XPS M1530 or MacBook Pro?

I hope you realized that you're in a fairly biased forum board. I ordered my XPS 1530 last Thursday off the Dell Outlet. It was a steal at $1239.00. I would get the 1530 over the Apple.

I got the following specs-

T7700 2.4

3 GB DDR2

8600 GT 256

250 GB Hard Drive

Travel Remote

9 Cell Battery

WSXGA+

$1239.00

Both machines will perform well.  The graphics card in the MacBook is nice.

But you really need to look at it, not from performance or power point of view, but from usage and applications...

Have you used MacOS before?  If not I'd try it before purchase... Not everyone loves it the same way Mac fans do.  In my opinion it's no easier/better in terms of usability than Vista or XP really.

What apps do you use? Are there any unique to Mac or PC?  You could install BootCamp on the Mac to use PC software, games etc - but you need to factor in the cost of getting hold of XP to install, and it raises the question why bother buying a Mac just to use PC software!!

Battery life... Not sure about this one, but if it's important to you then you need to look in to which is better.

Future Proofing... Although there's no such thing really :) However as previous poster mentioned, Apple lock you in to a specific spec whereas the Dell's have a little wiggle room for later upgrades.  This may be more cost effective if you want to get the most life out of the thing.

I went through a similar situation as you when deciding between an XPS1330 and a MacBook.  In the end the only thing pushing me towards the Mac was the novelty factor - I've never owned a Mac before but quite like MacOs - but that wasn't compelling enough reason to buy.  In the end I went for the 1330, hopefully it'll be arriving soon!! :)

It's all about personal experiance.  If you feel that the Macbook will present more software that is usuable to you, go with it. 

If you feel the XPS presents more to you, go with it.

Don't base your judgement on something like technical issues, Vista is going to have issues, Mac is going to have issues.  The %'s are around the same, just the numbers are much higher with Windows because there are many more windows users.  I myself pick Windows over Mac over sheer compatibility and my personal know-how that goes along with technical support(Never tried mac support, Ipod support was horrible however)

Eitherway Dell will more then likely give you a better deal on the same or greater hardware.

On a sidenote, i'd recommend you post On macs forums to see what they would suggest also.  The Dell forums are more likely to represent dells because we obviously picked dell for a reason.

Is this a good choice? Is it a good configuration? Should I go cheaper? I mainly websurf, mail, listen to music and watch stuff on you tube, my kids and I also do homework. My kids do some gaming. Probably the most gaming would be runescape. Please give me your opinion on this refurbished. Thanks. I added 3 yr warranty and complete care, a wireless mouse, Dell on call 30 days and Norton bringing the total with tax and inclu shipping to $1,644.29

• XPS M1530 Laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache)
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium

The gaming comment I made is because most people think they can play very high graphic games as in Crysis UT3 ect.  These are VERY high graphic games, It depends on the games you're playing.  runescape should play fine.  It's not one of the newest high resolution games. 

So basically.  You can play games, you can play them Pretty well.  Just don't expect because it's labled XPS that you're going to be able to play the newest and greatest and High settings. 

I don't completely agree with the Virus remark.  It's pretty easy to get a nasty virus, or even a worm for that matter.  Even with an antivirus i've gotten them in the passed.  And have had to fix several computers for parents and relatives.  All in all i'd recommend formatting every 3-6months for peak performance.

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@nucleusgirl wrote:

Thanks so much you guys, I am getting very excited and know I need to order this right away else it might be gone. But a couple more questions? I have a dell desktop and RR but no router. Should I get the router through dell? What type do you recommend? Also I do not know anything about how to reformat a disc. I do not know how to back up my data or what is needed to do it? Do you back it up onto  cd rom? Thanks so much.

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1.  It doesn't really matter if you buy it through dell or not, you'd probably save money if you baught it from a 3rd party electronic store, or if you buy it online you'd save a bundle.  Buying from Dell has the pro of being able to use your Dell card.

2.  I'd recommend a Linksys.  Easy to setup, easy to use.  If you want the highest speed you can possibly get; Get an N router, you'll pay more but if you pay for the upgraded wireless card in the notebook you'll be able to get some better speeds. 

3.  Formatting in Vista is VERY simple, there's a image restore tool you use provided by Dell, I can email you steps on how to do it if you'd like, or you can contact chat support. 

4.  Backing up; Get an External harddrive, they are pretty cheap around 100$ for 250-500GB drive doesn't really matter the brand.  (maxtor is what most people suggest)

5.  No need for CD backups anymore.

Thanks so much you guys, I am getting very excited and know I need to order this right away else it might be gone. But a couple more questions? I have a dell desktop and RR but no router. Should I get the router through dell? What type do you recommend? Also I do not know anything about how to reformat a disc. I do not know how to back up my data or what is needed to do it? Do you back it up onto  cd rom? Thanks so much.

There's an old adage when buying computers... Always spend as much as you can afford. :)

For your needs that spec may be a little high, but the price is good and you'll have a laptop which will last a very long time.  The 3yr warranty is a good idea on a refurb .

Going back to the earlier comment about viruses on Macs - you are right, there's less chance of getting something really nasty.

However, millions of people use PC's on a daily basis, and with common sense (not installing unknown software, agreeing to sneaky pop-ups or surfing dodgy websites etc) and a good security product there's no reason why you should ever encounter a really nasty virus.

Looks like a decent system.  It's pretty suped up, and you're getting a great deal.  I myself only buy dell refurbs also, just because of Dells awesome warranty.

You're system can handle just about all of the small things that a portable should do.  Basically everything you listed, playing games is kind of difficult depending on how old the game is.  But it's pretty clear this portable is purely for the usual things.  That's the reason I'd get a dell of course, you're not spending out of other holes in your body to pay for it.  Viruses Yes, I'll completely agree Macs viruses are quiet a bit easy to get out and are FAR less common.  However.  If you backup your data frequently you won't mind formatting your machine every 3-6 months to keep top performance. 

And you will have that nice fat 3 year warranty protecting your system.  I will FULLY suggest Complete care especially if you have kids.

Hi Dan

Thanks for your reply. I am a bit confused though. I thought this system was pretty good for gaming? Thanks.

Wireless Network Card Dell Wireless 1490 802.11a/g Mini Card

That's not an N complaint card.  However, if this is the machine you want you will not see a huge decrease in performance through a G unless you're doing something that requires a steady packet flow, in which you'd want to be on a wired connection also

For the router, just get a regular G wireless router, Dell will even help you set it up if you call in or chat in with them.