m1330 v. MacBook in photos

Recently I was in the market for a new notebook. Having had a Rev. A 12" PowerBook when they came out, and an Inspiron 6000 to replace it I was looking at Dell and Apple. I wanted something smaller than the 6000 and larger than the PB and I was in luck with the 13.3" models currently around.

In competition was the m1330 and the MacBook. I found on the Dell Outlet a great deal on a black m1330 and bought it. Price being the main factor. When it arrived it had a few too many problems so I called Dell and returned it. At that time Apple released the newest Penryn based MacBooks so I bought the basic model from Amazon.com for the base price plus $75 MIR.

It arrived with the worst screen I have ever seen. It had what I think is called a grainy display, and it had terrible banding when asked to display anything with a gradient. I asked Amazon for an exchange and they sent me a new one next day. This one, MacBook #2, had a somewhat better screen except it was washed out. I calibrated it, but it wouldn't adjust down enough to be truly usable. It also had some problems with the keyboard.

I didn't want to have to keep hoping for a good one and sending back bad ones. I had that problem with Apple when I bought an iPhone that had the infamous negative black problem and I didn't feel like messing with exchanging it again.

Back to Dell, I browsed the Outlet again on a whim and found a steal. A blue model with an 8400gs and a few other upgrades for almost $300 less than the MacBook after rebate. I bought it with speed and it's been great other than a tiny issue with the paint on the corner of the display and a whiny CPU. I've fixed the CPU whine with RMclock and am working with Dell on the paint issue.

It has the LG screen and it's gorgeous. Crisp, clear, and can dither colours without error. Deciding between the two was a tough choice that came down to price, performance, and quality. The Dell came out ahead in every category.

For a friend, I took a few photos comparing the differences of the two computers, and I thought I should post them here.

Pretty in Blue





Enter MacBook









I prefer the keyboard on the Apple, but I like the delete, home, etcs keys on the Dell. The touch pad on the Apple is nice and big, which I thought I would like. But in use it made little difference. You still have to move your finger just as much and sometimes I would touch it with a resting finger and cause the pointer to jump around. This is due to it's size and being centered. Oddly, I prefer the Dell's after using it. The Apple's button "click feel" is better though.



Design, Apple is famous for it. I find the MacBook a bit boring really, but appreciate it's simplicity. I think of the Dell as a bit sporty in appearance, but it does have it's flaws. The wedge shape I like, but the first few times I picked it up by the skinny end I almost dropped it. It's just in the way your hand clamps down and the way it's shaped. I carry it by the fat end now, and it feels like it was meant to be.

The aluminum palm rest is nice, but gets a bit hot due to how AL transfers heat. It's thin too, a bit like a coke can, which amplifies the HDD which is directly under the left palm. The worst thing though, is the second USB port on the right side under the DVD drive. With something plugged into the port, I have to change the way I use my mouse or I hit it constantly.

The magnesium bottom is something that I really like. It's so much nicer in feel to the shiny plastic of the MacBook and the m1330 feels solid even when I pick it up by the outermost edge of a corner. It did make a bit of a rattle upon sitting it down, but that was fixed when I put the remote into the express card slot and got rid of the blank.

The MacBook's shiny plastic is a bit annoying. Dust and the like sticks to it with a bit of a static feel and is hard to wipe off. Where the battery fits in and the little round bit to remove it, the fit and finish is terrible. The round bit is raised by about a mm above the rest of the bottom and the battery is sunken on one side and raised on the other. Not a big deal if it weren't for how sharp their edges are.

I prefer the magnetic power adapter and latch though. I also prefer the plastic on the interior palm rests. It has a quality feel to it and remains much cooler than the thin AL of the Dell. I would be a bit worried about the discoloration and cracking that seems to plague it, but when it's new it feels quite nice.

Out of all of the design problems and triumphs of the two, one thing stands out as a clear "what were they thinking when they made this" type of problem. Something that makes me wonder if they ever tried to use the device or if they just made a pretty design and called it a day. That's the razor sharp edge of the MacBook. Dell put a nice softly bent edge around the palm rest that, with the slope of the entire machine, never bothers my wrists at all.

Apple on the other hand, decided to make the machine flat and cut off the edge with a razor sharp drop. Then they decided that that was a nice place to make the plastic seam that changes from the palm rest material to the outside material. This leads to scraped wrists and plucked arm hair under normal use. It's never comfortable. Not on my desk where it scrapes and pulls at my wrists, and not on the couch, bed, or wherever else you use a notebook because it tries to slit your wrists or hands when you use the track pad. It's nice if you have an itchy wrist and only one arm, but I can't think of any other reason for such a sharp edge.



They both perform about the same in the operating system area, with the Dell taking the lead due to it's graphics card. They both run Vista beautifully.

Doom 3 runs very well on the Dell at the native resolution and high settings. It plays at ultimate, but gets a bit choppy at times. The MacBook was disappointing here, barely playable at minimum with everything turned off and a lower resolution. They really need a discrete graphics card option in there.

They're both nice machines going after about the same market. It was a tough choice, and I'm very happy with my XPS m1330.

 

Wow, awesome pictures CitizenTony!

 

Nice photo op. But Leopard on a Dell? Isn't that illegal?

 

Really nice comparison photos!

 

same here...would go for a 1330 any day...

 

Awesome photos there OP. Are you a photographer or pursue photography as a hobby? Those pics look like they were professionally taken. Dell should consider these for their promo campaigns, lol.

 

I dont know if "illegal" is the right term for it, but it does go against Apple's EULA. I always thought something is only "illegal" when you break a law; this is just an agreement. Maybe someone can explain it better.

At any rate, great pics and great comparison review

 

Awesome comparison. I like the personal opinions you gave comparing the two. I've never seen these two together before. They are quite similar in size.

I also like the bottom of the Dell. It feels solid.

Obviously you're in a Dell forum, so good choice!

 

Thanks for the comments. I used to be into photography as a hobby years ago, but not so much anymore. Those were shot with a Panasonic FX01 point & shoot.

 

Great comparison & photos... thanks!

 

Well, their EULA does specify that you may only install Leopard on "one Apple-labeled hardware device", so if you just slap an Apple sticker on it...

 

Every thread discussing this issue on this site, or anything even related to installing Leopard on a Windows PC has been shot down and closed immediately.

Hmm... maybe the site is taking a different vantage point all of a sudden.

From a person standpoint, its a very greedy vantagepoint allowing windows on a Mac but not vice versa. I would love to hear the author got his OS running as he does, should the site admin permit such.

 

Or maybe the moderators didn't get to it yet =\

 

If you break the licensing agreement, you do break the law because the license is a legal contract of sorts - but if you label it and you use only an original install, i.e., you have not duplicated the OS for which you only have one license (either on the Dell or on the Mac), then it is completely legal, I believe.

As far as Apple goes, they're so righteous about their product that as punishment they would probably give you a PC.

 

I don't know whether it's greed or simplicity on Apple's part. Selling the Leopard operating system for PCs would essentially end Microsoft's monopoly with software. However, they would also have to deal with the headaches of ensuring hardware/backwards compatibility for every PC brand out there (something Microsoft has had to deal with for a long, long time).

Right now, it's better for them to fit their operating system to the hardware that they choose and sell it for a higher price. Having people install modified versions of Leopard to get it functioning on their PC seems more like advertising than piracy, and might just get more people to "make the switch".

 

I would love to know if thats true from an educated source that can say that, if I were to buy OSX and get it running on my system, does it need to be validated and, most importantly, will they?

I have always been under the assumption that it cannot be done.

I will pm Sam and ask if he could comment as I am sure he would know.

 

I really didn't mean this to become a discussion on Leopard. I only added that comment to show how similar the two notebooks really were.

I didn't even think that it may be against the rules here to just mention this, and if it was I apologize. Feel free to remove the thread and if need be I can repost it without the mention.

 

I never fell in love with my MacBook for those reasons. The screen was a LG and it was beautiful, but I can't believe I don't have scars from the sharp edges. I always had to use an external keyboard to be comfortable with that machine.

 

Probably because he wasn't asking if he could install Mac OS on a PC, but he simply stated that he was running Leopard.

 

Well, what Apple decides it wants to do with Mac OS X is not up to you and me to decide. That's their decision, just as it is every company's decision on how they want to make the EULA of their product. If you don't agree with it, don't use it, its that simple .

Discussion on running Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware is not allowed here on NotebookReview. There's a lot of ways EULAs can be interpreted, but we'll just keep it bland. Not an Apple-released Mac? Can't be running Mac OS X .

 

Tx Sam.......

 

That is the most beautiful blue I've ever seen.