Studio XPS 16 or Macbook?

corkarcher

I'm looking for a high performance laptop for the summer and I'm torn between these two:

Macbook Pro
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz, 6MB, 1066MHz
320 GB S-ATA Hard Drive, 5400rpm
15.4" LCD screen 1440x900
Memory: DDR3 SDRAM (4GB) 1067MHz
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M 512MB
4hr battery
Unibody Aluminium Case
Multitouch Trackpad
==========================================
Dell Studio XPS 16
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz, 6MB, 1066MHz
500 GB S-ATA Hard Drive, 7200rpm Free Fall Sensor
16" Truelife 1080p Full HD RGBLED
Memory: DDR3 SDRAM (4GB) 1067MHz
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3670 512MB
1.5hr battery (I'll probably buy an extra 9 cell with it)
HDMI
Blu-Ray player

I would be using it mainly for video editing, internet browsing, word processing and possibly a few games.
So basically I'm wondering number 1 is there really that much of a difference between the 2.5 and the 2.6 processor, because the dell hdd is much bigger and faster is this more of an advantage than the slightly faster processor? Also the screen seems much better in the dell, but what about the video card? Is the NVIDIA 9600M better than ATI HD 3670 I dont know?
The one thing I like is the buid of the macbook, the aluminium is very strong and the multitouch glass trackpad is excellent. The obsidian on the dell seems very polished and scratchable... Can anybody help me choose??:(

Please offer your recommendations as soon as possible coz theres a discount on the dell laptop thats nearly expired and I'm looking at the macbook on ebay! I dont want to end up flipping a coin, please help!

Dartz

Dell.

It'll be much cheaper, be put together better, and Dell's XPS support is supposed to be ****ing epic. Also, you can switch between batteries without voiding the warranty :P.

missingtime

Dartz wrote: »

Dell.

It'll be much cheaper, be put together better, and Dell's XPS support is supposed to be ****ing epic. Also, you can switch between batteries without voiding the warranty :P.

Dont know about that.

Dells customer support used to be epic but by all accounts is pretty poor now.

tw0nk

Dartz wrote: »

Dell.

It'll be much cheaper, be put together better, and Dell's XPS support is supposed to be ****ing epic. Also, you can switch between batteries without voiding the warranty :P.

Cheaper? yes

Put together better? Doubt it, unibody is excellent

Switch between batteries? Macbook warranty is not voided if you change the battery, maybe on pro but not on standard <--- OK re-read post and OP is looking at pro, appologies...

Alanstrainor

OP, one thing you left out of your post is your budget, as i can imagine there is a significant price difference between the two. And if gaming is one of your priorities then does that not rule out the Mac?

corkarcher

I'm looking at 1500-1600 euro, usually both laptops are over 2 grand but I found a macbook on ebay for about €1600 and with coupons and Dell's latest offer (which runs out in less than a week) I can get a hold of a studio XPS for 1438.99 and free shipping!

But in a week they'll be out of my price range again and I'll have to settle for a Vaio FW31ZJ

And thanks for the comments but I don't care about customer support, if it's a good machine then hopefully I won't need them too often!

(btw Dell have the online chat now which is pretty good)
(and yes the unibody is a big plus, not that I plan to be careless or anything but its fairly sturdy)
(the macbook pro has over twice the battery life of the dell so I wouldn't need to switch)

Lab_Mouse

possibly check online for reviews of each.they normaly run bench mark software in the reviews so that might give you a better idea on the preformance of the laptops

corkarcher

I tried a few review and comparison sites, they're quite hard to find and don't really answer my questions. They even said the Vaio is better than both of them :S

Just to reiterate my main question is would I be better off with an extra 1.13 GHz on the processor or the extra 180GB and 1,800rpm on the harddrive? Plus any PC vs. Mac arguments are welcome... hopefully one of your comments will hit home and help me make up my mind before I no longer have a choice..

Darwin

Keep an eye on the Dell Outlet, there's an XPS 1640 there at the moment for 630 excluding VAT (although they are offering over 100 euro off + free delivery). The outlet machine has a lesser spec but than what you are looking for, but on the plus side 900 notes is quite a saving!

Voodu Child

Studio XPS 16 should be upgrade to HD4670 shortly, so you may or may not want to hold out for that. Should be at least 50% faster than 3670.

The Dell would be what i'd go for, the RGB Led screen is supposed to be savage (Andatech called it the best notebook display they'd ever seen)

The most glaringly obvious difference between the two is that one is Mac and one is Windows. Surely you have a preference between the two?

corkarcher

Cool the graphics card was my other query.. Nvidia or ATI...? If I hold off are Dell likely to ever take 500 eur off the price again? (that's quite a saving too Darwin plus much better spec) They can't be getting that much business atm...

As for my windows/mac preference, I've always been loyal to mac as the industry standard for video editing... final cut pro etc... But I'm not gonna be able to afford Final Cut Studio now, and I can buy adobe premiere pro CS4 on a student discount and save thousands! Ive always liked the way mac has always been geared towards aesthetics, but I'd probably end up putting windows on boot camp to run games and other stuff and the Dell is just so powerful and at that price... I probably would have bought the dell if I hadnt found the macbook on ebay! I need some cold hard facts to make one stand out from the other.

corkarcher

Thanks for you help and quick responses! I tried this benchmark thing and for anyone who's interested the Dell seems to be the better of the two, with the Mac having slightly better graphics, might have something to do with the two cards I dunno. Unless anyone has any major objections I think I'll go with the Dell!