Things have been a bit busy lately which is why the laptop pricing comparison has taken so long. But I’m here with the results of building up two similar laptops. If you’ve been following my comparisons, you would probably think that I’m an Apple Fanboy (fanboi?). One would be wrong. Why? Well I still have my Dell Inspiron laptop and it’s still a better deal than a Macbook. Let’s look at the breakdown:
Macbook Pro 15″ – $2049
- Intel Core 2 Duo (2.4GHz)
- 2GB RAM (667MHz)
- 250GB SATA HDD (5400RPM)
- 8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
- NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (256MB)
- 802.11 a/b/g/n
- Ethernet 10/100/1000
- 60 WHr Lithium-Polymer Battery
- Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
- Multi-touch Mouse Pad
- iLife ’08
- Backlit Keyboard
- iSight Camera
Dell XPS M1530 – $1512
- Intel Core 2 Duo (2.4GHz)
- 2GB RAM (667MHz)
- 250GB SATA HDD (5400RPM)
- Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
- NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (256MB)
- 802.11 a/b/g/n
- Ethernet 10/100/1000
- 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
- Bluetooth 2.0 EDR
- Fingerprint Reader
- Adobe Photoshop Elements + Adobe Premiere Elements
- Webcam
So with the exception of GarageBand, multi-touch mouse, and a backlit keyboard, you get everything a Macbook has to offer in a $500 cheaper package from Dell. If any of those particular things are important to you, it might be worth the extra cash…but personally I’d rather have that money to spend on anime and sushi.
By the way, it is worth noting that this may become an obsolete comparison fairly soon. Dell announced ending their XPS line of computers to let the AlienWare division handle the design/manufacture/selling of gaming systems. I have not yet seen if this applies only to desktops or if it is the entire XPS line. I’ll drop an update in when I get some more information. But hey, either way the Dell is cheaper than the Apple when it comes to the portable systems. Go figure.