Less than a week removed from the iPad frenzy, I received my new laptop today.  Nothing special, but for the sake of the forthcoming comparison, here are the basic specs:

• Dell Inspiron 1464 (14 inch)
• Intel Core i3 330m processor
• 500GB hard drive
• 4GB ram (installed)
• HD display (integrated graphics)
• HDMI Port
• Windows 7 Home Premium

I un-boxed it and had it set up and running within 10 minutes. It’s fast - really fast. Windows 7 is excellent - a huge improvement over Vista and XP.  (I have 2 other PCs, one running Vista, and a large netbook running XP)

Overall, I can’t really complain about anything other than the battery life.  It’s terrilble, but that’s easily remedied if I were to have sprung for the battery upgrade.

So I’m thrilled with my purchase - have found the laptop to be exceedingly competent for work and play, relatively portable, and overall a good primary computer.

What I’m most happy about is the one thing I didn’t get with this purchase - buyers remorse.  I could have bought a MacBook Pro, and it would have been an excellent choice.  The machine is near flawless, the OS is top-notch, the performance is among the best in its market.

But I have no such remorse, and no fanciful dreams of a MacBook right now.  That’s right - I’m happier with the Dell freaking Inspiron.  And scrolling through Techmeme throughout the day, my decision was validated.  So, without further delay, here are some of the popular fanboy talking points about Macs and some of the articles I stumbled on throughout the day:

“It Just Works”

27-inch iMac delays continue as production halt is rumored

“It’s More Secure”

In their words: Experts weigh in on Mac vs. PC Security

“Mac’s OS is vastly superior…”

Windows 7 adoption swells, as XP suffers record drop

“Just Look at customer satisfaction surveys - these aren’t just talking points”

Microsoft Outpaces Apple in Customer Satisfaction: Chart of Day

“How can you stand to look at a hideous PC all day?  The design is terrible…”

No argument there - my Inspiron isn’t going to win a beauty contest.  But hey, based on the above links, you just paid about three, maybe four times as much as me for a computer that was prettier - and had disturbingly similar specs.

That’s right - the Dell was $599.00 plus tax.  Free shipping.

I couldn’t justify buying a $1,300+ machine that in reality, has none of the CONCRETE benefits that Mac fans have been talking about.  It’s mostly a subjective thing, but I’m a firm believer that you get what you pay for with laptops.

When you buy a MB Pro, you get a machine that’s worth the price: quality components, excellent software and tremendous design.

When you buy a similarly configured PC, you also get what you pay for: quality components, excellent software, and in my case… ugly design.

But swapping out the appearance for savings put, at minimum, an extra $800 in my pocket at the end of the day.

Hell - I can get a fully-loaded iPad with the cash!