Laptop advice

[Dallasin2K3]

I'm going to be needing to purchase a notebook computer in the near future. I'm fairly tech savvy but have never owned a notebook. Since I'll be having to run some fairly complicated medical imaging software (among other things), I am looking for a system that will last 4-5 years without becoming obsolete (which means that the parts need to be near top-of-the-line.. 2 gigahertz+, 256meg video, 2 gigs ram, 100 gig HD.. etc.). I have tried Dell.com and can customize a system that will handle everything for about $2,300, of the inspiron 1500 variety. Additionally, I wouldn't go any larger than a 14 or 15 inch screen.

So I'm looking for some input - for those of you who have a notebook - Dell, Toshiba, HP, whatever. I am also open to considering a Mac notebook, as the reliability seems to be good - but it doesn't look like going Mac would save any money, so there would have to be some other advantage there.

Anyone with any experience, advice, things to look into, things to avoid, etc.. I'd appreciate it.

[WTF]

Re: Laptop advice

Well, with the new Intel Mac's, you can dual boot Windows XP as well as OSX, so that would be an advantage if you want to try out a mac. The build quality is excellent, and the new MacBook Pro is just an awesome computer. They do tend to run a little warm, but nothing unbearable. I'd definately recommend it. It has an option for a 7200RPM drive (100GB), 2GB 667 DDR Ram, 256MB Video... it has almost everything you could want. The 15" is what I purchased... I wanted the 17", but it wasn't very practical for hauling it around all the time. Ah well...

[Dallasin2K3]

Re: Laptop advice

Well, with the new Intel Mac's, you can dual boot Windows XP as well as OSX, so that would be an advantage if you want to try out a mac. The build quality is excellent, and the new MacBook Pro is just an awesome computer. They do tend to run a little warm, but nothing unbearable. I'd definately recommend it. It has an option for a 7200RPM drive (100GB), 2GB 667 DDR Ram, 256MB Video... it has almost everything you could want. The 15" is what I purchased... I wanted the 17", but it wasn't very practical for hauling it around all the time. Ah well...

Ah, awesome. I've had some limited experience with macs, but would definately like the option to dual boot XP. How much did that system run, if you don't mind my asking?

And I also know that clock times are different between PC's and Mac's, but not sure how.. does a Mac clock faster, or slower...?

[ObiWanJenkins]

Re: Laptop advice

Ah, awesome. I've had some limited experience with macs, but would definately like the option to dual boot XP. How much did that system run, if you don't mind my asking?

And I also know that clock times are different between PC's and Mac's, but not sure how.. does a Mac clock faster, or slower...?

MacBooks

MacBook Pros

The dual booting is run through Mac BootCamp, a beta software package on Apple's website.

In general, a Mac speeds are faster than PC speeds. If you're into multi-media, Mac is the only way to go.

[Rodster]

Re: Laptop advice

Best bang for the buck is Dell. Their Mobile Workstation Notebooks are incredible. As for looking at a mac notebook, unless you plan on using mac osx it's a waste of money.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/precn_m90?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

I've used my Dell Notebook going on 4 years. it's been used and still works great.

[dbeth]

Re: Laptop advice

It's now much safer to compare Mac speeds to PC speeds as they're both running on Intel chips now (in the past, since Macs were on PowerPC, the architecture of the chips made comparing...well...Apples to oranges).

The new Intel Macs run Windows apps and stuff as fast (or faster) in some cases that similarly configured Dells, etc. (this is obviously with the Mac running Boot Camp).

[ObiWanJenkins]

Re: Laptop advice

Best bang for the buck is Dell. Their Mobile Workstation Notebooks are incredible. As for looking at a mac notebook, unless you plan on using mac osx it's a waste of money.

That's completely false. There have been no issues dual booting Windows on an Intel Mac. You can run Windows almost exclusively on a Macbook if you choose. But then again, besides compatibility with certain software, there really isn't any reason to choose Windows over OSX.

[Rodster]

Re: Laptop advice

That's completely false. There have been no issues dual booting Windows on an Intel Mac. You can run Windows almost exclusively on a Macbook if you choose. But then again, besides compatibility with certain software, there really isn't any reason to choose Windows over OSX.

I've never understood why anyone would want to run Windows on a Mac? I use a mac and I run OSX on it. After using both platforms this may come as a shock to you, I perfer Windows XP over OSX.

[throwmonkey]

Re: Laptop advice

I like the idea of running Windows on a Mac because although for the most part I prefer OSX, there are certain programs such as Solidworks that is incompatible with OSX.

[ObiWanJenkins]

Re: Laptop advice

I've never understood why anyone would want to run Windows on a Mac? I use a mac and I run OSX on it. After using both platforms this may come as a shock to you, I perfer Windows XP over OSX.

The problem for me is the file system registry. It's so inefficient.

[Rodster]

Re: Laptop advice

The problem for me is the file system registry. It's so inefficient.

Using both systems and OS's there are always pros and cons to each. The Windows Registry has never been a problem for me. I still don't understand why you would recommend using Windows XP on a Mac?

If I want to run Windows XP, I prefer using a PC, and if I want to run OSX i'll fire up my Mac.

[Silverstring]

Re: Laptop advice

Using both systems and OS's there are always pros and cons to each. The Windows Registry has never been a problem for me. I still don't understand why you would recommend using Windows XP on a Mac?

If I want to run Windows XP, I prefer using a PC, and if I want to run OSX i'll fire up my Mac.

Umm, the original poster wants advice toward buying a new laptop. A Mac is the ONLY computer/laptop that will run OS X and Windows XP(that accounts for what is being characterized as a price "premium"). Are you suggesting the guy seeking advice buy two computers?!?

Just like tons of users out there the original poster might want/need to run Windows for an application or two, or to run games.

[ObiWanJenkins]

Re: Laptop advice

Using both systems and OS's there are always pros and cons to each. The Windows Registry has never been a problem for me. I still don't understand why you would recommend using Windows XP on a Mac?

If I want to run Windows XP, I prefer using a PC, and if I want to run OSX i'll fire up my Mac.

You boot Windows XP on a Mac. You can't really dual boot Mac on an XP laptop. With Mac, you get the best of both worlds. With a laptop PC, you only get one option. I don't know about you, but having two for the price of one seems a much better deal to me. Silverstring hit the nail on the head; with your advice, the poster has to buy two separate machines.

Since the man is asking for advice, why don't you list the Windows features that make you prefer it over OSX?

[Rodster]

Re: Laptop advice

Umm, the original poster wants advice toward buying a new laptop. A Mac is the ONLY computer/laptop that will run OS X and Windows XP(that accounts for what is being characterized as a price "premium"). Are you suggesting the guy seeking advice buy two computers?!?

Just like tons of users out there the original poster might want/need to run Windows for an application or two, or to run games.

Well the original poster was asking for advice on buying a Dell. Someone else suggested a MBP. No i'm not suggesting he buy 2 computers. I stand by what I stated earlier. If the man has no intentions of running OSX it's a waste of money. If the guy wants to run games the Dell will smoke a MBP, end of story. You can configure a 15 inch dell with a mobile X1400 mobile Radeon or the new mobile nVidia graphics.

It sounds like most of his programs run in XP. So yeah it's a waste of money buying a machine that costs more than a comparable Dell. I like Apple products I own them but i'm not a kool-aid drinker. That's how I see it.

[Rodster]

Re: Laptop advice

Since the man is asking for advice, why don't you list the Windows features that make you prefer it over OSX?

As I stated before I own a mac and I like Apple products but i'm objective as in i'm not a kool-aid drinker. Running a XP machine is the best bang for the buck, software and hardware wise. Remember there's more competition on both the hardware and software side.

Software is usually a lot cheaper for games and business apps. I've been using XP Pro since 2001 and it's a very stable platform. I find it just as easy to use and navigate in it's UI as I do OSX. Both companies have different ways of writing their software.

Your saying the Registry is inefficient, I find there's a trade off because once you know your way around the Registry you can change and manipulate system settings to your liking. It's no different than knowing your way with Unix root. Again both OS's do things differently and there's always a trade off.

I find XP is a much faster OS than OSX. We, as in most Mac users have heard the word snappy. I find OSX is less snappy than Classic and Windows XP. I have 1 meg of ram on my mac and it takes longer to load a program than on XP with half the memory. Safari still crashes on my system with 1 meg. Anandtech confirmed this in one of his reviews of a G5 PM until the kool-aid drinkers called him an idiot.

Everyone has there perferences I think both machines bring some good to the table and not all is perfect with XP or OSX.

Again to the original poster my comment would be, buy a Mac if you intend on using OSX and not treating it as a play toy so you can run XP apps. If that's the case buy a Dell because it's the much better value.