----- Original Message -----
From:
"Qua Veda" <
> The Mac has about 3% market
share of the laptops, so that's partly why they
> cost more.
Good point. Some folks forget
how little they have of the market share, but we should
see this jump up with their
adoption of the Intel duo core, right? Maybe it has jumped
already.
> For the price of the
MacBookPro, there are companies that will custom
> configure a PC
laptop, optimized for audio applications, with
multiple
> SATA
hard drives (separating programs and audio files on different
drives
> can
speed performance), and excellent support.
Well, the pricing thing is
getting interesting, and there may not be the same discrepancy
as there was before. I
just did an experiment for you all. I went to the apple, HP, Dell,
Toshiba,
and Lenovo sites and pretended I was buying a notebook from each. I
configured each notebook
as I would if I were buying it
for myself today for music. The specs are exact apples to apples, but
it
will give
you a general idea of pricing comparisons of really top notch notebooks. The
result
here could vary quite a bit if I
had not have selected business class PC notebooks. The
PC
prices would probably vary by at
least $500, if I had configured a consumer model.
Price
Summaries:
MacBook Pro - $3748.00
USD
Lenovo ThinkPadT61p - $2942.00
(I would not buy again pesonally, because they don't have
firewire)
HP Compaq nc8430 -
$3655.00
Dell Lattitude D8030 -
$2975
Toshiba Tecra M9-ST5511 -
$2564.00 (could not configure with 4MB of RAM or faster hard
drive)
Mac
Model: MacBook Pro
Processor: 2.4GHz Intel Core 2
Duo
Monitor/Display: 15" (Widescreen
display, not glossy)
Memory: 4GB
Hard Drive: 160GB Serial ATA
Drive @ 7200 rpm
Services:
AppleCare Protection Plan for MacBook Pro/PowerBook (w/or w/o Display) -
Auto-enroll
TOTAL: $3748.00 USD
Lenovo
(IBM)
Model: ThinkPad T61p Mobile
Workstation (follow on to the unit I have now)
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo
T7700 (2.4GHz 800MHz 4MBL2)
Monitor/Display: 15.4 WUXGA
TFT
Memory: 4
GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
Hard Drive: 100GB Hard Disk
Drive, 7200rpm
Services:
3 year depot 9x5 Next Business Day & 3 Year Depot Upgrade with 3
Year ThinkPad Protection
TOTAL: $2942.00
HP (Under
Business Class notebooks)
Model: HP Compaq
nc8430
Processor: Intel Core Duo
Processor T7600 2.33 GHz, 4MB cache, 667 MHz FSB
Monitor/Display: 15.4 inch
WXGA
Memory:
4GB
Hard
Drive: 100GB, 7200 rpm
Services: 9X5 pickup &
return services w/ accidental damage protection, 3 years
TOTAL: $3655
Dell (large
business class notebooks)
Model: Dell Lattitude
D8030
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo
T7700 (2.40GHz) 4M L2 Cache, 800MHz Dual Core
Monitor/Display: 15.4 inch Wide Screen WSXGA+ LCD
Panel
Memory: 4.0GB, DDR2-667MHz
SDRAM, 2 DIMMS
Hard Drive: 160GB Hard Drive,
9.5MM, 7200RPM
Services: 3 Year Business Comprehensive
Plan / Gold Technical Support, 3
Years
TOTAL: $2975
Toshiba
(under business products)
Model: Tecra
M9-ST5511
Processor: Intel® Core™2 Duo*
Processor T7700 (2.40GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 800MHz
FSB)
Monitor/Display: 14.1" Diagonal Widescreen XGA
display
Memory: 2048MB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM
(2048MBx1)
Hard Drive: 160GB HDD (5400rpm,
Serial-ATA)
Services: 3 Years Standard Limited
Warranty
TOTAL:
$2564.00