Macbook Pro or 1330

Can't figure out which one I should get...
Here are the specs on the dell I configured..

My Components
Tuxedo Black
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7300 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache)
Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium Edition
Slim and Light White LED Display with no webcam
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
120GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 8400M GS
High Definition Audio 2.0
Biometric Fingerprint Reader
My Accessories
56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
Core Bundle: 2-outlet surge, 1GB flash drive, wireless optical mouse
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
Netgear RangeMax NEXT Wireless-N Gigabit Router
My Software
Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 - Word, Excel + PowerPoint
McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 15-months
No Entertainment software pre-installed
My Service
1 Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor - Next Business Day
1Yr LoJack for Laptops Theft Protection (CD Shipped Separately)
Free 10GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Year
No ISP requested
Also Includes
CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW Drive)
Award Winning Service and Support
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor
Windows Vista™ Premium
Slim and Light LCD with Tuxedo Black Casing W/O Camera XPS M1330

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Now I will be using it mainly for school work and internet, but if I wanted to game I figured I could go with a Macbook + a PS3 or 360, and it would be a little cheaper..

Anyways, what do you guys think would be good?

Can the m1330 handle games like call of duty 4, bf2142, fear, and some other good games?

Let me know.. Thanks

 

Not sure about CoD 4, but the 8400M GS should handle BF2142 and FEAR ok. Maybe not as well as the 8600M GT in a 15.4" machine (MBP, Inspiron 1520, Asus G1S, etc.), but should do the trick.

 

Macbook pro and m1330 are in two different leagues. you cant really compare ultra portable to a real computer. However for gaming, u will need a window system.

 

MBP

-OS X

-better graphics

-heavier

15in


XPS1330

-lighter

-only 13in

-worse graphic



It all depends on whether you want better graphics or a more portable system

 

Well I recently placed an order for the xps 1330 after returning a macbook pro I has purchased the new SR MBP $2500 model and it is a sexy machine with a lot of power under the hood however the hood was always overheating due to that MBP heat issue. My notebook would get very hot even when I was just surfing online. The battery life on the MBP using windows vista ultimate is terrible I was getting around 2 hours. I know someone will say you can download smc fan control to fix the issue with the heat but why should I sacrifice battery life cranking up the fans just so that I can touch the damn laptop without getting burned. To me the xps 1330 is the perfect mix of everything you can possibly want even an hdmi port and I know people will say yea but no blu-ray drive or anything blah blah blah well I dont know about you but I would rather conncet my notebook to my hdtv using a single digital solution for video and sound in the hdmi cable.

 

As said above MBP and M1330 are in two different classes. M1330 is comparable to a MacBook (Non Pro) and a MBP is comparable to an Inspiron 1520. In both cases DELL wins in terms of performance/price.

 

This is going off topic, but one thing I'd point out in a comparison between the Inspiron 1520 and MBP is that the Inspiron 1520, similarly configured, even with Dell discounts, isn't dramatically cheaper, doesn't feature LED-backlighting, etc. and is a pound heavier (6.4 pounds compared to 5.4 pounds), and is 1.45-1.65" thick compared to 1" thick for the MBP. I don't think it's as cut and dry as some might thing, depending on what was important.

Either way, it probably isn't fair to compare the Inspiron line to the MBP, given the differences (the Inspiron 1520 as a whole is designed so that it can be configured as a significantly cheaper machine, so it has to make some sacrifices in areas like weight/thickness/etc. so that it can still be sold as a $1000 machine at a base configuration).

 

I ordered the 1330 and I was in the same boat. Much rather have the mobility, better battery life, and small footprint. Also I realized I have no use for Mac OS.

 

Yeah. Also wait a few months... I think the 1520 will get a lot cheaper once there are coupons for it.

 

Maybe..... although it's already being discounted (I got like $290 instant savings off a fairly loaded config, but it was still fairly close in price to an Asus G1S or MBP). I guess with more major ones it could be more of a difference.

 

If money wasn't an issue, I would definitely just buy the MBP.

 

Yeah but the current discounts are just on configs that include like a 2 year warranty and a year of McAfee (whatever, Avast is free)... with the coupons you can get bigger discounts (like $500) off the config you want. At least, that was the case with the e1505.

 

I think after a while there will be better discounts, give it a couple of weeks. It has only been 2 days. I don’t think current prices are any indication to what the real value (price) of a 1520. Over here in Japan there is almost USD 1000 difference between a similarly configured MBP and a 1520.

I did a quick comparison in the US sites, and without any discounts a 1520 (with a T7500) is like $300 less than a MBP. You can save a lot by getting a lower processor and using discounts which will make the difference worth mentioning, don't you think ? (according to apple and dell web sites)

 

I was about to say what Phoenix said. I have no idea what you guys are smoking; a 1520 in the States (2ghz, 2gb ram, 256mb gt, 9 cell battery) with a 3-year warranty is almost exactly $1000 cheaper than an "identical" config MBP that comes with only a 90-day warranty. And if the only discount you're getting is $290, you're doing something wrong. I stacked $750 worth of discounts on mine, and I believe other people have done even more.

 

Yeah, that is true. I received $750 in discounts as well. I do hate how they apply the $200 coupon before the 12% discount.

 

the m1330 has almost equal power to the macbook pro. i mean the only difference is the macbook can have either the 2.2ghz or the 2.4ghz - which the dell can have up to 2.2 (which you can put a 2.4 or even the extreme in it when it comes out)

and the video card, which the GT is better than the GS but by no means is the GS a bad card.

saying there not even in the same league is completely wrong. the mbp doesnt offer over 160gb or ssd like the dell, especially 200gb in 7.2K. they both can run 4GB of memory.

the xps is cheaper with the same specs and discounts,

dells led screen is brighter than the typical lcd screen - the mpb's led is the same brightness as their not-led version. plus dell offers a accidental warranty which mpb does not and i believe the dell warranty is even cheaper and still includes accidental

and on top of that - its lighter, better battery life, especially with windows, has fingerprint option, has color options (which don't mean anything), and the screen is smaller - which could be an advantage or dissadvantage based on what you like

 

I see.... yeah, if you use the $2499 MBP, I can see how that happens (especially with only a 2.0 GHz CPU, since the jump in price between 2.0 and 2.4GHz CPU is pretty big).

I didn't find additional discounts to stack, just the regular instant savings, so that explains the issue I saw as well.

Either way, again, the other big thing to consider between an Inspiron 1520 and an MBP is the difference in weight and dimensions and materials and LED-backlit screen; again, this isn't a knock on the Inspiron 1520; as a much more configurable machine, it needs to be something that works as the basis for a $1000 laptop just as much as a $2000 laptop. It wouldn't be possible for Dell to make a single Inspiron 1520 with a 1" thick 5.4 pound chassis, etc. and have such a wide variety of options, etc.

Personally I would love to see Dell add a 15" XPS machine to the lineup, to fit in between the XPSM1330 and the 17" XPS's.

Although this isn't as much of a necessity now with the Inspiron 1520, which now has much better graphics options than were available with the previous model.

-Zadillo

 

To be fair, there is a pretty major difference between the 8600M GT in the MBP, Inspiron 1520, Asus G1S, etc. and the 8400M GS. This difference is understandable of course; the XPSM1330 is a 4 pound ultraportable 13.3" machine.

When people say they aren't "in the same league", it isn't a knock against the XPSm1330; the point is just that they are different classes of computer with different purposes.

 

good point and maybe its cuz i just ordered a m1330 that i defending it , although if the macbook pro was offered in a 14.1 or 13.3, it would of been a hard battle between the 2

 

Oh yeah, no doubt. Trust me, there's a lot of Mac fans that really wish Apple would finally release the long-rumoured subnotebook MacBook Pro, something along the lines of the XPSM1330 or Sony SZ series. It's definitely a pretty big gap in their product line right now (people who want more power than the consumer-oriented MacBook, but who also want some of the pro-level niceties of the MBP but want something smaller than a 15.4" notebook).

-Zadillo

 

Eh, there's already a 300 page thread devoted to whether or not the MBP is overpriced or not.

I think the above post sums it up pretty well though for what the OP should consider before all the other stuff.

Do you plan to use OSX? If no, get the m1330.
Do you want a 13.3 or 15.4 screen?
Figure out what you need and want first, and then worry about finding the best bang for your buck within those constraints and your budget.