Laptop or Mac

Deleted User wrote: »

Without any backup whatsoever, I disagree with the battery claim.. It's not coincidence that every Dell my friends have doesn't work plugged out for more than 5 minutes

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1Y1-97175926.html

Same lithium ion batteries made in the same factory's as every other laptop manufacturer, subject to the same quality control, same defects and the same limited shelf life. The laptops use the same hardware and the same power draw roughly. There is nothing unique about a MAC any more.

Also if I'm not mistaken on their new laptops you can't even change the battery without voiding the warranty which won't cover the battery.

Deleted User wrote: »

And I've never used a Windows that can be used 5 seconds after opening the screen.

From standby I have. I haven't seen a MAC boot in 5 seconds without it coming from a S2 state or it using a SSD drive.

Deleted User wrote: »

Maybe everyone I know in college has crap laptops?

I'll take your everybody I know in college and trade you maintenance of 2,200 active laptops from three different manufacturers.


I also get 6 hours of battery life on my current dell, that's without the extended battery and second optional battery fitted into the CD drive. Not something I have seen available in a MAC.

Overheal wrote: »

I also found this the other day, interesting article.

Stockholm Syndrome and You

But that's all of Apples marketing strategy, people have to justify paying so much for a product where a similar product could easily suffice at a cheaper price. Apple users will always justify their operating system when in reality

People like to go with "what's in", and don't know much about computer specs and think macs have no viruses/spyware.
PC=Variety of specs, options, quality, prices, vendors, support
Mac=One vendor, limited options, still more expensive. Look below for more information..

Today, Macs use a subset of PC hardware. Why spend extra to get the same CPU chips, graphics cards and OS X isn't as secure as you think..

Don't believe the lies that Macs are better than PCs at graphics/animation.. Dreamworks Animation http://www.dreamworksanimation.com/ under studio click on Technology of Animation, an independent film maker I know uses PCs, a graphic artist I used to know uses PCs also.

A number of PCs can also run OS X (Mac OS) http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=os+… as well just that Apple makes it illegal in order to get Market share.. The reason why Mac can run native Windows is because it is using a subset of PC hardware,

If you decide to buy a Mac for running Windows, you will still have to get the same virus/spyware protection, and run into the same issues as a regular PC.


Now is a Mac worth buying for OS X?

I say: NO... for the following reasons...

QUALITY/PROBLEMS
Contrary to belief, Macs are not better quality. Apple also has been changing suppliers to try to "lower the price" and thus lowering quality. Even with the lower prices, Macs still cost more, they spend a higher percent of budget trying to make it look pretty, and marketing.

Sample of problems: Deleting your Data (Snow Leopard), Overheating Macbooks, OS X- not responding to keyboard, some units with 16bit screens, etc. Apple statistics are misleading since Mac users with problem machines are more likely to go out and buy a new computer than PC users. Apple is lowering prices which means you can expect lower quality than in the past. Apple had switched the manufacturers producing parts. OS X also has problems slowing down.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=5006
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-100202…
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/08/01/apples-qu…
http://www.appledefects.com/
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-op…
http://cybernetnews.com/wp-content/uploa…

Repairs are more expensive than PCs since the IMac, Mac Mini are compact units, and Apple charges a premium for their services. Some repairs can be done by another repair service but the compact design of the computer causes problems.
With an IMac, if the problem is with the monitor, the whole computer would have to be brought in.
IMac and Mac mini lack expansion.

VIRUSES
Mac OS X has viruses (and significantly on the rise), a friend of mine has a virused Mac. As more users use Macs, more viruses will come out for it. Especially when users think "they are safe".
http://infosecurity.us/?p=4005
http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives…
http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.php/ar…

SECURITY
Mac OS X was hacked in 2006 less than 30 minutes, and within 2 minutes in a contest in 2008, and within 10 seconds in 2009. In 2008, Linux and Vista were not hacked until another day when restrictions were lowered. Vista was next, and then Linux. In 2009 Windows 7 fell shortly after the Mac but Linux was unscathed.

Macs are standardized with Cameras, if your Mac gets hacked, the hacker can turn on your camera with more ease.
Please Note: All OS's have vulnerabilities.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/so…
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/2…
http://www.infoworld.com/article/09/03/1…
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft…

PRICE
A similar equipped PC is much cheaper to purchase than Mac. Lets use Dell (but you can compare with another PC Brand if you like)

**(LAPTOP)
Dell Inspiron Laptop Starting Price:€500
Ending Price: €500
15" Screen
CPU: 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo [5% slower]
Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD [Not as good/fine for general use[
Memory: 3GB DDR2 SDRAM [75% of ram)
Hard Drive: 320GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm (same)


Cybperpower Notebook Xplorer X5-2900 Starting Price: €755
Ending Price After upgrades (not including 5% rebate):€ 860
15" Screen
CPU: (upgrade to) 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (+€100) [FASTER]
Graphics: Nvidia GFORCE 9600-GT 512MB [MUCH FASTER/BETTER CARD]
Memory: 4GB DDR2 SDRAM [MORE MEMORY]
Hard Drive: (upgrade to) 320GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm (+€5) [LARGER HARD DRIVE]


Macbook Starting laptop Price: €1000
Ending Price After Upgrades: €1200
13" Screen (SMALLER)
CPU: 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (SLOWER)
Graphics: Nvidia GFORCE 9400 256MB
Memory: (upgrade to) 4GB DDR2 SDRAM (SAME)
Hard Drive (upgrade to) 320B Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm (SAME)
http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC24…


**(DESKTOP)

PLEASE NOTE: I compare Apple Mac's vs Dells best deal. If you really want an all-in one the Dell all-in-one has more ram, wireless keyboard and mouse and equivalent to €400 for free making the Imac still more expensive when you matching specs. Personally I don't think the All-in-Ones are a good choice, and consider them overpriced, lack expandability and repairs both more expensive and require the entire computer.

PS: Apple knows that they need to make Macintosh look different than PC so all Macs except the Mac Pro will not have a tower option. Apple's low end lacks expandability but it makes the Mac "look different", if Mac had a tower for low-end, more people would realize the similarities between the two.

Dell: (€700)
CPU: 2.33 GHZ Dell Inspiron QUAD (4 Processor) CORE
SCREEN: 20inch Screen
MEMORY: 4GB Ram
HARD DRIVE: 500 GB hard Drive
OPTICAL DRIVE: 16x DVD/CD Read/Writer
GRAPHICS: ATI Radeon HD 512MB
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/c…

The Mac Mini since it has no monitor, keyboard, mouse, very skimpy on options and setup and is not the best deal... The IMac is better price than the Mac Mini.

IMac (€1300)
CPU: 2.4 GHZ DUAL (2 Processor) CORE (SLOWER CPU)
SCREEN: 20inch Screen
MEMORY: (upgrade to) 4GB Ram (SAME)
HARD DRIVE: (upgrade to ) 320 GB hard Drive (LESS HARD DRIVE)
OPTICAL DRIVE: 8x DVD Reader/Writer (1/2 speed)
GRAPHICS: Nvidia Geforce 9400M (APPROX SAME BUT LESS MEMORY GAPHICS)
http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB41…

ADVANTAGES WINDOWS :
Aprox 90% of the market is Windows and most PCs have windows already pre-installed.
1) Some websites require Internet Explorer, to run IE on Mac you really get ies4osx which is the Windows version of IE running really buggy and illegal if you don't have a legitimate copy of Windows.
2) Supports more devices (printers and other things you hook into the computer).
3) More business software/games
4) Want the dock on OS X (Mac)? google/yahoo rocketdock, objectdoc.
5) Used by businesses.

ADVANTAGES LINUX :
1) FREE (most versions are)
2) Install software by either 1) Synaptic Package Manager, 2) Add/Remove 3) Opening a .deb or .rpm file (depending on distribution)
2) Like the Mac OS X effects? go yahoo/google COMPIZ FUSION which can do any cool effect a Mac can do and many ore....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4Fbk52Mk…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3gkX9HDf… (there is no flickering when you use it like on the video, not sure why the person has the flicker)
3) Mac OS X Doc? google/yahoo Avant Window Navigator.Cairo Dock, http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3rf5q_…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0hzi22g2…
4) It is FASTER/MORE SECURE to surf on the internet
5) Some Windows programs work with Wnehq/Crossover (also avail on Mac, but why pay €€€)

Instructions how to download, burn and boot http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-v…
Dual Boot Instructions http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_windo…

Equivalents to ILife
http://www.jakeludington.com/ask_jake/20…
http://www.xsellize.com/showthread.php?t…

FREE Windows Stuff
http://www.comodo.com/products/free_prod…
http://www.iobit.com/
http://www.ccleaner.com/
ANTI-VIRUS
Avira Antivir (FREE) for 2009 personal edition is free (there is a paid version) the free version was rated the best by consumer reports 2009.
http://www.free-av.com/ Avast (Free- Click under Free Software and download Avast Home Edition) http://www.avast.com/

ANTI-MALWARE
Windows Defender (FREE)
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/product…
Malware Bytes (FREE) Limitation - No Realtime protection on free version.
http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-An…
Super Anti-Spyware (FREE)
http://download.cnet.com/SuperAntiSpywar…

LINUX INFO:
http://distrowatch.com/
http://polishlinux.org/
http://www.desktoplinux.com/
http://polishlinux.org/
http://www.ubuntu.com/
Source(s):

http://www.kubuntu.org/
http://www.freespire.org/
http://www.pclinuxos.com/
http://xwinman.org/gnome.php
http://xwinman.org/kde.php
http://www.linuxalt.com/
http://screencasts.ubuntu.com/
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Switch…
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Switch…
http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/OpenPr…

Bob_Harris wrote: »

Fully qualified thank you very much.

Driving instructor?