Two Laptops (Mac or PC)

[imaginaryD]

I'm going to University next year, and I have a dilema facing two computers; a Macbook Pro or Asus U30JC-A1, here are the specs:

1) Asus U30JC-A1

- Intel® Core™ i3 Processor 350M 2.26 GHz
- NVIDIA® GeForce® G 310M, with 512MB & Intel GMA HD (Support NVIDIA Optimus Technology) VRAM
- 320GB HDD
- 4GB Ram

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX28876(ME).aspx


2) Macbook Pro

- Intel® Core 2 Duo Processor 2.4 GHz
- NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics
- 250GB HDD
- 4GB Ram

http://store.apple.com/ca/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro?mco=OTY2ODExMA

I don't plan on doing any gaming of any kind, schoolwork mostly...another dilema, iWork vs Microsoft Office? From the advice I got, I heard iWork is a lot more simple to use, Microsoft Office was put as "too clumped together"

 

[Metallica17]

If your using it for just school, save your money and don't get the mac. They aren't good anyways. The laptop you give has everything better about it over the mac, and the mac is still more expensive. Just go with the Asus.

 

[FuryRosewood]

some of the macs have had build quality issues due to nvidia lying about gpu issues...and continuing to sell them... however i dont think there are any issues with the core based MBPs... if your not planning on gaming, honestly you could probably cheap out on a laptop from anyone, i still will stress warranties, warranties warranties...

laptops are disposable to me, if they break your pretty much done, so get something that will cover you in event of stupid happening...cus trust me...with a laptop, stupid WILL happen

 

[DMGrier]

I would stick with a PC. If your going to college you might want to think about getting something with a good battery, probably like a 12 cell. Both Toshiba and Hp offer computer's with them. MS office is easy to use, I wasn't very good at it but I use it for work and I picked it up pretty quick. I use MS power point, word and excel. I would even go try bestbuy, they have good deals, I bought my laptop for 999$ about 4 months ago there (the one in sig) and for the price it is still better then the macbook other then graphics but I dont do a lot of gaming. Plus even though I bought it at bestbuy it came with a 2 year manufature warrenty from Dell. It's bestbuy blue tag computers.

I will recommend my laptop for 939.99, same as the one listed in my signature with 2 year warrenty from Dell. It has been a great computer and I am in the Navy so it spends a lot of time being moved around.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+...cino/9718931.p?id=1218158732672&skuId=9718931

Here is a HP for 659.99$, not as nice as the Dell but does have blue ray.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pa...lack/9700814.p?id=1218152462714&skuId=9700814

This Toshiba is nice 784.99$, 12 cell battery but the laptop is kinda big.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba...lack/9705212.p?id=1218154377590&skuId=9705212

 

[jjsevdt]

don't get the mac. They aren't good anyways. The laptop you give has everything better about it over the mac, and the mac is still more expensive.

I'm not really sure what you're basing this on? I'm sure you've had years of experience to which you base you're claim [Said in sarcastic tone while noting you're only 16]

Macs are a bit more expensive if you look at raw computing power, but that's not what they sell. They're selling you a product that's going to last for years on end. They're selling you the ability to take you're laptop to any Apple Store and not have to ship it in the mail and get lost in the shuffle. The battery life on the Macs is excellent. They actually get close to what they claim. If you get a 12cell battery it's usually bigger and heavier. Try to find a laptop that delivers the usability and power of a Mac in the same size. It won't happen. I searched for a month before purchasing. Size and weight were big considerations due to traveling on a deployment.

As one person pointed out his laptops are disposible, but Macs actually have a resell value and you can usually get $1000 off a used MBP.

Windows 7 is a great operating system. I love it. I usually keep it on my MBP as well. There's a lot of things that Microsoft has derived from OS X.

Am I being biased because I own a Mac? You may think so, but I'm just trying to point out the benifits and hate when people flat out say Macs suck without substantiating their claim.

 

[imaginaryD]

I was also looking for something with a pretty decent battery life, the Macbook gets about 10 while the Asus gets about 12, so roughly the same

As far as price is concerned, these will be about the same, the Asus is $959.99 + $159.99 (Student version of Microsoft Office) so that would end up being $1120.00
The macbook on the other hand would be (including iWork) $1250.00 (Since I`m going to university apple has this promotion on where I get about 20% off and get a free iPod Touch)
SO...now that price really isn't really a huge deal, I would like opinions on durability, performance and longevity

Thank you for making other recommendations, but I`m going to have to stick with these two products, in my opinion HPs and Dells vary in quality...Asus is fairly consistent (in my opinion) when it comes to build quality, etc. But PLEASE do not start a discussion about that, I just said that to clarify that I`m making a decision between these two

Thanks in advance!

 

[Cameldude]

well ,maybe 10 hours ,12 hours, while you are making your self coffee, and not doing anything else with the computer other than just staring at it.
ahm, also student office is, where did you get that number out, the hat or what. look here http://www.microsoft.com/student/office/en-us/default.aspx, full version of office 79,99.
so here is my opinion. if you want something shiny, and are not going to play any games that are interesting, (although steam started offering their (valve) games on macs now) and will use it for studying then i would suggest the Mac, you don't need the performace, durability i think depends on where made, not by who. I think macs would be perfect for you. i agree with you on the note of quality of dells, perhaps not so of HP. my friend has the mac, and a) she managed to break the disc space, somehow.. (D ithink she steped on it accidently) but i think unless it is a IBM laptop you would not get a laptop which could withstand standing on it, b) just to ask do what course will you be doing, will you need the performance of the computer, compatability of software usable in your course, all needs to be considered. i dunno, but you could go for a bit bigger one, you will get more for your money, look here http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX29130(ME).aspx, i5, 500 gb, Blu ray. for prety much the same price. ok i know you are looking for long life, you don;t have to buy sony, but buy a bigger screen size laptop for same money, ok if you like asus then go for this one http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX27208(ME).aspx.

Ok sorry i think i dragged on a little there. Ok my final thoughts, if as i said you are not going to be using it for anything other than office/iwork and internet than go for mac, anything else go for the asus, there good enough for you.

 

[imaginaryD]

yes I do realize the 10 and 12 hour battery lives are when the computer is doing minimal tasks on minimal brightness (something along those lines), I just would like something I could bring to school on a single charge, and use the whole day without having to worry about it dying
this is where I got the price for Office, sorry but my original price was definitely off http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=198d9d77f2a0e5b4855bd42827578453en02

Thank you for your suggestions for computers from MemoryExpress, I will definitely take them into consideration, I`m open to buying Vaio. I would prefer something under 16 inches for the simple fact of portability, so I guess really I'm going for value, battery life, and portability (and I know prior to your mention that Steam is available for mac, I was also thinking about that too)
also...what`s you opinion on the whole i3, i5 processor in the Vaio/Asus vs the Core 2 Duo processor in the Mac? I do realize the i3 and i5 are faster processors, but how significant of a difference do they make?

 

[iGeekOFComedy]

Steam is avaliable for mac and their trying to transition all of their titles over. Plus if your in college theres a chance you will have a digital camera. iPhoto kicks the windows counterpart so far. And if you have a girlfriend/Boyfriend depending on sex theres a faces features where it will look through all of the photos with faces and you can view a gallery of photos a specific person is in. Plus if your camera is geo tag enabled. Well theres places so you can zoom in on paris and if you taken any photos there, it will show in a selection. Most people do fine with Core 2 Duo, Sure it's an older technology but the CEO decided either i3 + Integrated HD or Core 2 Duo + Good graphics. Plus the 10 hour battery is supposedly nearly true. A blogger named Veronica Belmont tweeted she used her MacBook Pro at a coffee shop for 5 hours and there was still battery left and she hadn't fully charged it the night before. 1080p plays fine for me on youtube so..


@cameldude

Ok sorry i think i dragged on a little there. Ok my final thoughts, if as i said you are not going to be using it for anything other than office/iwork and internet than go for mac, anything else go for the asus, there good enough for you.

[/QUOTE] Why would the Asus be needed because the 320M is perfectly capable for some games. It's the most advanced integrated graphics chip platform out there. Plus if he wants to do video editing the asus should be out of the picture along with other PCs because nothing has the ease of use as Final Cut Express if he wants to go that Pro. But iMovie 09 should be fine.

 

[imaginaryD]

for the record I most likely will not be doing very much video editing, maybe the odd guitar video for youtube, but that's about it, nothing hardcore

 

[bkribbs]

If you have the money, I would go mac, as I really like macs, and have a good experience with them. If you don't, I would stick with the Asus. Just my opinion.

 

[PabloTeK]

If your using it for just school, save your money and don't get the mac. They aren't good anyways. The laptop you give has everything better about it over the mac, and the mac is still more expensive. Just go with the Asus.

Please don't post misinformation KTHX.

The Mac is a better day to day machine because unlike the Asus it's been designed with professional use in mind, I use mine most days for a few hours and it's worked for over a year with 0 battery degredation. My HP on the other hand has been used on and off for 2 years and now has a battery life of... 5 minutes. You can install Windows if you REALLY want to on a Mac (People seem to thinks Macs and PC's are mutually exclusive) but all the software most people need is on OSX.

On the iWork issue, I prefer iWork myself to Office for Mac and the whole set of MS applications which seem to be made of fail and old Italian car parts.

 

[Drenlin]

The Asus is going to have higher quality internals, and probably a tougher shell as well, knowing Asus. Also has a better CPU. Also uses windows, which will be more convenient for a college student, IMO...simply because most other people use it too. Software compatibility and all that. Has 1-year of accident protection, the usefulness of which is obvious. "You break it, we'll fix it for free...."

The mac will have better battery life, a more powerful GPU, lots of smaller features, and Apple's customer support. (Not that Asus's is bad...far from it. But, Apple's is really awesome.) Uses OS/X, which is easier to maintain, better on the battery, and doesn't degrade as fast as Windows if not properly maintenanced.

 

[PabloTeK]

The Asus is going to have higher quality internals, and probably a tougher shell as well, knowing Asus. Also has a better CPU. Also uses windows, which will be more convenient for a college student, IMO...simply because most other people use it too. Software compatibility and all that. Has 1-year of accident protection, the usefulness of which is obvious. "You break it, we'll fix it for free...."

The mac will have better battery life, a more powerful GPU, lots of smaller features, and Apple's customer support. (Not that Asus's is bad...far from it. But, Apple's is really awesome.) Uses OS/X, which is easier to maintain, better on the battery, and doesn't degrade as fast as Windows if not properly maintenanced.

Actually the Mac is an aluminium unibody which seems in my experience to be better than the old body-on-frame methods most laptops use. The Apple internals are also off the shelf parts (taking apart my external drive which houses my old MBP HDD I can note it's a Hitachi drive) apart from the logic board.

I had a similar choice. I made it and I've never ever looked back.




Though I do wish Apple would make their updates smaller.

 

[Drenlin]

^ The Asus has an aluminum frame as well, and knowing Asus, the lid is probably much more solid than the Apple's, which is rather flimsy.

 

[PabloTeK]

^ The Asus has an aluminum frame as well, and knowing Asus, the lid is probably much more solid than the Apple's, which is rather flimsy.

I dunno I use my laptop a lot and the lid feels solid enough, more solid than the HP though but then again I suppose melted cheese is more solid than that POS...

 

[Drenlin]

Haha, true that. As far as corner to corner flex goes they're fairly solid, but push down near the Apple logo...every one I've used so far has had a lot of flex there.


Also, nobody's mentioned the screens yet...oops. Apples use IPS screens, the main advantage of which, at this point, is the ability to cram a lot of resolution into a small space. They also have great contrast and color reproduction...though both of these laptops will be well above average in that respect. The apple will probably be better though.

 

[mihir]

I'm not really sure what you're basing this on? I'm sure you've had years of experience to which you base you're claim [Said in sarcastic tone while noting you're only 16]

Macs are a bit more expensive if you look at raw computing power, but that's not what they sell. They're selling you a product that's going to last for years on end. They're selling you the ability to take you're laptop to any Apple Store and not have to ship it in the mail and get lost in the shuffle. The battery life on the Macs is excellent. They actually get close to what they claim. If you get a 12cell battery it's usually bigger and heavier. Try to find a laptop that delivers the usability and power of a Mac in the same size. It won't happen. I searched for a month before purchasing. Size and weight were big considerations due to traveling on a deployment.

As one person pointed out his laptops are disposible, but Macs actually have a resell value and you can usually get $1000 off a used MBP.

Windows 7 is a great operating system. I love it. I usually keep it on my MBP as well. There's a lot of things that Microsoft has derived from OS X.

Am I being biased because I own a Mac? You may think so, but I'm just trying to point out the benifits and hate when people flat out say Macs suck without substantiating their claim.

+1
Macs are always considered expensive but they are worth each and every penny.
What apple does the best is design the interface of its devices and I find the mac os x really awesome i use windows 7 only because of compatibility I love using the mac OS x much more fun you just need to get used to it.

Apple keeps it functional and simple in usablity
the looks of the macs are also killer

 

[Cameldude]

i think you might have seen my biased view away from the macs and towards the Windows based pc, just for the simple fact that Mac, rip you off massively. appologies but it is just i am a bit biased, i mean look at my laptop below, i bought that for 1100 dollars, its got full HD screen, i5, 4 gb DDR3, nice sleek design, portable. Blu ray player. tell me how much a mac with all these would cost, 1500$, 2000$... My computer would probably run those programs you mention (obviously the Final cut would not work since it is only for mac, but i mean in general for those programs available for both, or if that program was available for windows) much smoother and faster than the mac that was suggested. but i try not to say that windows based pcs are better than macs, macs are usefull for other things too..., you just have to see that for the same price you can get a kick ass Windows PC, that would run all your mac programs much better.
But getting back to the subject, i guess you are right imaginaryD, and as i said before i think the mac would fit you well.
and in the answer to your question the i5 has 4 processors (although recently they started to have 2, as explained in the wikipedia link), where i3 and core 2 duo have 2, the i3 processor is a faster processor. you can sort of see the difference here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core, read down you will get, the thing to look out here is the cache, its L3, not L2 and more of it. in my opinion i really saw the difference between core 2 duo (i had core 2 duo 2.4) and the i5, which i think is not a surprise. so if money is not an issue get the i5 processor with the mac. just to add even if you go for the dual core, try and get the one with an SSD, will definately be better.
PS: iGeekOFComedy i agree if you want to use the Final Cut Express program you would need a mac (lol, since it is only for mac) but i did not say which asus to take. Me as a windows boy, if choice was between mac and equally prices Windows PC, it would have to be the windows PC, since it would kick mac bottom with specs. and there are other good programs to use for video editing.

 

[Cameldude]

+1
Apple keeps it functional and simple in usablity
the looks of the macs are also killer

Exactly what they want you to think, D