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...clever?: Comparably equipped it's closer to $400, but let's see what you get for your $400-$500 difference...

Yes, let's. It's May 23rd, 2006 for the record. Now let's make some laptops.

Dell Inspiron E1705:
- Intel Core Duo T2600 (2.16 GHz)
- 2 GB (2 x 1 GB) DDR2-667
- Nvidia Geforce Go 7900 GS (256 MB)
- 120 GB, 5400 RPM SATA HDD
- 8x DVD+/-RW
- 17" Glossy WSXGA+ (TrueLife, 1920 x 1200)
- Sound Blaster Audigy HD Audio
- Integrated 10/100 LAN
- Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 (802.11a/b/g)
- Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth (2.0 + EDR)
- 80 WHr Battery
- 3 Year Warranty with At-Home Service
- 3 Year CompleteCare (accidental damage coverage)
- McAfee Security Center, 36-month subscription
- Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
- TV Tuner + Remote Control
- Dell Nylon Deluxe Carrying Case
Total: $2,949.18

Apple MacBook Pro (17"):
- Intel Core Duo T2600 (2.16 GHz)
- 2 GB (2 x 1 GB) DDR2-667
- ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 (256 MB)
- 120 GB, 5400 RPM SATA HDD
- 8x DVD+/-RW
- 17" Glossy WSXGA (1680 x 1050)
- Integrated 10/100/1000 LAN
- Integrated AirPort Extreme (802.11b/g)
- Integrated Bluetooth (2.0 + EDR)
- 68 WHr Battery
- 3 Year AppleCare Warranty
- Apple Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
- Apple Remote
Total: $3,448.00

Difference in Price: $498.82 saved with the E1405

Unmentioned Features (Dell):
- 6x USB 2.0, 1x IEEE-1394 Ports
- Internal 5-in-1 Media Card Reader
- S-Video, VGA, DVI-out
- RJ-11 (56k Modem) Port
- Integrated Subwoofer
- ExpressCard|54/34 Slot
- Frontside Media Buttons

Unmentioned Features (Apple):
- 3x USB 2.0, 1x IEEE-1394, 1x IEEE-1394b Ports
- Integrated iSight Webcam
- Internal Omnidirectional Microphone
- Illuminated Keyboard
- MagSafe AC Power Adapter
- Ambient Light Sensor

There's a few other matters that can't be addressed in convenient little lists. Let me run them off:

Battery Life:
Without a pair of the notebooks to directly compare, I can only speculate, but bear with me, I'm going to be as objective as possible.

Battery life is questionable depending on what applications you're running, since the two main variables between these notebooks are the graphics card and the battery's capacity. The Mac operates with a much more efficient graphics card, but a slightly smaller battery. The Dell, on the other hand, utilizes a slightly larger battery but a much more powerful -- and power-hungry graphics card. It might also be worth noting that the 90nm Nvidia chips are much more [url=http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q1/geforce-7600-7900/index.x?pg=13]power efficient[/url] than the 90nm ATI chips.

That said, it is a safe assumption that the Geforce Go 7900 GS consumes more power than the Mobility Radeon X1600. It is also likely that the Dell's 12 WHr battery advantage won't spare it needing to be plugged into a wall socket sooner than it's MacBook counterpart. Of course, the Dell can play much more high-end games at much higher resolutions, but the importance of either of these is determined by the user.

Outside of graphically tasking operations, however, I feel that the Inspiron would beat the MacBook Pro as far as battery life goes. They both utilize 17" screens and 2.16 GHz Core Duo processors, and they both use 2 GB of DDR2-667 memory.

[url=http://www.nvidia.com/object/go_7_series_techspecs.html]Nvidia Geforce Go 7900 GS[/url]
[url=http://www.ati.com/products/mobilityradeonx1600/specs.html]ATI Mobility Radeon X1600[/url]

I like to say that Microsoft Windows 2000 sucked the least...

Clever.

...but I really liked Win2K.

I like Windows XP, myself, and both Ubuntu Linux and OS X are nice operating systems, I am simply more at home and knowing of Windows.

Microsoft took a turn for the worst after that. Windows Vista is just trying to copy OS 10.4.

With an experience portfolio as illustrious as the one you just described to me, you can't honestly be serious when using the term "copying" unless you're referring to Sony and Nintendo.

Apple introduces features into their operating system, and in order to compete, Microsoft will implement similar features into it's own operating system, and vice versa. The only difference is, when Microsoft tries to compete, people and other businesses see this as "monopolistic practice," get all huffy, and sue Microsoft for antitrust violation this or monopoly that.

If Microsoft were able to legally embed an antivirus, a firewall, and an antispyware right into Windows, they would've done it by now. Unfortunately, 1996 has come and gone, and the worst idea to have ever hit the PC platform has taken root. Subscription-based security is still going, and going strong. What a joke.

I feel inclined to also add that many of the features on Tiger's "200+ New Features" list were on Windows XP for a good while. Alternatives to many of them can be found freely online, and Windows XP does offer some built-in stuff that Mac OS X still doesn't (Remote Desktop, built-in FTP, etc).

Actually if Redmond could write code as well as they can do marketing, people would have nothing to complain about.

I don't have anything to complain about. All of my Microsoft software runs just great. I do have a few negative inquiries that Microsoft needs to answer, namely, why is Windows XP still lacking patches for exploits found months ago?

That's about my only peeve. Windows XP runs just great over here, frankly I'm going to miss my absolute power of "Administrator" come Vista.

In my opinion, 10.4 is the easiest OS to support and rely on, day in and day out.

I can agree with that. I don't have any trouble with my copy of Windows XP, but frankly, I'd say OS X 10.4 one-ups Windows XP as a whole. I don't particularly mind, I'd still take Windows XP Professional as I know how to make it do what I want and need it to do.; Posted by: A_Pickle Posted on: 05/23/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use