5 Laptops that Destroy the New MacBook Pros

Er, how much is the ASUS G Series G51JX-A1 again?

Oh, yeah. And sorry......

It's logical when you think that what they do is bring down the power usage by reducing performance power, use a more modern and efficient battery, then slap an Apple price tag on top and you have what looks like a cleverly produced product, but what you have is a washed out looking underclocked small-notebook with a good battery life (That is, a 13" macbook pro)

it's not hard to beat a MacBook spec-wise, but unfortunately I've yet to find a laptop with the same build quality without spending similarly exorbitant amounts of money.

Such is the nature of boutique builders, and I think half of the venom against Apple would go away if they just admitted they're boutique builders or a designer label.

Great internal hardware...then you realise you have to use Windows with them and, urgh no thanks.

I'm Alienware will have decent build quality

God damn...

Should read: "I'm Sure"

I would presume then that you've never used Windows 7, or cannot think outside of what Lord Jobs has permitted you to use.

Seriously, its just an operating system - windows, icons, menus, pointer - they're ALL the same so unless you are some trolling fanboi or retard then I fail to see what's "ugh" about Windows when OSX and whatever flavour of Linux is fashionable this week is no more/less good/ugh.

refreshing 2 c apple gettin' kickd up their ***

At the risk of involving myself in a slanging match (again), I have to agree with the above. Windows 7 is excellent, and if you think it's poor then it'd be nice to know why. Personally, I prefer OS X marginally but I dislike Apple and to an extent the people that 'swear by Macs'. It's certainly not a big enough difference to say 'urgh' about. If you aren't using Windows at all then you're missing out on a lot. My guess is that you do use Windows sometimes.

If Apple weren't crap, you'd be able to use Snow Leopard on any of these machines. As it is, they are. So you get ripped off instead on poor hardware with a decent OS.

I thought Alienware products are always dangerously overpriced?

Yeah... so that ought to tell you something about Apple's pricing.

Yeah exactly

I'm sorry Tuan but are you really surprised Apple gets slated so much?

1) Yes the case is nice, but to be honest I bought my wife a cheap laptop (£259 nearly four years ago). It gets dropped, banged, cups of tea spilt on it and generally abused and it has never gone wrong and nothing has broken off of it. 8+ hours a day usage, 5 days a week.

2) Top of the line MacBook has a 1440x900 resolution screen? Either that's a typo or Apple really are taking the mickey. The afore-mentioned cheap laptop has the same resolution and, as I said, it's nearly 4 years old. Built in webcam too.

3) Where exactly is the "value-add" coming from that would justify spending nearly $800 more on an inferior spec laptop?
The case? Is it really worth $800?
The (mythical) build quality? Give it to my wife and I'm sure it would do no better or worse than her current laptop.
The OS perhaps? You could buy 3 copies of Windows 7 Ultimate for that money and even Windows Server 2008 doesn't cost that much!
Perhaps all 3 of these together: case, build quality, and OS? Somehow I doubt it.

Unless you have a genuine reason to buy a Mac (of which there are some at least) then that $800 premium just seems like a complete waste. Think of all the things you could do with $800! This, for instance, looks much more fun than a MacBook.

I love Macbooks' build quality and thin frame... none of the PC laptops have that...

However, for desktops, PC FTW.

ermm.. at the risk of being barrage by the usual stockholme syndrome apple fanboy, may i remind you all that Apple came 4th in a recent laptop reliablilty (behind ASUS and MSI) and thats just on the laptops they accepted were their responsibilty. Usually with Apple if it fails it's your fault, since they're perfect, you probably used the wrong finger to turn it on or gave the screen a funny look...

ASUS FTW!!!!!!!!

If you're willing to spend mac like prices, you can get serious PC hardware. I just ordered a Dell M4500 mobile workstation w/ 4 core i7 + 8mb cache, a graphics professional quality display (no gloss here), and a true professional workstation graphics card, all encased in a slab of black metal for $2100.

Meanwhile you'll need to spend $2400 to get close to that on the mac book... and its still only dual core (I think? The only 2.66 ghz i7 I can find lists 2 cores)

As long as people buy Apple products the prices will remain high. Its just economics. I need performance for my £ but that's not everyones cup of tea.

You might have a reliable VW but you'd still wish you had a Porshe that breaks down. It's just whether the cost is justified. (But in this case the Porshe has a 1 litre Fiesta engine in it.)

Don't forget resale value. You can buy a mac and sell it 2 years later for significant chunk of the original value. Example, MBP bought 18 months ago for $2k sells now for around $1.5k.

No weight for each "laptop" posted. Anything with an 18" screen should be in a new category of computer. A 15" MacBook Pro still is only 5.6 pounds and less than an inch think with a claimed 8-9 hours of battery life. To me this makes it a "true" laptop that can be used on the lap, as a mobile computer with power and battery life to make it through a business flight or day of working out of the office.

Yes, I'd love to have been able to get a Blu-ray drive in the 15" MacBook Pro I ordered, would really have liked that, but I am looking for a portable machine that allows me to do my professional photography work from my desk, a hotel, basically any location. Also, the clean design is impressive when showing clients their photos, though an iPad may replace even my MacBook Pro.

I can appreciate the cost savings with a PC, but what resale value will you get 2-3 years down the line? Macs hold their value very well. I never see that brought up.

Just having no stickers or pasted on 3rd party labels on MY computer is enough to keep me buying Macs forever.

Resale value? I'm not sure what difference that makes when your Mac costs you three times what it should cost. So you buy a Mac for 2k, sell it 18 months later for 1.5k losing you $500. I buy an equivalent PC for $800 and 18 months later it's worth $500? Plus I can upgrade it if I like for a relatively small amount of money keeping it useful for many years.

How many Power PC owners have Snow Leopard? And how many 5 year old PC's can I add the latest flavour of Windows or even Linux to (all of them in case you're wondering - I did have to spend a tenner on a sound card for one though).

PC's are all about versatility and choice; things you mostly throw away with an Apple purchase.

Sure these laptops beat the macbooks in pure performance stakes. But that is not necessary why you buy a laptop. If all you want is performance then buy a desktop. The mbp 13 especially is a completely different class from these other laptops. Some people want portability and battery life from there computer, imagine taking the 18.4" Qosmio on a plane, or to university for 7hrs of lectures.

Imagine being at uni and able to afford a MacBook?

I'd rather like to have a macbook white unibody... need the OS... hackintosh is troublesome for me... performance?? I don't care that much!!! a C2D may also last at least 6 years more just to do basic and Electronics CAD stuff...

Lets not forget that part of the point of using Mac OS is grand central dispatch does a much better job of handling multitasking than on windows, and the operating system is amazing with opencl, add in core audio and you can see how someone who wants to work with multimedia would be willing to spend more to get a better platform for their money. If you are playing games or writing emails, stick to a PC, there's nothing wrong with it, but if you want something to edit photos or record your band, I'd seriously consider the operating system when making your decision.

You use the word 'destroy' in your heading, and then ask for a 'mature level' of commentary.

Right.

--

Win 7 might be ok (never tried it, never willingly will), but it's a copy of OSX circa 2001 delivered in 2009.

Way to go, Microsoft: 'copy and lamely paste'!

Zune was awesome too...

well these are top of the line "mobile" gaming rigs, so they are extremely bulky and and overweight (+3 kg) so if you want top performance at the expence of mobility it's ok, but if you are an average user a MBP 13" is one of the best deals out there.

Good specs but they run windows......not my call

macs=no DLL errors.... light and stable operating system all round.... extremely rare virus attacks (never had one in 7 years) i used to be a pc user, yes it's true they can be more powerful and much cheaper...but spending so much time looking at the screen freeze and maintenance issues, viruses and so on ?! i'd rather have less power under the bonnet... if you can afford it get a Mac and you'll never look back....