Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Macbook or Dell M1330?

P

parthc007

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 7, 2007
43
0
London, Ontario
So I've been using Windows all my life and looking at M1330's hardware, I am actually tempted to buy it:eek: .....Can anyone here list some pros of Macbook(Not pro) over Dell Xps M1330?

Note: No doubt that OS X is a great OS to work with, but i really dont give a **** if I have to use Vista for getting better spec'd hardware which can run occasional 3d games and make me happy:rolleyes:

Here's the link for M1330:
http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m1330?c=ca&cs=cadhs1&l=en&s=dhs


And no critisicm for Dell or Apple, I just want solid replies as to why I should buy a Macbook over M1330 when the latter is more advanced and futureproof?

Are the Macbook's gettin crappy in terms of QC?

Oh yeah, it might help to add that i plan on having the laptop for atleast next 3-4 years.Also, M1330 with 2 Gigs of ram and a 128 MB Nvidia card comes out to 1850+tax-just a couple of hundred bucks more than the Macbook!


Thank's in advance guys!
 
parthc007 said:
Note: No doubt that OS X is a great OS to work with, but i really dont give a **** if I have to use Vista for getting better spec'd hardware which can run occasional 3d games and make me happy:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

for starters - Vista IMO and i use it, is a pile of doggy poo - no matter what hardware i'm running it with ( pc , Core 2 .1.83 2gb ram ATI 1950 512mb ram it still run's like a 2 legged dog )

i do not run Vista on the Macbook anymore, and after a bad experiance with a ASUS Laptop at the weeked i was mighty glad to go back to my Mac -

if you are not sure about Mac's and have not caught the bug for one yet i think you need to go to a Apple Store to have a play with them.
 
parthc007 said:
And no critisicm for Dell or Apple, I just want solid replies as to why I should buy a Macbook over M1330 when the latter is more advanced and futureproof?

Are the Macbook's gettin crappy in terms of QC?
Click to expand...

If you feel the M1330 is more advanced and future-proof (although it does have a faster frontside bus, it has a slower processor and cache) and that you don't give a monkey about the OS, haven't you answered your own question?

And no to your last question.
 
parthc007 said:
Are the Macbook's gettin crappy in terms of QC?
Click to expand...

The early CD machines had problems but my C2D macbook is flawless.

OSX is the main reason to go with the macbook over the Dell. I'd like a 13" MBP but until that arrives (october?) then I suppose you could go with the Dell.

Have you used OSX for extended periods of time as your main OS. Until you do you won't know what you're missing.
 
Igantius said:
(although it does have a faster frontside bus, it has a slower processor and cache)
And no to your last question.
Click to expand...

Actually the cache is the same(4 MB) and it does have processors upto 2.4 Ghz.(Price goes up obviously;) )

But the other thing i was concerned about is the durability of the hardware- I mean I am looking for something which will last me 3-4 years and Looking at Dell's quality I can certainly say that it's not going to go more than 2, but on the other hand, I have been reading a lot of posts where New MB owners are not the happiest people after paying close to $2000!
 
Scarlet Fever said:
if you like gaming that much, go with the Dell. If you can pass on the games, the MacBooks are brilliant machines.
Click to expand...


Say even if i dont like games, what's in a Macbook that is superior to the M1330?(Except the OS itself)

I am currently in Electrical Engineering, so was wondering if I will be able to use a MB with all the ****** softwares that we use?
 
parthc007 said:
I am currently in Electrical Engineering, so was wondering if I will be able to use a MB with all the ****** softwares that we use?
Click to expand...

I would say yes, my friend is an engineering major and uses a MB perfectly fine, but he's Mechanical Engineering. I don't know if Elecs use different software, but the basic engineering software he uses is fine. There's also the option of having XP is its a Windows only.

The decision is ultimately up to you, I don't think that either the MB or M1330 will last the 4 years. By that I mean that it'll physically last, but will be just like any 4 year old laptop these days.
 
parthc007 said:
Actually the cache is the same(4 MB) and it does have processors upto 2.4 Ghz.(Price goes up obviously;) )

But the other thing i was concerned about is the durability of the hardware- I mean I am looking for something which will last me 3-4 years...
Click to expand...
Ah, okay - I just looked at the link and it said "2MB cache/1.8GHz/800Mhz FSB" so I went with that.

I can understand that it can be a concern when you read posts of people complaining and although it can be a good way of picking up issues, it's rarely an accurate snapshot of the average user experience.

Have a look at this link - http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/macbooks.html

It's a survey that Macintouch did at the end of last year that included about 3,000 laptops (the MBs did pretty well). Also, the site does excellent daily reader reports about user problems/experiences. It's a handy site and should give you some decent info.

The current MB is a mature product - the next one is bound to have features more in line with this Dell one (e.g. FSB 800) - but in the meantime, you know this is tried, tested and (largely) reliable.

I would say it would last you 4 years (as no doubt the Dell one would) but as walangij says, both would be showing their age.

In terms of games - have a look at the gaming forum. The GMA 950 is hardly a to die for gaming experience, but the MB is better at games than a lot of people credit it. If you want to play up to the minute FPS, then you will be better off looking elsewhere. I know you've said forgetting about games for the sec but it's worth mentioning.
 
If you do not care about the OS you are using, then decide on what stays in your price range. The Dell seems to be a nice laptop, but because it is an ultraportable it gets expensive when customized. On the other hand, if thinking Macbook for running Windows, factor in the cost of additional software (XP/Vista + parallels).
 
parthc007 said:
Oh yeah, it might help to add that i plan on having the laptop for atleast next 3-4 years.Also, M1330 with 2 Gigs of ram and a 128 MB Nvidia card comes out to 1850+tax-just a couple of hundred bucks more than the Macbook!
Click to expand...

I think you could get the base Macbook Pro at the similar price as M1330.
 
Another thing to consider, this is if your Macbook will run what you need.

A year from now your Mac will hold it's value well. You will be lucky to give your Dell away at sacrificed prices. I know this from experience.
 
If you take the OS out of the equation, the Dell is probably a better deal for you - heck I've been looking at that Dell and I wouldn't mind owning one... :eek:

Note that the configuration that you want (and probably should get) would cost more than the nearest "comparable" MacBook - by several hundred dollars.

In my opinion, there are two reasons the Dell is better: it's lighter (starts at 4lbs, versus MacBook's 5lbs) and you have the option of getting a REAL discrete 3D video card for some actual decent gaming.

Having said all that, the Mac OS is great. I have a MacBook for the past year and it runs fine, even with Windows virtualization. The main reason I "switched" (not really true... I still have desktop PCs at home) is that I got tired of all the maintenance with Windows: worrying about viruses, adware, malware, getting defragged regularly, all the cruft and crap that gets left on your system after installing many applications, etc...
 
parthc007 said:
... I have been reading a lot of posts where New MB owners are not the happiest people after paying close to $2000!
Click to expand...

When you spend $2000 on a "luxury brand", you tend to be anal-retentive about everything. Plus, when it all looks so pretty, you tend to notice that one screw that's out of place.
 
The Dell XPS is more of a pro computer it is like a smaller factor MBP in terms of the hardware.
If you leave OSX out of it clearly the Dell is a better computer in terms of specs.
If the MB meets your needs though and you do not like using Windows then clearly you would be better of with a MB.

I don't think that i could ever buy a Dell because of the reputation that it has got.
The Asus W7S current line up of their Santa Rosa 13.3 laptops with a dedicated GPU i do like though.
 
It really depends what you need/want it for. Personally I went for the MacBook, I am very happy with my purchase it does everything I want/need at the price I could afford.

If you need Vista go for the Dell, hardware spec wise it's better value in terms of hardware. Or you could get the Dell and put Ubuntu on it.
 
Multimedia multitasking test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo 13.3 inch - 2.16GHz
963
Dell XPS m1330
1017
Lenovo Thinkpad X61s
1326
Fujitsu Lifebook S2210
1655

Adobe Photoshop CS2 image-processing test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Dell XPS m1330
266
Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo 13.3 inch - 2.16GHz
276
Lenovo Thinkpad X61s
326
Fujitsu Lifebook S2210
404

Apple iTunes encoding test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo 13.3 inch - 2.16GHz
137
Dell XPS m1330
195
Lenovo Thinkpad X61s
256
Fujitsu Lifebook S2210
301

DVD battery drain test (in minutes)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo 13.3 inch - 2.16GHz
216
Lenovo Thinkpad X61s
189
Dell XPS m1330
143
Fujitsu Lifebook S2210
96


ENOUGH SAID!!! The above was taken from a review of the Dell XPS m1330 notebook.

MacBook Rules!!!!
 
btaussie said:
Multimedia multitasking test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo 13.3 inch - 2.16GHz
963
Dell XPS m1330
1017
Lenovo Thinkpad X61s
1326
Fujitsu Lifebook S2210
1655

Adobe Photoshop CS2 image-processing test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Dell XPS m1330
266
Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo 13.3 inch - 2.16GHz
276
Lenovo Thinkpad X61s
326
Fujitsu Lifebook S2210
404

Apple iTunes encoding test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo 13.3 inch - 2.16GHz
137
Dell XPS m1330
195
Lenovo Thinkpad X61s
256
Fujitsu Lifebook S2210
301

DVD battery drain test (in minutes)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo 13.3 inch - 2.16GHz
216
Lenovo Thinkpad X61s
189
Dell XPS m1330
143
Fujitsu Lifebook S2210
96


ENOUGH SAID!!! The above was taken from a review of the Dell XPS m1330 notebook.

MacBook Rules!!!!
Click to expand...


Also, the Macbook is running CS2 at non-native speeds. If they tested CS3, it would be at native speeds and would probably toast all of them.

CS2 was encoded in PowerPC binary, not Intel binary, so when Apple made the switch, they had to create a way for the processor to decode the PowerPC binary into Intel, making performance a little sluggish.

I will not lie, and so you can't notice it, because it does take Word a couple bounces before I get it up (look at my signature for the specifications of my Mac), and it can be a little slow minimizing, sometimes completely skipping into the Dock instead of sliding down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back