Might move down to the regular Macbook though, which is a bit cheaper.

Think anybody will freak out at me for spending almost 2K on a computer? ;)

I am planning to dual-boot it with Ubuntuu… that’s a smart (even if in jest) suggestion on your part :-).

Although, to be fair, you could slap Linux on your laptop and have a workable solution.

I kid, I kid. To each their own.

I have an HP EliteBook for work, and that thing can take a solid lick and keep on ticking. A few weeks ago, I was feeling under the weather at home and was trying to get some work done. I stumbled while holding the laptop and it smacked into the wall pretty hard. The extent of the damage was minor and cosmetic.

I guess I will just stick the fact that the computer that I got for $900 before tax is similar to a $2200 (before tax) MacBook… if you could buy a similar thing.

I don’t see a 15 or 16″ laptop with a 1920×1080 (Full HD) display. Seems like you have to jump to 17″, which for an i7 would run you $2500 (and you’d be stuck with either 4GB of memory or paying another $400 for 8GBs… no 6GB option). You’d have to add another $50 for a 7200 RPM hard drive.

It seems like I undercut the price of a comparable MacBook… it seems to be around $2950 (but you get a little more screen, a little more memory, and a little more hard drive space).

Eh? I’m not going to argue that the initial costs of Macs are lower than PCs, but your company is getting hosed if they’re buying PowerBooks with a benchmark < 1113 and the seller is advertising them as new. No 2010 model fits that bill.

Apple was selling an $1100 MacBook in May 2007 that was faster than that – as you can see, this machine has a processor that has a passmark score of 1142 (T7200 processor)

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook/stats/macbook-core-2-duo-2.0-white-13-mid-2007-specs.html

The bump from 4GB to 6GB was $50. For the amount of Firefox tabs that I keep open (literally 40-50 at a time).

I have an external HD where I can offload pictures and videos. I rarely need to bring them all with me.

CPU – That’s a good point. I had some issues earlier this year where Microsoft’s Search Indexer would pin it at 100%. Some of the software engineering tasks that I run can take up half of the CPU.

I didn’t mention it, but my laptop did come with a good graphics card. As you point out, when you go with a cheaper laptop, you get the cheap graphics card. You usually don’t get the option to get a cheap laptop and customize a good graphics card.

I didn’t get bluetooth – again these laptops are pre-built and you have to take from existing stock. One with bluetooth would have cost me $150 more and forced me into taking options that I didn’t necessary want or need. I can add USB bluetooth cheaply — I saw options for under $20 on Amazon (and at the size of a quarter, it barely sticks out).

In two years, I’m not sure your whole computer will be better. You might be able to get a similar i7 QM-720 processor that I have and you might have more memory, but those were the two things that you weren’t concerned about. I don’t believe that screen technology will get above 1920×1080 in two years… at least not at a $450 price point. However, at that point, if you have to pay $450 today and $450 in two years… you will have paid $900 vs. my $998. I’ll have had the advantage of two years with what is close to the best of the best.

Screen and battery: I agree with you, get a good screen and big battery.

6 GB RAM — absolutely huge, not sure what you will be doing to fill that up unless you are doing video editing, databases, or hardcore gaming.

HD — I need a large HD because I take tons of pictures and videos. I would trade the RAM for more HD. 500G minimum. Faster is better, but used up battery faster.

Processor — doesn’t much matter. They don’t sell slow processors anymore. 99% of the processor’s power will be idle. Usually cheap laptops have bad graphics cards and you’ll get a lot more speed increase from a better graphics card than a better processor or more RAM.

Other main things I consider:

Networking — need gigabit LAN and wireless N to transfer data between my other computers.

Bluetooth — because I have bluetooth devices.

Webcam in the screen.

The last 3 computers (2 laptops and 1 desktop) I’ve purchased have been Dell refurbished. While I have no idea what the experience may be for HP, Asus, etc refurbs, my experience with the Dells have been outstanding. Your review is spot on – simply keep an eye on the refurb site and look for coupons. You’ll definitely be able to get the machine you want at a great price simply by holding off on the “impulse” buy.