Mac vs. Windows: $2000 Laptops Compared

PC World: "Do you pay dearly for the Apple logo, as Microsoft's Steve Ballmer claims? Or are Apple laptops really a good value, even though they aren't the least expensive models on the market?

To find out, last week I compared the least expensive Apple MacBook, the $999 white model, to two reasonably similar Windows laptops costing about the same amount. My goal was to see what you'd get, in terms of features and specs, if you spent $1000 on a MacBook versus the same amount spent on a Windows machine."

[dragunrising]

I don't think anyone should be surprised by the results. I have nothing against Apple, however its hard to recommend a similarly priced Apple over a superior speced PC. Aesthetics and lack of monster computer viruses (like the conflicker) is a bonus. Usability is subjective.

With that said, "Apple tax" is real folks.

Edit: I should give Apple more credit than I did. It's become mainstream in the the four years since I was a freshman in college. As a senior it seems like the defacto laptop in many of classes. 5 years and 2 computers later, perhaps I should make my next computer an Apple. Maybe...

Then again I'm waiting for Nvidia's Ion laptop and/or next gen netbooks...so maybe not.

[Leio]

I bought my Macbook pro not because of the OS but because its so dam SEXY. I cant find any PC-notebook that looks anywhere near the Macbook.. no offense

[JsonHenry]

I have a shiny turd to sell you man. It would look way sexier in the toilet before you flushed it than any regular turd...

[Leio]

"to above"

You reminds me of my neighbors old dog it has the same taste perhaps you can convince him to buy it

[Doctor_Doom]

All laptops looks the same to me lol, I really don't care about the look or the design

Its all about Horse power :)

[actas123]

You are not alone here, most apple owners buy them because they look good and then they start mumbling about security lol..
Back to topic: The writer should have compared SPECS to SPECS. since there are many options for PCs out there with much better specs and much cooler looking that the precision and the mentioned HP. (i.e Dell XPS 15 and Sony SR....)

[Max Power]

MacBook Pro because i am a Graphic Designer and Apple is what my College used.

[Bnet343]

"I bought my Macbook pro not because of the OS but because its so dam SEXY"

Wow ... it's almost hard to even read that. The lengths people will go to.

[FragMnTagM]

If I were to enter a race between a sexy looking muscle car with a small engine and barely any horsepower, versus a ugly ass car with a really good motor and supercharged, the sexy looking one would win on looks alone?

Keep in mind with the ugly car, I can upgrade the exterior to look great if I so choose. With the pretty car, I cannot tinker under the hood, I just have to wait until they come out with the next pretty car, and hopefully it has the horsepower I want.

Great logic there.

Not to mention if I were to leave my ugly car unlocked in the middle of the ghetto, it probably wouldn't get broken into. Whereas if the sexy car was parked next to it, it would get ravaged. Unbeknownst, to the idiot breaking into the sexy car, the one right next to it has all the good stuff.

[Proxy]

"Windows used to crash with my bloat-ware suite running in the background, and while I was running a high end game with outdated hardware and drivers.

"Mac never crashes when I'm viewing my photos though."

Your using your Mac to view photos, and surf the internet.

Your using your PC to run every single piece of crap-ware you can get onto your hard drive.

Also, people always switch from a OLD computer, to a NEW Mac. "Wow, the NEW MAC is faster than my OLD PC." Wonder why?

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

Basically from the article, I concluded that the specs of a PC laptop is just a notch above the Mac. Reality is that if you go to any PC manufacturer and just configure a laptop you will get raped on price.

If you take into account sales, suddenly the PC really shines.

I admittedly sort of have a thing against Apple, but as well do admire their ingenious designs choices. However, I don't like the design over functionality choices Apple makes and that is why I have exclusively bought Thinkpads only.

[FinalomegaS]

I am used to Windows and to re-learn how to hack a system and stuff would be more trouble than it's worth. I'll stick to my Dell XPS M1730.

4000$+ and I'm sure it's one of the top of the line laptops with all the bells and whistle and I can play all high end PC games.

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9500 (2.6GHz/800Mhz FSB/6MB cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate Edition SP1, 64-bit & Win XP Pro SP3
19 inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA HD
Crimson Red
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
Size: 320GB SATA Hard Drive (10 00RPM)
NVIDIA® SLI™ Dual GeForce® 9800M GT with 1GB GDDR3 Memory
CD / DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW Drive)
3 Year Return to Depot Service and Technical Support

[Odion]

why would you buy a 4k laptop for gaming?

You could build a desktop better for 1500.

I'd like them to do that, compare a 2000 Apple Desktop to a 2000 PC, you'll see a clear winner there!

[Clubptxxx]

Are you full retard? You obviously are not a hacker. You use programs other people create to "Hack." When you learn how to truly program, or even learn a programming language, I might respect you more. You probably bought an Alienware, didn't you?

Regarding the topic, It depends who you are buying for. If you're buying for a college student, you may want to go with Windows. Cheaper, and Most colleges use Windows programs.

On the other hand, someone who has never used a computer before would be more suited for an Apple as the interface is much easier to use.

[Golfcoachh]

I went to bestbuy.com and found an hp with a quad core processore, and 8gb of ram, and 500 gig hard drive for 1899.99 so I don't know where these guys got there rigs from but I found way more powerfull machines than the ones he rated on here.

[Heldrasil]

I love when people like this guy try to "impress" people with the sh*t they own. Did any of us ask the specs on your overly priced piece of electronics? NOPE.

[BigBad316]

Mac are the best built Laptops around and value for money you will also have less problems than the other 2 laptops and the os is miles better than anything Microsoft does

[Kurylo3d]

Is that a joke? My pc laptop i bought from bestbuy for 750 dollars... it has an nvidia 9800 gtx in it with 3 gigs ram a core 2... the damn thing even has a subwoofer in it lol..... made by toshiba. Make no mistakes... macs are garbage all around... some people just feel comfortable with them, and mac is laughing its ass off all the way to the bank yelling " SUCKER!!!"

Also please tell me why their os is betteR? cause u cant do hardcore gaming on it? last i checked this was a gaming site. I wanna see crysis run on a mac... it wont... hell unreal 3 barely will.. lol...

Anyone who says the os is better is strictly saying it on preference... i hate mac os... i will always use windows for sure... way easier to navigate and use

This article is a joke clearly seeing as though they arent comparing the best pc laptops for the money... they are just trying to fool people into making macs sound like a good purchase.

[Monkey521]

wow you are ignorant. Macs are amazing for graphic and digital design. Ask any professional and you would know that Illustrator and Photoshop run better on macs. (still opinion though I guess) Anyways, I love my Macbook Pro, but I am majoring in Digital Design so I guess I am a little bit biased towards it.

BTW... not everything about computers should be based off gaming. And before anyone says it, macs can play any games that pc's do. Partition your HD to run Windows (for games only). I play Crysis on High Settings without any major hitches :)

[Torch]

"...Ask any professional and you would know that Illustrator and Photoshop run better on macs..."

Your statement may have been quite accurate about ten-plus years ago, but things have changed drastically since then, as PC's and the Windows OS have become exponentially more stable and multimedia-capable over the period.

With the exception of 3D modeling and animation and audio-editing, I learned all the other programs (Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark, Premiere, Director, Flash, etc.) using Apple desktops (and that gimped one-button mouse!)...and was honestly surprised to learn first-hand that they weren't as rock-solid as the masses made them out to be, and crashed and froze and were susceptible to technical issues just like their PC counterparts were accused of experiencing.

With the exception of utilizing Final Cut Pro, I'll wholeheartedly take a custom-spec'ed PC over the shiniest, prettiest Mac in a HEARTBEAT...for a long, long list of reasons.

[irish-leprecaun]

as much as i would love to suport aple i really dont have d funds after buying my ps3 at launch and an 800euro tv for it.

[Kurylo3d]

Monkey... I am a professional. MACS ARE TRASH. I Do this for a living.. i am a game and simulation developer... my company is partners with crytek... lol... dont tell me im ignorant... Tell me what facts you have to back up your statements about macs doing graphics better... macs are a joke. Your one of those people mac is laughing at yelling "sucker!!!" lol

Your saying your majoring in digital design.. i wanna know what school so i know never to hire someone from there. Im someone in the industry. Your some punk kid who doesnt know what they are talkn about monkey521

Oh and htere is no way illustrator and photoshop run on something better with less processing power... and much less graphics power... your living somewere about 2 decades ago.

Oh and monkey... u also said u play crysis on your mac... that u put windows on it lol... ok .. u went to a lot of extra work to do that... I ask u now what graphics card do u have? and what frame rate do u run crysis at... so i can laugh. Because no higher end graphcis cards exist for mac... not like they do on a pc... I mean with the imacs u can get an nvidia gt 130 lol..... that is the funniest thing on other... while pcs get geforce 260s gtx for $150 hahahha that runs crysis at 50 fps on ultra high at 1900 res with widescreen and aa

[Projekt7tuning]

You are an amazingly special person. Please tell everyone what games you worked on so we can stay away. Have you herd of bootcamp? Its just as easy to install windows on an intel mac as it is a pc. As for the hardware, again pull your head out of your extra husky a@#. Please feel free to read the article, notice the macbook pro sports booth an integrated geforce 9400, and a discreet 9600gt. Under windows you can use them in sli mode. BTW, the Mac was also the only intel hardware that had DDR3 system memory. I noticed that you only have 2 speech bubbles. I need not ask why. Do all the new grads a favor and don't hire them. No one should have to work for someone like you just starting out. Please do all of us here at n4g a favor and go play hide and go f@%k yourself. Would it kill you to know what the hell your talking about before you decide to argue about it? A simple visit to apples web sight would have given you a clue that you had no idea what the hell your talking about. Dose anyone here on n4g use bootcamp? Was it really that hard to install windows for you? Also Please let us know how gaming preforms under windows.

[dirthurts]

Macs are nice but over priced...BAAAAAAD.
I have a ASUS laptop sitting here that will run Crysis on high settings, at very good frame rates. It was 900 dollars...

Amazing screen, backlit keyboard. Nice mini oled screen to tell my cpu and ram performances(looking to hack that and tell me temps), as well as give me mail alerts and things of that nature.

No Mac is going to match that.
Windows 7 is looking very nice...
But you'll never shut up those apple fanboys.
I used to be an apple fanboy, but thankfully I found my way. They are sleek, and sexy. But it's my buying a Mercedes. It's still just a GM with a fancy grill and logo. What's inside is as generic as everything else. Just with a higher price tag.

[The Lazy One]

Why the hell did they guy go to HP and Dell? Asus, Fujitsu, Lenovo, Toshiba, and Sony are all out there too, and if one of them doesn't have what you're looking for (with little or no custom building) another one almost always does, and for very VERY cheap.

[DJ]

"Though I can't speak from personal experience using these laptops..."

Then why even start comparing hardware like that? If you're thinking about buying a new laptop, don't buy online YET. The advertisement photos are worthless. Go to Best Buy and the Apple Store and figure out what you like. Pick up the laptops. Mess around with them.

But if you want the highest quality laptop possible, buy a Macbook Pro. You can literally feel the difference, and the huge trackpad is awesome. Runs very fast, too.

[nightelfmohawk]

I'll admit that I think Macs may be over priced (I'll let the computer nerds figure out if it is or isn't), but ever since I bought my first Mac (Macbook with 2 gb of RAM and upgraded hard drive) in January of 2008, I knew I was hooked on Macbooks. I'll never buy a PC laptop again.

I still prefer PC for desktops, but I don't even use a desktop now unless I'm at work (I also bring my Macbook to work or to coffee shops on weekends to work on legal documents, do legal research, etc.).

[mirroredderorrim]

I'd love a Macbook for music editing/video editing and socializing.

PC would come in handy for everything else, and for when I want to get complicated.
Macbooks, while overpriced, are not the bane of the computer world, like most enthusiasts make them out to be, for the simple reason that they are over priced.

I have a horror story about Apple, though...

See, I bought my g/f an Imac for her birthday and just recently, the computer stopped turning on.
She called Apple and they told her how to "reset" the computer, so that it would turn on.

She couldn't make it to her desktop for some reason, so she called Apple again and in order to get it fixed, she'd have to order a CD from them that costs 100 bucks.

Now, if that isn't bullsh!t then I don't know what is.

Apple makes good products, but the bottom line, is they are doing the same sh!t that California Pizza kitchen is doing. Giving less for the price of more.

If you ever eaten that POS pizza, then I'm sure you can feel where I am coming from.

Lastly, while I love my Iphone and plan to buy a Macbook (f**k Apple)

[cardgenius]

Weak ass article. How about they actually go out and buy the Laptops so they can ACTUALLY test them. Who cares about the specs, Anybody that can read and navigate a website can do what he just did.

[KGB]

PC wins hands down in pure specs
Apple wins hands down in pure asthetics
OS I say apple, but it is preference

So it really comes down to what you are using it for. If you plan to play games only go with the PC because you will get a lot better hardware for the same price. If you are using it for several things including the internet and dont want to have to worry about the dreaded blue screen or viruses the pricey Mac is worth it.

neither is hands down better it is what you want it for

[Quadrix]

One thing I can say about Apple,is that they sure as hell know how to make a kickass design for their computers, inside AND out.

[Software_Lover]

"you're not cool enough to own a mac"

Hilarious. Its all an opinion. Some people like Macs, some people like pc's, some dont have a problem with either. Get over it. MAC's are the see all be all. And neither are PC's, even though you can do just about anything you want on a pc. Even build your own. And MACS now use pc parts even their processors. They even run Microsoft Office.

Have a Mac, use it. Have a pc use it.