Ok, I am so tired of hearing about the Apple iPad. Yes its new, and yes it’s cool and yes there is hype, but seriously, let’s take a break. I want to ask you if you are looking to buy a new laptop? If so, I am sure you are looking through the catalogs for the latest specials, and you are probably looking around the $1500 mark. I want to compare two computers for you to see which one you should be looking at.
Firstly, I imagine that you are a standard computer user, that is, you don’t do high powered gaming or graphics and don’t need the meanest machine around. So you want, email, internet and facebook. Standard stuff. Lets take a look at the contenders.
Apple MacBook Pro 13″
• 2.4GHz or 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB on-chip shared L2 cache
• 1066MHz frontside bus
• 4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 memory; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 8GB
• 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with support for millions of colours
• 250GB or 320GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive; optional 320GB or 500GB 5400-rpm hard drive, or 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB solid-state drive
• NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory
MSI CX620 15.6″
• Intel® Core™ i5 Processor
• Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
• Classic Cross-Hatch Design
• 15.6” 16:9 wide screen display
• LED power-saving backlight technology
• 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN with Bluetooth
• HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) Output
• 250GB/320GB/500GB SATA
Ok so obviously I am not comparing apples with apples (no pun intended). But I did want to make a point. I have had an MSI laptop and they are FANTASTICALLY good machines. A brand you will not think of, but up there with the Toshiba’s for quality. No, I wanted to bring your attention to the Apple MacBook Pro range. I know that I am comparing similar computers here, the main differences being the Apple has a smaller screen and older processor, but it does have 4 times the ram and and better graphics card, these are the twp things that are going to matter to you for what you are going to be using the machine for. Secondly to performance, is weight, 13″ Apple ~2kg, MSI ~2.5kg. Not much but you can hold 2kg in one hand easily, and for a while, 2.5kg is just more.
The other main point that you may not be aware of is the life of the machine itself. I have a 7 year old Apple PowerBook G4. I can tell you that even today, it not only still looks modern, but it can handle all of the latest software easily. And you can expect the same from the MacBook Pro, not from the MSI.
Now to cost. Apple retail the 13″ at $1499.00, the MSI at $1225.00 from ITSDirect. While the Apple is $300 more, you will be grateful that you paid extra in 6 years when it is good as new and the MSI is long in the bin.
There are many more benefits of owning a Mac over a PC, jump over here to find out more.
In conclusion, just a thought, if you think that Apples are two expensive, consider the long term costs of owning one. They break down less, no viruses and will last the test of time. AND, if in 6 years you want to sell it you will likely get over 1/3 of your money back, unlike any PC where it is immediately worthless. They can do everything you can do on your PC and they are easier to use, why not consider one?
One Response to “Are you looking for a new laptop? Here is an idea!”
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Raven Culture. Raven Culture said: http://www.squigglydragon.com/are-you-looking-for-a-new-laptop-here-is-an-idea/ http://bit.ly/biJcwI [...]