Mac or Laptop

Seckz Panther

So I'm going to be doing a Multimedia course next year, and I've been seeing that people are advising to get a laptop, mostly a Macbook Pro.

Now I know a bit about computers and such *spits out tobaccO*

But is a Macbook really worth the price tag for media design?

Jagle

whtat kinda software you gonna be using, most adobe stuff will work on osx and wondows

Adyx

Seckz Panther wrote: »

So I'm going to be doing a Multimedia course next year, and I've been seeing that people are advising to get a laptop, mostly a Macbook Pro.

Now I know a bit about computers and such *spits out tobaccO*

But is a Macbook really worth the price tag for media design?

No.
And with the money you save from not getting a mac, you can pay for all those expensive applications (Adobe CS etc).

Alanstrainor

Usually courses like multimedia will recommend what software you will need, and what hardware you will require. Maybe you could ask the college/school?

Wolflikeme

Skip the Mac.

I'd go for a Vaio myself...well I did! I got mine with a rake of free software too as I purchased on the Sony America website ( was over that way and collected it).

Anyway, the machine I got is built to spec and it's an absolute beast. For half of what the same spec would've cost me with Apple.

I used to buy Macs but not anymore. MS finally got their act together with Win7 (I think).

Sad Professor

Already a recent thread/fanboy debate here about whether Macs are worth it. Check out the Mac forum if you want feedback from Mac users about what they are like for media design.

TrustedApple

I am hopefully going to study multimedia to next year next year in college but i will say i have done all my work on a 1000 euro windows laptop but at the time i had the money to buy a mac but i still went for the windows because i was looking for a laptop that can do everything eg all games no Q asked

I have used photoshop Djing software on it and the run like no tommarow on it but if your looking to get a laptop get something with at lest a i5 because you will need all the power you can get i have i7 with a 512GB gard that i can over clock to run at 1024 MB but you might not need a laptop like that but if you have a 1000 to use on a mac you can get one hell of a windows laptop for that.

If i was going to get a mac with the same spec i was looking at 2500 euro that was a extra 1500 euro on top of my laptop

Nonoperational

Just to put another spin on it, I got a Macbook pro yesterday, installed parallels desktop there. Very impressive stuff. I'm really liking it to be honest.

Capt'n Midnight

Depends on the OS , which in turn depend son the software you want to run

If you are runing OSX then it may be tricky to make a hackingtosh on a PC

Windows means boot camp doesn't it ?

If using Ubuntu then on the older Macbooks it just goes on seamlessly , it might as well be a PC laptop and PC's are a lot cheaper.

kirving

You'll generally get a far more powerful Windows laptop for the same price as a Mac, if you're doing a multimedia course I imagine you'll need something powerful.

If it's power you're looking for, do one better and forget the laptop, desktop will get you even more power for your money! In 3 years of Engineering, with plenty of CAD, etc. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've wanted a laptop, I've never actually needed one, after being told by a few people that a laptop was pretty much a prerequisite(sp?) for college.

A desktop is far easier to work on too. What I'm trying to say is, weigh up if you actually need an expensive and heavy, powerful laptop. Remember, If you do have one in college, you'll have to carry it everywhere.


Samapple789, which graphics card did you overclock from 512mb to 1024mb?!

melekalikimaka

yo wont regret getting a mac tbh, was a die hard pc fan then i required a mac as i was using final cut pro and its not n pc. Got a macbook pro and its really un believeable, even after a year it wipes the floor with pcs even new ones on cs5 and lightroom and fcp. it starts up in seconds unlike a pc and also unlike a pc it doesnt get sluish over time

PogMoThoin

Wolflikeme wrote: »

I'd go for a Vaio myself...well I did! I got mine with a rake of free software too as I purchased on the Sony America website ( was over that way and collected it).

I wouldn't, well rather I'd buy one but wipe it before using it, Sony absolutely fill their pc's with utter crap software and bloat. They are the worst of the lot for bloat, worse than Acer, Asus, HP or Dell, who are also guilty of this. When you first turn a Sony on I've seen them with 90 processes running in task manager, thats nearly twice as much as they should (a base Windows 7 install will tick over fine with around 45).

This works wonders
http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/

kirving

My computer starts up from cold extremely quickly, and will be even faster when I get a SSD to put the OS on.

Why would my computer slow down over time, because it't not a Mac? Still as fast as the day I got it, over a year ago.

Trevor451

If you want to buy outdated hardware at a premium price go for mac

melekalikimaka

Kevin Irving wrote: »

My computer starts up from cold extremely quickly, and will be even faster when I get a SSD to put the OS on.

Why would my computer slow down over time, because it't not a Mac? Still as fast as the day I got it, over a year ago.

have a lok at osx disk optimisation especially with HFS Plus, Windows still a bit behind on that one, thats probably one o the key advantages with a mac, Pcs will slow down over time unless you defrag, clean reg regularly, uninstalling programs and me a pain also

Capt'n Midnight

melekalikimaka wrote: »

yo wont regret getting a mac tbh, was a die hard pc fan then i required a mac as i was using final cut pro and its not n pc. Got a macbook pro and its really un believeable, even after a year it wipes the floor with pcs even new ones on cs5 and lightroom and fcp. it starts up in seconds unlike a pc and also unlike a pc it doesnt get sluish over time

You are talking about what happens when you use the windows operating system.

You can run windows on mac hardware and it will get just as bloated.

Capt'n Midnight

melekalikimaka wrote: »

have a lok at osx disk optimisation especially with HFS Plus, Windows still a bit behind on that one, thats probably one o the key advantages with a mac, Pcs will slow down over time unless you defrag, clean reg regularly, uninstalling programs and me a pain also

AFAIK windows is the only major operating system that under normal use needs to be defaged, because it tries to fill the start of the drive rather than look for free space - saves are slightly faster - also micorosoft's habbit of appending to the end of a file "fast save" again means saves are slightly faster the first time.

UNIX (inc OSX) and Linux both try to save files contiguously (when there is space available ) so there is no need to to defragment, in Linux it's actually counter productive as you might do more harm than good.
This means there are natural gaps in the filesystem which smaller files can fit into, and most products that retained the old habbit of making a backup copy of documents when you saved so under most OS's this means you end up with two files that are contiguous

actually if you really really have to defragment a data drive on any OS do a backup, format the drive and then a restore

in any event keeping at least 10-15% free space on a drive will help prevent fragmentation in the first place

Fol20

If your gonna get a pc,i wouldnt touch a sony.They are well over priced..

Like many,i was reluctant to get a mac,but once you go mac,you never go mac.Yes you are paying a premium but you get superior hardware and OS.

evercloserunion

UNIX (inc OSX) and Linux both try to save files contiguously (when there is space available ) so there is no need to to defragment, in Linux it's actually counter productive as you might do more harm than good.

Just curious, what do you mean by this?

OP, it really depends on how much money you have to throw around, and what software you will be using.

If your course uses software that will only work on a Mac, well then that answers your question. But this is highly unlikely and if you're even asking this question I presume it's not the case.

Apart from that, the question is simply whether you have enough money that the extra flash of a Mac is worth the extra cost. OS X is a better operating system than Windows but IMO the extra amount you pay isn't matched by the better user experience. An ordinary laptop will suit your needs and leave you with a bit of cash left over to invest in multimedia software and other course materials.

By the way, this post presumes that Linux is out of the question because the multimedia software you will be using might not work on it. You should look into this. If you find that the software required for your course can actually work well on Linux, then I'd strongly recommend buying a non-Mac laptop and installing Ubuntu or something similar. It gives you many of the advantages of OS X without the increased price.

Capt'n Midnight

Fol20 wrote: »

once you go mac,you never go mac

'tis nice hardware and were I to win the lotto I'd probably get one

course I'd have to rig up a UK keyboard


I still haven't seen much evidence that a hackintosh on good PC hardware (top of the range Lenovo) isn't as good as a mac


but as was said your SW requirements will play a big part in deciding what to get.

If you are lugging it all day then weight is a huge consideration whatever you choose

Spazdarn

Wouldn't getting a similarly spec'd pc be hundreds of euros cheaper, then just install OS X? Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds.

melekalikimaka

ToiletFusion wrote: »

Wouldn't getting a similarly spec'd pc be hundreds of euros cheaper, then just install OS X? Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds.

osx isnt exactly generic, needs specific hardware to operate correctly.

Capt'n Midnight

melekalikimaka wrote: »

osx isnt exactly generic, needs specific hardware to operate correctly.

http://www.hackintosh.com gives some info on what PC hardware you can run OSX on.

melekalikimaka

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

http://www.hackintosh.com gives some info on what PC hardware you can run OSX on.

ohhhh works with optiplex... downloading... interesting to see results

Alanstrainor

melekalikimaka wrote: »

ohhhh works with optiplex... downloading... interesting to see results

Hackintoshes usually work poorly imo. I've tried it and generally you end up missing a lot of functionality. Worth a shot all the same.

Alanstrainor

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Hackintoshes usually work poorly imo. I've tried it and generally you end up missing a lot of functionality. Worth a shot all the same.

I have a Dell XPS M1210 running 10.6.7. It's mostly ok but doesn't feel quite right, had to do a lot of modifications to get things like the second core and sleep to work. It will panic if I try to run Activity Monitor. Considering that I got the machine for nothing I won't complain though. :pac:

Bellu

Easy, for convenient, go to the Laptop, and need to catch the computer around.
Then turn to Mac, anyways, Mac is working very well for me~

ozt9vdujny3srf

Not sure why I choose this thread instead of any of the other millions of similar threads that are spread across the internet but a few things to take into consideration:


On the advice you get:
- OS X users are generally biassed towards macs, it is an excellent operating system that excels in a few areas (software development in my case). I personally am biassed towards mac as I haven't used windows as a main machine since 2006, so I havent been benefitting from all the cool stuff windows has gotten in Windows 7 (which from casual use seems pretty good)

- However, windows users are both generally biassed, and have (in most cases) never actually owned and used a mac as their main machine. As this is not the case (again, speaking generally) with mac users, maybe it's fair to say we have a better perspective on what is better to use.

My advice:
- In certain areas (mid to high end) mac computers are very expensive. If getting the fastest everything is whats most important to you (and I don't think it should be), then don't get a mac.

- Assuming you aren't pirating software (which for a student is difficult, but you should try not to), the costs of the software you use will dwarf the investment you make in your hardware / operating system.

- Maybe your college will have licences for student use. If so, you need to check what platform they are for. If they only work on windows machines, then your choice is obvious.

- Most of the Windows machines that cost less than 800 euros are rubbish. If you at all can, try and get a machine with good build quality and is nice to use. (Mac or Lenovo maybe). Also, try and get one with a good screen!

Robby91

OS X users are generally biassed towards macs, it is an excellent operation system that excels in a few areas (software development in my case).

Would you be able to explain (or link me somewhere that explains) why a Mac would excel when it comes to software development, or any other field for that matter? You've piqued my interest now (since I'm planning on doing software development in September and have been looking around for a laptop to buy) :P

I've heard plenty of people saying the same thing as you, but I've never owned/extensively used a Mac. Is it a user-experience sorta thing, a software thing, or something else/a combination?

Robby91

Robby91 wrote: »

Would you be able to explain (or link me somewhere that explains) why a Mac would excel when it comes to software development, or any other field for that matter? You've piqued my interest now (since I'm planning on doing software development in September and have been looking around for a laptop to buy) :P

I've heard plenty of people saying the same thing as you, but I've never owned/extensively used a Mac. Is it a user-experience sorta thing, a software thing, or something else/a combination?

I've heard the same. Genuine question here; if you can get the same app for Windows as you can for Mac (Photoshop for example), what makes the Mac better for that task?

Oh_Noes

I had mac, and I went back. Have upgraded my laptop (pc laptops) twice since, they were both more powerful and versatile than the mac and the combined cost of the two was less than the cost of the one mac. Also, when the Mac broke, it was a pain trying to find an authorised person to repair it.

Mac have found their market now, it's in mobile devices. Stick to PC if you want an actual computer that you can use for everything and prefer 50% cost savings to 50% more shininess.

The idea that they're better for multimedia work has gone a bit stale now since most powerful PCs are just as capable these days, if not more so.

ozt9vdujny3srf

Robby91 wrote: »

Would you be able to explain (or link me somewhere that explains) why a Mac would excel when it comes to software development, or any other field for that matter? You've piqued my interest now (since I'm planning on doing software development in September and have been looking around for a laptop to buy) :P

I've heard plenty of people saying the same thing as you, but I've never owned/extensively used a Mac. Is it a user-experience sorta thing, a software thing, or something else/a combination?

OK, well there is plenty of stuff out there on why developers choose what platform to develop on. I can give you the reason why its good for me personally:

I like that it's unix based. It can do a lot of the stuff Linux distros can do. Particularly with homebrew which allows easy installation of command line tools like wget.

I like the keyboard and trackpad.

There is some really cool mac only software:
Particularly Transmit (an FTP client that I love) and TextMate (excellent mac only text editor). Of course there is a lot of software that does this in windows, but not as well for me. Alfred is a new task launching / search / productivity app which I love.

It supports Eclipse and Netbeans which I use (cross platform).

Python support out of the box.

When you install macs developer tools, there is a lot of stuff that it does straight out of the box.

As far as I can tell, almost everyone who develops for the web does so with a mac.

This is kind of rambling, at the end of the day it boils down to my personal preference. If i didn't have a mac I'd be using ubuntu because I spend a lot of time using bash so wouldn't care to have to learn to use command prompt properly.(Although if you are writing software you'll probably end up installing a bash terminal emulator like cygwin anyway.)

Groinshot

Can I say- You have to take everything with a pinch of salt. Most of the people here slate macs because they're overpriced pieces of junk.
I bought a MBP about two weeks ago, and am delighted with it. I still need certain ties with windows so I have boot camp running. I wasn't able to find a machine of the same spec as my MBP available, never mind for the same price.
They are expensive, I will say that, but it's a matter of taste.