Apple MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2008) vs Dell Alienware 18 Area-51 AA18250

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MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2008) compared with Alienware 18 Area-51 AA18250

	AppleMacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2008)	DellAlienware 18 Area-51 AA18250
Overview
Released
Released	February 2008	March 2025
Display
Screen size
Screen size	17″	18″
Resolution
Resolution	1680 × 1050	2560 × 1600 (better)
Panel
Panel	–	IPS LCD
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	–	300 Hz
Brightness
Brightness	–	500 nits
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	17-inch TFT widescreen display at 1680 × 1050, matte or glossy. Optional 1920 × 1200 LED-backlit display; exact panel technology and refresh rate unpublished.	18-inch WQXGA (2560 × 1600) anti-glare IPS-type (WVA), 300 Hz, NVIDIA G-SYNC and Advanced Optimus
Pixel density
Pixel density	–	168 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	–	100% DCI-P3
Screen finish
Screen finish	–	Anti-glare
Display features
Display features	–	1200:1 typical contrast; 3 ms typical response; ComfortView Plus low blue light
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz (MacBook Pro Early 2008) or Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6 GHz (MacBook Pro Early 2008)	Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, Intel Core Ultra 7 270HX Plus or Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	20 or 24
CPU threads
CPU threads	–	20 or 24
Graphics
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (512 MB GDDR3)	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
AI engine (NPU)
AI engine (NPU)	–	13 TOPS
Memory
Memory	2 GB or 4 GB	32 GB or 64 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	200 GB to 300 GB	1 TB to 4 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.5 GHz or optional 2.6 GHz, with 6 MB shared L2 cache and an 800 MHz frontside bus.	Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX or Core Ultra 9 275HX (2025); Core Ultra 7 270HX Plus or Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (2026); 20 or 24 cores, 55 W base
GPU
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512 MB GDDR3 video memory	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (8 GB), RTX 5070 (8 GB), RTX 5070 Ti (12 GB), RTX 5080 (16 GB) or RTX 5090 (24 GB), all GDDR7; up to 280 W combined CPU and GPU power
AI engine
AI engine	–	Intel AI Boost NPU, 13 TOPS
Memory type
Memory type	2 GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, configurable to 4 GB, in two SO-DIMM slots.	DDR5, two SODIMM slots; 16 to 64 GB at 6400 MT/s, or 32 GB at 7200 MT/s with XMP
Storage type
Storage type	250 GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive; optional 200 GB 7200-rpm or 300 GB 4200-rpm drive with either processor. 8× SuperDrive with double-layer DVD writing.	Three M.2 slots (one 2230 or 2280, two 2280), PCIe Gen 4 or Gen 5 NVMe; 1 TB to 12 TB (RAID 0)
Connections
Ports
Ports	3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack, MagSafe	2 × Thunderbolt 4, 3 × USB-A, HDMI, Ethernet, SD card slot, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	AirPort Extreme 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g	Wi-Fi 7
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	2.1 + EDR	5.4
Webcam
Webcam	Built-in iSight camera	1080p with IR, or 4K HDR with IR
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	Windows
Port detail
Port detail	Three USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, MagSafe, dual-link DVI, ExpressCard/34, separate combined optical digital audio input/line input and optical digital audio output/headphone output.	2 × Thunderbolt 4 (RTX 5070 and below) or 2 × Thunderbolt 5 (RTX 5070 Ti and above) USB-C with DisplayPort, USB4 and Power Delivery; 3 × USB 3.2 Gen 1 USB-A (one with PowerShare); HDMI 2.1; RJ45 5 Gbps Ethernet; SD card reader; 3.5 mm headset jack; 7.4 mm barrel power port
External displays
External displays	Supports an external display up to 2560 × 1600 pixels alongside the built-in display. DVI-to-VGA adapter included; other display adapters optional.	–
Keyboard
Keyboard	Backlit keyboard with ambient light sensors and revised function keys; the previous embedded numeric keypad is removed.	AlienFX per-key RGB keyboard, or optional CHERRY MX ultra-low-profile mechanical keyboard
Trackpad
Trackpad	Multi-Touch trackpad supports two-finger scrolling, pinch, rotate and three-finger swipe.	Glass precision touchpad, 131 × 80 mm, with optional RGB AlienFX lighting
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in stereo speakers	Quad speakers (two tweeters, two woofers), 2 W each (2.5 W peak)
Microphones
Microphones	Omnidirectional microphone beneath the left speaker grille.	Digital-array microphones
Biometrics
Biometrics	–	IR camera for Windows Hello face recognition
In the box
In the box	MacBook Pro, removable battery, 85 W MagSafe Power Adapter with AC wall plug and power cord, DVI-to-VGA adapter, install/restore DVDs and documentation. Mac OS X Leopard and iLife ’08; Apple Remote sold separately. The retired SP4 spec sheet is unavailable, so maker launch notice and exact early-2008 user guide supply core specifications.	–
Battery and size
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	–	96 Wh
Weight
Weight	–	4.12 kg
Thickness
Thickness	–	30.5 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	–	410 × 320 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Removable lithium-polymer battery. Capacity, life, metric weight and dimensions are omitted because the surviving maker launch notice and exact manual do not publish them. Macworld describes the model as 6.6 lb; this original unit is retained without conversion.	96 Wh 6-cell lithium-ion
Charger
Charger	85 W MagSafe Power Adapter	280 W or 360 W barrel-plug adapter; also charges over USB-C Power Delivery
Fast charging
Fast charging	–	ExpressCharge 2 (ExpressCharge only in the EU)
Materials
Materials	Aluminium enclosure	–
Colours
Colours	Silver	Liquid Teal