The Mac Observer: AAPLTalk System Shootouts - US$1,000 Laptop System Shootout

Dates Configured: 4/22/03 - 4/24/03
Must Include: 12.1"+ Display, CD-ROM

Read the AAPLTalk System Shootout FAQ
All images and logos are copyright to the respective companies listed.

Total must be within $25 of $1,000 INCLUDING SHIPPING!

Company

Apple

Dell

HP/Compaq

Gateway

Sony

Toshiba

Best of Field

NO NEW LAPTOPS
AVAILABLE FOR UNDER $1,109
W/SHIPPING

iBook CD-ROM

Inspiron 1100

pavilion ze4315us

400SP Plus

VAIO GRS700

n/a

Dimensions:

132 cubic in.
11.2" x 9.1" x 1.3"

244 cubic in.
1.75"x 12.9"x 10.8"

218 cubic in.
1.57 x 13.0 x 10.7

Unknown;
assuming 230 cu. in.

234 cubic in.
1.7" x 12.9" x 10.7"

n/a

Weight:
(all bays filled)

4.9 lbs.

7.2 lbs.

7.3 lbs.

Unknown;
assuming 7.3 lbs.

7.5 lbs.

n/a

Battery Life:

up to 5 hrs.

up to 3.5 hrs.

Unknown;
assuming 2.5 hrs.

up to 3.5 hrs.

n/a

Processor:
(Notes)

800 MHz PowerPC G3
900 MHz P4

2.0 GHz Celeron
1.4 GHz P4

AMD Athlon XP 1800+
2.0 GHz P4

2.0 GHz Celeron
1.4 GHz P4

1.7 GHz Celeron
1.2 GHz P4

n/a

L1 Cache:

64k

32k

128k

32k

n/a

L2 Cache:

512K

128K

256K

n/a

L3 Cache:

n/a

RAM Type:

SDRAM PC100

DDR PC2100

n/a

Front Side Bus:

100 MHz

400 MHz

266 MHz

400 MHz

n/a

RAM Amount:

128 MB (1 DIMM)

256 MB (2 DIMM)

256 MB (1 DIMM)

128 MB (1 DIMM)

n/a

Max. RAM:

640 MB (1+1 open)

512 MB (1+1 open)

1.0 GB (2 slots)

512 MB (2 slots)

1.0 GB (2 slots)

n/a

Hard Drive
Capacity:

30 GB

20 GB

n/a

Hard Drive Type:

Ultra ATA 66

Ultra ATA 100

Ultra ATA 100 (?)

n/a

Hard Drive Speed:

4200 RPM

4200 RPM (?)

n/a

CD-ROM:

24x CD

n/a

CD-RW:

24x10x CD-RW

8x8x CD-RW

24x10x CD-RW

n/a

DVD-ROM:

8x DVD

n/a

DVD-/+RW:

n/a

Floppy Drive:

Yes

n/a

Other Drive:

6-in-one card reader

Memory stick bay

n/a

PCMCIA Slot?

802.11b Card Slot

Yes

n/a

Bay Type:

Fixed

Swappable

n/a

USB Ports:

2 USB 1.1

2 USB 2.0

2 USB 1.1

2 USB 2.0

3 USB 1.1

n/a

FireWire Ports:

1 port @ 400 Mbps

n/a

Legacy Ports:

Legacy-Free

1 Par; 1 Ser.; 1 PS/2

1 Par.

n/a

Video Card:

ATI Mobility
Radeon 7500

Intel
Integrated 3D AGP

ATI
Mobility Radeon

Intel
Integrated 3D AGP

ATI Mobility
Radeon 7500

n/a

Video RAM:

32 MB DDR

"up to" 64 MB (shared)

32 MB DDR

n/a

Dual-Disp. Supp:

Mirroring only

Mirroring only (?)

Mirror & Span

n/a

VGA Out:

Yes

n/a

DVI Out:

n/a

S-Video Out:

Yes

n/a

RCA Out:

Yes

n/a

Display:

12.1" TFT XGA

14.1" TFT XGA

15" TFT XGA

14.0" TFT XGA

n/a

Native Res:

1024x768

n/a

Audio In:

Built-in microphone

Line-in port

n/a

Audio Out:

Speaker/HP Jack
Line out

n/a

Speakers:

Stereo

n/a

Ethernet:

10/100

n/a

56k Modem:

Yes

n/a

Wi-Fi Card?

optional (802.11b)

n/a

Bluetooth Wireless?

optional (USB)

n/a

Hardware Extras

Ext. USB Floppy Drive

n/a

Included OS:

Mac OS X 10.2;
OS 9.2 DB/Classic;
BSD Unix; Apache

Windows XP
Home Edition

n/a

Windows Support:

DOS/98/ME/2000/XP
(via Virtual PC)

DOS/95/98/ME/2000/NT/XP (Native)

Mac Support:

Mac OS 8,9,X (Native)

Mac OS 8 only (via emulation)

Linux Support:

Various flavors (Native)

UNIX Support:

Various flavors (Native)

Java 2 Support:

Native

(Must be downloaded)

Zero-Config
Networking:

Rendezvous

Save-as PDF:

Native (any file)

(requires 3rd-party app.)

Handwriting
Recognition

Inkwell

Word Processor

AppleWorks 6.2
(Word compatible)

MS Word XP

WordPerfect 10
(Word compatible)

MS Word XP

MS Works 7.0

n/a

Spreadsheet:

AppleWorks 6.2
(Excel compatible)

MS Works 6.0

Quattro Pro 10
(Excel compatible)

MS Works 7.0

n/a

Presentation:

AppleWorks 6.2

n/a

Database:

AppleWorks 6.2

MS Works 6.0

MS Works 7.0

n/a

Drawing/Painting:

AppleWorks 6.2

n/a

Projects/Planning:

n/a

Web Browser

Safari 1.0; IE 5.2

IE 6

n/a

E-Mail/PIM:

OS X Mail
Address Book
iCal, iSync

Outlook Express 6

n/a

Media Players:
*free download

QuickTime 6
DVD Player
WMP 7*
RealOne*

Media Player 8
DVD Player
QuickTime 6*; RealOne

Media Player 8, DVD Player
QuickTime 6*; RealOne*

Media Player 8
DVD Player
QuickTime 6*; RealOne

n/a

Financial:

Quicken 2003 Deluxe

Money 2003

n/a

Reference:

World Book OS X

Encarta
Streets & Trips

Encyclopedia Brittanica

Encarta
Streets & Trips

Encarta

n/a

Digital Photos:

iPhoto 2

Picture It!
Image Expert

HP Photo Toolkit

Picture It!

Photoshop Elements
PictureGear Studio

n/a

Digital Video
Editing:

iMovie 3

MovieMaker 2

DVGate
MovieShaker

n/a

CD Burning/
Music:

iTunes 4
Disc Burner
Sound Studio

MusicMatch 6.0
Easy CD Creator

Easy CD Creator

SonicStage

n/a

DVD Burning/
Authoring:

Disc Burner

Sonic MyDVD

n/a

Games
Included:

Chess
Otto Matic
Deimos Rising

Mine Sweeper, Asstd. classic games

Age of Empires
Mine Sweeper
Asstd. classic games

n/a

Additional
Software:

Asstd. system software

Free Services:

1 month Earthlink

6 months Earthlink

1 year AOL

n/a

Viruses/Security:

about 50 known viruses

over 50,000 known viruses

n/a

Firewall:

Yes

n/a

Warranty:

1 yr. ltd./mail-in
90 days phone

1 yr. ltd./mail-in
1-yr. phone

1 yr. ltd./mail-in
90 day phone

1 yr. ltd./mail-in
1 yr. phone

1 yr. ltd./mail-in
90 day phone

n/a

Consumer
Affairs
Quality Rating:

"Good Guys"

"Rogues Gallery"

n/a

Navigation?

Easy

Poor

Easy

Poor

n/a

Customization?

Some

Full

Some

n/a

Subotal:

$999

$1,102

$1,149

$999

n/a

- Rebates if any:

- $150

+ Ground Shipping:

n/c

+ $49

n/c

n/a

Total Price
as configured:
(tax not included)

$999

$1,001

$999

n/a

The information above is as accurate as I could make it based on a reasonable time studying the respective companies' Web sites. There is no guarantee that these configurations, prices, and features are the best that one could come up with; assorted bundles, free internet access, free extra memory, and so on can most likely be found for any of the above systems. The point of this chart is to demonstrate that Apple's lineup holds its own against any brand-name computer, even in areas in which it has traditionally had resistance. In short, do not base your purchasing decisions solely on this chart or information. Neither I, nor The Mac Observer will be held responsible or liable for any purchase decisions you make based on this presentation.

Charles Gaba started the AAPLTalk System Shootouts at AAPLTalk.com, and has brought them to TMO. Charles is the creative talent behind Brainwrap Web Design.

AAPLTalk System Shootouts Archives

Back to The Mac Observer For More Mac News!

Today's Mac Headlines

[2:55 PM] Analyzing the MacBook's Importance to Apple

[1:55 PM] OpenOffice 3.0 Released with Support for new MS File Formats

[12:55 PM] CNBC: Apple Likely to Hit Goldilocks Price With New MacBook

[12:25 PM] iPodObserver - Google Android G1 Phone Orders Climb to 1.5 Million

[11:40 AM] Aquafadas Intros VideoPier

[11:15 AM] TMO Live Coverage: Apple's Notebook Media Event

[10:55 AM] Leaked Apple Docs Confirm New MacBook Models

[10:25 AM] Hot Forum Topic - Going Digital from Vinyl

[10:05 AM] Sanford Bernstein Upgrades AAPL to Buy

[9:25 AM] Baseline 1.4 Adds Time Machine Support

[8:50 AM] PopCard 3 Improves Security, Performance

[8:15 AM] iPodObserver - Rumor: iPhone 3G Coming to Wal-Mart

[7:35 AM] MediaEdit 3.1 Adds New Paint Tools, Improves Video Capture

We also offer Today's News On One Page!

Yesterday's News

[Review] Review - Belkin Micro Grip case (for iPhone 3G)

We also offer Yesterday's News On One Page!

Mac Products Guide

New Arrivals
New and updated products added to the Guide.

Hot Deals
Great prices on hot selling Mac products from your favorite Macintosh resellers.

Special Offers
Promotions and offers direct from Macintosh developers and magazines.

Software
Browse the software section for over 17,000 Macintosh applications and software titles.

Hardware
Over 4,000 peripherals and accessories such as cameras, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice and more.