Living in a laptop world
I’ve resisted owning a laptop for years, mainly because I don’t really have a desire to sip a latte, sitting outside Starbucks while browsing myspace (that IS what you do with a laptop, right?).
Most laptops I see are huge, with ginormous screens, really stretching the ‘lap’ in laptop.
I have a desktop, and no laptop will ever replace the performance, comfort, and ergonomics of sitting at my desktop with my 30-inch monitor and surround sound.
I’ve considered getting one of the new 13-inch laptops, mainly as a convenience for that every-once-in-a-while time that I’d like to be somewhere other than my desk, but need to do some computing.
The problem with having a laptop which is not your only/main computer is the need to maintain two systems.
Most laptop users get over this problem by separating their environment; games on desktop, work on laptop; photo editing on desktop, email on laptop.
I’ve yet to find anyone that has maintained (for any significant period of time) a desktop and laptop with exactly the same state.
So, either I decide to make the jump to a laptop-only computing life or I live a dual-life.
Neither option makes sense to me.
I’m probably not getting a laptop, but I went through the process of comparing the latest 13-inch’ers from Apple and Dell. I’d drop a Linux boot partition on both, so I’m really only looking at hardware specs, not software.
Basic Options (configured to be as similar as possible)
|
Dell XPS M1330
|
Apple 13-Inch MacBook
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
Color
|
red, white, black
|
white, black
|
|
CPU
|
2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache
(Intel® Core⢠2 Duo Processor T7500) |
2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
|
|
Mem
|
2GB (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
|
2GB (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
|
|
HHD |
160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
|
160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
|
|
Screen
|
TFT 13.3 inch / 1280×800 / WebCam
|
TFT 13.3 inch / 1280×800 / WebCam
|
|
Video
|
128MB NVIDIA® GeForce⢠8400M GS
|
Intel GMA 950 64MB shared with main memory
|
|
Wireless
|
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N
|
AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n)
|
|
Weight
|
3.9 lbs
|
5.1 lbs
|
|
OS
|
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
|
Apple OS X
|
|
Warranty
|
1 yr
|
1 yr
|
|
Price
|
$1,999
|
$1,898
|
Max Options
|
Dell XPS M1330
|
Apple 13-Inch MacBook
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
Color
|
red, white, black
|
white, black
|
|
CPU (max)
|
2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache
(Intel® Core⢠2 Duo Processor T7500) |
2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
|
|
Mem (max)
|
4GB (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
|
2GB (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
|
|
HHD (max)
|
64GB Solid State Drive
|
200GB SATA (4200 rpm)
|
|
Screen
|
Slim and Light LED 13.3 inch / 1280×800 / WebCam
|
TFT 13.3 inch / 1280×800 / WebCam
|
|
Video
|
128MB NVIDIA® GeForce⢠8400M GS
|
Intel GMA 950 64MB shared with main memory
|
|
Wireless
|
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N
|
AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n)
|
|
Extras
|
Biometric Fingerprint Reader
|
None
|
|
Weight
|
3.8 lbs
|
5.1 lbs
|
|
OS
|
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
|
Apple OS X
|
|
Warranty
|
1 yr
|
1 yr
|
|
Price
|
$3,649
|
$1,998
|
Dell wins for me, especially with all the additional upgrades which are not available from Apple.