiron 1100 is 7.22 lbs vs. 4.9 lbs for the 12 inch iBook and 5.9 lbs for the 14 inch model. The 2 GHz Celeron is not as fast as the 2 GHz Pentium 4-M, but it will probably be faster than the 900 MHz G3 the iBook has.

You actually might want to consider the Inspiron 600m and 500m models. The 1.3 GHz Pentium-M performance is comparable to a 1.6 - 1.8 GHz Pentium 4-M. It also weighs about 5 lbs, which is exactly the weight of the TiBook.

You must be careful in putting too much weight on the raw clockspeed of processors. Nonetheless, I am considering getting a Dell too (I have a 550 MHz TiBook), and I also feel that the speed of my Mac has been less than desirable.

doesnt the tibook weigh 5.8? I think you made a typo and meant 6. :)

[CMillerERAU]

All I can say is I hope Apple's reading these posts, I think there's no denying the PowerPC G3/4's are quickly loosing to the Pentiums regardless of how much more effecient they are. Lets hope the 970 arrives soon and is everythign we want it to be. javascript:smilie(':(')

[evilsprung]

it just all comes down to functionality. if you think you can get the same functionality out of the dell as you do your ibook, then get it.

[macktheknife]

Originally posted by tazo
doesnt the tibook weigh 5.8? I think you made a typo and meant 6. :)

Actually, according to Apple's tech specs (here (http://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.html)), the 15 inch TiBook weighs about 5.4 lbs. I was just a bit off. ;)

Originally posted by CMillerERAU
All I can say is I hope Apple's reading these posts, I think there's no denying the PowerPC G3/4's are quickly loosing to the Pentiums regardless of how much more effecient they are. Lets hope the 970 arrives soon and is everythign we want it to be. javascript:smilie(':(')

Yes, for Apple's sake, I hope they're reading this. Unfortunately, I will probably not wait for the 970s myself. I've decided that a PC will be good enough for what I do--surf, e-mail, play games, crunch numbers, code, etc.--at a lower cost. Although crashes on Windows XP is not uncommon, the PC's advantage in sheer speed is definitely a consideration for me.

[mgargan1]

i work for gateway, and our 450 is actually a very good buy. I do however, not like the windows os, so I'm an apple man, and if you do get a PC... don't rule out gateway. But i would go for a mac.

[ibookin']

My observations about the Inspiron 1100:

a) It is a boat anchor of a laptop (>7lbs) and huge. The iBook is under 5 on the 12" and under 6 on the 14'.

b) It does not have a real video card, nor does it have the option for one. The 2GHz CPU will NOT make up for this in games; the iBooks Radeon 7500 with 32MB of DDR RAM will crush the Dell in terms of 3D performance.

c) The Inspiron has a battery life of "up to" 3.5 hours, whereas the battery life on the iBook "up to" 5 hours. The battery life on the 14" iBook is even better, "up to" 6 hours.

d) When speced to compare with the iBook Combo, the Dell comes out to $1306 minus a $150 mail in rebate, and still has the graphics issue. If that price seems a little high, it's because I opted for the Dell Music Jukebox Plus (to get unrestricted in terms of speed CD rips), Dell Picture Studio Premium to compete with iPhoto, and the move studio package that adds a firewire port.
This config has the same amount of RAM, same size hard drive, and a bigger screen than the iBook.

So basically, the iBook is about $150 more for a much more elegant package. If I were buying right now, and both machines ran exactly the same software, I'd go for the iBook. But you're also factoring in OS X and the iApps, which are light years ahead of anything Dell ships with the Inspiron.

I say stay with your iBook. You won't regret it.

EDIT: Oh yeah, it's UGLY!!! :D

Second EDIT: I just tricked out a Dell Inspiron 5100 to see what it would cost with a Radeon 7500 32MB, and it was $1513 minus a $200 rebate. With Dell, to get good graphics performance you have to pony up the big bucks. With Apple, even the lowliest of iBooks ($999) sports a 32MB Radeon 7500.

Note: All prices are in USD.

[mim]

Well I made the mistake of getting a Dell for my first laptop.

I needed small and powerful at the time, so I got a Dell 8000. Same form factor as the 1100 I thinks. Let me tell you - it's a clunker. They're quite noisy - mine roars as loud as a desktop whenever there's a slighly higher than idle load. It's starting to come apart now too - the build has always felt solid, but not robust. The iBooks are much better quality.

I though the bigger screen would be an absolute necessity, but I've played on a 12" PB too - in terms of productivity in photoshop, etc, there's little difference between them. I'd just get a cheap CTR if I needed more screen now - when I need that kind of screen space I need to be at a desk anyway...

Also, let me tell you - after being in the Windows wasteland for 2 years now and having worked with that 12"pb - I can't wait to switch back. The interface, that thing you work with most of the time you use the machine, is so much slicker speedier and nicer on the mac. We just got a dual 2.4 Xeon at work for rendering. The bleeding Windows explorer response times make it feel like operating in MUD compared to OSX on the PB - even on that beast!

Also - no powered firewire on Dell laptops. If you want a new toy, grab an iPod and some more ram, and 10.3 next month.

[maracz]

But also some of their others models such as the Performance and Mobility and Mobility Perfomance look ncie too. And they have good graphics cards (up to 64 MB on Mobility Performance). I'd have to spend more money to get Panther for my iBook when it comes out. or I could use that same money and upgrade to a Dell.

Do you think that the 2+ GHZ Pentium 4's wil last me longr than the iBook 800 MHZ G3? need to sue my computer for 2-3 years.

[macktheknife]

Originally posted by maracz
But also some of their others models such as the Performance and Mobility and Mobility Perfomance look ncie too. And they have good graphics cards (up to 64 MB on Mobility Performance). I'd have to spend more money to get Panther for my iBook when it comes out. or I could use that same money and upgrade to a Dell.

Do you think that the 2+ GHZ Pentium 4's wil last me longr than the iBook 800 MHZ G3? need to sue my computer for 2-3 years.

Before I sold it to buy a TiBook, I bought a Dell more than two years ago (February 2001) with the following specs: 850 MHz PIII, 256 MB RAM, and 20 GB HD. A machine with such specs won't be able to play to latest and greatest games today (but it will play something like Baldur's Gate or WC III), but it is more than enough to do basic tasks. It was also faster than my one year-old current TiBook (550 MHz, 1 GB, 30 GB HD).

BTW, Dell just cut the prices on the Inspiron 600m. I've been looking at a Dell Inspiron 600m with a 1.6 GHz Pentium-M, 256 MB RAM (I'll buy another 512 MB module myself), ATI 64MB Video Card, CD-RW/DVD combo, and 60 GB HD for about $2,200. It was about $2,500 or so the other day. You could cut another $500 if you go with the 1.3 GHz Pentium-M processor and another $100 if you go with the 40 GB HD, bringing the total down to $1,600.

[Tequila Grandma]

I wouldn't personally get a Dell Inspiron for the reason that I'd have to kick the crap out of myself for using such a terribly ugly, stupid looking computer:

http://di.dell.com/images/global/products/inspn/inspn_1100_front.jpg

I'd also go mad from having to use Windows. The iBook is a much classier package, I'd NEVER give mine up for a Windows laptop, no matter how much faster it was.

Arigato,
Brook

[macktheknife]

Originally posted by Tequila Grandma
I wouldn't personally get a Dell Inspiron for the reason that I'd have to kick the crap out of myself for using such a terribly ugly, stupid looking computer:

I'd also go mad from having to use Windows. The iBook is a much classier package, I'd NEVER give mine up for a Windows laptop, no matter how much faster it was.

I used to say the same thing. I've used my TiBook for the last year and a half, and I must say that the experience has been disappointing as a whole. OS X is more stable, but it is not flawless--the eye candy consumes a great deal of processing power and kernel panics are not uncommon. I got really tired of seeing the finder crawl like a slug when I was browsing through my files. Opening a spreadsheet, listening to music, surfing the web, and chatting on the Internet brings my TiBook to its knees and the whole computer becomes glacially slow. Let's not even talk about OS X's Help function.

My TiBook looks really cool, and I do get a lot of double-takes when I'm working at a cafe. However, considering the price I paid for the computer and its overall performance, I've asked myself a simple question: "Is it worth it?" I've come to the conclusion that the Apple premium is indeed not worth it. This is however, my opinion, and others will undoubtedly have their own opinions. Everyone has their own needs. I have identified my needs and preferences, and I plan to switch back.

[celaurie]

There's one problem with it... It's just not Apple. :p

[Tequila Grandma]

Originally posted by macktheknife
I got really tired of seeing the finder crawl like a slug when I was browsing through my files. Opening a spreadsheet, listening to music, surfing the web, and chatting on the Internet brings my TiBook to its knees and the whole computer becomes glacially slow. Let's not even talk about OS X's Help function.
...how much RAM does this machine have? For months, I used my iBook (600mhz) with the standard amount of RAM (128mb), and I experienced many of the problems you described. Since expanding the RAM to 640mb, however, the iBook has run like a dream. While doing Photoshop or Final Cut Pro or something, it's certainly not incredibly fast, but for everyday activities, it's been quite speedy.

Arigato,
Brook

[macktheknife]

Originally posted by Tequila Grandma
...how much RAM does this machine have? For months, I used my iBook (600mhz) with the standard amount of RAM (128mb), and I experienced many of the problems you described. Since expanding the RAM to 640mb, however, the iBook has run like a dream. While doing Photoshop or Final Cut Pro or something, it's certainly not incredibly fast, but for everyday activities, it's been quite speedy.

512 MB--more than twice the RAM I had in my old Dell Inspiron. I would understand if my TiBook chokes on Final Cut Pro or doing heavy rendering on Photoshop, but it slows to a crawl doing simple multitasking. That, to me, is the most disappointing aspect of my Apple experience. When I booted into OS 9, I was stunned at how fast my TiBook was. Incredible.

[macktheknife]

I did a similar comparison here (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=356557#post356557) against the PowerBook, and I was curious to see how the iBook would stack up. So here are the specs for a top-of-the line iBook:

Processor: 900 MHz G4
Cache: 512K at 900MHz Level 2 cache
System Bus: 100MHz
Memory: 256MB PC133 SDRAM
Display: 14.1-inch (diagonal) TFT XGA
Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics accelerator with 32MB
Hard Disk: 40GB Ultra ATA/66
Optical Drive: Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Ethernet: Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit)
Modem: Built-in 56K V.92 modem
Wireless Networking: AirPort ready
OS: Mac OS 10.2
Price: $1,778

Here are the specs for the Dell Inspiron 600m:

Processor: 1.3 GHz Pentium-M
Cache: On-die 1 MB L2 cache, 32 KB Internal L1 Cache, 400 MHz external BUS frequency
Memory: 256MB DDR SDRAM
Display: 14.1-inch TFT XGA active-matrix display with up to 1024 x 768 x 16 M resolution
Video Card: 32 MB DDR ATi MobilityTM RADEONTM 9000 4X AGP
Hard Disk: 40GB Ultra ATA
Optical Drive: Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Ethernet: Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet
Modem: Internal 56K4 capable v.92 Fax modem
Wireless Networking: Optional Bluetooth 1.1 adapter; Intel® ProWireless 2100 (802.11b) mini PCI wireless card
OS: Windows XP Home Edition
Price: $1,448

That's a difference of about $330--roughly the same price differential between a 1.6 GHz P-M 600m vs. the 15 inch 1 GHz TiBook. Note that the Dell comes with a wireless network card and could be upgraded to a 802.11 b/g card whereas the iBook cannot. Note also that the 1.3 GHz P-M processor is much faster than the 900 MHz G3 the iBook has.

[mactastic]

Didn't I also hear that the celeron chips were great when the computer was plugged in and all, but once it was on battery power the chip throttled way back?

[Keith Purfield]

Celeron processors are crap, trust me. My brother's laptop has one (a 1.8GHz), and it's completely useless. It runs slower than my 1GHz P3 PC, and it's ten-times noisier.

I want an iBook.

[tazo]

Originally posted by Tequila Grandma
I wouldn't personally get a Dell Inspiron for the reason that I'd have to kick the crap out of myself for using such a terribly ugly, stupid looking computer:

http://di.dell.com/images/global/products/inspn/inspn_1100_front.jpg

I'd also go mad from having to use Windows. The iBook is a much classier package, I'd NEVER give mine up for a Windows laptop, no matter how much faster it was.

Arigato,
Brook

oh exactly. I mean if people call the ibook toy looking, then go take at the majority of dell's laptop, with the back of the lcd panel being neon blue. Its disgusting. lol. I mean seriously, that thing looks like it belongs in the hand of a toddler, not a paying adult. Just my $0.02 no offense to anyone who likes that model.

[sparkleytone]

Originally posted by macktheknife
That's a difference of about $330--roughly the same price differential between a 1.6 GHz P-M 600m vs. the 15 inch 1 GHz TiBook. Note that the Dell comes with a wireless network card and could be upgraded to a 802.11 b/g card whereas the iBook cannot. Note also that the 1.3 GHz P-M processor is much faster than the 900 MHz G3 the iBook has.
dude WTF are you smoking....your specs are ALL wrong. the g4 typo...fine...but they don't have Gig-E ethernet and you CANNOT COMPARE winXP home to OS X. this is a MUCH better comparison due to free upgrades by dell and such...

Processor: 900 MHz G3
Cache: 512K at 900MHz Level 2 cache
System Bus: 100MHz
Memory: 256MB PC133 SDRAM
Display: 14.1-inch (diagonal) TFT XGA
Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics accelerator with 32MB
Hard Disk: 40GB Ultra ATA/66
Optical Drive: Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Ethernet: Built-in 10/100
Modem: Built-in 56K V.92 modem
Wireless Networking: AirPort Card Installed
OS: Mac OS 10.2
Price: $1,728

Here are the specs for the Dell Inspiron 600m:

Processor: 1.3 GHz Pentium-M
Cache: On-die 1 MB L2 cache, 32 KB Internal L1 Cache, 400 MHz external BUS frequency
Memory: 512MB DDR SDRAM
Display: 14.1-inch TFT XGA active-matrix display with up to 1024 x 768 x 16 M resolution
Video Card: 32 MB DDR ATi MobilityTM RADEONTM 9000 4X AGP
Hard Disk: 40GB Ultra ATA
Optical Drive: Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Ethernet: Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Modem: Internal 56K4 capable v.92 Fax modem
Wireless Networking: Optional Bluetooth 1.1 adapter; Intel® ProWireless 2100 (802.11b) mini PCI wireless card
OS: Windows XP PRO
Price: $1,919 (http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=i600m#bottom_anchor)

put the bong down and stop spreading bs.

[mim]

Originally posted by tazo
Just my $0.02 no offense to anyone who likes that model.

I haven't met anyone that likes the Dell laptops design (well, a couple of people think the latitude's ok, but it's about as useful as pen and paper).

People who own them don't like them! They are clunky. You can't play with a Dell in the shop, so you'd never know. It's how they trick people into buying them :p

[macktheknife]

Originally posted by sparkleytone
dude WTF are you smoking....your specs are ALL wrong. the g4 typo...fine...but they don't have Gig-E ethernet and you CANNOT COMPARE winXP home to OS X. this is a MUCH better comparison due to free upgrades by dell and such...

Processor: 900 MHz G3
Cache: 512K at 900MHz Level 2 cache
System Bus: 100MHz
Memory: 256MB PC133 SDRAM
Display: 14.1-inch (diagonal) TFT XGA
Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics accelerator with 32MB
Hard Disk: 40GB Ultra ATA/66
Optical Drive: Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Ethernet: Built-in 10/100
Modem: Built-in 56K V.92 modem
Wireless Networking: AirPort Card Installed
OS: Mac OS 10.2
Price: $1,728

Here are the specs for the Dell Inspiron 600m:

Processor: 1.3 GHz Pentium-M
Cache: On-die 1 MB L2 cache, 32 KB Internal L1 Cache, 400 MHz external BUS frequency
Memory: 512MB DDR SDRAM
Display: 14.1-inch TFT XGA active-matrix display with up to 1024 x 768 x 16 M resolution
Video Card: 32 MB DDR ATi MobilityTM RADEONTM 9000 4X AGP
Hard Disk: 40GB Ultra ATA
Optical Drive: Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Ethernet: Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Modem: Internal 56K4 capable v.92 Fax modem
Wireless Networking: Optional Bluetooth 1.1 adapter; Intel® ProWireless 2100 (802.11b) mini PCI wireless card
OS: Windows XP PRO
Price: $1,919 (http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=i600m#bottom_anchor)

put the bong down and stop spreading bs.

The price of your configured Dell includes the 3-year Complete Care and Support. Take it out and replace it with a one-year warranty (same as Apple without AppleCare) and the price drops by $363. I also can't seem to get your price on the Dell by going to the purchase process myself. I also don't know where you got the iBook price, and I can't seem to access the Apple Store as it is under maintainence right now.

In any event, my purpose was to try to show the price differential that exists between two similarly (not identically) configured Dell and Mac.

[sparkleytone]

be sure to catch this SAME DAMN THREAD with a little more bait on the end of the hook.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27687

[GulGnu]

Originally posted by sparkleytone
dude WTF are you smoking....your specs are ALL wrong. the g4 typo...fine...but they don't have Gig-E ethernet and you CANNOT COMPARE winXP home to OS X. this is a MUCH better comparison due to free upgrades by dell and such...

Processor: 900 MHz G3
Cache: 512K at 900MHz Level 2 cache
System Bus: 100MHz
Memory: 256MB PC133 SDRAM
Display: 14.1-inch (diagonal) TFT XGA
Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics accelerator with 32MB
Hard Disk: 40GB Ultra ATA/66
Optical Drive: Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Ethernet: Built-in 10/100
Modem: Built-in 56K V.92 modem
Wireless Networking: AirPort Card Installed
OS: Mac OS 10.2
Price: $1,728

Here are the specs for the Dell Inspiron 600m:

Processor: 1.3 GHz Pentium-M
Cache: On-die 1 MB L2 cache, 32 KB Internal L1 Cache, 400 MHz external BUS frequency
Memory: 512MB DDR SDRAM
Display: 14.1-inch TFT XGA active-matrix display with up to 1024 x 768 x 16 M resolution
Video Card: 32 MB DDR ATi MobilityTM RADEONTM 9000 4X AGP
Hard Disk: 40GB Ultra ATA
Optical Drive: Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Ethernet: Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Modem: Internal 56K4 capable v.92 Fax modem
Wireless Networking: Optional Bluetooth 1.1 adapter; Intel® ProWireless 2100 (802.11b) mini PCI wireless card
OS: Windows XP PRO
Price: $1,919 (http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=i600m#bottom_anchor)

put the bong down and stop spreading bs.

Ok, as pointed out above - this includes Applecare equivalent. Furthermore, why do you stick half as much memory in the Mac? (That should definately not be an issue of "comparability")

Let's just face it - Macs cost a bit more. Why? Because Apple needs the cash to develop OS X - smaller volumes mean they can't recoup everything on OS sales themselves - they need to add margins to the hardware. So, if you like OS X - as most ppl here do - paying that premium is just the price we have to pay. No reason not to be candid about it. (Although I think Apple laptops generally are good value. Used to be even better until the Pentium-M turned up...)

Regards / GulGnu