Medical school laptop

[Drenlin]

Where are you getting these "Windows utilizes the GPU," better concepts from?

Windows does tend to perform better 3D apps and games. It has native support of GPU-accelerated trans-coding and DX11.

You're forgetting a lot of things. The Asus is made of plastic, while the Macbook is unibody polycarbonate. (or unibody aluminum in the Macbook Pro) Much stronger, and just as light. The Macbook has a light senstive, backlit keyboard. The Macbook has much larger Multitouch Pad. I hate laptops that waste space with useless media keys, and then turn around with a tiny touchpad.

Those reasons, plus all of the reasons mentioned, 7 Hours battery, IPS LED screen, more streamlined OS, etc, make the Macbook far better value than the Asus.

Look, there's no doubting that the macbook uses higher quality components, but I just don't see any added functionality here. TS made it pretty clear that he didn't need anything fancy, which is exactly what the macbook is. I'm assuming that if he's trying to keep costs down, then he's a typical financially-restricted college student, which means the extra $250 will go a long way. I could eat for a little over three months on that.


Quite honestly, for what the dude's doing, I think this might actually be a better option than both of them:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220659

It's got a dual core Atom and an ION GPU, which means it's quite potent, but efficient as well. 12" is fine for reading. My laptop is a 12", and it's not hard to view at all. This has better resolution, so it should be fine.

edit: in stock here- http://www.directron.com/1201npu17bk.html?gsear=1

 

[Pikachuwee]

The mac has everything you would ever need

I heard the same thing when Apple released the first iMac, LOL.

 

[Springy182]

The whole reason they sell you on specs is to keep the market going, and keep in mind you always need to upgrade. When in reality if they improved existing technology they could make it faster and more efficient for a lot longer period of time. However, the business model is to make money, not improve older products and technology.

Sorry to interject;

Apple is also guilty of "selling you on specs to keep the market going" look at the varying revisions of the iPhone, every single year they've come up with a new bell or whistle to sell a new version, same with the iPod Touch. And iPods as a whole are always getting new models and being updated. Not to mention their lineup of computers is constantly changing, just like Dell, HP, Acer and the rest. And also, look at their PPC lineup, can you run Snow Leopard on a PPC Mac? No. Whereas you can run Vista/Win7 on a computer dated 2004, well before either were released.

If anything I'd say Apple takes effort to make their equipment outdated faster than PCs, because they're a closed market.

Dont get me started on the App Store and censorship.

 

[tlarkin]

Windows does tend to perform better 3D apps and games. It has native support of GPU-accelerated trans-coding and DX11.

OS X uses Open GL, which can do all of that, and for anything directly relating to the OS, it has Core Animation which is a set of proprietary APIs. Open GL is faster than almost anything out there. If you need a demonstration just go to youtube and watch some Beryl and Compiz videos. Watch how they out perform Windows in every aspect of on the fly desktop rendering using just Open GL.

 

[Drenlin]

This test was done with both OS's on the same macbook, with Win7 using Boot Camp.

And like you already said, 7 is usually faster in games. And it's not like windows can't use OpenGL as well...

Either way though, they're both fairly close.

 

[knero]

I have a dell 1557, I love it, I was going to buy a macbook pro. The thing about macbooks are they're so sleek besides the look I could careless about the macbook. So in my opinion, if you're looking to buy the cleanest looking laptop for med school, buy a macbook hands down. But if you want all around performance, gaming, microsoft word, decoding, multimedia any pc with the i7 720QM processor would be more than enough for all around versatility and at a cheaper price.

P.S. macbooks are very sturdy, you know they last a long time. But I think any laptop will last you a while as long as you take care of it.

 

[Drenlin]

P.S. macbooks are very sturdy, you know they last a long time. But I think any laptop will last you a while as long as you take care of it.

Exactly

Although, I've had a bad experience with mine. Dell made a boo-boo with the revised heat sink...it doesn't touch the GPU. I think they meant to put a heat pad there, but it's got a big gob of thermal compound instead. The mobo fried. Other than that, though, it's an awesome design. They crammed a Centrino chipset into a 12.1" frame, and the chassis itself is made out of some sort of magnesium alloy. 5-6 hours of battery life on a 3 year old system that can still handle mid-level games. It even has WWAN support.

edit: Where the heck is TS?

 

[Pikachuwee]

DirectX 10/11 a is much more faster API than OpenGL in games. It's not up to debate since most games are coded to run on DirectX, not OpenGL.

 

[PabloTeK]

DirectX 10/11 a is much more faster API than OpenGL in games. It's not up to debate since most games are coded to run on DirectX, not OpenGL.

A game that is coded is run only under one set of API's isn't a well-coded game. Source games, WoW, The Sims, C&C3 & the (later) AoE series all can run quite happily on OSX which doesn't have native support for DXwhatever and they are usually very well-coded games. If a programmer can't make a piece of software work the same on two competing API's then their over-reliance on the functions of that API are worrying...

Besides, this OP hasn't mentioned them wanting to play games so why have you fallen back on an argument that holds less relevance than a dragster at a speeding convention?

 

[Pikachuwee]

Besides, this OP hasn't mentioned them wanting to play games so why have you fallen back on an argument that holds less relevance than a dragster at a speeding convention?

I was just adding to Drenlin's argument, it was not a reply aimed at the OP.

A game that is coded is run only under one set of API's isn't a well-coded game. Source games, WoW, The Sims, C&C3 & the (later) AoE series all can run quite happily on OSX which doesn't have native support for DXwhatever and they are usually very well-coded games. If a programmer can't make a piece of software work the same on two competing API's then their over-reliance on the functions of that API are worrying...

Why wouldn't it be a well coded game just because it runs better on DirectX? You can't say a game is badly coded by justifying with the silly idea of not being programmed for both APIs.

 

[diduknowthat]

If you have the money go with the macbook/pro. They are damn sexy machines and I wish I had one right now. Who cares whether one is .1 ghz faster and has an additional firewire port or whatever. All my friends have macbook pros and they are absolute top notch laptops. I would literally not trade one for any other laptop out there.

 

[knero]

If you have the money go with the macbook/pro. They are damn sexy machines and I wish I had one right now. Who cares whether one is .1 ghz faster and has an additional firewire port or whatever. All my friends have macbook pros and they are absolute top notch laptops. I would literally not trade one for any other laptop out there.

Lol, the ASUS is definitely not .1 GHZ faster. I hope that's sarcasm.. Anyway I agree they are just so sleek. But seriously when you're spending that much money I'd rather have performance and windows 7.... I don't know much about the mac OS nor do I feel the need to learn about it. This guy wants to become a doc, docs aren't using the mac os over windows..

 

[diduknowthat]

Lol, the ASUS is definitely not .1 GHZ faster. I hope that's sarcasm.. Anyway I agree they are just so sleek. But seriously when you're spending that much money I'd rather have performance and windows 7.... I don't know much about the mac OS nor do I feel the need to learn about it. This guy wants to become a doc, docs aren't using the mac os over windows..

Yeah I didn't actually look at the specifications of the Asus. But it's really not that hard to pick up a new OS, I've had to learn it in the past few months since literally everyone here at college is running a Macbook pro. And I guess sleekness vs performance is a personal thing, but IMO when you get up there in the 2.xx ghz with 4GB of ram, it doesn't really matter...unless you're either gaming or rendering some insane 3D stuff. Plus, he can always run bootcamp and win7 if he wants on the laptop.

 

[knero]

but IMO when you get up there in the 2.xx ghz with 4GB of ram, it doesn't really matter...unless you're either gaming or rendering some insane 3D stuff. Plus, he can always run bootcamp and win7 if he wants on the laptop.

Can't argue with you there. Hey if he has the money to get a nice macbook pro and doesn't mind the software I wouldn't knock him. I would also maybe think about waiting till July, because they might come out with i3, i5, or i7 macbook pros.

 

[tlarkin]

...This guy wants to become a doc, docs aren't using the mac os over windows..

Actually, you are totally wrong. One of the big industries that is looking at the iPad is the medical industry. This is because they can carry it around and input data for their jobs instead of carrying around clip boards. There are all sorts of medical apps coming out for it as well, like for example an app that views xrays with multi-touch support. Also, the inherent design of Unix is far more secure than Windows. With privacy laws, like HIPPA, you want a more secure OS to store any kind of medical data. HIPPA violations are not cheap, and the fines are huge.

http://www.imedicalapps.com/

Most hospitals run some sort of terminal services in the background, and a lot of them use Citrix.

Also, that benchmark you posted earlier I googled it and found it, and it is laughable. Since it is a cross platform benchmark made by a Windows developer.

Here goes a more well balanced look at overall performance, and they used flash encoding/decoding to bench Windows versus OS X and Windows 7 did come out on top, but barely. In every other aspect, multitasking, boot time, wake from sleep, audio and video rendering (which throws out your hardware argument) is faster in OS X. Now look at every feature update in Windows Vista and 7, and see that they are pretty much ripping off of OS X pretty hard core.

http://www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life/snow-leopard-vs-windows-7.aspx?page=11


Microsoft has lost touch with their user base, and are making sub par products. I hope their next release is better and it seems they are changing their file structure and under the hood and shifting in that direction it needs to go. Better products mean better competition which is a good thing. However, over the past 10 years MS has relied on their market share, and they are steadily losing it.

 

[Pikachuwee]

Actually, you are totally wrong. One of the big industries that is looking at the iPad is the medical industry. This is because they can carry it around and input data for their jobs instead of carrying around clip boards.

The iPad is a media device, why in the world would doctors use it over any netbook or laptop that can run a full-fledged OS? (not limited to Windows as they can run the Unix-like family of GNU/Linux OS's)

 

[tlarkin]

The iPad is a media device, why in the world would doctors use it over any netbook or laptop that can run a full-fledged OS? (not limited to Windows as they can run the Unix-like family of GNU/Linux OS's)

Developers are creating tons and tons of apps for it, and it acts like a clip board and is easy to use.

 

[Pikachuwee]

Developers are creating tons and tons of apps for it, and it acts like a clip board and is easy to use.

Sure thing, maybe they can listen to their music while researching for a cure for cancer without flash.

Oh wait, that's right, no multi-tasking.

 

[tlarkin]

Sure thing, maybe they can listen to their music while researching for a cure for cancer without flash.

Oh wait, that's right, no multi-tasking.

Flash is not relevant and HTML 5 may kill Flash all together. The fact it is light, very portable, and has a high quality screen means it would be ideal for the medical field. Try viewing high res medical pics, from blood samples, x-rays, etc on a crappy netbook, it will look like crap.

Now add in multi touch and you have a product that delivers and is intuitive. Don't take my word for it, just google search how many medical application developers are making product for the iPad.

 

[Springy182]

Sure thing, maybe they can listen to their music while researching for a cure for cancer without flash.

Oh wait, that's right, no multi-tasking.

Hate to say it, but you're comparing the iPad to a computer, but the proper comparison would be to a conventional clipboard, it does seem useful in that task.