daydok

never been a mac user before, but since my company gave me a macbook pro, i've been running parallels in coherence mode (vista and osx seamlessly).
i'm never going back.

Heelsonwheels

Thanks for the suggestions. I have always used a pc, but it sounds like I have to go check out a
Mac pro. It has to be able to run my business software. I was gonna go check out Dell's line which doesn't sound very popular.

Russ1974

Dell make great laptops. I've used them for many years. A couple of years ago they took a bit of a dive in quality but these days they are superb. The good think is that there is so much choice depending on what you want. You can sit on the online configurator for hours tweaking it until you've got what you want, then just click "buy" and purchase it online.

I'm not against Mac's, I've just never used them and never had a need to use them. There is no point having a Mac OS / Vista / XP argument - go on to Google and you'll find thousands of websites where the pros and cons are all listed, only you know which you would prefer to have. Being able to install Vista on a Mac means that you aren't restricted to a PC for hardware, but I can't say I'm convinced that if I were going to get a Vista machine (which I'm not, I'm sticking with XP for atleast another 6 months until vista is more stable!) I would consider a Mac - it would be another Dell for me.

Ultimately if all you are doing is running business software and the occasional game, without sounding flippant, it really doesn't matter at all what machine you get. Any brand new machine would cope without problem at all. Unless you are a bit of a computer geek or have some specific requirements in mind, just buy anything, the budget will mean you get something decent, and it'll do the job fine.

KnIgHtCoM

LOL! I'd tend to agree with Bruce on this one, but you really can't go wrong with anything in the $1000-1500 price range. Todays computers are plenty fast for your office oriented applications. If all you plan on using your notebook for is to check e-mail and the occasional presentation, you're probably gonna find a cheaper deal on a Windows machine. But if you use any design/graphics/video editing applications, stepping over into the Apple camp may be beneficial to your productivity and still give you the ability to run Windows.

If it were up to me, I'd get a Macbook Pro and run Windows XP with parallels. Vista sucks!

bruce_miranda

Ok lets look at it another way. Can anyone find a computer out there available new today that won't do Office applications, Email and Internet. The answer is NO. So get anything would be a good answer.

Now if Heelsonwheels had phrased the question "What BRAND of computers do people prefer? Why?" That's worth talking about.

swajames

As the link in my post above showed, the fastest Vista laptop tested by PC World... was a Mac

swajames

Apple's latest online ad campaign...


Pretty cool idea to use the top banner as part of the ad, and note how it appears on a PC Magazine online review of a competitor

Heelsonwheels

Not a comp geek(obviously) always used Dell with decent succes; I give presentations and lecture;
and would just like to be portable sometime.
Thanks for the input.

BetterMakeWay

Well...i'm yet a windows person. And it's sad. But i'm in the process of traveling to linux (suse distro more precise). I tried SUSE 10.3 already on my notebook (sony vaio sz4) but i quickly moved back to vista for a few good reasons: i wasn't yet familiarised with linux, i had some issues with my notebook wifi adapter from D-LINK and because dlink doesn't yet offer linux drivers i had to work with madwifi but couldn't get it working and since i use my laptop 80% of the time i said ok back to windows at least untill i get more exprienced with suse. No biggie i'm running suse 10.3 on my server but that's another story.

In parallel i was reading all your mac comments and i must say i'm quite curious what's Mac OSX all about. From my understanding that's just another derivative of unix (by Apple) and i would certainly like to test one macbook pro for a few days to see what's what. But i can't afford to actually buy one and then see if i like it or not. In essence while i was reading a macbook pro spec sheet i found to be almost the same as any other notebook on the market the main diference being made by software and of course by other small touch-ups made by the company. In fact i think all notebooks on the market can run OSx. Correct me if i'm wrong. On the other sde i've seen way better looking notebooks with greater build quality and wih better hardware in it. For example (not because i own this but i find sony vaio to use the best materials in making their notebooks at very good hardware options. On the other hand there are a few Dell out there that don't look that good and weigh much more but they can already be equipped with the latest technology brakethroughs like intel core 2 duo extreme or nvidia 8800GT graphics.

So in my limited conclusion i say this. I don't yet see with what an apple stands out (except the white color and the software on which i can't really comment since i didn't experience it and i let others do the talking). Cuz if i'm right you can get a monster of a laptop from dell and run OSx and that's that.
But i must admit that i'm at the core a SONY VAIO fan since i like their notebooks overall. When i look at a laptop i look for many more things (and i strongly suggest others to do the same) like: hardware performance, design, lightweight, lcd quality, battery life and last but not least how the keybard is designed and how it feels (as in key travel, key materials etc). So for me now there's no better notebook out there than the SZ line from sony vaio. Why?

Well because no other laptop can beat the mixture of performance, looks, feel, reliablity etc

And here's what the new SZ-6 is all about:

Architecture
Platform Intel? Centrino? Duo processor Technology
Chipset Mobile Intel? 965GM Express Chipset

CPU Section
Microprocessor Full Name Intel? Core? 2 Duo Processor T7700, Supports Enhanced Intel? SpeedStep? Technology
Microprocessor Manufacturer Intel?
Microprocessor Speed (GHz) 2.4
L2 Cache (K 4096
Frontside Bus (MHz) 800
Number of Cores 2

Memory
Memory Speed (MHz) 667
Memory Type DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024M
Max. Memory (M 2048
Memory Size (M 2048

Drives
Optical Drive Type DVD+-RW/+-R DL/RAM
Hard Drive Capacity (G 200
Hard Drive Speed (rpm) 4200
Optical Drive Fitting Built-in
Hard Drive Type Serial ATA
Drives Speed
Write CD-R x24, CD-RW x16, DVD-R x8, DVD-RW x6, DVD+R DL x4, DVD+R x8, DVD+RW x8, DVD-RAM x5
Read CD x24, CD-R x24, CD-RW x24, DVD x8, DVD-R DL x6, DVD-R x8, DVD-RW x8, DVD+R DL x6, DVD+R x8, DVD+RW x8, DVD-RAM x5

Display
Display Type X-black LCD with LED technology
Diagonal Size (in) 13.3
Resolution Format 1280 x 800
Resolution Type WXGA
Graphics
Graphic Card Full Name NVIDIA? GeForce? 8400M GS GPU
Producer NVIDIA?
Comments Total Available Graphics Memory of 831MB (Speed mode)

Interfaces
4 Pin i.LINK? (IEEE1394), 400 Mbps 1
DC in 1
Docking Station Interface 1
Memory Stick? Slot 1
Memory Stick? Slot Type Memory Stick? Duo, Memory Stick? PRO Duo, high speed data transfer and MagicGate compatible
Microphone Jack 1
RJ-11 Direct Port (Modem) 1
RJ-45 Direct Port (Network) 1
USB Speed High/Full/Low
USB Port (quantity) 2
USB Version 2.0
USB Connector Type A
VGA Connector for Monitor 1
PCMCIA Card Type I or II 1
Multi-card Reader 1 (supplied external, compatible with Memory Stick? Standard Size, Memory Stick? PRO, high speed data transfer and MagicGate compatible, MultiMedia Card (MMC) , SD Card, xD Card)
Audio out 1
Express Card Slot Type 34mm
Audio out Type(s) Stereo Headphones/Speakers jack
Express Card Slot 1

Connectivity
Built-in WWAN HSDPA 3.6Mbps with Rx Diversity
Built-in Modem V92/V.90
Integrated Wireless LAN YES
Wireless LAN Max. Date Rate (Mbps) 54
Wireless LAN Range (m) max. 100
Integrated Bluetooth (Version) 2.0 + EDR
Bluetooth Range (m) 10
Wireless LAN Type 802.11a/b/g (here it would be way better to also support "n")
Ethernet network 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T
Multimedia
Intel? High Definition Audio compatible YES
3D Surround YES
Built-in Stereo Speakers YES
Windows? Sound System Compatible YES
Sound Reality YES
Built-in Camera
Built-in 'Motion Eye' Digital Camera YES
Frames per Second 30
Image Sensor (Mega Pixels) 0.3
Motion Picture Function YES
Motion Pictures max. Resolution (pixels) VGA (640x480)
Keyboard Section
Touch Pad 1

Features
Special Buttons Power button, Wireless switch, Short-cut Keys (S1 & S2), Stamina Mode switch
Security Platform Infineon Trusted Platform Module (TPM)
Security Features TCG Ver.1.2 compliant Trusted Platform Module (TPM), Finger Print Recognition
Auto Resolution Plug and Display
Kensigton Lock YES
HDD Shock Protection G-Sensor HDD Shock Protection
Built-in Microphone YES

Dimensions
Depth Main Unit (mm) 234.3
Height Main Unit(min - max in mm) 21.8 - 33.0
Width Main Unit (mm) 315
Weight with Supplied Battery and Supplied Drive (kg) 1.79

Battery
Battery Type Lithium-Ion battery (VGP-BPS10)
Battery Life - Graphics mode 225
Battery Life - Stamina mode 310
Battery Charging Time 270
Battery Life Disclaimer Actual battery life will vary depending on your specific hardware and software configurations. Benchmark: MobileMark 2007

Having said that, with no real reason to put Apple down i simply can't see something better from them. From Dell as i said there are a few notebooks that eclipse anything compeating with tweaked Alienware but they are very bulky, plasticky, and ehavy (around 5kgs) no where near the high class carbon fiber chassis of the vaio sz. 1.7 Kgs is a feather...Just perfect.

nickolas_g

I owned a PowerBook 17" loved the size. Not really that practical on portability. Perfect in the new version at 15"