Mac vs. Windows Laptops

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.