But seriously, spec's aside MBP's/MBA's have little or no competition ...

[chill.]

The trackpads are unbeatable, although Dell, to name one, has been adding buttonless trackpads to their notebooks too...

It's sad how they can so shamelessly STEAL things and integrate them into their own notebooks. It's oh so funny how Michael Dell put Apple down and said they would die in the 90's, yet his company is always picking Apple's breakthroughs from a catalog.

Windows is my biggest problem. Microsoft was founded by and is run by a sleazy sniveling car salesman and has that same attitude. Remember Biff from Back To the Future II?

They lie, steal, and they just DON'T CARE! They want their products to be just GOOD ENOUGH that people still buy them. Considering the monopoly they've created by lying and deceiving the ill informed, their products have to function and do little at all.

The Windows environment looks like it was thrown together in a moment's notice, it just doesn't look finished. There's no order to it, the graphic designers must have been schizophrenic.

are you being sarcastic? everything you said is wrong..

apple has definitely "stolen" its fair share like the chiclet keyboard from sony. a lot of the software ideas and elements have been borrowed from xerox, microsoft, linux, etc. michael dell was 100% correct, he said that quote in 1997 and apple was on the verge of keeling over. it wasn't until 2001 with the ipod that apple started making a real comeback

i guess bill gates is a sleazy sniveling car salesman who is one of the greatest philanthropists of our time. in terms of charity work and activism, gates has just done SO much more than jobs

i can't even respond to the rest of your post because it is just plain stupid

 

[gwsat]

I noticed you complained about the Sony Z series running hot, but tbh the MBP's do run hot as well

Everything Apple makes seems to run hot, at least that's been the case with my Powerbook G4, Time Machine, 2 AirPort Express units, and an Apple TV. I think I see a trend here.

Hot or not, I stick with Apple products for a reason. They're not kidding when they tell us they just work. They do, or at least they always have for me.

 

[MrCheeto]

i can't even respond to the rest of your post because it is just plain stupid

I was talking about Steve Ballmer, fyi, and as for the rest of your opinions, I'm honestly too self-content to care

 

[kny3twalker]

I have to disagree with some of you who say the screen is nothing special.

It may not be considered "amazing" based on specs, but if you have ever looked at one, it just looks amazing! I don't know what they do to their screens, but they definitely feed them some steroids.

Yeah the screens are amazing. Some of the widest color gamut available on a laptop besides the handful of IPS displays. They are just not high enough resolution for everyone....

+1
screen quality: average yes, and macbook pro 15 could have a higher res. version for pro software (programming, music, video - multimedia in general). A lot of software needs a high res. for a good workflow.

the touchpad is really great. Hard to find anything that comes close.

Uh NO! Its much better than your average display; you are spoiled. Read Above.

The new HP elitebook has a far better screen and way more power in a nice form factor. Dream color 2 by lucasarts, IPS display. DX11 video card with workstation power. Amazing machine that makes core 2 duo and Nvidia look like horse and buggy.

The dream color display is offered in one notebook the 17" and the 12" tablet also has a wide viewing angle display. Lenovo Thinkpads also offer IPS in a couple laptops (X200T, W510, T510), but overall their displays are much worse than your average MacBook Display. Sony Displays are much more comparable across their range of laptops to the MacBooks. Overall Above Average, near Excellent, but Not Professional Quality (<- Not IPS).

I was talking about Steve Ballmer, fyi, and as for the rest of your opinions, I'm honestly too self-content to care

This was obvious. I have no idea how he/she could have misunderstood this. Ballmer seems to be an A$$, like a stereotypical used car salesman.

 

[kny3twalker]

17" MBP has WLED screen, but other PC laptops have RGBLEDs including options on all screen sizes, not just restricted to 17".

All MacBooks use a LED backlit. The 17" is the only one though that is high enough resolution for all those that want 130+ dpi.

 

[chill.]

This was obvious. I have no idea how he/she could have misunderstood this. Ballmer seems to be an A$$, like a stereotypical used car salesman.

maybe because he said "founder" and ballmer is not a founder?

 

[kny3twalker]

maybe because he said "founder" and ballmer is not a founder?

I thought Ballmer was one of the founders.

 

[chill.]

I thought Ballmer was one of the founders.

no

 

[kny3twalker]

no

pretty close though

Ballmer joined Microsoft on June 11, 1980 and became Microsoft's 24th employee, the first business manager hired by Gates.

very close...

1975–1984: Founding

Following the launch of the Altair 8800, William Henry Gates III, (known as Bill Gates) called the developers of a new microcomputer, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), offering to demonstrate an implementation of the BASIC programming language for the system. After the demonstration, MITS agreed to distribute Altair BASIC.[16] Gates left Harvard University, moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where MITS was located, and founded Microsoft there. The company's first international office was founded on November 1, 1978, in Japan, titled "ASCII Microsoft"[17][18] (now called "Microsoft Japan").[16] On January 1, 1979, the company moved from Albuquerque to a new home in Bellevue, Washington.[16] Steve Ballmer joined the company on June 11, 1980, and later succeeded Bill Gates as CEO.

considering he is the only other person than Gates to be mentioned on wikipedia, and the only other founder I have heard of is Paul Allen.

 

[drech]

pretty close though
...and the only other founder I have heard of is Paul Allen.

Don't forget Satan.

 

[Patriks7]

I think the main reason people are saying Macs are better is because they have only used cheaper competing laptops. My friend has a Sony and it's every bit as good as my Mac (I could even find things which are better), but it cost a bit more than my Mac. I myself have had some pretty good PC laptops (Asus, IBM) but also some very bad ones (Dell, Acer). I would gladly take a Sony over my Mac, because from what I've seen the hardware seems quite better, but the only reason I'm sticking with Mac (for my whole life ) is OS X.

 

[Freyqq]

negatives - ports: I'd like to see an esata port (or usb/esata port) and an hdmi port on macs to finally achieve parity in that respect to pcs. Not being able to plug in an external hd at esata speeds unless I buy an expresscard (which is only in the 17" ones now..) is embarrassing for a pro-level laptop

positives - trackpad: the mbp trackpad is the best I have ever used

 

[fibrizo]

Yay another comparison thread!

I think that the touchpad on the unibody macbook pros/macbook is untouchable compared to almost all PC touchpads I've used. Granted I've not used every one of them.

As for displays, I unfortunately have to hand the prize to sony. The high end sony's I've owned have had amazing displays that make my macbook pro look sad. (but this is high end stuff only, you gotta compare 2k laptops to each other, as netbooks and 400$ laptops will have suck ass screens. But this is my experience. I'm a fan of sony displays since my giant trinitron tubes.

OS X is a better experience. I have boot camp on my macbook pro, a PC desktop running windows 7 at home, and currently a dell mini10v running OSx flawlessly. When I'm out with the mini10v, and macbook pro, I am almost always running OSx, and rarely boot into windows 7. I like windows 7 on a desktop with 2 screens running 1920x1080... but macos is much more usable at 1024x600 especially with expose.

As for comparison laptops... I often look at the Japanese native laptops, which I've like for a long time. Since they emphasize many of the same factors as apple before. But importing them is a huge cost.

 

[Freyqq]

You people forget that MacOS X is FAR FAR more efficient than Windows.

When it comes to operating system performance, OS X has Windows beat on any system.

I've installed XP, Vista and 7 on my notebook and they NEVER perform as good as OS X on the same machine.

The same is true for DirectX. I can blaze through COD4 like nothing in OS X, but my MacBook Pro gets hotter than ever before when even attempting to run it on the lowest settings in any version of Windows.

Fact.

FACT: Bootcamp drivers are terrible..that is actually why windows on a mac has so many issues. Try doing the same thing on a pc laptop and prepare to be surprised.

FACT #2: Games coded in directx on a pc have had more fps at the same quality levels compared to osx's opengl on every benchmark I have ever seen.

Not trying to bash macs or osx, as I own a mbp and consider it a damn fine machine, but just trying to correct some obvious misconceptions about pcs in general.

 

[MrCheeto]

ports: I'd like to see an esata port (or usb/esata port) and an hdmi port on macs to finally achieve parity in that respect to pcs.

I'm going to disagree with everything you said...and instead say I'd like to have OPTIONS! Apple's only flaw is they decide what's best for us. Yeah, great thanks, but I'd like a shiny BLACK interface and another USB Port, replace the SD card slot, and I want it in black anodization like the iPod Nanos.

Why the hell aren't they dyeing their notebooks?! They'd sell so many of them, they'd have to make up a new word, they'd sell a brajillion of them! Every 16-year-old girl going off to college would shout like she was at a Jonas Brothers "performance" when they saw the New Apple Pink MacBook Pro by Apple and beg "papa-bear" to buy her love by buying her that shiny pink computer.

Chump marketing

 

[chill.]

pretty close though

very close...

considering he is the only other person than Gates to be mentioned on wikipedia, and the only other founder I have heard of is Paul Allen.

no! it's not close at all! are you guys living in a reality distortion field or something? by your logic every company has dozens/hundreds of founders

 

[thebeautyisfake]

Oh, goodie, another Mac vs PC argument thread.
If you guys are so happy with your setup (be it Windows or OSX) why do you feel the need to brag and put others down in the process?
OSX and Win7 are both great Operating Systems. Anybody who attempts to bring the other down clearly just doesn't have the money to have both running on one machine.

 

[MrCheeto]

And only so many heads...like Allen, Gates and Ballmer.

 

[Schtumple]

But seriously, spec's aside, Hummers/4x4s have the best MPG around.

I might start that, see how long it goes.

 

[e²Studios]

I have a late 2006 MBP and I use a HP Elitebook that my work issued me. My MBP feels a lot speedier than the HP, the screen looks 10x better on the MBP, the battery life is about the same between the two.

The Elitebooks have an aluminum top case, the rest is plastic. In the 1-1.5 years ive had the HP I have had 2 HD's replaced, 4 logic board replacements (I think HP just gave me a refurb machine), and tore through 3 batteries. Mind you this is with heavy daily use, but HPs are not known for exceptional build quailty imo.

I am glad my MBP has a regular keyboard, not too fond of the chicklet style keyboards.

It's all preference really, I love my MBP and for what I do it suits me just fine. One day when I decide to upgrade it will be another MBP but for now this one suits me just fine.

 

[polaris20]

The new thinkpad t510 and w510 have the option of an IPS display. And what about the HP Elitebooks?
I would like to hear you think these and the new Sony Z will compare since you sound to have experience with quite a few different brands and models of laptops.

The 510's have beautiful screens, very comparable to my uMBP's. Definitely the nicest screens I've ever seen on a Windows laptop.

The HP EliteBook we have (one guy insisted on having it; VP=) doesn't compare at all screen-wise to the MacBooks nor the Thinkpads. It's also already failed, despite being nearly new. Piece of crap.

 

[niuniu]

MBPs are awesome, I love them. But admittedly so are Thinkpads.

 

[lilo777]

I have a late 2006 MBP and I use a HP Elitebook that my work issued me. My MBP feels a lot speedier than the HP, the screen looks 10x better on the MBP, the battery life is about the same between the two.

The Elitebooks have an aluminum top case, the rest is plastic. In the 1-1.5 years ive had the HP I have had 2 HD's replaced, 4 logic board replacements (I think HP just gave me a refurb machine), and tore through 3 batteries. Mind you this is with heavy daily use, but HPs are not known for exceptional build quailty imo.

I am glad my MBP has a regular keyboard, not too fond of the chicklet style keyboards.

It's all preference really, I love my MBP and for what I do it suits me just fine. One day when I decide to upgrade it will be another MBP but for now this one suits me just fine.

First, there are many EliteBook models. New models have all kinds of CPUs up to i7 which is obviously faster than MBP.

In my office everybody has EliteBook and I have yet to hear about any issues with HDD or battery or anything else. Obviously that's just an anecdotal evidence, not very accurate but so is yours.

EliteBooks enclosures are made not from plastic but from magnesium alloy. If you are interested, you may read this article "Business-rugged HP EliteBook Notebook PCs: tested to meet Military Standard MIL-STD-810F"

EliteBooks also have much better graphics, better higher resolution screens (some models even had IPS panels) with RGB LED backlit option available (only white LED backlit for Macbooks)

 

[Gabriel GR]

First, there are many EliteBook models. New models have all kinds of CPUs up to i7 which is obviously faster than MBP.

In my office everybody has EliteBook and I have yet to hear about any issues with HDD or battery or anything else. Obviously that's just an anecdotal evidence, not very accurate but so is yours.

EliteBooks enclosures are made not from plastic but from magnesium alloy. If you are interested, you may read this article "Business-rugged HP EliteBook Notebook PCs: tested to meet Military Standard MIL-STD-810F"

EliteBooks also have much better graphics, better higher resolution screens (some models even had IPS panels) with RGB LED backlit option available (only white LED backlit for Macbooks)

Many Elitebooks up to 1 month ago I checked had intel GMA graphics.

IMO, no lineup is better than the other. They serve different users and the HP is much wider.

 

[HLdan]

FACT: Bootcamp drivers are terrible..that is actually why windows on a mac has so many issues. Try doing the same thing on a pc laptop and prepare to be surprised.

FACT #2: Games coded in directx on a pc have had more fps at the same quality levels compared to osx's opengl on every benchmark I have ever seen.

Not trying to bash macs or osx, as I own a mbp and consider it a damn fine machine, but just trying to correct some obvious misconceptions about pcs in general.

If you find the experience on a PC so great, why are you using a Mac? I mean that honestly. You certainly are putting up a fight to protect the Windows reputation.