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is buying an apple more expensive than a dell?

With the release today of the updated MacBook I was discussing the cost of the new computers with someone. They said they thought the MacBook is overpriced and that they could buy a comprable Dell for $600. I decided to go to Dell’s website and to build a comparable machine to see the price.

I started with the inspiron 13 option. There is a comparable chip and speed (Intel core 2 duo at 2 GHz) but the front side bus is slower. I think I’m going to have to go with an XPS configuration to get a closer match for the FSB and on chip memory specs.

I picked an XPS M1330 core 2 duo. It still has a slow FSB but a slightly bigger cache, which is a little more competitive with the MacBook. In order to compare apples to Apples (i kill myself!) i’m selecting a 2.4 GHz chip. The Apple has a 1066 MHz bus speed compared to the Dell’s 800 MHz, but we will just have to live with that 200 MHz difference.

Vista home premium will be the OS on the Dell, vs. OS X 10.5. I selected the slim and light LCD and webcam to compare with the Macbook LCD and iSight. As far as RAM goes I’m selecting 4 gigs for both the Apple and the Dell. One new difference is that the Dell RAM runs at 667 MHz, which is slower than the system bus. This means the RAM will be slowing down the rest of the computer, which doesn’t make much sense to me. For storage we go for 250gig SATA hard drive which spins at 5400 rpms on both machines. On the video side I selected the 128 Mb Nvidia 8400m to compete with the 9400m on the Apple. Everything else was stock (no modem, stock battery).

The final tally:

Dell

Starting Price $1,886
Instant Savings $352

Apple:

$1749

Going by the raw price Apple wins, but with the magical instant savings the Dell is $215 cheaper. I do not know how consistent the instant savings is, or if it is permanent so your mileage may vary. The Apple has a faster bus speed which most people would want, and the super magical multi touch track pad. Additionally you cannot take your Dell to a Dell store to get serviced, as can be done with the Apple at an Apple store. Aside from that, the computers are fairly similar.  I can’t see the physical dimensions of the Dell to accurately compare that aspect of things. I can say though that the Dell doesn’t look nearly as sexy as the Apple.

I will admit I am an Apple fanboy, but I would prefer to spend a little more $ for a computer that will better components. Part of that is due to the quality of the hardware that I have seen from Apple in my previous purchases, and another part of that is due to my dislike of Windows Vista and my appreciation of OS X.

This concludes my entirely unscientific and totally biased report

Tags: Apple

7 Comments to is buying an apple more expensive than a dell?

1. You’re an asshole!
   LOL
xmkatx on October 14th, 2008

2. ilu2!
k3v0 on October 14th, 2008

3. ring
huzza on October 14th, 2008

4. the idea itself may be a little ring ring but the prices and stuff are all brand new, done this afternoon
k3v0 on October 14th, 2008

5. I like turtles.
fcs_4 on October 14th, 2008

6. who doesn’t like turtles? other than shredder of course
k3v0 on October 14th, 2008

7. I agree, Apple makes a solid product and picks up on a lot of details. You’d end up spending about the same dough if you dig into those details and recreated them. Further, turtles are very likable.
djacidjac on October 15th, 2008

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