please help me decide

I am about to purchase my first laptop. I currently have a dell desktop. I am looking at these two laptops and am wondering if you could advise as to what you believe to be the better value. Maybe it is silly of me to ask here since this is a MAC forum. I guess it will be a biased opinion. Other wise maybe someone could kindly direct me to an unbiased site where I may submit my question. Thank you very much. Below are the two laptops I am looking into.


Refurbished MacBook Pro -$1699.00

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
15.4-inch widescreen display
2GB memory
120GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 128MB of GDDR3 memory
Built-in iSight Camera Learn more




- 85W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug, and power cord
- Lithium-polymer battery
- Apple Remote
- DVI to VGA adapter
- Install/restore DVDs
- Printed and electronic documentation


Software

Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard
The world's most advanced operating system offers hundreds of breakthrough innovations and applications, including:


- Cover Flow
- Quick Look
- Stacks
- Time Machine
- Mail
- iChat
- Safari
- Spaces

More software
In addition, MacBook Pro comes with an incredible bundle of software:


- iLife '08
- Front Row
- Photo Booth
- OmniOutliner
- iWork '08 30-day trial
- Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 30-day Test Drive
- Aperture Trial
- FileMaker Pro 30-day trial


XPS M1530 (PRODUCT) RED -$1643.00
Date & Time: February 12,2008 7:42 AM CST

SYSTEM COMPONENTS
XPS M1530 (PRODUCT) RED Qty 1
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 (2MB cache/2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB), Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED Unit Price $1,643.00
Required for Blu-ray drive
Expires Saturday, August 23, 2008


Catalog Number: 29 DYCWHR1
Module Description Show Details
Bases XPS M1530 (product) RED Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 (2MB cache/2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB)
Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED
System Color (PRODUCT) RED
Memory 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
LCD & Camera High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4inch LCD (1440x900) & 2.0 MP
Video Card 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GS
Hard Drive Size: 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Software - Adobe Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1
Optical Drive Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
Sound Card Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition
Wireless Network Card Dell Wireless 1490 802.11a/g Mini Card
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 - Word, Excel + PowerPoint
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-Installed) Trend Micro Internet Security 15-months
Primary Battery 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Hardware Support Services 1Yr In-Home Service, Parts Labor,24x7 Phone Support
CompleteCare Accidental Damage Service 1Yr LoJack for Laptops Theft Protection (CD Shipped Separately)
Dial up Internet Access No ISP requested
Digital Media Edting Software Adobe Photoshop Elements + Adobe Premiere Elements
Bluetooth and Wireless USB Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0+Enhanced Data Rate)
Environmental Options Free Recycling Kit
Processor Branding Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
Labels Windows Vista™ Premium
Datasafe Included 10GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Year

Well for starts the MacBook Pro has a better cpu, graphics card and wifi card, on and of course the OS Specs wise they are close.

As for build quality I was alo tempted to buy a XPS before I bought my new MacBook Pro this weekend, but I have used a XPS and the build quality is very cheap (not bad compared to other PC laptops) as for the MacBook Pro the build quality is amazing, You really need to touch and try both to know what I mean, overall the MacBook Pro is much better designed.

thank you for your help, but price wise one is brand new and the other is refurbished, do you think that matters much? the refurbished costs more too. but I am definitely leaning towards the mac, I hate to make the wrong choice because this is alot of cash for me.

kissesmom said:

thank you for your help, but price wise one is brand new and the other is refurbished, do you think that matters much? the refurbished costs more too. but I am definitely leaning towards the mac, I hate to make the wrong choice because this is alot of cash for me.

Click to expand...

I was also considering getting a refurb but found a good deal here in Canada as BestBuy was matching US prices and given a refurb was only 150$ cheaper here didn't make much sense.

I know a lot of people on this forum have refurb and apparently you cant tell the difference.

Maybe someone else can chime in that has a refurb and give you more info.

Putting aside the hardware and prices, why are you considering a Mac, and therefore using OS X?

Macs run Windows, but it's pretty pointless buyng one if you're going to seldom use the computer's best feature.

Have a look at the Apple pages and really look at what OS X is about. Does it excite you?

If you think it all looks quite nice, but aren't really grabbed by it, it would be more sensible to save some money and buy a PC laptop.

Alexis said:

Putting aside the hardware and prices, why are you considering a Mac, and therefore using OS X?

Macs run Windows, but it's pretty pointless buyng one if you're going to seldom use the computer's best feature.

Have a look at the Apple pages and really look at what OS X is about. Does it excite you?

If you think it all looks quite nice, but aren't really grabbed by it, it would be more sensible to save some money and buy a PC laptop.

Click to expand...

More so I would have to say try OS X out and read up on limitation of switching to it, Ie having to buy Parralles or a copy of XP or Vista to put on a Bootcamp partition so you can run Windows apps that you need.

considering a mac for a few reasons, one is that I like the fact that it is more virus free than pc, also like the fact that it seems more well designed and long lasting. Also heard there are not as many operational issues as compared to pc. the other reason is that i have heard that macs are the best!

I am unable to try one out as there is no apple store nearby me.

kissesmom said:

considering a mac for a few reasons, one is that I like the fact that it is more virus free than pc, also like the fact that it seems more well designed and long lasting. Also heard there are not as many operational issues as compared to pc. the other reason is that i have heard that macs are the best!

I am unable to try one out as there is no apple store nearby me.

Click to expand...

Well coming from someone who works on and fixes PCs all day long, The above statements are correct. The only thing I would be concerned with in your case is making sure you can find all the apps you need for OS X or can afford to at least get a copy of XP or Vista to install on your new Mac using Bootcamp.

thanks, I have a copy of xp. how much does bootcamp cost and where do I get it? also can you help me decide between glossy or matte display? Thanks.

kissesmom said:

thanks, I have a copy of xp. how much does bootcamp cost and where do I get it? also can you help me decide between glossy or matte display? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Bootcamp is included at no cost in Leopard, I had a glossy display on my MacBook (only option) ended up with a matte on my MBP and don't miss the Glossy at all I find the colours aren't over saturated like they were with the Glossy display and its easier to read in various lighting conditions.

thanks Noxian very much. I have yet another question. Now if I install windows on my mbp, will I then be prone to viruses? Probably a silly question but I am ignorant of these things.

kissesmom said:

thanks Noxian very much. I have yet another question. Now if I install windows on my mbp, will I then be prone to viruses? Probably a silly question but I am ignorant of these things.

Click to expand...

You will yes be prone to virus when booted into Windows, You can install AVG Free and that should cover your while you are in Windows, However if you were to get a virus in Windows it wont affect OS X as Windows can not write back to the OS X partition unless you purchase and install MacDrive.

thank you!

Dell is ****

Dell is HE%#!!!! (rhymes with Dell



Okay, it has been a few days and after posting here I decided to look into a refurbished Dell XPS M1530. I placed and order and then realized it had one of the crappy displays so I canceled it the same day.

I used my debit card and now my funds have been tied up. They have a hold on my money.

The thing is I really did not even physically cancel the order. I emailed them to ask if it could be changed because I knew I would be unhappy with the display. They took that as I wanted it automatically canceled and went ahead and did it without my knowledge and then emailed me to tell me they did it.

Meanwhile I had ordered some add ons: Norton AV, 30 day oncall phone service and an extra HD for storage. Of course he cancels my system but not the other parts which are now on their way. I realize I can return them but let me tell you this has been a total nightmare. I spent the morning on the phone with Dell, spoke to 6 agents who gave me six different stories.


I KNEW I should have went with the refurb macbook pro, even if I do have to relearn an os, Jeesh, and then after the fact I hear how the M1530s come with a grainy/crappy samsung machine (well some don't) but apparently it is the luck of the draw on which one you will get even for a brand new system. Dell is just awful. Thanks for letting me vent. When my funds are released I will go ahead with the refurb Macbook Pro. I have a question though, they have one on their site now that is $1,499 and the one that is still in my cart was $1,699, the cheaper one has a 2.1 cpu vs 2.2 and also a different video card which I am guessing why it is cheaper. Do you think it will be a huge difference should I just stick with the higher priced one? I would really like to save a few bucks but since these cannot really be upgraded I don't want something slow or outdated either.