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

[tipmen]

I'd rather have this

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220503

 

[BillLake]

So there is no value in the quality of the build? The truth is you get what you pay for sometimes. I do think that Apple does under build in some areas, I mention that specifically about the BluRay but I also said "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." so you have to decide. I gave my reasons to buy and again challenge you to find a laptop with all the features that I need.

[citation][nom]ohim[/nom]sorry but the 10 reasons he stated does not worth 2.8k $ i think at apple even a simple thing as a screw or toilet paper costs at least as dobule than other places.[/citation]

 

[duckmanx88]

the only reason to dislike this article is that it fails to mention this: 8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB [Add $1,000.00], and the sealed battery compartment.

 

[BillLake]

Thanks, I like both Windows and UNIX, I configure network equipment all day, I like to have many terminals open and that requires the resolution that the Apple gives. So I say sometimes you get what you pay for and sometimes you pay extra to get what you need.

[citation][nom]fpsgamingsa[/nom]I have been building PC's and using them with Windows, Unix, Dos, Solaris, SCO, MAC OS, OSX, and HP UX for over 20 years. An OS is an OS. If you count build quality as having value. And support of the whole product not just the components as having value. The current Apple products are an exceptional value. Especially the mobile products. I will even add in that their support of Windows is superior. For example Vista on a Macbook is simple. The drivers for the system are on the Leopard disk. One program installs all of them with one reboot. I have built maybe 40 different PC's this last 12 months and not one of them had that smooth of support for Vista. And yes I agree that MAC OSX is an excellent Unix system and I use my Macbook at the command prompt as often as in the GUI.Why is it users of PC's have a prejudice? These are just tools we use. Recognize excellent engineering when you see it and appreciate it. If it doesn't have value for you then don't buy it. I love watching a red Ferrari going down the road. It doesn't have value to me so I will not buy one, but I appreciate it all the same.[/citation]

 

[BillLake]

OK, so one of my requirement is a backlit keyboard, does your IBM have that? Plus where I work the IBMs are called trash pads because they break so often. They are not durable. we also use Panasonic tough books which are a step above t in durability but the screens are so small that they are not very good for my work.

Again find me a laptop with all the features I need for my work and I will give it a try. I have used laptops for the last 17 years, yes, I had a monochrome laptop. I have used NEC, IBM, Dell, HP, Compaq, Panasonic, and more. For me the MacBooks have served me very well. I did not want to pay this much but other vendors just do not offer the features in the same combo as this. Alienware does but they cost more than an Apple.

I also run VM's on my laptop to simulate customer environments to included Solaris, Linux (several flavors), every windows OS, I have Cisco CallManager/Unified Comm Manager.

Send them to NewEgg.com for their HDMI cables, then they will be able to afford a MacBook Pro with all their savings.

By the way Apple just called, they are tracking you down for illegally using OS X on a PC that is not a Apple product. Yeah they suck about that.

[citation][nom]michaelahess[/nom]"while my tests revealed that the display is indeed exceptional."I love all the comments about "better" that have nothing but this type of comment to back them up.Look, if you want to buy an Apple because of the very few useful features that are VERY overpriced, more power to ya. I just think it's pointless in this day and age to waste money on things you don't need.Magsafe is the ONLY thing Macs have over PCs' that's worth anything. The anti-glare screen actually costs less to produce, yet you pay more for it, makes sense to me. The manufacturing of the aluminum block actually costs more and produces more waste than comparable plastic and magnesium methods. The battery isn't "optimized" it simply has a larger surface area to store more energy than a comparable "AA" style pack. Round is bad for batteries BTW.I've got a 6 year old and a 3 year old, funny, they never trip over any of my laptops cords, but that's cause they know damn well what will happen if they do So the only useful feature is negated by a little care and discipline!Oh and for the keyboard, I've used pretty much every kind of laptop over the years (even the new mac books) and IBM/Lenovo keyboards are still hands down (pun intended) the best.I have OSX running on my Lonovo and my Dell Mini-9, along with Ubuntu 8.10 and XP Pro SP3. Guess I don't need a mac for that "feature".It's kinda like the guy I saw in Radio Shack today:Salesguy: You need an HDMI cable, they're on sale today.Dude: CoolSalesguy: This 6' was 39.99 now it's "only" 29.99 and this 12' is half off at only 49.99.Dude: I'll take the 12'!I almost walked up and slapped him upside the head. "Ever heard of monoprice you stupid consumer that makes things worse for the rest of us?"But I've already been kicked out of Radio Shack 4 times for doing things like that.Bill go work at Radio Shack and leave this drivel for the masses that know no better.[/citation]

 

[BillLake]

yeah well those upgraded blondes make a lot of money on TV that the none upgraded models do not.

Since all the features are worthless or overpriced, do me a favor and find a 17" laptop with a 1920x1200 screen, built in backlit keyboard, 4GB RAM, and T9000 CPU. Try to find me one that is cheap and chat in. Oh that is right, there are not any. I looked and no one has them except premium builders, since I work in dark areas often, because some companies dump their data networks in stupid areas, I need that feature. White letters on black keys that are also backlit really re move visible. Try it you might like it.

[citation][nom]ohim[/nom]1st reason, keyboard it might be great but still it`s only a keyboard (plastic/rubber) made me laugh the part with black keys white letter to better see during day ... like wtf ? you can`t see black letters during the day ? back lit keys are already on market nothing out of the ordinary2nd. Unibody, nice touch i like it but still don`t think it`s worth that much cash, crash resistant ... well i could write a story here but let`s just say i like to be carefoul enough to keep my stuff safe first and not hope the enclosure that the company said is durable 3rd. Light weight ... well let`s just say i`m not a digital counter to realy feel that 0.36 lbs difference and besides it`s good for your condition .. what you wanna be a person that will be only able to lift a glass of water ? everything above that will be too heavy ? This point defenetly not worth the cash.4th. power cord ... cheap gimic .. nothing hight tech and expensive here.5th. Led backlit LCD .. well competition is doing too, it`s a new tech and soon all laptops will have it still i`m having no problem staring my eye balls to a normal LCD and i`m not that light sensitive too to be annoyed by the difference in lightness over the surface of the LCD, after all even knowing about it i still look at my LCD and don`t see the darker spots.6th. Internet protection .. well that`s OS based and why do OS`s fell first in front of the user stupidity when talking about security ? That`s the problem with people these days .. they always want something else to look for their behinds ... anyway if this is so go Linux on a PC and it`s even free .. you can actualy save some $$ instead of having PC: Vista $$ + Linux Free > Mac: Vista $$ + OS X $$ .7th. Battery well they list 8 hours but under mediu/heavy load how much ? since idle time i don`t realy care about, this might be a point for extra cash but still way off than the difference.8th. Customer Service .. well at ~3k $ they at least should give you 2 free keys as a replacement to your laptop9th. Recicle ... 10th. Ability to run other OSes ... well breaking news PCs do that too all in all is to be able to use Mac OS (wich personaly i don`t even want to)? to be above the normal guy or what ?BTW loved the comment this article was written on my Mac... this ... this is realy amazing Macs can write articles better than PCs ... All in all is an overpriced PC that does the same as other PCs with fancy accesories ... just like takeing a normal blonde and give her extra cash to make herserlf bigger boobs a nose job and in the end does the same as the cheaper blonde model Pleased now ?[/citation]

 

[BillLake]

Great point, if you do not need the features, I think the HP HDX and DV7 gave great value for the features. Sony has some nice light PCs, Asus give very good bang for the buck and has a great warranty if you don't mind shipping away. Overall, Apple is a premium product and only won my purchase because of its unique blend of features.


[citation][nom]ohim[/nom]well don`t get me wrong the keyboard / case / lcd / power plug / batery are nice indeed but do they realy worth that much of a difference than the normal ones ? I for one would not pay that ammount of cash just for such (some slight) differences ... I like the Apple look it is eye candy their products are nicely finished but they hardly worth their price in my opinion.[/citation]

 

[BillLake]

The problem with your upgrades is who buys RAM upgrades from Apple, or HP, or Dell, or any PC maker? They all jack up the price

I don't buy any memory from them as you can buy them from Crucial oh, that is right, 8 GB of RAM at crucial is only 979.99 for DDR3 8500 sodimm. So if we are going to bash Apple for pricing it is fair but come on, 4 GB in a laptop to 8GB is a big bump in price for anyone even DDR2 is $400 or so.

As for your battery, great luck with your battery does not reflect everyones life. Nor does it ensure that I will get 1000 on my MacBook but I do get 5+ hours on battery and that I bet your Dell does not do.

Technical crowds include the guys that work on OC rings, 12000 cisco routers and more, I think I am pretty techie considering I have actually configured and used an OC192 to pass internet traffic, have you?



[citation][nom]AK47LT[/nom]Monitor, keyboard, weight, power connector - all pluses. Security - same. Mac is vulnerable, so is Win - no real advantage here).Dual boot - same . No problem doing on any PC for anybody reading TomHrd.Reliability - same. Does anybody know exactly the percentage of failed Macs? Does anybody know exactly the percentage of failed Dell's? CPU (why not Core2 quad or Core7), HDD (why only 320GB and only 1 disk), Video Card (why not NVIDIA 9800M GT for example)- minus as they could be much better. Battery - my dell was recharged more than 500 times during last 2 years and still holds almost the same time, so not true about 200-300 times. It is a lie unless they can provide specific laptop specifications with tests of the same capacity batteries which prove they can be recharged only 300 times. Simply not true.And upgrades are especially bad at Apple. Upgrades are just not an option - too expensive. Try $1000 for 4GB more ram anyone - official pricing on apple.com. So spending that much should mean the latest and greatest hardware available outside/inside. Looks like for now Apple has done great job on the outside and medium job on the inside. Thus Apple is better fit for less technical crowd. Other manufacturers concentrate more on the inside and are more appealing to us, techies[/citation]

 

[BillLake]

OK I think your referencing the Dell E6500, that looks like a pretty nice unit. It is closer in comparison to the MacBook Pro 15" and even there it is slightly less expensive. It is limited to a 256MB video card, 250GB HDD, and lacks the backlit keyboard. It does seem to be a nice laptop but for me I needed/wanted specific features that it lacks.

[citation][nom]cadder[/nom]The iFruit laptops are nice products. You get the impression that they design and build a product as nice as they can build it, then figure out how to price it to make money and pay for their ad campaigns. If a person wants the nice product and has the money, that's their business. I buy some products based on quality, others based on price. Virtually every point made in the article talks about how nice the product is, can't argue with that. You can certainly spend a lot of money on a top Lenovo or other brands for instance.I bought a Dell Latitude, spec'd as good or better than the iFruits. I got a P9500 at 2.53GHz, a 15" LED display made by the same manufacturer that the iFruits use, 9 cell battery, and spent less than 40% of what the 17" iFruit cost. It's a very solid machine but not quite as "pretty" as the Apple. If Apple had made a 100% equivalent machine with Vista installed, I might have considered it for $100 more, but that's about it.It will be great when other manufacturers start using that battery technology. Batteries have been a sore spot for almost all manufacturers.[/citation]

 

[BillLake]

Thanks that is the point. You get premium product you pay a premium price. Thanks for actually comparing similar PC's, that is right for everyone, Apple and Windows lovers, They are all PC's, get a clue, it is hardware that run software, you decide which.

[citation][nom]cadder[/nom]I did a quick check on Dell.com- I configured their M6400 similarly to the iFruit and got $2869 for the Dell. I picked the M6400 because it should be Dell's highest quality line, and it has a metal exterior case. In Dell's case you pay a lot more to go from 15" to 17". I'm sure you could spec a Lenovo and it would cost even more. So yeah the author spent a lot of money, but he picked expensive features.[/citation]

 

[BillLake]

I agree, I own all Windows based PC's but the Apple laptops offer me enough power and features to make them valuable to me.

I actually wish that other vendors offered some of the feature combinations. It is even hard to find laptops that are not glossy screened. I know they look great and lots of people want them but how hard is it to offer them?


[citation][nom]fpsgamingsa[/nom]Good point. If you want a gaming notebook the Dell is very hard to beat. But it is heavy. I have done this before recommending a notebook for someone doing lots of Adobe on the run. Apple prices their 17" pro about the same or a little under top quality notebooks from IBM and Sony. It isn't all about what is under the hood for some customers. It is what they value. I will probably never own an Apple desktop, but I am on my 5th Macbook. Everytime I buy a new one I always look at other products. So far I get the Apple. Have the last 8 years.[/citation]

 

[BillLake]

I did say "Apple engineers embedded the battery in the enclosure." and if you look around the going price for any laptop using 8 GB of DDR3 memory is pretty close to this, crucial is $979 so not much room to complain there.

http/www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT2KIT51264BC1067

Although I did find some for $836 but don't all vendors charge to much, check out HP or Dell they are not exactly cheap.

http/www.provantage.com/edge-tech-mc016g-pe~7EDG912Y.htm

[citation][nom]duckmanx88[/nom]the only reason to dislike this article is that it fails to mention this: 8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB [Add $1,000.00], and the sealed battery compartment.[/citation]

 

[BillLake]

Well you went out of class to a DTR or Desktop Replacement. This is a laptop all the way, that Toshiba should perform better when plugged in than the Apple but since it weighs 3 lbs more, has a worse screen and most likely last only 1.5 hours I will keep my Mac

[citation][nom]grifonik[/nom]Bill, good luck finding love for this! 🙂Performance oriented people are not going to see eye-to-eye with looks oriented people. There is a reason why engineers are not fashion models and vice versa.I see that cost/performance of that Crapple iFruit product and I think this: http/www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2 [...] oid=432325That is TWO more cores, a better video card, and an SSD! This laptop would spank that crapple up and down aisles and make it crap out little silicone logic bricks. Oh, and it costs less.Items like this are just going to make Crapple buyers look ridiculously low brow to the engineer/performance crowd (probably, most viewers of this site).This article is probably better suited to an industrial design site or something like that where those types of features are a priority.[/citation]

 

[BillLake]

I used to only carry 15 inch laptops, all the 17" ones were too heavy but I really benefit from being able to have multiple windows open, terminals mostly but sometime other, and the bigger 17" screens are so nice. This does not just apply to the MacBook reviewed here there are getting to be so many 16 and 17 inch laptops with weights like the 15" models from a year ago. That means same weight with more screen, win win in my book.

[citation][nom]cadder[/nom]Dell offers 9 cell batteries for lots of their machines. The 15" machines can supposedly get 5 or 6 hours of battery life, but a 17" machine is a lot hungrier. If the iFruit gets the battery life that they claim, then nothing else can touch it.Frankly, I'm not concerned about battery life in a 17" machine because I don't think people buy it to be portable, not like they do smaller machines. I don't worry so much about weight, my old Inspiron 8600 probably weighs almost as much as that 17" iFruit. I do carry my 15" machines around a lot and rely on battery power with them. I couldn't buy a bigger machine because it wouldn't fit in any of my existing cases.[/citation]

 

[croc]

You and Rachel are spending too much time trying to justify an article that Dr. Pabst would have never allowed to be posted... No comparisons, no benchmarks, this is really just an opinion piece trying to stir up clicks methinks. Black keyboard? Really hard to see with any glare on it, back-lit or not. Battery run time? No tests run, so I guess we'll just have to take your word for it, eh? Thanks, but I'd prefer some idle / load tests run. Backlit screen? Not enough nits for you without? Again, only opinion, no measurements. Enough of this. For your next effort, please include some metrics to justify your article / blog. From this post, I see no reason to get this craptop over any other.

And could you please tell me what the maximum throughput of OC192 is? Or what an ATM 'ring' is?

 

[tipmen]

ASUS W90Vp-X1 better laptop eh? Yes, i agree it isn't exactly portable but for lan gaming or desktop replacement it does very well. The price isn't bad and i could care less about the little features i care how it preforms. LED keyboard now your just spoiled sounding like the year old not getting his way!


http/www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6834220503
$2,199.99

12 cell battery (kinda needed)
T9600 cpu 2.8 ghz
18.4" inch screen plus for me
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870 X2 (speaks for itself)
6 gbs ddr2 800
320 gb 7200 rpm HD
2.0 megapixel webcam with autofocus!
Altec Lansing Surround Sound Speakers with Subwoofer

More details
http/www.notebookreview.com/defa [...] +w90+w90vp

I've realized here at toms apple is hated deeply by a lot of the users and you decided to go against the grain lol good job. I have no doubt the mac (pc) isn't a nice laptop! Better be damn well be for that price. For me i care about the hardware/price and this laptop is one beast for the money only thing your laptop beats this in is the memory (DDR3) and i really doubt it makes any difference. Bag on me for not having the shiny case or a battery life of 8 hours but i bet you leave yous plugged in at your desk 90% of the time. Sure don't forget the nifty features but who gets 30+ fps in crysis on max in 1920 1080? I'd use a mouse and a different keyboard so laptop keyboard and touch pad would be wasted.

Took my time to show you this lovely laptop as you shown us yours.

Ps this might of been on here before i don't remember.

 

[vito0001]

Macs= more or less a better looking computing device made with more or less the same ODM stuff from Taiwan and assembled in cheap labor Chinese factory's just like the less cool Acers and XXX brands, but for what they charge it should be made here in the U S of you know where....I guess Apple can get away with it because Apple is so cool.

 

[tipmen]

[citation][nom]billlake[/nom]yeah well those upgraded blondes make a lot of money on TV that the none upgraded models do not. Since all the features are worthless or overpriced, do me a favor and find a 17" laptop with a 1920x1200 screen, built in backlit keyboard, 4GB RAM, and T9000 CPU. Try to find me one that is cheap and chat in. Oh that is right, there are not any. I looked and no one has them except premium builders, since I work in dark areas often, because some companies dump their data networks in stupid areas, I need that feature. White letters on black keys that are also backlit really re move visible. Try it you might like it.[/citation]


Your too cocky reason why i wouldn't buy a mac once you do your somehow better...? the people who own macs (pcs) do because they have this need to be better then the avg joe.

 

[the inquisitor]

So... many people have probably pointed this out but, here I go anyways. First of all that laptop is overpriced. a core 2 duo and 9600m GT a $3000 price tag does not make. here are a few similarly specked windows laptops:

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114632
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220492
http/www.falcon-nw.com/

there's something for everyone from pc vendors.

On Mac OS you can install mac osX on any pc using a core 2 micro architecture processor. If you don't believe me google it.

3000 on a mac pro is a waste of money. You shouldn't try to justify indulgences with a ten page article on why its a good thing you spent that money. you could have bought a second windows system and given it away for what you spent on a laptop made with slave labor. All around bad decision making and poor research if you thought it was a good deal.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834101179&Tpk=Gateway%20FX
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115541

okay. so... 3000 for a laptop with specs that are within spitting distance of all those laptops for less than half the price makes no sense to me. The inclusion of mac osX on the mactop which was made by Taiwanese slave labor (no joke look it up foxconn uses slave labor)doesn't cover the extra cost. In the end the parts made by slave labor for the mac are of no higher quality than those made in south korea for acer, taiwan by asus and gateway or japan for toshiba. They all use the same reference design and materials fromt he same region of the world.

On the design argument, there are thousands of laptop distributors with different designs and aesthetics that can catch your eye.

for example:
http/www.smoothcreations.com/pilot.asp?pg=proddetail_notebooks
http/voodoopc.com/#/productsenvy

 

[BillLake]

An OC is an optical carrier, an OC192 is 10 GB or 4 OC 48's not including overhead. ATM is an encapsulation method that specifically provides packet size of 53 bytes. It can be used on everything from DSL to the mentioned OC circuit. ATM can be run on local LANS, like for servers, it provides service similar to Token Ring but few use it due to its cost. If you like I can give you my Cisco CCNP and CCVP ID's or you can take my word on it that I am techie enough.

This is a Tom's Guide article so I decided not to do any battery tests. Again you can arrange a demo at your local Apple store, I am sure they will let you try it as long as you want to see that the battery does perform very well on a powerful system.

[citation][nom]croc[/nom]You and Rachel are spending too much time trying to justify an article that Dr. Pabst would have never allowed to be posted... No comparisons, no benchmarks, this is really just an opinion piece trying to stir up clicks methinks. Black keyboard? Really hard to see with any glare on it, back-lit or not. Battery run time? No tests run, so I guess we'll just have to take your word for it, eh? Thanks, but I'd prefer some idle / load tests run. Backlit screen? Not enough nits for you without? Again, only opinion, no measurements. Enough of this. For your next effort, please include some metrics to justify your article / blog. From this post, I see no reason to get this craptop over any other. And could you please tell me what the maximum throughput of OC192 is? Or what an ATM 'ring' is?[/citation]
[citation][nom]croc[/nom]You and Rachel are spending too much time trying to justify an article that Dr. Pabst would have never allowed to be posted... No comparisons, no benchmarks, this is really just an opinion piece trying to stir up clicks methinks. Black keyboard? Really hard to see with any glare on it, back-lit or not. Battery run time? No tests run, so I guess we'll just have to take your word for it, eh? Thanks, but I'd prefer some idle / load tests run. Backlit screen? Not enough nits for you without? Again, only opinion, no measurements. Enough of this. For your next effort, please include some metrics to justify your article / blog. From this post, I see no reason to get this craptop over any other. And could you please tell me what the maximum throughput of OC192 is? Or what an ATM 'ring' is?[/citation]