I think i'm going to get an asus eee for class :O

[quote="clouds"]I think i'm going to get an asus eee for class :O[/quote]

It's quite the attractive subnotebook. The built-in webcam is a great touch too. I just wonder how I'd do with the small screen size.

[b]iMac:[/b]
20" Monitor
2.0 GHz
1 GB Memory
250 GB HD

[color=red]$1,200[/color]

[b]Dell Inspiron 530:[/b]
20" Monitor
2.2 GHz
1 GB Memory
250 GB HD

[color=red]$659[/color]


Hmm...

On a side note, Dell has been offering solid-state memory for almost a year. Where on earth have you been?

On another sidenote, a Dell's still a Dell.

Computers aren't like automobiles. There is no such thing as build quality. If you format two computers with identical hardware, it doesn't matter what badge is on the casing (even if it's a sleek apple) - they will be exactly the same. What you get out of a computer is entirely up to [i]you[/i]: what YOU decide to put in it (hardware/software/OS), what YOU decide to do with it, etc.

Of course, if you are not technologically adept, there are other factors to worry about, such as customer support, where Dell fails. If you're worried about everything going to shit, get an Apple. There is a preponderance of Apple stores that have popped up in recent years, and I can't stress enough how convenient and helpful they are.

Dell does? I looked through their store and didn't find any laptops that you could configure to have one (in the XPS series at least).

Again, yes, the iMac is more expensive in that case, but the reason isn't necessarily because it's Apple, the reason is that the iMac is a compact all-in-one unit where the 530 is a standard tower/monitor/etcetc unit, so of course it's going to be a lot more expensive.

Looking through the Apple store versus the Dell store there aren't any good examples for this right now, there's no "standard" apple desktop to put against a dell desktop, and there's no small dell unit to put against apple's. It's interesting, I didn't really think about how different Apple's offering of computers is right now. They have the all-in-one, the tiny "just plug in a monitor and keyboard" one, the freakishly powerful workstation. It seems they're sort of marketing to the in-between-the-"standard"-computers market. It's sort of neat how they go for what people wouldn't normally think of, sort of how like they intentionally market iPods to consumers who don't know well enough to realize there are players with better feature sets and SQ

As far as build quality goes, though, there is most definitely a difference in build quality between companies. Just because you might get a laptop with similar parts from different companies doesn't mean they are put together just as well. It could be physical connects, the quality of wires going from the motherboard to the components, the motherboard itself (how often do you see the motherboard advertised with prebuilt PCs/laptops?), whatever proprietary things they may add in, limitations they place on how much a user can mess with hardware... there's a ton of difference. Dell is probably my least hated computer manufacturer, with Apple coming in next (my powerbook g4 is arguably the worst laptop (as far as physical hardware goes) I've owned).

Apple's tech help is awesome, though.

[quote="sonic3305"]As far as build quality goes, though, there is most definitely a difference in build quality between companies. Just because you might get a laptop with similar parts from different companies doesn't mean they are put together just as well. It could be physical connects, the quality of wires going from the motherboard to the components, the motherboard itself (how often do you see the motherboard advertised with prebuilt PCs/laptops?), whatever proprietary things they may add in, limitations they place on how much a user can mess with hardware... there's a ton of difference.[/quote]

My fanboy instinct tells me to agree with you, while my rational instinct tells me to demand "where the hell are you getting this information?"

To clarify or strengthen my point: Considering nearly 0% of all computer problems are physical, there [i]is[/i] no difference in build quality among manufacturers, despite any actual differences that may or may not exist.

A Dell is going to break the same way a Mac is going to break the same way a Gateway is going to break the same way an HP is going to break. Conveniently, [i]all[/i] these paths can be remedied with a disk format. [i]Nearly all[/i] problems are software/OS based, and all are limited to the HD. Therefore, if you are buying a computer based on build quality, [b]you are wasting your time and money[/b], unless there is a serious physical defect with a certain brand (i.e. the fan does not cool properly, CPU tends to get destroyed, etc.) - which there typically aren't.

[quote="GoldenRhino"]My fanboy instinct tells me to agree with you, while my rational instinct tells me to demand "where the hell are you getting this information?"[/quote]

Years of doing tech support / repair with PCs and laptops at a big university where I see tons of this stuff every day. You start to notice trends after a while, and what stems from user error versus actual hardware issues. It's not uncommon for companies to get the usual brands of big components, AMD or Intel, Western Digital or Seagate, etc etc, but for them to also go the cheap route on the other stuff, RAM, cables, motherboard parts, what have you. Sony's the worst with cutting corners, though they seem to gradually be getting better.

Anyway.

A PC component does not equal any other PC component. There are good-quality parts and cheaper poor-quality parts. I don't buy a crappy no-name $50 motherboard for my PC, I buy the nice $100ish one from Gigabyte or Asus, because they are more durable, last longer, and are simply put together better. And when a laptop or something is assembled, not every company does it the same way, and laptops from company A may simply have been put together with less care than from company B.

When you have a laptop for a few years and you're in it for the long haul, it is most definitely worth checking into which laptop companies are supposed to have the best build quality, so you don't get hard drives or motherboards crapping out right when your warranty runs up.

For some reason the biggest thing I see are Dell laptops with HDDs getting bad sectors getting bricked after 2 years. There is no real reason for it, since most Dell machines use Seagate hard drives, but I see this far more often in Dells than anything else.

To clarify, I'm talking about hardware issues and the quality of a machine in the physical sense. Most OS issues will be the same across the board and fixed with a hearty reformat 'n reinstall, but not all hardware issues are the same.

[quote="sonic3305"]Years of doing tech support / repair with PCs and laptops at a big university where I see tons of this stuff every day.[/quote]

Fine, you got the PC part covered. But when was the last time you were on an Apple assembly line?

Can't say I've been on one (yet, muahhaa), but I see tons of Apple stuff at work, in the past couple months I've actually seen more OSX machines than XP or Vista.

I was talking about the difference between all companies, not necessarily just Mac vs PC. I don't really put Apple in a seperate group from Dell, HP, Toshiba, etc.

I would, however, like to express my hatred for the 12-inch PowerBook G4, the worst laptop that Apple has put out. The thing is finally dying on me, four batteries later.

My dad's thinking about getting one.

Warn him away from wasting his money.

Make sure he's specifically looking for an ultra-thin laptop for mainly surfing the net, Office stuff, and OSX. If that's what he's looking for and he's willing to spend the money on being an early adopter of mega-thin laptops, then it'd be a good choice.

(That's what people seem to be overlooking, it's expensive as hell but that comes with the territory of being an early adopter of a new kind of product, it's nothing new or limited to Apple)

However if he's looking to do any more than internet/Office, he should just take that 1700 and get a nice MacBook, or spend a little more and get an entry-level MacBook Pro. Unless he's *really* into the mega-thin thing then just get him to do that.

[quote="sheerheartattack"]To clarify or strengthen my point: Considering nearly 0% of all computer problems are physical, there [i]is[/i] no difference in build quality among manufacturers, despite any actual differences that may or may not exist.[/quote]

... what? Plenty of people have problems like RAM going bad or power supplies blowing up, etc. I don't know what the numbers might be, but it's certainly > 0%. The issues don't always happen out of the box, but after daily wear and tear some components will fail sooner than others by a different manufacturer.

Dell and Apple et al don't necessarily use all the same components. All power supplies and motherboards and RAM are not made equal, as sonic3305 already pointed out. So no, a Dell is not necessarily going to break the same way a Mac is going to break.