HYPERAXE

Lately, I’ve been having a hard time trying to decide what notebook would I buy to replace my old but very reliable Asus A3N notebook. Right now I’m torn between 2 brands, a MacBook Pro and one of the Compaq Presarion V3000 Series.

MA701ZP/A Apple Mac Book 13″ 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 120GB HDD Black

• 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo 2 processor, 667MHz system bus, 4MB shared L2 cache
• 1GB (2x512MB) of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300); supports up to 2GB
• 120GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA, Slot-loading SuperDrive (DVD RW/CD-RW)
• 13.3-inch (diagonal) glossy TFT widescreen display, 1280 x 800 resolution
• Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory
• Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit) Ethernet, Apple USB modem available as BTO option
• Built-in iSight, stereo speakers, combined optical digital audio input/audio line in, combined optical digital audio output/headphone out
• Built-in 54 Mbps AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi (802.11g); Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) module
• PORTS: One FireWire 400 port (8 watts); Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps); Mini-DVI port with support for DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video output (requires adapters, sold separately)
• Height: 2.75 cm (1.08 inches), Width: 32.5 cm (12.78 inches), Depth: 22.7 cm (8.92 inches), Weight: 2.36 kg (5.2 pounds)
• Built-in full-size keyboard with 78 (U.S.)keys, including 12 function keys, 4 arrow keys (inverted “T” arrangement), and embedded numeric keypad
• Solid-state scrolling trackpad for precise cursor control; supports two-finger scrolling, tap, double-tap and drag capabilities, Apple remote
• Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger (includes Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book, DVD Player, Xcode Developer Tools)
• Quick Time, iCal; iLife ’06 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand), iWork (30-day trial), Big Bang Board Games
• Comic Life, Omni Outliner and Apple Hardware Test, Front Row
• Apple Remote, 60W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug, power cord, lithium-polymer battery
• with 1 Year Limited Warranty

Compaq Presario 3235-PW

• Intel Core 2 Duo T5500
  1.66 Ghz, 2MB, 667Mhz
• Wireless LAN a/b/g
• 14.1” WXGA BV Display
• 1.5GB DDR2 Memory
• Intel GMA 950 Graphics
• 120GB Hard Drive
• DVD Dual Drive
• 5 in 1 Card Reader
• Modem, LAN, Bluetooth
• Windows Vista Home B.

Both notebook looks good, but processor wise, the Mac Book pro is faster with 2.0 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor compared with just a 1.66 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor on Compaq Presario. Then again, RAM wise the Compaq Presario offers 1.5GB memory power compared to just 1GB RAM on the Mac Book. Price wise, Apple notebooks are really know to be expensive and up to know I’m still not sure if this is just because of the Apple name it carries or it’s really worth it based on performance and reliability. I really can’t find out until I get my hands on one of the Apple notebooks, which I am actually longing to have ever since I started earning my own money to buy stuffs for myself. Then again, the Compaq Presario V3000 series seems to be ok as well, and I’m reading some good reviews about it.

Well, basically I just want very powerful notebook that would serve me well with my programming needs. My Asus 3N has been great, but right now wherein I have to run a lot of applications such as IDEs, Virtual Machines, Network remote connections, application servers, etc, all at once it’s already bogging down at times. I know that most people might say that why shouldn’t I just buy a powerful PC. Well, mobility is my answer. With my current job, I need a machine I can take my work with wherever I am, and obviously, carrying  a PC around offices, malls, or coffee shops, isn’t a good idea, right?

Oh well, I’ll just continue to ask around, or maybe even try to look for other options. Shedding a big amount for a notebook is quite a hefty investment, and as much as possible I want to make the right choice.

[tags] Notebooks, Laptops, Apple Mac Book Pro, Compaq Presario V3000 Series, Asus A3N[/tags]

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