New i5 MacBook Air or Dell XPS for WoW, Study, Work?

[Blastit]

Oh the irony. Apple isn't overpriced? Like 20-30% higher price is just because it's an Apple but hardware is still garbage compared to other computers of same price.

Does anyone else remember how amazing alienware was before dell took it over? Does anyone else remember why almost 90% of college students get macs? oh ya and for OP it would be great amazing programs for macs editing is great on macs. I cannot even tell you how to edit videos or photos on windows because you really can't besides photoshop. Dude macs come with so much software it isn't even funny. I have by default Movie editor, Photo editor, Address Book, Calendar, Mac Word, Keynote for teaching lessons and plans, iWeb for planning and presentations, built in dictionary, and software to edit and make music. BUT! like other people i advise you to get a macbook or a macbookpro i get 40 fps on high graphics in org on my macbookpro i use for class. Oh and don't forget a Built in Music player people actually use lol at windows media player and don't forget their "iPod killer" the zune!

[Demayo]

You can't play WoW on a Macbook air. Intel HD 3000 graphic chip will net you 10 fps tops.

Also the Dell is so much better in every single way its not even funny.

[Tremelizzer]

Does anyone else remember how amazing alienware was before dell took it over? Does anyone else remember why almost 90% of college students get macs? oh ya and for OP it would be great amazing programs for macs editing is great on macs. I cannot even tell you how to edit videos or photos on windows because you really can't besides photoshop

If it's about the programs you get with the computer, no thanks. If you want to have decent video and photo editing software for free for Windows I would look into Windows Movie Maker (never personally used but it's alright I hear) and Gimp.

And like you couldn't get Photoshop for Mac or After Effects/Premiere for Windows.

[Blastit]

If it's about the programs you get with the computer, no thanks. If you want to have decent video and photo editing software for free for Windows I would look into Windows Movie Maker (never personally used but it's alright I hear) and Gimp.

And like you couldn't get Photoshop for Mac or After Effects/Premiere for Windows.

You are just mad because my mac bootcamps windows better than your master race windows could ever do it. simple as that. The guy is going to college and needs an awesome reliable computer the warranties are infinite and i have never had a problem with apple fixing my stuff for free.

[Demayo]

If it's about the programs you get with the computer, no thanks. If you want to have decent video and photo editing software for free for Windows I would look into Windows Movie Maker (never personally used but it's alright I hear) and Gimp.

And like you couldn't get Photoshop for Mac or After Effects/Premiere for Windows.

This. Such bullshit saying video/photo editing is better on Mac. There are more programs for windows.

[Badpaladin]

Get the Air if you want to look cool and fit in with the rest of the crowd, or get the XPS if you actually want a good computer that can handle more than just a little photoshop + facebook. Really the only thing the Air has that's better is a backlit keyboard, but I wouldn't put that much stock into such a thing.

[Demayo]

You are just mad because my mac bootcamps windows better than your master race windows could ever do it. simple as that. The guy is going to college and needs an awesome reliable computer the warranties are infinite and i have never had a problem with apple fixing my stuff for free.

Hahahahaha. How about you have exactly 0 warranty unless you purchase apple care for what, 300 extra euros?

[Blastit]

This. Such bullshit saying video/photo editing is better on Mac. There are more programs for windows.

there are thousands of toyotas on the road but only a few ferraris... problem? Even Professionals agree no real person uses windows to produce music and videos. MY friend jus bought a Alienware and it broke because its a dell product i am still rocking my MBP

---------- Post added 2011-07-22 at 11:51 PM ----------

Hahahahaha. How about you have exactly 0 warranty unless you purchase apple care for what, 300 extra euros?

paging doctor doesn't know jackshit about the apple care program. You get a free warranty for a year extended protection is at cost which isn't 300 euros.


http://apcmag.com/15_reasons_macs_ar...an_windows.htm
http://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/why-pros-use-mac.htm
http://www.popularmechanics.com/tech.../tests/4258725

[Badpaladin]

there are thousands of toyotas on the road but only a few ferraris... problem? Even Professionals agree no real person uses windows to produce music and videos. MY friend jus bought a Alienware and it broke because its a dell product i am still rocking my MBP

That's a pretty terrible comparison. You do know that Dell and Apple buy their internal components from the same company, right? Aside from the unibody enclosure and the software there isn't any difference in quality of hardware.

[Blastit]

That's a pretty terrible comparison. You do know that Dell and Apple buy their internal components from the same company, right? Aside from the unibody enclosure and the software there isn't any difference in quality of hardware.

bad i love you. I had dells and windows for the last 10 years till one day my 2 year old laptop ceased to work after the battery melted itself. dell has been known to make bad quality items.

and i wasn't saying the macs are ferraris. The person was saying there is so much more options in programs for windows. too bad more than 70% of them are outdated and don't work.

[albatross1]

get a samsung laptop do some googling and you will have a macbook for way less money XD... that will keep you some bucks to buy a good desktop and if you don't have space but are going on stock speeds an htpc case will do fine its work

[strafefaster]

Does anyone else remember how amazing alienware was before dell took it over? Does anyone else remember why almost 90% of college students get macs? oh ya and for OP it would be great amazing programs for macs editing is great on macs. I cannot even tell you how to edit videos or photos on windows because you really can't besides photoshop. Dude macs come with so much software it isn't even funny. I have by default Movie editor, Photo editor, Address Book, Calendar, Mac Word, Keynote for teaching lessons and plans, iWeb for planning and presentations, built in dictionary, and software to edit and make music. BUT! like other people i advise you to get a macbook or a macbookpro i get 40 fps on high graphics in org on my macbookpro i use for class

Almost everything you said is complete bullshit.

Alienware's have always been overpriced crap. You have ALWAYS paid for the name with them. They are still good computers (spec wise) but still very overpriced which makes them crap in my opinion.

90% of college students do not get Macs. Windows is still 88% of the marketshare with macs making up only 5% in may 2011 (you can look this up on google, just type in OS Market share, I can't post links yet).

You can edit just as well on a PC as you can on a mac with the right software so saying you can only use Photoshop is just dumb, and if you really want to edit on macs you do HAVE to spend a lot of money for the good stuff just like on windows so it's not even worth trying to bring up the price of after market software (final cut pro x cost $300 and the Adobe CS 5 Suite is something like $2000).

I do agree with you on getting a macbook pro over the air though. The air just isn't that good for graphic design or gaming, both of which the OP wanted.

Go with the dell. You are going to need the extra processor power, processor threads, hard drive space (graphic design takes up A LOT of hard drive space) and memory (both on the board and the graphics card) for what you are doing. The better resolution will also make your life much easier.

EDIT: To all the people saying to get the air. Are you even into graphics design/photo editing/video editing? You do realise that all 3 of these things require fast multicore/multithread processors and a lot of memory (both on the board and the card) for your projects to not take hours if not days (yes literally days) to render? If you do anything at all serious with video/graphics design then you will know that render time is key.

[Montresette]

I bought the 13" i5 1.7 GHZ MacBook Air with 4 GB of RAM in the store yesterday. I just flew through Orgrimmar (over the busier auction house) on "Good" settings (with Shadows on low, though) and never dipped below 30 FPS, staying generally between 45 and 60. Max resolution.

Don't listen to the idiots saying you won't break 10 FPS. Is an Air going to replace a good gaming desktop, or even close? Absolutely not. It will, however, play WoW just fine.

Also, it's incredibly fast at performing daily tasks due in large part to the SSD. Browsing, iTunes, etc. I've been extremely impressed with it so far. If you want a laptop primarily to work and study on, get the Air. If you want a machine leaning more toward playing games that aren't 6 years old, get something else.

[avengingbt]

They're completely different machines.

The dell XPS is a high performance machine built relatively cheaply, so it's going to run fast but perhaps not last forever or look particularly pretty.
The macbook air is a low performance machine built to look good.

Personally I'd go with the dell every single time. The macbook is more of a fashion statement than a computer designed to be used.

[Alvorea]

This is for the MBP I can buy for air's price:

• Intel Core i5 dual core 2,3GHz
• 4GB 1333MHz
• 500GB 5400 rpm1
• Intel HD Graphics 3000
  
  There are intel HD graphics as well and no dedicated video card, how can that run WoW faster than Air?
  
  And why Air cannot run WoW with a core i5 processor, if my HP desktop has a i3 processor and no video card and can run it still with 4gb ran just fine?
  
  Ps.: That 5400 rpm on mbp hd's make me lol, is THAT BAD?
  
  I've never had an apple, i always wanted one but i cannot buy a 15" mbp, only 13".

[Dazzlefraz]

You do know that Dell and Apple buy their internal components from the same company, right? Aside from the unibody enclosure and the software there isn't any difference in quality of hardware.

^ what he said.

Aside from fancy unibody construction and bling bling software, the Apple and the Dell both use the same types of hardware, neither is Superior in quality. However, one is blatantly superior in terms of performance.

I hate Dell as much as the next guy. However, given this choice with these specs... the Dell trounces the Apple. It's not about which build has better stock software to perform the tasks you wish to perform, it's about which one will perform them better with the hardware it's equipped with.

If you wanna say the Apple would be better for his designing needs, please tell me how an i5 1.7 is going to outperform a i7 TurboBoost with it's added virtual cores when it comes time to render/finalize. If the software isn't optimized for the extra core power... well.. the i7 still wins with it's vastly faster (over 1ghz) clock speed. Not even mentioning the GPU an added 2 gigs of RAM.

Moot argument is Moot.

[Strippárn]

Almost everything you said is complete bullshit.

Alienware's have always been overpriced crap. You have ALWAYS paid for the name with them. They are still good computers (spec wise) but still very overpriced which makes them crap in my opinion.

90% of college students do not get Macs. Windows is still 88% of the marketshare with macs making up only 5% in may 2011 (you can look this up on google, just type in OS Market share, I can't post links yet).

You can edit just as well on a PC as you can on a mac with the right software so saying you can only use Photoshop is just dumb, and if you really want to edit on macs you do HAVE to spend a lot of money for the good stuff just like on windows so it's not even worth trying to bring up the price of after market software (final cut pro x cost $300 and the Adobe CS 5 Suite is something like $2000).

I do agree with you on getting a macbook pro over the air though. The air just isn't that good for graphic design or gaming, both of which the OP wanted.

Go with the dell. You are going to need the extra processor power, processor threads, hard drive space (graphic design takes up A LOT of hard drive space) and memory (both on the board and the graphics card) for what you are doing. The better resolution will also make your life much easier.

That is complete BULLSHIT to... windows computers is lowing by 1% and macbooks go plus with 28%...

[Badpaladin]

bad i love you. I had dells and windows for the last 10 years till one day my 2 year old laptop ceased to work after the battery melted itself. dell has been known to make bad quality items.

My mother owns a Dell notebook from 2003, and it still runs fine. She needed to replace the battery because it eventually died (as all batteries do), but other than that it's caused no troubles. There are thousands of accolades about Macs from people claiming how much better they are in every aspect, but there are also countless problems that come with them as well. Hard drive failure in particular is very common in the MBP and Air lines. That's because the internal hardware is manufactured by Quanta Computer, a Taiwanese manufacturer who holds a mind-boggling 33%ish market share in laptop hardware.

Really, you're paying for the operating system and a computer that looks nice. Don't get me wrong, I don't deny that they make good computers. The new 13 inch MBP in particular is very good for it's cost, and OSX Lion is definitely better than Windows. However, I just don't think it's worth the ridiculous amount of money they're asking for their products (save the 13 inch MBP). The Air in particular is a poor choice in terms of price/performance.

and i wasn't saying the macs are ferraris. The person was saying there is so much more options in programs for windows. too bad more than 70% of them are outdated and don't work.

That just depends on where you want to look. Either way, without a professional program suite (which would cost extra), the stuff that comes with it for free isn't going to cut it for anything serious anyways. If the OP is just looking for some not-so-serious college projects, getting a Mac won't really offer much. Now, if he's going to get into heavy sound editing, I would suggest a Mac simply because of Logic Pro. So far nothing can compete with that.

[Montresette]

To the OP: If you want to talk to someone who actually owns a new MacBook Air with WoW installed, PM me. If you want to listen to morons talking out of their asses, continue reading the thread.

[Echohunter]

Between those two? The Dell.

I don't care for Dell all that much, but the Air is terrible, plain and simple. You would pay far too much just to have a somewhat light computer. If you need something to play WoW and use Photoshop you'd be literally wasting your money.