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Dell 1720, $1300 cheaper than same spec MBP

Adokimus

Adokimus

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 2, 2007
842
3
Boston, MA
Ok, I know everyone is sick of these threads, but I need to be *that guy* for once. I specked out a new Dell Inspiron 1720 with the exact same specs, including the 1920x1200 resolution, as the 17" High-Res MBP. The only differences hardware-wise are that it comes with 3GB RAM standard instead of 2GB, the video memory only goes to 256 mb (no big deal), and the screen is not an LED. The price comes out to $1604 before my academic discount, vs. $2899 for the MBP. Yes, that's about a $1300 difference. Then there's the more reasonable price for upgradinging RAM, blu-ray drive options, 320 GB HDD, etc.

BEFORE YOU GET UPSET AT ME... I have been wanting a MBP for some time now, and I will be buying one! I am just disappointed at the premium I will be paying. That premium gets me a MUCH MUCH MUCH sexier machine, better form factor, OS X and iLife, multi-touch, backlit keys, an LED screen (extremely important IMO) and so on and so forth. THIS IS NOT A "Convince me to buy the MBP over a Dell" THREAD! I am already convinced!! The pricing is just a little bogus, and the degree to which it is bogus ($1300) I thought deserved pointing out.

Not that this is anything new...

View attachment DELL 2.bmp
 
FWIW, the LED-lit screen is quite expensive (at least when you want to buy an aftermarket one). So yeah, what do you want us to say? It's more expensive. The top of the line Macs always carry a hefty premium...
 
Juan Moro said:
FWIW, the LED-lit screen is quite expensive (at least when you want to buy an aftermarket one). So yeah, what do you want us to say? It's more expensive. The top of the line Macs always carry a hefty premium...
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Like I said, I know it's nothing new. And I know why I will be paying the premium. For me it boils down to design, OS X/iLife, and the LED screen. Just wanted to rant a little as I would rather it was a $500 premium for those things.
 
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soms said:
Well it is a Dell..and thats all I'm going to say about that.:)
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It all boils down to paying a premium for the design and brand name....something many of us are willing to do....
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Apple hardware is cheap. Only victums buy something based on the brand name.

get a Vostro or 1720 etc and run osX86. (I made a dummie's guide for setting up a vostro if you want it)

Differences:

- doesnt get hot. (can cook an egg on my old mbp)

- more solid build (cheap titanium bends/ dents too easy)

- can hit power button ,then close book right away

- maintenance/ parts replacement easier (nvr had to personally)

- vostro battery lasts 6-8 hrs

- half price

- black

- show-off material

(I run as a test ..14 long audio tracks in ableton running simultaneously w/4 vst instruments and 8 vst effects... cpu nvr went above 10%)

Doom3... runs flawless.

All this on a vostro 1400

Im a mac guy too, and jam with friends with macbooks. mine has no problems at all. and my freinds are jealous. highly recommended
 
I swear this must be one of the most common thread-types on these forums. Seriously... we all get it and I'm sure we don't need to launch into all the same arguments all over again.
 
For many of us, I'm sure OS X alone is enough to fork out the extra $ for the MBP or any other Mac. That's the number one reason for me. Otherwise, what's the point?
 
BaRaKa-Sound said:
Apple hardware is cheap. Only victums buy something based on the brand name.

get a Vostro or 1720 etc and run osX86. (I made a dummie's guide for setting up a vostro if you want it)
Click to expand...

Why is Apple hardware cheap? The components Apple uses are generally high quality.
 
This is the premium. :D

OS X is smooth and Final Cut Studio isn't available on any other platform.

And having bought a previous gen merom 15" 2.4ghz mbp for $1800 after tax and education discount, it gets close to that $500 bubble for me. Not unreasonable at all...sounds like high end Macbook Pros that are latest gen are simply pricey.
 
BaRaKa-Sound said:
Apple hardware is cheap. Only victums buy something based on the brand name.

get a Vostro or 1720 etc and run osX86. (I made a dummie's guide for setting up a vostro if you want it)
Click to expand...

The 1720 is an Inspiration, so won't be as good hardware quality as the Vostro, or a Latitude, so get one of those.

Apogee said:
Why is Apple hardware cheap? The components Apple uses are generally high quality.
Click to expand...

It isn't great, it really isn't, we better not get Sesshi here to reply to this ;).
 
I think the 1720 / Vostro uses slower VRAM than the MBP, and still uses CCFL screens. Other than that, aside from minor differences it's not a whole lot different - certainly for the price difference.

But clearly what you're paying for is the style and the profit margins Apple needs to build into their kit in order to make it viable.

The build quality is pretty similar I think, but the engineering on the Dell is so that it's more tolerant of slight variations in build quality - unlike the Apple - which leads to less problems in operation. The materials in use on the Apple are obviously more premium, at least for the shell.

I'm not a particular fan of the Vostro notebook or desktop series, as the notebooks don't incorporate the road-ready features of the Latitude and the Precision which really makes them a standout over the Apples, and the desktops are basically consumer machines and are notably inferior in certain ways to Dells mainstream business machines - but you certainly can't argue with the bang for the buck, and it is one of the most viable candidates for OSX86 as we've found, if you want something more reliable than a Macbook "Pro".

FCS may not be available on other platforms, but you can certainly get equivalents for Windows. Turning the nauseatingly regular 'you can't get iLife/FCS/LS/Aperture' arguments on its head, it's a bit like someone saying OS X is crap because Wordpad isn't available.
 
Sesshi said:
minor differences it's not a whole lot different
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Which are probably Firewire (400) and possibly 800, to an extent the weight (EDIT: and magsafe, which is a "feature", the backlit keyboard and the multi-touch trackpad). But they certainly aren't worth close to $1000. Looking at this I think the MBP could use a $500 price cut, even if they do bundle BluRay drives in the next revision.
 
Crap I'm supposed to receive my MBP today... No seriously, there is a smooth experience and nice design that comes with apple products that make it worth the extra price for most professional in music, photo or graphx. It's all those little features (like digital audio out, multi-touch) and Os X that makes the MBP a way better machine (and it's not in plastic). Have you ever tried recording music with windows? Half the time you get sound skipping and popup windows ruining your work. Not mentioning the damn crashes and viruses.

There is NO way most of us on this forum will even consider getting a PC laptop. Been there for 10 years (in windows land) and never going back.

Now, if they can just call me so that I can pick up my nice aluminum MBP!!!
 
I have to say some of going to Apple means OSX. it's time for a change for me as a windows user who has used Mac's at various points with various jobs. I'm just tired of Windows, and I want to learn more, and I wanted a UNIX-flavored desktop. I did not want linux - the U.I. just isn't there yet.

Although, the idea of buying a dell and then buying os x, and hacking it on there is interesting. In the end, the slimmed down laptop weight, and all will be well worth it - assuming that the build quality is up to spec. I'd be interested in seeing that dummies guide to getting os x on a vostro.
 
If you're planning on Windows or Linux, get the Dell. Better value.

If you want OS X, there isn't much of a choice.

However if you ever need support, you will like Apple support over the Dell support. That is unless you buy from Dell Small Business then it's all the same.

But as a comparison the Inspiron and MBP are not the same class of notebooks. Don't forget the MBP are prosumer machines and the Inspirons are consumer machines. If you want a true comparison, do a Precision and MBP and you will notice the prices aren't much different.
 
might seem like my post was bias. Maybe it was only my specific experience, but my mbp's optical drive is broken, the thing gets way too hot to sit on my lap, and a few other flakey problems.

I only installed Leopard on my dell Vostro for fun, not expecting it to really compare, but did it anyways. And almost pissed myself realizing that this thing runs better than my mbp (macbook is a few years old however, probobly needs reformat etc) Took me a while to get everything going.. but with my guide, and a Vostro, anyone that maybe cant afford a MBP yet, or want to experience the OS and switch from windows without spending a whole lot of money and getting basically the same performance..ought to try it. The one thing I do like about PC's is being able to choose which hardware I'd like to use..:D
 
Sesshi said:
FCS may not be available on other platforms, but you can certainly get equivalents for Windows. Turning the nauseatingly regular 'you can't get iLife/FCS/LS/Aperture' arguments on its head, it's a bit like someone saying OS X is crap because Wordpad isn't available.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid a large portion of the video industry disagrees with your assumption. ;)
 
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