10 reasons a MacBook Pro is better than a PC laptop
By Jonathan Schlaffer
A MacBook Pro is a larger out of pocket expense than say, an average Dell laptop but I say you get more bang for your buck in a MacBook Pro than you would in your average $1,300 Dell laptop.
1. Let’s start with long battery life. A MacBook Pro comes out of the box with something in the area of 5 and a half hours of battery life if you’re just browsing the web and using office applications. That’s no small feat considering it’s current 2.4GHz processor, dedicated nVidia graphics and 200GB+ hard drives. A MacBook has slightly less battery life with in the area of three and a half to four but it’s still superior to what your average PC at the same price will deliver.
2. It has an environment-friendly LED display, kudos Apple. Not only is the LED display better for the environment but it also delivers better brightness levels and battery life, as noted above. Few others in the PC world offer this; Sony and Dell on some of its XPS laptop models.
3. Higher resolution displays. Apple also had the good sense to deliver higher resolution displays, 1440 x 900 for the 15.4-inch; 1680 x 1050 or 1920 x 1200 for the 17-inch model.
4. The display has an ambient light sensor to adjust to varying lighting conditions. Some users have found this annoying due to hand positions on the keyboard and position of the light sensor. It depends on user preference and can be turned off which I think is what most prefer. Leaving it on may lead to an annoying “flicker” effect as it tries to adjust when your hands wave over the sensor.
5. Mac OSX; this applies to all Macs. I won’t tout the security as much as Apple does. But despite the recent hacking contest, OSX isn’t prone to Windows viruses or spyware but it can transmit them to your PC-owning friends so anti-virus is necessary, if only to protect your friends from yourself, ClamXav is a nice (and free) choice. Make sure to also enable the firewall’s “stealth mode” and application blocking.
6. Design. The MacBook Pro is all aluminum and weighs 5.4lbs for the 15.4-inch models. It’s pretty and thought goes into the packaging, there’s little set up or preparation required after you open the box; how many PCs can you say that of?
7. Set Up. Power on, enter your account information, email but if you already have a registered account with Apple (iTunes or other) your information will be filled in automatically, there are no annoying trial software pop-ups, except for the .MAC account and as soon as your done with that, Mac OSX is ready to get things done! Setting up many PCs over the years, it’s the same laborious 10 to 15 minute process over and over, Mac OSX was up and running in under three.
8. Magnetic latch/power connectors. This should be self explanatory, the lid of the laptop and power connector and secured by magnets, though the lid still has a release catch on it (unlike the MacBook which does not). Trip over the power cord and the theory is that it will pop out of the laptop without pulling it off the table; I’m not prepared to test this theory.
9. iLife. How many PCs include the full versions of useful software out of the box (unless you expressly paid for it), none. But, Apple includes iLife with every single Mac purchased. ILife includes iPhoto, iMovie, the .MAC gallery, GarageBand, iWeb and iDVD. Now, Microsoft has tried to include similar applications with Vista but I’m afraid it’s version of DVD maker and Photo Gallery don’t hold a candle to what Apple has accomplished, nice try though but fail.
10. Backlit keyboard. The keyboard is backlit with white LEDs; when ambient lighting falls below a certain level, the keyboard backlights come on so it works without any user interaction, like a lot of things Apple and Mac, “it just works.”
Some things, such as longer-life batteries can be purchased extra with a PC laptop but it’s “extra.” Since you pay a “premium” for a MacBook Pro, it’s already included and you don’t need to buy anything extra, pretty much everything you need and nothing you don’t is in the box.
I’m sure these reasons have been stated before, on other sites, at other times but it never hurts to remind the PC users of their inferior purchase.
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April 6th, 2008
I’d agree with all of them except for #3. There’s a point where higher resolution (built-in panels) become a liability to both performance as well as usabilty-wise.
There’s nothing stopping you from running a higher resolution to a connected monitor if you feel like taxing your notebook’s GPU.
In my experience the 13.3″ screen is the perfect balance; it offers a taste of HD without taxing your eyes and burdening you with weight.
April 6th, 2008
5 and a half hour battery life? Interesting, with light usage mine is just around 4. And the latch is mechanical, the magnet just pulls the hooks out to lock the cover mechanically. Stop sucking Jobs’ dick with this clueless crap.
April 6th, 2008
Highly biased post.
You haven’t made any direct comparison to Dell.
All this propaganda about Dell selling “junk PC’s” is just a nasty disinformation.
I love Apple, but please, take a look at Apple Defects website to learn about the ugly side of Apple. Let’s be more respectful toward both companies. No need to dis Dell.
Just my two cents.
Daniel
http://www.palluxo.com
April 6th, 2008
Highly biased post.
You haven’t made any direct comparison to Dell.
All this propaganda about Dell selling “junk PC’s” is just a nasty disinformation.
I love Apple, but please, take a look at Apple Defects website to learn about an ugly side of Apple. Let’s be more respectful toward both companies. No need to dis Dell.
Just my two cents.
Daniel
http://www.palluxo.com
April 6th, 2008
I am surprised that you forgot the most important addition to the new MacBook Pro. That is the multi-touch trackpad. Once you have used it, it is very hard to do without it. It just takes care of the mouse for good.
April 7th, 2008
First of all - to Daniel of palluxo.com, my respect goes to you, thank you for the fair comment!
Second thing - I like Apple’s innovative designs but they always be known for MP3 players and iPhones and a niche PC maker.
Dell is the leading PC and server manufacturer, also the Ubuntu is taking over the world as the most secure system. Join in!
http://www.dell.com/open/
April 7th, 2008
Yes because we all know that a light up keyboard, and a neat little touch pad are the determining factor when people purchase laptops.
I personally will take my $700 gateway with Intel Core 2 processor, 3 GB RAM, 250 GB HDD, and wireless N out of the box any day over a $2500 Mac.
I have vista, and any tech worth his salt is more than capable of configuring this little beauty to run like a champ in a couple of minutes.
As for the packaged iLife software. Thats great if your laptop is just a toy, but I like mine to be able to play all my games, burn CD\DVD’s, use an unlimited amount of third party software, and still be able to work in my office environment.
Does Active Directory ring a bell to you macboys? Probably not seeing as how a mac is spotty at best when it comes down to accessing, and integrating to an enterprise environment.
Oh yeah, and the only reason it “just works” is because the people that have them don’t know how to run one anyway.
April 7th, 2008
Apple makes nice laptops, but you can find many nice laptops with other companies. I have access to lots of nice software running Linux.
Much of what he is bragging about is akin to the make-up light on your cars sun-visors. Occasionally useful, but more of a “hey, check this out” feature.
sydwaz8:
Vista sucks. Period. Congratulations on getting it running in 3 gig (pretty weird total) of RAM. Microsoft fanboys are just as annoying as Macheads. And having an emachine rig isn’t brag worthy.
April 7th, 2008
Um, 3 Gb is NOT a weird total. That happes to be the maximum amount of memory the 32-bit operating system can address. No need to go above that unless you are running a 64-bit OS. Research before you comment.
April 7th, 2008
Um, 3 Gb is NOT a weird total. That happens to be the maximum amount of memory the 32-bit operating system can address. No need to go above that unless you are running a 64-bit OS. Research before you comment.
April 8th, 2008
sydwaz8:
I have vista, and any tech worth his salt is more than capable of configuring this little beauty to run like a champ in a couple of minutes.
What if you are not any tech worth his salt but your average non techie consumer that buys a pc and wants it to, out of the box, no tweaking, just work?
My neighbor got a new HP laptop over Christmas with 4GB RAM and Vista Home Premium and boy was it dog tired slow. Granted it might have been all the trial software bloat slowing it up, and when I commented to her about it’s speed she said she would have to take it to her brother and have him clean it up for her. That issue, more than anything, is something Microsoft needs to address for its comsumer base, make the OS be average person friendly so they won’t have to worry about being an “any tech worth his salt” type of person.
April 8th, 2008
sydwaz8, I don’t know why you PC fans keep on saying that Macs are just toys. Any one of the following alone should at least somewhat counter your argument.
Flip 3D is more involved and pretty than Exposé, but it takes longer than Exposé to choose the window you want.
Aero makes Vista run much more slowly and isn’t needed for work.
You complain that a Mac is a toy, then you say you want a PC for games. Well there are plenty of advanced games for Mac first of all, and second of all iLife is for photo organizing and editing, dvd making, website making, and useful stuff like that. Then you want to get on with your office work. Well, last I checked Vista doesn’t include Office either, and you can get both Office and iWork for Mac. Difference? iWork lets you get your work done faster.
I’m sick of these idiots who just toe the PC line and don’t even think about how they really work better than PCs. Pretty much everybody who uses Macs have used PCs, but most people who use PCs have never used Mac or Linux. Who do you think will give a better opinion?
April 9th, 2008
“Um, 3 Gb is NOT a weird total. That happens to be the maximum amount of memory the 32-bit operating system can address. No need to go above that unless you are running a 64-bit OS. Research before you comment.”
It’s actually 4 gig for 32bit. Running pairs for dual channel is the most common configuration. for better performance, which is why 2 and 4 gig, or 1 gig with 2 512 meg simms are common.
Here let me help you:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778.aspx
April 16th, 2008
Macbook Pro are the most overpriced rubbish you’re likely to ever buy - FOR MORE THAN 10 REASONS WHY THEY ARE NOT BETTER THAN A P.C. see http://www.appledefects.com/wiki/index.php?title=MacBook_Pro
July 5th, 2008
Interesting, my Dell XPS lasted less than 2 hours while my daughter’s MacBook just keep on ticking well over 4 hours. She had been using hers before I started and we were working the same applications, in fact, she was using a couple of others I was not. I am thinking about switching to MacBook Pro. I worry about the business side of it, like spreadsheet and database applications, just because I have always used PCs.
July 12th, 2008
I recently bought a MacBook Pro after being a PC user all my life. I bought it for the reasons you mentioned in your article. You know what, I am very disappointed with it. I used it for only 3 weeks and bang bang, it would not power up anymore no matter what I do. Now I have to take it to a service center to have it fixed. In all my life with any PC (even the cheaper ones) I have never encountered this kind of shocking problem. I am totally put off with all Apple products. Looks like they like to rush things into the market just to make a sale.
September 12th, 2008
I’ll support what you say to a certain point, I’d would rather use the Tiger over any version of Windows.
However, I’d rather use Linux over anything, and buying a cheap machine and installing Linux on it gives me a nice little speed demon which is perfect for everything that I’m going to use it for. I’m not a hardcore PC gamer, I’m a Wii man myself, so any PC games (little bit of WOW, HL2, BF2 and CSS) I want to run I can run using wine.