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Dell Widescreen 15.4 inch Laptop

so when

hello everyone.

i'm a dell owner, and dying to switch! i bought my first dell laptop in 2000 and have yet to receive one in full working order... 🙁

i'm really grateful for all your insightful posts and would love to get a 15" powerbook, which begs the following questions:

- are they really in the product pipeline?

- when can we realistically expect them??

Thanks in advance,

benjiP
😀
 
I don't think it is that ugly...it is a big improvement on the Dell's before this. To compare it to Apple's aesthetics is unfair...Apple will always be better at making eye candy...but the people who are buying this Dell are not even gonna give Apple a look...so this doesn't even matter. Of course we all know better...but this laptop isn't that horrible. It is a step in the right direction. I have heard that Dell will make a widescreen version of the 4150...this should be a little nicer.

The thing that kills me the most is that this thing is as big as the 17" pBook with a 15.4" screen...of course the resolution is bigger...but Apple knows how to make the most of their designs...and that generally means knowing how to make the smallest laptop while incorporating great features...ie 5.4lbs...15.2" screen...6.9lbs...17" screen...nobody in the PC world has figured out how to do this.
 
Ummm, arent the powerbooks made by the same taiwanese companies as make most PC notebook. I think you'll find that the main reason why apple's portables have such an advantage in physical design and engineering is that apple's are less price sensitive. Apple may do much of the basic engineering and design, but its the compals and quantas of this world that make the technology actually work, and if PC manufacturers wanted to buy into that know how they easily could do, but the result would be higher prices. Apple needs to be ahead somewhere, and sionce it cant currently compete on performance, its just as well that it has design advantages.
 
Originally posted by caboosemoose
Ummm, arent the powerbooks made by the same taiwanese companies as make most PC notebook. I think you'll find that the main reason why apple's portables have such an advantage in physical design and engineering is that apple's are less price sensitive. Apple may do much of the basic engineering and design, but its the compals and quantas of this world that make the technology actually work, and if PC manufacturers wanted to buy into that know how they easily could do, but the result would be higher prices. Apple needs to be ahead somewhere, and sionce it cant currently compete on performance, its just as well that it has design advantages.
Click to expand...

you may not have noticed, but apple's prices are pretty damned competitive in this market right now.

there is real design going on on the apple end, and it's major.
 
Alright, most everyone says that the Dell is ugly. This is an Apple message board, so of course you are all biased. Why even make some of the comparisons? I like the Dell, and find it amusing that someone earlier was comparing the Apple 1 GHz processor to the Dell's 2.4 GHz processor. Now I'll save you all the trouble - "It isn't all about clock speed and GHz." But come on, you are comparing Apples (no pun intended) to Oranges. They serve different segments of the notebook market. True, the story probably should not have run here, but it did, so understand that this is not an objective forum for this particular topic. And realize that some users are not interested solely in aesthetics and appearance of a computer. I'm sure the Dell is a great machine, and I would consider it or the rumored possible widescreen 4150 had I not just bougth a Notebook several months ago. Alright, I'm going to leave this forum and go back to the iPod rumor boards where I have been the last month, still waiting.
 
Originally posted by ceb
Alright, most everyone says that the Dell is ugly. This is an Apple message board, so of course you are all biased. Why even make some of the comparisons? I like the Dell, and find it amusing that someone earlier was comparing the Apple 1 GHz processor to the Dell's 2.4 GHz processor. Now I'll save you all the trouble - "It isn't all about clock speed and GHz." But come on, you are comparing Apples (no pun intended) to Oranges. They serve different segments of the notebook market. True, the story probably should not have run here, but it did, so understand that this is not an objective forum for this particular topic. And realize that some users are not interested solely in aesthetics and appearance of a computer. I'm sure the Dell is a great machine, and I would consider it or the rumored possible widescreen 4150 had I not just bougth a Notebook several months ago. Alright, I'm going to leave this forum and go back to the iPod rumor boards where I have been the last month, still waiting.
Click to expand...

People are comparing the G4 to the P4-M simply because of speed step technology...were the processor runs at half the speed when on battery...but can't this feature be turned off?
 
Speedstep

The Pentium 4 Mobile's version of SpeedStep has dynamic clock scaling. My 2GHz P4M will scale from around 1.2 GHz to 2.0 GHz, even on battery power, depending on how CPU intensive your programs are.
 
Re: Speedstep

Originally posted by Rayiner Hashem
The Pentium 4 Mobile's version of SpeedStep has dynamic clock scaling. My 2GHz P4M will scale from around 1.2 GHz to 2.0 GHz, even on battery power, depending on how CPU intensive your programs are.
Click to expand...

That's what I figured...so that point is crap. People just can't handle the fact that a processor runs at 2.4ghz...even if with bad architechure.
 
EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW........

mediocre PC with an UUUUUUUGGGGLLLLLLLYYYYYYYY case.

I pity Dell....... a TINY bit.
 
Re: Re: Dell 8500 vs. PowerBook 15inch

Originally posted by john123
No offense, but it really hacks me off when people try to do this. The Mac is *NEVER* going to be cheaper than the PC when you make a fair comparison. Your comparison is flawed on several levels:

(1) Resolution: Do you realize that with the Dell, you get 111% more pixels? Yes, that's right, OVER TWICE AS MUCH real estate to use.
(2) Three year warranty on that Dell puppy...add at least $300 for AppleCare to your Mac if you want to be fair about it.
(3) You just had to pick the 2.4 GHz on the Dell, didn't you? Guess what? The 2.0 Ghz will be cheaper and will still be considerably faster than the Mac.
(4) DDR-RAM on the Dell. Even when the 15" is upgraded, it will still be using Motorola's crappy old CPUs and won't take advantage of DDR's extra bandwidth, so it'll be a waste. Dell's laptop does take advantage of DDR for the processor.

Let's try to be objective in our comparisons, shall we? We all love Macs, but let's not spin a yarn to praise their virtues, eh?
Click to expand...

Don't forget the extra pounds and that it's 1" thicker; that must be worth something? I agree, it's an unfair comparition. The power book offers 250% more batery life than the dell does!!!
 
Re: Re: Re: Dell 8500 vs. PowerBook 15inch

Originally posted by hacurio1
Don't forget the extra pounds and that it's 1" thicker; that must be worth something? I agree, it's an unfair comparition. The power book offers 250% more batery life than the dell does!!!
Click to expand...

Since when is the pBook .5" thick?
 
Re: Re: Dell 8500 vs. PowerBook 15inch

Originally posted by john123
No offense, but it really hacks me off when people try to do this. The Mac is *NEVER* going to be cheaper than the PC when you make a fair comparison. Your comparison is flawed on several levels:

(1) Resolution: Do you realize that with the Dell, you get 111% more pixels? Yes, that's right, OVER TWICE AS MUCH real estate to use.
(2) Three year warranty on that Dell puppy...add at least $300 for AppleCare to your Mac if you want to be fair about it.
(3) You just had to pick the 2.4 GHz on the Dell, didn't you? Guess what? The 2.0 Ghz will be cheaper and will still be considerably faster than the Mac.
(4) DDR-RAM on the Dell. Even when the 15" is upgraded, it will still be using Motorola's crappy old CPUs and won't take advantage of DDR's extra bandwidth, so it'll be a waste. Dell's laptop does take advantage of DDR for the processor.

Let's try to be objective in our comparisons, shall we? We all love Macs, but let's not spin a yarn to praise their virtues, eh?
Click to expand...

An mac user who is thinking clearly about PCs! Amazing. 😀 😀

PCs are totally under-rated on Mac sites. 🙄 😛
 
Originally posted by caboosemoose
Me too, nobody actually has one of the new 8500s yet, so how owners/users can be commenting is beyond me.
Click to expand...


To be fair, every time a new Apple product is put on CNet before its release, there are always dozens of posts about how great it is.
 
Originally posted by ceb
To be fair, every time a new Apple product is put on CNet before its release, there are always dozens of posts about how great it is.
Click to expand...

Yep...cNet sucks for reviews. Everybody either crys or praises...no in between.
 
That was my point. It's unlikely that many people have had their hands on them for reviews like the ones that were posted.

I'm an Apple guy all the way, but this one is sure tempting. It's just for $2299 I can get the Apple model with Mac OS X. If Dell decides Wednesday 3/12/03 to release the same case with a cheaper (and new) Pentium-M processor, I just may snap.

Which leads me to this point: If Apple has a 15.4 inch model of their own, perhaps that will come out soon to counter Dell. Whadda y'all think?
 
Re: New Dell Laptop

Originally posted by agreenster
Widescreen? Yes.


Ugly as all sin?? Oh yeah.
Click to expand...

Man, that laptop looks like a real joke. Thanks for posting it. 😀
 
What insults me about Dell's laptop...

What insults me about this laptop is the fact that from a design standpoint it shows no interest in being anything more than a laptop computer. It's like the people at Dell said, "Okay, okay, you wanted a 15"? We'll give one to you." But this is a reluctant reaction to innovative design, not a display of real interest in providing a pleasurable user experience.

Macs on the otherhand have an artistic design that communicates the brand's core idea: to make life more enjoyable.

Maybe that's why there are so many Mac fans on this site: Apple and its customers just get that idea: life is meant to be enjoyed. 🙂
 
Re: What insults me about Dell's laptop...

Originally posted by GeneR
But this is a reluctant reaction to innovative design, not a display of real interest in providing a pleasurable user experience.

Click to expand...

or conversly...Dell doesn't care about case design and just wants to have decent components and charge ok prices. Unfortunately, Dell is in a position that they don;t have to care about style...Apple does. I have always wondered why PC laptop manufactuers never can make anything close to Apple...I think it is because they do not care. It is like if your computers are made for mainstream business, then they cannot possibly look...but what I really don't understand is that this is obviously a home computer...so why so ugly? or does Dell think it is beautiful?
 
Re: Re: What insults me about Dell's laptop...

Originally posted by JSRockit
or conversly...Dell doesn't care about case design and just wants to have decent components and charge ok prices. Unfortunately, Dell is in a position that they don;t have to care about style...Apple does. I have always wondered why PC laptop manufactuers never can make anything close to Apple...I think it is because they do not care. It is like if your computers are made for mainstream business, then they cannot possibly look...but what I really don't understand is that this is obviously a home computer...so why so ugly? or does Dell think it is beautiful?
Click to expand...

Good thoughts. Thanks. I'm going to go meditate on this for a while. But I agree. Dell doesn't seem to really have to care. And Apple does. I wonder if that would be different if Apple had a larger market share? I dunno.
 
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