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Please help me justify $800 difference between MBP and XPS M1530

When I was a student, I was always trying to somehow save money. The Dell would be a fine choice and I'm sure that the $800, which is a LOT of money, would come in handy.

You know, sometimes dad's actually do know what's best. Comes with years of experience and wisdom ;)

Cheers,
:):apple:
 
i had the 1530 before the MBP. Trust me, i had buyers remorse within a week.

Nothing but problems with the dell, and i just couldnt come to terms with "just windows"

i did buy a refurb 1530, and it was ok, but it just seemed to lack something. It sure didnt help i got a terrible screen, but that was almost expected with a 1680x1050 from the outlet.

800$ is a bunch of money though. The refurb i bought was about 1300$, vs spending roughly 1700$ on the MBP, its not 800$. I bought the student developer kit (100$), and got a MBP for 1599$, one time deal. Of course both final prices exclude tax, but thats also about the same.
 
Get the Dell, then use the difference to buy an iPod Touch.

Back to school promo + 200 on top. :)
 
The difference is OSX. Any major computer company can sell a machine with these specs, but only one gets you OSX. This is my first Mac, I will never have a new PC in my house again.

Reliability and ease of use are top notch on the Mac...for the money i don't think it can be beat. If you do end up with the Vista machine im sure you will be just fine as well, you are the one who is going to have to use whatever you get. That new Mac will run with you all the way through college. You may find yourself upgrading/replacing that dell in 2 years.
 
I did not notice up front that you are a student. I'm in my 40's and the owner of a company and STILL had trouble justifying the cost of a MBP.

My kid is in college and I would never spend that kind of money on her. She would need to get to the point where she could afford to pay the difference (summer job?).

My kid got a standard MB for college. She's beating the crap out of it (as I expected) but it works for what she does.

I would wait for the new MB and get that.
 
Resale value is another reason. Plus not spending as much money on security apps (like anti-virus).

I need a Mac because of Finalcut, Logic and Aperture. I wouldn't have touched a mac a few years back 'cos the software choice was limited. Now that's all changed.
 
justify $800 difference

Hardware is hardware, but using OSX, installing and trouble shooting software (just compare the installation steps on a cd for Mac and Windows) is much more user friendly. You have the choice of keeping it simple with the GUI (point n click) or using the command line in UNIX, SO SWEET........... as of now there has never been a "credible" security threat on our macs :apple:
 
Tosser said:
It runs on windows too. So that is not an "advantage" compared to a windows pc. And the latest - Office 2008 - doesn't support macros.

So does many windows-PCs. That's not an "advantage" – it just means they're directly comparable to another intel-pc running windows.

LOL, as if any sales man aren't "happy to answer any questions". That is hardly an "advantage either.
Click to expand...

He never said that those were advantages of using a mac instead of a pc. He is just saying that those are things that some people aren't aware of and that those people should know.
 
add2mac said:
Hello thanks for all your comments,
I think I will go with MBP although my dad will not be too happy
I made a deal so that I pay for the anything above $1500

As for the $250 premium thing I was wondering if people could tear it down anymore financially... but bascially it seems to be impossible to strip down beyond $500 or whatever.

I have been waiting for right entry point into Mac since 2001 and I thought now was right time because of price(as in its not as scaringly expensive as it used to be) and compatibility. And I still do think it is right time to go and Mac OS X seems to be worhtwhile reason having had few minutes experiences with it in the shop...

Hope new MBP is coming soon...
Click to expand...

if you do the deals with apple you get more

with rebates, you can get a free ipod and a free printer if you are a student..idk i got that stuff free last summer
 
I actually don't see why there is a need to argue about getting what anymore; I believe the OP already said he would be getting a MBP.
 
Dell?

I've had a lot of Dell's over the years. The latitude and precision laptops are sturdy, if drab. But I have never been happy with a single Dell...every one I've owned or used has had a flat-out terrible display.

Dell batteries seem to lose capacity even faster than my MBP batteries do.

That said, I do like the media bay and the option to put in a second battery. My new D630 gets 9 hours of battery life with the extended primary and media bay batteries (it also weighs close to 8 lbs with both).

At the end of the day, I'm a *nix guy, and Apple makes the best, most hassle-free *nix laptops around.
 
i know you didn't want to hear about the cool factor but that's how things are sometimes. we all make choices based on value and aesthetics. personally, the mb's and mbp's are just cool. and hey, maybe it's not worth $800 but i it's worth something. it's all been mentioned here... osx, build quality, support, intangibles... all of that. just to add the cherry on top, it just looks damn nice.

no matter how awesome a product is, you're gonna get some weird ones... sometimes it comes in all screwy but it happens.

anyway... i think everyone has repeated the same points over and over again, and i know i'm doing that too, but for me... it's the cool factor.
 
gocardsfan1 said:
He never said that those were advantages of using a mac instead of a pc. He is just saying that those are things that some people aren't aware of and that those people should know.
Click to expand...

Well, it's an Apple sales-speech, made in order to have people choose the Mac over a windows-equipped PC. That really says it all.
 
100+ posts here an no one talks asks about what this kid is planning to do with the computer.

So,.. Why not buy a brick. A common red brick is much cheaper then even the Dell. Or maybe buy a notebook and a pen, that would be eassier to cary around. Untill you list out some things you need to do I say the brick wins on price. Once you start listing requirements and things you need to get done then maybe the brick will not work, but we're not there yet.

OK so you need to run a web browser and a simple word processor. Why not buy a macbook? Why the MBP? The idea is to start off with a brick and then move up only as far as needed to get the job done. For almost everyone a MBP is way more expensive than they need. The logic that goes "MBP costs a lot, there for Apple computers are expensive" is flawed

Ok so now you say you need to edit some videos or yu are a photographer who needs to review a shoot in the field. Now you are back to the MBP

But aftr reading all of the above posts I'm recommending the brick. They cost about a buck each.
 
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