[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by lastlight

When I bought my 15" mackBook Pro nearly 3 years ago I think I paid about $2200 with tax. At the time similarly equipped non-mac machines were nearly as pricey.

I've upgraded the memory and the hard-drive through a mac dealer and I provided them with the parts which I bought at memory express and had them do it all for like $100.

I run Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator and sometimes 3d Studio Max in Bootcamp and this machine still performs today and I can't see myself needing to upgrade anytime soon.

I still don't think people are considering quality of construction when shopping for these things. I took this machine to and from work for 2 years and it still looks, opens and types as if it were new.

I think the gamer argument is a touch silly as most hardcore gamers will be running a desktop rig which they have pimped to the 9s and not a laptop. I'm not a pc gamer anymore but I'd never have run a laptop period for my gaming.

a desktop for gamming is nice, but when you got to sea for up to 6 months at a time its nice to have a laptop that can play them. my old laptop did 8 years of trip around the world shoved into a locker, subjected to constand vibration and jerking from the movment of the ship. plus various brownoiuts and power spikes. only replaced a hard drive in 8 years. I would say that is pretty well built. that was a toshiba. my new Dell is built with a all aluminum one piece frame I have had if for one year now and it still opens and runs like the day I got it. I know one year isn't a long time. I still have my old laptop. it is out in the shop now as I needed a laptop that could handle my referance software, take nots with, do design and run my auto diagnostic program, with out having to pull my new one out to the shop and being paranoid of getting grease or sawdust on the keyboard.

comparing apple vs PC is useless, it is a brand other than thet they are the same thing.. chev vs ford, and all the other brand wars. apple dell, toshiba, ect they are all the same thing and acomplish the same thing although the directions may get there in a different way.

To get a 17" screen size on a mac at London drugs you are spending 2600.00, so I check bestbuy the same thing.. for 800 your getting a 17" HP . I just looked up a comparable mac system to my new laptop. I can get mine for 1000.00 now, the mac book with the same speed processor, same ram, hard drive, ect is 2100.00 so ya. a mac is still double the price, and now that they are using intell chips you have the same problems. I do like the fact they are using the same hardware now, as it is easier to compar them.

Steve