Dell XPS 1530- Dell Calls out Apple

[prism]

Guys, I base all my statements off information I have gleaned from other sources. About reliability between Dell and Apple, I got that information from recent consumer reports which put Apple at the top of reliability and Dell middle of the pack. As for "laying down Dell astroturf" I am trying to promote discussion not support for dell. Apple fans need to realize that Apple is starting to get to the point they have to play catch up. I have no problem admitting I am an Apple fan but for the love of God, isn't it good sometimes to look at the fact that there is some serious competition out there. Apple isn't flawless, its great, but I'll be damned if I say they are perfect. I love them, but companies are starting to catch up. Its important to make the point that Apple needs to really be innovative with their next release to keep them ahed of the design curve.

With my comment about the minimalist design con, I was writing it for Apple fans who like minimilist design, so I made that comment for you guys, not something that would be included on a main line review.

Do I agree that a TRUE review needs to wait till products get in users hands, yes. Again, my point was to incite discussion about upcomming technology in a civilized manner and how companies are producing products that compete with Apple. This is my OPINION!!!!! THIS WHOLE FORUM IS ABOUT OPINIONS!!!

We are all Apple Fans (to some degree) here. So why argue, we all agree that in the end Apple is who we choose, but Discussion and comparisons never hurt.

-Josh

Let's see, when Apple released the current rev of MBP over last summer, it was one of the first to include SR, one of the first to include LED on 15.4", one of the first to include the 8600m GPU, one of the first to include draft n wifi as standard. In the next revision we will probably see a similar pattern. With the switch to intel, they can now remain on the cutting edge!

 

[Mindflux]

So in the same price every main component is better in Dell's. Except for teh screen. When it come out the upgrade may be $150-$200 tops, taking the cpu a notch down will do it and mantain the price. So for these reasons I believe it's a strong contender for the Macbook Pro

You are comparing a brand new, newly released Dell Laptop spec'd out against an 18 month old MBP design. Congrats to you. Why not compare a 08 Corvette to a 06 Ford Focus while you are at it.

 

[DaBrain]

maybe that apple is quite overpriced and that it isn't a lone soldier in the "pro" line?

No Thanks! I'll stick with OSX. Not interested in the Dell PC world.

 

[ANTdod]

Three missing Dell XPS 1530 disadvantages:
- Poor screen quality - I had Dell Precision M6300 (made for designers) with a horrible screen - returned it and got MBP
- You need to wait ages for a laptop you can't see before buying (there are only a few places where you can experience it)
- Have a hudge adaptor without a MagSafe plug

 

[ANTdod]

Let's see, when Apple released the current rev of MBP over last summer, it was one of the first to include SR, one of the first to include LED on 15.4", one of the first to include the 8600m GPU, one of the first to include draft n wifi as standard. In the next revision we will probably see a similar pattern. With the switch to intel, they can now remain on the cutting edge!

By the time Dell XPS 1530 reaches the first consumer, MBP with Penryn will be in shops.

 

[kaiwai]

We are all Apple Fans (to some degree) here. So why argue, we all agree that in the end Apple is who we choose, but Discussion and comparisons never hurt.

-Josh

No body said comparison was bad; but the vast majority of us here use a Mac for the operating system, so matter what hardware you can pull out of your behind, the question will ultimately come down to the operating system running ontop.

Lets face reality, there is very little difference in the quality of hardware today, the only thing that makes Mac's stand out from the rest is the operating system. If operating system weren't an issue, none of us would have gone out of our way to purchase an slightly more expensive laptop/desktop/workstation given there are cheaper ones out there.

 

[zioxide]

Too bad it's a ****ing Dell.

I had a Dell Insprion 1505 that I got in the Summer of 06 (2GHz Core Duo, 2GB Ram, it was a beast machine). I tons of problems with BSODs due to Dell's ****** drivers, defective wireless card, etc. It had the mobo and wireless card replaced but it still doesn't work right.

Plus the build quality was **** plastic, the screen hinges were crap so the thing was wicked lose, the keyboard broke way too easily, the screen was this crappy glossy thing with awful backlight bleeding.

Hence why I now have an MBP.

 

[Mindflux]

Lets face reality, there is very little difference in the quality of hardware today, the only thing that makes Mac's stand out from the rest is the operating system. If operating system weren't an issue, none of us would have gone out of our way to purchase an slightly more expensive laptop/desktop/workstation given there are cheaper ones out there.

Again that's like saying a Cavalier and a Corvette are nearly the same. There are varying levels of detail that go into each car. Just as there is a different though process for making a Macbook over another laptop brand. Technically speaking, the hardware is very similar.. as with cars, it's metal and plastic and electronics. But the outcome from the though process produces a VASTLY different experience.

The OS is NOT the only reason people pick Mac's. The support, aesthetics (which plays a BIG ROLE IN ANY PURCHASE) and overall previous user experience also factor in.

 

[kaiwai]

Again that's like saying a Cavalier and a Corvette are nearly the same. There are varying levels of detail that go into each car. Just as there is a different though process for making a Macbook over another laptop brand. Technically speaking, the hardware is very similar.. as with cars, it's metal and plastic and electronics. But the outcome from the though process produces a VASTLY different experience.

The OS is NOT the only reason people pick Mac's. The support, aesthetics (which plays a BIG ROLE IN ANY PURCHASE) and overall previous user experience also factor in.

True, but I was looking at the most superficial level - if all one was consider were purely 'just the hardware' - but people look at my than just the hardware.

I like the fact that I can call up an 0800 number from New Zealand and get someone who actually speaks English, knows where Christchurch is, and can effectively explain things to me.

Another neat thing; all the problems associated with 'legacy' isn't there; sure, its an Intel processor, but it has dropped all the legacy crap associated with BIOS which fixes a good many compatibility issues.

Battery life is much better than the HP I had, the battery life of my old HP Laptop would be lucky to have survived a lecture it was that crappy; and yet, I'm getting a good 3 hours out of my laptop without any compromise on performance.

But again, this all comes back to the bigger picture, integration. Sure, Apple has made some cockups in the past, but compared to Dell, I'd say that Apple customers hold Apple to a higher level than what most Dell, HP and Lenovo do when they purchase their machines. When their machine crashes, fails to boot or has 'sharp edges' they see it as a fact of life, mention the same issues here, and you'll have people threatening to throw themselves off cliffs (along with their MacBook)

 

[OpusFL]

I've had to run Dell's with my Macs the past few years. The notebooks are horrible going in and out of sleep mode. And my Dell tower, took a near terminal hit at the worst possible time of the year for me. I've not had the catastrophic problems with my laptops.

I had a horrible screen on an older Dell laptop so I moved up to an XPS with built in wireless and it was better but still far from my Mac. The simple joys of being able to reboot in less than five minutes.

 

[panameno]

You are comparing a brand new, newly released Dell Laptop spec'd out against an 18 month old MBP design. Congrats to you. Why not compare a 08 Corvette to a 06 Ford Focus while you are at it.

If it's technology is 18 months old, then why is so overpriced?? I rest my case.

PD. You are saying DELL is a Corvette and MBP a Focus?? WTF :S. I would see it all the way around, and IF the Focus has the same power as the corvette with a lower price and is newer I would take it in consideration. Obviously this will not happen.

 

[kaiwai]

If it's technology is 18 months old, then why is so overpriced?? I rest my case.

PD. You are saying DELL is a Corvette and MBP a Focus?? WTF :S. I would see it all the way around, and IF the Focus has the same power as the corvette with a lower price and is newer I would take it in consideration. Obviously this will not happen.

More like a SmartCar, more expensive than a run of the mill car but the cost savings are in the long run.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I had a horrible screen on an older Dell laptop so I moved up to an XPS with built in wireless and it was better but still far from my Mac. The simple joys of being able to reboot in less than five minutes.

I've never had a computer that took that long to boot up. You're infected mate, clean that baby out and it'll run way better.

O.T., why are there so many Dell bashers? OS X is not god, XP is a nice OS. Keep it clean, and unless your machine is bad, it'll be trouble free. The last time I used Windows on a regular basis, I didn't have my wireless always dropping out, or stuttering graphics. shut down didn't blank the screen and leave me wondering what it was doing, yet these are all issues that I deal with in OS X on a daily basis.

Having said that, 10.5.0 was much better then Vista for me, and I don't really complain much about OS X, but it's not like macs are god-like and dells are s***.

Grab a dell, install your favorite Linux distro (or even make it a hackintosh) and then tell me that it's not nicer then your MB. not including minimalists, no one can say they prefer having just F1-F12 to a nice set of media buttons. Go get a nice and much cheeper Dell and see what I mean! (not said with sarcasm).

 

[Josheua]

More like a SmartCar, more expensive than a run of the mill car but the cost savings are in the long run.

I like that comparison the best. I think in the long term what you are paying for with apple is the (majority) lack of rebuilds, reinstalls, and repairs you face with a windows machine as the OS begins to slowly degrade. Mind you XP has reached a point where it is stable, but why can't windows offer a stable operating system with features (which XP is lacking without 3rd Party ad-ons that slow it down).

-Josh

 

[Digital Skunk]

I consider Adobe Acrobat Reader to be bloat as well.

Heck yes. Given that Preview is a bit more robust than the reader to begin with, even the Tiger version.

I don't keep much beyond iLife if anything.

I haven't known Dell to recently add-on anything more then Adobe Acrobat Reader and Google Desktop. HP and Sony on the other hand are a different story.

Annoying at most but not necessarily bloat.

I barely use iLife now. Wonderful Apps, but now that I have the Pro version of the apps I don't use them that much. I may delete my iDVD and iMovie templates to save space... (yes, I just thought about that.)

This is a duplicate thread - please see the original here: http://www.avp-r.com/

Thanks, but it escapes me why members do this. I say let the mods handle it.

 

[TheStu]

Heck yes. Given that Preview is a bit more robust than the reader to begin with, even the Tiger version.



I barely use iLife now. Wonderful Apps, but now that I have the Pro version of the apps I don't use them that much. I may delete my iDVD and iMovie templates to save space... (yes, I just thought about that.)



Thanks, but it escapes me why members do this. I say let the mods handle it.

iLife was a consideration for me when I bought my MacBook just to know that the apps were there when i needed them... but I think i have used Garageband once, iDVD once, iMovie twice.

iPhoto and iTunes I use incessantly, but those are the only two really. I always consider dropping the rest just for space's sake, but last thing I need is to have the need to throw a movie together really quickly (family vacations and the like) and not have the means.

 

[Digital Skunk]

No body said comparison was bad; but the vast majority of us here use a Mac for the operating system, so matter what hardware you can pull out of your behind, the question will ultimately come down to the operating system running ontop.

Lets face reality, there is very little difference in the quality of hardware today, the only thing that makes Mac's stand out from the rest is the operating system. If operating system weren't an issue, none of us would have gone out of our way to purchase an slightly more expensive laptop/desktop/workstation given there are cheaper ones out there.

AMEN! That's the only thing that I would want in a PC. HP and Dell make some great pro machines and some of the best spec'd (but fugly) laptops on the market. The Alienwares are to die for, but they run Windows, which makes all that hardware useless in my opinion. I'd have all the power in the world and the only thing I can do with it is run games and run of the mill software that would make my job a lot harder, and lock me out of other software companies products.

I've had to run Dell's with my Macs the past few years. The notebooks are horrible going in and out of sleep mode. And my Dell tower, took a near terminal hit at the worst possible time of the year for me. I've not had the catastrophic problems with my laptops.

I had a horrible screen on an older Dell laptop so I moved up to an XPS with built in wireless and it was better but still far from my Mac. The simple joys of being able to reboot in less than five minutes.

Plenty of times the misguided college student would close his $600 Dell notebook, thinking it's like the Macs that he saw his friends using, assuming it would go to sleep. Only to hear the Windows chime of a shutting down machine in the middle of a lecture because the thing ran out of juice. Very funny.

If it's technology is 18 months old, then why is so overpriced?? I rest my case.

PD. You are saying DELL is a Corvette and MBP a Focus?? WTF :S. I would see it all the way around, and IF the Focus has the same power as the corvette with a lower price and is newer I would take it in consideration. Obviously this will not happen.

Not really. I agree with you, but you don't rest your case. The overpriced machine still sells, so keep it at that price. Many users are still buying MBPs, those that know, like you and I, aren't buying them. But any smart business man will tell you that if the customers are still buying at a given price, you better keep selling at that price. BMWs are overpriced here in the states, and morons keep on buying them.

As for the Corvette and Focus thing, I also agree with you, but if you ride in the Focus for two hours, you will see why the Corvette costs that much more.

iLife was a consideration for me when I bought my MacBook just to know that the apps were there when i needed them... but I think i have used Garageband once, iDVD once, iMovie twice.

iPhoto and iTunes I use incessantly, but those are the only two really. I always consider dropping the rest just for space's sake, but last thing I need is to have the need to throw a movie together really quickly (family vacations and the like) and not have the means.

I agree. I use iTunes non stop, and if I didn't have Aperture iPhoto would be my best friend. I am in the process of expanding my "website" (if one could call it that) from iWeb to something more powerful.

I haven't used iMovie once, nor have I used iDVD. I think I may just move the templates somewhere else for the time being, and if I need them go back for them.

p.s. Just checked out the space I would save, and it ain't much, so I am better off keeping it there.

 

[kaiwai]

I've never had a computer that took that long to boot up. You're infected mate, clean that baby out and it'll run way better.

O.T., why are there so many Dell bashers? OS X is not god, XP is a nice OS. Keep it clean, and unless your machine is bad, it'll be trouble free. The last time I used Windows on a regular basis, I didn't have my wireless always dropping out, or stuttering graphics. shut down didn't blank the screen and leave me wondering what it was doing, yet these are all issues that I deal with in OS X on a daily basis.

Having said that, 10.5.0 was much better then Vista for me, and I don't really complain much about OS X, but it's not like macs are god-like and dells are s***.

Grab a dell, install your favorite Linux distro (or even make it a hackintosh) and then tell me that it's not nicer then your MB. not including minimalists, no one can say they prefer having just F1-F12 to a nice set of media buttons. Go get a nice and much cheeper Dell and see what I mean! (not said with sarcasm).

I have nothing against Dell. Infact, I actually quite like Dell, the problem is that the software I want to run isn't available for OpenSolaris or Linux (or any other Unix-like operating system).

If such an limitation didn't exist - lets assume that wine worked 100% perfectly, then sure, I'd be on a Dell laptop right now using most likely OpenSolaris. The problem is, however, that isn't the case.

What makes be decide to go with Mac is the whole package. Simply picking out one component ignores the fact that as users its the sum of all the parts which decides whether something is bought.

 

[kaiwai]

I like that comparison the best. I think in the long term what you are paying for with apple is the (majority) lack of rebuilds, reinstalls, and repairs you face with a windows machine as the OS begins to slowly degrade. Mind you XP has reached a point where it is stable, but why can't windows offer a stable operating system with features (which XP is lacking without 3rd Party ad-ons that slow it down).

-Josh

When I bought this MacBook, my jaw hit the coffee table at the speed of the boot; grab any off the shelf laptop/notebook these days and expect to spend the next hour removing crap through uninstall and manual registry entry removal just to claw back some resemblance of speed.

Or what is even worse, you purchase a laptop, loaded with Windows Vista, you grab the fastest processor, cram it with a tonne of memory only to find that 1/2 of the system specs are dedicated to getting the damn operating system up and running!

When I hear people go on about the performance of PC's, it reminds me of the arguments people go on about 'back in the old days, those big muscle cars had v12's!" - yeah, and those very same machines weighed 4 times the amount the average 'low powered' fuel efficient cards of today do. They needed the grunt just to get the damn things moving! Sure, these MacBooks don't have the blisting edge of Nvidia or ATI, but they don't need to have them to get great performance. Apple operates on developing their OS for machines of today rather than Microsoft developing their operarting system for machines that haven't even come to market yet.

 

[JAT]

Well, I tried to configure the Dell to match the base MBP. I came up with $1844 compared to Apple's $2224.

Both:
2.2GHz
2GB RAM
250GB 5400rpm
Bluetooth

Apple charges way too much for the upgraded 250GB HDD to match the Dell, other than that they are essentially the same price. You also have to factor in the differences: Apple adds more resolution, which is just weird since Dell usually always offers more choice on this. Also, Dell doesn't offer the matte screen or Firewire, and Apple has standard FW800. Oh, and of course....iLife.

Dell's basic laptops are always cheaper, but when it comes to the high-end, they are usually very close in price to Apple.

 

[kaiwai]

AMEN! That's the only thing that I would want in a PC. HP and Dell make some great pro machines and some of the best spec'd (but fugly) laptops on the market. The Alienwares are to die for, but they run Windows, which makes all that hardware useless in my opinion. I'd have all the power in the world and the only thing I can do with it is run games and run of the mill software that would make my job a lot harder, and lock me out of other software companies products.

I quite like the Lenovo ThinkPads, they're quite sturdy and very 'business like' in their design, but like you, what lets it down is Windows. If I could get everything I wanted on an alternative operating system, I'd go for that.

 

[GoodWatch]

When I hear people go on about the performance of PC's, it reminds me of the arguments people go on about 'back in the old days,

Long ago, in a galaxy not far away Apple kept on 'proving' that the PowerPC CPU was so much faster than Intel's. The benchmarks, oh, those benchmarks. And now......

 

[JAT]

Long ago, in a galaxy not far away Apple kept on 'proving' that the PowerPC CPU was so much faster than Intel's. The benchmarks, oh, those benchmarks. And now......

And now Apple buys up the first batch of every new Intel chip. So what? What does the past have to do with anything?

 

[iW00t]

Yeah it would also be nicer if it can in a silver aluminum case and was called MacBook Pro.

Oh wait.

I have a couple dents on my MacBook Pro that says silver aluminum cases are not practical.

Back to you.

 

[GoodWatch]

And now Apple buys up the first batch of every new Intel chip. So what? What does the past have to do with anything?

Please include the original quote in your answer. Now it is ripped from its context. And I doubt if Apple is Intel's biggest customer. Not that this has to do with anything of course, what was I thinking.... I sometimes forget my place