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HP DV6T v Macbook Pro

N

nickarmadillo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 24, 2003
223
0
St. Louis, MO
<HP DV6T> $999 US
2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
6GB 1333MHz
750GB 5400-rpm HD
Intel HD Graphics 3000
AMD Radeon HD 6570M with 1GB GDDR5
15" LCD Screen (1366x768)
6 hours battery life

<Macbook Pro> $1799 US
2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
4GB 1333MHz
500GB 5400-rpm HD
Intel HD Graphics 3000
AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 256MB GDDR5
15" LCD Screen (1440x900)
7 hours battery life

So for an extra $800 you get:
*2GB less ram
*250GB less HD space
*A much, much weaker video card
*A slightly higher-resolution LCD
*1 hour extra battery life
*The usual Apple extras (better build quality, iLife, OSX)

...and that isn't even the street price on the HP! How can Apple justify this pricing. The competition is offering much better machines (hardware-wise) for $800 (or more) less. It just doesn't make sense to me. I need a new laptop, but I just don't know if I can go with Apple with an "Apple Tax" of this size.
 
nickarmadillo said:
How can Apple justify this pricing. The competition is offering much better machines (hardware-wise) for $800 (or more) less. It just doesn't make sense to me. I need a new laptop, but I just don't know if I can go with Apple with an "Apple Tax" of this size.
Click to expand...
I understand what you mean about Apple pricing, but purchase decisions for Macs have nothing to do with specs because its all based on OS preference. You either want a Mac or you dont, and theirs no way to convince someone in either direction.

Personally, I've been a Mac and Windows user for long enough to recognize that build quality on Apple has diminished to the point that I need to replace both machines every 2 years. When I buy a PC i get the cheapest one, but when I upgrade my Mac I'm willing to overpay because it's the OS I prefer so it's worth it.
 
KittyKatta said:
I understand what you mean about Apple pricing, but purchase decisions for Macs have nothing to do with specs because its all based on OS preference. You either want a Mac or you dont, and theirs no way to convince someone in either direction.

Personally, I've been a Mac and Windows user for long enough to recognize that build quality on Apple has diminished to the point that I need to replace both machines every 2 years. When I buy a PC i get the cheapest one, but when I upgrade my Mac I'm willing to overpay because it's the OS I prefer so it's worth it.
Click to expand...

I'm willing to pay a premium for quality and the OS as well. However, if its an extra $800 AND the machine is much lower specced, then its a no go. I have also noticed Apple's build quality declining. We still have a Powerbook G3 from 1998 and a Powerbook G4 from 2002 running perfectly. However, my 2006 Macbook Pro, 2 2009 iMacs, and 2 2010 iMacs have all had various issues such as loose screws, overheating video cards, hard drive failures, malfunctioning motherboards, optical drive failures, etc.
 
Ordered HP DV6T earlier today. $850 before tax. $900 after.

Same gpu and hard drive as $2200 MBP. Same cpu as $1800 MBP. More memory than either.

I had to at least give it a try.


Obviously it doesn't have the MBP screen, trackpad, form factor quality, etc, but we are talking $1000 cheaper and better specs.
 
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trip1ex said:
Ordered HP DV6T earlier today. $850 before tax. $900 after.

Same gpu and hard drive as $2200 MBP. Same cpu as $1800 MBP. More memory than either.

I had to at least give it a try.


Obviously it doesn't have the MBP screen, trackpad, form factor quality, etc, but we are talking $1000 cheaper and better specs.
Click to expand...

$1000 difference? Try $800. YOu can get a new 15" MBP for $1700 from MacConnection no tax. That's $800 more than your $900 outlay.

Did you pay for Bluetooth, lighted keyboard or bigger battery? No you didn't. That's another $100. The difference is $700.

Did you pay for no bloatware? MS charges $100 in their store for no bloatware. That's $600 difference.

How about support? Of the English speaking and highest rated variety? Let's say $100. THAT'S $500.

That nice display option? That's got to be $150 option right there. Not just the resolution bump but also a quality bump. Down to $350 difference. Aluminum unibody? We'll be conservative. $150 for it.

That's $200. And you still have that large glass trackpad that actually works and doesn't flake out like the tiny little Windows laptop trackpads. Gestures actually work well. And clearly defined and checked on/off inside OSX itself.

$75 for that? Sounds reasonable. Down to $125 difference.

Better depreciation will take care of the rest of that.

Oh you lose a little gpu, and some memory and hard drive space, but OSX updates make Macs run faster. And you can gain OSX and iphoto/imovie etc.

Some deal you got there. Have fun.
 
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trip1ex said:
$1000 difference? Try $800. YOu can get a new 15" MBP for $1700 from MacConnection no tax. That's $800 more than your $900 outlay.

Did you pay for Bluetooth, lighted keyboard or bigger battery? No you didn't. That's another $100. The difference is $700.

Did you pay for no bloatware? MS charges $100 in their store for no bloatware. That's $600 difference.

How about support? Of the English speaking and highest rated variety? Let's say $100. THAT'S $500.

That nice display option? That's got to be $150 option right there. Not just the resolution bump but also a quality bump. Down to $350 difference. Aluminum unibody? We'll be conservative. $150 for it.

That's $200. And you still have that large glass trackpad that actually works and doesn't flake out like the tiny little Windows laptop trackpads. Gestures actually work well. And clearly defined and checked on/off inside OSX itself.

$75 for that? Sounds reasonable. Down to $125 difference.

Better depreciation will take care of the rest of that.

Oh you lose a little gpu, and some memory and hard drive space, but OSX updates make Macs run faster. And you can gain OSX and iphoto/imovie etc.

Some deal you got there. Have fun.
Click to expand...

$800? Yeah what about the $2200 model? The specs of the DV6T are closer to it than the $1800 MBP. That puts us above $1000.

Enough for a vacation for 1 on a beach somewhere for 5 days.

Or enough for 2 ipads. Or another laptop.

I don't care about Bluetooth, or lighted keyboard. Battery life is fine. Not going in the wilderness with this laptop.

Probably will never use support anyway. And somehow my eyes will suffer with a 720p 16-bit color display. My forefathers got buy on one color on smaller displays.

The best thing is I can play games without rebooting and use the best versions of software and the most software. TRy that on a Mac.

Don't worry. I'll send you a postcard.
 
Another one of these threads? I mean, I do get it, and understand. But these arguments have been ad nauseam. Do we really need to hear how yet another Windows based Laptop is cheaper than a similar MBP? We get it! We Know!

If you don't want to pay the premium, don't. Go get the HP, save $800 and be happy. And in 2 years, when it's toast, and not working, you can go get another $800 laptop.

One thing that none of the other posted, or maybe I missed it, was resale value. Did you consider that? Probably not. In 6 - 8 months your HP will be worth zip. The MBP could resell for very close to what you paid for it, so as long as it's in good shape.

If anyone is looking for a Mac that's cheaper than it's Windows counterpart, you'll never find it. And it will never happen...
 
nefan65 said:
Another one of these threads? I mean, I do get it, and understand. But these arguments have been ad nauseam. Do we really need to hear how yet another Windows based Laptop is cheaper than a similar MBP? We get it! We Know!

If you don't want to pay the premium, don't. Go get the HP, save $800 and be happy. And in 2 years, when it's toast, and not working, you can go get another $800 laptop.

One thing that none of the other posted, or maybe I missed it, was resale value. Did you consider that? Probably not. In 6 - 8 months your HP will be worth zip. The MBP could resell for very close to what you paid for it, so as long as it's in good shape.

If anyone is looking for a Mac that's cheaper than it's Windows counterpart, you'll never find it. And it will never happen...
Click to expand...

The issue isn't the fact that the "Apple Tax" exists, as it always has. The problem is that it has grown to such gargantuan proportions. When you can buy better specced hardware for $800-900 than Apple's $2200 offering, it can't really be explained away by build-quality, OSX, iLife, etc.
 
What exactly is the point of this thread? Everyone knows you can get much better specs from a PC than a MAC for cheaper. Seriously, did you just have this epiphany? You're paying for the brand name, build quality, and design basically. I've always owned PC's, but recently purchased a 2010-model MacBook Pro and love it! Now I am a marketer and really dig the design of it, not to mention OSX. But of course PC's are way cheaper, what do you think the whole PC vs MAC debate is about. If they were the same price everyone would just buy MACs.
 
in 18 years I have 5 macs.
Except the first 3 that I sold currently, my eMac running Tiger and iMac 24" (Leopard) still working strong.

My sister goes through her PCs 1 every 2 years, problem with drivers every time she reinstalled the OS.
In the long run the Mac are worth Getting for value.
 
nefan65 said:
Another one of these threads? I mean, I do get it, and understand. But these arguments have been ad nauseam. Do we really need to hear how yet another Windows based Laptop is cheaper than a similar MBP? We get it! We Know!

If you don't want to pay the premium, don't. Go get the HP, save $800 and be happy. And in 2 years, when it's toast, and not working, you can go get another $800 laptop.

One thing that none of the other posted, or maybe I missed it, was resale value. Did you consider that? Probably not. In 6 - 8 months your HP will be worth zip. The MBP could resell for very close to what you paid for it, so as long as it's in good shape.

If anyone is looking for a Mac that's cheaper than it's Windows counterpart, you'll never find it. And it will never happen...
Click to expand...

AGreed.

Except HP laptops have about the same reliability as Mac laptops according to Consumer Reports surveys and so don't think they will be toast.
 
nickarmadillo said:
The issue isn't the fact that the "Apple Tax" exists, as it always has. The problem is that it has grown to such gargantuan proportions. When you can buy better specced hardware for $800-900 than Apple's $2200 offering, it can't really be explained away by build-quality, OSX, iLife, etc.
Click to expand...

AGree tax is big here.

But can be explained by unibody, trackpad, other mbp features, OSX, ilife, service/support, ...

along with higher profit margins that go with positioning it as a premium brand.

IN this case though the difference was so large I had to check out the competition.
 
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