Macbook or PC Laptop

[JonnyAlpha]

Hi;

A subject discussed many times I'm sure!!
I am in the process of drawing up a short list to buy a laptop for Xmas.

I have been an avid PC user for many years but recently bought an iMac and love the flawless operation. I have a homebuild HTPC AM2 4000 with a Geforce 8600GT which I use for games but need to decide whether to get a PC laptop or a macbook, which would also like to use for the odd game when away from home.

My budget is around £700/£800 GPB.

My list of laptops pricewise range from £649 Dell XPS M1530 15 inch a Core 2 Duo T5800 2.00GHz with an nVidia Go 8600M GT graphics chip to £1199.00 for a Dell XPS M1730 17 inch Core 2 Duo 2.1GHz with an nVidia Go 8700M GT . Sitting in the thick of it is the new macbook 2.0GHz with a better nVidia Geforce 9400M but at £949 and a Toshiba QOSMIO Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz nVidia 9600M GT for £899.

Within my budget is a Dell XPS M1530 15inch Core 2 Duo T8100 2.1GHz 320GB SATA HDD 4GB DDR2 nVidia 8600M GT at £729 or a macbook white which has same CPU smaller HDD less memory but only has a GMA X1300 gfx.

Question is how would the Dell XPS M1530 with bloated old Vista compare with the macbook white for general head to head including gaming.
Or do I try t squeeze some extra cash and get the all new macbook for £949?
Confused..........

 

[Tom B.]

Well first of all, do not but the current white MacBook. I say this because you can get the 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD white MacBook for less a fair bit less than £719 from the Apple Refurbished Store. If there is nothing on the refurbished store, check as soon after about 1-2 in the morning for the best deals, as that's when they put the new ones on.

But, if you could stretch to the base aluminium MacBook, I would certainly recommend that, particularly if you want to do any gaming as the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M is a big improvement over the X3100 (6.2 times better if you believe Apple). Also, if you care about the resale value, the aluminium MacBook will do much better than the white MacBook or the Dell.

 

[gnasher729]

Hi;

A subject discussed many times I'm sure!!
I am in the process of drawing up a short list to buy a laptop for Xmas.

I have been an avid PC user for many years but recently bought an iMac and love the flawless operation. I have a homebuild HTPC AM2 4000 with a Geforce 8600GT which I use for games but need to decide whether to get a PC laptop or a macbook, which would also like to use for the odd game when away from home.

My budget is around £700/£800 GPB.

Best value for money is a white MacBook for £710, 4 GB RAM from Crucial, 320 GB hard drive from dabs.com, that should be about £800.

 

[Tom B.]

Best value for money is a white MacBook for £710, 4 GB RAM from Crucial, 320 GB hard drive from dabs.com, that should be about £800.

Best value for money is a previous generation white MacBook (2.1GHz Santa Rosa, sans SuperDrive) for £529, 4GB RAM from Crucial, 500GB hard drive from dabs.com, that should be about £675.

Or it's still cheaper than the current white MacBook to get the previous generation 2.4GHz MacBook in white or black.

 

[ritzuk]

Hi;

A subject discussed many times I'm sure!!
I am in the process of drawing up a short list to buy a laptop for Xmas.

I have been an avid PC user for many years but recently bought an iMac and love the flawless operation. I have a homebuild HTPC AM2 4000 with a Geforce 8600GT which I use for games but need to decide whether to get a PC laptop or a macbook, which would also like to use for the odd game when away from home.

My budget is around £700/£800 GPB.

My list of laptops pricewise range from £649 Dell XPS M1530 15 inch a Core 2 Duo T5800 2.00GHz with an nVidia Go 8600M GT graphics chip to £1199.00 for a Dell XPS M1730 17 inch Core 2 Duo 2.1GHz with an nVidia Go 8700M GT . Sitting in the thick of it is the new macbook 2.0GHz with a better nVidia Geforce 9400M but at £949 and a Toshiba QOSMIO Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz nVidia 9600M GT for £899.

Within my budget is a Dell XPS M1530 15inch Core 2 Duo T8100 2.1GHz 320GB SATA HDD 4GB DDR2 nVidia 8600M GT at £729 or a macbook white which has same CPU smaller HDD less memory but only has a GMA X1300 gfx.

Question is how would the Dell XPS M1530 with bloated old Vista compare with the macbook white for general head to head including gaming.
Or do I try t squeeze some extra cash and get the all new macbook for £949?
Confused..........

For gaming, you'll get better specs for your money if you buy anything that isn't an Apple.

I'd think about which computer you'd like to use overall. Personally, I find a Mac much, much nicer to use than any PC I've ever used or owned. Specs don't even come into it for me anymore!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Agree that gaming is not exactly Apple's forte; also agree that no computer comes near an Apple for sheer pleasure and ease of use, and once you've switched, it is not easy to go back.

For the money you mention, you should be able to get a MB refurb very easily, though I'd recommend that you aim for the current base model as it will probably suit your needs better. The refurb MBP might also be an option, too. Remember, with a refurb, you get all of the advantages of a new machine, - including Apple's warranty - it is just that it may not be the most advanced model, technologically.

Cheers and good luck

 

[neiltc13]

A very, very small minority of computer users require 4GB RAM. 2GB is more than sufficient for most users.