a couple more subjective experiences with P-M laptops
I just posted about this in a previous thread, but recently I had to do some stuff on a P-M laptop (Vaio Z1). Admittedly, it was only 1.3 GHz, but it still has a 400MHz FSB and 1MB L2. RAM was slightly less than my PowerBook, but comparable, and it had plenty for the basic tasks I was doing. And this thing felt DOG SLOW next to my wimpy little 1.33GHz rev. C PowerBook G4. Trying to do more than one thing at a time was like asking for the special-est of favors. General system operation really made me miss my computer.
I also have had a chance to use a Thinkpad X31 (I may be slightly off on the exact model number, but it was definitely a X-series from '04), P-M at 1.7 GHz (I think, 90% sure), with 1GB RAM. I didn't do even as much with it as with the Vaio, just web browsing and ssh-ing into my server to edit some web pages, but it did not feel any faster than my PB.
Now, I am NOT saying that these laptops aren't actually faster, or aren't better for you or anyone else. I am saying, however, that it might be a little too easy to be blinded by some of the specs (especially FSB) of PC laptops. In real life, what kind of performance we experience from our computers depends on so many variables, of which raw MHz is but one. On this board, obviously, most people feel more productive on a computer running OS X, and I do think that should figure into any comparitive speed discussion-- yes, it's not hardware, but it's too big a factor to ignore. Simply having to run anti-virus/spywire on a Windows computer takes a % tax off the top of your CPU's capabilities. In sum, you may in fact be using your computer for things that highlight the Dell's undboubted strengths and advantages, but then again you might not. Only you can answer that.
Lastly, the XPS series does not really have a direct competitor from Apple, speed issues aside. That thing is a beast. Apple just doesn't (at the moment) make anything that looks remotely like that. I don't just mean that in the superficial sense, either; size and weight are legitimate grounds for comparison when it comes to laptops. This Dell just isn't as portable as a PB, if that matters to you.
