Apple's MacBook Pros Catch Up with Core i CPUs

[eccentric909]

My girlfriend's Macbook Pro with the GeForce 9400m is one of the loudest laptops I've ever heard. It sounds like a freaking jet engine. You'd also figure that with the jet engine fans inside, that it'd stay decently cool/warm, but no, the thing gets so hot it could almost burn you.

You wouldn't think a game like Farmville would cause the computer to get hot enough to spin those fans at full RPM, but I'd be a liar if I said it didn't.

She is on her second one as well, considering the first one pretty much died thanks to the terrible GeForce 8400m it originally had. Well that and the display decided to have dead pixels as if they were going out of style.

Pretty sad for a laptop she uses a few times a month at most. Prefers her desktop PC any day of the week, if she's not on the go.

 

[tommysch]

[citation][nom]jonpaul37[/nom]not that i am a fan of Dell's but Apple is the devil![/citation]

The devil isnt as greedy.

 

[tommysch]

[citation][nom]del35[/nom]Ummm, that is what happens if you use a widely used operating system. To avoid this sort of stuff, intelligent people opt to dual boot to an alternative operating system like Ubuntu. Buying an Apple to avoid this, is like grabbing on to toilet paper hoping you will survive a shipwreck at sea while getting robbed at the same time...[/citation]

People that have advanced computer skills only read about those problems or fix them at their workplace.

The last virus that infected one of my personal system came on a 3.5inch floppy in 1994. It was bundled with a Wolfenstein 3D that a noobish friend gave me.

Seriously who get viruses for real?

If you got infected, blame yourself not MS.

 

[esupan]

Not 1 HDD above 5400 RPMs

 

[Guest]

If you find a Dell equally configured to the 17" MBP, it will cost just as much. Keep in mind, there are many specs people claiming Dells are cheaper ignore:
- Battery Life
- Weight
- Usefulness of included software (iLife is far superior to Dell)

Just matching CPU and GPU performance does not put a Dell on the same plateau.

 

[cap0008]

Would someone PLEASE post a link to the "comparable" Dell or HP?
IIRC, the new Macpros have the 2.53/2.66 i5/i7(920?), which are quite a bit faster than the 1.6 that Dell/HP/Toshiba are still hawking, not to mention very hi-res screens with SSD HDs optional.
Closest I could find was a Sony with hi-res screen and 330M but 1.6 i7(720QM) for ~1300.

 

[onekill]

Yesterday I put Alienwares pricing against Apples. There both a real computer company (people backing HP and Dell (yes, I know Alienware is owned by Dell, but there manufacturing isnt the same) need to learn about quality products) the Alienware 15 vs the Macbook Pro 15. $1919 for the Alienware with the closest specs possible and the Macbook Pro being $2350 (with the 7200RPM drive upgrade). The mac has a better res screen, better graphics card, almost an inch thinner, 3x better batterylife, and knowing IF it breaks, i have the HIGHEST rated customer support. I'm not an apple fanboy, but they make top tier products at competitive pricing (most of the time) there 17 inch is a bit overpriced still and there 13 is also overpriced some. But no longer is it as bad.

 

[dsaver]

You can make a Alienware cost About $1000 less than the MBP, and faster.

 

[akula2]

Whoever doesn't like Apple that's fine. No one is putting a knife on your neck to do that. People like me are very happy with Apple products but I do agree that they come with little price tag which is very much worth like any budget car vs a high end one. So, no point in comparing Apple vs other laptops which is a dumb logic

 

[Hilarion]

Apple Almighty still producing crapple and wanting too much money for it.

 

[cap0008]

15" HD choices:
# 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
# 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm [Add $50.00]
# 128GB Solid State Drive [Add $200.00]
# 256GB Solid State Drive [Add $650.00]
# 512GB Solid State Drive [Add $1,300.00]

 

[Glorian]

You can argue price of equally equipped laptops all you want, but Apple oesn't provide a low price configuration. People outside of Tom's don't need i7s or even i5s, some of these people want big screens, especially older people. But apple's cheapest 17" option is 2300 bucks, while i can buy a dell/hp for 600.

and yes go to Alienware and you can make their 17" have the exact same specs as the mac 17" except you actually have dedicated graphics and a bluray and its still cheaper.

 

[cap0008]

[citation][nom]esupan[/nom]Not 1 HDD above 5400 RPMs[/citation]
15" HD choices:
# 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
# 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm [Add $50.00]
# 128GB Solid State Drive [Add $200.00]
# 256GB Solid State Drive [Add $650.00]
# 512GB Solid State Drive [Add $1,300.00]

?

 

[douglaskuntz]

Erm... @Glorian... the 17" MBP has dedicated graphics...
* integrated Intel HD Graphics + NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M discrete graphics with 512MB of VRAM;

That means it has the Intel onboard video, and also the GF GT330M.. and it switches between the two as needed...

 

[bejabbers]

They're only putting dual core i7's in!

These are the i7 chips they're using http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43560

Everyone else uses these in the least: http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43122

so, umm, congrats to apple for finally getting i7's, too bad they're not the quad core chips that everyone else has.

 

[falchard]

Exactly what are they catching up to? ASUS and MSI have had more powerful laptops on the market for 2~4 months at the same price points.

 

[yyk71200]

You can easily download Linux and dual boot it with windows. Being even smaller target for hackers, it is just as safe as OSx, if not safer.

There are many commercial programs for audio, video, and graphics for windows. There are also free choices.

Mac remains a luxury, and expensive symbol that is meant for prestige. There are a few similar symbols in pc world such as Falcon-NW.

 

[Guest]

Shame on Apple for not including a USB 3.0 port, or at least an eSATA port. Filling a 1TB external drive and even a 64GB iPod over USB will be a slow process. Time to offer a silica optical fiber port!

 

[frostyfireball]

[citation][nom]akula2[/nom]Whoever doesn't like Apple that's fine. No one is putting a knife on your neck to do that. People like me are very happy with Apple products but I do agree that they come with little price tag which is very much worth like any budget car vs a high end one. So, no point in comparing Apple vs other laptops which is a dumb logic[/citation]
Bad comparison there.

Comparing an Apple against a Dell or Asus with the same specs is the same as comparing a nice Porsche against an identical Porsche that has gold plating on it and different seats. The gold plating on the latter Porsche may be flashy but it costs WAY to much while not adding any performance increase at all, though some people find the seats far more comfortable so they can justify the extra cost.
Some people like having the biggest Dick around so they will pay the 40% markup the gold costs thinking it makes them far superior, even if the huge cost and different seats hurt their backs and make them broke. The same thing goes for the Mac fanboys and their computers.

If you use the Mac platform for some applications you need or you prefer the interface or something and can justify the added cost, Awesome. But if you use em because it makes you feel infinitely superior then the majority of people that use some other OS/hardware combo, your plain dumb and should grow up and leave your parents basement.