Need help deciding on Laptop purchase

[nwoods]

There's just so many options to choose from! It sounds like we want the best processor & the most memory we can feasibly upgrade to...I don't understand too much beyone that :drool:.

I made this point on a similar thread:
"One big hurdle most non-Mac users face when considering buying one is the price-to-specs comparison. The PC's have faster components at cheaper prices... on paper. The truth is that the very limited number of components allowed by Apple means that their device drivers, at the machine level, are highly optimized. Not so with PC, where things seem to be written for lowest common denominator. The "slower" specs on a Mac seem to outpace anything on a similar or even "faster" PC. You are not spending more for less, what you are getting is a highly tuned machine, plus all the software you are likely to need for general use. "

 

[alosix]

Ummmm...Apples aren't fragile. I've used and abused mine for 3+ years, the longest I've ever kept ANY computer. I have two HUGE labs that have knocked it off of tables and chairs, they've drooled on it, I've spilled coffee on it, and it has been in dry and humid conditions. I've had ZERO problems with it, and it's just as fast now as it was the day I bought it, even loaded with thousands of songs, videos, movies, and pictures. I'll NEVER buy anything but a Mac!!!
:coffeedrink:

Mine did well to until I rolled over the plastic strap adjusters on my laptop backpack one too many times with the office chair. Walking back from the car with one strap strung over my shoulder it gave way. Dropped the mac down (in a padded bag) onto the ground and bent it pretty bad.

The area around the CD drive on the last gen is pretty easy to bend, many of the ones we had at work had a bend in that area. Pretty easy to fix as well.

On the plus side, the screen held up nice and it still worked fine afterwards.

As nice as the MBPs are, I still have a hard time justifying the price of them to purchase one myself.

Jason

 

[Ruined Adventures]

Oh boy...the options just don't get any easier do they? haha

For every person who's suggested the Lenovo's, there's been another who's suggested a Mac. We've kinda counted them out of the equation because of price and our resistance to the evil Apple apocalypse...unfortunately, it's hard to turn avoid them.

I didn't realize that the specs "on paper" would be so misleading...I don't doubt you at all, I'm just saying I've never heard that. I guess it's like the sticker on a new suv saying it gets 26 MPG in the city...

The only real concern I have with a mac is it's compatibility with programs we'll want to run. I know it'll be fine with Rosetta Stone, but I'm mostly wondering if the OS system will work with Smellybiker's Wanderlust Worldmaps...anyone have experience with this? I couldn't find anything on the site.

 

[nwoods]

The only real concern I have with a mac is it's compatibility with programs we'll want to run. I know it'll be fine with Rosetta Stone, but I'm mostly wondering if the OS system will work with Smellybiker's Wanderlust Worldmaps...anyone have experience with this? I couldn't find anything on the site.

I scanned through their forum's Help section. Looks like you would need to run Window's OS on you Mac to use the Mapsource program. That's easy to do, and you can run both OS's concurrently, if you wanted to. But you will need to buy the Window's OS (unless you already have a licensed copy)

 

[Ruined Adventures]

I scanned through their forum's Help section. Looks like you would need to run Window's OS on you Mac to use the Mapsource program. That's easy to do, and you can run both OS's concurrently, if you wanted to. But you will need to buy the Window's OS (unless you already have a licensed copy)

Thanks for the info. Yesterday we looked at laptops for a while and I believe we're pretty set on a 13" Macbook. As much as I was trying to avoid Apple's evil...it kept sucking us in. Seems like what we are looking for all together. I guess I need to look into running that Window's OS for mapping.

 

[nwoods]

Cool, I think you'll like it, though you might want to upgrade the RAM on the 13". To run Windows, you can use Bootcamp, which your Mac includes already, but this requires you to boot up in one OS or the other. A better way to dobit is to buy Parrallels, which allows you to run both OS's simultaneously. This works really well, but uses RAM....Parallels costs about $60 these days I think.

 

[evldave]

I'm interested in hearing your experience with the macbook. While I'm a Windows guy, I'm always open to newer/better ideas or technology. I'm really curious as to how the mapping software works on a Window/Mac platform (which honestly is basically a WinTel package).

 

[Life_in_4Lo]

One big disappointment with the new Macbooks is they don't have Firewire! Decontented from the previous MB.

Now your portable FW hardrives and doing a simple Migration from your old Mac is gone.

I've read Apple's ridiculous argument that boils down to "you don't need it".
If that's the case, why do Macbook Pros still have Firewire????

Besides the stupid marketing and MB's not being the value they once were, Macs are still great.
Oh and that 10hr battery life is only 10hrs on sleep. Normal use, it's about 4-5hrs. Still good but don't be too impressed by their advertising.

 

[Ruined Adventures]

What will Firewire do for me?

We haven't decided yet if it will be a Macbook or Macbook Pro

Oh and that 10hr battery life is only 10hrs on sleep. Normal use, it's about 4-5hrs. Still good but don't be too impressed by their advertising.

Figures...

 

[nwoods]

A few years ago FireWire was significantly fast than USB 1.0, and Apple quickly implemented it. These days USB 2.0 is about the same speed, and far more prevalent, and backwards compatible with older (and newer!) versions of USB. Not having FireWire is no big deal, as long as you don't have a camera or drive that uses it as the sole connector.

My wife's 15" MacBookPro gets a good 8 hours of battery life usage. It's one generation older than current, running 10.5.x

 

[Life_in_4Lo]

If USB is so great, why do current MBPro's still have Firewire?

FW is FASTER than USB 2.0, noticably faster.
Apple didn't just implement FW, they helped invent FW! Apple dropped FW for reasons other than technical performance.

A lot of upset users out there when Apple dropped firewire in the MB, including me.
Erased the MB as a serious contender but maybe that was Apple's plan.

I just got a new MBP for my wife so I know what the battery life is. Maybe it will improve after several charges but it also depends on what you are running.

 

[Life_in_4Lo]

What will Firewire do for me?

We haven't decided yet if it will be a Macbook or Macbook Pro

Figures...

If you don't have FW accessories, it's not as big a deal.
But they are going backwards on speed, which bothers me- also my FW hd's.

If you aren't doing any "heavy lifting" than the MB or Air is solid for a lot less money.

 

[nwoods]

FW is FASTER than USB 2.0, noticeably faster.

I think you are right! I don't personally own any FireWire accessories, but I found this article to be interesting:
http://gigaom.com/apple/firewire-vs-usb-which-is-faster/

I do think that the current prices for MacBooks are considerably less than they were just 2 years ago. I'm sure deleting various features from the motherboards is one way to accomplish those price reductions. For example, this 2008 13" MacBook was $1600 (http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/apple-macbook-2008.aspx#axzz15Nk5Zaoz), whereas today's costs are under $1,000 (http://www.appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/)

Personally, I would only consider the MBP, or maybe the Air for light duty. I find the MacBook has too many compromises for what I would use it for.

 

[Life_in_4Lo]

you don't need an article to know that, just plug in a USB2 HD and a FW HD. FW BLOWS AWAY USB2. It's not even close.

I don't think price is an excuse as the last gen MB had FW. It was a good computer- I still use one for work (Modbook)
Apple is good stuff but on this point, Apple sucks.


As I have the MBP on Migration Assistant (Firewire) transferring all my wife's programs, settings and files over; I am reminded of how useful FW is- even if it's just for Migration alone.
5 min to setup and leave it until it's done.