After weeks of deciding, I ordered...

Well I started seriously thinking about which laptop I wanted to order in May. I weighed the pros and cons of several laptops and finally narrowed it down to the MacBook Pro and the M1330. I always very carefully consider my purchases but this time I put a bit of extra thought in to it. I'm going in to a new program this year and it's pretty much going to require me to have my laptop around with me from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed. I'll need it for work, case studies, during exams and for any leisure time I have in between.

I initially had decided to go for the MacBook Pro because I didn't think I wanted to risk buying a Revision A laptop (M1330). I knew that I would require some Windows Only programs for my program and would probably want to run Office 2007 Pro (since I have it) rather than blowing more $$ on Office 2008 for Mac. I knew this would all be possible with Parallels and was pretty much set to order in July until I started reading about stability issues (minor), and CPU Usage causing extra heat and lowering the battery life. This was a big issue for me, especially since I know that MBPs already have heat issues. I also wasn't sure how stable Parallels would be. I received mixed responses and the last thing I need during an exam is to slow down/crash.

The horrendous support I received from Apple when I had MacBook (Non-Pro) problems last year didn't help either. That notebook has since been sold BTW. I don't tend to hold grudges so I was willing to give it another go, but it was always in the back of my mind. On the other hand, I've always had fantastic experiences from Dell Canada Support. There has never been a time I couldn't get a replacement part I needed within 1-2 days.

Finally, I was worried about the size of the Macbook Pro. It is the smallest 15" notebook I've seen, but I found that the weight and size of the M1330 would make it so much easier to carry around all day.

Though I did enjoy using Mac OSX I decided that it wasn't really worth the trouble, and it wasn't as free of problems as some Mac users make it out to be. There are some things I like about Windows and some things I like about Mac OSX. It seemed for my uses, however, Windows would be better and I would end up having it on the Mac anyways.

This coupled with the new, positive M1330 reviews shifted my focus back to the 1330. I wanted to know how these things would look outside of the "Dell Images" and some of the video reviews helped me in that respect. I more or less overcame the fear about the Rev. A aspect of the purchase by opting for the Next Business Day On-Site Warranty. If I have any problems they can be fixed quickly.

After seeing that a fellow Canadian had a ship date of 08/16 I thought I better move on the ordering process. I need to have this before September so I didn't want to risk ordering in mid-July, as originally planned, and ending up at the back of some giant queue. After asking the Sales Rep in the Chat a bunch of questions (he was very helpful BTW), I started on my order.

I didn't get any fancy deals since I'm from Canada. We don't even get a student discount which is a real shame... plus we have a ridiculous 14% sales tax... anyways...

The end result is as follows:

Dell Inspiron XPS M1330
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7300 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache)
Tuxedo Black Casing with Microsatin Finish
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
Slim and Light White LED Display with VGA Webcam
128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 8400M GS
120GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
8X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW Drive)
High Definition Audio 2.0
Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini-card
56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
3 Year Next Busines Day Onsite/In Home Service and Technical Support
Dell DataSafe 2.0 Online, 10GB for 1 Year
Biometric Fingerprint Reader
Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)
Notebook Sleeve - up to 14 - Chocolate/Blue
65-Watt Slim Combination Adapter for Select Dell Latitude/Inspiron/Precision/XPS Notebooks

Since the Notebook Sleeve was so cheap I thought that I might as well get it incase I don't find anything better that I like. I wanted to get two 6-cell batteries but for some reason they only allow you to get two 9-cell batteries. The Sales Chat Rep. said I'd be able to order them seperately off of the website sometime soon so I'll just do that when they do become available.

One thing I don't understand is why Dell has kept those giant "standard" AC Adapters around on their Ultraportable laptops. It didn't really make sense to me to have such a compact laptop but lug around a big AC Adapter so I ended up opting for the Slim Adapter (Click for Picture).

So I think that's about it! Now begins the very long wait. The estimated ship date for my computer is 8/13/2007.

 

The one nice thing about Apples is you can get one nearly instantly.

 

Agreed. Walking into an Apple Store for repairs is really convenient, dealing with Dell Tech Support can be frustrating.

I was debating between the MBP and the 1520, but ultimately decided on the MBP. It is much smaller than any comparable machine and with a student discount you can't come close to even matching it.

 

Well I only ordered a notebook this soon because it's new and is going to take longer to arrive. Had I gone with the MBP I would have ordered later in July. I agree the MBP size is very impressive for a 15", but I ultimately wanted a smaller and lighter machine.

I've always had great experiences with Dell Canada Support. I'm not sure about their Return to Depot service, but you can't get much more convenient than Next Business Day on Site.

P.S. There is no Apple Store anywhere near me.

 

Nukey, I'm pretty much in the same EXACT situation as you. I've been researching which laptop I want for at least 3 hours a day this past week, because I want to make sure I get the right and exact laptop for college. I was pretty set on the MacBook Pro, but then... I saw Dell's E1520. I configured the computer I want on Dell's site, and here are the specs of my soon to be E1520 (I actually have the site up right now about to buy it, I'm just making sure I'm making the right decision):

Jet-Black Color
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 T7500 (Santa Rosa)
15.4" HD Non-Glossy Screen
Windows Vista Home Premium (I would rather have XP, but w/e)
GeForce 8600M GT 256 MB
1 GB RAM (I'm going to order another GB from Newegg.com and install it myself... a lot cheaper)
160 GB 7200 RPM Harddrive
CD/DVD Writer

Total Cost WITH SHIPPING AND TAX: $1870

My mom actually has an E1505, and whenever I'm on her laptop, I think its great! It's had absolutley no problems. And my dad has a Dell desktop, and he has had a hardware issue with it before, but Dell literally sent a guy to our house the next day to repair it. No cost. I was amazed.

I do have 1 question, does anyone have any idea of what the weight of the configured laptop above would be? 6.5 lbs?

 

Just curious. How is the Bootcamp thing going with Apple? Can one run a full blown Vista and have everything running fine on the Macbookpro? I mean, does everything including the ports, camera etc work?

 

When I had my Macbook I tested BootCamp. I only tried a few programs and was able to run them fine. All of the drivers worked but no advanced features of the touchpad worked.. such as clicking, two finger scrolling, etc. The USB Ports worked, didn't try the Camera.

Larson, I believe the laptop you have specified above would be about 6.5lbs assuming you don't get a higher capacity battery than the standard.

Edit: Whoops my bad.. I didn't see the Vista part. I only tried it with XP.