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macbook pro pricing?
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jul 2007
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I have had my eye on the 15 inch mackbook pro with the 2.4 ghz processor ever since they got the new nvidia chips... but I recently priced out a dell (inspiron) online that is nearly identical, and it's almost $1000 cheaper. What's the difference? They have the same screen, same ram, same graphics chip and memory. The mac has a slightly faster processor (2.4 vs. 2.2), and, of course, macos. But that alone can't justify the $1000 premium. What am I missing?
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2007
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First off, Dell is cutting corners on its components, yes the chipset is the same but the other stuff Dell has been using cheap stuff. Also Apple is better designed and better made. Support is better also. I've had to deal with Dell and Apple's customer support and its a night and day difference.
Apple on hold for a 5 or 10 minutes. with the technician, I can easily describe the problem and they recommend a solution to which I understood.
Dell, on hold for well over an hour. Technician barely spoke English, had no clue was I was saying and I failed to understand what she was saying (thick Indian accent)
Finally best reason of all. MacBook Pros run OSX, if you want a laptop just to run windows then you're better off saving 1000 bucks. If you want a stable advanced operating system that runs the best software then the Macbook is a better choice.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: in front of my Mac
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Originally Posted by njuyhb
...But that alone can't justify the $1000 premium. What am I missing?
Dell loves advertising the crappiest configs to get the lowest price tag. If you spec 'em out with the same CPU, screen, GPU, and wireless options as a MBP the price difference is a lot lower. Judging by your estimate you went for the WXGA panel, 802.11g and no BT; the MBP uses what Dell refers to as WXGA+ (1440x900), has 802.11n, and BT built in. Here's my Inspiron config:
$1339 (discounted from $1612) compared to the $1999 2.2 GHz MBP. The Dell comes with an inferior GPU, but it has 40 GB more HD capacity. The Dell also comes with an extra pound of weight, an extra half inch of height, and an additional inch of depth. The MBP is a beautiful and slick aluminum design. The Dell has a bulky plastic case.
If you want Mac OS X try to get the MBP with education discount; that should reduce the difference to almost nothing. If you don't think OS X and the MBP design are worth the additional money get the Dell. It's as simple as that.
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Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Polwaristan
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Timbim you spammer.
[wow, the mods deleted a post for once, instead of just editing out his spam.]
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Last edited by Cold Warrior; Jul 17, 2007 at 05:41 PM.
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jul 2007
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Originally Posted by Simon
Dell loves advertising the crappiest configs to get the lowest price tag. If you spec 'em out with the same CPU, screen, GPU, and wireless options as a MBP the price difference is a lot lower. Judging by your estimate you went for the WXGA panel, 802.11g and no BT; the MBP uses what Dell refers to as WXGA+ (1440x900), has 802.11n, and BT built in. Here's my Inspiron config:
$1339 (discounted from $1612) compared to the $1999 2.2 GHz MBP. The Dell comes with an inferior GPU, but it has 40 GB more HD capacity. The Dell also comes with an extra pound of weight, an extra half inch of height, and an additional inch of depth. The MBP is a beautiful and slick aluminum design. The Dell has a bulky plastic case.
If you want Mac OS X try to get the MBP with education discount; that should reduce the difference to almost nothing. If you don't think OS X and the MBP design are worth the additional money get the Dell. It's as simple as that.
No, I was looking at a model that cost 1600-ish and included the identical gpu (including the video ram). The system was identical to the 2500 macbook pro, except for a slightly lesser processor (2.2 vs. 2.4), and, of course, the OS. It included bluetooth, and wireless "n". I thought there must be something else to explain the huge price difference. The hard drive, ram, screen size and resolution and fsb were all the same.
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jul 2007
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Actually, it came out to 1518. Another difference I noticed is the dell doesn't have the gigabit ethernet, which kinda sux.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: in front of my Mac
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Originally Posted by njuyhb
Actually, it came out to 1518. Another difference I noticed is the dell doesn't have the gigabit ethernet, which kinda sux.
That's typical Dell. All attention goes to the low price tag. Of course there's a catch. There always is.
Your comparison is somewhat flawed because you're comparing the Inspiron to a MBP that comes with a CPU Dell doesn't even put in the Inspiron. If you'd compare the Inspiron to the 2.2 GHz MBP the price difference becomes a lot less.
My advice still stands. Quality has a price. It always has and always will. See what you'd pay for the MBP if you could get an educational discount. If you then think OS X and the MBP design aren't worth the additional cost get the Dell.
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Last edited by Simon; Jul 17, 2007 at 04:11 PM.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
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I've done the same comparison myself and the price difference was closer to $500. The Mac runs OS X (and everything that comes with that ability). That's really why people pay an extra grand.
Originally Posted by MacosNerd
Apple on hold for a 5 or 10 minutes. with the technician, I can easily describe the problem and they recommend a solution to which I understood.
Dell, on hold for well over an hour. Technician barely spoke English, had no clue was I was saying and I failed to understand what she was saying (thick Indian accent)
Anecdotes aren't terribly valuable. Service contracts are.
Last time I called Apple (earlier this year): 5 minute wait, native english speaking operator, and a mail exchange leaving the owner without their PowerBook for a week (or the option of a 10 mile trip to a store, leaving the PowerBook for a day, and then doing the same trip again).
Last time I called Dell (last Thursday): 2 minute wait, native english speaking operator, technician on-site the next day at a time convenient to me to replace the LCD and power adapter.
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Jul 2007
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To sum it up, you get what you pay for. if you buy a MBP your going to have a nice well built computer for years to come. on the other hand With the Dell the future doesn't look so bright.
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