Price of MBP

First of all, I agree that the Macbook Pro is an awesome machine.

However it is a bit expensive...

my question is: What are the reasons for the MBP being so expensive compared to an iMac?

I will compare the specs of the current best MBP and iMac

iMac 24"

* 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme
* 2GB memory
* 500GB hard drive1
* 8x double-layer SuperDrive
* ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB memory

$2299 (US)

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Macbook Pro 17"

* 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 1680 x 1050 pixels
* 2GB memory
* 160GB hard drive1
* 8x double-layer SuperDrive
* NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 256MB SDRAM

$2799 (US)

The iMac has a larger screen, MUCH more hard drive space, more GHz, Core 2 Extreme, and more usb ports and other ports.. I'm not sure which graphics card is better so you guys can tell me.

The iMac seems freat, nayve even better than the MBP, yet it is $500 cheaper than the MBP!

Could you guys tell me (in detail) the reasons for these.....

Well for one the Macbook Pro is a laptop and the iMac is a desktop! That difference should be enough! Its a 1 inch thin notebook packed to the brim with performance you won't find anywhere else. While these might not justify the price difference, it also has an illuminated keyboard, motion sensors, higher pixel density and such.

If you need just a desktop, that is, a fast machine to work on, then the iMac is perfect. It has a large screen and large HDD and whatnot. But if you need to carry that desktop performance onsite, or around the place, then the macbook pro is unbeatable.

The 17" MBP ((the upgraded one) has the same resolution as the 24" iMac

i guess so...

i dont like the 17". it is too big for me...

what about the graphics card, do u know which is better?

I've compared the MBP with similarly specced Dell and AlienWare laptops.

The Dell was £300 cheaper, but I couldn't get it up to the same spec, and the AlienWare was £300 more expensive, but had a better graphics card.

I think just looking at specs the MBP is at the right price point, but the whole thing about the "Mac experience" is that you have to go beyond numbers. The MBP is thinner and lighter than the others, is made of aluminium, has an illuminated keyboard and ambient light sensors, slot-load optical drive, digital/optical audio in and out, built in webcam, runs OS X etc etc...

^^ He's comparing a mac to a mac.

As for the graphics card, the Macbook Pro scores in that department. The ATi is not as powerful as the 8600GT...

The MBP can be used to drive a 30" monitor via dual link DVI. The iMac supports only a 24" monitor as a second display...

thanks for the info guys