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Mac Forum / General / Portable Macs / February 2005Went to Best Buy today...
Today I went to Best Buy to see what the competition is offering. Not that I want anything else than a portable Mac but I wanted to see what was out there. -After talking to the store guy, who seemed quite knowledgable, he confirmed that most PC laptops gets 1-2 hours of battery time of normal use, unless it is a Centrino which gives 4-5 hours. -For games, you need a Pentium 4 not a Centrino which cuts down battery time. - Most pc laptops dont have dedicated video memory for the GPU A pc laptop with a good processor, decent battery life and dedicated videoram for the GPU is around $2500! Makes me feel better about a future upgrade to a PB G4 from my Pismo. When I look at what is included in a Powerbook and see what that would cost in a pc laptop it makes the Powerbook look like a bargain or at least not overly expensive. However almost all pc laptops now have the new type of laptop screens "bright something" technology. It definately is a lot brighter and they also have the "HD" wide resolution of 1900+ horizontal pixels. It looks very impressive next to a laptop with a standard screen! Is this the future for the next generation Powerbook, regardless of G5 or dual G4? Apart from the screen I think the current batch of powerbooks offer a lot for the money. Comments? /Pete > - Most pc laptops dont have dedicated video memory for the GPU This is news to me. I've bought 3 Dell laptops in the past few years before I switched to the Powerbook, and all of them had a proper graphics chip with its own RAM -- an ATI Radeon with 32 megs, or nVidia GeForce something or other. 20 Feb 2005 05:48:56 GMT, kevin@nospam.invalid suggested: :> - Most pc laptops dont have dedicated video memory for the GPU : : This is news to me. I've bought 3 Dell laptops in the past few years : before I switched to the Powerbook, and all of them had a proper graphics : chip with its own RAM -- an ATI Radeon with 32 megs, or nVidia GeForce : something or other. Best Buy doesn't sell Dells. ;)  Signatureagreenbu @ nyx . net andrew michael greenburg > This is news to me. I've bought 3 Dell laptops in the past few > years before I switched to the Powerbook, and all of them had a > proper graphics chip with its own RAM -- an ATI Radeon with 32 > megs, or nVidia GeForce something or other. What was the price range of the Dells? SignatureDavid Magda <dmagda at ee.ryerson.ca>, http://www.magda.ca/ Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. -- Niccolo Machiavelli, _The Prince_, Chapter VI > > This is news to me. I've bought 3 Dell laptops in the past few > > years before I switched to the Powerbook, and all of them had a > > proper graphics chip with its own RAM -- an ATI Radeon with 32 > > megs, or nVidia GeForce something or other. > What was the price range of the Dells? Hmm, it's been a while but as I recall... the Inspiron 8000 and Latitude D800 were each around $2000 for the base models, and I upgraded things like adding RAM and DVD/CD burners, etc. The other one was a Latitude CSx which I bought used from the Dell Financial Services website for $999. All prices Cdn$. Entity nph uttered this profundity: > A pc laptop with a good processor, decent battery life and dedicated > videoram for the GPU is around $2500! Makes me feel better about a > future upgrade to a PB G4 from my Pismo. I tell you what, when I bought this TiBook it topped out at $3000. 2 1/2 years later I don't have regrets, it's been a real workhorse. Nothing has ever broken (except when I dropped it on the pavement) and I am a HEAVY user with no respect for cosmetics at all. When this portable hits its 3 year mark it will be 100% depreciated. At that point it will still be vastly more usable than a 3 year old $2500 PeeCee portable. So for any power user you get much more value from a top end Apple than a top end PeeCee. -- Social Security Privatization: a solution in search of a problem -- Gnarlodious > -After talking to the store guy, who seemed quite knowledgable, he >confirmed that most PC laptops gets 1-2 hours of battery time of normal >use, unless it is a Centrino which gives 4-5 hours. I have a H-P Pavilion that has never gotten more than two hours. OTOH my iBook will routinely get 3+ hours. SignatureTo reply by e-mail, remove the "restrictor plate" > Comments? > > /Pete IMHO, a few of your statements are just not true. The Centrino chipset is very practical for running games, and I do this all the time. Also, there are many, many PC laptops that use a seperate video card and the Pentium M proccessor. I have purchased Dell M-60 Precision Mobile workstations that are perfomace wise comprable, or exceed, a Powerbook 15" 1.67 Ghz. For $2,500 you can get 1 gig ram, DVD burner, 128 Meg NVIDA Quadro, 80 gig 7200 RPM drive, WIFI, and a 15 WXVG+ screen. Oh and battery life is a real world 4-8 hours depending on if I use the second battery slot. As a note, the DVD burner is fixed, the second battery slot replaces a HDD or floppy. Granted, the Dell is slightly heavier but in my experince doesn't heat up as much. What is hard to find in the PC world is a laptop to complete with the ibook 14" 1.33 Ghz. For $1300 you get a Mac with a real world 4+ hours battery life. At this price point it is hard to find a PC to compete as most will have a Celeron or no battery life. A Dell Latitude or Toshiba Sattelite just don't compete, and the whitebook generic PC laptops are questionable for support and quality. In the end, it really comes down to what people are comforable using and the budget they are willing to spend. Brent |
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