Mac vs. PC $2800 17" Laptop Shootout

SystemShootouts.Org ^ | 4/26/2006 | SystemShootouts.Org

[Swordmaker]

The Following looks to be a fair head-to-head comparison of equivalent the new MacBook Pro 17" Laptop with a custom configured (to match the stock Apple as closely as possible) Dell Inspirion E1705 17" Laptop.

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Date Configured: 4/24/06

Best of Field
(in my opinion)

Apple 17" MacBook Pro
(stock model)

Dell Insprion E1705
(with add-ons)

Dimensions:

160 cubic in. 15.4" x 10.4" x 1.0"

280 cubic in. 15.5" x 11.3" x 1.6"

Weight: (all bays filled)

6.8 lbs

7.9 lbs.

Battery Life:

up to 5.5 hrs (68 WHr LiON battery)

unknown; assuming up to 5.5 hrs
(80 WHr LiON battery)

Keyboard/Trackpad:

Scrolling trackpad; Backlit keyboard

--

Preventative Safety:

Scrolling trackpad; Sudden Motion Sensor;
MagSafe power adapter

--

Processor: (Notes)

2.16GHz Intel Core Duo

2.16GHz Intel Core Duo

L2 Cache:

2.0 MB

2.0 MB

RAM Type:

DDR2 -SDRAM PC2-5300 (667 MHz)

DDR2 -SDRAM PC2-5300 (667 MHz)

Front Side Bus:

667 MHz

667 MHz

RAM Included:

1.0 GB (1 DIMM)

1.0 GB (1 DIMM)

Max. RAM:

2.0 GB (2 slots)

2.0 GB (2 slots)

Hard Drive Capacity:

120 GB

120 GB

Hard Drive Type:

Serial ATA/100

Serial ATA/100

Hard Drive Speed:

5400 RPM

5400 RPM

CD:

24x16x24x CD-RW

16x10x24x CD-RW

DVD:

8x4x8x DVD±RW (dual-layer)

8x2x8x DVD±RW (dual-layer)

Floppy/Other Drive:

--

Flash Memory Slot

PCMCIA Slot?

1 ExpressCard/34 slot

1 ExpressCard/34 slot

Bay Type:

Fixed

Fixed

USB Ports:

3 USB 2.0 ports

6 USB 2.0 ports

FireWire Ports:

1 port @ 400 Mbps, 1port @ 800 Mbps

1 FireWire port @ 400 Mbps

Legacy Ports:

--

--

Infrared:

Yes

Yes

Video Card:

ATI Mobility Radeon X1600

NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800

Video RAM:

256 MB GDDR3 dedicated

256 MB GDDR3 dedicated

Dual-Disp. Supp:

Mirroring & Spanning

Mirroring & Spanning

VGA Out:

Yes

Yes

DVI Out:

Yes

Yes

S-Video Out:

via optional adapter

Yes

RCA Out:

via optional adapter

--

Display:

17" TFT WXGA (widescreen)

17" TFT WUXGA (widescreen)

Native Res:

1680x1050 (1.8 Mpx)

1920 x 1200 (2.3 Mpx)

Max. External Res:

2560x1600 (4.1 Mpx)

1920 x 1200 (2.3 Mpx)

Audio In:

Built-in mic; Analog In; Optical Digital Audio In

Line-in; USB mic support

Audio Out:

Headphone; Analog Out; Optical Digital Audio Out

Speaker/HP jack/line-out; USB speaker support

Stereo Speakers:

Yes + integrated subwoofer

Yes + integrated subwoofer

Video Camera:

integrated iSight video camera

USB 2.0 Creative WebCam Live! Ultra

Ethernet:

10/100/1000 Base-T Ethernet

10/100 Base-T Ethernet

56k Modem:

optional USB modem available

56k v.92 fax/modem

Wi-Fi Card:

Integrated 802.11a/b/g (54 Mbps) card

Integrated 802.11a/b/g (54 Mbps) card

Bluetooth Wireless?

Integrated Bluetooth 2.0 card + EDR (3 Mbps)

Integrated Bluetooth 2.0 card + EDR (3 Mbps)

Hardware Extras

Apple Remote Control

Media Center Remote Control

Included OS:

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger;

BSD Unix; X11 Window System

Windows XP Media Center Edition

Windows Support:

DOS/95/98/ME/2K/NT/XP (Beta, via BootCamp)
or via optional Parallels WorkStation

DOS/95/98/ME/2K/NT/XP
(Native, official, fully supported)

Mac Support:

OS X (Native)

Mac OS 8 only (via emulation)

Unix/Linux Support:

Various flavors (Native)

Realtime Metadata Search/Organization:

Spotlight (system-wide)

(includes Smart Folders, Content Search, etc)

(Google desktop search available)

Modular Desktop Utilities:

Dashboard (system-wide)

(Konfabulator available as free download)

Task Scripting:

Automator/AppleScript (system-wide)

Windows Script Host

Save-as PDF:

Native (any file) w/variable settings

Adobe® Acrobat® Elements 6.0

Zero-Config Networking:

Bonjour (system-wide)

(Bonjour available as free dl)

Handwriting Recognition

Inkwell (system-wide)

--

Voice/Speech Recog.:

Voiceover (system-wide)

(limited to certain non-core apps)

Web Serving:

Apache w/Perl, Python & PHP included

(XP Pro only)

Data Backup Utility:

(iBackup, PsyncX, etc. available as free download)

Included

Developer Tools:

Xcode, Script Editor, etc.

(free download of compiler/linker/diff tools)

File Compression:

System-wide Zip compression

System-wide Zip compression

File Encryption:

FileVault encryption

(XP Pro only)

Word Processor

TextEdit (Word compatible)

or OpenOffice (free download; Word comp.)

NotePad; WordPerfect 12 (Word comp.)
or OpenOffice (free download; Word comp.)

Spreadsheet:

OpenOffice (free download; Excel comp.)

Quattro Pro 12 (Excel comp.)

OpenOffice (free download; Excel comp.)

Presentation:

OpenOffice (free download; PwrPt. comp.)

Presentations 12 (PwrPt. comp.)

OpenOffice (free download; PwrPt. comp.)

Database:

--

--

Drawing/Painting:

--

--

Page Layout/Publishing:

Comic Life

--

Website Authoring:

iWeb 1.0

--

Font Management:

FontBook 2.0

no on-the-fly font enabling/disabling

Projects/Planning:

OmniOutliner

--

Web Browser:

Safari RSS 2.0

Internet Explorer 6.5

Image/PDF Viewer:

Preview 3.0

Image Viewer/Acrobat Elements 6.0

E-Mail/Address Book:

OS X Mail / Address Book

Outlook Express / CorelCENTRAL

Calendar Program:

iCal 2.0

--

Data Synchronization:

iSync 2.0

--

System Data Transfer:

System Migration Assistant

Settings Transfer Wizard

Chat/AV Conferencing:

iChat AV 3.0
(ICQ, MSN, Yahoo avail. as free downloads)

Windows Messenger
(ICQ, AOL, Yahoo avail. as free downloads)

Media Players:

Front Row; Quicktime 7.0; DVD Player 4.5
(WMP & RealPlayer avail as free dl)

Media Center Software; WMP 10;
Cyberlink DVD Player
(QuickTime & RealPlayer available as free dl)

DVR Software:

(via optional ElGato software)

Media Center Edition Software

Financial:

QuickBooks New Users Edition

QuickBooks SImple Start Edition 2006

Reference:

Dictionary/Thesaurus; Sherlock 3.0

Pocket Oxford English Dictionary

Digital Photography:

iPhoto 6.0; PhotoBooth; ImageCapture

Corel PhotoAlbum Premium
Google Picassa free download

Digital Video Editing:

iMovie HD 6.0

MSFT MovieMaker 2

CD Burning/Music:

iTunes 6.0; Disc Burner

XP Disk Burning; Sonic DigitalMedia
MusicMatch Plus; iTunes 6.0 free download

Audio Engineering:

GarageBand 3.0

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DVD Burning/Authoring:

iDVD 6.0; Disk Burner

XP Disk Burning; Sonic MyDVD Plus

Games Included:

Chess

Mine Sweeper, Assorted other games

Total Software Titles Available:

"Less" (no specific numbers; thousands available)

"More" (no specific numbers; thousands available)

(Note: If Windows is installed on the Mac via BootCamp, it has more titles available; if not, it has fewer)

Additional Software:

Asstd. system software

Free Services:

1 month .Mac trial

6 month Earthlink dialup

Viruses/Trojans/Worms:

No true malicious viruses known
which affect Mac OS X.

Between 1,200 - 70,000 known viruses
(depending on your source)
PC-cillin Internet Security: AntiVirus, Firewall, Spyware removal (36 months)

Security Alerts:
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy

In General: far less common,
far less serious, fixed more quickly.

In General: far more common,
far more serious, fixed less quickly.

Firewall:

Built-in

Warranty:

1 yr. ltd./mail-in; 90 days phone

1 yr. ltd./at-home; 1 yr phone

Customer Service:

Scored 74% by Consumer Reports

(Highest Rating)

Scored 62% by Consumer Reports

Subtotal:

Base system price: $2,799

Base system price $999
+ CoreDuo upgrade: $40
+ 2.16GHz CoreDuo upgrade: $480
+ XP Media Center Ed. Reinstall CD: $8
+ Remote Control for Media Center: $23
+ WUXGA+ display upgrade: $119
+ 1.0 GB 667 MHz RAM upgrade: $140
+ 120 GB 5400 RPM hard drive: $116
+ DVD±RW upgrade: $48
+ Intel PRO/3945 802.11a/g upgrade: $23
+ Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth 2.0 upgrade: $39
+ NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 upgrade: $183
+ 80 WHr Battery upgrade: $79

+ PC-cillin Internet Security upgrade: $95
+ Sonic DigitalMedia/MyDVD+ upgrade: $63

+ Corel WordPerfect Office 12: $79

+ Adobe® Acrobat® Elements upgrade: $31

+ Corel Photo Album Premium: $31

+ Creative Labs WebCam Live! Ultra: $90
+ QuickBooks Simple Start Ed 2006: $90
+ MusicMatch Plus upgrade: $16

- Rebates if any:

--

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+ Ground Shipping:

n/c

n/a (ltd. time)

Total Price as configured:

(tax not included)

$2,799

$2,794

Got a beef with any of this? A helpful suggestion? Join the Discussions!

[Swordmaker]

MacBook Pro 17" comparison to Dell Inspirion E1705 17" configured to match the Stock Apple... PING!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[cmsgop]

But,But, Mac Doesn't have that many Games ,Waaaaaaaa!

[Mr. Blonde]

Interesting. Of course in the productivity section both will more than likely have MS Office loaded. And I like Office for Mac better myself.

[Spruce]

I remember when all the good games only ran on a Mac. Believe it or not, but games are one of the main driving forces behind hardware improvements.

[cmsgop]

Remember Chop-Lifter,Just Awesome!

[Spruce]

Hahahaha! I stunk at that game!

[cmsgop]

I just bought 4 baby Spruce's today, coincidence ?

[Spruce]

A fine choice!

They will repulse the pests that prey upon your less-capable trees. And beer made using their needles will rise your spirit.

[SunkenCiv]

I've always wanted a loaded laptop. Butttt, I also want cast aluminum wheels and cool tires for my car. And maybe a new bathroom downstairs. And new tile...

[jalisco555]

Very interesting comparison chart. Well done. My only beef is that I think the 5.5 hours of use off a battery charge is kind of a fantasy. In real world use I would expect much less time. My G4 17 inch Powerbook can't even play a movie from beginning to end without needing a battery swap and I doubt that power management or battery life has improved all that much since I bought it.

[antiRepublicrat]

I wouldn't call the Dell the winner for the LCD resolution, but the loser. The dot pitch is so tiny that running a Dell at native resolution is begging for eye strain. OTOH, running an LCD at non-native resolution hurts my eyes even more, so I'm stuck squinting at the native resolution.

[antiRepublicrat]

And,

But Macs are overpriced, under powered boutique computers!

[antiRepublicrat]

y only beef is that I think the 5.5 hours of use off a battery charge is kind of a fantasy. In real world use I would expect much less time. My G4 17 inch Powerbook can't even play a movie from beginning to end

Battery life is like gas mileage -- not absolutely realistic but good for comparison. The normal benchmarks count the fact that for most average use a computer is waiting for the user, so the processor can go into a low-power state (and CoreDuo has excellent low-power management). Running video takes a lot of constant processing power and disk access, so it drains the battery very fast.

Having a lot of RAM on your machine for cache vastly increase your battery life. In fact, there's a Windows program out there that caches DVD playing to improve battery life.

BTW, for this comparison, Apple's standard battery has more watt/hours than Dell's standard, but less than Dell's $79 upgrade battery.

Another plus forgotten for Apple: Its CD/DVD drive is slot-loading.

[Swordmaker]

But Macs are overpriced, under powered boutique computers!

And don't forget the classic...

"The light weight of these Mac laptops is required only because of the limp wrists of their gay owners!" ...

Which I just made up on the spur of the moment to beat Hank Reardon to the punchline...

[jalisco555]

One more criticism. Your chart doesn't take into account the monetary value of the time you spend dealing with Dell Tech Support just to keep your computer running at anything like normal.That would probably add another $1,000 to the overall cost of ownership of a Dell.

[jalisco555]

All true, of course, but it is annoying to have to swap a battery on a plane just to finish watching a movie. That being said, I'll be looking at one of these beauties in about a year.

[B Knotts]

This is a bit of a silly comparison, as the price of the Dell has been padded with add-ons and software just to get the prices to match. The Dell, by itself, is cheaper.

[B Knotts]

You can actually get a wide-screen Dell Precision M90 with a free 19" external flat-panel monitor, for less than the Mac Book Pro.

Now, there are other reasons to buy the Mac, obviously. If you want to use Mac OS X, you have no other choice. And, for some people, that makes it worth the price.

But, I think it's dishonest to pretend that Macs are price-competitive with even Dells at this point.

[furquhart]

I'm not sure about the 17" models, but my 12" iBook gets simply amazing battery life. Four and a half hours, on average, under real-world use conditions.

By comparison, my HP PC notebook gets about two hours if I'm lucky.