Looking to buy Laptop, need help Please. Also, Mac vs. PC?

Hey Everyone,

I'm a college student, and I've realized that it would be highly beneficial in this day and age to modernize my work platform. I'm an avid PC Gamer, and built a great gaming rig a year ago that is running Vista and takes care of all my power multimedia requirements such as gaming, music and video. However, it's a desktop and about as far from portable as you can get. What I'm really looking for is a Laptop that I can carry around to all my classes, take notes, do my work, use the internet and have some fun while I'm at it. My school offers discounts from Apple and Dell, so those are the companies I'm mainly considering. I've been a straight PC man my whole life, and have even had some harsh words for Apple in the past. However, the slick Macbook update has caught my eye, and I do a lot of music recording and multimedia editing, which I feel Apple may have superior applications for. Also, I like the idea of being able to dual-boot Vista and Leopard on an Apple computer, so that I can use the best of both worlds.


Here are the three Laptops that I've priced out, based on different desires/price breakdowns:


Dell Studio 15"

-Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5850 (2.16GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache)

-Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1

-2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 (I'll buy another 2 gigs from Newegg for 30 bucks or so)

-256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450

-250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)

-8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)

-Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™ Advanced HD Software Edition

-Hi Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 LCD (1920x1200) w/ 2.0M pixel Camera

-2Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis w/Accidental Damage Prot.

-All for $1,318.47 w/Tax



Apple Macbook 13"

-Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz

-2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM (Once again, I'll buy another 2 gigs from Newegg. I can do that for a mac, right?)

-250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm

-SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

-Nvidia 9400M Graphics Chipset

-Applecare Protection Plan

-All for $1,799.74 w/Tax



Apple Macbook Pro 15"

-2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

-2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x1GB (Once again, Newegg)

-250GB Serial ATA @ 7200

-SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

-Nvidia 9400M Chipset w/ Nvidia 9600M GT 256MB GPU

-Applecare Protection Plan

-All for $2,335.81 w/Tax

Clearly these are of slightly different levels. I'm considering the Macbook Pro because of its potential to game and its increased processing power for Music/Video editing and recording, as well as the increased power for dual-booting Vista and running games on that. I mostly do Music recording and editing though, so would the regular Macbook have enough power for that?

The main question though is the Dell vs. the Macbook. The Dell is cheaper, but will I have a better experience/performance on the Macbook?

Also, if anyone knows of other PC builders where I can get a better deal/more customization than the dell, I'd love to know about them.

Thanks for reading the post, and thanks for any opinions/advice you can give.

Thanks again,

Jack

hi mate ,
I am doin a degree in art and design and I have a mbpro , but tbh I end up just using bootcamp and xp , macs are nice and they hold their value better than a pc laptop . I must say the mbp is a very smart well made bit of kit , it runs xp great , I think out of the 3 you should get the normal macbook tho , they are more portable and just as fast