[Swordmaker]

I’ve been pricing a 15” model. Why is it so much more than my Fujitsu?

Well, for one thing, there is only one i7 Fujitsu notebook that I can find on Fujitsu's website.

That is the Fujitsu LifeBook® E780, but it is a DUAL core processor notebook only, that has only a 4MB cache. The Apple MacBook Pro 15 comes STANDARD with a i7 QUAD core processor with a 6MB cache. The Fujitsu notebook cannot be configured with a Quad core processor... so we are prevented from upgrading it for a true comparison... but we can proceed for other things.

• Fujitsu LifeBook® E780 i5-520M Processor (2.4 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.93 GHz, 2GB RAM, 320GB HD, Base Price — $1179.00
  
• Upgrade the processor to i7 Intel® Dual CoreTM i7-640M Processor (2.8 GHz, 4 MB L3 cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.47 GHz. ADD — $ 170.00
  
• Memory on the Mac is 4GB of 1333MHz DDR3 RAM, so we have to add 2GB of 1066MHz DDR3 RAM to the basic Fujitsu. ADD — $ 75.00
  
• Upgrade the motherboard graphics to a graphics card to match the MacBook Pro. ADD — $ 120.00
  
• Upgrade the Fujitsu to the 500GB standard basic MacBook Pro 15. ADD — $ 100.00
  
• Upgrade the screen to a 15.6" HD+ (1600x900 resolution), Anti-Glare display with webcam. The screen on the MacBook Pro is an IPS screen with a 179º angle of view... the Fujitsu's while it is good, isn't. ADD — $ 75.00
  
• The basic Fujitsu had to be upgraded to include Bluetooth, as it's standard on the MacBook Pro. ADD — $ 30.00
  
• Same with the battery, to match the capacity of the battery that comes standard with the MacBook pro... has to be an 8 cell... but even there, the Macbook Pro is a 7750mAh battery, compared to the 5800mAh of the upgraded 8 cells in the Fujitsu... just not comparable. ADD — $ 158.00
  
• And of course, you CAN'T add the Thunderbolt 10Gbs port to the Fujitsu... it's simply not available.
  

After adding all of the upgrades, configured on the Fujitsu website, to get as CLOSE AS POSSIBLE to an Apple MacBook Pro 15—and you still have a DUAL CORE notebook, not a QUAD—

The price of the New Fujitsu LifeBook® E780 Notebook is $ 1907.00

The price of the STANDARD MacBook Pro, a QUAD is just $ 1799.00

So, what happened to your complaint about Apple being so much more expensive than the Fujitsu? When the two computers are made as close to specs as possible, the Apple is LESS EXPENSIVE than the Fujitsu and far more powerful.

[Loud Mime]

Your point is well taken. I’ve never looked that deeply at the specs and performance issues. Thank you. You’ve put a new light on all this.

My next door neighbor recently bought a Porsche 911 Turbo S. It is one hell of a machine (0-60 in less than three seconds). But does he use all that power? In case he does, I had a license plate frame made for him:

Warum gibt es eine Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung?

It looks funny. Perhaps a police officer would laugh instead of ticketing him.

Now, for Joe Student at the local Starbucks, do these the computer performance issues matter? Do you need an i7 chip for word processing and vector graphics?

Even with my Adobe InDesign, PS and Illustrator work my Fujitsu performed flawlessly. Its my Camry.

So, I’m looking at performance I don’t need, but would like, within an operating system that I am getting to like more and more. I like how Lion works and love the stability and quality of the machine. I’ll just have to forego my next Las Vegas vacation - or get damned lucky during it.