Apple MacBook 13-inch vs Dell XPS M1330

[Exeter]

I suppose it also depends what OS one would like to run. I have never heard of any cases of viruses and spyware from Mac users. Windows have turned me into a problem solver. You have no other option with Windows. I have spent several hours of my life searching for solutions to errors on the internet. It just takes too much valuable time. The Mac OS is supposed to just work.

The laptops have quite similar configuration. One can customise both and they are lightweight and sleek laptops. I want a small, portable, relatively cheap laptop which also has powerful specification so no ASUS EEE in other words.

Which one would you choose?

[Susi]

Dell with Linux.

[Exeter]

Cheers. I would most likely also buy a refurbished one because they work as well and are considerably cheaper. Dell have actually started to sell the Dell XPS M1330 with Ubuntu. I ran Slackware a few years ago. I found it quite difficult. I can understand Linux is a superior OS in many ways. Is it really advisable to run an OS such as Linux which takes a lot of time and motivation to learn? Which distro would you recommend?

Originally Posted by Susi

Dell with Linux.

[Susi]

Ubuntu is the easiest to adapt to, or so I've heard.

[OneEnglishNorman]

I consider the MacBook flawed because of the lack of an optical drive. It's one of those Apple products which is form over function - IMHO.

I would go for the Dell. The video chipset is also very good.

BTW I recently got an Eee PC - great for taking on vacation.

[Menydh]

Originally Posted by Exeter

Which distro would you recommend?

Slackware! You may download the images and dump them into two floppy disks (a boot record and the kernel with a few basic utilities), and then download the rest of the OS over a 28K speed and compile things for it.

Seriously, that and much worse was it in the days that I started with Linooz. Of course things have changed a lot since then, but if you don't enjoy configuring and troubleshooting, you will still find that it has a learning curve.

Mac OS X is built around a Unix BSD kernel, and it makes it as stable as it gets. You can learn the Unix/Linux command line from a Mac OS X, and still get the best graphic environment.

The lattest version, Leopard, has a state-of-the-art desktop including virtual windows (not windoze).

Mac has been for a long time in the 64-bit processors market, since the PowerPC architecture. And it's faring rather well in the new 64-bit intel arch.