Buying a new laptop- Apple?

[KenS]

Originally Posted by 357

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/...co=MTM3NDcyODk
$1699 MacBook Pro:
15" screen
2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4.0 GB RAM
250 GB SATA Hard Drive 5400RPM
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Video Card = Specs not listed

OR

http://www.salescircular.com/mi/computer/laptpp.shtml (@ Office Max)
$449 Toshiba Satellite L505-S5998
15.6-in. Widescreen
Intel Pentium T4300 processor (2 Cores @ 2.1 GHz)
4.0 GB RAM
320GB SATA Hard Drive 5400RPM
LabelFlash DVD +-RW drive
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M
802.11B/G/N WLAN.
Webcam, Microphone.
Windows 7 Home Premium

+

$102.50 Mac OS X 10.5
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mac-Leopard-OS-X...item2ea9eaf2be

Total = $551.50 vs $1699

Although I'm sure it's fun to do stuff like this, it's also quite crazy, and is (usually) intentionally biased. Do you really think these are equivalent machines? Hint: they are not.

Anytime somebody asks a "Mac or PC" question, people trot out the same old lines. The absolute best advice is to speak with somebody who actually knows about, has current experience with, and uses both Mac and Windows PCs. Otherwise it's just people quoting the same crap that they've read elsewhere.

As for price differences, the key thing to know is that Apple simply does not have a "low end" laptop, and does not play in that segment of the market. So it's easy to find a cheapo Windows laptop and compare it, but you'd be much more informed by a true comparison of similarly priced laptops. Yes, Dell, Toshiba, HP, etc. do actually sell similarly priced machines, with the level of components and sophistication as the Mac laptops. But it's not as much fun to do a true Apples to apples comparison.

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by KenS

But it's not as much fun to do a true Apples to apples comparison.

Pun intended.

You make some great points.
I happen to use a PC laptop for work (HP), I have a desktop PC I still use, and I have my MacBook.
I am not a one side only person at all.
Given I use all three regularly, I am confident when I say I love my Mac any day over a PC.

Best of all.......................................

This message was posted without any fear of viruses and without utilizing any anti virus software.

[Blueface]

Found an article that contained this and I thought it truly sums it up for me.

most PC users use PCs because they have to, while Mac users use Mac because they want to.

That statement truly says it all.

Here is the rest of the article.
Interesting reading, even if one doesn't agree.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/101-und...tter-than-pcs/

Another one.
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=115151

There are similarly plenty of these by PC users but will leave it to the other side to find.

[Titan410]

[quote=Blueface;685717]Found an article that contained this and I thought it truly sums it up for me.

most PC users use PCs because they have to, while Mac users use Mac because they want to.


Agreed. Well put.

[goalie204]

Originally Posted by KenS

The absolute best advice is to speak with somebody who actually knows about, has current experience with, and uses both Mac and Windows PCs.

Agreed, and owning both, and using both on a daily basis, i could give my pc up, but i wouldn't give my mac up.

[357]

Originally Posted by KenS

Although I'm sure it's fun to do stuff like this, it's also quite crazy, and is (usually) intentionally biased. Do you really think these are equivalent machines? Hint: they are not.

Anytime somebody asks a "Mac or PC" question, people trot out the same old lines. The absolute best advice is to speak with somebody who actually knows about, has current experience with, and uses both Mac and Windows PCs. Otherwise it's just people quoting the same crap that they've read elsewhere.

As for price differences, the key thing to know is that Apple simply does not have a "low end" laptop, and does not play in that segment of the market. So it's easy to find a cheapo Windows laptop and compare it, but you'd be much more informed by a true comparison of similarly priced laptops. Yes, Dell, Toshiba, HP, etc. do actually sell similarly priced machines, with the level of components and sophistication as the Mac laptops. But it's not as much fun to do a true Apples to apples comparison.

I can take a hint...I get that I'm coming across a little heavy handed and biased. I'm just trying to get the point across that just because it has an Apple on it doesn't mean it was made better. If you like the OS fine use it. I'm just saying don't bother to pay 3 times the price for the hardware. The laptops I quoted aren't 100% identical, but they are 95% the same. The only real difference is the CPU and the outer plastic bezels. Use the money you save and buy 7 or 8 boxes of good cigars.

Some people believe that buying a certain name brand is worth paying a little extra. I would say that often I agree. This however is not one of those circumstances. I've taken apart Macs and PCs. I know they buy the same hardware from the same vendors and put them in their laptops. Years ago that wasn't the case. Apple used SCSI hard drives and RISC based CPUs. Both of which were superior to the IDE hard drives and x86 CPUs that PCs were using. However Apple dropped SCSI a long time ago and dropped RISC based CPUs about 3 years ago to adopt Intel x86 based CPUs. Since they have done that there is no real difference between Apple and PC hardware. Hence there is no real justification for them to charge 3 times the price.

I'm not trying to be rude by my repeated posts. I have worked in computers for about 15 years and I'm trying to help shed some light on the subject.

[goalie204]

Originally Posted by 357

The only real difference is the CPU and the outer plastic bezels.

the mac has an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M which even if integrated is still far superior to the intel graphics media accelerator.

The bottom line and the most important 2 points is that the OP said price was not an issue, and he isn't a fan of windows.

[Blueface]

Did I mention I love my MacBook?
Did I mention I am posting this from my iPhone?
Gotta run. Going to video some stuff with my IPod Nano with video camera.