My gosh, so much activity since my last visit...
wolfeking said:
Apple has a superb build quality, and is just generally stable. As was stated, they have an all aluminum cage, which will last ages around the general plastic construction of the average PC laptop
I really don't see that much superiority in their builds. They never combine everything I want and keep it below $2000. I want a quadcore, large RAM, and a dedicated graphics card with 2GB or more. No apples that I have looked at offer all of that in my price range (which is around $1300).
My current laptop, ASUS UL-50VT has an aluminum top and hard plastic on the bottom. I have dropped it twice. No problem.
wolfeking said:
2 years ago HP had more reported breaks than the others
Dang it! Hopefully that really only is that specific graphics card. My dad and a friend of mine bought HP's on my recommendation when looking at their specs. I don't believe either have that GPU though.
DMGrier said:
The word "fanboy" was used like that cause that is how some of you acted, not recommending to him a computer for what he needs, Just cause he says apple does not mean it is the best option to him without at least informing him of price.
Yeah, everyone ignoring the part about me never wanting to own an Apple was slightly annoying...
DMGrier said:
Even though you will probably replace it for a computer with newer hardware before it ever breaks.
I know my current ASUS doesn't offer this, but are there laptops out there that can be upgraded as technology progresses? (i.e. a better CPU comes out or has a huge drop in price. Open the laptop and swap them).
DMGrier said:
My recommendation, build a desktop, pick which ever OS makes you happy whether Windows, OSX or linux does your fancy. You can build a desktop that will smoke a macbook pro or even most pc laptops for about $900 and have plenty to purchase a cheap laptop or nice netbook.
I'm on my sophomore year at college and, after a less-than-ideal first year, I am probably looking at taking a total of 5 years to graduate, 6 if I decide to double major in Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering (only 17 more credits than just a BS in ME. Sounds tempting...) But until I get a good permanent residence (i.e. an apartment that doesn't have only a 6-9 month lease or my own small house) I would like to stick with a very portable laptop.
All in all though, the whole debate has been pretty fun to read through. My computer knowledge is far better than the average consumer to the point where I generally know more about the product and it's capabilities than the salesman, but I am not advanced enough to fully understand all the details behind the inter-workings of a computer. That being said, both sides have helped my learn a bit more about purchasing computers and the like.