10 Reasons I Spent $3,000 on a MacBook Pro

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Bill, I'm glad you've let us in on why you needed certain features.

If i can recommend in the future, It would probably help a lot in opinion pieces if you give some background to yourself and why you've made a choice for it. The lit keys in a back room router installation would be a godsend. I've been there, I've done that. It sucks.

Without that knowledge, you can see thta many of us thought you were just a writer and writing an opinion piece based on sitting around your desk. The background info gives some credence as to why that feature is beneficial for you.

a well worded statement would be "I preffer this feature for myself because....". without that because statement, when you're listing a feature as a reason to spend extra money it comes accross as fanboyish "OMG LEET LITE KEYBOARDS THAT GLOWS". with actual factual reasons, it changes the demeanor of the piece entirely.

I don't like the MAC vs PC debate. It's quite silly. I'm a PC user. I want a mac, but in the end it generally is not the most economic nor powerfull machine you can get. Now each user has their own needs, and that is the most important aspect to buying any computer device.

And that is why it is important to outline especially in an opinion piece why THAT feature is right for YOU. Without it, it sounds like you're trying to objectively say that the particular feature is right for everyone and that the cost should be justifiable to everyone.
 
[citation][nom]billlake[/nom]Actually those were not my requirement, how about finding me one that does the followingWeighs under 7 lbs or closeHas a T9550 CPUHad screen at 1920x1200 with Backlit LEDHas backlit keyboardhas dedicated graphics cardI did post some competition but maybe you have a better choice.As for the one on page 7, look below.[/citation]
Dell Studio XPS 16"

Color: Obsidian Black with leather accents
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 (6mb cache/2.66GHz / 1066Mhz FSB)
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit
Productivity: Microsoft Works
Support: 1 Year return to depot Service and technical support
LCD Panel: 16" Widescreen, Edge to Edge, RGB LED Backlit LCD 1920x1080 w/ 2.0mp Webcam
Memory: 4gb Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1067mhz (2 DIMMS)
Hard DRive: 320GB 720RPM SATA
Video Card: ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3670 - 512MB
Disc Drive: BluRay Combo (DVD/CD Read/Write+BD Read) Slot load drive
Wireless N Network Card
6 Cell Battery

Total Price $1,799
 
OK wow, you spent a lot of time making the total point of you don't like the article and it was opinion. Guess what, we ran it as an opinion piece.

Personal taste is somewhat but again look on page 9 at what I asked for. Can you do it for a lot less? Maybe but show me first.

So let me address a few things.

1) keyboard, what work for me might not for you, that is why I say try it.

2) Unibody is more than a stunt it allows it to be light and thin yet ridgid. Semi rugged or rugged, like the toughbooks, cost way more than this and really have not proved to be more reliable just survivable.

3) I have a full time job in the networking field, I do Tom's articles on a freelance basis because I find it fun and rewarding. I do way more than write articles on my laptop.

4) Magsafe vs plug, I will take the magsafe every day. Your comparing a laptop feature with item 8 which is customer support. Compare Dell complete care to Apples care package.

5) No Backlit LED's are not new and are gaining ground every day. I have informed myself that many Dell's have this feature. But not many other brands, LED backlits should extend the life of the laptop and keep the screen bright for years to come. If you look at the CCF type displays that are a few years old you can really see the dimming of the CCF lighting. Plus they are acceptable to some slight compression damage that LED's are not. Don't get me wrong enough pressure on any LCD screen will damage it.

6) I think I will quote from another Tom's article. This is from Charlie Miller, the pwn2own guy who compromised the MacBook in short order "between Mac and PC, I'd say that Macs are less secure for the reasons we've discussed here (lack of anti-exploitation technologies) but are more safe because there simply isn't much malware out there. For now, I'd still recommend Macs for typical users as the odds of something targeting them are so low that they might go years without seeing any malware, even though if an attacker cared to target them it would be easier for them." So maybe you don't think it matters but he does and I think I respect his opinion a lot.

7) Battery, OK show me a model at 17" with similar hardware that gets that time? Give me example

8) So lets compare Apple support to Dell, how many Dell stores can you walk into and get support? Good support with actual people you can touch and feel is pretty big, that cost money. End of story

9) Now who is stating opinion. Does anyone reading this think that laptops are really made to last 5 years by everyone but one company? Your telling me that the $400 Dell, HP or Acer is made to last that long? Well if they have solid state caps and all the improvements needed to make them last 5 years and can still sell for that price they Rock.

10) So basically, you want Linux on your laptop, but not everyone does. I prefer Linux/BSD on servers but most don't want to deal with figuring things out. If you buy support for say RedHat or Ubuntu then guess what, your savings are gone but maybe your a super Linux guy and need no help, again not everyone is.

I bought this laptop because it did everything I needed. I tried to find another one I could actually touch and use that competed, but could not. I thought about ordering one from HP, Dell or other but to be honest I hate that kind of waste. Plus they weighed so much more. I had an 8+ lbs laptop before and I did not like it. So I worked hard to have the money to buy it, tried to find something cheaper, equal and better, I could not. As I said in the article, I had sticker shock but so do people buying $1000 laptops when they want to spend $500. I went into it with my eyes wide open while so many others ignore Apple because of their hatred of Apple.

OK so you won't spend money on a new laptop but you will for a used car when you already have a car? That is just wasteful, my old laptop is now being used daily by someone else, the one they had went to another person and that persons when to charity. Why don't you give your old car to someone else and they give theirs to someone and some charity can use theirs.

Shiny had nothing to do with my purchase. It could have been black, blue or gray but not burn orange. For me that would have been a deal breaker.

[citation][nom]radnor[/nom]To TomsGuideRachel:This article is nothing but a e-peen statement. Educated ? yes, but none the less a e-peen statment.1 - Keyboard i can understand, although i disagree. It is a matter of opinion. Nothing new, nothing original, diferent design. A mater of personal taste should be a plus for all.2 - Uniboby ? Great maketing stunt. Check rugged or semi rugged laptops or any professional lines from lenovo, hp or Dell. You like the look ? Fine by me. But again, is personal taste.3 - Yes, it is a light laptop. But if you need a 17" for writing articles, your out of your mind. Again, personal taste. Again it is proven that laptop comes with the Nvidia 9600 time bomb on it.4 - Premium for magsafe ? I prefer to pay a premium for Dell Complete Care for 5 years. Go read it. Professionally ive activated several times. Most times was for exchange for an updated version. 5 - Backlite LCDs are nothing new. You better inform yourself. neither is 1920x1200. Color gamut ? If you are just writing articles, it is nuts. Anyway there are equally good solutions there. For a bit less.6 - Spyware, malware,virus, flooders and others ? You are the first line of defense. Software can help up to a point. This is a non-argument.7 - 7 hours ? Not bad. Check Dell or Lenovo by that matter. Samsung has a model with 12 hours.8 - Apple Customer support ? With the premium you pay it should be. With that premium talk to Dell Customer support. 9 - Being Apple a software and design house nowadays, i doubt their pollute much. Estimated battery life ? But i'm sure they only will give it one year warranty. For your information, computers now are made to last 5 years. Almost all of them. Except the ones made by Quanta. Read the china financial times. 10 - I don't want to be a bitch. But i had Hack OSX, Vista 64 and Ubuntu 8.04, triple booting on my lappy. You guess it isn't a mac. It worked perfectly. I kept Ubuntu. Compiz-Fusion kick he crap out of OSX or Windows.Lets face it. You bought because you could and you liked it. Nothing but that.Of the 10 points, 4 are personal preferences , 4 are non-arguments, 1 is silly (the malware one) and 1 you could only prove in five years. I would like to ask you hows that batery in 5 years.For less, with this crisis I bought a 309 GTI 2.0 (mint condition) to add to my Lancia HF Turbo. I have a lappy well enough for my needs , and a computer that needs a small upgrade so i can game. It can't take more OC for now.At least you could finished the article saying you did it because you liked shiny things. Every reader would understand. We all like shiny things, whatever the brand is.[/citation]
 
Maybe more background would be helpful but it would maybe make the article a much longer read.

I however did indicate that it was for low light conditions and I closed the article with "While it is comparably priced with other premium laptops, I had sticker shock. It would be easy to justify buying something cheaper if you have to save money." I should have expanded that to also say, if you would not benefit from most of these features.


[citation][nom]mpasternak[/nom]Bill, I'm glad you've let us in on why you needed certain features.If i can recommend in the future, It would probably help a lot in opinion pieces if you give some background to yourself and why you've made a choice for it. The lit keys in a back room router installation would be a godsend. I've been there, I've done that. It sucks.Without that knowledge, you can see thta many of us thought you were just a writer and writing an opinion piece based on sitting around your desk. The background info gives some credence as to why that feature is beneficial for you. a well worded statement would be "I preffer this feature for myself because....". without that because statement, when you're listing a feature as a reason to spend extra money it comes accross as fanboyish "OMG LEET LITE KEYBOARDS THAT GLOWS". with actual factual reasons, it changes the demeanor of the piece entirely.I don't like the MAC vs PC debate. It's quite silly. I'm a PC user. I want a mac, but in the end it generally is not the most economic nor powerfull machine you can get. Now each user has their own needs, and that is the most important aspect to buying any computer device. And that is why it is important to outline especially in an opinion piece why THAT feature is right for YOU. Without it, it sounds like you're trying to objectively say that the particular feature is right for everyone and that the cost should be justifiable to everyone.[/citation]
 
Great, as I said before the hardest thing about Dell is they have to many models and it takes forever to find what you want. They need a better way to find what you want no matter what type of buyer you are.

That said, I think this review says it best, cut and pasted from Dell's website

Title: Excellent machine!! Date: March 24, 2009
ProsFull 1080p HD screen with Blu-Ray
Lighted Keyboard
Smaller size
Very powerful machine

Cons
Heat,
Fingerprints,
only 2 USB ports
Battery life is only an hour and a half

I would say that because this is a 16" display in the 16:9 format it is really more competition for the 15.4" screens than the 17" but again buy what works best for you.

Why don't you do the 17" Dell, the Studio 17" might be a better match but I already did that and it weighs much more.

[citation][nom]mpasternak[/nom]Dell Studio XPS 16"Color: Obsidian Black with leather accentsCPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 (6mb cache/2.66GHz / 1066Mhz FSB)OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit Productivity: Microsoft WorksSupport: 1 Year return to depot Service and technical supportLCD Panel: 16" Widescreen, Edge to Edge, RGB LED Backlit LCD 1920x1080 w/ 2.0mp WebcamMemory: 4gb Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1067mhz (2 DIMMS)Hard DRive: 320GB 720RPM SATAVideo Card: ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3670 - 512MBDisc Drive: BluRay Combo (DVD/CD Read/Write+BD Read) Slot load driveWireless N Network Card6 Cell BatteryTotal Price $1,799[/citation]
 
I'll agree with you on the Dell's product line being very expansive and sometimes hard to find what you're looking for. Between their business and Home line they have just about a product for everyone and every lifestyle.

Apple works well for the "average" user. Plethora of features. I would argue that nothing that apple really does excells at everything. But it is the overall average performer.

What apple does very well is simplicity. Limited product range. Throw everything they can into one machine and sell that instead of picking and choosing.

there are pluses to this method and downsides to this method. Some pros
You get what you get. Very transparent purchasing scheme.
Apple can often be first to market cause of it's dealer clout. For a short while, it will usually have the bleeding edge.
controlled hardware environment. The OS and software is designed for specific hardware and incompatibilities are nill or minor between them and the OS

Some Cons to the Apple method
SLow to update. At this point for example, the base Macbook comes with the 2.0GHZ CPU. Virtually all competitors who are aiming for the same market have already refreshed their CPU's mulitple times. Heck, Dell's Studio XPS 13" starts with the 2.53 CPU now, while Apple in the near 6months have not changed their base CPU at all.
Expensive upgrades. If you want more, you will pay through the teeth for it. Want the 128GB SSD? Apple's charging $450 for it. Most competitors are charging $200. and lets not get started on RAM prices.
Proprietary Parts: In order for Apple to work with other apple parts, Apple seems to want to make their own Plugs. The removal of Firewire from their Macbooks is questionable. The need to buy Dongles for external graphics that aren't Apple graphics products makes for very frustrating upgrades. The Dell i priced for example includes VGA and HDMI outputs on body. plus the usual USB's and Firewires and Esata.

p.s.(I'm not trying to be combative, i'm quite enjoying discussing this actually)
 
I agree mostly about Apples plus and minus, many vendors are very expensive. It is the consumers who must punish them. Don't buy your upgrades there. I also agree about the long time between upgrades but they are getting better. I think one of the main reasons you can not get the MacBook with too good of hardware is that then it would cut into the MacBook Pro line too much, same with the screen being limited to 1280x800.

They also limit their options to much. They could easily offer a Bluray drive like everyone else and just say it does not work in OS X. But they never like to show their weaknesses that way. Heck Vista does not support BluRay directly and I am not sure that Windows 7 does. So just included the better hardware and they easily could have at this price.

As for the options, they had to shrink the size of the chassis some how and they decided to cut down the ports. I am not sure they could have squeezed a DVI in but they could have done HDMI. I also wish they would have done a USB/eSATA port like HP did on most of their products. They could have also included the extra's but I am not sure their cost margins support it. It is expensive to run stores and some of the other stuff they do but most likely they found out that many people would pay for the item and so they don't include them. I would say they should have included a mini display port to DVI and remote, they did not include either and that sucks.

PS. Oh come on, goalies are always combative, well maybe not but they are often a little otherwise they get the stuff knocked out of them. I know I was one for about 15 years long ago. Nice web site by the way.


[citation][nom]mpasternak[/nom]I'll agree with you on the Dell's product line being very expansive and sometimes hard to find what you're looking for. Between their business and Home line they have just about a product for everyone and every lifestyle.Apple works well for the "average" user. Plethora of features. I would argue that nothing that apple really does excells at everything. But it is the overall average performer. What apple does very well is simplicity. Limited product range. Throw everything they can into one machine and sell that instead of picking and choosing.there are pluses to this method and downsides to this method. Some prosYou get what you get. Very transparent purchasing scheme.Apple can often be first to market cause of it's dealer clout. For a short while, it will usually have the bleeding edge.controlled hardware environment. The OS and software is designed for specific hardware and incompatibilities are nill or minor between them and the OSSome Cons to the Apple methodSLow to update. At this point for example, the base Macbook comes with the 2.0GHZ CPU. Virtually all competitors who are aiming for the same market have already refreshed their CPU's mulitple times. Heck, Dell's Studio XPS 13" starts with the 2.53 CPU now, while Apple in the near 6months have not changed their base CPU at all.Expensive upgrades. If you want more, you will pay through the teeth for it. Want the 128GB SSD? Apple's charging $450 for it. Most competitors are charging $200. and lets not get started on RAM prices. Proprietary Parts: In order for Apple to work with other apple parts, Apple seems to want to make their own Plugs. The removal of Firewire from their Macbooks is questionable. The need to buy Dongles for external graphics that aren't Apple graphics products makes for very frustrating upgrades. The Dell i priced for example includes VGA and HDMI outputs on body. plus the usual USB's and Firewires and Esata.p.s.(I'm not trying to be combative, i'm quite enjoying discussing this actually)[/citation]
 
I thought about it but they are a pretty heavy but very powerful indeed. They clearly need to update the 15 inch model

[citation][nom]rambo117[/nom]pshhh, id pick an alienware laptop over a macbook pro anydaywell, that might be just cause im a gamer[/citation]
 
Ha, a fellow Goalie. We are a special sort. Thanks about the website comments. Got a couple more i'll be debuting soon from official coaches in the game.

as for the Alien ware dude: Alien ware makes some high end premium laptops. But their gaming comes at a cost. Not only price, But They are not overly Mobile. I would feel sorry for any student, professional, or even Mr Billake here if he attempted to use an Alienware in one hand! I know it would never fit on those tiny fold out lecture hall "desks". They're desktop replacements. They serve their role well.

Don't get me wrong. I don't have a hate on for Apple. I want a Macbook. But it's hard to justify paying the "apple premium" that is on everything. Yes you get one hell of a machine for that premium. It looks good. But in this economic day of age, I find it kind of amiss that apple does not have a product to cover even the Mid range. The Lowest Macbook you can purchase is still over a grande. It just seems to me that Apple is betting too much on their name and not enough on actually filling the gap.
 
My guess is that they will introduce a netbook before the end of the year with Snow Leopard. I think they will not lower price by much but maybe a little as there were rummors that they would drop the MacBook Pro 15" to 1799 but those proved to be wrong.

You can get a little discount on them if you buy them at corp price or student pricing. You can also buy a lightly used one sometimes at the online store, but I would then definitely want the apple care.
 
[citation][nom]mpasternak[/nom]Ha, a fellow Goalie. We are a special sort. Thanks about the website comments. Got a couple more i'll be debuting soon from official coaches in the game.as for the Alien ware dude: Alien ware makes some high end premium laptops. But their gaming comes at a cost. Not only price, But They are not overly Mobile. I would feel sorry for any student, professional, or even Mr Billake here if he attempted to use an Alienware in one hand! I know it would never fit on those tiny fold out lecture hall "desks". They're desktop replacements. They serve their role well.Don't get me wrong. I don't have a hate on for Apple. I want a Macbook. But it's hard to justify paying the "apple premium" that is on everything. Yes you get one hell of a machine for that premium. It looks good. But in this economic day of age, I find it kind of amiss that apple does not have a product to cover even the Mid range. The Lowest Macbook you can purchase is still over a grande. It just seems to me that Apple is betting too much on their name and not enough on actually filling the gap.[/citation]
yehhh i know that alienwares are not exactly mobilefriendly laptops. basicly they are portable desktop computers. theyre ment to stay at home or take to a friends house/lan battle. No way, for college id pick something alot less cumbersome than alienware.
 
Don't kid yourself, people don't love MAC, they just hate PC.
You can buy your Mac Book, just like someone else has mention about Ferrari. But don't tell me it worth every penny. It is your own personal subjective view. But in a common sense, unless this laptop can lay golden eggs, it is not worth 300% increase in price.
 
good article. i just picked up a macbook. could not afford the macbook pro. the features in the macbook is nice but the thing that convince me to get one is............ the price protection. I don't like to see my new hp, dell, sony.... that i paid 2800 bucks for go on sale next month for 1400 bucks. well sony hold their price better then some other but they still drop them just the same.
 
Cost aside, I'm always annoyed with the green argument on these things. Macs mostly appeal to Apple fans who, and all the ones I know purchase new Macbooks within 2 years. A lot of them point to their "green" label, but the problem is they waste so much resources by purchasing yet another laptop when their old one works great... just to have the newest Macbook. It's like disposable iPods or the idiot who buys a Prius and drives 100mph.
 
Gosh, I think that some would disagree with you about loving Apple, I see some post showing just that. same for Microsoft, there are clearly lovers of both posting. Guess everyone can kid themselves about something but I know people who hate both and only run Linux or BSD.

Did I ever say it was worth every penny? I said I had sticker shock, I said I could easily justify buying a cheaper model. I even said buy what works for you. Guess you just missed that stuff.

By the way, did I say I make my living with my laptop? Did I say it makes my job easier? Did I say that these features are valuable? I also asked for anyone to provide a system that had the features and was a lot cheaper, well I found the Dell Studio to be the closest unit at about $2100. Since I could not touch a Dell Studio 17" I could not comment on it. So if you can show us a model that is 1/3 the cost of this with similar features then by all means please do so.

[citation][nom]shadowamazon[/nom]Don't kid yourself, people don't love MAC, they just hate PC. You can buy your Mac Book, just like someone else has mention about Ferrari. But don't tell me it worth every penny. It is your own personal subjective view. But in a common sense, unless this laptop can lay golden eggs, it is not worth 300% increase in price.[/citation]
 
The do hold their value, that is something else to look at. You can sell a used Apple laptop for much more than say a used Dell. I usually do not like that argument but it is a valid point.

I think your the MacBook is a good value for what it does. The Unibody one clearly is taking market away from the Pro but then again getting some mid range PC purchase too. I just wish they were about $200 cheaper but Apple has a closed system that has worked for them for some time.


[citation][nom]jbatzmaru[/nom]good article. i just picked up a macbook. could not afford the macbook pro. the features in the macbook is nice but the thing that convince me to get one is............ the price protection. I don't like to see my new hp, dell, sony.... that i paid 2800 bucks for go on sale next month for 1400 bucks. well sony hold their price better then some other but they still drop them just the same.[/citation]
 
So they just toss the old one in the trash? or retire it to the shelf never to be used again? Wow that is a waste, tell them to send them to me or to a charity group. Then they will not be wasting them.

For all those out there who have old PCs that just are not fast enough find a home for them. I have done this very thing for about 15 PCs (laptops mostly but a few desktops) with the following places: Churchs, inner city youths, poor families, and my favorite wounded soldiers. You can find ways to donate these so they do not go to waste and help someone out. It is amazing to have someone who could never afford something get a couple year or even 4 year old laptop. I can't tell you how much it does for them. Soldiers who are way on duty can contact their families, soldiers who are wounded can not only contact their families but also helps them with concentration and other rehab. Inner city kids get something they can use for school and finally the church I have given to uses them for community outreach. So please don't let a good PC go to waste, fix it up and give it away.

[citation][nom]royalewitcheez[/nom]Cost aside, I'm always annoyed with the green argument on these things. Macs mostly appeal to Apple fans who, and all the ones I know purchase new Macbooks within 2 years. A lot of them point to their "green" label, but the problem is they waste so much resources by purchasing yet another laptop when their old one works great... just to have the newest Macbook. It's like disposable iPods or the idiot who buys a Prius and drives 100mph.[/citation]
 
actually I love the Micro Humpers. They make a regular habit of giving me their money on a regular basis. I have been a computer tech since the early 80's. In all those years I have been on ONE call for a Mac. I have one PC that I own. I use it for Quickbooks and Quicken (I prefer the Windows version and there is no way I would soil the hard drive in my Mac with a M$ OS). So all you M$ fanboys you keep on lovin yer crap. It has made me ton's of cash. If too many of you switch to Mac I'll be hurtin for money.
 
So let me get this straight. Your 10 reasons are:

1. Durable keys
2. Tough laptop
3. Light weight
4. Magnetic power plug
5. Antiglare LED screen
6. Unix Security
 
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