[Windows Phone 7 General] amb9800:
Yes, I have a friend running one with a Core 2 Quad-- it's a solid business machine, and I'm sure it would survive quite a bit of abuse too. It's expensive (>$500 premium over 17" MBP, which is itself overpriced), but that's par the course for that kind of business machine (you're paying for things like the pro-3D-oriented Nvidia Quadra instead of consumer Geforce graphics, which is more for gaming/video).

My point is not about physical toughness (the HP EliteBook, Dell XFR, and more so Panasonic ToughBooks and what not, will be more resilient than an Apple or Sony machine), but rather the design.

Sony has some amazing designs-- the Z-Series (which packs an i7, dedicated graphics, Blu-ray, and quad-SSDs into a 3 lb, 13" machine), for instance, is damn impressive and something you won't see anywhere else (just take a look at that motherboard!).

Apple's machines have similar effort put into the designs-- the MacBook Air, for example, is limited in some ways (e.g. just one USB port), but just look at Dell's Adamo (which runs much slower processors, at a higher price) to see the challenge that Apple overcame with that design. Some of Lenovo's machines also fit the bill with solid underlying design (though I'm personally not a fan of the overall look-- an X200 looks like a post-weight-loss '90s ThinkPad).

The MacBooks use the Geforce 9400M integrated chipset, which is what Anandtech's article is based on. Some models also have a dedicated, switchable 9600M card. But that actually makes Apple's case even stronger, because the 9400M delivers performance and features (HD video playback, Flash acceleration, etc.) that blow Intel integrated graphics out of the water, while using a bit more power. Yet the 9400-equipped MacBooks even get much better battery life than similar Windows machines with Intel integrated chipsets.

A 17" MBP with comparable or better specs (except the EliteBook's particular pro-oriented features, which have no impact on battery life) gets over 8 hours.

Obviously if you need huge battery life, a second battery is the way to go, but that's only useful if you keep it charged all the time and carry it around, whereas better longevity with the built-in unit is always useful. There are also external batteries available for the MBP for those who need them.

The AnandTech articles I linked talk about this in detail-- yes, Apple's able to stuff more capacity into the same area by using non-cylindrical LiPo cells that can be crafted to fit exactly the space they have. But that's a non-issue here, because the tests compare an MBP to a PC with the same capacity battery.

The mystery of why OS X gives much better battery life than Windows is still not fully solved-- Anand concludes:

Since then, other analyses have shown Apple's battery life is primarily better at tasks involving period idles, like web browsing, office work, etc., as opposed to constant activity like HD video playback. Still, kind of strange to see a 20-70% difference just based on what OS you run.

It's not irrelevant. Take the example of a college student, for example. With a MacBook Pro and its 8-hour battery life, you can easily have the laptop run through multiple classes for 4-5 hours, then spend a couple hours in other places, and return to your dorm at the end of the day, all on the built-in battery.

Most PCs are specced with batteries giving 2-3 hour life, and larger batteries tend to stick out of the machine (causing trouble with fitting into cases, backpacks, etc.) and cost more (not to mention ruining aesthetics, but even if we ignore that). A second battery is not an option for most, because how are you going to charge it? Some manufacturers offer docks for such purposes, but they're expensive and unwieldy.

Not difficult to see why Apple's picking up sales so briskly among students, with over 50% market share at some colleges here (though there are many other reasons for that).

I wish that were the case, but it's really not-- and the place I'm at has billions of dollars to spare - no dearth of money. Hunting for power plugs is something I'm unfortunately used to, as my HP netbook with a big protruding 6-cell has gone from ~5-hr battery life when I bought it 1.5 years ago to around 2 hours now.

Yes- Windows 7 actually supports more advanced GPU switching than Mac OS does at the moment (OS X requires a log-out to switch GPUs-- some new Windows PCs with Nvidia Optimus actually switch constantly between GPUs based on graphics load), but all the comparisons are with the base, single integrated GPU version of the MacBook Pro.