Need A Laptop?

I know I posted about the lil' website I created (with RapidWeaver) to help promote the Powerbook+Extras I'm trying to sell, but I have since taken more pictures and jazzed up the site a bit.

CHECK IT OUT

White.

Apple owns white. It is the one company that can honestly say it owns a colour; think about it. When you first saw the XBox 360 (I can only assume the “X” stands for “eXtreme), I’m sure one of your first thoughts was ”ppphhhhtttt ... they ripped off Apple“. In some respects, you’d be right. Electronics have always typically been plagued with dark grey-tones, save obvious colourful highlights and Nintendo consoles. It wasn’t until the iPod became mass-market that companies realized that electronics didn’t have to be black or grey to be taken seriously.

Ever since then, you can watch as companies slowly and stealthily add white to their palette. Even Apple ditched a lot of grey and colour to focus primarily on white; the original iMacs where VERY colourful and later became known as the eMac (bottom left-hand corner of image), clocked entirely in white (they have since been discontinued). You will also notice that Dell’s new line of Inspiron laptops (top right-hand corner of image) feature a white bevel around the screen. Obviously, not just computer manufacturers have adopted the ”white way of life“; many electronics manufacturers have released white MP3 players and cellphones. Take a look at the recently released Creative Zen Vision M (lower left side of image); I don’t have to say anything, we’re all thinking the same thing.

You may have also noticed that Nintendo, the underdog of the home console arena, has adopted the colour white for their recently-released (and purchased by yours truly) DS Lite (middle of right side of image) and up-coming GameCube-successor, Wii (top left-hand corner of image).

But can Apple really own a colour? Well, legally and realistically, no, but as far as our society is considered, they pretty much do. If I were to show you my DS Lite, the first thing out of your mouth would be ”Is that the new iPod?“. It’s unfair for other electronics manufacturers, but it’s true; Apple owns white.

Darth Barkley.

MACS ARE EXPENSIVE.

It is the general concensus that Macs are more expensive than PCs. Naturally, most of us believe this without thinking about; why would we bother to question such an accusation? 95% of us use Windows anyways; it's not worth our time to delve into such research. I, however, found that it was worth my time. The research that I did was simply into the comparison of the most modern Apple notebook and the most modern Dell notebook; I will not compare a Mac to a discounted wholesale notebook.

It turns out that depending on how you value certain hardware components and software applications, you may find that a Mac can be a better deal than a Dell. To prove such a statement, I spent too much time creating the table below, which compares two very similar notebooks: an Apple MacBook and a Dell Inspiron. I should note that I calculated the final prices by customizing each notebook at its respective company's online Canadian store.

	VS
Apple MacBook	Model	Dell Inspiron 640m
Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger)	OS	Windows XP Home (SP2)
2.0GHz Intel Core Duo	Processor	2.0GHz Intel Core Duo
1GB 667mhz DDR2 SDRAM	Memory	1GB 667mhz DDR2 SDRAM
80GB SATA	Hard Disk	80GB SATA
64MB Intel Integrated	Video Card	64MB Intel Integrated
13.3" Glossy [1280 x 800]	Screen	14.1" Glossy [1440 x 900]
DVD±RW/CD-RW [SLOT]	Disc Drive	DVD±RW/CD-RW [TRAY]
Wi-Fi (802.11g)	Wireless	Wi-Fi (802.11g)
1 Year	Warranty	1 Year
iLife 2006 Front Row	Software	WordPerfect
Integrated iSight Bluetooth 2.0+EDR 1 Firewire 400 Ports 2 USB 2.0 Ports Mini-DVI Port Built-in Mic Apple Remote	Other	Exterior Media Controls RJ11 Modem port S-Video 4 USB 2.0 Ports Monitor Port 5-in-1 Card Reader
$1,629	Price	$1,779

So it looks like, if you can pass up on a modem, a few USB ports, and a few hundred pixels of scren size, you will get a (somewhat) cheaper machine that not only has so much more included (and useful) software, but is also hugely attractive. I could have upped the Dell's price and included Windows Media Center edition and a 40-button remote, but that would make the Dell seem too much more more expensive. And the point of this article is not to reach a conclusion that Macs are cheaper than PCs, because they aren't.

The question is really about which is a better deal. Price does play a big part, but so does the OS, the software, the specs, and the special hardware features. How can you even compare the value of Windows and Mac OS X. While OS X is much, much cheaper than Windows XP (and do you compare it to Professional or Media Center Edition?) it could be argued that Windows is more feature-rich. Also, how much do you value a virus-free world, not having to purchase Norton or McFae? There's really no way to honestly state which is a better deal. If you knew me, you'd know I would argue ('till I die) that the MacBook is a better deal, but my values obviously differ from yours.

The point of this post is not to declare a winner, but rather, to point out that the cultural consensus that PCs are a much better deal than Macs is not the case.