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MacBook Pro Pricing Compared to Dell Inspiron 1520

OK, this seems off. I can get a XPS 1530 (twin to the Inspiron 1520, since the 1520 no longer comes with an 8600M GT) like so (also serves as a better comparo, since they have identical processors, screens, RAM, Video card, and almost all other internals):

both have:
2.4Ghz T8300 C2D, 800FSB, 3MB L2 Cache
2GB RAM (800MHz)
250GB 5400RPM HDD
8x DVD-RW
Bluetooth
802.11 agn
15.4" 1440x900 screen
2MP webcam
8600M GT (256MB, DDR2)
Vista Home Premium/OS X Leopard
And yes, a SLOT-LOADING drive (ohh, ahh), aluminum chassis, and similar size.

XPS: $1503, before discounts (meaning no sale price)
MBP: $2000

On the XPS, a 1920x1200 screen is $25 more, and Blu-Ray is available for $350 more. Still less than the MBP, even with those built in.
There. Same stuff, $500 difference. Would you pay $500 for OSX?
 
mcfaddenator said:
OK, this seems off. I can get a XPS 1530 (twin to the Inspiron 1520, since the 1520 no longer comes with an 8600M GT) like so (also serves as a better comparo, since they have identical processors, screens, RAM, Video card, and almost all other internals):

both have:
2.4Ghz T8300 C2D, 800FSB, 3MB L2 Cache
2GB RAM (800MHz)
250GB 5400RPM HDD
8x DVD-RW
Bluetooth
802.11 agn
15.4" 1440x900 screen
2MP webcam
8600M GT (256MB, DDR2)
Vista Home Premium/OS X Leopard
And yes, a SLOT-LOADING drive (ohh, ahh), aluminum chassis, and similar size.

XPS: $1503, before discounts (meaning no sale price)
MBP: $2000

On the XPS, a 1920x1200 screen is $25 more, and Blu-Ray is available for $350 more. Still less than the MBP, even with those built in.
There. Same stuff, $500 difference. Would you pay $500 for OSX?
Click to expand...

Did you miss the fact that the post is OVER A YEAR OLD?:rolleyes:

Good job.
 
The Flashing Fi said:
Did you miss the fact that the post is OVER A YEAR OLD?:rolleyes:

Good job.
Click to expand...


Calm down dude. This is one of the newbies I saw who actually uses the Search feature. That is something big.


mcfaddenator said:
]

I am in the market for a 15.4", and I found this thread, with intentions to reopen it.
Click to expand...

OS X is definitely worth the more money, You end up paying a premium to buy the MBP over the XPS but trust me, you are going to love the OS and the design of the MBP so much more than the Dell.

And later on, OS X will be a lot cheaper to buy than Windows. You end up paying 129 for a new OS from Apple when they release it while Microsoft's can go over 400.

But hey this is really my opinion. If you really do want to save the money, buy the Dell XPS. It not such a bad machine.
 
So, why don't I just go OSX86? If i paid for Leopard in an Apple Store, broke the EULA, and put it on, don't I essentially have the same thing?
 
mcfaddenator said:
So, why don't I just go OSX86? If i paid for Leopard in an Apple Store, broke the EULA, and put it on, don't I essentially have the same thing?
Click to expand...

If you feel that is the way you want to go.

And this thread has the same exact question as yours with a more relevant date...so I guess I have to take back the comment that I made about the search feature :p

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/431882/
 
Watabou said:
Calm down dude. This is one of the newbies I saw who actually uses the Search feature. That is something big.




OS X is definitely worth the more money, You end up paying a premium to buy the MBP over the XPS but trust me, you are going to love the OS and the design of the MBP so much more than the Dell.

And later on, OS X will be a lot cheaper to buy than Windows. You end up paying 129 for a new OS from Apple when they release it while Microsoft's can go over 400.

But hey this is really my opinion. If you really do want to save the money, buy the Dell XPS. It not such a bad machine.
Click to expand...

Don't forget that when he goes to sell that MBP in the same amount of time as the XPS, he's going to get a lot more for the MBP, which is going to even out the price quite a bit.
 
If find yourself in the point of comparing two machine based on price then you obvious shouldn't be buying the more expensive machine as you do not know what you need. If you want a Mac, you buy one, you don't compare it to a Dell that runs Windows; like-wise if you want a Windows machine, you don't consider a Mac; get a Thinkpad or something instead.

BTW if you want compare a MBP and a PC, compare a T61p to a MBP.

Standard 15" MBP:
2.5, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD
$2499

Say you get a T61p with this:
Intel Core 2 Duo T9300
2x1GB DDR2 667 RAM
250GB 5400RPM HDD
Quadro 570M 256MB
DVD-burner
N-wireless and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
9-cell battery
15.4" WSXGA+
1-year warranty with 1 telephone support incident
$2350

Now assume you want more than 1 telephone call, you need to pay $100-200 for upto 3 calls. Apple comes with unlimited calls for the first 90 days. So assume you don't make these calls, you want a webcam, another $80. Sure the Thinkpad can be thrown against the wall, run over by a car, shot with a gun and probably still work, but seriously, who would do those things?!

If you're comparing a Dell to an Apple, buy the Dell; if you're considering a "Pro" computer like a Thinkpad to the Macbook Pro, then it becomes a big question.
 
mcfaddenator said:
On the XPS, a 1920x1200 screen is $25 more, and Blu-Ray is available for $350 more. Still less than the MBP, even with those built in.
There. Same stuff, $500 difference. Would you pay $500 for OSX?
Click to expand...

I drive a 350Z, it only has 2 seats, does 20MPG in town, and less luggage space than my dad's BMW 318i (which has a top speed of 133mph compared to the 155mph of my Z, seats 5, and is actually smaller than the Z), yet my car was more expensive to buy, and is considerably more expensive to run....I also recently spent £1500 on a new MacBookPro when i could have got a better specced Windows Machine for half the price.... No OSX is probably not worth $500, but if you can afford the extra $500 why not :D
 
mcfaddenator said:
... Would you pay $500 for OSX?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't pay $500 for OSX, but I did pay it for Apple tight control on hardware which make OSX run efficiently with all the models Apple produces. I also pay for its industrial design, not mention the ease of use and the no fear of virus, trojan horse, ad and spy-ware.

Every one has a choice. No one is forced to buy a Mac. If you are uncomfortable paying a bit extra, you could always buy a dell, HP, Acer, etc.
 
The display on that dell is much, much, much worse than the MBP and MB.

One pro of that dell: you can be quite sure that your unit will not have defects.
One pro of the MBP: when you receive it you feel the same emotions as in gambling... you never know what defects it has.

thistle
 
Sometimes I wonder what drives people to make these comparisons. To paraphrase an ex-President: It's the OPERATING SYSTEM, STUPID.

I just bought two computers. One a refurbished MBP15. The other a Dell with Windows XP.

It took me four working hours to set up the Dell with updates over the net for XP and Office, with the assistance of a Dell tech. Problem was that this machine would not automatically install the updates. Had to do them manually, one at a time. Four hours of a techs time @ $125/hr is worth more than the price of the computer.

The Mac time was insignificant.

This is absolutely insane. The Mac benefit is with Leopard. I cannot believe how convoluted Windows is. The committee that designed it must have been drunk.
 
adjuster said:
Sometimes I wonder what drives people to make these comparisons. To paraphrase an ex-President: It's the OPERATING SYSTEM, STUPID.

I just bought two computers. One a refurbished MBP15. The other a Dell with Windows XP.

It took me four working hours to set up the Dell with updates [...] The Mac time was insignificant.

This is absolutely insane. The Mac benefit is with Leopard. I cannot believe how convoluted Windows is. The committee that designed it must have been drunk.
Click to expand...

It is usually quite difficult to find such a mess in a single message.

1. Everyone can say whatever they want. Did he offend you? But really? You ask that after your post? :))

2. The reason for comparison is this: since mac os is now running on "normal" hardware, for some people is hard to understand the price policy.

3. Vista is more expensive than Mac OS X, but apple computer cost significantly more.

4. Microsot and Apple updates follow two different strategies. Microsoft provide them more often than Apple. Frankly, after a couple of months spent with corrupted text and graphics, I wish apple adopted the microsoft way of upgrading. As you (perhaps) can realize Microsoft policy is not unreasonable.
Apple offers exclusively cumulative upgrades, that are slower. Security fixes are not realease as soon as they are prepared... pros... cons.

5. I switched to mac because I did not want a vista-based computer, but MS Vista is far, far more advanced (theoretically) than MacOS and its FreeBSD foundations. Vista can be slow, but may be you are not aware of the performance of Mac OS X when it was first introduced. XP was a mess, but it was able to run software written thousands of computer-years ago.
You do not have to believe anything, just understand the reasons. May be you might want to read an article of ars technica describing "technically" the diff win-mac from a developer point of view.

So... please...

thistle
 
It's important to realise that Macbook Pros are often very competitively priced when they're released, but they aren't nearly as good as the competition by the time their product cycle is finished.

Which is fairly obvious when you think about it, Apple only really have 4 laptop models (and 2 specced up models). Dell, HP and so on have loads. And they also update more frequently. Apple update maybe twice a year, and at those points the Pros are pretty much top notch.

It is really pointless to compare prices now anyway. Once the new ones are released, they'll presumably have faster processors (Centrino 2 no doubt), better graphics processing and i would highly expect Apple to introduce 4GB as standard (speccing up the MBP to that is way too expensive at the moment and reflects last year's pricing) since even Dell are doing it on low end models. Honestly the only thing that you don't get is the better graphics processing. And that is a big problem for many, but it isn't the be all and end all. Look at it this way, you're getting more or less the same processor (if not better for cheaper), Ram you can upgrade for a negligible price increase, screens are comparable but the MBP has LEDs, both have optical drives and the only difference mainly is graphics.

And of course remember that you're paying for:

1. Style and aesthetics
2. Aluminium body
3. The "privilege" of using OSX
4. A very thin piece of kit

Quite simply, buy when they release the major yearly updates and you'll do just fine. Leave it a bit late and you're more likely to be short changed.
 
For me, I would pay $300 to have OS X rather than Xp/Vista, and would pay $100 for design, and probably another $100 for weight, battery life, heat output etc.

I in no way feel my MBP was not worth the full £1,500 i paid for it (A Full $500 more than the guy who is whining would pay in the US) i am loving it, the design, ease of use, there is just somethings you would never see on a non apple machine. And this is the first laptop to have felt like it has merged the gap, powerful enough to replace my desktop, and giving me good game performance, and light and portable enough to actually use as a laptop. And this is the only laptop (other than Macbook and Air) That i can use the trackpad, i've used it for a full 2 weeks, no problems, although, when i get CS3 on here i'll be getting a mouse (Or maybe a graphics tablet....)
 
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