Can someone convince me that a mac is the better laptop for me?

J

Jhow

New Member
I'm starting college this fall as a business major and I plan on buying a new laptop. My budget is about 1400 (although i can throw in a bit more). I currently use windows and ubuntu but I like the mac hardware a lot. My problem is the price (and yes I did read the macintosh platform post). I'm just not convinced that it's worth the money. On a windows format I can get 3-4 gbs of ram, a huge hard drive, and a discrete graphics card for as much as or less than a macbook. My dilemma is that although I don't absolutely hate vista, I don't like it either. I'll be going to cal state university of Bakersfield for business and I want to have an open mind.

Which is better for me and why?

And I will say, I don't do too much gaming and if I do I can do that on my desktop. I've always wanted to try mac but you can never find a decent one, even used, for cheap. I'm just not sure that the it's worth it and I know I can run windows on a mac but that seems like a complete waste when I can get a windows machine with better specs for the same or cheaper. How hard is it to do a successful hackintosh?

Here's my favorite laptop so far as I've been searching for about a week.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220272
core2duo 9300
3gb ram
320 gb hard drive
512mb graphics card

How is a mac laptop for about the same price better? (of course for this price it'd be a macbook.)

Thanks
 
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cohen

cohen

New Member
Well i have to say that are very good... i never liked them but when i used a friends macbook pro... i've gone - i'm buying one! They are very good... nice look... nice OS, although they are over priced... they are very good... you are able to install windows and other OSs on them... so you can also do that!
 
Kill Bill

Kill Bill

Active Member
I own the new 2008 17'' MacBook Pros with the Penryn and Multitouch and I've never been happier with a notebook computer. You can download SMC Fan control if you are about to reboot into windows and that will speed up the fans so in windows you can play on your lap without trouble or even use the fan speed for video editing and what have you. I also downloaded iAlertU and you turn it on and set a passsword and if someone tries to hold it while its alarmed it will start to beep and the webcam will send a picture to your email if you used apple mail as a service provider (I used my Gmail account in it).
The specs of mine are in the signature. Also I have hackintosh installed on my tower (iATKOS) And your very limited to what you can do on Mac and it killed off one of my HDDs.
 
tlarkin

tlarkin

VIP Member
Jhow said:
I'm starting college this fall as a business major and I plan on buying a new laptop. My budget is about 1400 (although i can throw in a bit more). I currently use windows and ubuntu but I like the mac hardware a lot. My problem is the price (and yes I did read the macintosh platform post). I'm just not convinced that it's worth the money. On a windows format I can get 3-4 gbs of ram, a huge hard drive, and a discrete graphics card for as much as or less than a macbook. My dilemma is that although I don't absolutely hate vista, I don't like it either. I'll be going to cal state university of Bakersfield for business and I want to have an open mind.

Which is better for me and why?
Click to expand...

What software do you plan on using, and what majors do you plan on taking? Price is relative for many reasons. For one, that Mac will last you a lot longer. 7 year old Macs can run the newest OS, but not all the newest applications. No 7 year old machine can run Vista.

And I will say, I don't do too much gaming and if I do I can do that on my desktop. I've always wanted to try mac but you can never find a decent one, even used, for cheap. I'm just not sure that the it's worth it and I know I can run windows on a mac but that seems like a complete waste when I can get a windows machine with better specs for the same or cheaper. How hard is it to do a successful hackintosh?
Click to expand...

Yeah, well if you want the Lexus you have to pay for the Lexus. That is how that works. Apple designs their systems from the ground up. They even design the hardware. Which is pretty rare. Most companies just provide hardware makers with specifications, and say make this work. Apple designs everything from the ground up.

Here's my favorite laptop so far as I've been searching for about a week.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220272
core2duo 9300
3gb ram
320 gb hard drive
512mb graphics card

How is a mac laptop for about the same price better? (of course for this price it'd be a macbook.)

Thanks
Click to expand...

How is it better? Well, it has more out of the box features that is for sure, but really you need to qualify what you desire and need as a user. Every client I have ever had be it windows, or Mac have always asked me which is better? Well, a lot of that depends on the user. I find OS X more streamlined and am way more productive on it as a user. I can have 15 windows open, multiple terminals, ssh connections, remote desktops, etc and I can just pound through some work.

No one can make decisions for you, and I am not going to tell you which one to get for yourself personally. I am going to tell you that although Vista is pretty much a rip off and doesn't offer too much benefits it has gotten better since it's release. however, you will probably most likely have to upgrade to Vista ultimate or Business. Most Universities run domain level networks and if you wanted to log in and say map home directories you will need to have an OS that supports that. Since MS featured limited their OSes, only Business and Ultimate allow for domain level network connections.

Also, Apple gives an educational discount. So a MBP would run you around $1700 to $1800 most likely.
 
J

Jhow

New Member
I checked and a macbook pro is about $1800 with the most inexpensive config. with educationm discount. Thanks for the info, I guess I have to get one with business or ultimate and that does even the playing field out because they definitely jack up the price. I'm going to keep my options open either way but I'm still open minded.
 
B

Burn_all

New Member
i dont know about on a mac but on a normal laptop its quite easy to upgrade ram, a shop will probly charge u like 40 bucks least thats what i would charge.
 
tlarkin

tlarkin

VIP Member
To access RAM and HD in a macbook pro is fairly easy. Remove battery, remove one panel you have access. In the past Macs were very hard to work on compared to PCs. I was the only tech for a long time that would touch ibooks because they had like 75 screws in them or something retarded.

They have actually gotten better.
 
M

mangofresh

New Member
so to upgrade the ram from 2 to 4 which ram would be best compatiable? And also does apple use 2 1gb sticks or 1 2gb stick on their macbooks not pros.
 
tlarkin

tlarkin

VIP Member
mangofresh said:
so to upgrade the ram from 2 to 4 which ram would be best compatiable? And also does apple use 2 1gb sticks or 1 2gb stick on their macbooks not pros.
Click to expand...

Hmm, not sure, mine came with 1 1xgig stick since I have the last generation. I would have to say that it could be either.
 
cohen

cohen

New Member
The macs are a lot easier to upgrade now, then they use to be and it is also cheap to upgrade the RAM and it will make a huge difference
 
G25r8cer

G25r8cer

Active Member
^^^ I am assuming they use 2 1gb sticks but, I dont know for sure. The ram they come with is prob slow anyway so, go out and get 2 2gb sticks or just 2 new 1gb sticks.
 
cohen

cohen

New Member
Depending on the budget i must say you would have to go for a pro because they are a lot better with the OS, i could tell the different when i had to something on a friends macbook, also the macbook pro keyboard lights up and does some other cool things as well.
 
J

Jhow

New Member
I've been doing a lot of research both here and all over the web and I'm really considering getting a macbook pro with my student discount. I'd also get the ipod and sell it to offset the price. Anyone know how long that promo goes on for?
 
J

Jhow

New Member
Kill Bill said:
Also I recommend getting the 2.5GHz Config rather than the old 2.4GHz config.
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How much better is it because that's a huge price difference of about $500. It's got a little bit better processor and better graphics but what other features would I be missing out on if I buy the 2.4ghz model?
 
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