are you saying the Mac is expensive? I think we've proven that is simply not true.

and thus why i build my own pc and use windows... hahah... i know.. can't build a laptop like a desktop, but i can find a much better deal on a winblowz one or perhaps even a convertible tablet pc (ie gateways latest) vs a macbook pro and it runs XP natively w/o bootcamp...

man i really hate that picture of chris pirillo

Umm who actually wants to carry a large 17" screen around. I'm happy with my tiny 14.1 t42p with hi-res screen. Compact, light. Lacks smug.

Buy screen real estate in bulk.

Thanks for the credit, but actually the 17" is cheaper without the RAM upgrade and if you just match HD and processor w/ the 15": base model 15" = $2499 + 120GB HD upgrade @ $100 + 2.16 GHz processor upgrade @ $300 = $2899 base model 17" = $2799 WITH included 120GB HD and 2.16 GHz processor This sort of sucks because although the 17" is pretty kick ass, I really don't think I want to lug that beast around (especially to DJ gigs!). My only guess as to Apple's logic is that maybe the 17" dissipates heat more and thusly will break less, which means they can charge $100 less for it?? hahaha. Either that or they plan on releasing an upgraded 15" soon......

That first part's not right... If you build a 15" and add the CPU and HD the 17" has, it costs $100 MORE. And don't forget that the 17" gets a Dual Layer DVD burner, while the 15" only gets a Single Layer burner. ** Wonders if there are any comparable 15" or 17" notebooks out there... Hmmm... Match all or even most of the features and still be 1" thick? NO **

"vs a macbook pro and it runs XP natively w/o bootcamp" ya. good point.

seamonkey, I agree completely with you but we must remember that Apple is still a hardware company, and that means they will have high profit margins. They are unlike Dell, who is also in the hardware business, since Dell subsidizes the prices of their PCs with trial software advertisements on the $300 desktops they sell. Take Microsoft for instance, they are a software company therefore their software is significantly more than most. MS Office Pro (retail) = approx $455 MS Windows XP Pro (retail) = approx $300 Apple Mac OS X (retail) = $129 Apple iWork 06 (retail) = $79

You don't even have to max out both computers for the $100 price difference, just raising the better 15" to the standard 17" is enough: MBP 15"/CoreDuo 2.16/1GB 1DIMM/120GB 5400 = $2899 MBP 17"/CoreDuo 2.16/1GB 1DIMM/120GB 5400 = $2799 Perhaps we'll see a price drop in the 15" MacBook Pro soon... Also, I love that ppl will take any excuse to knock on Apple, even pricing. Have you checked out Dell pricing recently? I've watched Dell prices yo-yo like a start-ups IPO.

Why is a simple pricing error even on Gizmodo in the first place?

Does the higher price have something to do with the fact that you are requesting a customized computer rather than just the base model? I can understand why, unless you're Dell and your business model is based on customization, that you'd charge more to a customer who asks you to swap out stock components, versus a customer buying the base/stock model of a better machine. Time and labor explains this discrepancy, doesn't it?

Good point bandit. Not sure why none of us thought of that... it's a fairly obvious answer and most likely right. ... though still ridiculous in my mind. I mean the only difference is somebody grabs a piece out of bin A instead of bin B. There's no real "customization" going on.

I would argue that a 15" laptop is *far* more likely to be purchased by traveling business users than the 17". So I would say this results more from the 15" and 17" models being targeted at different markets, and the pricing, while fitting within an overall logical structure, is being allowed to hit its ideal points when you throw customization in, without worrying too much about the comparison.

I dunno, I'm willing to pay 100 dollars and forgoe dual layer burning to get a smaller laptop. 17 inch laptops aren't really practical for my purposes.

The buzz I have heard from people who tried both was that the 17" just wasn't worth it: it's more screen real estate, but not enough more to really do anything useful with. That plus the addition in weight, difficulty in packing, and the "oh jeez this thing is huge and precarious and not too sturdy hope it doesn't fall and land on a corner" factor meant no go. This latest pricing foo is weird, but the 15" and 17" have always been very close in pricing. When I purchased my 15" powerbook, I scaled it up so that it had all the same specs as the 17" except for the screen. The difference was about US$100.

looks like you're paying a premium for portability. not totally unheard of

dr_duke... very good point to make! apple is really more a hardware company like you said and thus the pricing.. i'm not saying anything bad about their products or hardware, usually they are built to a higher standard than most but to me the price vs what you get is not worth it.. for that much money i could just a nice XPC (aka alienware, since dell bought them up!) laptop... hmm.... i'd like to see a nice comparison between a MacBook Pro and Dell XPS M1710. hehe.. here's what i'd get instead of a macbook pro: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs...

Seriously, though, if you're going to spend that much money on a computer, does an extra $100 here or there really make THAT much of a difference? I just can't imagine spending THOUSANDS of dollars on a computer.

Seamonkey, why would you want that? I mean granted the graphics card might be better, but the processor and hard drive are worse, the remote's extra and I'm just guessing that it's heavier and bulkier for the same price. My big thing with the Apple notebooks is that their build quality and design (minus the stupid two button mouse and gay apple light) is just so much better than other notebooks. The ability to dual boot Mac OS and Windows is nice too, because although in the end I'll take windows over mac os, there's definitely some advantages in the Mac OS.

17" too bulky? Hehe, you guys need to lift some weights sometime. I was waiting for this 17" to come out to buy a laptop, and now its here! I guess I must be lucky in wanting what apparently other do not, so I don't have to pay the premium on a smaller laptop. :-)

Maybe they're trying to push the 17-inch. They know how the web works, so they may be counting on posts just like this to spread the word: "17-inch MacBook Pro is cheap, get it before we catch our 'mistake'" I know I'd get one if I wasn't waiting for an intel-Mac tower.

I dunno, I have a 17-inch powerbook and love it. I bring it everywhere, to all of my classes and all, and it has never gotten in the way or been to heavy or cumbersome or what have you. I don't know what I would do without the extra screen real estate-- I do a lot of video editing and final cut is fantastic with the extra space. Plus it comes in handy for multitasking and apps like excel. When I get home, it goes up on my desk and I have an external mouse and keyboard and it's a complete desktop replacement. There is a lot of functionality that is compromised by a smaller screen (especially a standard 4:3 screen), and like I said I take this thing everywhere on a day-to-day basis and rarely if ever does the size cause any problem-- usually, it's the other way around.

here is my main problem ... the 17 inch wont fit on a Coach class plane, fold out tray - when along side my can of soda.

I had no idea that Macs were this expensive. ZOINKS. (wow, the most comments I've ever seen on Gizmodo)

The high end mac laptops are this expensive, just like the high end Windows (well, Windows only) laptops are going to run you a pretty penny.