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David Bailey
8th-February-2007, 10:07 AM
Alternatively, buy a Mac laptop for reading email and browsing the web from your sofa or in bed.
I'd like to, I'm still looking at laptops, but they're just so flippin' expensive - twice as much as Windows laptops, it looks like. I can't justify spending a grand on a Mac when I can get a decent Windows laptop for £500... :sad:

ducasi
8th-February-2007, 10:14 AM
I'd like to, I'm still looking at laptops, but they're just so flippin' expensive - twice as much as Windows laptops, it looks like. I can't justify spending a grand on a Mac when I can get a decent Windows laptop for £500... :sad:
To a great extent you get what you pay for. The Mac laptop will be a better spec, will look better, will work better and won't have any Microsoft software on it.

That last point is almost worth the extra cost alone. ;)

Beowulf
8th-February-2007, 10:28 AM
Alternatively, buy a Mac laptop for reading email and browsing the web from your sofa or in bed.

Let me see.. PC in the Living room, one behind the sofa (server.. currently down), a Mandrake Linux box (also down.. awaiting re-installation ). two laptops, Wifi Pocket PC.. I think I have all bases covered..

You can always find my flat in Aberdeen.. it's the one with the white hot glowing power cables going into it..:blush:


I'd like to, I'm still looking at laptops, but they're just so flippin' expensive - twice as much as Windows laptops, it looks like. I can't justify spending a grand on a Mac when I can get a decent Windows laptop for £500... :sad:


and sorry Ducasi.. i respect your opinion but :yeah: to David.

David Bailey
8th-February-2007, 10:44 AM
To a great extent you get what you pay for.
Hmmm, I think you're still paying a premium for the "It's a Mac" thing.

Just briefly looking at PC World:

The 15" MacBook pro is a lovely machine:

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.33GHz
667 MHz
4 MB Cache
2 GB RAM
120 GB Hard Drive
SuperDrive (DVD ReWriter Drive)
15.4" Widescreen Display
MAC OS X v10.4 TIGER
256MB ATi X1600 dedicated graphics


But it costs £1,668.00:eek:

Whereas I could get a Toshiba with:

Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 Processor 2GHz
667MHz FSB
4MB Cache
2048MB RAM
200GB Hard Drive
Dual Layer DVD ReWriter MultiDrive
17" Widescreen TruBrite Display
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
512MB NVidia GeForce Go 7900 Graphics


For a mere (!) £1,499.99.

So that's a bigger screen, and generally a better spec, for £160 less.

More to the point, at the price range I'm looking at (£500 - £600-ish), there simply aren't any Macs available.

Dreadful Scathe
8th-February-2007, 10:50 AM
To a great extent you get what you pay for. The Mac laptop will be a better spec, will look better, will work better and won't have any Microsoft software on it.

I think you are exaggerating slightly - the MAC may be a slightly better spec , but at the price difference it should be (decent spec ACER laptops start at £300). It will generally "look better" as although there are many attractive PC laptops , they cost a lot more too , bringing down the price difference. "Will work better" is true from a user friendly point of view, but for actual tasks - game playing, creating documents, playing music etc... there will be little difference that isnt due to the machine spec itself. I agree the no-MS software is a bonus but there are a lot of Windows applications that won't run on a MAC that people may want to use.

So although you can say you get what you pay for, ultimately you pay a bit more for a MAC for the same ability simply because its a MAC. If you are happy with that, fine :) I admit , bargains aside, its generally not quite "twice the price".

killingtime
8th-February-2007, 11:24 AM
game playing, creating documents, playing music etc... there will be little difference that isnt due to the machine spec itself.

I have to say that game playing keeps me tied to Windows more than any other reason. It isn't that the mac doesn't get games, it does and the likes of Blizzard are a fine example of people who release games cross-platform. I could always dual boot my (Mac) system, I know, using Bootcamp but the MiniMac for all its fabbiness doesn't really have the graphics performance I'm looking at. So I stick with Windows, for now. I haven't tried running games under WINE on my Ubuntu box. Since it can't really do Direct3D then I can't move a chunk of my game lib...

I'm rambling, aren't it?

Lee Bartholomew
8th-February-2007, 11:33 AM
I've always thought of macs as over priced. I think of macs as the Nike thing You pay for a trend. (same with iPods).

DJ try this laptop from ebuyer http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/123116

£500 and a brilliant spec. Try getting a mac of that spec for that price!!!!

And don't bother with a 1 gig shuffle at £60 when you can get a decent 2 gig mp4 player for £5 less !!!! http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/110161

and ok doesn't have a touch screen but throw a £7 1 gig card in it and for £13 odd you have an original (but larger capacity) iPod copy lol http://www.ebuyer.com/product/110667/product_info/rb/25096270851

Feelingpink
8th-February-2007, 12:08 PM
... the price range I'm looking at (£500 - £600-ish), there simply aren't any Macs available.Not even the macbook (http://www.apple.com/uk/macbook/macbook.html) for £750? Not too many things sexier ... go on - buy yourself one for Valentine's Day :love:

Dreadful Scathe
8th-February-2007, 12:20 PM
Not even the macbook (http://www.apple.com/uk/macbook/macbook.html) for £750? Not too many things sexier ... go on - buy yourself one for Valentine's Day :love:
hmm budget is £500 - £600ish and you suggest a £750 macbook. If £150 qualifies for "ish". i'll be asking DavidJames to lend me £1-ish ! :)

Personally I do like MACs and am very tempted to get a new MAC desktop after getting rid of the old one.

Best computer and OS i've ever used though is the Amiga, by quite a long way.

Lee Bartholomew
8th-February-2007, 12:21 PM
I have to say macs are nicely designed. something Apple do really well. Don't think anyone can dispute that.

Then again the Sony Vio's are nice and the alien ware machines are something else (though I just built one online and has come out at £5185.35 (1 gig graphics, 2 gig ddr, raid 0 320gig hd's, Blue ray recorder etc etc) http://www.alienware.co.uk/Configurator_Pages/aurora_m_alx.aspx?SysCode=PC-EU-LT-AUR-M-ALX&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

Needless to say, I didn't complete the order :sick:

Dreadful Scathe
8th-February-2007, 12:28 PM
I have to say macs are nicely designed. something Apple do really well. Don't think anyone can dispute that.

Then again the Sony Vio's are nice and the alien ware machines are something else (though I just built one online and has come out at £5185.35 (1 gig graphics, 2 gig ddr, raid 0 320gig hd's, Blue ray recorder etc etc) http://www.alienware.co.uk/Configurator_Pages/aurora_m_alx.aspx?SysCode=PC-EU-LT-AUR-M-ALX&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

Needless to say, I didn't complete the order :sick:
Yes if we are talking nice looking PCs the VAIOs are lovely. As are Alienwares. ACER and ASUS do Ferrari and Lamborghini badged laptops that are a bit fancier, but not really by much. MACs stand out because they are all nice whereas with PC laptop you pay a bit more for a design, which is handy for your wallet if you dont care what it looks like.

Heres a VAIO picture (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/20INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=VGNTXN17P%2fT&Dept=computers&CategoryName=cpu_VAIONotebookComputers_TXSeries) :)

ducasi
8th-February-2007, 12:29 PM
Personally I do like MACs and am very tempted to get a new MAC desktop after getting rid of the old one.
Please DREADFUL SCATHE, can you call the "Macs", not "MACS"! :flower:

Dreadful Scathe
8th-February-2007, 12:31 PM
Please DREADFUL SCATHE, can you call the "Macs", not "MACS"! :flower:
Ok Ill call the MACs not MACs, Ill call them "the Franck Computers" :)

pmjd
8th-February-2007, 12:45 PM
Try the Apple refurbished store, white macbook for £549 (http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=E677EA3F&nclm=Certified) at the moment.

Got a similar one a few months back and quite happy with it, lighter and smaller than a few of my previous PC laptops. The magsafe power cord is a work of genius and the adapter is nice and small compared to some of the old power bricks I used to have to lug about.

Lee Bartholomew
8th-February-2007, 12:47 PM
Guess it depends on what you want to use the laptop for.

If you want something for Games, useablility, software and support get a pc.

If you want something to conect to your overpriced iPod, iPhone and iShoes (sure it will happen soon) get a mac.

Mythical
8th-February-2007, 01:00 PM
I have a Mac, becuase neither of the two windows laptops could keep up with me. Admittedly one was a crappy spec anyway (96mb ram, anyone? - I think the cavemen were using more!) The other one had the same ram as the mac I've got now, but from about a week after I bought it, it ran slowly, and random things would decide not to work, and I saw the blue screen of death more times than anyone should in a lifetime. After a year of that it decided it was going to go to sleep permanently, and I took it to be repaired, they quoted me more than I'd actually paid for the laptop in the first place.

I've had the mac (12" powerbook G4) over a year, (so it's an old biddy in computer world!) and it still runs like new, everything just works, and I can have photoshop, dreamweaver, safari, and iTunes open all at once and it just gets on with it as if I was simply browsing the web. Funnily enough the only program that causes problems is MSN Mesenger.

Yes, I bought the machine because it looked good, and it was a bit trendy at the time, but even though it's now out of date, I'm still happy with it. I'd say it was worth the cash!

Mythical
8th-February-2007, 01:02 PM
Guess it depends on what you want to use the laptop for.

If you want something for Games, useablility, software and support get a pc.

If you want something to conect to your overpriced iPod, iPhone and [B]iShoes (sure it will happen soon)[B/] get a mac.

Actually, it's already happened......remember the nike trainers you could connect to your iPod Nano?

David Bailey
8th-February-2007, 01:07 PM
Not even the macbook (http://www.apple.com/uk/macbook/macbook.html) for £750? Not too many things sexier ... go on - buy yourself one for Valentine's Day :love:

A/ As said, that's 50% more than I was thinking of paying.
B/ Screen's too small.

Apart from that...


Try the Apple refurbished store
Well, yeah - similarly, I'm sure I could get a refurbished PC for cheaper than a new one.

Sorry guys, you can't get away from it, Macs are more expensive - I reckon it's at least 50% more, albeit probably not twice as much as I previously thought.

I don't mind paying over-the-odds for an iPod, but that's only a fraction of the price, I'm happy to pay £30 or so more, it's when it gets to an extra £300 that I have problems with paying for style.

What can I say, I'm cheap :blush:

pmjd
8th-February-2007, 01:17 PM
What can I say, I'm cheap :blush:
:whistle:

Actually I have seen a few comparisions between mac and pc's that have shown mac to not be as expensive as thought and in one ot two cases cheaper, don't have time to look for them at the moment. In the end of the day pick something that your happy with and suits your needs.

TurboTomato
8th-February-2007, 01:21 PM
hmm budget is £500 - £600ish and you suggest a £750 macbook. If £150 qualifies for "ish". i'll be asking DavidJames to lend me £1-ish ! :)


And your £750 only gets you 1/2gGb of ram and a 60Gb hard drive.

I've just bought a Toshiba laptop for about the same amount, yet I have a 100Gb hard drive, 2Gb ram and a lovely 17 inch widescreen.

Lee Bartholomew
8th-February-2007, 01:32 PM
I did used to be a mac lover when I worked with them but then found them too restrictive whith what i wanted to do programming wise.

Yes Windows does have more viruses adware etc but then if your going to the trouble of writting this mal ware then why target a minority when your code could be spread about alot more with the majority.

If macs dominated (God forbid) It would be a role reversal with mal ware too and we would all be complaining about the mac O/S and how Steve Jobs is the devil etc.

How many High streets sell mac stuff (hardware / Software?) I have yet to come across a high street computer shop that does (OK PC world but we don't count them).

Dreadful Scathe
8th-February-2007, 01:33 PM
:whistle:

Actually I have seen a few comparisions between mac and pc's that have shown mac to not be as expensive as thought and in one ot two cases cheaper, don't have time to look for them at the moment. In the end of the day pick something that your happy with and suits your needs.

DavidJames is not cheap, he's sensible ;) I would love to see these "few comparisons" as I think you are making it all up. I doubt that they are "in one or two cases cheaper" :) Then again, it is very hard to do a like for like comparison between a Mac and a PC :)

Dreadful Scathe
8th-February-2007, 01:44 PM
Yes Windows does have more viruses adware etc but then if your going to the trouble of writting this mal ware then why target a minority when your code could be spread about alot more with the majority.

True but it does not necessarily follow that....


If macs dominated (God forbid) It would be a role reversal with mal ware too and we would all be complaining about the mac O/S and how Steve Jobs is the devil etc.

...because OSX is unix based and not built on shaky foundations. Steve Jobs will always be cooler than Bill Gates ;)



How many High streets sell mac stuff (hardware / Software?) I have yet to come across a high street computer shop that does (OK PC world but we don't count them).

Its only the bigger shops like PC world, Game and the like that do. Its purely a numbers game, they don't stock Amiga titles either and thats a far better computer than a PC :) Ill bet they'll order stuff in if they can.

Its also worth pointing out that you get Apple shops, all 8 of them in England :(, as well as an official online shop - so the marketing is substantially different and always has been. You don't get PC stuff in Apple shops ;)

ducasi
8th-February-2007, 01:45 PM
Yes if we are talking nice looking PCs the VAIOs are lovely. As are Alienwares. ACER and ASUS do Ferrari and Lamborghini badged laptops that are a bit fancier, but not really by much. MACs stand out because they are all nice whereas with PC laptop you pay a bit more for a design, which is handy for your wallet if you dont care what it looks like.

Heres a VAIO picture (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/20INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=VGNTXN17P%2fT&Dept=computers&CategoryName=cpu_VAIONotebookComputers_TXSeries) :)
One of the things I really appreciate about Apple laptops over any other laptop I've seen (including vaios) is how the clean design extends to the underside of the laptop.

ducasi
8th-February-2007, 01:48 PM
[...] Funnily enough the only program that causes problems is MSN Mesenger. [...]
Ditch MSN Messenger, and install Adium X (http://www.adiumx.com/) – now at version 1.0!!!

Beowulf
8th-February-2007, 02:05 PM
One of the things I really appreciate about Apple laptops over any other laptop I've seen (including vaios) is how the clean design extends to the underside of the laptop.

must be the weather.. but all this ice.. and that comment above made me thing.. "Which laptop would be better in a game of Curling? I think people may baulk at the idea of shoving your £1000+ laptop up an ice rink...

so why does clean design mean better? better looking perhaps. less friction perhaps..

I mean..I can't say ANYTHING about design or style.. you should see what I'm using :( :blush: :tears:

Dreadful Scathe
8th-February-2007, 02:09 PM
Ditch MSN Messenger, and install Adium X (http://www.adiumx.com/) – now at version 1.0!!!
nah - why install a program at all, waste of space - use www.meebo.com and you can use it anywhere in the world from any computer on the net :)

pmjd
8th-February-2007, 02:52 PM
DavidJames is not cheap, he's sensible ;) I would love to see these "few comparisons" as I think you are making it all up. I doubt that they are "in one or two cases cheaper" :) Then again, it is very hard to do a like for like comparison between a Mac and a PC :)

Here's two quick comparisons I found for Dell versus Apple, the Mac Pro (http://www.macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/dell_cannot_compete/) and the Macbook Pro (http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/02/14/pricecomparison2/index.php?lsrc=mwrss). They are both a bit out of date and from mac news websites but I'll look properly later to see if I can find anymore up to date info that is a little more impartial.

Lee Bartholomew
8th-February-2007, 02:59 PM
must be the weather.. but all this ice.. and that comment above made me thing.. "Which laptop would be better in a game of Curling? I think people may baulk at the idea of shoving your £1000+ laptop up an ice rink...

so why does clean design mean better? better looking perhaps. less friction perhaps..

I mean..I can't say ANYTHING about design or style.. you should see what I'm using :( :blush: :tears:


Im now sold on one.

Can turn it upside down and practise spinning.:clap:

Rick
8th-February-2007, 03:16 PM
This thread caught my eye but found the unqualified opinions merely expressing personal hate. Is there any reason for this. If it is just about price then you do get what you pay for.

Don't try and compare Macs and PC laptops spec like for like, it's pointless.
A 1.67 processor Mac out performs many if not all 3.0 PCs simply because the run and process data far more efficiently.

I have had many lap tops, mainly Toshiba. They all had excellent features but ultimatly were prone ( like every desktop PC I have had) to crashing.

I have had my current Laptop (17" Powerbook G4) for 18 months. Yes it cost a little more but it has NOT CRASHED once.
To me this is invaluable as I use it extensively every day.
It's fast and silent. I love it

To buy software I just go online and order. It's easy. Slightly more hassle than to be able to buy of the shelf I agree.

Save up and buy something you will be delighted with rather than wanting to put your foot through.

Rick

Stuart M
8th-February-2007, 03:20 PM
Its also worth pointing out that you get Apple shops, all 8 of them in England :(, as well as an official online shop - so the marketing is substantially different and always has been. You don't get PC stuff in Apple shops ;)
There is an Apple store scheduled to open later in 2007 at 147 Buchanan Street, Glasgow (http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/01/24/glasgow.store.approval/) (Building where the Pier is located, for those who know Buchanan Street).

David Bailey
8th-February-2007, 03:42 PM
This thread caught my eye but found the unqualified opinions merely expressing personal hate. Is there any reason for this.
I'm certainly unqualified, but on this area I'm reasonably open-minded, I think.


If it is just about price then you do get what you pay for.
Probably true, but I just want a nice simple cheap laptop - and Apple doesn't do those. I don't care about style, or high-performance, or any of that other Nice Stuff - it's just a tool, for goodness' sake.

If I can do what I want for £500, why should I spend £1,000+ ? :confused:

Why do you care so much? It's a computer...

Rick
8th-February-2007, 03:58 PM
Hi David

If I can do what I want for £500, why should I spend £1,000+ ? :confused:

My experience (over many years) is that expensive pc computers are still very unreliable, constantly crashing and dreadfully slow. Cheap computers are infinately worse.
I've had about 12 different PCs all fairly quickly went the same way.
So, CAN it do what you want it to?

Why do you care so much? It's a computer...[/QUOTE]

I Don't! It's your money! I have experiance and thought I could help

Rick

ducasi
8th-February-2007, 03:58 PM
Why do you care so much? It's a computer...
If you have to ask that, you haven't used a Mac – or at least, not one recently. :)

David Bailey
8th-February-2007, 04:09 PM
If you have to ask that, you haven't used a Mac – or at least, not one recently. :)

I've used Macs, Windows, Linux, and Next in my time. I worked for a company selling Windows emulation packages for Macs for several years, so I've had some exposure.

Computers are tools - what matters is how you use them :wink:

Dreadful Scathe
8th-February-2007, 04:38 PM
Don't try and compare Macs and PC laptops spec like for like, it's pointless.
A 1.67 processor Mac out performs many if not all 3.0 PCs simply because the run and process data far more efficiently.

Nonsense, thats far too general and whilst true in some cases would not be true in all - even for the use YOU put the Mac to. Not biased at all are you :)

A sensible test would be to perform specific tasks with each computer and grade them accordingly. Criteria could be - ability to perform task, tools to do task, available user help for task, cost/ and ease of purchase of extras for task, speed of task, user experience of completing task etc..

and the tasks could be :

playing the latest games, compiling code, creating videos, networking to other computers, adding external devices

I think you'd find the PC does rather well over all :)


I have had many lap tops, mainly Toshiba. They all had excellent features but ultimately were prone ( like every desktop PC I have had) to crashing.

I could suggest this is a user problem rather than a PC problem ;), not having had that problem myself despite going through about 30 computers and laptops in the last 10 years. But I agree crashes are more likely with windows -if we compare OSX to XP - XP "wins" with more viruses, spyware, loopholes in its most common software IE , MSN and Outlook Express , and a bigger array of stupid shareware programs and executables claiming to be something they are not. XP also wins for choice of programs, ability to run games (directX), ability to upgrade, ability to build yourself etc.. A little bit of knowledge and a few key programs go a long way to making NONE of the nasty things harm your experience of PCs. Perhaps with Macs you do not need to bother but is that reason enough to get a Mac over a PC ? Thats up to individuals :).



Save up and buy something you will be delighted with rather than wanting to put your foot through.


Many find the Mac just as frustrating, you are speaking from your own experience alone :) Heres a good quote from here (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2006031,00.html)that sums up PC vs Mac


"PCs are a bit rubbish yet ultimately lovable, whereas Macs are just smug, preening tossers."

Dreadful Scathe
8th-February-2007, 04:41 PM
I
Computers are tools -

no, thats users :)

David Bailey
8th-February-2007, 04:43 PM
Heres a good quote from here (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2006031,00.html)that sums up PC vs Mac

Blimey, scary person:

I hate Macs. I have always hated Macs. I hate people who use Macs. I even hate people who don't use Macs but sometimes wish they did.
:eek:

Anyone would think mac users are Ceroc bouncy-handers or something. :whistle:

killingtime
8th-February-2007, 05:24 PM
If you want something for Games, useablility, software and support get a pc.

If we are talking Windows here I feel MS have been sliding away from a consistent, well developed UI for some time. Apple actually have design guidelines and developers tend to actually stick to them. Usability is one thing I'd say Windows is lacking and is increasingly getting worse at.

Also support? How so? Surely support is something that each company gives and Apple are generally good at customer support. Furthermore though upgrading is fairly limited on the Mac it does mean that device drivers are very much under Apple's control. Whereas if I upgrade to a 64bit Vista I have to have signed drivers for anything I want to use otherwise it just will blank out not work.

Have to agree with games and, to a degree, software though. But the latter is slowly changing.


If you want something to conect to your overpriced iPod, iPhone and iShoes (sure it will happen soon) get a mac.

You can do those with a PC as well. Why do you need a mac for that?


I did used to be a mac lover when I worked with them but then found them too restrictive whith what i wanted to do programming wise.

What language did you use that stopped you using a Mac? I guess if you want to use .NET and Visual Studios you are stuck. If you want to work with the Windows API I'd not recommend them either :D.

Dreadful Scathe
8th-February-2007, 06:24 PM
Have to agree with games and, to a degree, software though. But the latter is slowly changing.

Yes but extremely sloooooowly. How many of the latest games are going to be released on the Mac? Ironically the PC is often NOT the first platform a game is available for its often a console now :) Now Mac has intel based hardware, perhaps it will become cheaper for the developers and thus more likely to happen.



What language did you use that stopped you using a Mac? I guess if you want to use .NET and Visual Studios you are stuck. If you want to work with the Windows API I'd not recommend them either :D.

Its not just the language - is the application of choice available for the Mac ? I use PL/SQL developer and there is no Mac version.

killingtime
8th-February-2007, 06:44 PM
Yes but extremely sloooooowly. How many of the latest games are going to be released on the Mac? Ironically the PC is often NOT the first platform a game is available for its often a console now :) Now Mac has intel based hardware, perhaps it will become cheaper for the developers and thus more likely to happen.

Ah that's why I was talking more about software rather than games (though I know that games are software). A lot of engines are becoming more flexible due to the different platforms anyway (given how much a PS3 library and cell processor differs from an Intel/Direct X based model for example). The likes of the Source engine are tied to a DirextX solution, I don't think it would be trivial to port to a OSX based system. If you are using OpenGL instead of Direct3D I expect you'd find it easier. We've left the stage in development where people tend to over-specialise engines to take advantage of every last trick an architecture can give you (or at least they make it modular enough that it's easier to interchange the low level stuff).

Often they are then left to porting companies who take on the job of redeveloping the game for the other platform, often arriving later and more expensive than the original.


Its not just the language - is the application of choice available for the Mac ? I use PL/SQL developer and there is no Mac version.

Fair enough. Visual Studio was another example of tools not available on OSX. Still I see more portable tools being used for the development of toolsets (such as Eclipse or using wXWindows etc) will increase the likelihood of these tools appears on other platforms in the future. I get that that isn't much help for now though :D.

David Bailey
8th-February-2007, 08:37 PM
Good grief, all I did was mention buying a laptop... :rolleyes:

ducasi
8th-February-2007, 09:01 PM
Good grief, all I did was mention buying a laptop... :rolleyes:
You should know better by now! :rolleyes:

David Bailey
8th-February-2007, 10:21 PM
You should know better by now! :rolleyes:
:yeah:
And I thought the writer "Framemaker vs. Word" fights were dumb...

LMC
8th-February-2007, 10:43 PM
Shouldn't this section of the forum have "except DavidJames" added to "Be warned that a strong bias towards Apple products will be shown by moderators / admins!" bit?

Lynn
8th-February-2007, 10:50 PM
Good grief, all I did was mention buying a laptop... :rolleyes:Been there....

Posting from my new PC laptop. Cost won out for me.

Feelingpink
9th-February-2007, 10:58 AM
Good grief, all I did was mention buying a laptop... :rolleyes:True. You're right, they're just tools. I just like something that works: to move a file you drag & drop, to make something open in its application you double click, to attach an external HD, you plug in the firewire cable and it appears on the desktop. Then you can get on with using it (PC friends seem to spend their lives scratching their heads about their firewall and viral protection and wondering if that is the reason the processor is running slowly).

If I needed to justify buying a Mac over a PC on financial grounds, a Mac would easily win on productivity alone. Stroking the silver casing and the impression it gives clients is just a bonus.

DJ, you haven't said why you want a laptop. Are you likely to need loads of processor power? Most people seem to like the biggest and the best, but don't actually need that strength.

FP (who can justify on business grounds a need for the new G5 box, but is waiting for the new OS)

killingtime
9th-February-2007, 11:36 AM
DJ, you haven't said why you want a laptop. Are you likely to need loads of processor power? Most people seem to like the biggest and the best, but don't actually need that strength.

Yup. I get you might want a 17" laptop if you are using it for your primary machine (even then I'd say docking a smaller one is better). I prefer my laptop as small as it can be while still being usable. Much more portable that way.

David Bailey
9th-February-2007, 11:50 AM
DJ, you haven't said why you want a laptop. Are you likely to need loads of processor power? Most people seem to like the biggest and the best, but don't actually need that strength.
Basically as a second machine, mainly at home, for me to use whilst my son learns the valuable life skills imparted by the Cbeebies web site. :D

I don't intend to carry it around a lot, but I do want that option - so weight isn't a major problem, but I'd like a decent-sized screen.

I'll mainly be using it for work and of course Forum browsing :)

Dreadful Scathe
9th-February-2007, 11:50 AM
I just like something that works: to move a file you drag & drop, to make something open in its application you double click, to attach an external HD, you plug in the firewire cable and it appears on the desktop.

Which describes perfectly how a PC works too :) Except for the HD icon appearing on the desktop - it asks you what you want to do with the files instead.

Feelingpink
9th-February-2007, 12:29 PM
Basically as a second machine, mainly at home, for me to use whilst my son learns the valuable life skills imparted by the Cbeebies web site. :D
...Fabulous. Hope he likes Charlie & Lola too - you can draw butterflies on there - and when you're finished, you can 'cut' them out and they flutter away.

David Bailey
9th-February-2007, 12:56 PM
Fabulous. Hope he likes Charlie & Lola too - you can draw butterflies on there - and when you're finished, you can 'cut' them out and they flutter away.
Yes, that was a favourite of his a whole 2 weeks ago. :)

Seahorse
9th-February-2007, 02:08 PM
DJ, you haven't said why you want a laptop. Are you likely to need loads of processor power? Most people seem to like the biggest and the best, but don't actually need that strength.

Much depends on use. I have a G5 powermac at work and also at home - monster machines which have paid for themselves several times over with their graphics and multimedia work.

My only criticism of these (and my investigations of the Apple intel laptop) is the amount of heat that they generate when the fans kick in (you might hear of the power leads melting on early intel macbooks pro - this I'm told has been fixed). All the fans running simultaneously on a tower sounds similar to a car accelerating.

The extra cost when compared to a PC is incidental when equated against the business benefits.

(I do own a PC laptop running XP Pro as well!)

chris

Lee Bartholomew
9th-February-2007, 06:58 PM
:rofl:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Rjpn3L3bSJQ&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFAJDbV9Vfs&NR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-L-0s-7-Z0&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8lW8ndh5BU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MG_O3Y8JD4&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1AfL0Tsqp8&mode=related&search=

Was only a matter of time.

WARNING some contain swearing.

Ian W
15th-February-2007, 01:54 PM
If you know someone is full-time education then you can get approx 17% discount if they order an Apple PC or laptop online via the university network (the Apple Store recognises where you are browsing from).

The dual core Apple's are very impressive when you see them running, and switching between, two OS's.

Re. instant messanging clients, I use Gaim on Ubuntu linux ....

"Gaim is a multi-protocol instant messaging (IM) client for Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and Windows. It is compatible with AIM and ICQ (Oscar protocol), MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Lotus Sametime, and Zephyr networks."

http://gaim.sourceforge.net/

It might not be as feature rich as MSN, but it does basic messanging very well.

Ian

TheTramp
15th-February-2007, 02:57 PM
If you know someone is full-time education then you can get approx 17% discount if they order an Apple PC or laptop online via the university network (the Apple Store recognises where you are browsing from).

So, if anyone wants to order one, feel free to see me, and we'll split the difference eh! :wink:

Dreadful Scathe
16th-February-2007, 08:55 AM
cant someone just tell me an IP address of the university network :)