<p>Hi!</p>
<p>If you guy could donates some of your opinions on both/either system for me would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Macbook Pro 13" $1099 (Free Ipod Touch and Printer after rebate)
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory</p>
<p>Sony CW 14" $869.99
Intel® Core i5-520M processor (2.40GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz
4GB SDRAM
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
500GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
4GB (4GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1066
NVIDIA® GeForce® 310M GPU with 256MB DDRD3 dedicated VRAM</p>
<p>Mac</p>
<p>Pros
Beginner-Friendly/Intuitive GUI
Less invasive OS
Slightly Better graphics chip
Comes with iPod Touch and Printer</p>
<p>Cons
Weaker CPU
Overpriced for hardware
Buyer may already have iPod Touch/Printer
Proprietary OS/Hardware=more expensive accessories/software</p>
<p>Sony</p>
<p>Pros
Stronger CPU
Better Value Hardware-wise
More versatile OS
Cheaper software/accessories</p>
<p>Cons
Slightly weaker graphics chip
More vulnerable OS
Less User Friendly OS (For drivers esp, make sure you download the 64-bit driver specifically)</p>
<p>BTW the G 320M is nothing but a slightly overclocked G 310M GPU; performance is only marginally better, if not, negligable.</p>
<p>I would say, just go to a laptop store like Best buy or something, and try out both laptops. Pick the one that YOU like more, otherwise, you’re only going to get responses from fanboys. Spec-wise, the Sony is obviously better, but if you really like Macs, then go for it.</p>
<p>The Sony is on a newer-generation platform than the Mac, and its CPU will significantly outperform the one on the Mac. However, in most cases, you will see very little difference in both systems as it’s very difficult to actually load your CPU up to a level where the performance difference becomes noticable in most real-life usage situations.</p>
<p>For you, it should come down to: do you like Mac’s interface that much better than Windows 7?</p>
<p>I’d go with the Sony, but only because I personally don’t like using systems which trade customizability for ease. Yet, if you enjoy how Mac OS X works, go for it!</p>
<p>Don’t forget to take battery life into consideration if you plan on being on campus with it all day.</p>
<p>Sony=2½ hrs.
Mac=close to 10 hrs.</p>
<p>True, battery life is significantly different between the two. However, if you’re not a Mac type of person, you’ll hate the Macbook.</p>
<p>Sony has the better CPU, equal or better graphics (dedicated memory instead of shared), bigger screen, and is cheaper.</p>
<p>A couple of other things:</p>
<p>MacBook: backlit keyboard
Sony: no backlit keyboard</p>
<p>MacBook: comes with the restore discs
Sony: no discs included. You have to burn your own.</p>
<p>Also, I’m not sure if this is a priority with you but many of the reviews regarding the Sony mention that the speakers/sound is terrible. Then again, not many laptops have very good speakers.</p>
<p>Thank you to all for your inputs.</p>
<p>Hey there, i am in the same situation, and i am pretty sure i am going with the mac.</p>
<p>I pay a bit more but i get restore disks, less viruses to worry about, and apple’s fantastic customer care.</p>
<p>If you ever had to deal with an apple genius at an apple store about problems with your apple product, the service is just great!</p>
<p>Restore discs shouldn’t be an issue because the image for them comes preloaded on the computer, you just have to burn them. Do it right away, before the hard drive can crash. It’s just a matter of the manufacturer being too cheap to enclose a few more $0.05 DVD’s.</p>
<p>Some manufacturers (Dell for instance) give you the discs.</p>
<p>Really though, I’d say it depends on what OS you prefer.</p>
<p>Making restore disks is a pain. One reason I won’t buy from HP again. The last time I did this was back in 2005. It took a few hours to make the restore disks - I can’t believe how cheap these companies are. Dell and Apple give you the installation disks which are different than restore disks. A restore disk restores everything to factory settings including the crapware that they preinstall. With Dell, you get the Windows disk so that you can do a repair install instead of replacing the OS and then having to reinstall all of your software again. With installation disks, you can pick and choose what you want to install.</p>
<p>Sony charges a premium price for their stuff compared to HP and Dell - I’d expect them to give you a disk.</p>