neurignacio Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 I have to buy a new laptop due to the early decease of my excellent Toshiba and 'm in the ethernal doubt of buying a dell (or similar laptop) or the new macb ok generation. I like to have a globetrotter laptop. I want it smooth when I'm processing my pictures with photoshop at home and I don't do gaming. I'm married with Windows (as happy as you can be when you are married) but I'm in love of OS X and I cannot avoid flirting with Linux, as well. I like small laptops, so I can bring it from work to home without injuring my back. Reading through, people usually recommend macbook because it allows to install OS X and Windows, which is an excellent point. However, I already got my old Toshiba smoothly running OS X (besides XP, Vista and SuSe... I have no name, I'm sorry... actually, there is a remote although fair possibility that I blew the graphic card of my until them healthy Toshiba by messing up with an OS X installation (don´t do at home)). So the point is that P and Intel-Mac systems are in equal conditions regarding OSes, no? My bugdet should be the lowest although realistic. I put myself a limit of 1000€, more or less. What I found in Europe is the following macbook and dell configuration (up to today): MacBook -------- processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 (2.16 Ghz, 4 Mb L2-cache 667 Mhz FSB)* * Unfortunately, 2.0 Ghz model doesn't ship with DVD-burner memory: 2x1024 Mb, 667 Mhz (needed for photoshop dirty jobs) graphic card: intel GMA 950, 64 Mb shared, 1280x800, 13.3" hard disk: 120 Gb at 5400 rpm other: 2xUSB, no card read weight: 2.3 Kg price: 1275€ (discounts applied) Dell Inspiron 640m (nice example) ----------------- procesor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 (2.0 Ghz, 4 Mb L2-cache 667 Mhz FSB) memory: 2x1024 Mb, 667 Mhz graphic card: intel GMA 950TM, 224 Mb shared, 1280x800, 14.1" hard disk: 80Gb at 7200 rpm (better faster than big) other: 4xUSB, card reader and every item you can find in any other laptop PC. weight: 2.5 Kg price: 1150€ (shiping included) From this list, dell seems to win, however, macbook is soooo cute, that I don't know if I can regret it if I follow my feelings... Any nice advice from you, guys? Any recommendation? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munky Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 for the LOVE OF GOD MAN get the MacBook! it simply outclasses the Dell in every way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apowerr Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 If I were you I'd go with the macbook. It has a better proc, the same resolution on a smaller screen and its smaller. I can see why the HD speed might annoy you, but proc speed ftw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zizou Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 Depends how much you love OS X Macbook can do both XP and OS X 100%, Dell doens't do 100% os x I'd go with the macbook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R2k. Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 mac R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro17 Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 I put myself a limit of 1000Eur more or less........ Any nice advice from you, guys? Any recommendation? Thanks I have seen that you can find PC laptops on special offer in large supermarkets or even at your local shop for Eur1000 or less. They'll easily have specs like dual core CPUs (Intel or AMD), 2GB RAM, a 160GB HD, a nice graphics card... Apple won't give you that for the same money, that is certain. In any case don't buy a Dell: expensive rubbish. Now about OS X compatibility: that can indeed be a problem. How about buying a PC laptop (running Windows and linux) and later building a nice hackintosh for Eur500/600? Else consider a refurbished Macbook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmriggin Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 you could buy my d620 for $1200 shipped. 14.1" WSXGA 1400x900 no dead pixels Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 2.33GHZ 4MB L2 Cache 2GB DDR2 667MHz 256MB nVidia Quadro NVS 110M (same as GeForce Go 7300) 80GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive DVD +/- RW Dual Layer Burner Bluetooth Wireless (Intel 3950ABG, Dell 1490, and Dell 1390) Laser mouse 3 year Dell Complete Care warranty XP Professional with Vista Ultimate License I did a little OSX experimenting and Linux experimenting on this laptop (PM for details) I can provide pics. Laptop is in near mint condition and is fast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soündless Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 macbook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neurignacio Posted June 15, 2007 Author Share Posted June 15, 2007 Thank you for these first answers :-) it seems that you all are pretty sure about the macbook. I read some reviews praising the quality and silence of the macbook but also complaints about heating. Have any of you tried to encode overnight the extended versions of the lord of the rings and found that the macbook had me ted? erei33: In most of the benchmarks, I didn't find so much difference between the T7400 and the T7200. Although from my previous experience using a 7200 rpm hard disk (even external) instead of the 5400 rpm of my ex-laptop produced a noticable increase in R/W performance. Since photoshop does a lot of this, probably it can be important. What do you think? Zizou: I completely agree with you, but can macbook do 100% XP? I'm scared of the 64Mb graphic memory if I have to go to Vista in a non-desirable future. Alessandro17: Thanks for the advice. I know I can find desktop-substitutes by half of my budget but, firstly, they are usually as heavy as my old TV and, secondly, experiences close to me made me be suspicious of unknown brands. Then my next question, why dell is a expensive rubbish? I believed they get a nice quality, don't they? rmriggin: Thanks for the offer, this is exactly what I was looking for. I assume you are in US (since you use $) and I'm afraid the distance might be a problem to close a deal :'-( Thanks anyway. To all the rest: Can you tell me objectively what advantages you see in macbook over any equally priced laptop PC. Thanks :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFI Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 Go with the Macbook. Plus you are getting 40Gb more HD space on the Macbook than on the Dell. I know that the speed is 5400rpm on the Macbook and 7200rpm on the Dell, however the speed reduction on the Macbook is negligible when you get this much more space. The only speed on the HDs' that I would start to avoid is if it was below the 5000rpm range (i.e HD's that spin at 4200rpm), those will actually have increased load times and will be much noticible than 5400rpm vs 7200rpm. Also what version of Vista are you getting with the Dell? I definately doubt its Ultimate, or even Home Premium. I could be wrong though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro17 Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 Alessandro17: Thanks for the advice. I know I can find desktop-substitutes by half of my budget but, firstly, they are usually as heavy as my old TV and, secondly, experiences close to me made me be suspicious of unknown brands. Then my next question, why dell is a expensive rubbish? I believed they get a nice quality, don't they? I have seen 12" notebooks for less than Eur1000. I wasn't talking about unknown brands, but rather brands like Toshiba, HP, maybe Asus or Fujitsu-Siemens... Dell has earned a reputation for poor quality (just google this very sentence). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neurignacio Posted June 15, 2007 Author Share Posted June 15, 2007 I have seen 12" notebooks for less than Eur1000. I suppose you live in Spain, do you?I wasn't talking about unknown brands, but rather brands like Toshiba, HP, maybe Asus or Fujitsu-Siemens... Dell has earned a reputation for poor quality (just google this very sentence). Thanks, Alessandro17, I've been digging a bit in some websites and I found in HP a strong competitor to Macbook, seems to be new: HP Compaq 6510b ------------------- processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 (2.0 Ghz, 4 Mb L2-cache 800 Mhz FSB) memory: 1x1024 Mb *Probably they can ship with 2 Gb graphic card: intel GMA X3100, 384 Mb shared, 1280x800, 14.1" hard disk: 160 Gb at 5400 rpm other: 4xUSB, card read, etc weight: at least 2.4 Kg price: 1040€ seems nice, although still bigger than the cute macbook. Only affordable and middle-size with Santa Rosa processor. I could just find 12" laptops with T5xxx processor. Does any of you think that this can be a even better choice than Macbook for my needs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apowerr Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 Thanks, Alessandro17, I've been digging a bit in some websites and I found in HP a strong competitor to Macbook, seems to be new: HP Compaq 6510b ------------------- processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 (2.0 Ghz, 4 Mb L2-cache 800 Mhz FSB) memory: 1x1024 Mb *Probably they can ship with 2 Gb graphic card: intel GMA X3100, 384 Mb shared, 1280x800, 14.1" hard disk: 160 Gb at 5400 rpm other: 4xUSB, card read, etc weight: at least 2.4 Kg price: 1040€ seems nice, although still bigger than the cute macbook. Only affordable and middle-size with Santa Rosa processor. I could just find 12" laptops with T5xxx processor. Does any of you think that this can be a even better choice than Macbook for my needs? I dont know about better than the Macbook, but better than the Dell! That is a really fair price. Remember though that the 5400 rpm speed was bothering you, so take that into consideration. Also if you boosted it up to 2 GB RAM the price might be closer to the Macbooks. In the end its your decision, is it worth shelling out the extra cash just for the MB's formfactor and camera/microphone. I would say that it is, but maybe its not to you. Either way both the HP and MB are good buys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro17 Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 Thanks, Alessandro17, I've been digging a bit in some websites and I found in HP a strong competitor to Macbook, seems to be new: HP Compaq 6510b ------------------- processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 (2.0 Ghz, 4 Mb L2-cache 800 Mhz FSB) memory: 1x1024 Mb *Probably they can ship with 2 Gb graphic card: intel GMA X3100, 384 Mb shared, 1280x800, 14.1" hard disk: 160 Gb at 5400 rpm other: 4xUSB, card read, etc weight: at least 2.4 Kg price: 1040€ seems nice, although still bigger than the cute macbook. Only affordable and middle-size with Santa Rosa processor. I could just find 12" laptops with T5xxx processor. Does any of you think that this can be a even better choice than Macbook for my needs? It sounds like a good deal. The only question mark is the integrated graphics card, but the GMA X3000/X3100 (mobile version) should be the best integrated cards ever. Also an upgrade to 2GB RAM is really worth considering. If they don't do it, you can do it yourself very easily: hint: go to Crucial RAM Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmriggin Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 I looked into international shipping and it would be around $200 to ship to Spain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riktor Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 I would get the macbook, but not the fancy upgrades through apple. It costs $350 USD for apple to upgrade RAM but ordering ram from crucial or newegg, is less then $100 USD, also you can get a 160 GB 7200 RPM 2.5 inch sata drive for cheaper then the apple upgrades as well. This is what I did when I bought my macbook, and it was the simplest upgrade I have ever done, the Hard Drive just pulls out and the ram has release levers, it was designed to be easily upgraded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProMacUser Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 Anyway Apple rulesssss. PC suxxxxxx. Trust me, buy a macbook. In Apple we trust. (This must be written on dollars) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neurignacio Posted June 18, 2007 Author Share Posted June 18, 2007 I have seen that you can find PC laptops on special offer in large supermarkets or even at your local shop for Eur1000 or less.They'll easily have specs like dual core CPUs (Intel or AMD), 2GB RAM, a 160GB HD, a nice graphics card... Apple won't give you that for the same money, that is certain. In any case don't buy a Dell: expensive rubbish. Now about OS X compatibility: that can indeed be a problem. How about buying a PC laptop (running Windows and linux) and later building a nice hackintosh for Eur500/600? Else consider a refurbished Macbook. I was last weekend visiting some computershops in the city and I found a nice late 2006 refurbished Macbook Pro for 1500€ (2.16Ghz, 1 Gb RAM). It's a bit off my budget (I will have to ask about financing solutions to that store) but I think 300-350€ may be good investment for a nice 15" 1440x900 screen and a backlit keyboard :-) Don't you think so? Would it be better to use that money to buy in future a nice external monitor for the macbook instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProMacUser Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 Nice deal!!! But new MBP's are much better. Though it's great for the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munky Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 thats what i did - i had a macbook, then upgraded to a refurb MBP. never looked back go for it! you seriously wont regret it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro17 Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 I was last weekend visiting some computershops in the city and I found a nice late 2006 refurbished Macbook Pro for 1500€ (2.16Ghz, 1 Gb RAM). It's a bit off my budget (I will have to ask about financing solutions to that store) but I think 300-350€ may be good investment for a nice 15" 1440x900 screen and a backlit keyboard :-) Don't you think so? Would it be better to use that money to buy in future a nice external monitor for the macbook instead? Probably I'd buy the Macbook Pro. It sounds like a good deal and you can buy an external monitor later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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