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It seems that other manufacturers like Dell offer more power than Apple

M

mmoran27

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 23, 2006
298
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Apple does not ust the Core 2 Quad for anything. Dell Offers it. Also high-res RGB LED backlighting, 16GB memory, etc.

Intel® Core™2 Duo, Core™2 Duo Extreme Edition, Core™2 Duo Quad Core Extreme Edition Processors
Displays
17" WUXGA (1920x1200) 100% Adobe® Color Gamut UltraSharp RGB LED Edge To Edge Display
Memory
Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
Available DIMM Slots: Four Memory slots offering up to 16GB4
Memory Bandwidth: 1066MHz
Primary Storage
Support for one or two hard drives with optional RAID0 or RAID1 Configuration
7200RPM Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive up to 500GB 5
7200RPM Encrypted FFS Hard Drive up to 160GB 5
Solid State Hard Drive up to 256GB 5
Optical Drives
DVD+/-RW
Graphics Cards
NVIDIA® Quadro FX 3700M Graphics with 1GB2 dedicated memory
Connectivity
WLAN
Wireless LAN, Bluetooth® 2.1 and Ultra-Wideband (UWB-US Only)
Next Generation Mobile Broadband6, GPS


Wireless:
Dell Wireless 1397 802.11g Mini-Card
Dell Wireless 1510 802.11 a/g/n 2x3 Mini-Card
Intel Wireless 5100 802.11a/g/n 1x2 Mini-Card
Intel Wireless 5300 802.11a/g/n 3x3 Mini-Card

WWAN (US Only)
Dell Wireless 5530 (HSDPA) Mini-Card
Dell Wireless 5720 (EVDO) Rev A
Security
Physical Security:
Steel-reinforced Cable Lock Slots, Media Module and Hard Drive Locks.


User & System Security:
Smart Card Reader and Contactless Smart Card Reader
Fingerprint Reader (optional)
FIPS Fingerprint Reader (optional)
TPM 1.2 (where available)
Wave Embassy Trust Suite


Network Security:
802.11 WiFi® Protected Access (WPA), 802.11i (WPA2), Virtual Private Networks (VPN) 802.1x with EAP modes and compatible with CCX 4.0
Multimedia
2 speakers, dual array microphones
2MP camera
Expandability
Slots:
8-in-1 card reader; ExpressCard 54; PC Card


Docking:
Advanced E-Port, E-Port, Legacy Port Replicator, Ergo Flat Panel Stand, Basic Monitor Stand, E-View Notebook Stand


Modular Options:
E-Family modular media dock: DVD-ROM, CD-RW/DVD, DVD+/-RW, Second Hard Drive

Chassis
Anodized Aluminum LCD back and base
New Dell PrecisionTM industrial design


Weight & Dimensions:
Preliminary weight starting at: 8.5lbs/3.86kg7 with WXGA+ panel, DVD/CDRW, 9-cell battery.
Width: 15.4"/393mm
Depth: 11.0"/280.5mm
Height: 1.35"/34.5mm(F), 1.5"/38.5mm(B)


Ports:
1394 Powered 6-pin, USB 2.0 (x4), VGA, Display Port, RJ-45, Audio, eSATA
Power
Power Supply:
210 Watt AC adapter
9-cell extended life primary batteries
Regulatory and Environmental Compliance
Regulatory Model: PP08X
Product Safety, EMC and Environmental Datasheets
Dell Regulatory Compliance Home Page
Dell and the Environment
 
Their 15 inch has the same quad core processor and weighs about 5 pounds

That's just as light as a 15 MBP.
 
Hah, it's not anything new. It's been proven that you can always an alternative of an Apple computer at a lower price. There is a reason why we call it an "Apple Tax". :D
 
It used to be if you compared an Apple laptop spec for spec with a PC from any manufacturer the prices would actually be the same--making it easy to decide on Apple.

Sadly, that hasn't been the case for awhile and Apple has started to lag signficantly behind their competitors in spec by spec comparisons. Don't even get my started on Blu-ray. For some reason its a "bag of hurt" for Apple but every other laptop maker has figured out how to make it work.

The premium for an aluminum case and Mac OSX gets higher and higher every month. I think Apple is tired of making traditional laptop and desktop machines--it really shows. There is much more money to be made in handheld devices these days.

I'm not sure I'd go with a Dell, but the new Sony Vaios look nice. If Apple hasn't straightened itself out by the time I'm ready to replace my 1st gen MBP I might be tempted to switch back when Windows 7 is out.
 
Yea, but then you would have a plastic Dell that runs Vista. No thanks.
 
Offer more power in their laptops, but the price for that Dell you listed will be ridiculous.
 
You can get a HP laptop that has the specs of a mac for like 1099 or less. But I don't want another pc. For 3200 you can get a crazy powerfull HP. The problem is it makes so much heat and has about 45 mins of battary life. For some reason. I want to spend 4k on a loaded macbook pro.
 
dejo said:
The above quoted Dell laptop doesn't come with Blu-ray. Just sayin'.
Click to expand...

This particular Dell does not but in general, even mid-priced PC laptop now include Blu-ray--and not even high end Apple desktops or laptops have it. It's only one example of Apple's lagging tech value, screen resolution, included RAM and hard drive size are others.

One thing Apple still has over the competition are the Applestores. It's nice to be able to take your computer with you to a physical location to be fixed and consult with someone. However, the quality of the geniuses seems to be declining as they are just spewing out stock answers to things they don't really understand well.
 
barkomatic said:
It used to be if you compared an Apple laptop spec for spec with a PC from any manufacturer the prices would actually be the same--making it easy to decide on Apple.

Sadly, that hasn't been the case for awhile and Apple has started to lag signficantly behind their competitors in spec by spec comparisons. Don't even get my started on Blu-ray. For some reason its a "bag of hurt" for Apple but every other laptop maker has figured out how to make it work.

The premium for an aluminum case and Mac OSX gets higher and higher every month. I think Apple is tired of making traditional laptop and desktop machines--it really shows. There is much more money to be made in handheld devices these days.

I'm not sure I'd go with a Dell, but the new Sony Vaios look nice. If Apple hasn't straightened itself out by the time I'm ready to replace my 1st gen MBP I might be tempted to switch back when Windows 7 is out.
Click to expand...
I feel the same way honestly. The MBP that I have is nice and all, but the premium that I paid for it to look nice and to run OSX was really not worth it in the extra cost.
 
darngooddesign said:
(Dell's) Preliminary weight starting at: 8.5lbs

15" MBP is 5.5lbs.

3 pounds more.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and lets not even get started about the thickness and materials (plastic vs alu)
I also just went to Dell and took a Studio 17 and made it as close as I could to the 17 MBP. The price came out to be a bit more, but it's still incomparable due to it not having a good graphics card and also as said before the materials are kinka crap in Dells.
 
Here's an article you may find interesting.

http://technologizer.com/2009/03/31/hey-lauren-is-apples-17-inch-macbook-pro-expensive/

On Blu-Ray:

http://www.cepro.com/article/blu_ray_adoption_wont_happen_until_2009_research_finds/

"The interest in upgrading to high-def players is only mild, and Blu-ray ownership won’t hit 25 percent of US households until the end of 2011, as reported by Reuters/Hollywood Reporter."

"Disc ownership is down among Blu-ray owners compared to first-time DVD owners, who owned nearly 30 titles at the same point in the adoption curve, according to the report. Blu-ray households own an average of three titles a piece."

"Plus, since the vast majority of Blu-ray players are in homes because Sony has embedded them into the PlayStation 3 video game consoles, many consumers don’t seem to care that they even have a Blu-ray player."
 
1) Theres no such thing as 'Apple Tax'. This has already been disproved

2) You cant buy a Windows machine, such as a Dell with the same specs as any Mac for a cheaper price.

3) Another pointless thread

:cool:
 
Patriks7 said:
Yeah, and lets not even get started about the thickness and materials (plastic vs alu)
Click to expand...

Dell Precisions are metal and thicker because they need it for all the extra stuff the MBP doesn't have and runs cool instead of frying nvidia graphic cards. Edit: They are about equivalent in price (Dell is slightly cheaper with the RGB screen+has 3-yr warranty. kastenbrust, you can ALWAYS find hardware cheaper than Mac), for the base 17" MBP, but you can extend that spec much further with the Precision. A maxed out MBP is about $400 more than the equivalent Precision and if you add 3-yr warranty, the Dell is $750 cheaper.

Btw, you can get all that (except rgb screen) and more in a Thinkpad W700.

To borrow from the camera world, I would call the MBP more of a prosumer laptop.
 
This is not about apple tax

You can't tax something that does not exist. Apple does not offer anything that can compete with these models.

I am just stating that other manufacturers pro machines are really pro.

Apples pro machines aren't. They are nice to look at and thin but cannot be considered pro or in the same league as the other laptop manufacturers pro offerings.

At least the MacPro can be configured to be a Pro level machine. Not so with Macbook Pro.
 
It's true, but when was a computer's OS and aesthetics value-less? Part of your money goes towards these things. Unless you're always buying RAW materials, what other product is the price based solely on the component costs? None. Everything from the value of the brand, to aesthetics, design, and specs are a factor. In the computing world, the OS is also a factor.

Besides that, I don't consider any of Apple's laptops to be grossly overpriced when you consider the specs. You pay a bit more for a Mac laptop, but it's not that much more than machines from Dell, HP, Sony, Lenovo, Toshiba, etc. ;)

The only exception is the 17" MBP, which you really do pay out the ass for. However, I think it's the best Mac laptop, and probably the only one worth paying >$2000 for. In this case, you just need to determine exactly how much you need the extra features of the 17" MBP. If these features aren't worth it, then buy one of the other laptops, which are more in-line with hardware from other manufacturers.
 
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