MacBook Vs Laptop

2009-11-08 11:26:32

#1

PrivateVendetta: I DEMAND XMAS THEME; +704|6451|Roma

Need some advice. (If this has been posted, sorry, but the amount of posts with 'Mac' and 'Laptop' in is stupid.)

I need a portable computer soon and don't know what sort to go for. I've used a PC all my life and never really liked Macs etc. but reading the Apple website is persuasive.
I won't be needing it for gaming (I rarely play many games nowadays) the most I imagine i will be using it for will be internet browsing and word processing. I want a machine that is fast, and not going to need replacing in 2/3 years. I don't really need a large HDD or graphical power.

Before, I was against Macs because of the whole compatibility thing and not liking the idea of change, but reading the apple website it seems to have changed..

Apple wrote:
The Mac also opens and works with Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and it even runs Windows — so it’s compatible with the PC world. That includes sharing documents with people on PCs, printing to the office or school printer, and working over Windows networks.

Is this me just being persuaded easily, or is it as good as it sounds?
Opinions wanted, but I don't want a fanboy flamewar going on plz.

If you want to suggest a laptop, go ahead, I'm looking at around the £600-£700 margin.

https://static.bf2s.com/files/user/29388/stopped%20scrolling%21.png

2009-11-08 11:31:11

#2

Winston_Churchill: Bazinga!; +521|6998|Toronto | Canada

If youre not doing graphical stuff or making movies then Windows is by far your best option. Its really the only reasonable argument for Mac

You can get a better laptop for cheaper using Windows as well.

2009-11-08 11:36:31

#3

IrishGrimReaper: Field Marshal | o |; +142|6981|Ireland | Monaghan

No point getting a Mac when a £400-£500 laptop could do all that stuff easily! Lenove suggestions will fly now in a min I think

SL500 series I think it is, check em out!

Last edited by IrishGrimReaper (2009-11-08 11:38:33)

Intel Core i7 CPU 920 @ 4GHz || 3x2 GB OCZ 1600Mhz DDR3 || 80GB Intel X25-M Gen 2 || KFA2 GTX 480 1536Mb ||| Samsung T220 || Xonar DX 7.1 || AV 40 || P6T Deluxe V2 || Win 7 HP 64 Bit || Lian Li P80

2009-11-08 11:36:54

#4

Lucien: Fantasma Parastasie; +1,451|6913

but reading the Apple website is persuasive.

Lol.

I want to buy a macbook for word processing and internet browsing

Again, lol.

I want to buy a macbook

Well, I guess some people like them

2009-11-08 11:41:15

#5

PrivateVendetta: I DEMAND XMAS THEME; +704|6451|Roma

Is there much behind the thought that Macs won't get clogged up as quickly as Laptops? That's basically the one thing that pisses me off with PC's etc. Even after reformatting they get shit again pretty quickly..

2009-11-08 11:42:37

#6

IrishGrimReaper: Field Marshal | o |; +142|6981|Ireland | Monaghan

It's not the PC's fault if there's shit on it... You need to clear it out when it gets shit on it. Don't get a Mac, it's not worth it.

Intel Core i7 CPU 920 @ 4GHz || 3x2 GB OCZ 1600Mhz DDR3 || 80GB Intel X25-M Gen 2 || KFA2 GTX 480 1536Mb ||| Samsung T220 || Xonar DX 7.1 || AV 40 || P6T Deluxe V2 || Win 7 HP 64 Bit || Lian Li P80

2009-11-08 11:45:27

#7

Lucien: Fantasma Parastasie; +1,451|6913

In my experience with dealing with the average desktop/laptop user, they're so bad with computers that, if they had money to burn, a mac would be a better choice as it isn't as easy to fuck up if you don't know what you're doing and don't care about performance/reliability/etc.

2009-11-08 11:58:28

#8

Uzique: dasein.; +2,865|6730

macbooks 'do' a lot more with the hardware in them, i.e. OSX and the apple 64-bit apps run a lot faster. it certainly feels a lot 'smoother' and easier to use than windows- it's more fluid, more intuitive, has a cleaner look, and everything is really well integrated into the overall operating system. having said that, macs 'do' a lot more with the hardware for an inflated 125% price in comparison to what it will cost you to get a similarly-specced windows machine. the choice between the two is your discretion as the consumer with the $$$ to spend. i have both, i tend to use my macbook 95% of the time now for portable work or word processing, because it's just an easier experience. plus, in my own experience of using laptops in the £1000-£1500 range, the build-quality and overall aesthetic of the macbook is far more pleasing and user-friendly, again. i can happily type away for hours on my macbook keyboard, and find the multi-functional trackpad a joy to use. my best advice: go to an apple store and have a go on one of their macbooks/pros/airs. see if it tickles your fancy. the website is designed to make you want one... go and get your hands on one to see if it's something you really will enjoy using.

Last edited by Uzique (2009-11-08 11:59:12)

_{libertarian benefit collector - anti-academic super-intellectual}. _{http://mixlr.com/the-little-phrase/}

2009-11-08 11:58:46

#9

jsnipy: ...; +3,277|6782|...

Winston_Churchill wrote:
If youre not doing graphical stuff or making movies then Windows is by far your best option. Its really the only reasonable argument for Mac

Even then, that argument only holds water if you are doing said work with software they only make for a mac.

2009-11-08 12:10:36

#10

PrivateVendetta: I DEMAND XMAS THEME; +704|6451|Roma

Thanks Uzique.
Will go down to the apple store tomorrow.
The comment about being persuaded by the website was my point, I know it's designed to persuade me, I wanted to know how much it rings true.

2009-11-08 12:16:39

#11

IrishGrimReaper: Field Marshal | o |; +142|6981|Ireland | Monaghan

Are you putting like a £1000+ budget to a Mac and £600-£700 to a laptop? tbh why are you even considering a Mac when all you'll save a few hundred on something that will do all you need better than a Mac would?

Intel Core i7 CPU 920 @ 4GHz || 3x2 GB OCZ 1600Mhz DDR3 || 80GB Intel X25-M Gen 2 || KFA2 GTX 480 1536Mb ||| Samsung T220 || Xonar DX 7.1 || AV 40 || P6T Deluxe V2 || Win 7 HP 64 Bit || Lian Li P80

2009-11-08 12:17:06

#12

Winston_Churchill: Bazinga!; +521|6998|Toronto | Canada

jsnipy wrote:
Winston_Churchill wrote:
If youre not doing graphical stuff or making movies then Windows is by far your best option. Its really the only reasonable argument for Mac
Even then, that argument only holds water if you are doing said work with software they only make for a mac.

I'm perfectly willing to admit some of the best graphical software is mac only.

However, most of this I dont agree with:

Uzique wrote:
macbooks 'do' a lot more with the hardware in them, i.e. OSX and the apple 64-bit apps run a lot faster. it certainly feels a lot 'smoother' and easier to use than windows- it's more fluid, more intuitive, has a cleaner look, and everything is really well integrated into the overall operating system. having said that, macs 'do' a lot more with the hardware for an inflated 125% price in comparison to what it will cost you to get a similarly-specced windows machine. the choice between the two is your discretion as the consumer with the $$$ to spend. i have both, i tend to use my macbook 95% of the time now for portable work or word processing, because it's just an easier experience. plus, in my own experience of using laptops in the £1000-£1500 range, the build-quality and overall aesthetic of the macbook is far more pleasing and user-friendly, again. i can happily type away for hours on my macbook keyboard, and find the multi-functional trackpad a joy to use. my best advice: go to an apple store and have a go on one of their macbooks/pros/airs. see if it tickles your fancy. the website is designed to make you want one... go and get your hands on one to see if it's something you really will enjoy using.

Where I live we have a Mac as well as several Windows laptops. The Mac has all the same things our Windows laptops has, a split second delay for programs opening, the windows all look work the same (ie Firefox, Word, Excel etc). Except that damn close/minimize toolbar is on the wrong side
A "similarily specced" Mac laptop in his range will probably cost 150-200% than a Windows one, 125% is being quite optimistic.
Edit: Actually youre in Europe, I dont know how pricing is there

Easier is quite based as well. Everyone in the house doesnt like the way the Mac places files, its actually more confusing than a Windows computer in all our opinions.
The build quality is arguable since there are many different manufacturers, but I honestly dont like the mac keyboard we have. Its far too easy to accidentally tap a key. The one thing I will give it is it has dedicated volume control buttons, mine requires Function + Button for that. However, with the unified body Macs have, if there is one small damage the entire thing has to be replaced which is quite pricey.

Plus the Mac has literally caught on fire. Cant really give it points for that.
Something else I was quite surprised by is the number of repairs they come in for. I worked for a computer company during the summer and people had Macs coming in all the time. Of course there were more Windows computers, but thats just because 95% of users use them. I'd be willing to bet that there were more repairs per computer sold in the Mac side than Windows.
Of course youre going to say I prefer Windows because I'm a Windows user, which I am. But I've also used a couple distros of Linux and Macs for about 2 years.

Last edited by Winston_Churchill (2009-11-08 12:25:59)

2009-11-08 12:23:01

#13

PrivateVendetta: I DEMAND XMAS THEME; +704|6451|Roma

IrishGrimReaper wrote:
Are you putting like a £1000+ budget to a Mac and £600-£700 to a laptop? tbh why are you even considering a Mac when all you'll save a few hundred on something that will do all you need better than a Mac would?

Basic Macbook at $999 ~ £650

2009-11-08 12:57:48

#14

IrishGrimReaper: Field Marshal | o |; +142|6981|Ireland | Monaghan

On the UK site it's £800?...
http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/s … TM3NDcwNzc

Intel Core i7 CPU 920 @ 4GHz || 3x2 GB OCZ 1600Mhz DDR3 || 80GB Intel X25-M Gen 2 || KFA2 GTX 480 1536Mb ||| Samsung T220 || Xonar DX 7.1 || AV 40 || P6T Deluxe V2 || Win 7 HP 64 Bit || Lian Li P80

2009-11-08 13:03:02

#15

GC_PaNzerFIN: Work and study @ Technical Uni; +528|6674|Finland

PrivateVendetta wrote:
IrishGrimReaper wrote:
Are you putting like a £1000+ budget to a Mac and £600-£700 to a laptop? tbh why are you even considering a Mac when all you'll save a few hundred on something that will do all you need better than a Mac would?
Basic Macbook at $999 ~ £650

for 860 bucks you get:

Lenovo T500
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600
15.4" WXGA
2GB
250GB

3930K | H100i | RIVF | 16GB DDR3 | GTX 480 | AX750 | 800D | 512GB SSD | 3TB HDD | Xonar DX | W8

2009-11-08 13:10:14

#16

PrivateVendetta: I DEMAND XMAS THEME; +704|6451|Roma

IrishGrimReaper wrote:
On the UK site it's £800?...
http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/s … TM3NDcwNzc

Touche

Also, what's with Lenovo? Explain why people keep pointing me in that direction.
And aren't they based in the US? In which case shipping?

2009-11-08 13:13:32

#17

GC_PaNzerFIN: Work and study @ Technical Uni; +528|6674|Finland

PrivateVendetta wrote:
IrishGrimReaper wrote:
On the UK site it's £800?...
http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/s … TM3NDcwNzc
Touche

Also, what's with Lenovo? Explain why people keep pointing me in that direction.
And aren't they based in the US? In which case shipping?

Lenovo is sold everywhere. They build quality in R and T series is nothing short of legendary.

3930K | H100i | RIVF | 16GB DDR3 | GTX 480 | AX750 | 800D | 512GB SSD | 3TB HDD | Xonar DX | W8

2009-11-08 13:19:17

#18

TSI: Cholera in the time of love; +247|6240|Toronto

PrivateVendetta wrote:
IrishGrimReaper wrote:
On the UK site it's £800?...
http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/s … TM3NDcwNzc
Touche

Also, what's with Lenovo? Explain why people keep pointing me in that direction.
And aren't they based in the US? In which case shipping?

Nah, they ship from the same place everyone else does: China.

I've had my lenovo for a little while now, can't find anything to complain about. I will concede that they tend to be about 50 bucks more than the competition, but I feel it's warranted--the build quality is amazing. My mother bought a Toshiba around the same time, and she's had trouble with it shutting down at random times, and being quite slow. None of that with mine--in fact, I dropped it from 2 metres once while it was running, and not a single problem. Well, a little scratch on the corner.

So that's what it is; reliable, fast, efficient and so much better suited to the environment it's used in than a mac (which I have seen break after a fall of 30 cm, had to have the whole body replaced--effing expensive).

I like pie.

2009-11-08 13:22:11

#19

some_random_panda: Flamesuit essential; +454|6650

GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:
PrivateVendetta wrote:
IrishGrimReaper wrote:
On the UK site it's £800?...
http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/s … TM3NDcwNzc
Touche

Also, what's with Lenovo? Explain why people keep pointing me in that direction.
And aren't they based in the US? In which case shipping?
Lenovo is sold everywhere. They build quality in R and T series is nothing short of legendary.

This. Except they bundle huge amounts of crap with the laptop and refuse to give you a recovery CD. I'm typing on a T61 right now, and while the hardware is as good as the day I bought it (the graphics card might have overheated) the bloody recovery partition they give you is inaccessible on my machine. Hence the only way to get rid of all the lenovo utilities (that do exactly the same thing as windows, sometimes worse), is for me to buy a whole new copy or download an ISO and use my key.

/rant

Also, it's 2 years old, but it's been slow from the start. It might just be Vista, though - can't really say. Sometimes the fingerprint detector stops working until restart, startup always takes over 5 minutes to be barely functional (only fully functional at 8), shutdown takes longer than two minutes, etc. Restarting alone sets me back 10 minutes in work.

Last edited by some_random_panda (2009-11-08 13:29:44)

2009-11-08 13:47:04

#20

Zimmer: Un Moderador; +1,688|7016|Scotland

Uzique wrote:
it's more fluid, more intuitive, has a cleaner look, and everything is really well integrated into the overall operating system.

That's very subjective though. It entirely depends on the users opinion of the visuals and the way it operates. It's not more "intuitive" it's just different from Windows.

Also, Winston, the best graphical programs? There is only one standard and that is Photoshop/Illustrator and that works just as well on Windows. There are no Mac only programs that do a better job at graphical work - same applies with web development, yeah sure, OSX has Coda and Espresso, but they're not that amazing, and many Windows/Linux developing programs can do the same with a bit of tweaking.

It's entirely up to you, but now that Windows 7 is out, I would honestly go for a laptop and save yourself some money.

2009-11-08 14:07:59

#21

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6457|Winland

A Macbook isn't a laptop?

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-11-08 14:12:45

#22

Defiance: Member; +438|6931

TSI wrote:
My mother bought a Toshiba around the same time, and she's had trouble with it shutting down at random times, and being quite slow. None of that with mine--

That has nothing to do with the build quality of a laptop. I think you may know how to maintain a computer better then your mother.

2009-11-08 14:21:18

#23

Winston_Churchill: Bazinga!; +521|6998|Toronto | Canada

Zimmer wrote:
Also, Winston, the best graphical programs? There is only one standard and that is Photoshop/Illustrator and that works just as well on Windows. There are no Mac only programs that do a better job at graphical work - same applies with web development, yeah sure, OSX has Coda and Espresso, but they're not that amazing, and many Windows/Linux developing programs can do the same with a bit of tweaking.

I dont pretend to know anything about the industry, but I was told by a couple people that there are some programs that are mac only which have no true Windows equivalent. Whether or not thats true I guess is in question.

Anyways, this is irrevelant to what he's looking for.

I agree to UI preference being up to the user, I find Windows interface is far superior to Mac's and most people do since they're used to it and find new ones confusing.

2009-11-08 14:43:41

#24

TSI: Cholera in the time of love; +247|6240|Toronto

Defiance wrote:
TSI wrote:
My mother bought a Toshiba around the same time, and she's had trouble with it shutting down at random times, and being quite slow. None of that with mine--
That has nothing to do with the build quality of a laptop. I think you may know how to maintain a computer better then your mother.

Maybe I do, but I use and move mine a lot more. I'm talking about machines less than 6 months old. Neither should be having that sort of trouble.

I like pie.

2009-11-08 14:45:39

#25

mcminty: Moderating your content for the Australian Govt.; +879|6981|Sydney, Australia

Winston_Churchill wrote:
Zimmer wrote:
Also, Winston, the best graphical programs? There is only one standard and that is Photoshop/Illustrator and that works just as well on Windows. There are no Mac only programs that do a better job at graphical work - same applies with web development, yeah sure, OSX has Coda and Espresso, but they're not that amazing, and many Windows/Linux developing programs can do the same with a bit of tweaking.
I dont pretend to know anything about the industry, but I was told by a couple people that there are some programs that are mac only which have no true Windows equivalent. Whether or not thats true I guess is in question.

Anyways, this is irrevelant to what he's looking for.

I agree to UI preference being up to the user, I find Windows interface is far superior to Mac's and most people do since they're used to it and find new ones confusing.

Mm, maybe not so much "graphics" graphics, but video editing and whatnot? What parallels are there on Windows for things like Final Cut and Logic Studio?

And indeed the preference is up to the user.. but having used XP, vista and OS X, OS X comes out the clear winner for me in terms of just being easier (I'll add more later, but I should be studying )

Panda - my Macbook Pro is nearly 2 years old. Even with only 5/140gb free space, it still starts up and shuts down within a minute. Hell, I think when I got Snow Loepard (and had a lot more space), it restarted in like 40 seconds.

Also, for what it's worth.. I would pay the extra for this trackpad. Nothing compares to it.. and mine is pre "multitouch"..

BF2S Forums MacBook Vs Laptop

Apple wrote:

Winston_Churchill wrote:

jsnipy wrote:

Winston_Churchill wrote:

Uzique wrote:

IrishGrimReaper wrote:

PrivateVendetta wrote:

IrishGrimReaper wrote:

IrishGrimReaper wrote:

PrivateVendetta wrote:

IrishGrimReaper wrote:

PrivateVendetta wrote:

IrishGrimReaper wrote:

GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:

PrivateVendetta wrote:

IrishGrimReaper wrote:

Uzique wrote:

TSI wrote:

Zimmer wrote:

Defiance wrote:

TSI wrote:

Winston_Churchill wrote:

Zimmer wrote:

Board footer