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2007-02-18 09:56:56
Shadow893
lel
+75|6964|England
So i thought I would buy a new laptop for myself. Just to do the usual things like word prcoessing ect. and to not play games. Then I remembered about Mac. After some research I thought Mac was the only way to go, but then the price was a tiny bit more expensive ~£200 more expensive than for a similar spec. windows laptop. This has put me of it a tiny bit, but if the improved security and all that balls is better than I will spend a little bit more.

So I'm asking the guys who have had EXPERIANCE with BOTH operating systems to help me make my final decision.

Just a reminder - I won't be needing a machine for games - mainly school work etc. You get the idea.
2007-02-18 10:00:35
d4rkst4r
biggie smalls
+72|6725|Ontario, Canada
Go with mac, ive used both. The extra security is worth the money

Last edited by d4rkst4r (2007-02-18 10:00:54)

"you know life is what we make it, and a chance is like a picture, it'd be nice if you just take it"
2007-02-18 10:04:14
TheDarkRaven
ATG's First Disciple
+263|6896|Birmingham, UK
Well, as long as you don't go on dodgy websites and have a good anti-virus protection (Kaspersky is great at the moment) you should be fine. Mac is great for security because of the really small user base and thus people don't want to make virus' for it. But it's an inherently more stable system. Also, are you looking to use Boot Camp? If you want to hand in Word documents if you buy a Mac, this is just about a must. ONly real problem with the Mac.
2007-02-18 10:05:02
Marlboroman82
Personal philosophy: Clothing optional.
+1,022|6895|Camp XRay

it's preference thing, i love my macbook pro. i have carried all over the world never had a problem. also it games fairly decent.
https://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l250/marlboroman82/Untitled-8.png
2007-02-18 10:06:48
Marlboroman82
Personal philosophy: Clothing optional.
+1,022|6895|Camp XRay

TheDarkRaven wrote:

If you want to hand in Word documents if you buy a Mac, this is just about a must. ONly real problem with the Mac.
thats the stupidest comment i have ever read. there is such a thing as office 2004 for mac, also open office. both of which will allow you to do anything type of document you would like. christ do a little research before posting stupid comments.
https://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l250/marlboroman82/Untitled-8.png
2007-02-18 10:07:00
Shadow893
lel
+75|6964|England

TheDarkRaven wrote:

Also, are you looking to use Boot Camp?
Good point - I forgot about boot camp - but don't you have to buy windows anyway to run it.

TheDarkRaven wrote:

If you want to hand in Word documents if you buy a Mac, this is just about a must. ONly real problem with the Mac.
I thought it came with word processing software anyway. I saw it in the shops and it was still called Microsoft, but for Macs.
2007-02-18 10:08:04
Shadow893
lel
+75|6964|England

Marlboroman82 wrote:

TheDarkRaven wrote:

If you want to hand in Word documents if you buy a Mac, this is just about a must. ONly real problem with the Mac.
thats the stupidest comment i have ever read. there is such a thing as office 2004 for mac, also open office. both of which will allow you to do anything type of document you would like. christ do a little research before posting stupid comments.
I thought so.
2007-02-18 10:11:55
TheDarkRaven
ATG's First Disciple
+263|6896|Birmingham, UK
Forgot that! Sorry guys - I'm dosed up a bit a the moment. Damn morphine...
2007-02-18 10:12:48
travisb05
bullseye (+)
+58|6971|U.S
I would say windows with vista it is and since almost everything works on it anything you want to put on a mac you have to look around or go online to buy the right thing for a mac
2007-02-18 10:17:07
Shadow893
lel
+75|6964|England

travisb05 wrote:

I would say windows with vista it is and since almost everything works on it anything you want to put on a mac you have to look around or go online to buy the right thing for a mac
But I only want to use it for word stuff - nothing else.


As a side note - I hate Vista - Why do they change everything once a new os comes out?
2007-02-18 10:22:14
TheDarkRaven
ATG's First Disciple
+263|6896|Birmingham, UK

Shadow893 wrote:

travisb05 wrote:

I would say windows with vista it is and since almost everything works on it anything you want to put on a mac you have to look around or go online to buy the right thing for a mac
But I only want to use it for word stuff - nothing else.


As a side note - I hate Vista - Why do they change everything once a new os comes out?
Mac do the same. Linux is the only real 'constant' OS as you can change it at will yourself. But that's totally different!
2007-02-18 10:28:03
SmackDowN
Member
+5|6742
yea just buy a laptop with no operating system, then download linux for free, its open source, and install XGL on it

Last edited by SmackDowN (2007-02-18 10:28:51)

2007-02-18 10:28:42
Poncho
and I'm not a raincoat...
+91|6980|NL

Shadow893 wrote:

Just to do the usual things like word prcoessing ect. and to not play games.
you dont need a hyper new laptop for that.

i have bought an asus laptop and it works fine for me.
2007-02-18 10:30:56
golgoj4
Member
+51|7046|North Hollywood
how much do you want to spend? If its for typing crap, investing in a mac book seems a lil pricey. Personally I like my tablet from gateway. Nothing like writing instead of typing notes that go into whatever document later. Im only a fan of the high end mac workstations cause those are sweeeeeet. Software that you would need is available for both, just depends on what you like and want to invest.

but like I said, tablets are the best IMO, cept gaming cause then that bitch would just get heavy.
2007-02-18 10:31:38
Shadow893
lel
+75|6964|England

Poncho wrote:

Shadow893 wrote:

Just to do the usual things like word prcoessing ect. and to not play games.
you dont need a hyper new laptop for that.

i have bought an asus laptop and it works fine for me.
yeah but i want something that lasts ad last time i checked asus don't run mac
2007-02-18 10:32:53
Shadow893
lel
+75|6964|England

golgoj4 wrote:

how much do you want to spend? If its for typing crap, investing in a mac book seems a lil pricey. Personally I like my tablet from gateway. Nothing like writing instead of typing notes that go into whatever document later. Im only a fan of the high end mac workstations cause those are sweeeeeet. Software that you would need is available for both, just depends on what you like and want to invest.

but like I said, tablets are the best IMO, cept gaming cause then that bitch would just get heavy.
how much are tablets dude - sounds real sweet.
2007-02-18 10:42:53
golgoj4
Member
+51|7046|North Hollywood

Shadow893 wrote:

golgoj4 wrote:

how much do you want to spend? If its for typing crap, investing in a mac book seems a lil pricey. Personally I like my tablet from gateway. Nothing like writing instead of typing notes that go into whatever document later. Im only a fan of the high end mac workstations cause those are sweeeeeet. Software that you would need is available for both, just depends on what you like and want to invest.

but like I said, tablets are the best IMO, cept gaming cause then that bitch would just get heavy.
how much are tablets dude - sounds real sweet.
got mine for about 1k from gateway.  $800 for the comp + Tax & shipping. It was a refurb because I was kinda sketchy on the technology but now I wish I had gotten a brand new one and the ATI graphics card for it (for games) Gateway had some good deals in october when I bought it but I would still say check around. They vary in price as much as normal desktops.

http://www.gateway.com/reman/reman_cate … ook_matrix  -link goes to refurb page. Also, I have xp - tablet edition on mine with no intention of upgrading to vista. So if you get vista, have fun with that.
2007-02-18 12:45:37
Fancy_Pollux
Connoisseur of Fine Wine
+1,306|6918
Windows.

-Macs only make up 5% of the market, and most of that is in development.
-Macs only have a fraction of the software that Windows has.
-Macs do not support DirectX, meaning there's literally only 3 or 4 games you can play.
-Macs are more expensive.
-Macs cannot be upgraded.
2007-02-18 15:25:36
EvilMonkeySlayer
Member
+82|6924

Fancy_Pollux wrote:

Windows.

-Macs only make up 5% of the market, and most of that is in development.
-Macs only have a fraction of the software that Windows has.
-Macs do not support DirectX, meaning there's literally only 3 or 4 games you can play.
-Macs are more expensive.
-Macs cannot be upgraded.
- Development? Development of what? Places i've worked the creative types use macs. (for example desktop publishing, artwork etc) And i've noticed unix geeks are switching to Mac stuff, OS X has a very mix of ease of use and unix utils
- It has less crap too, macs have the same kind of software as windows and all the big apps like photoshop etc are availble for the mac.
- Of course macs don't support DirectX, it's a Microsoft specific api for windows. (If you really want to you can install bootcamp and use that to play windows games, however the poster mentioned this isn't for games)
- On desktop pc's they're ripoff prices, for laptops the price parity is pretty much the same between pc and mac laptops for the same hardware.
- He's talking about a laptop here, generally laptops aren't that upgradeable. However, my Macbook has the same level of upgradability as a pc laptop. I can change the memory and hard drive.


As to whether to get a Macbook or a pc laptop. I bought my first mac in December (black Macbook) and I don't have a single regret. Unlike pc laptops that come with massive amounts of crud installed (forcing you to do a wipe and reinstall of windows) it's nice and clean.

After using both (various laptops, mostly IBM Thinkpads) and my experience as an IT manager dealing with other peoples laptops I say buy a Macbook (since you're not wanting high quality 3d stuff). Go for 1GB or more of RAM, one of the smaller hard drives if this is just word doc type stuff. You don't need to worry about malware, viruses etc and you have a OS that is fantastic, easy to use and has plenty of the big applications available for it (ms office, loads of Adobe/Macromedia stuff etc)

By the way, a better alternative to open office is neo office which is based on the same code base but is a native OS X application rather than using x11 and looking like arse. (which is what open office is on OS X, I hear open office is working on making a native cocoa os x version)
2007-02-18 15:33:32
golgoj4
Member
+51|7046|North Hollywood

EvilMonkeySlayer wrote:

Fancy_Pollux wrote:

Windows.

-Macs only make up 5% of the market, and most of that is in development.
-Macs only have a fraction of the software that Windows has.
-Macs do not support DirectX, meaning there's literally only 3 or 4 games you can play.
-Macs are more expensive.
-Macs cannot be upgraded.
- Development? Development of what? Places i've worked the creative types use macs. (for example desktop publishing, artwork etc) And i've noticed unix geeks are switching to Mac stuff, OS X has a very mix of ease of use and unix utils
- It has less crap too, macs have the same kind of software as windows and all the big apps like photoshop etc are availble for the mac.
- Of course macs don't support DirectX, it's a Microsoft specific api for windows. (If you really want to you can install bootcamp and use that to play windows games, however the poster mentioned this isn't for games)
- On desktop pc's they're ripoff prices, for laptops the price parity is pretty much the same between pc and mac laptops for the same hardware.
- He's talking about a laptop here, generally laptops aren't that upgradeable. However, my Macbook has the same level of upgradability as a pc laptop. I can change the memory and hard drive.


As to whether to get a Macbook or a pc laptop. I bought my first mac in December (black Macbook) and I don't have a single regret. Unlike pc laptops that come with massive amounts of crud installed (forcing you to do a wipe and reinstall of windows) it's nice and clean.

After using both (various laptops, mostly IBM Thinkpads) and my experience as an IT manager dealing with other peoples laptops I say buy a Macbook (since you're not wanting high quality 3d stuff). Go for 1GB or more of RAM, one of the smaller hard drives if this is just word doc type stuff. You don't need to worry about malware, viruses etc and you have a OS that is fantastic, easy to use and has plenty of the big applications available for it (ms office, loads of Adobe/Macromedia stuff etc)

By the way, a better alternative to open office is neo office which is based on the same code base but is a native OS X application rather than using x11 and looking like arse. (which is what open office is on OS X, I hear open office is working on making a native cocoa os x version)
blah blah blah mac. Lol. Actually, as a windows user I want to say thanks for not being an snobby mac asshat. second, you make some good points. Im amazed you dont come off like a pompus ass like so many other mac users. I do have one comment tho, and as an IT guy maybe you can answer more truthfully. Would you say mac is good for the beginning user whereas pc's are more for people who have more than an intermediate knowledge of their system. I find people who rave about how much they love they mac use crap like itunes and blog. Pretty usless when you draw blueprints and do a lot of 3d modeling. I just find more people who like mac the Brand and not Mac the tool.

a side note...i think when he said development, he meant graphics departments and whatnot. I worked @ launch.com as a programming intern for a little while and when I started, they were all on MAC's then as they realized they needed more comps, they switched everyone 'cept art dept to pc. Both are usefull, just depends on what your doing.
2007-02-18 15:48:13
EvilMonkeySlayer
Member
+82|6924

golgoj4 wrote:

blah blah blah mac. Lol. Actually, as a windows user I want to say thanks for not being an snobby mac asshat. second, you make some good points. Im amazed you dont come off like a pompus ass like so many other mac users. I do have one comment tho, and as an IT guy maybe you can answer more truthfully. Would you say mac is good for the beginning user whereas pc's are more for people who have more than an intermediate knowledge of their system. I find people who rave about how much they love they mac use crap like itunes and blog. Pretty usless when you draw blueprints and do a lot of 3d modeling. I just find more people who like mac the Brand and not Mac the tool.

a side note...i think when he said development, he meant graphics departments and whatnot. I worked @ launch.com as a programming intern for a little while and when I started, they were all on MAC's then as they realized they needed more comps, they switched everyone 'cept art dept to pc. Both are usefull, just depends on what your doing.
I think OS X is considerably better thought out for layout, configuration etc. Beginner user? Perhaps, it's less hassle to use but then.. how hard is it to click on the little blue IE icon or ms word icon which is what most people use?

Yeah, i've seen the douche bag OS X users. You'll get those kind of people where x company makes a good product. I saw it years ago with the Amiga, zealots are around with everything. Hell, i've even seen windows zealots. (btw, itunes on windows is crap, itunes on os x is much, much better..  I wish aol/nullsoft made winamp for OS X though.. I do miss it when i'm using my Macbook)

Out of curiousity how long ago was this? (launch.com) From my knowledge of mac history there was a period between OS 8 and 10 where the mac was in a bigtime decline especially on apps like Quark which when was moved over to OS X was an absolute horror story. And a lot of companies saw the mac as a dead platform, lets face it.. before OS 10 and the ipod it looked like Apple would be dead within a few years.
2007-02-18 16:42:54
Fancy_Pollux
Connoisseur of Fine Wine
+1,306|6918

EvilMonkeySlayer wrote:

It has less crap too, macs have the same kind of software as windows and all the big apps like photoshop etc are availble for the mac.
Less software = less choice. No matter how you look at it, lacking compatibility with the majority of software applications is not an advantage. There is no argument here.

EvilMonkeySlayer wrote:

Of course macs don't support DirectX, it's a Microsoft specific api for windows. (If you really want to you can install bootcamp and use that to play windows games, however the poster mentioned this isn't for games)
And? Not supporting DirectX removes a very popular function of today's computers. The video game industry is larger than the music industry now. Not being able to play 99% of these games is pretty significant.

EvilMonkeySlayer wrote:

On desktop pc's they're ripoff prices, for laptops the price parity is pretty much the same between pc and mac laptops for the same hardware.
Here it becomes evident that you are just talking out of your ass. Not only can you NOT build and customize your Mac to your needs, you pay a high premium just for the pretty white enclosure. A Mac with the same hardware specs as a PC will almost always cost a significant amount more. Not to mention, when your Mac becomes obsolete, you need to buy a whole new computer, not just make a few simple upgrades.

EvilMonkeySlayer wrote:

He's talking about a laptop here, generally laptops aren't that upgradeable. However, my Macbook has the same level of upgradability as a pc laptop. I can change the memory and hard drive.
And we're back to square one. Why pay the premium for a Mac when you can get a Windows-based laptop with more functionality and software compatibility all at a lower price?

The only advantage the Mac has over the PC is its stylish and ergonomic design. That said, is just having a computer that "looks cool" worth sacrificing functionality, upgradability, and software compatibility while paying a significantly higher premium?

Last edited by Fancy_Pollux (2007-02-18 16:45:45)

2007-02-18 16:48:37
Mitch
16 more years
+877|6797|South Florida
Dont get mac
If you get it you will regret it.
Everything is made for Windows.
Only some things are made for mac.
You can search the internet for a unique 'not to popular' piece of software if you want something done on windows, but you couldn't do that for mac.

Don't listen to the general "media" views of Windows, like how they say Windows crashes, and sucks, and isnt for gaming, and all that bullshit. And as for security, yeah, it may be more secure considering no one uses it, but if your smart with a computer then you should know how to keep your PC safe.

Plus there SO expensive

Last edited by Dezerteagal5 (2007-02-18 16:48:55)

15 more years! 15 more years!
2007-02-18 16:50:58
Mitch
16 more years
+877|6797|South Florida

Fancy_Pollux wrote:

EvilMonkeySlayer wrote:

It has less crap too, macs have the same kind of software as windows and all the big apps like photoshop etc are availble for the mac.
Less software = less choice. No matter how you look at it, lacking compatibility with the majority of software applications is not an advantage. There is no argument here.

EvilMonkeySlayer wrote:

Of course macs don't support DirectX, it's a Microsoft specific api for windows. (If you really want to you can install bootcamp and use that to play windows games, however the poster mentioned this isn't for games)
And? Not supporting DirectX removes a very popular function of today's computers. The video game industry is larger than the music industry now. Not being able to play 99% of these games is pretty significant.

EvilMonkeySlayer wrote:

On desktop pc's they're ripoff prices, for laptops the price parity is pretty much the same between pc and mac laptops for the same hardware.
Here it becomes evident that you are just talking out of your ass. Not only can you NOT build and customize your Mac to your needs, you pay a high premium just for the pretty white enclosure. A Mac with the same hardware specs as a PC will almost always cost a significant amount more. Not to mention, when your Mac becomes obsolete, you need to buy a whole new computer, not just make a few simple upgrades.

EvilMonkeySlayer wrote:

He's talking about a laptop here, generally laptops aren't that upgradeable. However, my Macbook has the same level of upgradability as a pc laptop. I can change the memory and hard drive.
And we're back to square one. Why pay the premium for a Mac when you can get a Windows-based laptop with more functionality and software compatibility all at a lower price?

The only advantage the Mac has over the PC is its stylish and ergonomic design. That said, is just having a computer that "looks cool" worth sacrificing functionality, upgradability, and software compatibility while paying a significantly higher premium?
QFT
Very nicely said man
15 more years! 15 more years!
2007-02-18 16:54:24
jsnipy
...
+3,277|6795|...

Today, no one offers anything significant above the other, especially if you are a regular end user (web/emails/office/...).

 

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