0

Thinking of buying a MacBook Pro? Don’t.

I’ve always been an opponent of Mac. Mostly because of the fanaticism behind the brand. I still cannot get my head around paying an inflated price on identical hardware just because of a brand. Not to mention, the inability or limitations to upgrading that hardware. Below I will show how a 15″ 2.2GHz MacBook Pro compares against an almost identical hardware PC.

Model 15″ 2.2 GHz MacBook Pro SAMSUNG Series 7 NP700Z5A-S0AUS
Operating System OS X Lion Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Processor 2.2GHz Intel Core i7 Intel Core i7-2675QM 2.2GHz
Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6750M 512MB AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1TB
Memory 4GB 1333MHz 8GB
Hard Drive 500GB 5400-rpm 1TB
Optical Drive 8x slot-loading SuperDrive DVD +/-RW Super Multi Dual Layer (S-ATA)
Connectivity 802.11a/b/g, 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit LAN and WLAN
USB Two USB 2.0 ports 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0
Screen 15.4″ 15.6″
Dimensions 14.35″ x 9.82″ x 0.95″ 14.2″ x 9.3″ x 0.94″
Weight 5.6 lbs 5.04 lbs
Battery Life Up to 7 hours Up to 7.8 hours
Other
  • FireWire 800 port
  • FaceTime HD camera
  • SDXC card slot
  • Backlit Keyboard
  • HDMI out
  • 1.3 MP Webcam
  • 4-in-1 Card Reader
  • Backlit Keyboard
Price * $1,799.00 $1,149.99

This was the closest core hardware PC I could find to compare against. Even with this, the Samsung has twice the graphics memory, system memory and hard drive space. Some personal preference features which I enjoy having are the USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI port. In order to get an HDMI port with Apple, you must buy a proprietary Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter. MacBook has an aluminum body, but this is an aesthetic detail. It seems that this aesthetic appeal is why people would pay an additional $650.

You may claim that MacBook pro has a more robust operating system. However, this is untrue. I do give Apple credit for providing excellent customer and technical support, however, if you are planning on spending this amount of money on a piece of hardware, I would assume that your technical knowledge would drive you towards a PC platform.

Sources: Apple & NewEgg

* Price as of 2012/04/29

Bought an equivalent PC and a car instead

Norbert Krupa

Technical Consultant

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *