Want to get a MacBook Pro 15 for college but torn...

[kolax]

You never mentioned the graphics card on the PC laptop you compared it with. The MBP has a nVidia 9600GT, what does the PC have..? It may very well be better.. the 9600GT isn't exactly incredible.

What else do you pay for on the MacBook Pro..?
- The design/enclosure. It's made out aluminium remember - not plastic.
- The screen is really good. Cheaper PC laptops tend to have poorer quality screens. I'm not talking about resolution here, but viewing angle, brightness etc.
- Slot loading drive
- Multi-touch trackpad (2,3 and 4 finger gestures for switching applications, rotating photos etc)
- Mac OS X and iLife; you get iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto and iWeb. Really powerful consumer applications, nothing like that comes bundled on a PC.

Also, you get the education discount.

Apple is notorious for not targeting bargain computers. You don't buy a Mac because they are cheap, you buy them because they are good; the OS, the design, the 'just works' factor blend of hardware and software.

 

[a sandwhich]

This is simply not true.
I just configured a Dell Studio 15 from Dell, and for $1569 you get:
CPU: Core i7-720QM. This is a QUAD-CORE Nehalem chip
GPU: 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570. Performance is somewhere between 9400M and 9600M GT
Memory: 8GB of DDR3. 'nuff said
HDD: 500GB 7200RPM drive, the largest and fastest available
Display: 1080p LED backlit display
Battery: Extended 85Wh battery

This is nearly twice the computer as the $1699 15" MBP. Macs do not compete on specs, but wins easily by its superior OS. I happily "overpaid" for my MBP knowing that I get OS X.

What are the physical specs of it? size, weight, battery life, durability, ports. Also compare the stuff that comes with Osx, garageband, imovie, and the like, to windows 7. Does your dell have a multitouch glass trackpad? how large is the trackpad? Did it have the option for a ssd? much faster than HDD if ur looking for speed.

 

[nick1516]

All I know is that I just bought a very slightly used 17"MBP mid '08 from a friend of mine and I will not be going back to pc! I know they are more expensive than a pc but keep in mind the software is unbelievable. Just simple things like organizing your photos and the stability of the os is worth the difference in money. I have never heard someone say, "Man I should have bought that pc instead of the Mac." But I have heard plenty of people say after they buy the Mac that they will never go back to a pc!!! Just my $.02

I should have bought that pc instead of the mac, I love my mac, but I'm not going to pay the premium for os x when I get a new laptop for college, I'm going for cheaper with more power, because I use windows 7 as much as I do os x.

 

[caonimadebi]

What are the physical specs of it? size, weight, battery life, durability, ports. Also compare the stuff that comes with Osx, garageband, imovie, and the like, to windows 7. Does your dell have a multitouch glass trackpad? how large is the trackpad? Did it have the option for a ssd? much faster than HDD if ur looking for speed.

I've been suckered into all the things you've listed above and bought a MBP. I do not disagree with you that macs hold an overall better value.
However, I did have a problem with your claim of the hardware cost-effectiveness of macs, that a similar PC (in terms of specs, I assume) would cost "twice" as much as a mac.
The components that I've listed (by the way, I do not own the dell) make up the majority of the cost of making the computer, mac or PC. They're there to refute your claim that a "similar PC would cost twice as much".
By the way, Mac/PC has nothing to do with the ability to upgrade to SSD's. A 300-dollar netbook can easily be outfitted with an SSD costing twice as much.