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Powerbook or Dell XPS?
- Thread starter iQuit
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premiere pro (i use this one)/after effects, various flavors of avid, various flavors of pinnacle, etc.iQuit said:
It is true that asking on sucha religious mac websites such has macrumors will get you biased answers.
I personnaly am not religious about mac nor windows. Both work great and imho both have their own purposes.
I am in hte process of getting a desktop pc since I already have a powerbook.
If I had to choose between the powerbook 17" or the Dell Xps m170 I would look at what I would do with it.
I love my powerbook, its great for watching movies, getting picture organize, editing basic movies and well sometime playing basic games. I use it for school and everytime I need to be on the move.
The Dell XPS is one of the most powerfull laptop and it can even be on par with some desktop of similar specs.
Its a hard decision and since powerbooks have been stuck with old components, I would say go with the XPS. Yes its windows, but its also up to date with current technology. You can even upgrade the graphics card, although the current 7800gtx go is currently the best mobile solution.
With a resolution of 1920x1200, a top notch cpu that runs crop circle around any G4, it might not be 1 inch thick and be as "beautiful" as the powerbook but at least its power on the go.
Sure you can browse the internet or use word on both computers and for most people its enough. I can do the exact same thing with my old 1997 Ibm laptop.
Enjoy the xps and enjoy playing doom 3 better on it than on a powermac with a x850xt!
I personnaly am not religious about mac nor windows. Both work great and imho both have their own purposes.
I am in hte process of getting a desktop pc since I already have a powerbook.
If I had to choose between the powerbook 17" or the Dell Xps m170 I would look at what I would do with it.
I love my powerbook, its great for watching movies, getting picture organize, editing basic movies and well sometime playing basic games. I use it for school and everytime I need to be on the move.
The Dell XPS is one of the most powerfull laptop and it can even be on par with some desktop of similar specs.
Its a hard decision and since powerbooks have been stuck with old components, I would say go with the XPS. Yes its windows, but its also up to date with current technology. You can even upgrade the graphics card, although the current 7800gtx go is currently the best mobile solution.
With a resolution of 1920x1200, a top notch cpu that runs crop circle around any G4, it might not be 1 inch thick and be as "beautiful" as the powerbook but at least its power on the go.
Sure you can browse the internet or use word on both computers and for most people its enough. I can do the exact same thing with my old 1997 Ibm laptop.
Enjoy the xps and enjoy playing doom 3 better on it than on a powermac with a x850xt!
Let me give you a pure example of where this is going on and being used. My PC teacher has 2 iMacs in his room - yes that's right, 2 iMacs, they are about 2 or 3 years old (G4 700MHz), and he uses them for Video Editing and that. Final Cut Pro 2.0, but the Apps that are out for PC doesn't even comprehend the power of Final Cut Pro. I don't care if you pay $10,000 for the software for PC, Final Cut has everything you could ever want - get the whole package with Logic, Motion, and Final Cut - and you have a portable video studio. In TV broadcasting, they can't use PCs cause the things just aren't there. They use eMacs and iMacs to do their editing on and the teacher uses a powerbook. He has a monitor hooked up to it with the rest of his peripherals so he can use an external monitor to span his screen.
Mac OS X will stay current, keep up with apps that you may want, etc. Besides, Compressor, that runs on FinalCut/MacOS X, it can harness XGrid if you use it.
Mac OS X will stay current, keep up with apps that you may want, etc. Besides, Compressor, that runs on FinalCut/MacOS X, it can harness XGrid if you use it.
my two cents...
As an owner of a 17" PB 1.67 with 2 gigs of RAM...AND... as a former LA based professional TV editor (i do 3d animation now)... DO NOT BUY THE NEW PB! FCP is great...so that's a bummer regarding the pc...BUT...run Avid Xpress Pro instead. Forget Premier...horrible NLE. Get Avid Xpress Pro off Limewire or Kazaa or eMule
Avid Media Composer/Adrenaline is THE Pro app for editing...though FCP has made some dents in Avid's marketshare...minor dents really. Showtime uses FCP....who else??? Documentaries and low budget films use FCP...some cable networks...Discovery Channel, etc. Don't get me wrong, I love FCP, but at the Pro level...let's be honest
Check this out:
http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/go_np9750.html
or
the boxxtech.com ..."goBoxx 2300" laptop...spendy, but great. The upcoming AMD laptop from sager is better than the goBoxx...though i'm sure boxxtech will come out with their version too.
Either of these will blow the #@*&#%@ doors off the new PB's for dcc(digital content creation). You could actually do 3d on those puppies.
That AMD Athlon X2 dual core(!!) sager laptop is a workstation laptop! It's suppose to start shipping in a few weeks. Sure, it weighs 12 lbs, but what are your priorities? IF...your priorities are dcc...then that laptop has "legs". It has a three year lifespan...easily. It's already 64bit capable! Apple is at LEAST a year away from a 64 bit capable laptop. Other options...Dell XPS....or...build your own at sager...or pugetsystems.com. The Apple PB to get eventually... is the revB or revC(!) MacTel...based on the Merom (64bit). For dcc , there is absolutely NO WAY the new PB will "keep up" for the next three years...yikes!...it's already way behind. Waiting for a Yonah based MacTel PB is not a bad option...though not great... but can you wait until late Q2 '06 for Yonah? Merom is Q1 or Q2 '07. Please don't spend $2500 on a laptop with a Radeon 9700!!!...that's still not offering 1920X1200 rez!...that offers DDR2 533 RAM running at 333mhz! ...plus a laughable bus speed, etc, etc, etc. Just say no...please....
Just to be clear, if you're not focusing on dcc, then my rant has far less validity.
peace
PCMacUser said:
As an owner of a 17" PB 1.67 with 2 gigs of RAM...AND... as a former LA based professional TV editor (i do 3d animation now)... DO NOT BUY THE NEW PB! FCP is great...so that's a bummer regarding the pc...BUT...run Avid Xpress Pro instead. Forget Premier...horrible NLE. Get Avid Xpress Pro off Limewire or Kazaa or eMule
Avid Media Composer/Adrenaline is THE Pro app for editing...though FCP has made some dents in Avid's marketshare...minor dents really. Showtime uses FCP....who else??? Documentaries and low budget films use FCP...some cable networks...Discovery Channel, etc. Don't get me wrong, I love FCP, but at the Pro level...let's be honest Check this out:
http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/go_np9750.html
or
the boxxtech.com ..."goBoxx 2300" laptop...spendy, but great. The upcoming AMD laptop from sager is better than the goBoxx...though i'm sure boxxtech will come out with their version too.
Either of these will blow the #@*&#%@ doors off the new PB's for dcc(digital content creation). You could actually do 3d on those puppies.
That AMD Athlon X2 dual core(!!) sager laptop is a workstation laptop! It's suppose to start shipping in a few weeks. Sure, it weighs 12 lbs, but what are your priorities? IF...your priorities are dcc...then that laptop has "legs". It has a three year lifespan...easily. It's already 64bit capable! Apple is at LEAST a year away from a 64 bit capable laptop. Other options...Dell XPS....or...build your own at sager...or pugetsystems.com. The Apple PB to get eventually... is the revB or revC(!) MacTel...based on the Merom (64bit). For dcc , there is absolutely NO WAY the new PB will "keep up" for the next three years...yikes!...it's already way behind. Waiting for a Yonah based MacTel PB is not a bad option...though not great... but can you wait until late Q2 '06 for Yonah? Merom is Q1 or Q2 '07. Please don't spend $2500 on a laptop with a Radeon 9700!!!...that's still not offering 1920X1200 rez!...that offers DDR2 533 RAM running at 333mhz! ...plus a laughable bus speed, etc, etc, etc. Just say no...please....
Just to be clear, if you're not focusing on dcc, then my rant has far less validity.
peace
Ok, so PC laptop? I will at a later time(years away) have to get a PowerBook. But the thing I like about Apple is it is ONLY one company. There are like thousands of PC manufactures and it is hard to choose what laptop to get. I need the best possible PC laptop and I have enough cash, just not 3 grand.
What I am looking for.
1.I can wait till November or Dec.
2.Firewire,80+GB HD,17" screen,and 512MB of RAM
3.At least a 2.5 hour battery
4.At least 2.0 GHz
5.In the price range of $2,000-$2,400
6.Someone help.
7.Wireless, prefferably BT and 802.11g
(edit) 8. Not too thick.
What I am looking for.
1.I can wait till November or Dec.
2.Firewire,80+GB HD,17" screen,and 512MB of RAM
3.At least a 2.5 hour battery
4.At least 2.0 GHz
5.In the price range of $2,000-$2,400
6.Someone help.
7.Wireless, prefferably BT and 802.11g
(edit) 8. Not too thick.
http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/notebooks/product.cfm?ProductType=9880
That can keep up with some Apple dekstops!
That can keep up with some Apple dekstops!
iQuit said:http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/notebooks/product.cfm?ProductType=9880
That can keep up with some Apple dekstops!
Yeah, but that is not a laptop!!! It is a brick!!!
The whole point of a laptop is for it to be portable and that thing would not be what i would want to carry around.
I have one of best setups for macs. I have the 12in iBook for portability (taking it to school, notes and papers). Then i have an iMac for any heavy lifting (mostly Photoshop, home movies and working on presentations).
Just my thoughts
jaduffy108 said:As an owner of a 17" PB 1.67 with 2 gigs of RAM...AND... as a former LA based professional TV editor (i do 3d animation now)... DO NOT BUY THE NEW PB! FCP is great...so that's a bummer regarding the pc...BUT...run Avid Xpress Pro instead. Forget Premier...horrible NLE. Get Avid Xpress Pro off Limewire or Kazaa or eMule
Check this out:
http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/go_np9750.html
or
the boxxtech.com ..."goBoxx 2300" laptop...spendy, but great. The upcoming AMD laptop from sager is better than the goBoxx...though i'm sure boxxtech will come out with their version too.
Either of these will blow the #@*&#%@ doors off the new PB's for dcc(digital content creation). You could actually do 3d on those puppies.
That AMD Athlon X2 dual core(!!) sager laptop is a workstation laptop! It's suppose to start shipping in a few weeks. Sure, it weighs 12 lbs, but what are your priorities? IF...your priorities are dcc...then that laptop has "legs". It has a three year lifespan...easily. It's already 64bit capable! Apple is at LEAST a year away from a 64 bit capable laptop. Other options...Dell XPS....or...build your own at sager...or pugetsystems.com. The Apple PB to get eventually... is the revB or revC(!) MacTel...based on the Merom (64bit). For dcc , there is absolutely NO WAY the new PB will "keep up" for the next three years...yikes!...it's already way behind. Waiting for a Yonah based MacTel PB is not a bad option...though not great... but can you wait until late Q2 '06 for Yonah? Merom is Q1 or Q2 '07. Please don't spend $2500 on a laptop with a Radeon 9700!!!...that's still not offering 1920X1200 rez!...that offers DDR2 533 RAM running at 333mhz! ...plus a laughable bus speed, etc, etc, etc. Just say no...please....
Just to be clear, if you're not focusing on dcc, then my rant has far less validity.
peace
Can you say ILLEGAL! Sorry, but if you get a new computer, buy the Apps don't use illegal ones.
if you want video editing wouldnt you want to use the industry leading software, aka final cut studio. But the xps is a cool machine, but i was looking at a dell laptop and the screen looks horrible with windows, it just something about osx taht makes it look great on every screen.
You just reminded me of something - a design Philosophy/tip/hint/etc.themacman said:
When designing graphics/movies have your desktop a gray/grey (however you guys spell it) background. This will help to eliminate (gosh I spelled it iliminate, I have typing issues) color differences that you may be seeing. Right now I have the blue background (default with new Macintosh) on my machine and some colors on things I do I just say, that isn't right. Switched to a gray/grey background, found out it had too much red value for the photo I was working on. Helped out a lot that way.
A fair comparison
1. You could get DELL for much cheaper using those coupons and stuff.
2. that is subjective. Yes both are stable (my safari gets crashed more often than any thing else).
3. Video Editing for next 3 years: G4 is a NO NO. A dual G5 (1.8) takes 1/4 time of doing a video encoding as compared to G4. I havent done much video myself. But that powerbook is going to fry if you do really long full capacity use over hours. On the contrary the XPS is very cool after extremely long periods of use (more/large fans + extra space inside).
4. Speed: (Pci-e vs AGP 4x, 400 vs 167 Mhz, 2.13 vs 1.67Ghz) the most important thing people fail to realize is for what? Absolute speed DELL wins hands down. 7800GT is definitely the fastest graphics processor. vs 9700 in powerbook (which was good) but at AGP 4X is not going to keep up !!! That said Xp does not use GC that much. Unless your program/game that you want to use used the GC there is not much use. But it is going to change with Vista.
5. This is dubious. 3years is a long time in most of the technology. in less than 3 months you will have Dual core P-Ms in XPS line (for a very little to No premium) for sure. powerbook with a G4 and a phased out PPC line up is definitely not going to work out.
6. Both are far enough. Vista graphics and the desktop is going to use similar or comparable compositing model to OS X. And there will be a ton of applications using the 3D feature.
Why would you want to buy a powerbook 17" is that it is simply cool and very good looking. It look much more manageable than XPS. They both differ by arround 1 pound. What i like the most about macs is the sleep, wake up functionality. I had couple of problems with my windows machines waking up from deep sleep (a day or two) when not connected to power. The upside is that the battery management of windows/PM is excellent.
if you want portability with main emphasis on video editing (and that actually is the true reason and if it is the deal maker) then buy the XPS (may be wait till mid jan when Dual P-Ms are announced). If you want another mac with video editing put portability not a requirement then get the powermac. if video editing is not a requirement then you want a nice 17" portable get the powerbook. I am assuming that the apps you want are on both the platforms.
if you want portability cute outfit 15.4" (but 1920x1200, 5.8 pounds (15 powerbook), 1.1" thick) check out the HP NC8230 (X600 w/128MB) with equivalent power... here
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/321957-64295-89315-321838-f1-447338.html
+ a free 17" LCD. + Dock + some free stuff + 3 year world wide warranty (Included in the price)
otherwise wait till the new powerbooks (next wednesday) with pA Semi dual core 2.0 Ghz G5s!!
iQuit said:
1. You could get DELL for much cheaper using those coupons and stuff.
2. that is subjective. Yes both are stable (my safari gets crashed more often than any thing else).
3. Video Editing for next 3 years: G4 is a NO NO. A dual G5 (1.8) takes 1/4 time of doing a video encoding as compared to G4. I havent done much video myself. But that powerbook is going to fry if you do really long full capacity use over hours. On the contrary the XPS is very cool after extremely long periods of use (more/large fans + extra space inside).
4. Speed: (Pci-e vs AGP 4x, 400 vs 167 Mhz, 2.13 vs 1.67Ghz) the most important thing people fail to realize is for what? Absolute speed DELL wins hands down. 7800GT is definitely the fastest graphics processor. vs 9700 in powerbook (which was good) but at AGP 4X is not going to keep up !!! That said Xp does not use GC that much. Unless your program/game that you want to use used the GC there is not much use. But it is going to change with Vista.
5. This is dubious. 3years is a long time in most of the technology. in less than 3 months you will have Dual core P-Ms in XPS line (for a very little to No premium) for sure. powerbook with a G4 and a phased out PPC line up is definitely not going to work out.
6. Both are far enough. Vista graphics and the desktop is going to use similar or comparable compositing model to OS X. And there will be a ton of applications using the 3D feature.
Why would you want to buy a powerbook 17" is that it is simply cool and very good looking. It look much more manageable than XPS. They both differ by arround 1 pound. What i like the most about macs is the sleep, wake up functionality. I had couple of problems with my windows machines waking up from deep sleep (a day or two) when not connected to power. The upside is that the battery management of windows/PM is excellent.
if you want portability with main emphasis on video editing (and that actually is the true reason and if it is the deal maker) then buy the XPS (may be wait till mid jan when Dual P-Ms are announced). If you want another mac with video editing put portability not a requirement then get the powermac. if video editing is not a requirement then you want a nice 17" portable get the powerbook. I am assuming that the apps you want are on both the platforms.
if you want portability cute outfit 15.4" (but 1920x1200, 5.8 pounds (15 powerbook), 1.1" thick) check out the HP NC8230 (X600 w/128MB) with equivalent power... here
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/321957-64295-89315-321838-f1-447338.html
+ a free 17" LCD. + Dock + some free stuff + 3 year world wide warranty (Included in the price)
otherwise wait till the new powerbooks (next wednesday) with pA Semi dual core 2.0 Ghz G5s!!
So what laptop should I get? I have $2000-$2400 to spend (a little bit more may not be so hard to squeeze in, but not like 200$ more)
There are so many thousands of PC makers it's not funny. I want the best possible notebook for my price range, and with DVD burning, wireless, good battery, and and up to date 256MB gfx card. A built in video cam wouldn't hurt.
There are so many thousands of PC makers it's not funny. I want the best possible notebook for my price range, and with DVD burning, wireless, good battery, and and up to date 256MB gfx card. A built in video cam wouldn't hurt.
Also I hear a lot about the Pentium-M, what happened to the Centrino they advertised as "great for portability" because of the battery life.
iQuit said:
centrino (platform) = Pentium M+intel wifi
256MB grfx cd RAM + not too think donot go together. donot buy sager and stuff battery life is than 1 hr on those things
Dells min thickness is 1.6" accross the board ... HP and IBM have 1.1" machines at 15.4" widescreen
like like saying would you rather have a lightsaber or a nija sword in a battle.
Come on, same price the only thing PC have is normal lower cost and Gaming. Since they are priced the same and gaming is not really laptop's strong point, that leaves you think get a Mac!
Come on, same price the only thing PC have is normal lower cost and Gaming. Since they are priced the same and gaming is not really laptop's strong point, that leaves you think get a Mac!
follow your heart
I am new to this forum, but Ive been a regular around here Ive always been reading posts on different topics as n when I get time. Today out of the blue I just decided to signup and make a post.
Well I see this whole decision making thing of going for a powerbook or settling down for a windows laptop (DELL XPS in this case) very confusing. You will never be able to make up your mind if you are not sure or satisfied yourself.
Technology will keep on changing, and sooner than you realize APPLE will be out with Intel based powerbooks. Undoubtedly OSX leaves Windows in the dust.
Lets put it this way
1. Depending on how you configure, windows can prove unstable, buggy and a pain in the ass if you are victimized by viruses or worms or the thousands of other threats.
OSX is better (and you dont need me to tell you how).
2. Windows calls in for too much of maintenance. (Do you have the time?)
3. May be Longhorn / Vista might do them some good, but who knows
You say you want something that will last you for the next three years Id want something that would last me till the end of my time (lol). Technology is changing fast, trust me, youd junk or put whatever you buy (XPS or Powerbook) aside with time (3 years is a long time).
Follow your heart, do you want a laptop thats fast, yet high maintenance, with an unstable operating system or a beauty, which is not that bad yet powered with the best OS out there.
Id go for the powerbook with my eyes closed, coz its something that makes me proud and happy about working on it. I use high-end apps (like MAYA, photoshop, Illustrator, and Macromedia studio) and have no complaints (Note: its not advisable to render heavy scenes on a powerbook or a laptop).
The hunger for speed never ends Apple is not sitting ducks letting the rest of the computer industry to leave them behind its just a matter of few months theyve always surprised us, and I have faith in the front man .
I am new to this forum, but Ive been a regular around here Ive always been reading posts on different topics as n when I get time. Today out of the blue I just decided to signup and make a post.
Well I see this whole decision making thing of going for a powerbook or settling down for a windows laptop (DELL XPS in this case) very confusing. You will never be able to make up your mind if you are not sure or satisfied yourself.
Technology will keep on changing, and sooner than you realize APPLE will be out with Intel based powerbooks. Undoubtedly OSX leaves Windows in the dust.
Lets put it this way
1. Depending on how you configure, windows can prove unstable, buggy and a pain in the ass if you are victimized by viruses or worms or the thousands of other threats.
OSX is better (and you dont need me to tell you how).
2. Windows calls in for too much of maintenance. (Do you have the time?)
3. May be Longhorn / Vista might do them some good, but who knows
You say you want something that will last you for the next three years Id want something that would last me till the end of my time (lol). Technology is changing fast, trust me, youd junk or put whatever you buy (XPS or Powerbook) aside with time (3 years is a long time).
Follow your heart, do you want a laptop thats fast, yet high maintenance, with an unstable operating system or a beauty, which is not that bad yet powered with the best OS out there.
Id go for the powerbook with my eyes closed, coz its something that makes me proud and happy about working on it. I use high-end apps (like MAYA, photoshop, Illustrator, and Macromedia studio) and have no complaints (Note: its not advisable to render heavy scenes on a powerbook or a laptop).
The hunger for speed never ends Apple is not sitting ducks letting the rest of the computer industry to leave them behind its just a matter of few months theyve always surprised us, and I have faith in the front man
.
Way to put it, and welcome to the Forums (even though you've been browsing it for a while). My iBook I gave to my sister, First Gen iBook Snow 500MHz etc., it still runs quite well, not the most powerful apps, but its still good for WP, Inet, IM, etc and its 4 years old and still runs great. When your PB becomes outdated or the Intel-Macs come out, sell the PB and get an Intel-Mac - they may run Windows, so you'd have the both of best worlds. Besides my old iBook is still worth like $400, even though on eBay and other sites it sells for like $500. So you could sell your PB and make about 80% of what you paid for it. With PC's a 500MHz laptop will sell for around $180.tronixx said:I am new to this forum, but Ive been a regular around here Ive always been reading posts on different topics as n when I get time. Today out of the blue I just decided to signup and make a post.
Well I see this whole decision making thing of going for a powerbook or settling down for a windows laptop (DELL XPS in this case) very confusing. You will never be able to make up your mind if you are not sure or satisfied yourself.
Technology will keep on changing, and sooner than you realize APPLE will be out with Intel based powerbooks. Undoubtedly OSX leaves Windows in the dust.
Lets put it this way
1. Depending on how you configure, windows can prove unstable, buggy and a pain in the ass if you are victimized by viruses or worms or the thousands of other threats.
OSX is better (and you dont need me to tell you how).
2. Windows calls in for too much of maintenance. (Do you have the time?)
3. May be Longhorn / Vista might do them some good, but who knows
You say you want something that will last you for the next three years Id want something that would last me till the end of my time (lol). Technology is changing fast, trust me, youd junk or put whatever you buy (XPS or Powerbook) aside with time (3 years is a long time).
Follow your heart, do you want a laptop thats fast, yet high maintenance, with an unstable operating system or a beauty, which is not that bad yet powered with the best OS out there.
Id go for the powerbook with my eyes closed, coz its something that makes me proud and happy about working on it. I use high-end apps (like MAYA, photoshop, Illustrator, and Macromedia studio) and have no complaints (Note: its not advisable to render heavy scenes on a powerbook or a laptop).
The hunger for speed never ends Apple is not sitting ducks letting the rest of the computer industry to leave them behind its just a matter of few months theyve always surprised us, and I have faith in the front man
1. Um, I'm not sure if you realise it, but depending on how you configure it, OS X can prove unstable buggy and a pain in the ass!tronixx said:
2. Well, this just isn't true. Xp is very low maintenance, just like OS X.
3. Vista will bring benefits but will also bring its share of problems, just like Tiger did, XP did, and Leopard probably will too.
Just wanted to point these things out
PCMacUser said:1. Um, I'm not sure if you realise it, but depending on how you configure it, OS X can prove unstable buggy and a pain in the ass!
2. Well, this just isn't true. Xp is very low maintenance, just like OS X.
3. Vista will bring benefits but will also bring its share of problems, just like Tiger did, XP did, and Leopard probably will too.
Just wanted to point these things out
How can OS X prove unstable, buggy, and a pain in the ass? I spend many hours a day on OS X and have never found it to be a pain in the ass, and certainly not unstable.
Claiming that Windows and OS X require similar maintenance is downright absurd. Windows requires regular scans with spyware, adware, and virus protection programs. It's also a good idea to use a software firewall, which can be a pain.
Please provide some support or examples for those claims. I'm open to hearing what you have to say about it, but to make assertions which go against common knowledge with no support whatsoever is silly.
iQuit said:
I would without a doubt take the Powerbook. Buy it, use for 1.5 years and sell with a loss of $300-$400 and then upgrade to Intel Powerbooks which will most likely have a higher video card.
Buy a Dell today and in 1 year you will be lucky to get 60% of your out of pocket expense back. I have seen Dell laptops, even the high end, they look cheap and feel cheap. Resale is not great, ugly, and runs Windows.
What choice do you have left?
swindmill said:
If you install unstable, buggy software, it will become unstable, buggy, and a pain in the ass. I crashed my 15" PB regularly using this method
Apple releases OS patches to address security problems (such as DoS vulnerabilities), and bugs. They aren't just for fun. Windows does not require regular scans for spyware, adware and viruses unless you install spyware, adware or viruses. Windows does not come with these things built in.swindmill said:
If you installed spyware, adware, and viruses onto a Macintosh, it would also require the same scans. Regardless of this, most modern antivirus and antispyware programs run in the background, requiring no interaction from the user unless a threat has been identified. And most email providers these days have built-in virus protection.
There was a thread posted a few days ago by a new Mac owner, wanting to know if he should turn his computer off at night or leave it on. The most predominant answer was 'leave it on because OS X needs to run maintenance scripts overnight'.
Oh I forgot to mention: OS X contains a software firewall too, just like Windows (but OS X's is much better because it blocks all the ports by default, which is a hassle for newbies, but fantastic for the security conscious).
You wouldn't need to sell the Dell in 1 year. That's the whole point. It would easily last 2-3 years.deanwaterman said:
You're right though, Dell laptops look and feel cheap, and they're damn ugly. But boy they are tough. And who cares if it gets scratched? There's a certain freedom in that. Powerbooks warp and scratch easily (there's a thread here that supports that statement, and I know from having personally owned a 15" 1.67ghz PB). And that's the last thing you want to have happen to a thing of beauty.