The new Macbook Pro 15z... I mean Dell...

[getz76]

Looks like a nice notebook at a nice price point. Based on the review, there do not seem to be any deal-breakers.

The high resolution screen is a great option and nice to see on a Windows machine.

Why all the hate on Dell? They actually make some nice machines. They also make some notebooks for $400; not everyone can afford a $1,000 machine.

Why all the hate on Windows 7? I am guessing the majority have not used it extensively. It is fantastic. I run it exclusively on my Mac Mini 4,1 hooked up to my home theater. I think I have booted into Mac OS maybe 4 or 5 times on that machine.

 

[crush500]

It isn't that bad of a machine. Is it a Macbook Pro? Hell no. Not even close. However it is significantly cheaper than a 15" Macbook Pro.

Specs wise it is just as good as a Macbook Pro. Everything else is completely different. It might look similar but I have a feeling it would feel much cheaper and not as high quality as a MBP. The area where you would really feel the difference would be customer service. If something were to go wrong it would be hell to get it fixed where as AppleCare is pretty easy to deal with.

For those on a budget Dell isn't a bad computer. It will facilitate all their needs and most casual users won't really care about the differences. The MBP is more expensive because it is of higher quality. There's a reason MPBs last so long. It's because they are made extremely well. I'd rather pay more for a better product than get a cheaper product and save a few bucks. Down the road the extra money will be worth it.

 

[getz76]

For those on a budget Dell isn't a bad computer. It will facilitate all their needs and most casual users won't really care about the differences. The MBP is more expensive because it is of higher quality. There's a reason MPBs last so long. It's because they are made extremely well. I'd rather pay more for a better product than get a cheaper product and save a few bucks. Down the road the extra money will be worth it.

The failure rate for Apple is in-line with Dell, and that includes all of those cheap-$400-ish Dell notebooks. The build quality on the inside of the recent MacBook Pros has been called into question on this forum and by iFixIt. Dell's higher-priced gear is actually pretty well made.

A lot of it is going to be personal preference. My wife hates OS X and dislikes the unibody MacBook Pros in general. She wants nothing to do with my 5,3 model and prefers Lenovos and Dells and Windows 7.

And for the average user, how much of a difference is there between playing Farmville in Firefox on a Windows 7 machine versus playing Farmville in Firefox on a Mac OS machine? Just keep that malware off your Windows 7 machine, which really is not that hard if you are not a complete j*ck*ss.

Unfortunately, population of "average user" and "j*ck*ss" usually intersect.

 

[engaged44]

so glad i own a real MBP. lawl

 

[Wafflausages]

wow some people have their head so far up apples ass lol the mbp isnt the best notebook to everyone since people have their individual uses and where would we be without some competiton

anyways i love my mbp and for a fraction of the price of a mbp its pretty tempting for what u get

 

[thefunkymunky]

I'm thinking of selling my MBP to get a Windows notebook and have been looking around for something similar to a MBP. Everything I have found so far either doesn't have a backlit keyboard or a stupid paltry low res screen of 1366 x 768. This new dell solves those issues and doesn't look to bad either.

I've also recently given up on iPhones and the iTunes ecosystem and bought a Samsung Galaxy S II. Which is an amazing phone, just a shame Android is badly supported on OSX. I guess I'm making the switch...

 

[crush500]

The failure rate for Apple is in-line with Dell, and that includes all of those cheap-$400-ish Dell notebooks. The build quality on the inside of the recent MacBook Pros has been called into question on this forum and by iFixIt. Dell's higher-priced gear is actually pretty well made.

A lot of it is going to be personal preference. My wife hates OS X and dislikes the unibody MacBook Pros in general. She wants nothing to do with my 5,3 model and prefers Lenovos and Dells and Windows 7.

And for the average user, how much of a difference is there between playing Farmville in Firefox on a Windows 7 machine versus playing Farmville in Firefox on a Mac OS machine? Just keep that malware off your Windows 7 machine, which really is not that hard if you are not a complete j*ck*ss.

Unfortunately, population of "average user" and "j*ck*ss" usually intersect.

I think that data is a little skewed. Most Mac users aren't casual users who simply surf the internet, watch movies, and listen to music. They are editing film, editing photos, encoding videos, etc. The demand most people put on their Macs causes a lot of failures. Now compare that to someone with a $400 Dell who uses it only to surf the internet. The data is going to be skewed. Surfing the internet is not very demanding while someone editing video is demanding a lot out of the computer. I believe if you compare a Dell and Apple with similar demands you will find the Apple is superior to Dell. Perhaps the overall numbers may not support that but it has been my personal experience. Dells are good for casual users but suck for anything else. I believe Apple makes their computers with a higher quality unmatched by anyone else. Their failure rate may not indicate that but I do believe customer satisfaction does.

I think customer service is what really sets Dell and Apple apart. It's a nightmare dealing with Dell. Apple on the other hand has been very pleasant thus far. One experience could change my opinion but thus far I think Apple has by far the best customer service I've ever seen.

 

[s.hasan546]

I think that data is a little skewed. Most Mac users aren't casual users who simply surf the internet, watch movies, and listen to music. They are editing film, editing photos, encoding videos, etc. The demand most people put on their Macs causes a lot of failures. Now compare that to someone with a $400 Dell who uses it only to surf the internet. The data is going to be skewed. Surfing the internet is not very demanding while someone editing video is demanding a lot out of the computer. I believe if you compare a Dell and Apple with similar demands you will find the Apple is superior to Dell. Perhaps the overall numbers may not support that but it has been my personal experience. Dells are good for casual users but suck for anything else. I believe Apple makes their computers with a higher quality unmatched by anyone else. Their failure rate may not indicate that but I do believe customer satisfaction does.

I think customer service is what really sets Dell and Apple apart. It's a nightmare dealing with Dell. Apple on the other hand has been very pleasant thus far. One experience could change my opinion but thus far I think Apple has by far the best customer service I've ever seen.

seriously?

Do you have any data to support that "I think that data is a little skewed. Most Mac users aren't casual users who simply surf the internet, watch movies, and listen to music. They are editing film, editing photos, encoding videos, etc. The demand most people put on their Macs causes a lot of failures."

Sorry but most mac users ive seen in real life barely use the laptops or desktops to their full potential. Most are just doing basic office suite, browser, and media stuff that you could really do on anything. Also if you "encoding videos, editing photos; etc" you should be on a custom built desktop. I do all my video encodes on my new i5 2500k custom build, and it rapes any mac in video encodes (new z68 board)

Also i don't think you've tried any of the higher end dells and other companies like asus, lenovo, and sony but they have some very nicely built laptops.

Also i don't know about dell's consumer customer support but their business customer support is better than any other company's IMHO.

 

[coldmack]

You've never used some of Apple's older laptops then, I had that problem with a couple older powerbooks years ago. For that matter the my PB G4 had a tendency to overheat without needing to flex

That is blasphemous lies and heresy. My G4 powerbook is still the best machine I have ever owned, heck the build quality is even better than my iPad, which I think has a camera loose or something.

I'm thinking of selling my MBP to get a Windows notebook and have been looking around for something similar to a MBP. Everything I have found so far either doesn't have a backlit keyboard or a stupid paltry low res screen of 1366 x 768. This new dell solves those issues and doesn't look to bad either.

I've also recently given up on iPhones and the iTunes ecosystem and bought a Samsung Galaxy S II. Which is an amazing phone, just a shame Android is badly supported on OSX. I guess I'm making the switch...

Double twist should do the trick. And let me rephrase that first part for you. I know how you feel I was Nokia fan(until 3GS came out and then nokia decided windows would be their OS) and Mac support on that is pretty weak also. But, I hear Android phones at least have usb storage capabilities.

 

[Mackilroy]

If the average user does not need USB 3.0 according to you, why would they need thunderbolt?

Where did I say they needed Thunderbolt? The average consumer probably doesn't need that either.

Or a fast USB flash drive for storage (or readyboost). Or a fast spinning disk external with read speeds higher than 480Mbps (60MB/s [realistically on USB2 ~52MB/s] - something current gen spinning disks can do rather easily). Or want to have several lower speed devices plugged into the same port using a hub without massive contention problems. Or.... There are a lot of consumer uses for USB3, and there are a lot of products out there already, plus the ability to plug them into USB2 ports when a 3 port isnt available (a thunderbolt thumb drive would be useless for example).

Firewire (and now Thunderbolt) are better for that than USB. USB is an excellent port, no doubt, but the former are technically better. USB is simply more common.

s.hasan546: Dell's non-business support (especially to schools – at least at the one I worked for) is pathetic.

 

[mike2732]

i was comparing the 13" mbp to the dell 15" b.c of comparable prices.

But if you'd like to compare 15" to 15" sure.
Dell xps 15z (highest end model)- $1500
MBP 15" - $2300 (w/ hi def screen)

Which has a better:

Processor? XPS 15z. Intel Core™ i7-2620M processor 2.70
GPU? XPS 15z.
Screen? XPS 15z. (1920 x 1080 compared to the mbp's 1680 by 1050)
Ram? XPS 15z includes 8 gb already...
HDD? XPS 15z comes with a 7200rpm 750gb hdd already...
Ports? XPS 15z. Comes with hdmi, 2 usb 3.0 ports, 1 usb 2.0 port, and a mini displayport.


So where is the mbp better? besides the normal apple arguments of "OS & User experience".

like i said before you might care about thunderbolt both most people don't care especially since theres no use for it yet.

Also i never said apple's trackpad was lacking. I just said apple was lacking hardware wise. Which is true. DEAL WITH IT. gpu, screen, and ports are some of the most important hardware specs of a laptop.

Also how is the 13" mbp screen not lacking. 1280 x 800 is "great resolution"??

Are you on crack? First of all that processor you mention in the 15z is a DUAL-core, while the MBP is QUAD-core. Second the GPU in the MBP is also slightly better. RAM is cheap nowadays so I don't care, 7200RPM is obsolete (SSD ftw). Nothing will replace the build quality of MBPs.

 

[coldmack]

Are you on crack? First of all that processor you mention in the 15z is a DUAL-core, while the MBP is QUAD-core. Second the GPU in the MBP is also slightly better. RAM is cheap nowadays so I don't care, 7200RPM is obsolete (SSD ftw). Nothing will replace the build quality of MBPs.

Have your priced how much 512gb of ssd space will cost you now a days, it is still a pretty penny that not something everyone could afford.

 

[Wafflausages]

Are you on crack? First of all that processor you mention in the 15z is a DUAL-core, while the MBP is QUAD-core. Second the GPU in the MBP is also slightly better. RAM is cheap nowadays so I don't care, 7200RPM is obsolete (SSD ftw). Nothing will replace the build quality of MBPs.

$700+tax better?

 

[Macsavvytech]

3ft? its .02in thicker than a MBP.

I'm thinking of selling my new MBP for one. It would put more money back in my pocket, and I would get longer battery life and have a FHD display.

If you read the review they got under 3:30 hours of battery life after tweaking some settings ...
Still might recommend it for some of my non Mac friends, except i dont trust Dell ...

 

[coldmack]

If you read the review they got under 3:30 hours of battery life after tweaking some settings ...
Still might recommend it for some of my non Mac friends, except i dont trust Dell ...

You know that the anti-apple site Engadget tests computer battery life by turning all wireless stuff on(i.e. wifi and bt), then loops a heavy usage video.

 

[Macsavvytech]

You know that the anti-apple site Engadget tests computer battery life by turning all wireless stuff on(i.e. wifi and bt), then loops a heavy usage video.

Wouldn't that just say the Apple battery is much much better? I didn't say i was talking about the Dell's battery but if you read the post i quoted ...

 

[Lone Deranger]

It's amazing how they could copy something so closely and yet still make it look so much uglier.

How does that the old saying go? So close, and yet …

My thoughts exactly. This thing is hideous. Second, nay, third rate "designers" at work here.

 

[thefunkymunky]

That is blasphemous lies and heresy. My G4 powerbook is still the best machine I have ever owned, heck the build quality is even better than my iPad, which I think has a camera loose or something.



Double twist should do the trick. And let me rephrase that first part for you. I know how you feel I was Nokia fan(until 3GS came out and then nokia decided windows would be their OS) and Mac support on that is pretty weak also. But, I hear Android phones at least have usb storage capabilities.

I've tried doubleTwist and it just doesn't work the way i would like nothing copies music properly. i just drag and drop now. But i still like this Dell lappy.

 

[Steve121178]

It has to be said, the Dell looks absolutely hideous.

 

[bruinsrme]

I think that data is a little skewed. Most Mac users aren't casual users who simply surf the internet, watch movies, and listen to music. They are editing film, editing photos, encoding videos, etc. The demand most people put on their Macs causes a lot of failures. Now compare that to someone with a $400 Dell who uses it only to surf the internet. The data is going to be skewed. Surfing the internet is not very demanding while someone editing video is demanding a lot out of the computer. I believe if you compare a Dell and Apple with similar demands you will find the Apple is superior to Dell. Perhaps the overall numbers may not support that but it has been my personal experience. Dells are good for casual users but suck for anything else. I believe Apple makes their computers with a higher quality unmatched by anyone else. Their failure rate may not indicate that but I do believe customer satisfaction does.

I think customer service is what really sets Dell and Apple apart. It's a nightmare dealing with Dell. Apple on the other hand has been very pleasant thus far. One experience could change my opinion but thus far I think Apple has by far the best customer service I've ever seen.

Have you not been to an apple store as of late?
Your perception maybe a little distorted.

 

[Oz.]

At last the Dell XPS 15z have a 1080p screen, I desire that on my 15" MacBook Pro!

 

[thefunkymunky]

It has to be said, the Dell looks absolutely hideous.

It looks a hell of a lot better than the majority of Windows notebooks out there.

 

[seek3r]

Firewire (and now Thunderbolt) are better for that than USB. USB is an excellent port, no doubt, but the former are technically better. USB is simply more common.

First of all even firewire 800 tops out at 800Mbs (100MB/s), which is *still* slower than a lot of new drives, and second of all... point me to a nice selection of firewire thumbdrives, please? yeah, I thought so.

Thunderbolt is going to have similar adoption problems to firewire I suspect, though I'd love to be proven wrong. But even if I am wrong it will never have market coverage in certain areas that USB3's bandwidth will be a boon to consumers (like thumbdrives - it's nice, and rather essential considering how people use them, if your thumbdrive can work, albiet at slower speeds, on computers older than "brand new").

Lastly your comment was that USB3 was clearly unnecessary for a consumer, I gave you examples where it's useful, and you gave me wharrgarbl that really didn't justify your original position, care to rethink?

BTW, the next Apple machines *will* have USB3, no doubt about it, since Intel is including USB3 native in all it's chipsets for it's next gen chips (Ivy Bridge, Sandy Bridge's die shrink). Will you applaud USB3 when Apple has it?

Also, gotta say, this reminds me of the firewire/USB2 debate on Apple boards and lists back when we had FW400 and USB1.1 and people were saying "why would you need USB2, we have firewire!"

s.hasan546: Dell's non-business support (especially to schools – at least at the one I worked for) is pathetic.

I used to manage a Dell based cluster for my Uni, I have worked with Dell on a number of projects, and I've owned lots of Dell hardware. I've found their support to be generally quite good (and their business support excellent!).

It's different from Aple though, and someone used to Apple support might get frustrated. Their regular coverage can be better, sometimes, and on the non-business side they're not going to be as accommodating over special circumstances as Apple can be (on the consumer end they don't exactly have the margins Apple does to do that). That said, unless you're a celeb, I've never seen Apple send a tech to someones house to replace a motherboard under warranty, but Dell will do that if you got the right warranty - on the consumer level! On the flip side I've never gotten someone who couldn't speak English on the phone from Apple

I prefer Apple hardware, but Dell's got some nice stuff too ( they need to lose the chrome on this machine though!)

 

[MonkeySee....]

At last the Dell XPS 15z have a 1080p screen, I desire that on my 15" MacBook Pro!

You really need 1080p on a 15" screen?

Wow.

 

[coldmack]

I've tried doubleTwist and it just doesn't work the way i would like nothing copies music properly. i just drag and drop now. But i still like this Dell lappy.

I love drag and drop. The only thing in my mind apple has done wrong(besides moving to intel) was not making the iPod, and iPhone lines full UMS as I find that better than iTunes, which of late is getting a bit bloated for my taste.