Dell XPS M1330 vs Apple MacBook Air

Now that Apple's Macbook Air is out and available for purchase in two weeks, would you like to go for it over Dell's XPS M1330? Which one would you choose and why?

Dell XPS M1330

Apple MacBook Air

 

The Macbook Air looks nice. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that if you put it in a bag it would shatter into fifty pieces.

 

No, as they're really two different types of notebooks...

 

I wouldn't say so. Both are relatively small laptops, Apple just took it to the extreme.

Personally, I would go with the Dell. Granted the Apple's "cool" but it think they focused too much on looks and size for their Air.

 

The MacBook Air is very sleek looking and has the advantage in thinness and weight, but I will stick with my m1330. Moving to the MacBook Air would mean I would be sacrificing: HDMI, Firewire, one USB port, an optical drive, media card reader, express card slot (and the nifty remote that stores in it), ethernet, dedicated GPU, more powerful CPU, larger and faster hard drive, fingerprint reader, etc. This is off the top of my head.

The m1330 is already plenty light (my criteria is: can I pick it up with one hand? The answer is yes) and small enough to be portable, and it's powerful enough and packed with enough features that it can serve as a primary computer and even a light gaming machine. I don't think the MacBook Air will be a very good primary machine considering its extremely limited amount of ports and lack of optical drive.

Just my $0.02.

 

I think its more like this. Macbook or the m1330. Thats my 0.02 cents.

 

If I had a choice between all of the above, it would either be a Dell D630 or ThinkPad. I'm thinking it would be a ThinkPad.

 

an area of concern with the Macbook air is that it is not possible to access the battery/RAM etc... just like the iPods where ppl have to take it back to Apple if the battery dies...

 

Also, you did post this in the Dell forum, it would cause obvious biases...vice versa in the Apple forum.

 

I just don't see the less than 1" thickness working too well.

Also, losing all those features....

Not sure it's worth $1800...

 

I like neither my girl friends nor my laptops too skinny

 

Macbook air certainly looks cool, and brings a whole new meaning to the concept of thin & light notebooks. I have to admit that in a pure technological point of view, it beats the crap out of M1330, but still I prefer M1330 because it is a PC and has more options/ports.

 

Simple, if you want performance and value get the DELL, as it has always been the case. If you want multi touhch scrolling and a work of engineering art that will probably be in MoMa one day then get the MBA.

there is no JESUS notebook, just a phone

not everyone is poor and wants lagacy ports poking out of their asses.

having said that, i happen to be poor and needs a 8600GT for work purposes so ill begetting a vostro 1500 with my coupons.

 

From what i have experienced there are ultraportables that sacrifice too many features for portability, and their are ultraportables that mesh a good mixture of them. While the mac air is ultraportable, it sacrifices too many features to make it useable to 90% of people. The m1330 is a great combination of being portable, and feature rich.

If the mac air was a 10" laptop, then it would be a different story. But at 13", it sacrifices way to much to be thin.

 

I agree with that assessment. However, I'll reserve final judgment of the Air until I see it in person.

 

i like my m1530 for its functionality, but would urge my wife to grab that the MBA. that way if i just need basic office utils, then I'll take hers for the day, and if i need anything else, I have my trusty dell. It looks real fragile, but even though my dell looks much more sturdy, i still baby it like it a thin pane of glass. dayam that MBA looks sooper sweet

 

Very true.

 

Well some people in the apple forums are thinking the product will fail

 

The XPS 1330 is light enough, compact enough, and has three battery options to keep it fueled when not plugged in. It has an optical media drive, and user-servicable items like RAM that isn't soldered directly to the motherboard, and has many more port options than the MacBook. The Dell also packs in a dedicated graphics card, so you're looking at a more configurable, more robust, more powerful, more capable, and more expandable laptop compared to Apple's good looks.

MacBook Air: Pay more, do less.

 

You know, I wouldn't post this in the Dell forum, as the results are quite... predictable. lol.

Anyway, on the comparison, I'd still pick the 1330. Maybe it's just me, but I can't take having lots of features being compromised just to keep the Air that thin. I want a fully functional laptop, not something of an iPod-ish laptop [iPod-ish in terms of having to buy some accessories just to make it fully functional]. Also, I don't like the sound of the 80 GB iPod 4200 RPM drive; I think it will be really really slow. SSD would be nice, but a very very very expensive option.

But if you can afford it, and cool factor is more important than function, I'm all for the MBA [oh yeah, haha]. Be sure to make a review!

 

$3,100 for the new Macbook with the SSD option? I don't think so! Typical Mac - average performance and above-average pricing.

If it was a choice between the new Mac and the M1330, M1330 FTW.

 

This is an apples to oranges kind of thing. Between the two the M1330 because it is far more practical. However there are many more ultraportable notebooks that could be considered if you want something very light and portable. Try feeling out the "What Should I Buy?" FAQ and posting it in the forum that matchs. The big heads an NBR will gladly help you find something that fits both your wants and your needs which will suit you far better than the MacBook Air but come closer to its portability than the 1330.

 

I started this thread to know if people who had made up their mind to buy Dell XPS M1330 would still go ahead and buy it or would change their mind to Apple MacBook Air now that it will be available. Hence, I felt that this thread was more appropriate in the Notebook Manufacturers > Dell Forum. If the Administrators here feel that this thread is more suitable at: What Notebook Should I Buy? then please move the thread.

 

xps m1330, faster, also a very good looking laptop, light with discrete graphics option

 

The Apple MacBook Air looks nice, but compared to the M1330 or any other notebook it is slow (just 1.6 or 1.8 GHz), has a relatively small and slow harddisk (only 80 GB / 4200 RPM), relatively weak graphics card (Intel X3100), NO optical drive, only one USB port, no Firewire, no HDMI, no card reader, etc. If you purely look at the tech specs then the MB Air is WAY too expensive.

You can get a much better laptop, such as an M1330, for much less money.

But there is a JISUS notebook...

 

I have played around with both and i feel they are in the same class and that the dell is much much much better and cheaper. The air also feels to me like it would break to easily. kinda defeats the purpose of being light.

 

Do you want a notebook filled with air or hardware? It really is as simple as that. When it comes to 'lightweight', I think that the Macbook Air just takes things to such an extreme that it actually succeeds in rendering itself entirely redundant in the process.

 

If money were no object I would get the Air but otherwise the M1330 would be a better value for me.

You might want to wait for the 13.3 inch Latitude E... the leaked spec sheet shows it weighing a little less than the Air and I believe it includes an optical drive (along with extra processing power, a replaceable battery, more wireless features, and likely better battery life).