Do I need a MacBook?

TelePaul

Lads, huge apologies in advance for the above, I can appreciate that this may have been done to death. I did a quick search but many of the threads about Macs tend to involve long-term converts where as I am considering making the switch from Windows. Very new to the idea of a Mac so if anyone wants to offer opinions, I'd be hugely grateful.

A bit of background info:

I need a new laptop.

Budget is between 1,000 and 1,500.

I'd like to keep costs down - obviously! - but don't mind spending money on something appropriate to my needs that will last me several years.

On the other hand, I don't want to spend money for the sake spending money (i.e, I don't just to buy a MacBook for the sake of it!)

I'd be using it for internet access, photo-editing, some basic music-recording and word processing. Anything else is a bonus.

The main reason I'd consider changing to a Mac is that buying windows-based machines has always seemed like something of a lottery to me. I've had a Dell machine that was great, and another that wasn't right from day one; I've had a Toshiba that was simply awful and an e-Machines system that was solid as a rock. I may be over-simplifying things, but in my experience, even boot times have varied widely across similarly-spec'd PCs. I've also noticed that Macs seem to have a pretty long lifespan whether measured in terms of obsolescence or hardware failure. Anyone I've talked to has pointed to this reliability as a major selling point, and that's very important to me.

Further to this, I've read and heard from a variety of people that Macs are ideal for multimedia work (in my case, photo processing and music recording). The weird thing is, very few people have been able to say categorically why a Mac is preferable to a PC in this instance. I was in the Mac shop on college green getting a feel for some MacBooks, and one thing I did notice was what seemed like a very sharp LCD. Other than this, I'm not exactly sure as to what makes Macs so conducive to this type of work.

Lastly, anyone I've talked to has told me that new Macs are on the way. From what I gather, these will be higher spec'd models for the same price but again, nobody seems to sure as to when these might arrive?

So there you have it, and apologies for my ramblings! If I were to summarise things, my question would be this: in light of the above, is a MacBook going to offer me anything a similarly-priced or even slightly cheaper PC wont?


Any advice would be fantastic here guys, tis a lot of cash for me

Cheers,

Tele

FUNKYTOWWWN

I'm in the same kind of prediciment! I don't know if i should upgrade to a normal laptop for college, to spend that bit extra for a mac and a get real good quality laptop!

Fluffy88

Do I need a MacBook?

Simple answer is no, never
Now I am gonna get attacked for this, but it's true.
There is nothing stopping you from getting good audio recording software for windows and using it. Same for photoediting software and you can even get great free programs. GIMP is free works on windows and linux(dont know about Mac) and is comparable to photoshop for image editing. I don't do any audio recording so I can't link to any software for that.

Now there is nothing wrong with Mac's. They have good hardware, the OS is pretty good and they are used more for mulitimedia but it's not for me. So you really would have to make the decision yourself but at a price of €1000 you would get a normal laptop which is just as fast/powerful as any Macbook.
Something like this,
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Sony_VAIO_VPCSB1V9E_1042951.html

OctavarIan

Fluffy88 wrote: »

GIMP is free works on windows and linux(dont know about Mac) and is comparable to photoshop for image editing.

Not even in the same league as Photoshop. I've been tracking GIMP since 2006 (I use Ubuntu a lot) and it has barely improved. It's about as user friendly as a pitch dark room.

That said, you can get all the major applications on both Windows and OSX nowadays, and for the €€€ you're looking to spend it's simply a question of which OS you prefer to use. Personally I prefer OSX and Mac because they're simply better designed.

yomamasflavour

Fairly simple

You prefer mac OS, or use specific software that requires a mac = buy a mac.
Otherwise buy a Windows.

Considering they're usually 1.5 to twice the price of a similar (or better specd) windows laptop.

You're not paying for the hardware, you're paying for the OS, so no point paying unless you specifically need it.

Trevor451

Macs use the exact same components as other laptops. You are only paying extra for the apple sticker

Sad Professor

Trevor451 wrote: »

Macs use the exact same components as other laptops. You are only paying extra for the apple sticker

It's not a sticker. And no, you are paying for the design, build quality and operating system. But if you place no value on those things then, yes, I guess Macs can be considered overpriced, as can Sony Vaio and other high-end laptop manufacturers.

marco_polo

Have Apple had patented build quailty now as well?

For Forks Sake

marco_polo wrote: »

Have Apple had patented build quailty now as well?

iBuild

PrzemoF

OP, WHY do you need a new laptop?

If you have to buy a new one for whatever reason, I'd go with no system/linux prinstalled to save money. Installing linux on linux-compatible laptop is dead simple (the only question you're asked is what time zone you want to use). If you're afraid of a new system try to use linux livecd on your current laptop - you may find out that you don't need a new one.

Feel free to PM me if you need any help with linux.

OctavarIan

PrzemoF wrote: »

OP, WHY do you need a new laptop?

If you have to buy a new one for whatever reason, I'd go with no system/linux prinstalled to save money. Installing linux on linux-compatible laptop is dead simple (the only question you're asked is what time zone you want to use). If you're afraid of a new system try to use linux livecd on your current laptop - you may find out that you don't need a new one.

Feel free to PM me if you need any help with linux.

He wants to use it for multimedia work, that rules out any linux distro.

Scoobydoofus

I bought a MacBook 6 years ago, and it's still going strong after two OS upgrades. Yes, you pay more for a Mac than you do an ostensibly equivalent PC, but in my experience you'd have to spend more on a Windows computer to get the same performance.

They cost more, but in the long run, I think it's worth it.

Also, there are ALWAYS new macs on the way. Macrumors has a good page which keeps track of release cycles and such, maybe have a look before you take the plunge.

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#MacBook

Fluffy88

The one thing I always say about Macs is they never cheap out on the hardware. So when you buy a Mac it will have a good top of the range processor, good RAM and all that. But when you pay €1500 for a laptop isn't that what you expect? So no matter which laptop you buy at €1500 it will last you a long time and run very smoothly.

To me that is not an argument to get a Mac. Go for the system that best suits you and your needs.

PrzemoF

OctavarIan wrote: »

He wants to use it for multimedia work, that rules out any linux distro.

He wants to use it for something serious? It rules out any windows based PC!

OctavarIan, I don't want to go into flame wars. I want to know what is you opinion based on.

Have you heard about...:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinelerra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosegarden
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardour_%28software%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blender_%28software%29

If you want a sample work, google for "Sintel" or "Big Buck Bunny"

OctavarIan

PrzemoF wrote: »

He wants to use it for something serious? It rules out any windows based PC!

OctavarIan, I don't want to go into flame wars. I want to know what is you opinion based on.

Yeah, industry standard software runs on Windows and OSX for a laugh :rolleyes:

My opinion is based on actually working in the multimedia field and having been a linux user since 2005. You can get nice results from linux multimedia software, but you need to (a)know exactly what you're doing and (b)be prepared for a frustrating experience. I still use linux every day because aside from multimedia work and gaming it's great.

PrzemoF wrote:

Have you heard about...:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinelerra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosegarden
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardour_%28software%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blender_%28software%29

If you want a sample work, google for "Sintel" or "Big Buck Bunny"

Heard about them all, and used them, as well as GIMP, Inkscape, Scribus, Pitivi, Kino, Bluefish etc. Most are cross platform. Most have horrible horrible interfaces. Most aren't near as fully featured as their Adobe counterparts. Far from 'ideal'.

ShadowHearth

PrzemoF wrote: »

He wants to use it for something serious? It rules out any windows based PC!

OctavarIan, I don't want to go into flame wars. I want to know what is you opinion based on.

Have you heard about...:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinelerra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosegarden
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardour_%28software%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blender_%28software%29

If you want a sample work, google for "Sintel" or "Big Buck Bunny"

Serious and mac can't even be in same sentence :d. I don't want to start flame wars too

PrzemoF

OK, got your point, but I still think that heavy handed "forget about linux" was unfair. I don't know Adobe products, except flash and reader/acrobat - and I hate all 3 with passion.

My statement about windows was just a joke, a mirror of your comment about linux. I'm not detached from the reality. ;-)

BTW I just traced my linux usage history to prevous milenium (seriously)

OctavarIan

PrzemoF wrote: »

OK, got your point, but I still think that heavy handed "forget about linux" was unfair. I don't know Adobe products, except flash and reader/acrobat - and I hate all 3 with passion.

My statement about windows was just a joke, a mirror of your comment about linux. I'm not detached from the reality. ;-)

BTW I just traced my linux usage history to prevous milenium (seriously)

Yeah Flash and Reader are awful in fairness, I don't even use them myself when I can help it. The sooner Flash is deprecated the better but I fear that won't be for a long time á la IE6. Most of the Adobe Creative Suite is excellent though.

For an average user looking for multimedia creation and a €1000+ machine I still stand by my earlier comment. Dual boot - OK - but I felt you were recommending linux as the main OS for him.

In either case I've only just noticed how old the first post is, I wonder what he went with in the end.

nickcave

OP, any time somebody innocently asks the question of whether they should get a PC or a MacBook, things just descend into a flame war. Linux, as even enthusiasts will tell you, is not ideal for multimedia work.

Do you need a MacBook? No you don't. A PC running Windows can cover everything you want to do, so what you need is either a Windows PC or a MacBook. So it all comes down to taste. Just go with what you like and what you gut tells you. I suspect you want a MacBook, but are looking for a second opinion. Just get a MacBook. They hold their value quite well so you can always change if you figure you hate them.

Although, as a PC user (I don't like OSX) and someone who also works with multimedia/recording, I would spend your budget on something like this. Drool...

Villain

Got an Apple MacBook Air last week and I bloody love it, I work in I.T. and mainly support windows systems but decided on a Mac for a change and the Air is simply a genius bit of engineering.

darragh o meara

I asked myself the very same question a few years back and talked to laods of people before taking a plunge. In the end I bought a cheap 2nd hand macbook and tried it out before taking a major splurge on a new one. Im now on my 3rd one and have never once had one ounce of trouble. FOr about a year I ran the mac side by side with a Sony Vaio and even though it had a far better spec, the macbook ran rings around it.

Some of my arguments for the mac:

1. Its ultra reliable ( In the 5 years Ive been using I had 0 crashes, in the year I ran both together windows crashed approx 20-25 times )

2. Its Apple operating system designed to run with their components on their machines, Not like windows where it has to support 1000's of different drivers for various manufacturers.

3. Their is very little viruses/malware for Mac OS but Im sure they are coming so maybe this isnt as solid as other reasons.

4. The design is excellent as are the quality of the components, No skimping on cheap bits.

5. If your serious about media production be it music/video your going to encounter Mac users around every corner. I myself have visited some major video editing and broadcasting studios and they all run Mac. As do nearly all of the recording studios I have visited. To finish any pro photographers and videographers I know (and I know a few) all use mac for the very same reason "It just works and works right" Plus most of the industry standard software is only available on Mac. Thats not saying there is not decent software for windows machines cos there is plenty.

6. I find that they run windows a lot better than a similar specced windows machine.

7. They dont depreciate as much as windows laptops!

I myself use mac for a few different areas, Dj'ing is the most common use for my macbook pro. As somebody who relys solely on my mac for dj'ing I cannot afford for the system to decide to crash in the middle of a gig just because it doesnt like what Im doing ( as windows does way too often ) If my system crashes everybody knows it crashes!!! Even when I stripped down windows to the bare essentials for dj'ing it still would give problems from time to time. Since Ive changed over to Mac OS its never once crashed during a gig or anytime for that matter. I've even had it running to the absolute max (at the time it was, Encoding hd video to burn to dvd, Outputting HD music videos using dj'ing software and a secondary djing software runnning music ) on more than one occasion and it just kept on going.

I also use mine for fooling around with music production and video editing (using final cut pro and logic 8) and it works flawlessly.

If you truly believe you need one Id advise maybe getting a loan of a macbook and try it out and see what you think of it or buy a cheap intel macbook and try it for a while. Some people buy macbook's as fashion accessories and throw huge amounts of cash into one only to find they don't like it.

Mac people will push you towards mac but please look at all your options and make your decision.

SaturnV

Fluffy88 wrote: »

The one thing I always say about Macs is they never cheap out on the hardware. So when you buy a Mac it will have a good top of the range processor, good RAM and all that.

You may always say it, but that doesn't make it true. They don't put low end junk in their machines, but the components are nothing special, really. I just looked at the specs available for a 15inch MBP. The RAM is just bog standard, the screen options are okay, but far from exceptional. The CPU options are far from top of the range. The apple supplied hard drives are dreadful; it comes as standard with a 5400 rpm drive, and the apple supplied SSD option is pretty much towards the bottom end of the scale for that class of drive, and the video card available is entry level and nothing to get excited about.

And that's on a machine with a starting price of 1,799! Look at the hardware available on the 13 inch MBP, much less the macbook. Granted, they put all those run of the mill components into a very nicely designed case.

And apple are very, very good at marketing...

The big selling point, as far as I can see, is the OS. No matter what anyone says, there are pros and cons to the macOS, Win7, and whatever flavour of linux takes your fancy. Personally, I think OSX is lovely, and probably suits many more people than actually use it, due to it's simplicity and fairly idiot-proof design. But I just don't like it myself. No particular reason, it just doesn't suit me. I like windows, I find Win7 completely stable, with no "crashes" that other people complain of. And picking windows gives me a completely free hand regarding hardware. And I usually set up a linux dual boot installation to play with, which I will invariably end up breaking because my desire to tinker is greater than my understanding of linux internals. Anyway...

Back to the OP: bottom line, as others have said; ignore the fanboys on either side, and if you like macs, specifically the OS, and are happy to pay the premium, then that's what you should get.

Fluffy88

SaturnV wrote: »

You may always say it, but that doesn't make it true.

It doesn't make it true but I don't like lying. Just because the don't offer the most expensive i7 processor doesn't mean that they are cheaping out on the motherboard, wireless card, power supply and battery. All in all Macs are a good machine, they work well and do last.

SaturnV

Fluffy88 wrote: »

It doesn't make it true but I don't like lying. Just because the don't offer the most expensive i7 processor doesn't mean that they are cheaping out on the motherboard, wireless card, power supply and battery. All in all Macs are a good machine, they work well and do last.

I didn't mean to imply you were lying. Maybe I misinterpreted your post, but you did seem to imply the macs came with high end components. They don't, they're mid range components in reality. Funny you brought up those specific components; a lot of people have reported problems with the macbook wifi (although the latest MBP models seem to have fixed this), I've seen a *lot* of logic board failures over the years (although my anecdote doesn't really count for anything), and I know a lot of people don't like the integrated battery in the MBP (although personally I'd be fine with that).

I would agree that they are still good components, because the mid range *is* good. And that makes for a good computer; I don't disagree with you there. And they do last. As I posted in a different thread, they last about as long as a Sony or a Dell; longer than a HP or Gateway, but not as long as a Toshiba or Asus (see figure 5 on page 6).

Just to be absolutely clear, I think macbooks are very good computers, but they have a reputation for being packed with top shelf hardware with rock solid reliability that I think is somewhat undeserved.

ShadowHearth

nickcave wrote: »

OP, any time somebody innocently asks the question of whether they should get a PC or a MacBook, things just descend into a flame war. Linux, as even enthusiasts will tell you, is not ideal for multimedia work.

Do you need a MacBook? No you don't. A PC running Windows can cover everything you want to do, so what you need is either a Windows PC or a MacBook. So it all comes down to taste. Just go with what you like and what you gut tells you. I suspect you want a MacBook, but are looking for a second opinion. Just get a MacBook. They hold their value quite well so you can always change if you figure you hate them.

Although, as a PC user (I don't like OSX) and someone who also works with multimedia/recording, I would spend your budget on something like this. Drool...

n
i dont want to go offtopic, but wtf with dell brand new stuff on ebay? is that dell selling it themselfs or....?

nickcave

ShadowHearth wrote: »

n
i dont want to go offtopic, but wtf with dell brand new stuff on ebay? is that dell selling it themselfs or....?

I don't know what that guy's story is. He seems to sell brand new/refurbs, sort of like the old dell outlet. He's been around a while now.

Tar.Aldarion

Fluffy88 wrote: »

Simple answer is no, never
Now I am gonna get attacked for this, but it's true.
There is nothing stopping you from getting good audio recording software for windows and using it. Same for photoediting software and you can even get great free programs. GIMP is free works on windows and linux(dont know about Mac) and is comparable to photoshop for image editing. I don't do any audio recording so I can't link to any software for that.

Now there is nothing wrong with Mac's. They have good hardware, the OS is pretty good and they are used more for mulitimedia but it's not for me. So you really would have to make the decision yourself but at a price of €1000 you would get a normal laptop which is just as fast/powerful as any Macbook.
Something like this,
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Sony_VAIO_VPCSB1V9E_1042951.html

something like this?
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Lenovo_G570_1072020.html

all i see is this has a bigger screen and integ gfx, but 500£ cheaper heh

4 years ago i bought my vostro for 700E and it's good as new with daily use of a LOT of hours. The same specced mac was 1700. I could also get the 17" vostro for no price increase...and mac wanted hundreds more. :S if you realllly want the os then pay the money, I never would.