<p>Yes, the ultimate battle. I’m thinking of getting either a 15" Macbook Pro or an XPS system, possibly even a Latitude of Vostro. Here are my questions:</p>
<li>Since I’m not a hardcore gamer, which laptop is a better deal in terms of speed.</li>
<li>How does Vostro compare to other Dell laptops like Latitude and XPS (I’m not even going to consider an Inspiron).</li>
<li>Is it true that a mac usually runs slower than windows-based notebooks?</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>They're probably about the same, but if you shop around, you can get good deals on PC laptops, whereas Apple products are never on sale.</li>
<li>The Vostro is a business laptop, so it will be of better build quality than a consumer laptop, and (I think) you may receive better customer support.</li>
<li>It all depends on the processor. A Mac has the same hardware as any other notebook. They used to have a different processor, but now it's all the same.</li>
</ol>
<p>I'd suggest getting a Lenovo Thinkpad though, they have the best build quality I've ever encountered (though they are not very pleasing to the eye).</p>
<p>Of the two dell styles, i'd definitely recommend the XPS 15.4" system. XPS computers have dedicated customer support; Latitudes won't have as good of support, which can be a big deal if things go wrong.</p>
<p>instead of dell, get a lenovo thinkpad T61 with linux (less than $1000). Then go to your college, get free windows software (hopefully your college has microsoft software alliance) you can get many free software if you're a student.</p>
<p>I have (and am using right now) the Vostro 1400. I got it when Dell was having a special, but for what I paid I got a laptop with excellent specs, a big battery, and the whole thing is metal. Also, it's probably the smallest laptop with good specs that you can get for that kind of price.</p>
<p>Now, because it's metal it's a little heavier than the plastic laptops, but it seems fairly sturdy.</p>
<p>If you do decide to get a Vostro though, don't get the vostro 1000. From what I heard, unlike all the other vostro models, it is not made of metal, but instead a cheap plastic, and doesn't have the same build quality as the other models.</p>
<p>As for the weight, I carry it around everywhere I go...it hasn't bugged me (I'm not in college yet, but I use it in high school and carry around all day). Either way, it's relatively small.</p>