Do you still pay a premium for Apple's laptops? Not always, as I found when comparing Windows and Apple models.
James A. Martin
Jul 9, 2008
A few weeks ago, I bought my first Apple laptop, the MacBook Air. I've never loved a laptop more. The skinny profile, the ease of carrying it around, the full-sized keyboard and screen, the slick Mac OS X Leopard operating system, the...
Okay, enough of that. I'm not interested in writing another "Macs are great, Windows computers are dog meat" religious conversion story. I've been using both Macs and Windows PCs for years. Each has its pros and cons.
Instead, I'm interested in addressing the lingering concern about Macs: They're more expensive than comparable Windows machines.
So I decided to see if this concern is valid. I didn't perform an exhaustive, detailed survey. Rather, I compared the specs and prices of three current Apple laptops--the MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro--against their likely Windows laptop competitors. (Keep in mind computer prices and specs change often. Prices and specs mentioned in this article were accurate as of 6/20/08.) Here's what I found.
MacBook vs. Dell XPS M1330
The MacBook is Apple's most mainstream laptop, and Dell's XPS M1330 seems to be a reasonable counterpart. Both have 13.3-inch displays and built-in Webcams, and are aimed at general-purpose users who like multimedia features.
I configured online a MacBook and Dell XPS M1330 with specs as closely matched as possible. Both had 2GB of memory, a 160GB hard drive running at 5400 rpm, a 2.4-GHz Intel Core Duo 2 processor, Intel integrated graphics media accelerator (X3100), and Bluetooth 2.0. I chose the Dell 56Whr battery option (an extra $79), which is comparable to the MacBook's standard 55Whr battery. I also added the $99 optional bundle of Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements to the Dell laptop. The MacBook ships with Apple's iPhoto and iMovie applications, part of its iLife suite, at no extra cost.
The bottom line: The Dell laptop that I configured cost $1308. The MacBook was $1299.
Worth noting: When I upgraded the hard drive in both computers to 250GB, the Dell laptop cost $1358 and the MacBook, $1399, tipping the balance slightly in Dell's favor. Also, Dell offers more configuration options than does Apple.
Price advantage: Apple, by a hair.
Read more at pcworld.com.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Going thin on Road Trip 2008 with the MacBook Air
Posted by Daniel Terdiman
SAN FRANCISCO--After working on an Apple MacBook Air for the last month while on Road Trip 2008, it was a real shock when I returned home and picked up my regular work MacBook Pro for the first time.
Compared to the Air, which I'd really gotten used to as I drove around the South, the Pro was really heavy. Shockingly so. And thinking back over the countless hours I spent with the Air in my backpack on my back as I visited endless places, I'm eternally grateful for all that weight I didn't have to carry.
And there can be no doubt that the thinness and the very light weight of the MacBook Air are its major selling points. That and its very bright, very clear LED screen. Several times during my trip, people came up to me to say how amazed they were by how bright the screen on the Air was, even in direct sunlight.
I also heard plenty of people saying to each other as they walked by me in one place or another things like, "Wow, look how thin that is," or "Hey, look, it's that new super thin Mac."
So having spent a great deal of time over the last month using this loaner machine--I'm writing this on the Air--I can say that, on the whole, I really enjoyed it.
As I mentioned, the weight--or lack of it, really--was a seriously wonderful thing, especially since I was always carrying the computer in a backpack full of camera gear, notebooks, magazines, and other things. In that regard, this is definitely the most impressive computer I've seen in a very long time.
Of course, it's a fully functional Mac, so that means it's a much better computer than just about any PC I can imagine. Sorry, folks, but that's just the truth.
I found it to be fast, for the most part, easy to use, great to look at, and generally a touch simpler to use on a day-by-day basis than my MacBook Pro.
It seemed to recognize Wi-Fi networks more quickly than other computers, and to shut down faster, as well. As I said above, its LED screen was consistently brilliant, no matter how much light was shining on it. This is a big improvement over what I've used before.
I did have a few issues with the Air, some which will surprise no one, and another which I think caught even Apple off guard.
Read more at cnet.com.
SAN FRANCISCO--After working on an Apple MacBook Air for the last month while on Road Trip 2008, it was a real shock when I returned home and picked up my regular work MacBook Pro for the first time.
Compared to the Air, which I'd really gotten used to as I drove around the South, the Pro was really heavy. Shockingly so. And thinking back over the countless hours I spent with the Air in my backpack on my back as I visited endless places, I'm eternally grateful for all that weight I didn't have to carry.
And there can be no doubt that the thinness and the very light weight of the MacBook Air are its major selling points. That and its very bright, very clear LED screen. Several times during my trip, people came up to me to say how amazed they were by how bright the screen on the Air was, even in direct sunlight.
I also heard plenty of people saying to each other as they walked by me in one place or another things like, "Wow, look how thin that is," or "Hey, look, it's that new super thin Mac."
So having spent a great deal of time over the last month using this loaner machine--I'm writing this on the Air--I can say that, on the whole, I really enjoyed it.
As I mentioned, the weight--or lack of it, really--was a seriously wonderful thing, especially since I was always carrying the computer in a backpack full of camera gear, notebooks, magazines, and other things. In that regard, this is definitely the most impressive computer I've seen in a very long time.
Of course, it's a fully functional Mac, so that means it's a much better computer than just about any PC I can imagine. Sorry, folks, but that's just the truth.
I found it to be fast, for the most part, easy to use, great to look at, and generally a touch simpler to use on a day-by-day basis than my MacBook Pro.
It seemed to recognize Wi-Fi networks more quickly than other computers, and to shut down faster, as well. As I said above, its LED screen was consistently brilliant, no matter how much light was shining on it. This is a big improvement over what I've used before.
I did have a few issues with the Air, some which will surprise no one, and another which I think caught even Apple off guard.
Read more at cnet.com.
Are Mac users buying the remaining copies of Windows XP?
Posted by Michael Horowitz
Six hours ago Ina Fried wrote that Windows XP is a hot item at Amazon.com. The full version of XP Home was number 15 on the software hit parade and the full version of XP Professional was number 21. Amazon updates the list hourly. As I write this, XP Professional is up to number 14, though XP Home slipped down to 16.
There are many ways to slice and dice Windows XP, but I'm going to focus on three "families" - full (expensive), upgrade and OEM (cheap).
The two best selling versions at Amazon are from the "full" family. Full versions of XP can be installed on a virgin computer, or more likely, a virgin virtual machine. My guess is that Mac users are gobbling up the full editions of XP to run in virtual machines alongside OS X. I say this because Mac OS X Leopard is number 7 on the list, VMware Fusion is number 5 and Parallels Desktop is number 17. Fusion and Parallels both provide virtual machines for OS X.
I also think this because the more expensive full versions of XP are outselling the cheaper upgrade versions.
Note: This is a great article.
Read the rest at cnet.
Six hours ago Ina Fried wrote that Windows XP is a hot item at Amazon.com. The full version of XP Home was number 15 on the software hit parade and the full version of XP Professional was number 21. Amazon updates the list hourly. As I write this, XP Professional is up to number 14, though XP Home slipped down to 16.
There are many ways to slice and dice Windows XP, but I'm going to focus on three "families" - full (expensive), upgrade and OEM (cheap).
The two best selling versions at Amazon are from the "full" family. Full versions of XP can be installed on a virgin computer, or more likely, a virgin virtual machine. My guess is that Mac users are gobbling up the full editions of XP to run in virtual machines alongside OS X. I say this because Mac OS X Leopard is number 7 on the list, VMware Fusion is number 5 and Parallels Desktop is number 17. Fusion and Parallels both provide virtual machines for OS X.
I also think this because the more expensive full versions of XP are outselling the cheaper upgrade versions.
Note: This is a great article.
Read the rest at cnet.
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