$$ Apple / HP laptop price comparison

There are two features of Apple laptops that, for me, close any price gap. Both features are aimed at improving usability: the large, flush, glass trackpad and the command key.<p>The command key is so wonderfully consistent and logical across the vast majority of apps that I can't believe Google didn't clone it in ChromeOS - it's a design decision that'll haunt them for years.<p>Long term macbook users trying to use a PC laptop is like trying to sleep in a crib after years of sleeping on a king size bed.

I think there's a lot of value in comparing spec to spec heads up and I $1,255 price difference is a lot so kudos to HP for creating a similar laptop at a much lower price. Here's the intangibles that are hard to quantify and differ based on personal preference:<p>1) Status symbol - Let's be honest, probably doesn't factor in for HN audience but to the larger general public, status symbols are part of their lives and identities. Using an Apple product conveys outward that this is a person who can afford an Apple product, is perhaps appreciative of design, and is part of a more "elite/creative" crowd. Not my personal opinion fully but I don't think I'm wrong with this generalization.<p>2) Operating system - OS X vs Win 7. I'm not even going to start this discussion but it's a preference thing and to many, using the Mac OS is worth $x more.<p>3) Design - The HP Envy looks nice but it's missing the roundness and sleekness of the unibody MBP. What is .21" of extra thinness worth to a user?<p>4) Battery life - Can you add this since it's a big deal to a lot of users, especially when traveling.<p>I might have glossed over this, but how about the value of Thunderbolt?

I had a HP tablet with a wacom-integrated screen. It cost me around $1000 USD several years ago and suffered various problems: graphics crashes, overheating, and worst of all, a malfunctioning tablet. The vent fans were placed and designed such that if I didn't disable the tablet, my cursor would jump down to the lower-right corner where the vent was and constantly wiggle/click.<p>Needless to say, I wasn't impressed.<p>My second HP I bought about a year ago; I was the proud owner of a DV8t, one of the first i7 laptops. Not only did customer support lie to me (infinite glass screen, what?), but this laptop is badly-designed, too. The battery has been completely dead for several months now and I hadn't even owned the laptop for a year at that point.<p>The volume, wireless, and CD tray are all controlled from a touch-sensitive panel. The kicker? The panel often malfunctions, resulting in my sound going haywire, my CD tray popping out randomly, and worst of all, my wireless flipping on and off constantly.<p>To add insult to injury, I can't disable it from the device manager like I could the crappy wacom layer in my previous laptop.<p>So whatever the price difference between Apples and HPs, I'm sure they cover something other than just the numbers associated with the hardware. I'm certainly never buying another HP and I'll tell everyone I know about how terrible HP's machines have been to me whenever I have the chance.

What is it going to take for LCD manufacturers to provide high resolutions for 15" laptops. 1366x768 is low on a 15 inch laptop imo. Not blaming HP here, it seems to be an industry wide trend. Used to be the case that you could buy 1920x1200 in a 15 inch form factor. Then it came down to 1920x1080, now even thats gone.

I'm not sure if your links are out of date or what, but the MacBook Pro you linked to is $2,548 with AppleCare, not $2,768. It also has a 750GB drive, not a 500GB drive.<p>The listed HP with 4GB of memory (down from the standard 6), a 750GB drive upgrade, Windows 7 Pro and a $199 warranty costs $1702 according to the supplied link.<p>That means a difference of $846 at the end of the day. $150 of that difference is simply the higher cost of AppleCare vs. HP extended warranty.<p>Even then, if you consider the life-span of this machine to be on the order of three to four years, which is not unreasonable, then that's a premium of about $16 to $22 a month amortized over that time-frame.

Sigh. IMO one really really has to give up the thought that you are paying for the hardware when buying Apple products.

The HP link doesn't seem to work for me -- it points to their old HP envy 14 line.<p>As for 16x9, blame HDTV.

Without size and weight included, which are to me the primary attributes of a laptop, the comparison is moot.

HP Envy 17 is clearly a rip off.