Dell or Mac

Ok I dont want to turn this into a PC vs Mac war I just need some help deciding on what would be better for me. I am looking for a small laptop and I think I am between the Dell XPS 13 and the Macbook unibody 2.4. They are both equally equipped, but the dell is about $550 cheaper. Can anyone give me any input on which one would have the best screen for light photo editing as well as over all performance. Thank you in advance

Pluses to the mac are, build quality, and the OS.. Those imo easily justify the price difference. To others it might not. For me to open a computer up and be using it like I have owned it for years within an hour is also worth extra coin to me.. No trial memberships, garbage programs that are completely useless, having to buy anti virus stuff, maintaining it so it doesnt suffer later etc etc. The new ilife is cool, time machine is awesome, apples customer service is FAR superior to Dells imo(I own three Dells also).... BUT it all does come at a price.

I also think you'll be better off with the macbook. With the new unibody updates they're almost as powerful as Macbook Pros. Not that I think you'll have any issues but I am in love with applecare it's great to know that if ANYTHING goes wrong with the machine it's covered. If you go that route i highly recommend buying the 3 yr coverage. Hope this helps

Mac and not just for the editing but for the reliability and ease of use. I switched to mac a couple of years ago and will never no back to a pc.

the Mac will probibly last you longer and.... i like the operating system a lot better

Snow leopard is also coming shortly which is rumored to be great. On the note of apple care, another option is to buy a used white MacBook with AppleCare on it still and give it a shot. I have seen them for around $650-$700, in which case if to end up loving the OS and want to upgrade you won't loose anything on it.

Another vote for a Mac for all the reasons stated above plus it holds it's value much longer than PCs and the OS is much cleaner. Also, if you plan on going all Apple with Aperture, buy from Amazon, it'll save you some cash.

Keep an eye out at the Apple store for refurbished models. I just checked and there is a white MacBook 2.1GHz/120 HB HDD/1 GB RAM/Intel GMA X3100 for $849 and an aluminum MacBook 2.0GHZ/160 GB HDD/2 GB RAM/nVidia GeForce 9400m for $1099.
The deals change constantly. It is where I picked up my MacBook Pro.

I'd get a Lenovo Thinkpad T series. Super high quality stuff. Stronger and better built than macbooks and Dell XPS. Premium components. Just pure quality.

Don't be fooled. macs are just as easy to hack into than windows for individual, targeted attacks. But in all honesty, both platforms will perform well as a photo editing workstation. But if you decide to go windows, then do yourself the favour of getting a premium quality machine. I've owned Dell notebooks and none of them are built like the good Thinkpads.

I agree the think pads are nice, but do you really think they are built stronger then the unibody macbooks?

Build your own, and get exactly what you need.

Deckham wrote in post #7539700
Build your own, and get exactly what you need.

I think you may have missed this part:

DRTHAY wrote in post #7533298
laptop

I'd get not the mac. It's a nice machine, but it has no FireWire. Big issue for me (Since I have a 1D and a 1D2 as well as a bunch of FW external HDDs) YMMV

Here's a review on the Dell: Link.

If I were to get a new laptop, it'd probably be a MBP. If only they made a 12 or 13"

René Damkot wrote in post #7540154
I think you may have missed this part:

I think you may be right haha - and serves me right for even posting in this topic

Don't know what kinda panel is in the Dell but I know the apple has an S-IPS panel in it.

MacBooks don't have IPS panels in them.