$750 for a new macbook with nvidia 9400m video

[miri]

macs have always interested me and the price seems decent since mc has a $200 rebate and a 5% off coupon. Are there some other good laptops that weigh less than 5lbs with a dedicated video card in the $700 range?

moved from Off Topic.
Moderator allisolm

 

[Parasitic]

Originally posted by: miri
macs have always interested me and the price seems decent since mc has a $200 rebate and a 5% off coupon. Are there some other good laptops that weigh less than 5lbs with a dedicated video card in the $700 range?

The base model Macbook doesn't have a dedicated video card. With that said, apparently the 9400M graphics in the base model Macbook performs similarly to 8400M GS...

And there's this one 14.1" Asus from BB that has a dedicated graphics card for $700.

And finally: wrong forum.

 

[theflyingpig]

Just buy the mac and bask in your superiority every time some fool with a PC shows up. That's what I do.

 

[Newbian]

Originally posted by: theflyingpig
Just buy the mac and bask in your superiority every time some fool with a PC shows up. That's what I do.

Don't forget you have to have sex with it every night or it leaves you.

 

[SSSnail]

I think that one article said it best "Not everybody wants a product that's been washed with unicorn tears..."

 

[tallest1]

Originally posted by: miri
macs have always interested me and the price seems decent since mc has a $200 rebate and a 5% off coupon. Are there some other good laptops that weigh less than 5lbs with a dedicated video card in the $700 range?

<Jeopardy>I'll take that laptop for $500 please, Alex

 

[akshatp]

I bought the macbook at microcenter for $1000 - $200 rebate a couple days ago. Where did you find this 5% coupon?

 

[mugs]

You'll get less trolling if you post this in the Apple forum.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: mugs
You'll get less trolling if you post this in the Apple forum.

itd be nice if we had a laptop forum, as well...but then hed be spoiled for choice

 

[miri]

Originally posted by: akshatp
I bought the macbook at microcenter for $1000 - $200 rebate a couple days ago. Where did you find this 5% coupon?

its at MC, i think its california only though

 

[Hacp]

The dell xps1330 is 1 pound lighter.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Hacp
The dell xps1330 is 1 pound lighter.

True, but it doesn't have the 9400m, the best it can get is the 8400m. And although they are roughly the same performance wise, the 9400m is basically a system-on-a-chip solution, it gets better battery life, plus the keyboard and trackpad are better on the MacBook. Plus, based on what I have seen, the build quality on the MacBook I think is better.

And if the OP has a choice between a new MacBook at $750 or a refurbed XPS m1330... I would go for the new MacBook.

If the same choice was between the new XPS m1330 or a refurbed MacBook, it would be a slightly different choice, especially if the refurb doesn't come from Apple (I know a few people that have gotten refurbed from Apple and the quality is practically identical to new, save the packaging).

Now, if the OP has no interest in OS X, or doesn't care about having OS X natively, then I would actually recommend the Dell XPS Studio 13. I have heard pretty good things about the Studio line of machines. The styling isn't quite up my alley, I greatly prefer Apple design aesthetic, but not every one wants that and the Studio machines do have a certain flair to them.

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: Hacp
The dell xps1330 is 1 pound lighter.

True, but it doesn't have the 9400m, the best it can get is the 8400m. And although they are roughly the same performance wise, the 9400m is basically a system-on-a-chip solution, it gets better battery life, plus the keyboard and trackpad are better on the MacBook. Plus, based on what I have seen, the build quality on the MacBook I think is better.

And if the OP has a choice between a new MacBook at $750 or a refurbed XPS m1330... I would go for the new MacBook.

If the same choice was between the new XPS m1330 or a refurbed MacBook, it would be a slightly different choice, especially if the refurb doesn't come from Apple (I know a few people that have gotten refurbed from Apple and the quality is practically identical to new, save the packaging).

Now, if the OP has no interest in OS X, or doesn't care about having OS X natively, then I would actually recommend the Dell XPS Studio 13. I have heard pretty good things about the Studio line of machines. The styling isn't quite up my alley, I greatly prefer Apple design aesthetic, but not every one wants that and the Studio machines do have a certain flair to them.

I dunno whats good about multi-touch. Saw a few demos and was like meh. Plus, the lack of rightclick in one click sucks. I thought about picking up the mac for 800 but I decided against it when I heard about the touchpad/vista compatibility problems and the fact that it was 5 pounds.

I guess I'll be waiting forever for the laptop that is 13.3 inches, has support for Mini PCI-E ssds, LED screen, 3.8-4.2 pounds, backlit keyboard, nvidia graphics, good battery life without the butt, and under 1k. -_-

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Hacp

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: Hacp
The dell xps1330 is 1 pound lighter.

True, but it doesn't have the 9400m, the best it can get is the 8400m. And although they are roughly the same performance wise, the 9400m is basically a system-on-a-chip solution, it gets better battery life, plus the keyboard and trackpad are better on the MacBook. Plus, based on what I have seen, the build quality on the MacBook I think is better.

And if the OP has a choice between a new MacBook at $750 or a refurbed XPS m1330... I would go for the new MacBook.

If the same choice was between the new XPS m1330 or a refurbed MacBook, it would be a slightly different choice, especially if the refurb doesn't come from Apple (I know a few people that have gotten refurbed from Apple and the quality is practically identical to new, save the packaging).

Now, if the OP has no interest in OS X, or doesn't care about having OS X natively, then I would actually recommend the Dell XPS Studio 13. I have heard pretty good things about the Studio line of machines. The styling isn't quite up my alley, I greatly prefer Apple design aesthetic, but not every one wants that and the Studio machines do have a certain flair to them.

I dunno whats good about multi-touch. Saw a few demos and was like meh. Plus, the lack of rightclick in one click sucks. I thought about picking up the mac for 800 but I decided against it when I heard about the touchpad/vista compatibility problems and the fact that it was 5 pounds.

I guess I'll be waiting forever for the laptop that is 13.3 inches, has support for Mini PCI-E ssds, LED screen, 3.8-4.2 pounds, backlit keyboard, nvidia graphics, good battery life without the butt, and under 1k. -_-

Well, the old MacBook doesn't have Multi-Touch perse. All it has is the 2 finger scrolling and 2 finger right click. Instead of hitting the right click button, you place 2 fingers on the trackpad (instead of one) and click the 1 large button. You can also 2 finger tap click for a right click as well.

As for Vista problems... I have never had any on my MacBook aside from the fact that tap clicking does not work, and the sensitivity is off from what I am used to in OS X. It works, just not how I have grown accustomed to.

But hey, to each their own, and good luck on your search (why does the miniPCIe SSD matter? What is wrong with the existing 2.5" SATA slot?)

 

[gcy]

Originally posted by: theflyingpig
Just buy the mac and bask in your superiority every time some fool with a PC shows up. That's what I do.

Install boot camp and you're pc again

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: Hacp

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: Hacp
The dell xps1330 is 1 pound lighter.

But hey, to each their own, and good luck on your search (why does the miniPCIe SSD matter? What is wrong with the existing 2.5" SATA slot?)

More storage. 2.5 inch spindle+pci-e ssd for OSdrive=win

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Hacp

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: Hacp
The dell xps1330 is 1 pound lighter.

But hey, to each their own, and good luck on your search (why does the miniPCIe SSD matter? What is wrong with the existing 2.5" SATA slot?)

More storage. 2.5 inch spindle+pci-e ssd for OSdrive=win

My understanding was that the MiniPCIe SSDs weren't as fast as their 2.5" brethren (due to the PATA interface more than anything else) and came in significantly smaller capacities.

Besides, using as an example, the MacBook, SATA optical drives are on notebooks now. Just get an internal bracket, pull the optical drive and you can have 2 2.5" SATA drives. One SSD and one platter based. You lose the optical drive, but in most laptops, if you wanted a MiniPCIe SSD then you would probably lose the WiFi card.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: Hacp
The dell xps1330 is 1 pound lighter.

Studio XPS 13 (1340) can be found at dell outlet for ~$750 with LED backlighting and the 9400m, or ~$800 with Hybrid SLI.

Actually...I have no idea why the outlet prices for the 1330s haven't fallen. They're outrageous in comparison when considering the hardware.

 

[Raduque]

Originally posted by: Hacp
More storage. 2.5 inch spindle+pci-e ssd for OSdrive=win

That's why I love my 17"Studio. Two HDD spots means I can use a full fledged SSD and a regular drive.

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: Raduque

Originally posted by: Hacp
More storage. 2.5 inch spindle+pci-e ssd for OSdrive=win

That's why I love my 17"Studio. Two HDD spots means I can use a full fledged SSD and a regular drive.

But it weighs 20 pounds!

 

[Raduque]

Originally posted by: Hacp

Originally posted by: Raduque

Originally posted by: Hacp
More storage. 2.5 inch spindle+pci-e ssd for OSdrive=win

That's why I love my 17"Studio. Two HDD spots means I can use a full fledged SSD and a regular drive.

But it weighs 20 pounds!

Its still better than carrying around my 30+ tower, 18lb monitor and separate keyboard/mouse/speakers! =P