Well, you can't really compare the 2, but I'll give it a try.
The 15" MBP with 2.8Ghz, 320GB HD @ 7200, 4GB DDR3 is $2,849 The Dell, with 2.8GHz, 320GB HD @ 7200, add Bluetooth, 802.11n, Vista Ultimate, is $4,792.
The Dell has RAID, room for dual drives, a better video card, e-sata port, 17" display, and a 64 bit architecture, but I'm not sure those additions are worth almost $2,000 more. I'd love to have one, but I'd rather have a kick ass server *and* a MBP.
If this was, say, $3,000, then maybe, but it really does seem quite expensive for what Dell is giving you. This is way beyond Apple expensive, this is holy freaking Christ expensive.
If you want to compare to the MBP, you really need to compare the M4400, configured as you described for $2,578, three hundred less than the MBP. Macs are all kinds of great, but cheap is not one of them...
While the rest of the specs are comparable, keep in mind that you're buying a 1GB QUADRO video card. The drivers for these cards go through a much more rigorous testing and certification for high level CAD programs. Quadro cards, while similar specs to consumer cards, regularly sell for 3-4 times the cost of standard cards, just for this driver stability alone.
A similar quadro card for a desktop retails for $2,000. That's where your price difference is coming from.
@Steve, I did not know that. The most expensive Quadro FX 3700 I could find is $900, but that plus RAID, etc. I guess you're getting close to $4500 at that point.
I guess I'm wondering what the market for these is. Not being facetious, I would like to know who would buy these (and can actually afford them) and for what specific purpose.
All these things on the Mac are worthless, since the max RAM that you can add on MBP is 4GB. This Dell allows you to expand till 16GB. 4GB RAM is now a common thing on most consumer portables while Pros are now looking for 8GB or higher. But I agree, it's not worth the extra grand.
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MAN, APPLE REALLY NEEDS TO DROP PRICES ON THEIR...
oh, it's a Dell
Nice machine!
(lol)
Minus the lol.
Replace Quad GPU with the one similar to the new macs and it probably cheaper than them macs.
Well, you can't really compare the 2, but I'll give it a try.
The 15" MBP with 2.8Ghz, 320GB HD @ 7200, 4GB DDR3 is $2,849
The Dell, with 2.8GHz, 320GB HD @ 7200, add Bluetooth, 802.11n, Vista Ultimate, is $4,792.
The Dell has RAID, room for dual drives, a better video card, e-sata port, 17" display, and a 64 bit architecture, but I'm not sure those additions are worth almost $2,000 more. I'd love to have one, but I'd rather have a kick ass server *and* a MBP.
If this was, say, $3,000, then maybe, but it really does seem quite expensive for what Dell is giving you. This is way beyond Apple expensive, this is holy freaking Christ expensive.
If you want to compare to the MBP, you really need to compare the M4400, configured as you described for $2,578, three hundred less than the MBP. Macs are all kinds of great, but cheap is not one of them...
-e
CraigJ:
While the rest of the specs are comparable, keep in mind that you're buying a 1GB QUADRO video card. The drivers for these cards go through a much more rigorous testing and certification for high level CAD programs. Quadro cards, while similar specs to consumer cards, regularly sell for 3-4 times the cost of standard cards, just for this driver stability alone.
A similar quadro card for a desktop retails for $2,000. That's where your price difference is coming from.
@EF, yep, never said they were cheap
@Steve, I did not know that. The most expensive Quadro FX 3700 I could find is $900, but that plus RAID, etc. I guess you're getting close to $4500 at that point.
I guess I'm wondering what the market for these is. Not being facetious, I would like to know who would buy these (and can actually afford them) and for what specific purpose.
I wish I needed one...
You use these for 3d animation and movie effect production. Maya, etc.
@Craig
All these things on the Mac are worthless, since the max RAM that you can add on MBP is 4GB. This Dell allows you to expand till 16GB. 4GB RAM is now a common thing on most consumer portables while Pros are now looking for 8GB or higher.
But I agree, it's not worth the extra grand.