MacBook Pro or Sony SR41M/S

jamie.86

I broke my Dell XPS M1330 a couple of weeks ago, so looking to buy a new laptop. I'm sure the price of laptops has increased since i bought my Dell just over a year ago!

Anyway, i need something with a decent battery and since the new Dell range doesn't have decent batterys thats Dell out.

I also need something reliable, small and looks good - so im left with Sony and Apple. However im stuck between the two. They are both just over £1k, but have slightly different specs i.e. apple has better battery and GHz but the Sony has a better hard drive and graphics.

Im not a gamer, i only really play Football Manager.

I was looking at the Acer Timline series, but it doesnt match my needs on what the laptop offers!

Any help or advice would be great. Also is there anywhere else apart from John Lewis or Apple that sell the MacBook as both of them seem to price match (and its expensive!)

M4RKM

i'm assuming you're looking at the 13" macbook pro unibody, 2.26ghz, 2gb ram 160gb hard drive at £899 standard price, which compares quite well with the VAIO, the VAIO does have more ram, (4gb), but a slower processor with a slower FSB, so, you could easily spend money on soem RAM to match and the mac wins out.

Now, looking on 1 website, laskys.com the sony comes in at £998, however the macbook pro, is on a bit of a bargain price right now at £787.98 (and this is the same price on dixons.co.uk)..

http://www.laskys.com/computing/laptops_and_pdas/laptops/apple_mb990b_a.html

http://www.laskys.com/computing/laptops_and_pdas/laptops/sony_vgnsr41m_s.html

I'm a mac fan, and finally convinced work to order me one of those very MacBook Pros. Football Manager is available on both formats anyway, so you wouldn't need to install windows or use VM, and with the price difference, I'd go with the Mac, because it is cheaper

Also, the Mac has much much better battery life, a test review i've just looked at says the sony lasted 2.5 hours playing a dvd, whereas the mac, with the controversial battery, that can last up to 7 hours, will probably do 5 hours while watching dvds...

Leopard

jamie.86 wrote: »

I broke my Dell XPS M1330 a couple of weeks ago, so looking to buy a new laptop. I'm sure the price of laptops has increased since i bought my Dell just over a year ago!

Anyway, i need something with a decent battery and since the new Dell range doesn't have decent batterys thats Dell out.

I also need something reliable, small and looks good - so im left with Sony and Apple. However im stuck between the two. They are both just over £1k, but have slightly different specs i.e. apple has better battery and GHz but the Sony has a better hard drive and graphics.

Im not a gamer, i only really play Football Manager.

I was looking at the Acer Timline series, but it doesnt match my needs on what the laptop offers!

Any help or advice would be great. Also is there anywhere else apart from John Lewis or Apple that sell the MacBook as both of them seem to price match (and its expensive!)

With respect, this is fundamentally the wrong way to go about deciding which of the two to buy.

First, you decide what software you want, or need, to run.

Then, you decide which operating system you prefer to run it on.

Finally, you decide which computer to buy that runs these.

(In fairness, it has to be pointed out that modern Macs can run both Windows and Mac OS X - even simultaneously - but it wouldn't be sensible to buy a Mac in order purely to run Windows.

M4RKM

Leopard wrote: »

(In fairness, it has to be pointed out that modern Macs can run both Windows and Mac OS X - even simultaneously - but it wouldn't be sensible to buy a Mac in order purely to run Windows.[/FONT]

that is very true, especially as using bootcamp isn't the best way to get the best battery life out of a macbook pro.

you'd end up getting about 5.5 hours as it doesn't power down as much as it does within OS X.

maybe the OP wanted the higher spec 13" macbook pro, so maybe my comparison with the 2.26 one isn't that good, but even so, at less than £800, you could buy more ram, bigger hdd, and still have change from the £1000 that the sony is...

M

cyberbob

If your considering getting a mac and never us Mac OS you need to find someone with it to have a go. Not everyone likes it if they have been used to windows.

jamie.86

was looking at the higher spec 13inch macbook. i've had a go on a mac before, its just trying to decide to stay with windows or switch, but i really dont use and windows specific programmes.

M4RKM

aaah.. the one that is normally £1149...

well, that is a faster processor, bigger front size bus, same ram, same hard drive, better battery life than the sony... yes the sony is £999, but that slower processor is probably the reason for it.. is it worth £150 more the mac.. maybe not.. but...

http://www.laskys.com/computing/laptops_and_pdas/laptops/apple_macbook_pro_13_inch_mb991.html

only £1054... is it worth £54 more... probably....

Aileen_Una

Macs are never worth the extra money if you don't specifically require a mac sorry can say that as a past owner of both. In terms of your needs, I don't see why you'd need to spend more than 4/500 pounds. Dell do refurbished laptops at about 300, nothing wrong, but they've usually been ordered custom and then an order has been cancelled. They tend to retain the battery life of older dells.

If battery is paramount try a netbook, the screen is smaller (though not hugely smaller than a 13inch mac) and battery life can reach 7 or 8 hours.

Leopard

Apologies for any confusion, markymoo: I was replying to the original posting, not to yours!

(Have now added the quote to make that clearer. )

M4RKM

Aileen_Una wrote: »

Macs are never worth the extra money, sorry can say that as a past owner of both.

but you don't say why.... That quote is your opinion, without a reason it has no weight at all IMO

Aileen_Una wrote: »

In terms of your needs, I don't see why you'd need to spend more than 4/500 pounds. Dell do refurbished laptops at about 300, nothing wrong, but they've usually been ordered custom and then an order has been cancelled. They tend to retain the battery life of older dells.

If battery is paramount try a netbook, the screen is smaller (though not hugely smaller than a 13inch mac) and battery life can reach 7 or 8 hours.

if the OP wants to spend £1k on a laptop, i'd let them, you get a lot more processing power for £1k than you do on a netbook, and i'm sure you'd find it very difficult to play football manager on a 7 or 8 inch screen, nearly half the size and resolution of a 13" screen...

I don't do a lot on my laptop (now work are buying me one), but I'll still rather have something higher end, that will LAST, and the build quality is there, than a £500 piece of plastic, that won't last 18 months from wear and tear...

my current laptop is over 3 years old, and probably faster than any netbook on the market..

M

M4RKM

Leopard wrote: »

Apologies for any confusion, markymoo: I was replying to the original posting, not to yours!

(Have now added the quote to make that clearer. )

I thought you were, we were both typing at the same time probably, but your part about using a mac solely for windows is a good one...