Apple cheaper than Dell?
In yet another Apple/Dell pricing smackdown, ZDNet's Ed Burnette priced out a Dell XPS M1710 versus the Apple 17-inch MacBook Pro. After matching the following components, the Apple MacBook came out on top, shipping for $2,699 before taxes versus the Dell's $3,222 price tag:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7600 (2.33GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB) processor, 17-inch wide screen display, 256MB dedicated 3D graphics card, 2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHZ (2 DIMM), 100GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive, CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW), Integrated Audio, Standard battery, Internal Bluetooth (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate), Internal 802.11g wireless, DVD and movie editing software, 1Yr Ltd Warranty, and Customer support (at least 30 days).
The Dell offered a higher screen resolution but the Apple has the built-in iSight and back-lit keyboard. Follow the read link to read the entire post.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BLACKOUT said 8:32AM on 12-06-2006
i thought we knew this already, what with the keynote where jobs introduced the mac pro, he showed that it was cheeper than the same spec of dell.
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Joe said 8:38AM on 12-06-2006
lets not forget what happens if you add in the bundled software like iLife
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BLACKOUT said 8:43AM on 12-06-2006
dell does dundle software as well though, just it's nagware. they love to upsell.
they give you things like cd burning software, but it's just free trials most of the time.
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Neil Christie said 8:45AM on 12-06-2006
This is a MORONIC comparison clearly made by someone who doesn't understand hardware.
The Dell includes a much, much better GPU that would smoke the MPB in any sort of rendering task.
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BLACKOUT said 8:53AM on 12-06-2006
so i'm guessing all that extra preformance should cost $523?
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GadgetGav said 9:13AM on 12-06-2006
The intel MBPs have been cheaper than an equivalent Dell from day one.
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clint said 9:19AM on 12-06-2006
no one pays retail for dell products. odds are that xps could be had for 40% off after discounts, but the mac would stay priced the same
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jumbobob said 9:53AM on 12-06-2006
Gotta love those Mac biased comparisons. Best of all Mac offers OSX: compatible with nothing. Sure, there's lots of programs out there (even some I love), but why put yourself in a box? As a Systems Administrator of a school we're realizing how boxed in we really are since we moved to Mac 6 months ago. So, go ahead and add $200 to the Mac for a Windows XP license so you'll be able to run all that software that you've purchased over the last few years.
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DrWho said 10:06AM on 12-06-2006
And lets not forget you get mac os and windows should you so choose.
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e:leaf said 10:54AM on 12-06-2006
@ jumbobob
You mean all of that software that I have purchased for the Mac? Okay. I've said it before, and I'll say it again; for nearly every program there is for Windows, there is an equivalent for the Mac, and oftentimes, it is a better alternative. It may not be "that one program," but it will do the same job without the hassles of being on a Windows machine.
If you need "that (mythical) one program," then install it via Parallels or Boot Camp. How is that being "boxed in?" It seems to open up far more possibilies IMO.
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jon said 11:39AM on 12-06-2006
That higher resolution screen on a dell laptop isn't all it's cracked up to be. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice screen, but a 17" screen with 1920 pixels across makes everything so small you can't read anything.
Several people I work with have the new XPS laptops and they all reduce the screen res to actually work on it. It was funny for a while though, no one wanted to change it so they'd be using the "best quality", but everyone was leaning over their keyboards, squinting and complaining. No, these screens are not ergonomic and you'll just be paying for resolution that you'll rarely if ever use.
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jon said 11:44AM on 12-06-2006
"The Dell includes a much, much better GPU that would smoke the MPB in any sort of rendering task."
Yeah, I'll give you that... but consider 2 things:
1) If that's what you are after, is a laptop the right solution for you? Or at least most of the market?
2) You're video card is faster, but let's pull our plugs and see who actually gets more work done before their battery dies, eh? Who's the moron now?
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rob said 12:15PM on 12-06-2006
Apple may very well win price comparisons for its very *narrow range* of hardware and its highly limited configurations of that hardware.
I am sure firewire 800 is eminently useful on a server (though I am pressed to figure out why), but I would rather have SATA RAID, front video, lights out management, etc. Or maybe just a rack mounted server for WELL under $2600.
Apple has no new sub $1000 laptops, or even sub $700 laptops and dell does. Apple has no complete desktops with monitors for under $1000, Dell does. Apple has THREE form factors of desktop systems. Dell has a eleventy gazillion, including several that offer an excellent compromise between size and expandability, BOTH internal and external.
If you start with the Apple config and compare to Dell, apple will probably win. If you start with consumer-priced Dell configs Apple loses badly because it doesn't have anything in that range. Or in cases like the Xserve, you can only compare them to about 10% of the Dell Poweredge configurations.
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gimletmaker said 2:08PM on 12-06-2006
I have both PCs and Macs in my home. The PCs are slowly being replaced by Macs as the budget warrants. The reason is, I just don't have the time anymore to spend babysitting the antivirus and antispyware issues. I'm just SICK of it.
On my Mac, I open the lid, do my work, and close the lid. It *just works*. I don't care how much less a Mac costs, I just don't want to waste my lifetime maintaining a computer anymore. I just want to use it.
Maybe I'm just getting old.
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Suntiger said 4:05PM on 12-06-2006
Okay, Dell XPS /= MacBook Pro. Dell Inspiron M1710 = MacBook Pro. The XPS is a premium machine designed to milk the most out of gamers; the Inspiron line is more aimed at everyone who knows how insane it is to spend $3500 for blinky lights in a laptop case.
Price an Inspiron to Macbook specs. You'll be surprised. Of course, the Inspiron has the same GPU as the XPS... but still.
Also, re hi-res screens: I have a 1920x1200 laptop (but not a Dell, thank you God.) Nothing, and I mean nothing, is too small to read. And this way, when I need the full resolution for Photoshop, for having 2 pages of a Word document open at once, for having Firefox, Word, and Acrobat all on one screen, hell, even for gaming, I have it. It's utterly worth it, too.
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Suntiger said 4:55PM on 12-06-2006
Whoop, that should be Inspiron E1705. My bad. The price, for a config equivalent to the MacBook Pro listed above, is $2487. And that includes an Nvidia 7900GS, which will smoke the Macbook's GPU, and a high-res screen.
Granted, that config has the 2.16ghz Core 2, but only because you can't get the 2.33 on the Dell.
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gimletmaker said 9:10PM on 12-06-2006
But it still runs Windows.
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Trevor said 10:34PM on 12-06-2006
Another debate that will never end....
Of course my next laptop will be a Mac, but items like Graphics cards 'Are' relevant as the OS offloads more stuff to these, it's the GPU that will affect the speed (although marginally in most cases).
Apple loves doing this, that's why I haven't bought my 20"iMac yet as the Graphics card is relatively sub-standard, you can't upgrade, and I don't want to spend the money on a 24" or the desktop model.
Bottom line, more and more people are buying the Mac Laptops, not just because they're Apple, but because they're a good product and have unique stuff like Mag Safe, etc. The funny thing is that the last 3 people I know who bought them, are all running Windows XP on them the majority of the time!
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jonas said 4:24AM on 12-07-2006
i got an $250 difference. with the dell having a better display and a much better gpu.
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Anthony said 10:22AM on 12-08-2006
@jon
"That higher resolution screen on a dell laptop isn't all it's cracked up to be. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice screen, but a 17" screen with 1920 pixels across makes everything so small you can't read anything."
Yikes. When will blind people stop commenting on WUXGA laptop displays? I've been using a 15.4" WUXGA display for 3 years now and I can honestly say it's everything it's cracked up to be and more.
It's somewhat of a joke that my 30" cinema display only does marginally more resolution than my puny little Inspiron's 15.4" display.
It's all about screen real estate, my friend.
Apple would be wise to offer a WUXGA option on the 15 and 17 inch MBPs.
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