Okay, I'd really love to buy a MacBook but I think it's a bit too pricey. I came across the new Sony VAIO SZ series today and they seem to be a pretty good competitor to the MacBooks. Anyways, here's a short summary with specs of the two laptops after I customized them. Need some opinion please!
MacBook (black)
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB memory
160GB hard drive
Double-layer SuperDrive
Intel GMA X3100 graphics card
AppleCare Protection Plan (3 years)
Battery life up to 6 hours
Total = $1922
There's a $100 off this due to student discount.
Sony VAIO SZ740
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB memory
120GB hard drive
DVD±R DL / DVD±RW / DVD-RAM Drive
3 years of warranty
Battery life up to 4 hours (upgradeable to 6)
Total = $1799
I wonder if Sony has student discounts? =P
Even if I upgrade the battery for Sony, it's still cheaper than the MacBook. The Sony one is coming out on February 10. Not too far away. The only thing that I don't know about the Sony laptop is its graphics card. It doesn't say anywhere on the site. Hmm. Also, the price for Sony's laptop is from the American store, not the Canadian one. So there might be some changes, I guess. It should be out here around that time as well. I could go and play around with it at the Sony store here.
I don't really need a MacBook. I'm looking for a good performance laptop with a reasonable price. I just wanted to try OS X instead of Windows this time. But how does Windows Vista run on a 2GB of RAM? Some people have told me it's still slow so I have no idea about that.
January 24th, 2008 at 12:36 am ↓ [ Quote ]
Ahh bro, in my opinion - and Ravi's
SONY - according to Ravi means all your paying for is the name. He said it's the bad for selling because people buy the laptop for looks per say - and not specs.
The Apple - is what you've wanted for as long as we've known each other. You're a huge, Graphics, Movie and Photo junkie and the Macbook suits your artsy ways.
Or, you can come see me @ work, and buy this - which specs rape them both.
The Source
You even get it at cost if you want, with 25% off warranty - which in theory is still WAY cheaper than the two above.
(BTW, Vista runs fine on 2GB, I'm on it right now. Come over and test run my laptop. Hell, get a Dell.)
January 24th, 2008 at 12:51 am ↓ [ Quote ]
That's like saying people buy cars just by looking the exterior aka that Aly fag. =P
Performance matters too. It's the same case for laptops.
Yeah, I really don't know yet. I might wait till mid February and try out the Sony. I'm looking for 13.3 inch. And I don't really like the specs of that Acer, mate. The RAM is amazing but the processor not that much, I guess.
January 25th, 2008 at 9:33 pm ↓ [ Quote ]
That VAIO looks pretty good. It even has the new T9300/9500 Core 2 Duos as an option (6MB of L2 cache!), although those are backordered and add quite a bit to the cost. I believe it includes a dedicated NVIDIA graphics card.
Another one you should really look into is the Dell XPS M1330. It's a 13.3" too, and at 3.97 lbs, it's lighter than the MacBook. Other good stuff: slot-loaded DVD-RW, LED-backlit display, NVIDIA GPU with 128MB of dedicated VRAM, HDMI-out, etc. The new Product(RED) version looks very slick, *and* it contributes to a good cause. =)
Found this pic of the Crimson Red version on Flickr...the (RED) version is probably quite similar:
http://flickr.com/photos/tecno-mania/2155860950/in/set-72157603604319395/
January 26th, 2008 at 1:29 am ↓ [ Quote ]
Thanks Kunal. I'll have a look at that. It does look nice though. But I don't know about the quality of the Dell laptops. My bro has the Inspiron 6400 and the screen has become quite loose over the years. A couple of my other friends have complained about the same problem as well and they got theirs just before school started in September.
January 26th, 2008 at 3:14 am ↓ [ Quote ]
Yeah, I know what you mean. I feel like the build quality of the Dells really depends on the model you get. They're all reliable as far as the internals go, but the Latitude lineup, for example, has always been better than the Inspirons in terms of external fit-and-finish.
The M1330 is part of the XPS line, which is considered to be their high-end/enthusiast series, so I think it should be fine. Remember that the chassis is a brushed aluminium and magnesium alloy, rather than the tacky plastic stuff that many of the Inspirons used to be (and probably still are?) made of. I played with one of these a while ago, and it felt pretty solid.
January 26th, 2008 at 1:23 pm ↓ [ Quote ]
Yeah, the Latitude lineup looks more solid just from the pictures. I'm going to go try out the M1330 at one of the Dell kiosks here.