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What Windows laptop is closest to the MBP?

W

Wingnut330

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 16, 2008
530
0
Central Ohio - USA
Hey all,

I'm just curious your thoughts on what Windows based machine out there is closest in features, speed etc to a MBP. A friend of mine is in the market for a machine but doesn't want to join us Mac users.

Any recommendations?
 
You mean best spec, or spec most resembling MBP? For the most resembling MBP, the Dell XPS m1530 is quite similar to the old SR MBPs
 
i'm actually quite partial to the current ThinkPad T61p lineup. you get a great deal of performance for less money. the only thing really lacking is the current lineup of MBP's have either 256 or 512MB VRAM and the 8600GTM video chipset, whereas the T61's have either a NVS 140M or NVS 570M with either 128 or 256MB of VRAM. the 570M is built on the 8600GTM chipset, and in the benchmarks i have seen between the two, it performs slightly higher, but not by any notable degree. the 140M is a much lesser GPU, not really suited to gaming but thats not to say it won't be able too.
 
If you are looking for a 17", the Dell Inspiron 1720 can be specked almost identically to a MBP with 1920x1200 res and everything. Just ordered one myself, and while it is definitely a half inch or so thicker than an MBP, the $2,000 dollars saved will make up for it.
You can even get dual hard drives of up to 320 gigs each.
 
Wingnut330 said:
Hey all,

I'm just curious your thoughts on what Windows based machine out there is closest in features, speed etc to a MBP. A friend of mine is in the market for a machine but doesn't want to join us Mac users.

Any recommendations?
Click to expand...

That would be: A mac book pro!

Some say it runs winblows faster than most Dells, HPs and Sony Vaios.
 
killerwhack said:
That would be: A mac book pro!

Some say it runs winblows faster than most Dells, HPs and Sony Vaios.
Click to expand...

Correct.

Try talking him into an older model or a refurb. Otherwise if they are dead set on Winblows then tell him to go with a dell xps.
 
That would be a MacBook Pro.

Windows on a Mac is identical to Windows on a PC. It will run natively as if it was any other computer.

You can run Windows on a MacBook Pro without any issues, and you then get the ability to run OS X if you want to.
 
I wondered how long it would take for someone to recommend an MBP with Windows. I don't think he wants to drop $2,000 on a laptop. Sounds like a Dell XPS might be a good option.
 
Wirelessly posted (Apple Communication Device: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

If you read the thread you are the third person to mention it.
 
Wingnut330 said:
Hey all,

I'm just curious your thoughts on what Windows based machine out there is closest in features, speed etc to a MBP. A friend of mine is in the market for a machine but doesn't want to join us Mac users.

Any recommendations?
Click to expand...

I don't get it...why wouldn't he buy a MacBook Pro and run Windows on it?

gazfocus said:
That's definately not the case at all. The same spec in an XPS is around £800 compared to the MBP which is £1299
Click to expand...

...maybe off the back of a truck.

Killyp said:
That would be a MacBook Pro.

Windows on a Mac is identical to Windows on a PC. It will run natively as if it was any other computer.

You can run Windows on a MacBook Pro without any issues, and you then get the ability to run OS X if you want to.
Click to expand...

And great hardware! I'm with you.
 

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dejo said:
I think same specs would probably need to include same resolution screen. That Dell is only 1280x800 whereas the MBP is 1440x900.
Click to expand...

The dell can be upgraded to a 1920 x 1200 screen for £210 making the total price £898.98 and at the moment you can get 10% off which makes it £809.08
 
I would say the Asus W2V looks and feels most similar to the MBP. However I believe it is a bit old.

The new G-serious are pretty good.

Thought expensive Dell Precisions are comparable.
 
gazfocus said:
The price difference is actually more than I thought.... See this:
Click to expand...

That may not be as equivalent as you think. To match the low end MBP here are the choices you have to pick.

I started with the base XPS 1530 with 2GB.
-Processor to 2.4GHz
-LED 1440x900 screen
-250GB 5400 disk (I know the low end MBP has 200, but Dell didn't offer that. It was 160 or 250, so I went for "at least as good".)
-Video to 256MB
-Dell wireless N
-Dell Bluetooth 2.0
-Integrated Soundblaster Audigy (This may be debatable, but Apple includes optical 5.1 capable output and optical input. I'm not sure Dell's built-in audio can do surround, so I went for the sound upgrade here. The X-Fi may actually be more equivalent too, but I went for the middle pick as a compromise. I don't know if either allows for optical in/out.)

I left software out of the choices, but remember Apple includes iLife 08.

Total price was $1863 (US) for the Dell. That's just $150 off the base MBP, and the extras from iLife would likely make up the difference if you bought equivalent Windows software. Dell also doesn't do multi-touch trackpads.

So, the cost of "close as possible" to a MBP shows that Apple isn't really charging too much. Now, if you don't NEED any of that extra stuff, then you can save money by not paying for it. But if you're going to get that stuff, too, then you should not ignore Apple simply because of cost.
 
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