thejadedmonkey
macrumors G3
But to be fair, the Apple laptops from the time of the capacitor plague were also effected.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Macbook Pro vs. Dell XPS 15
- Thread starter dannyr
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
But to be fair, the Apple laptops from the time of the capacitor plague were also effected.
The GX620s used pentium 4's. That's near the end of the capacitor plague but still used the bad caps. That's about what 2005/2006? The models after that were better.
Basically the way they are built has a fair amount to do with it. Apple makes higher margins for sure as well, everyone knows that. Mac is thinner made of all aluminum with very good power and very good battery life. I would bet the Mac has a better screen, but have not seen the newer XPS is person so I can't guarantee. Thinner smaller form factors can drive up cost. Vaio Z is a good example.
Not going to bash Dell here, both are solid systems IMO. On paper. Haven't seen many XPS reviews. Far as laptops go I like Apple, personally. YMMV.
Not going to bash Dell here, both are solid systems IMO. On paper. Haven't seen many XPS reviews. Far as laptops go I like Apple, personally. YMMV.
calderone
Cancelled
The GX620 Power Supplies did not use the bad caps. They were produced well after the bad caps were identified.
The point still remains, we saw similar failures, even in the Optiplex 755s. I don't see that rate of failure in the Macs I deploy.
I did not say they were not, however, the GX620s and many other Dell machines had a much higher rate of failure from my experience.
I've seen alot of talk about MBP have better battery life but this has only been know for the past Windows PCs. Now that many new laptops are including Optimus the battery life has increased substantially.
Just for comparison purposes, Alienware 17x R3 (decked out gaming computer) has 5.5 hours battery life. The new XPS 15" will probably get around 7 hours since it's hardware wont draw as much power so I would hold off on any new claims of increased battery life if you are comparing the new MBP to newer Windows PCs. In a few weeks when people start receiving their new Window's PC's with Optimus we will see who wins.
Just for comparison purposes, Alienware 17x R3 (decked out gaming computer) has 5.5 hours battery life. The new XPS 15" will probably get around 7 hours since it's hardware wont draw as much power so I would hold off on any new claims of increased battery life if you are comparing the new MBP to newer Windows PCs. In a few weeks when people start receiving their new Window's PC's with Optimus we will see who wins.
Also, as I just installed Win7 on bootcamp on my MBP (i wanted to play NBA2K11 since I sold my XBOX), it appears that I needed to download a PDF reader, as there is no program that does this from the get-go. May seem like a dumb little detail, but it is small things like this that make OSX better, to me anyways.
Haha, that always really bothers me, I just assume it will work then i download a PDF and..... Nothing!
Granted it only takes 2 minutes to download adobe reader but its always something i forget to install when setting up windows!
probably there's a select few out there who tried it and didn't enjoy it. Oh well, they can't post anyway.
😉
years ago we bought a few hundred dell laptops. within days i saw a stack of them in the help desk junk pile. turns out something like 20% were bad out of the box
What do you mean by "change a permission?" I have REPAIRED disk permissions, but never changed one to my knowledge. If I did change one, it did not adversely affect my MBP. If it's a setting you have to actively search out and change on your own, then I stand by my statement that you have to try harder to mess up a mac. Can one accidentally enter that command? I've never seen nor even heard of it and I've done a fair amount of work on my 4.5 year old MBP.
I'm not saying it can't happen or that macs are impervious to problems...I'm just saying they are not NEARLY as vulnerable to problems as PCs are. Granted, I realize the sample size for PC owners is MUCH higher than mac owners, but every time someone calls me with a computer problem it's always a windows computer. When mac owners call me it's more of a "how do you do this" type question. Not "How do you fix this?"
When you factor all the adware, spyware, malware, viruses, trojans, worms, etc. that PCs can fall victim to I firmly believe PCs get screwed up much more easily than Macs. And like I said earlier, I know macs can get a virus, but the threat is so slim right now it's not worth worrying about.
Last edited:
Apple's QC is going downhill. Look at the amount of crap thermal goo is on this 2011 MB pro.
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Pro-15-Inch-Unibody-Early-2011-Teardown/4990/2#s22457
i'm willing to bet they are following Intel's guidelines
my biggest pet peeve is the 256MB RAM and the huge GDDR ram chips they use. every time i see a graphics card the RAM chips always look a lot smaller than apple's. and denser
I'm sorry but if the Apple engineers dont know how much thermal paste to apply then no one should be buying their products because I wouldn't trust any of the hardware. Their engineers aren't that stupid. Surprisingly, alot of companies put this much paste on so I'm not singling out Apple.
The process of applying thermal paste correctly is probably more costly than the way it is currently done (applying too much) so management decided that it's not worth the extra cost to do it. These things happen all the time.
Kinda late, but in regards to apple care. My campus bookstore sells them for only 180. Any other students see this price?
It is for the 13, but its also $70 cheaper than on the apple website. I'm sure people buy and sell these like crazy
Blu101
macrumors 6502a
Blu101
macrumors 6502a
Their engineers also don't work on the assembly line. Learn something about mass production, then talk.
Repairing disk permissions is due to permissions getting corrupted/changed for various reasons. When permissions get out of whack, your computer will crawl until you repair them.
I think I've already agreed with your point that it's less likely that someone will "accidentally" screw up a Mac, but your bit about malware is off a tad.
There isn't a whole wack of drive-by viruses infecting Windows anymore either, since the advent of Windows 7. Similar to Mac, the main form of Windows malware infections are either scams/false positives or trojans. Also of note, at this point, there are NO viruses in the wild, that are capable of infecting an up-to-date OSX system. Trojans infections and scams are 100% user problems. OSX asks for your password to install certain files, and Windows does the same (or presents UAC if you're an Administrator). If you give the malware access to your system by passing this prompt, then it's your own fault.
Where did he say that engineers work on the assembly line? They decide how much thermal paste goes into the components, and the assembly line applies it. So if I read his statement correctly, he's speaking about the engineers, who set the specifications; not the line workers, who assemble the components.
My experience with Apple...
I want to begin by saying if I had the cash to trade up for the new MBP every year, I'd probably stick with Apple.
I have a mid 2007 MBP model I paid around $3,000 for at the time. I'm actually still paying it off.
With the work/upgrades I've had to put into it, I would say it's cost me about an additional $700 dollars. If I want it to keep working, I've been quoted about another $400-$600 for parts and labor.
The work and upgrades have included replacing/upgrading a failed hard drive(i did myself to save on labor), having to replace the fans, replacing the keyboard when it stopped working properly twice, once having to cover some of the video card/motherboard replacement cost (although they replaced it once free and said it was their fault), several batteries, and then ram(upgrade and failure).
I can't speak for how much of that is normal in a little over a three year period in a laptop.
It also has always run HOT. I mean 135-180 degrees hot.
At this point, I can't run any intensive programs (games, etc) without being plugged into a wall, but they can't diagnose the issue or why. The screen bezel (I assume that's what it's called) has also cracked on both sides of the screen. I was told by the local dealer this happens alot, but they tell people just duck tape it till it stops working completely because repair cost is prohibitive. Because the bezel is connected somehow to the video card, I now have lines going up and down my screen that sometimes vanish. On occasion, half my screen vanishes.
This is the $400-$600 dollar repair I was speaking of. I was told it's common.
Applecare is great. Mine ran out and my computer had fallen to pieces even when covered under it.
It also doesn't cover everything.
Some issues happen soon after it it expires. They have been known to extend warranties if it's a known issue.(But why not just replace the computers if they know their motherboards fail with a motherboard with less of a failure rate?)
Now...I have been dual-booting pretty much since I got it. I almost entirely use windows for gaming and OSX for everyday projects. (School, surfing the web, etc...)
I have never had a virus on OSX, I've had two semi-catastrophic viruses on Win7 in the past year.
I enjoy OSX. If I do buy something other than a mac, I will severely miss OSX.
But don't buy an Apple because you believe they are hardware superior(don't need repairs), their customer service is never wrong or never not going to work for you, or without realizing you are paying a very big premium for OSX and that little apple.
It is a simple system, I love it, but it comes at a very big premium.
I can't speak to other manufacturers. I've owned every kind of desktop, but this was my first laptop as I needed it for school.
I'm interested in looking into a hackintosh solution if anyone knows of information on a good new sandy bridge laptop that converts easily and doesn't have manufacturing issues.
I would look in that direction if I was you and try to find a decent convertible computer for far less money.
MBP
2.4 Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB Ram
Bus Speed 800MHZ
500 GB Hardrive
Nvidia GeForce 8600m GT
I want to begin by saying if I had the cash to trade up for the new MBP every year, I'd probably stick with Apple.
I have a mid 2007 MBP model I paid around $3,000 for at the time. I'm actually still paying it off.
With the work/upgrades I've had to put into it, I would say it's cost me about an additional $700 dollars. If I want it to keep working, I've been quoted about another $400-$600 for parts and labor.
The work and upgrades have included replacing/upgrading a failed hard drive(i did myself to save on labor), having to replace the fans, replacing the keyboard when it stopped working properly twice, once having to cover some of the video card/motherboard replacement cost (although they replaced it once free and said it was their fault), several batteries, and then ram(upgrade and failure).
I can't speak for how much of that is normal in a little over a three year period in a laptop.
It also has always run HOT. I mean 135-180 degrees hot.
At this point, I can't run any intensive programs (games, etc) without being plugged into a wall, but they can't diagnose the issue or why. The screen bezel (I assume that's what it's called) has also cracked on both sides of the screen. I was told by the local dealer this happens alot, but they tell people just duck tape it till it stops working completely because repair cost is prohibitive. Because the bezel is connected somehow to the video card, I now have lines going up and down my screen that sometimes vanish. On occasion, half my screen vanishes.
This is the $400-$600 dollar repair I was speaking of. I was told it's common.
Applecare is great. Mine ran out and my computer had fallen to pieces even when covered under it.
It also doesn't cover everything.
Some issues happen soon after it it expires. They have been known to extend warranties if it's a known issue.(But why not just replace the computers if they know their motherboards fail with a motherboard with less of a failure rate?)
Now...I have been dual-booting pretty much since I got it. I almost entirely use windows for gaming and OSX for everyday projects. (School, surfing the web, etc...)
I have never had a virus on OSX, I've had two semi-catastrophic viruses on Win7 in the past year.
I enjoy OSX. If I do buy something other than a mac, I will severely miss OSX.
But don't buy an Apple because you believe they are hardware superior(don't need repairs), their customer service is never wrong or never not going to work for you, or without realizing you are paying a very big premium for OSX and that little apple.
It is a simple system, I love it, but it comes at a very big premium.
I can't speak to other manufacturers. I've owned every kind of desktop, but this was my first laptop as I needed it for school.
I'm interested in looking into a hackintosh solution if anyone knows of information on a good new sandy bridge laptop that converts easily and doesn't have manufacturing issues.
I would look in that direction if I was you and try to find a decent convertible computer for far less money.
MBP
2.4 Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB Ram
Bus Speed 800MHZ
500 GB Hardrive
Nvidia GeForce 8600m GT
Think it through
I just got my XPS 15 two days ago. So far have not had any problems.
I have never had any problems with dell. Our 10 years old desktop works fine still (of course almost no functionality after 10 years) and my old inspiron 6400 has only had one problem (speakers broke). That inspiron is almost four and a half years old and the battery still lasts 4.5 hours (AC adapter still working).
I personally would not pay that much money for a macbook. The new dell XPS seems amazing to me but has several flaws.
First the good stuff. The battery life is great on this computer (9-11% decrease in 30 minutes while surfing the web- around 5 hours in total) This is with the 56 watt battery. With the 90 watt battery I estimate I would get around 8 hours. The computer runs amazingly cool. Only 2-5 degrees above room temperature while surfing the web or email. The intel graphics are noticably slower that the Nvidia graphics. Screen is nice and bright but lacks resolution (If I had the money I would have upgraded). Sound is very loud and clear. The computer is not that heavy. If you have to carry a bag of textbooks around all day you will see what I mean. Could it be lighter? Definately, but in my opinion weight is not a problem.
However, the screen resolution is not better than my old inspiron 6400 (1650x1050). It lacks a DVI port for projectors (have to buy an adapter but if you buy a mac same problem). Needs another USB port. Keyboard makes different clicking sounds for each key (kind of annoying). The DVD drive is flimsy and loud. There is some but not too much crap on this computer. When I first turned it on there was a icon for eBay (crapware). There are around 75 processes running but CPU usage is only around 1-5%. The computer is near silent while not under a load but quite loud when doing intensive tasks. For some reason dell gave me the 130 watt charger instead of a 90 watt charger and its quite large.
People, don't compare portability between a 13 inch computer and a 15.6 inch computer. The 13 incher will always be more portable.
Personally if I had a budget of 1.8K I would buy this computer with the screen upgrade and use the rest to build myself a desktop. The price to performance ratio is much higher and while the first one you build may be more expensive, it is quite cheap to upgrade. Just change ram, cpu, motherboard, graphics card really. Case, power supply, hard drives, DVD/Bluray burner, card reader, etc can all be reused.
Make a well thought out decision. I have never owned a mac (though it think that they are cool if overpriced) so I can't really compare this computer. If you don't like windows put on linux. Resale value of old macbook pro's will have dropped (the new macbook pros are cheaper and significantly better-this is what happens when you don't make changes to your computer in two years). Pick what suits you.
I just got my XPS 15 two days ago. So far have not had any problems.
I have never had any problems with dell. Our 10 years old desktop works fine still (of course almost no functionality after 10 years) and my old inspiron 6400 has only had one problem (speakers broke). That inspiron is almost four and a half years old and the battery still lasts 4.5 hours (AC adapter still working).
I personally would not pay that much money for a macbook. The new dell XPS seems amazing to me but has several flaws.
First the good stuff. The battery life is great on this computer (9-11% decrease in 30 minutes while surfing the web- around 5 hours in total) This is with the 56 watt battery. With the 90 watt battery I estimate I would get around 8 hours. The computer runs amazingly cool. Only 2-5 degrees above room temperature while surfing the web or email. The intel graphics are noticably slower that the Nvidia graphics. Screen is nice and bright but lacks resolution (If I had the money I would have upgraded). Sound is very loud and clear. The computer is not that heavy. If you have to carry a bag of textbooks around all day you will see what I mean. Could it be lighter? Definately, but in my opinion weight is not a problem.
However, the screen resolution is not better than my old inspiron 6400 (1650x1050). It lacks a DVI port for projectors (have to buy an adapter but if you buy a mac same problem). Needs another USB port. Keyboard makes different clicking sounds for each key (kind of annoying). The DVD drive is flimsy and loud. There is some but not too much crap on this computer. When I first turned it on there was a icon for eBay (crapware). There are around 75 processes running but CPU usage is only around 1-5%. The computer is near silent while not under a load but quite loud when doing intensive tasks. For some reason dell gave me the 130 watt charger instead of a 90 watt charger and its quite large.
People, don't compare portability between a 13 inch computer and a 15.6 inch computer. The 13 incher will always be more portable.
Personally if I had a budget of 1.8K I would buy this computer with the screen upgrade and use the rest to build myself a desktop. The price to performance ratio is much higher and while the first one you build may be more expensive, it is quite cheap to upgrade. Just change ram, cpu, motherboard, graphics card really. Case, power supply, hard drives, DVD/Bluray burner, card reader, etc can all be reused.
Make a well thought out decision. I have never owned a mac (though it think that they are cool if overpriced) so I can't really compare this computer. If you don't like windows put on linux. Resale value of old macbook pro's will have dropped (the new macbook pros are cheaper and significantly better-this is what happens when you don't make changes to your computer in two years). Pick what suits you.