Dell or Mac - which way to go.

C

c0re

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 15, 2007
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I'm looking to get a powerful laptop with webcam, hdmi and seperate video card. Had my eye on a refurb macbook 13" for a while, though it doesn't have a hdmi ports, it looks pretty good for the specs and it can run windows too.

I was also considering a Dell, possibly Studio 14 that has webcam, hdmi and separate graphics card. It has a much more powerful processor than the Mac, but seems to have heat issues from reading the reviews.

Can anyone suggest which way to go, i am open to other laptop brands too.. the laptop will be used to watch movies, videos and live tv, not so much games. Webcam and HDMI are a big plus and something that doesn't have heat issues and can last the test of time.

Heard a rumor apple is getting ready to release a line of macbooks, but that just a rumor.

Any recommendation appreciated. My budget is about $800, nothing bigger than 15" screen.
 
This Dell link seems about perfect for $550. I don't know about the separate videocard status of this choice but who cares if you aren't playing games with it and it can still run all video formats?

My gf is an Apple nut and has a cool Apple MacBook notebook and iMac system(and iPhone, she is such an iSucker for iProducts, lol) but I'd rather stick with PC-based stuff myself.

Anyway, good luck.
 
Despite all the Mac hate you will get here, I would suggest going with the Mac, though I would get the low in MBP (I like the feel/rigidity of the Aluminum myself). Or An ASUS if you prefer the windows route.

In the lab I work in we have Dells and Mac's, and save a pair of stupids (older PowerBook G4 12" that was dropped 4 feet while on, and my advisor's tendency to pop off keys on the keyboard) we have never had an issue with any of them in my 5 years here. The 4 Dells we have, have had constant issues. There are less issues since I took over maintaining them, but we still have a bunch of issues ranging from hardware to software.

I am staying far away from Dell for the time being, the next PC we order will probably be a Lenovo (uni requires we buy from one of their vendors, Lenovo, HP, and Dell are the choices, bleh!).

But personally, if I was spending my own money, it would be another Mac.
 
I'd imagine there are decently-made, non-Dell laptop with the features you need for less than the cost of the refurb MacBook. I'm not saying that you shouldn't get the MacBook, but given how simple your needs are, it might make sense to do a little more shopping around.

Dell's pretty good with respect to returns, so you might not stand to lose anything by trying it out for a few weeks and seeing if you experience any overheating issues.
 
ive had no problems with my dell laptop cept a video problem once and they sent me everything I needed to ship it back to them and sent me all the disks as well when they returned it.
 
One thing I will say in favor of the Mac is that the new MBPs are extremely well built, solid as a rock (or billet of aluminum if you like). My wife uses one and I'm always impressed by it. I spent months looking for something with similar build quality on the Windows side and all I could find is the HP Envy 13, which starts at $1500. Granted you pay a premium for the Mac. But if build quality is something that's important to you, I'd say it's money well spent.
 
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Considering your budget of $800, the 13"Refurbished Macbooks are $850 and you can get way more for your money spec wise on a PC laptop. Anything else Mac wise, unless you get a used one, is just going to go up in price from there.

Here is my suggestion
http://www..com/asus/pe/ASU_UL30VTA1

inbetween the www and com type: jr

ASUS UL30VT-A1 Notebook, AC Adapter, 8-cell Battery, AC Adapter; Software: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, ASUS Utility, 2-Year Limited Global Warranty, 1-Year Accidental Damage Warranty
Intel Core 2 Duo CULV SU7300 1.3GHz Processor
4GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM (8GB max.)
500GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
13.3" HD 16:9 (1366x768) LED Backlight Display
Integrated 0.3MP Webcam
nVIDIA G210M 512MB DDR3 or Embedded Intel GMA 4500MHD Video (Switchable Graphics Controller, Dual-View capable Supports two different applications open at one time - one on the External Monitor, and one on the Laptop Screen)
802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Built-in Azalia compliant Audio chip, with 3D effect & full duplex (3D Stereo Enhanced Sound System)
2 Built-in Altec Lansing Speakers
4-in-1 card reader SD, MMC, MS, MS-PRO
Ports: 3 x USB 2.0, RJ-45 (LAN), Headphone-out (with S/PDIF), Microphone-in, VGA, HDMI
Dimensions (WxDxH): 12.68 x 9.17 x 0.59-0.97 inches
Weight: 3.7 pounds


only downside (if you consider it a downside) is no optical drive
 
AMD T-type said:
Considering your budget of $800, the 13"Refurbished Macbooks are $850 and you can get way more for your money spec wise on a PC laptop. Anything else Mac wise, unless you get a used one, is just going to go up in price from there.

Here is my suggestion
http://www..com/asus/pe/ASU_UL30VTA1

inbetween the www and com type: jr

ASUS UL30VT-A1 Notebook, AC Adapter, 8-cell Battery, AC Adapter; Software: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, ASUS Utility, 2-Year Limited Global Warranty, 1-Year Accidental Damage Warranty
Intel Core 2 Duo CULV SU7300 1.3GHz Processor
4GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM (8GB max.)
500GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
13.3" HD 16:9 (1366x768) LED Backlight Display
Integrated 0.3MP Webcam
nVIDIA G210M 512MB DDR3 or Embedded Intel GMA 4500MHD Video (Switchable Graphics Controller, Dual-View capable Supports two different applications open at one time - one on the External Monitor, and one on the Laptop Screen)
802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Built-in Azalia compliant Audio chip, with 3D effect & full duplex (3D Stereo Enhanced Sound System)
2 Built-in Altec Lansing Speakers
4-in-1 card reader SD, MMC, MS, MS-PRO
Ports: 3 x USB 2.0, RJ-45 (LAN), Headphone-out (with S/PDIF), Microphone-in, VGA, HDMI
Dimensions (WxDxH): 12.68 x 9.17 x 0.59-0.97 inches
Weight: 3.7 pounds


only downside (if you consider it a downside) is no optical drive
Click to expand...
If he needs an optical drive he could look into the Asus UL80 series.
 
Any recommendation appreciated. My budget is about $800, nothing bigger than 15" screen.
Click to expand...
Didn't that pretty much answer your question considering the cheapest mac is $999 ?
 
Intel_Hydralisk said:
Didn't that pretty much answer your question considering the cheapest mac is $999 ?
Click to expand...

Refurbished MacBook 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo $849 before 7% corporate discount. Anyway, thank you all for your responses, it will help me a lot of make my decision.
 
As I said, you'll get a lot of Mac hate here. And that's fine, this is a site dedicated to those of us that push our computers to the extreme.

Personally, all of my "work machines" are usually Mac's. I like the build quality, and I am willing to pay extra for what is essentially a *nix environment without all of the headaches associated with *nix.

If it's a work machine, I want it to work, I don't want to have to spend time futzing, fixing, optimizing, or anything like that.

That said, all of my "toys" are PC's, because doing those things is fun, and I find overclocking to be an interesting challenge. I just don't want to have to worry about it on a work machine. I just want them to work.
 
c0re said:
I'm looking to get a powerful laptop with webcam, hdmi and seperate video card. Had my eye on a refurb macbook 13" for a while, though it doesn't have a hdmi ports, it looks pretty good for the specs and it can run windows too.

I was also considering a Dell, possibly Studio 14 that has webcam, hdmi and separate graphics card. It has a much more powerful processor than the Mac, but seems to have heat issues from reading the reviews.

Can anyone suggest which way to go, i am open to other laptop brands too.. the laptop will be used to watch movies, videos and live tv, not so much games. Webcam and HDMI are a big plus and something that doesn't have heat issues and can last the test of time.

Heard a rumor apple is getting ready to release a line of macbooks, but that just a rumor.

Any recommendation appreciated. My budget is about $800, nothing bigger than 15" screen.
Click to expand...
Heat issues? I was just noting today how my i5/4530 studio 14 I received 2 weeks ago was running rather cool ;)

I love my 14. It's great. Snappy, super battery life, and more.

PM me later if you wanna know more, I gotta go to work -_-

its currently been shoved in my backpack, vent down for 25m playing music, its barely warm at all. :)
 
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MrGuvernment said:
Only reason to go MAC is for the OS.
Click to expand...

I disagree. The build quality, from anything I have physically compared to it, is superior. The large trackpad is really nice (gesture support is definitely a plus), as well as the keyboard. Since I need Windows installed for most of my work, the support for it to be installed is not bad. Could do better on the drivers, though (battery charge!). The biggest thing holding me back from a MBP 13 is the low resolution. And now I'm waiting to see what the next generation holds. :p
 
MrGuvernment said:
Only reason to go MAC is for the OS.
Click to expand...

The Macbook Pro is a solid piece of hardware.. $1200 for the 13" 2.26ghz model is a lot of money, considering it can run mac os and windows os, that's a huge plus, the negatives are no hdmi and low end video card.. HP has a similar all aluminum model called the Envy that is $1499.99 for there 13" model.

Assuming the next version of Macbook's will have HDMI, faster cpu and maybe even blue-ray player would make me get one. I really like the fact that if i have a problem with my macbook, i can go to the local apple store and have them fix it. I think Dell comes to you and HP send's a box out for repair.

I have found the dvd burner in the macbooks to be very flaky, they don't read all discs as they should, my friend has had a dvd get stuck in the slot several times.

I have seriously looked at Netbooks, all models and while they serve a need for some, the Atom processor is just too slow, I played with the Acer version and it had a hard time playing an avi movie.. kept trying to catch up. I'm not going to discuss hackintosh laptops, that's a whole another headache.

Anyway, i'm not ruling out any brand right now, still searching around.

EDIT:

Just came across ASUS N61JV-X2 16-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Dark Brown) for $900 US, looks amazing.
 
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New MacBooks were on sale at microcenter for 800 bucks but it might be over the last day of march
 
Go to bestbuy and play with the macbooks if you haven't. Then go play with the windows laptops. That will help you a lot.

One thing about the macbook I can't get enough of is the trackpad. It is hands down the best trackpad I have ever used. It works so well, and the multitouch is so smooth, it puts every other machine to shame. Even those that have multi touch feel like garbage next to the macbook.
 
Dell vs Mac shouldn't even be a question. It's like comparing a BMW to a Kia, I would not trade my MBP for any windows based laptop no matter the specs. Macbook trackpad is awesome, after using Macs I find PC laptops pretty much unusable because the trackpads are complete garbage and multitouch is not nearly as smooth. Not to mention the fact that you can run OSX, which is much better than anything MS can conjure up.
 
I love that OSX is much better then anything MS can conjure up, so why is it, it has such small market share? :rolleyes:
 
MrGuvernment said:
I love that OSX is much better then anything MS can conjure up, so why is it, it has such small market share? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I think that it would be fairly obvious that it has a smaller market share because it's only offered by ONE vendor while there are a zillion PC manufacturers shipping windows boxes. :rolleyes:
 
alex2792 said:
I think that it would be fairly obvious that it has a smaller market share because it's only offered by ONE vendor while there are a zillion PC manufacturers shipping windows boxes. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

That could be one reason... but I don't think that's the definitive reason. There's nothing stopping Apple from letting other vendors ship Mac OSX... well except for Apple itself.

I don't think Steve Jobs wants more market share. The higher the market share, the more headaches it comes with. Also, Jobs most definitely wants to keep his low volume high margin business model. It also makes him feel better because he's the head of a cool cult.
 
i would go with the mac, like u said, you can always install windows on the mac. i would love to check that mac os up.
 
Intel_Hydralisk said:
That could be one reason... but I don't think that's the definitive reason. There's nothing stopping Apple from letting other vendors ship Mac OSX... well except for Apple itself.

I don't think Steve Jobs wants more market share. The higher the market share, the more headaches it comes with. Also, Jobs most definitely wants to keep his low volume high margin business model. It also makes him feel better because he's the head of a cool cult.
Click to expand...

Apple will never license OSX because last time they took that route hey almost went under. I believe that Apple has around a 30% margin while PC manufacturers however around 5-10% so they would undercut Apple's prices significantly causing lost sales.
 
If I were you, I'd just get whichever one suited your needs best. Do some research and decide which one fits what you want the best.

Also just be aware you will be paying a premium for a MBP, but the flip side of that is it holds it's value really well if you ever decide you want to sell it.
 
MrGuvernment said:
I love that OSX is much better then anything MS can conjure up, so why is it, it has such small market share? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
When you use your OS, is its market share important to you? Does its market share speed up tasks like configuring your TCP/IP settings? Does it reduce application load times? Does its market share aid in seamlessly backing up your critical data or improve PDF rendering?

The answer to all of these questions is "no". An OS is not defined by its market share but by what features it offers and how reliable those features are.
 
I would prefer a Dell over a Mac. It really depends on what you want. Dells are cheaper then Macs.
 
Not to mention, with enough work you can hackintosh anything.

No amount of work will lower the price of a mac ;)
 
why do i hack on the macos when you can have the real thing? you can update the os, and etc...
i think that notebooks are all the same, the only real difference is the processor speed and how much memory you got. and, games? who play games on a laptop? (rich people?)
the mac cost more, but you get the macos and windows in one machine.
 
MrGuvernment said:
I love that OSX is much better then anything MS can conjure up, so why is it, it has such small market share? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

For the same reason that Lexus sells fewer cars than Toyota. They both get you from A to B, but one gives you a comfy ride and extra features while costing more. Many people don't/can't pay the premium.
 
phide said:
When you use your OS, is its market share important to you? Does its market share speed up tasks like configuring your TCP/IP settings? Does it reduce application load times? Does its market share aid in seamlessly backing up your critical data or improve PDF rendering?

The answer to all of these questions is "no". An OS is not defined by its market share but by what features it offers and how reliable those features are.
Click to expand...

Shhh! ;)
 
ryken said:
For the same reason that Lexus sells fewer cars than Toyota. They both get you from A to B, but one gives you a comfy ride and extra features while costing more. Many people don't/can't pay the premium.
Click to expand...

Umm....The difference between a Toyota and a lexus is very little actually. They both pretty much use all the same hardware (the same frame actually). The main difference is Lexus found a way to get more money out of your pocket for a label.
 
if it were my money, it would be an asus laptop. if it were somebody else's cash, i'd like a mac. if only to have a business machine i could reliably expect to always behave accordingly, for office documents, photoshop and some ported linux utilities.
 
phide said:
When you use your OS, is its market share important to you? Does its market share speed up tasks like configuring your TCP/IP settings? Does it reduce application load times? Does its market share aid in seamlessly backing up your critical data or improve PDF rendering?

The answer to all of these questions is "no". An OS is not defined by its market share but by what features it offers and how reliable those features are.
Click to expand...

based on Apple's new update, it doesn't seem much is very "reliable" in the OS since everything was updated to be "more reliable" considering even their backup system wasn't working over wireless properly to be reliable.

OSX made none of those items easier for me, and i used a macbook with OSX tiger for a year, it wasnt harder then windows, but it certainly by no means was any easier.
 
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