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Laptop vs Macbook


Lemonade

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My trusty Compaq laptop I got in 2007 is on its last legs and its time to source a replacement. I've never really used Mac but a lot of people (not just Apple fanboys) rave about them. However the price makes me want to run away and hide. Considering you can get a totally decent laptop for less than half the price of a Mac are they really worth the extra £££?

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They're not. Literally the only thing about them that is "unique" from a windows system of <half the price is the OS (and the shiny white box). You can buy a computer with no OS, or even a windows machine, and a copy of mac OS if you think it's so much better. But it's not. People rave about them so hard because they don't want to feel like morons for buying into the advertising and spending a fortune on a horribly overpriced computer.

xx

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They're not. Literally the only thing about them that is "unique" from a windows system of <half the price is the OS (and the shiny white box). You can buy a computer with no OS, or even a windows machine, and a copy of mac OS if you think it's so much better. But it's not. People rave about them so hard because they don't want to feel like morons for buying into the advertising and spending a fortune on a horribly overpriced computer.

xx

That's what I thought. I'm just curious as to what Mac are supposed to do so much better that warrants the massive price tag. Like I say, I've never used one, other for surfing for porn in the Apple Store.

"But I'm going to Starbucks to work on my novel, I NEED a Mac!"

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The components are generally of a higher quality and performance (metal case, faster harddrive etc.) than you'd get for a lesser brand. The same as if you bought a higher priced laptop from another manufacturer (Sony for example).

Although Apple tend to not upgrade their range much during it's cycle so it quickly becomes outdated and the value for money gets worse the longer it's been since they refreshed the range.

Now is it worth the extra money? Probably not if you're just using it for web browsing. But if you use a lot of processor, memory and storage intensive applications (like music production, video production etc) then you'd notice a difference. There's also no doubt that the things are built well. Apple make lovely looking and put together kit. But then I'd still probably buy a higher priced windows laptop than an Apple as that would still be better value than a Macbook.

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I use a Macbook Air and I really dig it. My last Macbook was really low spec, but it still works fine despite being a bit scruffy cosmetically (and struggling with updates to some of the more heavyweight software). The Dell I had before that didn't manage nearly as much mileage. I also think it's a bit unfair to say that they're only for wankers who write shit novels. My mum and dad's neighbour is a physics professor and he has a Macbook Pro I believe.

So yeah, they're expensive. But they do last a long time, and even hold their value quite well if you want to upgrade.

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I have an old ppc Mac g5 I record with. It does the trick for me but as the years go on u get less and less plugin companies supporting ppc Macs. I'd have an Intel run Mac in a heartbeat but expensive for macbooks etc. Just down to preference though I don't think Mac is superior to PC just depends what u need a computer for I guess

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My mum and dad's neighbour is a physics professor and he has a Macbook Pro I believe.

They do an educational institution discount so sweetens the deal for uni staff as well as students. Used to be 15% so at that rate works out a fair bit once you're spending £1000 on a Macbook. May have changed.

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/education_routing

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Guest Bob Knob

I've been using a Macbook for almost five years now and I can't remember a time when it's crashed. Not once. It also still runs really fast despite various upgrades over the years AND I run Photoshop and Lightroom on it quite a lot.

Apparently they are not so prone to viruses etc but I'm not sure on that.

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I've been using a Macbook for almost five years now and I can't remember a time when it's crashed. Not once. It also still runs really fast despite various upgrades over the years AND I run Photoshop and Lightroom on it quite a lot.

Apparently they are not so prone to viruses etc but I'm not sure on that.

just gotta stop looking at the porn.

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I've been using a Macbook for almost five years now and I can't remember a time when it's crashed. Not once. It also still runs really fast despite various upgrades over the years AND I run Photoshop and Lightroom on it quite a lot.

Apparently they are not so prone to viruses etc but I'm not sure on that.

The virus thing is pretty true - most l33t hax0rs run Linux based systems (Mac OS being based on the same software as linux) so generally fewer viruses are written targetting linux/unix/mac systems lest the coders be hoist on their own petards.

Every windows machine I've had has been run into the ground after around 5 years, but that's all software because windows is baws and prone to shitty bloatware sucking up processor speed. I'd like to try running a mac for the likes of photoshop and recording softwares, see if the hype is true there, but I imagine a mac and a PC with identical tech specs will run identically. Especially given than most mid-high end PCs use a lot of the same hardware as Apple.

xx

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The virus thing is pretty true - most l33t hax0rs run Linux based systems (Mac OS being based on the same software as linux) so generally fewer viruses are written targetting linux/unix/mac systems lest the coders be hoist on their own petards.

No it's simply because it's not been worth attacking Mac users as they are still hugely outnumbered by Windows systems. Security by obscurity. There are more viruses and trojans being created for Macs now though so the perception that they're secure is now false in practice as well as in theory.

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I've got an old Macbook and have had no problems with it (except the battery dying, but you can replace them really easily and cheaply if you don't buy them from Apple). I got my laptop from Apple online at the start of 2010. It's a refurbished one and now a really old model but still cost about £660. I only bought it because I'd never had a laptop or made a massive purchase in my life, I had the money to do it and I thought it'd force me to do some writing. It was probably a stupid move at the time and I definitely could have just bought any laptop with word processor, but now I'm into making films and editing, so it's probably worked out quite well as I think Macs are better for media/creative stuff.

Hoping to get a job that will allow me to be able to afford a newer model soon, for more memory and Final Cut.

I think if you can justify the price and why you'd be better off with it than another kind of laptop, then go for it. A friend of mine just wants one for the sake of it and she'll probably just use it to go online, and I'm not sure if that's worth the money.

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I've heard folk say Macs are the go-to piece of kit for music production and image editing. I use the most recent version of Photoshop and a few different DAWs on my Samsung windows Laptop, and have never had a problem. All run great. I'm also totally all about protection, so it's Firewalled as fuck, with all sorts of real time scanners and virus scanners going on. Never had it crash, or had to restore or anything. I'm sure Macbooks are worth their wedge, but unless you're going full throttle at it, using all sorts of mutimedia kit, then it might not be worth it in the short term. You can get a good priced Windows laptop with good spec, good enough to do everything I imagine you'll need it to do, for somewhere between £350 - £600

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I've seen people so blinded by the shininess that they come to me with a Mac wanting a software package installed that is only available for Windows, and is a fundamental requirement for their work. This is despite my advice to the contrary. So they end up getting Bootcamped anyway because people don't understand virtual machines. So well done, you've got a very expensive (especially after you've purchased a copy of Windows 7 as well, because there's no way I'm digging you out of this hole for nothing), shiny PC with one less mouse button than is required to run Windows - I salute you (sarcastically, of course)!

And no, I'm not keen on Macs. Not keen on Windows either, come to think of it. It's Ubuntu at home for me, and I don't care what you think of that.

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The components are generally of a higher quality and performance (metal case, faster harddrive etc.) than you'd get for a lesser brand. The same as if you bought a higher priced laptop from another manufacturer (Sony for example).

Although Apple tend to not upgrade their range much during it's cycle so it quickly becomes outdated and the value for money gets worse the longer it's been since they refreshed the range.

Now is it worth the extra money? Probably not if you're just using it for web browsing. But if you use a lot of processor, memory and storage intensive applications (like music production, video production etc) then you'd notice a difference. There's also no doubt that the things are built well. Apple make lovely looking and put together kit. But then I'd still probably buy a higher priced windows laptop than an Apple as that would still be better value than a Macbook.

I see what you mean. My laptop is on every day but really I only use it for browsing, occasional downloading, keeping my musical collection in order, watching porn, playing Football Manager and ruling Aberdeen Music with an iron fist. So yeah, probably not worth it for me for the amount I use it for.

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I've seen people so blinded by the shininess that they come to me with a Mac wanting a software package installed that is only available for Windows, and is a fundamental requirement for their work. This is despite my advice to the contrary. So they end up getting Bootcamped anyway because people don't understand virtual machines. So well done, you've got a very expensive (especially after you've purchased a copy of Windows 7 as well, because there's no way I'm digging you out of this hole for nothing), shiny PC with one less mouse button than is required to run Windows - I salute you (sarcastically, of course)!

And no, I'm not keen on Macs. Not keen on Windows either, come to think of it. It's Ubuntu at home for me, and I don't care what you think of that.

Ubuntu FTW.

xx

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