is it time for a Macbook?

Blackpitts

hi guys,
i think i need a new laptop after some really bad experience with a HP pavillion, maybe there is no need to explain why.
Here there are the specs:
- powerful processor
- 17'' screen
- large HD (> 500 gb)
- window7 or another reliable OS
- good internal memory
- very good audio

I need this laptop to last (4 or 5 years), I mainly use it for browsing internet (90% of the time), watching movies, donwload music.
I'm not interested in games or video editing.

As you can see, i need more a media device than a tool for work, so from one side I think that a Toshiba or a Asus can do the job, but from the other side I wonder if it's time to do that extra mile and buy a solid reliable and fancy Macbook, whose latest reviews sound pretty good.
But is it really worth the money (about 2K euro) for what I do with a laptop? i feel like I'm just going to buy a fancy sporty car just for commuting to work...;)

any suggestion is really appreciated...especially those not concerning HP :mad::mad:

Dymo

If you have the money go for it, just realise your joining a community, bordering on a cult that you will have to defend with your life.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_L670-103_1044904.html

decent laptop with the specs that you mentioned. 1600 x 900 is not full HD but near as makes no difference really.

great deal on this one - i3 instead of i5 and smaller hd but great cashback deal

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_L670-14M_1040587.html

plonk

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Portege-R835-P56-13-3-Inch-Magnesium/dp/B004G8QOJS

and reviews here

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/toshiba-portege-r835-p56x/4505-3121_7-34449812.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody;1r

I own the previous model and couldnt be happier

PogMoThoin

Blackpitts wrote: »

As you can see, i need more a media device than a tool for work, so from one side I think that a Toshiba or a Asus can do the job, but from the other side I wonder if it's time to do that extra mile and buy a solid reliable and fancy Macbook, whose latest reviews sound pretty good.
But is it really worth the money (about 2K euro) for what I do with a laptop?

If you feel its good value to spend 2K on €650-700 worth of kit then go ahead and do it, to me its never good value

bastados

Macbook outlive the competition by at least twice as long...better quality hardware...and of course much better software...its a no brainer for me.

Long Time Reader

It's always time for a mac!!! Beat laptop ever

PogMoThoin

bastados wrote: »

Macbook outlive the competition by at least twice as long...better quality hardware...and of course much better software...its a no brainer for me.

Its a myth to think you're getting better hardware, its the same standard components in a shiny package.

bastados

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Its a myth to think you're getting better hardware, its the same standard components in a shiny package.

All my Macs lived way beyond any of my friends hardware.

PogMoThoin

bastados wrote: »

All my Macs lived way beyond any of my friends hardware.

They'd need to, you spent 3/4 times the money for an equivalent laptop. Components are the same, same Intel chip, same generic ram and intel graphics, same standard hard drive, nothing special underneath

bastados

PogMoThoin wrote: »

They'd need to, you spent 3/4 times the money for an equivalent laptop. Components are the same, same Intel chip, same generic ram and intel graphics, same standard hard drive, nothing special underneath

The equivalent was about same price when I bought this Mac actually..plus the biggy for me is software...no comparision there.

Feckfox

bastados wrote: »

The equivalent was about same price when I bought this Mac actually..plus the biggy for me is software...no comparision there.

Examples?

The OP is a general internet user. All she needs is chrome and something to watch videos on (which there are plenty of programs available).

bastados

Feckfox wrote: »

Examples?

The OP is a general internet user. All she needs is chrome and something to watch videos on (which there are plenty of programs available).

well i dont use anti viral software for one..no need

PogMoThoin

bastados wrote: »

The equivalent was about same price when I bought this Mac actually..plus the biggy for me is software...no comparision there.

Never, the equivalent Mac has never been the same price.

The basic Macbook with an outdated 4 year old Core 2 Duo, only 2GB ram and 250GB hard drive is a grand and its only got a 13 inch display :eek:
http://store.apple.com/ie/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook

stimpson

I have a 13" Unibody Mac book (now the 13" MBP) - about 2 1/2 years old now. I don't feel the need for an upgrade any time soon. 13" is a great size as it's small and light but still OK for media playback etc and I can hook it up to my TV when at home. I have my old copy of XP installed on Virtual Box for when I need obscure apps (like Windows only tools for my satellite box) and Open Office is great (and free!) for when I need to read/write doc/spreadsheet files. The missus is currently using it for her web design course and loves it.

And don't believe the hype about cost - I speced up a similar Sony Vaio when I bought it and there was less than €50 in it.

Alanstrainor

bastados wrote: »

Macbook outlive the competition by at least twice as long...better quality hardware...and of course much better software...its a no brainer for me.

I'm sorry but that is just a load of nonsense. Macbooks fail just as much as most other laptops. The parts are the same across the board.
I've had dell laptops last 6+ years without issue. Which cost half as much as a Mac at the time of purchase.
And as for anti-virus, I have MS security essentials (which is free) and I haven't gotten any viruses or malware to date.

OP, if you want a Mac, by all means go for it. But don't think that's it's a magic machine free of faults. And you have to consider that you re paying twice or more for the privilage of owning it.

stimpson

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I'm sorry but that is just a load of nonsense. Macbooks fail just as much as most other laptops. The parts are the same across the board.

While the Mac is built from commodity parts for the most part, case design, keyboard/mouse and display are not.

I've had dell laptops last 6+ years without issue. Which cost half as much as a Mac at the time of purchase.

Indeed, Macs used to be a lot more expensive. This is no longer the case

And as for anti-virus, I have MS security essentials (which is free) and I haven't gotten any viruses or malware to date.

Only 2 weeks ago I had to manually remove malware from a friends Windows 7 PC with security essentials installed.

OP, if you want a Mac, by all means go for it. But don't think that's it's a magic machine free of faults. And you have to consider that you re paying twice or more for the privilage of owning it.

You're paying more for the design (which is more than how it looks) and you're paying more for OSX. You aren't paying twice the price for a comparable machine.

DeepBlue

Blackpitts wrote: »

Here there are the specs:
- powerful processor
- 17'' screen
- large HD (> 500 gb)
- window7 or another reliable OS
- good internal memory
- very good audio

Blackpitts wrote: »

I need this laptop to last (4 or 5 years), I mainly use it for browsing internet (90% of the time), watching movies, donwload music.
I'm not interested in games or video editing.

Well it's your money and your choice but tbh if the requirements are as you laid out then you don't really need a powerful laptop. A fairly basic one will do that job just fine.
You'd probably save yourself a significant chunk of change by getting a relatively cheap laptop and putting a flavour of linux on it and it will do all that you need.

Paying €2k for a Macbook to cater for those basic requirements is completely out of proportion imo but it's your money.

bandit197

Blackpitts wrote: »

hi guys,
But is it really worth the money (about 2K euro) for what I do with a laptop? i feel like I'm just going to buy a fancy sporty car just for commuting to work...;)

Absolutely not. I'm guessing here because I don't have time to look but Id be confident that 7-800 eur will buy you a laptop that will go above and beyond what you need. Why would you spend three times more?

Edit: This is what I recommend. €639 + VAT & Shipping

Alanstrainor

stimpson wrote: »

While the Mac is built from commodity parts for the most part, case design, keyboard/mouse and display are not.

But again, you say it as if Macbooks have a superior design compared to all other options. I would disagree.

stimpson wrote: »

Indeed, Macs used to be a lot more expensive. This is no longer the case

Macs were expensive, and still are. These are the specs of the cheapest Macbooks on Apple's Irish store.

2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB DDR3 memory
250GB hard drive1
8x double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics
Built-in 7-hour battery2
Polycarbonate unibody enclosure

Yours for only €999...that's crazy money for those specs. And you're not even getting a lovely aluminium body with that.

stimpson wrote: »

Only 2 weeks ago I had to manually remove malware from a friends Windows 7 PC with security essentials installed.

If you try hard enough you will get a virus on your Mac too.

stimpson wrote: »

You're paying more for the design (which is more than how it looks) and you're paying more for OSX. You aren't paying twice the price for a comparable machine.

You are paying more for the design, which is completely subjective. The design of Macbooks doesn't mean they are the best. It something that gets thrown around a lot in these discussions, "Macs have better design", and yet they still suffer design flaws the same way other brands do.

The OPs requirements are as follows:

I need this laptop to last (4 or 5 years), I mainly use it for browsing internet (90% of the time), watching movies, donwload music.

Will a Mac do the above; of course. But will a Toshiba, or Lenovo or other brand for that matter, do it just as well? Yes. The main difference will be the price.

BizzyC

For what you want you can spend €400 each and buy 2 laptops over the same timeline....

stimpson

Alanstrainor wrote: »

But again, you say it as if Macbooks have a superior design compared to all other options. I would disagree.


Macs were expensive, and still are. These are the specs of the cheapest Macbooks on Apple's Irish store.

2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB DDR3 memory
250GB hard drive1
8x double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics
Built-in 7-hour battery2
Polycarbonate unibody enclosure

Yours for only €999...that's crazy money for those specs. And you're not even getting a lovely aluminium body with that.

I recommended the 1199 MBP which is unibody and higher spec.

If you try hard enough you will get a virus on your Mac too.

Really? I've been hearing that since I started using Macs about 15 years ago. I'm still waiting to see a real live Mac virus. How many hundred thousand Windows viruses are there?

You are paying more for the design, which is completely subjective. The design of Macbooks doesn't mean they are the best. It something that gets thrown around a lot in these discussions, "Macs have better design", and yet they still suffer design flaws the same way other brands do.

Look and feel is subjective (and for me it's worth paying for) but I'm talking about more than just how it looks. I'm talking about things like passive heat dissipation that keeps fan noise to a minimum. Multitouch support on the Magic Mouse. Keyboard ergonomics. UI design. I could go on.

Voodu Child

I tend to agree that they are very expensive for what you get.

Typical profit margin for Dell, HP, Acer, etc is in the 2-5% range. Apple's profit margin is something like 22%.

So all the extra money you pay isn't necessarily getting you a better product or better service.

Alanstrainor

stimpson wrote: »

I recommended the 1199 MBP which is unibody and higher spec.

Higher spec, higher price, and easily twice the price of a comparable normal laptop.

stimpson wrote: »

Really? I've been hearing that since I started using Macs about 15 years ago. I'm still waiting to see a real live Mac virus. How many hundred thousand Windows viruses are there?



Look and feel is subjective (and for me it's worth paying for) but I'm talking about more than just how it looks. I'm talking about things like passive heat dissipation that keeps fan noise to a minimum. Multitouch support on the Magic Mouse. Keyboard ergonomics. UI design. I could go on.

Windows has a far greater user base, with most businesses using Windows based environments, hence the reason why people go to the trouble of writing viruses for windows. But as i said, i haven't had a single virus. It's all about using a good browser (Chrome), not downloading dodgey software and files, and having a good antivirus.

Other makes of laptops dissipate heat well. Laptops have multitouch support. Other laptops have superior keyboards, and similar keyboards to the Macbook pro. UI design is personal preference. The Mac OS application dock is pants compared to Windows 7's task bar.

At the end of the day, all these things are small issues. And for a big price. 1200 on a Macbook to just browse and watch movies is insane money. Even if the laptop the OP buys doesn't have multi touch support or "passive heat dissipation", will it make any noticeable difference in the day to day life of the machine. No.

Macbook pro is a fine machine. Even if I don't like the OS or the UI (I had a Pro for a while!). I just hate the way people get sucked into buying this machine because they are told "It just works", which is a lie.

vincent coffey

Have to agree with Stimpson here, 4 years ago went to Mac and have not looked back. I am unfortuante to have to use a PC for work every day and the user experience does not compare to the Apple OS.

Also remeber total cost of ownership with regards to operating systems here. You buy you PC and then have spend extra on software and licenses for it when you want to video edit, photo edit (power user here), music creation etc.

Also Mac OS is unix based and slimmer than legacy based MS OS. Quicker to load, more responsive and a nicer user interface (which incidentally MS have only recently copped onto after the Vista disaster).

You could definatley buy 2 "dell" machines for the price of the Mac just like you could get 2 toyota Aygo's for the price of a VW Golf.

Oh, also 4 years, no spyware, no adware, no viruses, no kidding....

PogMoThoin

stimpson wrote: »

I recommended the 1199 MBP which is unibody and higher spec.

The Dell posted earlier has similar specs, 17 inch screen and is a little over half the price

bandit197 wrote: »

This is what I recommend. €639 + VAT & Shipping

Its madness to recommend a 1200 macbookpro to someone needing something just

for browsing internet (90% of the time), watching movies, donwload music.

Haelium

vincent coffey wrote: »

Have to agree with Stimpson here, 4 years ago went to Mac and have not looked back. I am unfortuante to have to use a PC for work every day and the user experience does not compare to the Apple OS.

Yes, on a PC you're able to customize your experience infinitely to suit you, something you cannot do on a Mac.

vincent coffey wrote: »

Also remeber total cost of ownership with regards to operating systems here. You buy you PC and then have spend extra on software and licenses for it when you want to video edit, photo edit (power user here), music creation etc.

...or you could use on of the million open source options that compare quite well to what you get on a Mac.

vincent coffey wrote: »

Also Mac OS is unix based and slimmer than legacy based MS OS. Quicker to load, more responsive and a nicer user interface (which incidentally MS have only recently copped onto after the Vista disaster).

And seeing as you would probably be getting Win7 and not Vista, this is not a problem. But if you really love Unix then you can install one of the many Linux OS', some of them(Linux Mint) are very user friendly.

vincent coffey wrote: »

You could definatley buy 2 "dell" machines for the price of the Mac just like you could get 2 toyota Aygo's for the price of a VW Golf.

Not a fair comparison, seeing as there is no real hardware advantage with a Mac.

vincent coffey wrote: »

Oh, also 4 years, no spyware, no adware, no viruses, no kidding....

I can say the exact same thing about my IBM thinkpad which I've had for several years due to using a secure browser(Firefox) and a bit of cop on.

stimpson

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Higher spec, higher price, and easily twice the price of a comparable normal laptop.

Good point. I just speced up a ThinkPad T410i to the €1200 MPB. I didn't go as far as adding Vista Ultimate. Comes in at 1100 (but has an i3 not an i5 like the MBP). As the man says above, you can get 2 Toyota Aygos for teh price of a Golf)

Windows has a far greater user base, with most businesses using Windows based environments, hence the reason why people go to the trouble of writing viruses for windows.

The reason for it doesn't matter. The fact of the matter is that there are, for all practical purposes, no Mac viruses.

Other makes of laptops dissipate heat well. Laptops have multitouch support. Other laptops have superior keyboards, and similar keyboards to the Macbook pro.

Not generally the cheaper ones though, eh?

UI design is personal preference. The Mac OS application dock is pants compared to Windows 7's task bar.

I use both on a daily basis. Win 7 task bar and weird task switching drive me demented. The dock is simple and unobtrusive.

Macbook pro is a fine machine. Even if I don't like the OS or the UI (I had a Pro for a while!). I just hate the way people get sucked into buying this machine because they are told "It just works", which is a lie.

So what exactly did you have trouble with then?

bandit197

The OP clearly stated that they required a 17 inch screen for watching movies. Start there with any speccing otherwise its misleading. The entry level 17inch macbook pro is €2,499 eur on the Irish apple store.

mahblah

stimpson wrote: »

Good point. I just speced up a ThinkPad T410i to the €1200 MPB. I didn't go as far as adding Vista Ultimate. Comes in at 1100 (but has an i3 not an i5 like the MBP). As the man says above, you can get 2 Toyota Aygos for teh price of a Golf)

Where are you pricing that from?
Here's a laptop with a better processor, dedicated graphics, and most importantly, its just over half the price of the equivalent MacBook Pro:
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Samsung_SF310_1010458.html

OP, this looks decent: http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_7741G_1005707.html
I've no experience with this laptop but looks good for the price.

Haelium

http://www.dell.com/ie/p/inspiron-17r/pd.aspx?c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn

That's what I would recommend. 17 inchs, reasonably good specs, customizable(Give it a bluray reader if you want) and starting at €550.

There is no reason to buy a macbook unless you're into graphic design/editing or that sort of stuff.

Feckfox

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I'm sorry but that is just a load of nonsense. Macbooks fail just as much as most other laptops. The parts are the same across the board.
I've had dell laptops last 6+ years without issue. Which cost half as much as a Mac at the time of purchase.
And as for anti-virus, I have MS security essentials (which is free) and I haven't gotten any viruses or malware to date.

OP, if you want a Mac, by all means go for it. But don't think that's it's a magic machine free of faults. And you have to consider that you re paying twice or more for the privilage of owning it.

+1 for MS security essentials. Great software. Whatever you do, don't install Norton! :eek:

One advantage of getting a mac is your computer doesn't come with any of the crappy software that Sony, HP, Dell etc always try push. You can always put Windows onto a mac laptop too and dual boot. Is the price increase worth the small advantages (imo) that a mac gives? No.

I dual boot with Ubuntu and Windows7. I like both. Windows7 has a great task bar, aeropeek is great, window docking is handy, lots and lots of software for it, plays games and is better for general browsing. I prefer Ubuntu for coding and its security features are implemented much better.

DeepBlue

vincent coffey wrote: »

Also remeber total cost of ownership with regards to operating systems here. You buy you PC and then have spend extra on software and licenses for it when you want to video edit, photo edit (power user here), music creation etc.

I must have missed the part where the OP said he/she wanted to do all these things.............

Blackpitts

ok guys, i should have known that the "Apple vs PC " discussions end usually into a religion war
I think it's impossible to say which one is better, everything depends on the usage I'm going to make of this machine...
as someone correctly said, I know a MacBook is insanely expensive but "You could definatley buy 2 Aygos for the price of a VW Golf too.
i've been stung by my HP "the piece of crap" pavillion, it costed me 1200 euro although HP were producing the best laptops at that time , so I need to decide if 2 Aygos are better than 1 Golf...

thanks a lot for you advice, I think a have a wide range of options to choose from now.

AlmightyCushion

Macs are nice machines. I quite like the design of the macbook pros, they're nice looking laptops. That's not saying windows based laptops are ugly, some of the newer HP models are nice looking too. The touchpad on the macbooks are great as well, better than any of the windows based laptops I've tried, there are some good touchpads on windows based laptops though. I don't think those things are worth the higher price though, nice as they are.

As for the OS, it's really a personal preference. I'm not a big fan of OSX. I think the windows taskbar is better than the dock. The menubar was good from a UI perspective for a time but not anymore.

Overheal

really bad experience with a HP pavillion, maybe there is no need to explain why.

Mostly attributable to nVidia, a hardware vendor for HP that supplied them with faulty parts and acted like gobshytes when they realized what had gone wrong. Since then HP and Dell have I believed removed virtually all of their ties with that vendor and now use AMD Radeon chipsets, while other brands like Toshiba and Acer have started leaning on nVidia products much less since the fiasco.

Not saying HP made the best of a bad situation but most of it wasn't their fault.

AlmightyCushion

Overheal wrote: »

Mostly attributable to nVidia, a hardware vendor for HP that supplied them with faulty parts and acted like gobshytes when they realized what had gone wrong. Since then HP and Dell have I believed removed virtually all of their ties with that vendor and now use AMD Radeon chipsets, while other brands like Toshiba and Acer have started leaning on nVidia products much less since the fiasco.

Not saying HP made the best of a bad situation but most of it wasn't their fault.

I've seen plenty of Dell and HP laptops with nVidia graphics cards.

PogMoThoin

Overheal wrote: »

Mostly attributable to nVidia, a hardware vendor for HP that supplied them with faulty parts and acted like gobshytes when they realized what had gone wrong. Since then HP and Dell have I believed removed virtually all of their ties with that vendor and now use AMD Radeon chipsets, while other brands like Toshiba and Acer have started leaning on nVidia products much less since the fiasco.

Not saying HP made the best of a bad situation but most of it wasn't their fault.

Apple aren't immune from this either, lots of overheating reports
http://www.google.com/m?aq=f&oq=&aqi=g1-k0d0t0&fkt=131&fsdt=9435&htf=&his=&q=macbook+pro+overheating+nvidia

Overheal

Apple has also started using quite a bit more diversity in their graphics options as well.

stimpson

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Apple aren't immune from this either, lots of overheating reports
http://www.google.com/m?aq=f&oq=&aqi=g1-k0d0t0&fkt=131&fsdt=9435&htf=&his=&q=macbook+pro+overheating+nvidia

Yeah, but they know how to look after their customers - extend the warranty:

http://www.techcaoz.com/6667/apple-extend-geforce-8600m-gt-warranty-for-overheating-macbook-pros.html

PogMoThoin

stimpson wrote: »

Yeah, but they know how to look after their customers - extend the warranty:

http://www.techcaoz.com/6667/apple-extend-geforce-8600m-gt-warranty-for-overheating-macbook-pros.html

No special treatment for Apple customers, Dell did the same, all out of Nvidia's pocket, it cost Nvidia billions, didn't cost Apple a cent.

This is the same better quality hardware right? The ones that make an Apple special when compared to an ordinary laptop?

Blackpitts

Overheal wrote: »

Mostly attributable to nVidia, a hardware vendor for HP that supplied them with faulty parts and acted like gobshytes when they realized what had gone wrong. Since then HP and Dell have I believed removed virtually all of their ties with that vendor and now use AMD Radeon chipsets, while other brands like Toshiba and Acer have started leaning on nVidia products much less since the fiasco.

Not saying HP made the best of a bad situation but most of it wasn't their fault.

tsk!
they have refused to extend the warranty on my laptop although the Nvidia chipset is very well known for that problem of overheating. So HP acted like gobshytes too, HP in the US have done a recall on the affected machines but are refusing to acknowledge the issue with machines purchased in Ireland. :mad:
I have only 2 options: to throw it in the bin (as the Nvidia chipsets are not available as spare parts and the refurbishing of the old chipset won't prevent this to happen again in the future) and to go for Small Claims Court (few people managed to get a refund after they issued a letter) but i have to find a lawyer etc...
and now don't get me started with the loose monitor hinge...
I swear to god i won't buy another HP in my life!

stimpson

You don't need a lawyer fir the scc. You're not allowed one in fact. Costs you a tenner and chances are that HP will give you a refund rather than go to court. You should do it.

Solitaire

Yup. If HP won't uphold their service obligations to you based on country its time for a cheap trip to the SCC to see how fast they repent their sins

MackDeToaster

If you're mostly just doing surfing and the like get something cheap, as the others have said you're just throwing your money away spending it on a Mac for that. I've just replied to another thread as as below..

Those aren't particularly high spec, in fact for the money they're obsolete. I've just received my Kobalt and it's savage. Have a look at the GS170. Speccing it as below costs 1127 sterling, so in and around your budget. Try speccing a Dell or whatever up like this and see how much it'll cost you. It's another option so HTH.

17.3" Full hd 1920x1080 ntsc 90% screen
Core i7-2630QM (latest Sandy Bridge)
8gb ram
As standard it also comes with Nvidia GT540M 1gig graphics, 500 gig hd, and so on.

Or spec it a bit lower with 6 gig ram and the full hd with (just) 72% colour and it's less than a grand sterling. Those specs absolutely blow away anything else out there for the money. Get one and go to Italy for a week or two with what's left over.

Trevor451

Go with a samsung laptop. Fantastic build quality at a affordable price
I would not touch a Mac book with a barge pole.

Alanstrainor

Trevor451 wrote: »

Go with a samsung laptop. Fantastic build quality at a affordable price
I would not touch a Mac book with a barge pole.

Do you have any specific models to look at? I'm just curious to see what's good!

bastados

I've used macs since what 1996 and for me the software is where it shines...never ever had a virus OR a virus checking app and whenever I use a windows based machine it seems to be neurotically preoccupied with license checking which seems odd that people put up with such schitty old-fashioned clunky software...as well as the complete lack of transparency and customization.
Really,the fluidity and ease of use is just miles ahead on OSX.

When I bought my last Macbook I deliberately had a look at same price range options in PC laptops out of curiosity and those with the same spec and extras..ie cam, mic,firewire were in fact 100 to 300yos more in price,so dont sell me that BS about costs.

PogMoThoin

bastados wrote: »

I've used macs since what 1996 and for me the software is where it shines...never ever had a virus OR a virus checking app and whenever I use a windows based machine it seems to be neurotically preoccupied with license checking which seems odd that people put up with such schitty old-fashioned clunky software...as well as the complete lack of transparency and customization.
Really,the fluidity and ease of use is just miles ahead on OSX.

When I bought my last Macbook I deliberately had a look at same price range options in PC laptops out of curiosity and those with the same spec and extras..ie cam, mic,firewire were in fact 100 to 300yos more in price,so dont sell me that BS about costs.

Ok, which Mac would you recommend suits the OPs needs?

I'll find an ordinary laptop for half the price on Dell, refuse to accept the Windows licence (they'll refund €50 if you hassle them) and install linux on it, no need for an antivirus and immune from viruses and does everything your Mac does out of the box.

bandit197

bastados wrote: »

I've used macs since what 1996 and for me the software is where it shines...never ever had a virus OR a virus checking app and whenever I use a windows based machine it seems to be neurotically preoccupied with license checking which seems odd that people put up with such schitty old-fashioned clunky software...as well as the complete lack of transparency and customization.
Really,the fluidity and ease of use is just miles ahead on OSX.

When I bought my last Macbook I deliberately had a look at same price range options in PC laptops out of curiosity and those with the same spec and extras..ie cam, mic,firewire were in fact 100 to 300yos more in price,so dont sell me that BS about costs.

Who are you accusing of selling BS exactly? Maybe you should back up your claims with a few links or did you just feel like a rant. The links that were posted earlier by people who could be bothered to reply to the OP's request clearly sell themselves.

Poutbutton

I switched to a MacBook Pro last year & I've no complaints, I'll never go back from Mac now. It is worth the purchase if you know how to use it or are willing to learn and will actually use it's great functions! I think you would be mad to buy a 2K one for your needs though. Mine was half the price you've quoted last year. It has the aluminum unibody casing so doesn't overheat. It's excellent for video editing, photo projects, publishing, making music & all the previously mentioned capabilities.
Buy yourself a cheaper system & go on a holiday with the other grand!