What makes a MBP better than the E1505?

[kevin.rivers]

Well. This kind of sucks. I did a speech the other day for class on why you should by a Mac. This guy picked a fight with me. I saw it coming, but yeah.

So he comes to class today, and says the E1505 can be had with just about the same specs as the MBP but right now for only $1100 as opposed to $2499. How does one refute that!?

I mean, I would buy the MBP. But how do you convince someone who loves Dell and things that are cheap into buying one?

I am having a tough time with this. When I buy an Apple computer, I usually look for a deal, like the used market or just do the Edu discount. But for someone who goes straight to the source and is incapable of finding deals, what incentive is there to buy a Mac in this Windows world.

Sorry, for going all over the place. I just really wish I had something to come back with. I mean, there is so much more that you get when you buy a MBP over a Dell, but these things don't seem to matter to someone who wants it cheap.

*Frustration*

 

[miniConvert]

Spec isn't everything. You can bet your bottom dollar he'd be jealous of someone with a MBP if he was sitting beside them with his fugly Dell. I know I would be!

For me a Mac symbolises that you want a computer that has style, elegance, reliability and, of course, OS X. You can't get that on a Dell As you say, a Dell is just a cheap generic computer. Where's the love?

 

[Sun Baked]

Well its hard to fight the cheapskates of the world ...

But in reality, you can probably get a better deal than the Dell at WalMart.

 

[codo]

Try using the reasons here.

I found this on the education part of the UK site. Click. Apple uploaded a page to help students persuade their parents to buy a Mac for their studies. Don't you love ‘em? (And it worked on mine when I started Uni! - Thanks Mum & Dad!).

 

[truz]

a dell is like buying a low class toyota over a high class lexus/mac. low class gets bad performance, low class parts, high class gets top performance, top class parts!

they both run, one runs better and longer then the other and does it in style

 

[xPismo]

a dell is like buying a low class toyota over a high class lexus/mac. low class gets bad performance, low class parts, high class gets top performance, top class parts!

they both run, one runs better and longer then the other and does it in style

Trust me, that wont win an arugument about how good a computer is.

 

[codo]

a dell is like buying a low class toyota over a high class lexus/mac. low class gets bad performance, low class parts, high class gets top performance, top class parts!

they both run, one runs better and longer then the other and does it in style

My Yaris is very funky, thank you

 

[Dr. Bombay]

Well. This kind of sucks. I did a speech the other day for class on why you should by a Mac. This guy picked a fight with me. I saw it coming, but yeah.

So he comes to class today, and says the E1505 can be had with just about the same specs as the MBP but right now for only $1100 as opposed to $2499. How does one refute that!?

I mean, I would buy the MBP. But how do you convince someone who loves Dell and things that are cheap into buying one?

I am having a tough time with this. When I buy an Apple computer, I usually look for a deal, like the used market or just do the Edu discount. But for someone who goes straight to the source and is incapable of finding deals, what incentive is there to buy a Mac in this Windows world.

Sorry, for going all over the place. I just really wish I had something to come back with. I mean, there is so much more that you get when you buy a MBP over a Dell, but these things don't seem to matter to someone who wants it cheap.

*Frustration*

You pretty much hit the nail on the head. It's tough to get people to understand the advantages of the Mac OS and that while it may be a little more expensive up front, it may make them more productive in the long run. A lot of people don't care about style and want just to pay as little money for a computer to meet their requirements. In this case, it is easy enough for cheaper Windows based machines to get the job done

 

[QCassidy352]

So he comes to class today, and says the E1505 can be had with just about the same specs as the MBP but right now for only $1100 as opposed to $2499. How does one refute that!?

I'm calling BS on the initial premise here. When the macbook (not pro) came out, there was a page 2 story here comparing the macbook to 4 laptops made by other PC manufactuers. The macbook had the best or close to best specs/dollar of any of them.

But now someone says that for the cost of a macbook, not pro, there's a laptop with the specs of the pro? I'd like to see this.

 

[bbrosemer]

Who wants to buy from a company that refers to a chip in a laptop to a Video Card not a processor.

 

[bbrosemer]

I'm calling BS on the initial premise here. When the macbook (not pro) came out, there was a page 2 story here comparing the macbook to 4 laptops made by other PC manufactuers. The macbook had the best or close to best specs/dollar of any of them.

But now someone says that for the cost of a macbook, not pro, there's a laptop with the specs of the pro? I'd like to see this.

It is cloes in config/ just go to dell and try it yourself you get an 80gb HD with the Dell for $1,085 however it is still windows.

 

[Dr. Bombay]

a dell is like buying a low class toyota over a high class lexus/mac. low class gets bad performance, low class parts, high class gets top performance, top class parts!

they both run, one runs better and longer then the other and does it in style

While I will not disagree with you on style(although given the way car styling is heading these days most new cars lack a certain timeless appeal), I disagree with you on the "longer". Neither the Lexus (nor the Mac) outlast the Toyota (or the Dell) just because they are "high" class. In this case, the Mac and the Dell have the same specs, so they would be compareable in terms of performance and parts. They only differ in their OS(luxury) and design(style). Choose your poison, but both will do the job well!

 

[Dane D.]

But how do you convince someone who loves Dell and things that are cheap into buying one?

You can't convince thick headed individuals, the best you can do is present the facts and let them speak for themshelves. I may be wrong, but PC users all respond with the same thing - "too expensive". Must be a disease they have. Well, when their PC goes down and I am still working, that is when you chime in with "Should of bought a Mac". I don't care what PC users think, they are the ones who waste their money on the that garbage. Face it there will always be Chevy buyers, but if you want quality then spend a little more and get a Lexus. My analogy for PC vs. Mac.

 

[codo]

Macophobes. They have no reason for disliking it, they just do.

I had more catty Macophobe comments at Uni than I did Homophobe - No lie. I laugh at them as I work on both PCs and Macs and they are both funky dory.

 

[milozauckerman]

a dell is like buying a low class toyota over a high class lexus/mac. low class gets bad performance, low class parts, high class gets top performance, top class parts!

Yes, the Toyota Camry is known for falling apart after 30,000 miles.

This argument gets just a little stupider every time I see it.

 

[Mord]

configured as close as can be and it cane to 1420, but it still misses a bunch of stuff such as the isight, OS X, oh and it's 2" thick and butt ugly, for 600 bucks more you can have the downright sexiest nicest laptop ever.


your choice.

 

[milozauckerman]

That one-inch is a real dealbreaker, isn't it?

 

[QCassidy352]

It is cloes in config/ just go to dell and try it yourself you get an 80gb HD with the Dell for $1,085 however it is still windows.

It came out to $1201 for me, but yeah, ok, close enough.

Yep, that's a pretty good deal, no doubt about it. But OS X and superior design are more than worth the difference IMO. You always pay for superior design - why should computers be any different?

edit: what I think is interesting is that the E line is not only a much better deal than apple's MBP, but also than other PC makers' laptops, and Dell's own XPS line. For example, I configured the XPS M1710 as closely as I could to the MBP 17", and the Dell came out to ~$3000 (you can quibble about exactly what should be included, but it's awfully close). The E line just seems to be a great deal compared to, well, everything else.

 

[Sesshi]

I can only say "try both". I have an Inspiron 9400 dual-core, which is very much like the MBP 17" in terms of overall spec.

There is a total different feeling of ownership between both machines. As I put before, the Dell with Windows feels like work even when I'm playing. the Apple with OSX feels like play even when I'm working. Aside from the obvious cosmetic differences, there's no better way I can put in to a nutshell the difference between the two machines. It's not about the difference in size, the weight, whether the Dell has a better graphics card for the money (I believe it has), etc. It's about the product as a whole - and as a result I use the MBP every day. The Dell collects dust, and will be passed to someone who's temping for me shortly.

 

[Artful Dodger]

configured as close as can be and it cane to 1420, but it still misses a bunch of stuff such as the isight, OS X, oh and it's 2" thick and butt ugly, for 600 bucks more you can have the downright sexiest nicest laptop ever.


your choice.

Just to add to a great post, can his run two OS? How about all the software such as iLife '06 or even a program/method to burn dvds without extra cost? The added FW over usb 2.0. Last the value, Macs hold better resale value and better value if stolen (at least that's what my Ins. Co. told me). Yeah there are some nice laptops out there, then you need to use them, that's where the trouble starts

 

[dpaanlka]

PC people can't seem to understand one thing; it costs a lot of money to pack their two inch plastic computer into our one inch aluminum case.

I brought my 17" PowerBook G4 into a Best Buy once cuz my friend worked there and we wanted to make fun of the PCs. My entire laptop was the same thickness as the LCD portion of a 17" Vaio.

 

[Josias]

Never argue with (PC) idiots! They will lower you to their level of intelligence, where they have more experience. Just tell him in a slightly sarcastic voice: "Right, the Dell is better, I'm gonna go get myself a Smell right away". Don't mind what computers your classmates have. After just seeing my Mac, two people in my grade switched. It'll come. They'll learn, and this guy's Dell will be butt raped anytime by a MBP, and even an MB in all aspects.

But, if you really wanna argue with the idiot, aniahlate him by comparing the Smell to the MB, You know what I mean... iLife, OS X, FrontRow, iSight, 2.0 GHz Core Duo... If he reacks down the GMA/950, tell him about the benchmarks showing, that the MB in gaming and graphics work had nearly as good performance as MBP, due to the smokin' fast processor.

 

[JBot]

i love that 75% of the comebacks to this illogical kids comment about macs, refers to the look of the case.

I want a big gang fight to happen, instead of west and east, the mac vs windows crew.

The mac gang will show up with body armour but no weapons. (symbolizing unix strength os, but no way to fix/defend itself if something happens.)

The windows crew will show up with layers among layers of body armor, but less strength than the macs body armor, swords, about 20% of them will be sick.

Fight till the death, jobs vs gates.
round 1!

 

[tbrinkma]

It's really a size/weight issue that accounts for the price difference. (That and Dell's periodic sell-at-cost-to-bring-in-new-business 'sales'.)

The other issue is that Dell buys the least expensive components they can get, regardless of whether it is the same part as they used in yesterday's build of the 'same' model computer. It's precisely that attitude in the WinPC world that makes reliability such a moving target. The build variations are a support nightmare. Ok, you've got a Model X1234 laptop. That means you've got either a model A, B, or Q mainboard, and one of these 4 LCD part numbers, and (you get the idea).

An example I ran into left me unable to replace a non-critical dead component on my old Toshiba laptop. The 'battery board', which also has the subwoofer connection failed about 3 years out of warranty. This means that it will not charge or runn off a battery at all any more, but it will still run plugged in as long as a battery is present. I ordered the spare part through Toshiba's part supplier, and got it in 3 days. Unfortunately, I discovered that the part, and the motherboard come in at least 2 varieties. Each comes with the connector for that part in a male and female version. The only part still available (anywhere) was the male version, as was my laptop's motherboard.

From what I've seen over the years with Apple systems, you don't get that sort of stupid design drift. Yes, components with be revised to fix issues, but they remain compatible for the life of the model, and Apple makes it pretty easy for you to figure out which model you've got.

 

[milozauckerman]

The quality argument would be better if the MBP and MB hadn't been rife with product failures and lesser problems.

PC people can't seem to understand one thing; it costs a lot of money to pack their two inch plastic computer into our one inch aluminum case.

So if Apple would just make it a two-inch aluminum case I could save a few hundred bucks AND have a computer less likely to overheat?

Why do the design arguments here always come from people who don't grasp that function and price are 50% of 'design'? It ain't just form, people. The prettiest little laptop on Earth is just sculpture if it don't work right.