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Why a MacBook Pro?

Sounds like you should MOVE out of Canada. The prices for technology are SO high!

Either way.... for me it's the software, and the price difference over here in the USA isn't that large. I got $1804 for the Dell spec'd out to the MBPs (2499) level. Apple has always let me down with hardware, but not software, and I would gladly pay the $695 for better software, that works the same way from machine to machine to do my job any day.

Now only if Apple could get their arses in gear and give me a sweat 17" MBP.
 
Quillz said:
I really don't think you need a MacBook Pro. It's a desktop replacement, and an expensive one at that. You do realize that a top-of-the-line MacBook is still about $250 less than even the cheapest MacBook Pro, right? And that a maxed out MacBook is actually BETTER than an entry MacBook Pro in nearly every way.
Click to expand...

LOL please do explain how the Macbook is better than a comparable MBP? Perhaps it's superior because you don't have to make a hard choice about choosing matt or glossy?

And hey, with a MB you have less screen to clean off! I'm sure it takes less power too cuz of the lack of GPU lol..
 
benpatient said:
I don't really think you should buy in to that whole "sell your mac in 2-3 years for almost what it cost new" argument...the reason?

People exaggerate the resale value of Macs. Yes, they have a higher resale value than your average PC...but let's be realistic...it still depreciates faster than a car after the first year or so.

Let's take arguably the most-sought-after non-current Mac, the 12" Powerbook G4 1.5ghz. You can't get a Mac this small anymore (including the Air). Yes, the MBa is lighter, but it is still BIGGER, and for a lot of people, smaller dimensions are more important than weight.

Anyway, the last 12" cost between 1500 and 1700 dollars on the last day you could buy one officially from Apple (summer 2006). You can buy one now for 700 dollars on ebay. Sometimes they go for more than 800 bucks, but not always.

That's the MOST desirable "old" mac out there, and it has dropped to half price in less than 2 years.

Don't expect to get top dollar for a used Mac in the future. It isn't a financial investment. It is a life/business expense.
Click to expand...

Quoted for the truth. Thank you for attempting to end this fallacy. I mean...holding value is relative. Like only losing 70% of the value of your investment in 3 years vs losing 75-80%. It's not much..fact of the matter is that it's expensive to buy electronics, even the holy Apple ones..
 
Quillz said:
I really don't think you need a MacBook Pro. It's a desktop replacement, and an expensive one at that. You do realize that a top-of-the-line MacBook is still about $250 less than even the cheapest MacBook Pro, right? And that a maxed out MacBook is actually BETTER than an entry MacBook Pro in nearly every way.
Click to expand...

WHATEVER!

The MacBook Pro is a nice laptop, but it's VERY FAR from being a desktop replacement. Not even the 17" could be considered a desktop replacement.
 
Thanks for all the replies, looks like I've got some thinking to do on this.

The main reason I was looking at the MBP was because I don't have a desktop (in university). I need something that is mobile, but still powerful enough for me to use like a desktop back at home.
 
I have a dell laptop and a power PC I built piece by piece and agree apples are a little overpriced for the specs. But I just purchased my first mac in almost 20 years and will never go back. The OS alone is worth the difference. In my case I got a 2.2 SR MB and upgraded the RAM to 4GB myself so my total investment was $1250 (macworld rebate ;) ). And this thing flys. There is absolutely nothing I can't do except some 3D gaming...and if you are buying a mac to game you're an idiot. Thats why they make "gaming systems"...bottom line. Macs are awesome.
 
The OSX is priceless for a number of reasons.

1) Let's face it - no viruses
2) No slow down after years of use - no need to defrag
3) Drag and drop images - incorporating iPhoto as a lifestyle
4) Ease of use - I don't need to be 'adept' to Mac it just works

It's forever a challenge to sell OSX to a Windows user when they haven't had months of time with Leopard.
 
I've only had leopard a week and already love it...way better then xp and i'm sure i have a lot more to learn so it will only get better
 
Its a bit more power than I needed in a notebook, so a MB would have been fine. I liked the 15 in screen and the fact that it was aluminum. Simple as that.
 
robanga said:
Its a bit more power than I needed in a notebook, so a MB would have been fine. I liked the 15 in screen and the fact that it was aluminum. Simple as that.
Click to expand...

Pretty similar case for me. lol Since the opportunity of getting the MBP was there at the time, I liked the bigger screen and the aluminum casing to it. The MB just seemed too small for me after some checking on the sizes and dimensions of it. I might even think about getting a newer one later down the road though, but just at the time (and still now) I liked the MBP and what it had to offer.
 
although a dell with the same specs will cost a lot less, it will become obselete sooner and not run as well for as long as a Mac will...plus Dell's customer service dept. sucks whereas Apple Care is amazing!
 
i chose a basemodel macbook pro over a PC machine because I wanted the looks of the macbook pro, I love the backlit keyboard, and find the keys very comfortable.

I also think that 1440x900 is the perfect resolution for a 15" screen. If you're going to play games on your notebook like I do, I think 1680x1050 would be too much for the mobile card to handle in some of the newer titles and with spaces in Leopard I have more than enough space for all of my application windows.

If I need more resolution, I simply hook up my notebook to an external monitor.

Lastly, imho, there is no justification of a $1000 price difference in the specs of a macbook pro vs the Dell you mentioned. I bought a MBP because I specifically wanted a mac, and it was the one that fit the bill. I could have gotten a cheaper PC laptop with better specs, but that wasn't what I wanted.

If you want a mac, buy a mac. If you want a better value in terms of system specs and don't intend to let software factor in to your buying decision, then Dell is the logical choice.

I wanted to have a machine with OS X that I could also run windows on, but for my portable computer, running windows is a bonus, not a preference. From my experience, I think OS X is a better platform for general purpose computing, which is primarily what I use my notebook for.
 
MBP. Once you get it, you will forget about PCs, and about that 1k$ extra you paid for it.

You can't really compare the experience of using a Mac with using "just another PC". Hell, even the unpackaging process is day and night!

You really should try using Mac to fully understand it.
 
OP:
I always used Dells.
They were God to me, everything from XPS's to Inspirons. Always top of the line 17" with 4g all the best specs etc..
I always had an issue with SOMETHING!

On my MBP, im happier than a kite.
My Vista rating is much higher on a MBP (5.9) than on my exact spec Dell (4.3, actually, my dell had 512mb ram in its 860 instead of the mbp 256 -shrug).

I am just generally happier.
The only regret about my mac, (being able to run all OS's aside, unlike dell, no OSX option) is that Apple doesn't have a twinkle of a hells chance at making me happy with warranty.
AppleCare is a joke and we all know it. Dell will offer you 4 years of accidental damage protection on high end laptop for about $450 and well apple, they will say F*** you even when it is THEIR fault..

-shrug-
But if you take care of your laptops, then you have nothing to worry about.......
aside from the $120 itll cost you for a spare or replacement power adapter ;)
 
I dont know if this helps...

I dont know how much of a help ill be but I am in a similar situation and ill explain why im switching to mac. (Ive used macs before so I know what im getting into)

I just bought a new HP laptop in October, unfortunatly it came with vista, now here is why im switching to mac.

-Every vista machine I use is SLOW. And ive used every configuration imaginable. Im a computer tech so I see all kinds from everywhere. Microsoft knows its slow, microsoft has yet to come out with any type of service pack or fix which is rediculous. Its over a year old! (Yes I know supposedly a new one comes out soon) (If you dont believe its slow drag something to the recycle bin once!)

-Vista is extremely incompatible even with software listed as compatible. Granted this compatibility will improve over time but right now its just not at an acceptable level for some people (myself included).

-Vistas wifi configuration is terrible. Sometimes you can connect, sometimes you cant, sometimes it will see your network. Why didnt they keep the same one XP had? It worked great!

-Very frequent freezeups/crashes. This comes not out of the box but over the use of your system. I wondered why people hated vista cause I saw no problem with it at first, until I owned it. Then I realized what all the fuss was about. Always freezing always lagging. This isnt due to hardware, its the OS.

-If you really want vista your mac will run it :D As well as OSX.

-
 
chrono1081 said:
I dont know how much of a help ill be but I am in a similar situation and ill explain why im switching to mac. (Ive used macs before so I know what im getting into)

I just bought a new HP laptop in October, unfortunatly it came with vista, now here is why im switching to mac.

-Every vista machine I use is SLOW. And ive used every configuration imaginable. Im a computer tech so I see all kinds from everywhere. Microsoft knows its slow, microsoft has yet to come out with any type of service pack or fix which is rediculous. Its over a year old! (Yes I know supposedly a new one comes out soon) (If you dont believe its slow drag something to the recycle bin once!)

-Vista is extremely incompatible even with software listed as compatible. Granted this compatibility will improve over time but right now its just not at an acceptable level for some people (myself included).

-Vistas wifi configuration is terrible. Sometimes you can connect, sometimes you cant, sometimes it will see your network. Why didnt they keep the same one XP had? It worked great!

-Very frequent freezeups/crashes. This comes not out of the box but over the use of your system. I wondered why people hated vista cause I saw no problem with it at first, until I owned it. Then I realized what all the fuss was about. Always freezing always lagging. This isnt due to hardware, its the OS.

-If you really want vista your mac will run it :D As well as OSX.

-
Click to expand...

Well... Vista has its ups and downs. I run it on a 3-year-old machine and for the most part Vista has good performance even with over 10 different windows open (and multiple Firefox tabs). I do encounter random bugs, more often than in Windows XP but then again XP has been out for a long time and has had 2 service packs already. OSX is nice though. I'm considering switching - just need an up-to-date MBP to come out.
 
Get the Dell

I agree with some others, the OP wants the forum to justify the price difference between the Dell and the Apple. Personally I don't think it's fair to say Apple's Macintosh is $1000 more because it's not. The OP is only using the Dell XPS machine to compare to the Apple Macintosh. Sure, it's gonna be a difference in price and in many respects it's for good reason but it would be fair to bring up several manufacturers namely Sony who's Vaio machines come at a very high premium and much higher than Apple's. Sony's Vaio only runs Windows and Apple's are dual boot machines so why is Sony charging so much? Part of it is build quality and the rest of it can't be justified.

Now, I have personally played with the new Dell XPS
1500 series and the build quality is poor. The keyboard is spongy and the keys look terribly spray painted. The palm rest has a very cheap brush metal look and the lid has a lot of flex and the plastic feels cheap overall. Feature wise the Dell looks good but I hate the build quality and that's where the price decrease comes from and is typical with Dell.

The Apple Macintosh has a strong aluminum shell, great build quality, strong keyboard, well made keys and has several features not found on Dell.
The magsafe power connector is one of the best features and it's patent pending from Apple. The backlt keyboard is great for those function keys and I mentioned earlier it's a dual boot machine so you can run any recent version of Windows and Leopard without any hacks, you do get what you pay for.

But I think the OP wants the Dell based on the price so I say go for it. The Apple Macintosh is not for everyone.
 
mbrydone said:
although a dell with the same specs will cost a lot less, it will become obselete sooner
Click to expand...

I don't understand this. Could you explain? PCs/Macs use the same hardware.

Also,

For those that buy AppleCare off ebay, how soon do you need to register your product with AppleCare to receive coverage?

Example: Buy AppleCare when your computer breaks, 2 years or so down the line.

Is that possible? (doesn't seem like it would be)
 
kashik said:
For those that buy AppleCare off ebay, how soon do you need to register your product with AppleCare to receive coverage?

Example: Buy AppleCare when your computer breaks, 2 years or so down the line.

Is that possible? (doesn't seem like it would be)
Click to expand...

You can buy Applecare anytime WITHIN your standard warranty coverage which is a year..... 1 year.

So let's say your machine breaks after you have it for 9 months. You can go into Apple and get it fixed under warranty, then if you feel that it may happen again, or you're worried about it happening again, or just want to be safe with your $2000 or more laptop you can buy Apple Care.

At that time, you can register it with Apple whenever you wish as long as it's within the time period, so, if you have AppleCare, your machine breaks one day within the coverage, then you register the AppleCare to your machine, then send it in the next day everything will be alright.

But just register it once you have it.
 
Radio Monk33 said:
LOL please do explain how the Macbook is better than a comparable MBP? Perhaps it's superior because you don't have to make a hard choice about choosing matt or glossy?

And hey, with a MB you have less screen to clean off! I'm sure it takes less power too cuz of the lack of GPU lol..
Click to expand...
A maxed out MacBook costs less than the cheapest MacBook Pro and gives you a larger hard drive, equivalent memory, the same battery life and nearly the same dimensions.

All I'm saying is very few people will ever truly need a MacBook Pro, the MacBook will do them just fine.
 
xps 1530 has cut some corners

I have been looking into this as well. bottom line for me, with 2 kids, $2500 is alot of money to drop on a laptop. period. the macbook pros are nice, but that is a chunk of change.

from what i have read, the xps 1530 uses Gddr2 in the 8600gt, where as the macbook pro uses gddr3 (about a 20% performance difference). Additionally, the macbook pro has an LED backlit LCD (the xps 1330 has an option for this currently, and the 1530 should have it in the next little while).

if you want to save even more money, check out the dell outlet, you can shave off a few hundred more dollars and still get a 1 year warranty.

the xps 1330 and 1530 have a built in remote (mbp has remote, but not built in) which you can view movies and ppt without booting up windows (in my understanding, someone please verify).

for dell, both the 1330 and 1530 are a definite step in the right direction.

as someone else said, the 1330 has a penryn upgrade option and word on the street is that the mpb and 1530 will be getting these soon.

and to confuse you even more, nvidia is planning on making all of their mobo's with hybrid graphics (uses integrated graphics under low stress for much better battery life) which should be debuting in the next few months (the 13" sony viao's have this).

hope this helps.

the dude abides
 
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