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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All images and logos are copyright (c) 2004 the respective companies.

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!

[furquhart]

I agree on that.

They only manage to get the Dell anywhere near the price of the MacBook by loading it up with all sorts of useless and expensive stuff (Wordperfect? MusicMatch?).

Looking at the list of stuff, you could get something that would nearly match the performance of the MacBook for about half the price. You could get a near-perfect hardware match for $600ish less.

Indeed, looking at the site, for $2800 I put together a 17" Core Duo Notebook at 2.16 GhZ with two Gigs of RAM, an 80 Gig SATA 7200 RPM Hard Drive (you'd be surprised at the difference it makes), and the like.

[Swordmaker]

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.

No, it is not silly. The software is there to attempt to match the software and functionality that comes with the MacBook Pro... included in the base price.

+ CoreDuo upgrade: $40 --- The MacBook Pro is a CoreDuo.
+ 2.16GHz CoreDuo upgrade: $480 --- The MacBook Pro is a 2.16GHz CoreDuo.
+ XP Media Center Ed. Reinstall CD: $8 --- The MacBook Pro comes with an OS X install disk.
+ Remote Control for Media Center: $23 --- The MacBook Pro comes with a remote control
+ WUXGA+ display upgrade: $119 --- The MacBook Pro has a high Definition screen.
+ 1.0 GB 667 MHz RAM upgrade: $140 --- The MacBook Pro has this memory.
+ 120 GB 5400 RPM hard drive: $116 --- The MacBook Pro comes standard with this spec drive.
+ DVD±RW upgrade: $48 --- The MacBook Pro comes with a DVD burner.
+ Intel PRO/3945 802.11a/g upgrade: $23 --- The MacBook Pro comes with 802.11a/g built in.
+ Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth 2.0 upgrade: $39 --- The MacBook Pro comes with blue tooth built in.
+ NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 upgrade: $183 --- The MacBook Pro comes with a high end graphics card.
+ 80 WHr Battery upgrade: $79 --- The MacBook Pro equivalent.
+ PC-cillin Internet Security upgrade: $95 --- The MacBook Pro is OS X and is inherrently more secure than Windows.
+ Sonic DigitalMedia/MyDVD+ upgrade: $63 --- The MacBook Pro comes with the iLife suite of Digital media and DVD authoring software.
+ Corel WordPerfect Office 12: $79 --- The MacBook Pro comes with iWorks productivity suite.
+ Adobe® Acrobat® Elements upgrade: $31 --- The MacBook Pro and OS X use Display PDF throughout and can create PDF files from any application.
+ Corel Photo Album Premium: $31 --- The MacBook Pro comes with iPhoto.
+ Creative Labs WebCam Live! Ultra: $90 --- The MacBook Pro has web cam built in.
+ QuickBooks Simple Start Ed 2006: $90 --- The MacBook Pro ships with Quicken installed.
+ MusicMatch Plus upgrade: $16 --- The MacBook Pro comes with iTunes and Garageband included.

That is not "Padding". In fact, it still doesn't match everything that comes standard on the MacBook Pro.

[Senator Bedfellow]

Of course it's "padding" - the battery and the display are upgraded to way beyond the Apple's specs, for one thing, and iWorks is significantly inferior to the Corel suite.

[Swordmaker]

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

No, it is dishonest to compare items that are not equivalent.

The starting Dell Dimension M90 (1.67GHz, $2064) does not come close to the specs of the MacBook Pro (2.16Ghz, $2799). In fact, even the Enhanced M90 model (still 1.6GHz, $2222) does not match the specs on the Mac.

Dell lets you customize so we can come close. Matching the specs brings the price of the Dell Dimension M90 price to $3098.... and that is not even adding ANY software at all. of course that extra $299 probably pays for that "free" 19" Monitor.

The MacBook Pro is still just $2799... and comes with all that software... and will also boot into Windows.

[Swordmaker]

...the battery and the display are upgraded to way beyond the Apple's specs, for one thing, and iWorks is significantly inferior to the Corel suite.

No, Senator. Apple claims a 5.5 hours usage for its battery... and Dell claims that the upgraded battery is necessary to achieve a similar usage on its laptops. Whether EITHER system acheives 5.5 hours is speculation.

The display is the only one available that comes close to APple's but it does exceed the Apple's display specs... and that is noted. But the standard Dell display is far below the Mac's specs. Even the upgraded display does not match the Apple's in brightness. The best display is still awarded to the Dell.

As to the iWorks suite... have you used it? Or the Wordperfect suite? They offer similar functionality but the iWorks works seamlessly with other Mac apps. Give some examples how "Keynote 3" is "inferior" to Corel "Presentations". Of course, the iWorks suggested retail price is $79 while the Corel MSRP is $299. It was included here because the OEM price from Dell was $79. Also, the chart does give the nod to the Dell in this area... even though it doesn't even mention the availability of Keynote3 which is far more sophisticated that either the Corel or Microsoft offerings.

[Senator Bedfellow]

Whether EITHER system acheives 5.5 hours is speculation.

What isn't speculation is the output of the battery, where you're upgrading the Dell to far beyond the output of the Apple battery.

But the standard Dell display is far below the Mac's specs.

Considering the difference between the added Dell display is about the same as the difference between the Apple and the standard display, I assume you'd agree that the Apple's display is "far below" that of the Inspiron. Bonus points to Dell, I guess.

As to the iWorks suite... have you used it? Or the Wordperfect suite?

Yes, I have - both of them. iWorks is definitely not comparable to WP.

[Swordmaker]

Yes, I have - both of them. iWorks is definitely not comparable to WP.

You've used Corel Presentation and iWorks Keynote 3? Tell me why Keynote is eclipsed by Presentation.

[B Knotts]

I was talking about the M90 with the 2.16 GHz processor.

And, no, it doesn't come close to $3098. I priced it out, and it was still a little under the Mac Book Pro price, even with the free monitor.

Dells aren't cheap. But Macs are somewhat less cheap.

[Senator Bedfellow]

Where's the equivalent of Quattro Pro in iWork? There isn't one, that's what. Second, look up at the table up above - notice that the article comparison doesn't even mention iWork. Know why? That's because the version that comes with the Macbook is a trial version, so if you want iWork past the trial period, you have to pay extra for it. You did add another $80 to the price of the Mac to enjoy this wonderful iWork software, right?

[Swordmaker]

And, no, it doesn't come close to $3098. I priced it out, and it was still a little under the Mac Book Pro price, even with the free monitor.

Sorry, but I just priced it out just before I responded to you and it came to $3098. The Dell requires several upgrades to make it near equivalent. You obviously omitted something necessary to match the MacBook Pro.

This is not my comparison... it is from a site that does this regularly, systemshootouts.org. It has also been done before by several computer pundits, including PC magazine editors, who also know what they are talking about. The pricing for equivalent equipment is, er, well, equivalent.

[Swordmaker]

You did add another $80 to the price of the Mac to enjoy this wonderful iWork software, right?

Fine, add the extra... a difference of $80 is not too important. However, a friend just bought one of the smaller Powerbook Pros and although not listed, iWork was included and it was not a trial version.

[freedumb2003]

1.6" VS 1.0 is a BIG deal.

[Swordmaker]

</i>Where's the equivalent of Quattro Pro in iWork?</i>

iWork does not include a spreadsheet but Appleworks does... the point here is not exact matching but getting as close as possible given what is available.

[antiRepublicrat]

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.

Not one up to the Mac's specs. With the exception of the question of graphics (the M90 is a workstation replacement so comes with a Quadro, so is really in a different class of notebooks), just getting the processor, memory and optical drive up to the Mac's specs takes you to over $100 more than the Mac, and you get your memory with two DIMMs (the Mac uses one standard). That also includes Dell's current sale, which knocked almost $200 off the Dell's price.

[Swordmaker]

1.6" VS 1.0 is a BIG deal.

I agree... compactness has a price. 160³ inches versus 280³ inches. The 1.1 Lb difference is also important when you have to lug it around.

[freedumb2003]

Tell me about it.

My company issued me a Dell Latitude X300 -- slimline and small.

Then when I needed a replacement battery, they added 2 INCHES to back of the doggone thing. Now my PC is as big as those others that I used to make fun of.

Now if I want a good SMALL battery, I have to pay for it out of my pocket :(

[Senator Bedfellow]

iWork does not include a spreadsheet but Appleworks does...

Appleworks doesn't come with the Macbook either, so I'm really a bit skeptical that we're really trying to get "as close as possible". Padding. Sorry.

[antiRepublicrat]

They only manage to get the Dell anywhere near the price of the MacBook by loading it up with all sorts of useless and expensive stuff

The M90 gets more expensive than the Mac just by getting equivalent hard drive, processor and optical drive.

Indeed, looking at the site, for $2800 I put together a 17" Core Duo Notebook at 2.16 GhZ with two Gigs of RAM, an 80 Gig SATA 7200 RPM Hard Drive (you'd be surprised at the difference it makes), and the like.

The Mac comes with a 100 GB 7200 rpm drive or a 120 GB 5400 rpm drive. Did you get the bigger battery? Did you upgrade the video and optical drive? How big and heavy is what you priced?

[Swordmaker]

Appleworks doesn't come with the Macbook either, so I'm really a bit skeptical that we're really trying to get "as close as possible". Padding. Sorry.

Take it up with the guy who made the lists. But, Appleworks also came on my friends MacBook Pro ... fully functional. It may be a promotion but it is there.

[Senator Bedfellow]

It's not listed as being included at the Apple Store - take it up with Apple. As far as I can tell, going by what's listed there, it'll cost you an extra $160 ($158, actually) to buy Appleworks and iWork, in order to match the Corel suite. Which pushes the price up to $2957. And you still get a display and battery "far below" that of the Dell.

Regardless, I'll go so far as to concede that the Macbook is a decent machine on the high end, pricewise. Now let's look at the low end - I can spec out an E1505 dual-core laptop to match the 15.4" Macbook, for almost $600 less than the Apple. Realistically, Apple's problem has never been at the high end, it's the low end, for those folks who aren't prepared to drop $3k on a top of the line machine.