Hesseldahl claims the H-P falls short of the MacBook on important hardware specs:

* Display resolution. Not all 17-inch displays are equal. The $2,800 MacBook has a high-quality 1920 x 1440 display, compared to the not-so-awesome 1440 x 900 screen on the H-P

* Battery life. A major cost inside the MacBook pro is its battery, which Apple claims will last eight hours instead of the H-P's two and a half hours.

* Weight. The MacBook is 15 percent lighter -- 6.6 pounds instead of 7.8. (Hesseldahl could have also mentioned the MacBook's much nicer aluminum casing and slimmer profile.)