Mac advice needed.

[WATFORD O]

Are they any good? I need to get a laptop for my son and I normally get the Sony ones but he is on a design course and Macs are often used by designers. However, are they compatible? I used to have one and I loved it but it wouldnt work with ny other systems.

Thanks in advance.

 

[adrian29uk]

Great machines virus free etc but bloody expensive and slow running the new version of OSX.

You got £1000 because thats what your going to need spend minimum including the software below.

If he is also going on a design course he will need Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Indesign.

You can easily run the programs on Windows.

 

[WATFORD O]

Great machines virus free etc but bloody expensive and slow running the new version of OSX.

You got £1000 because thats what your going to need spend minimum including the software below.

If he is also going on a design course he will need Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Indesign.

You can easily run the programs on Windows.

Do you think a windows based laptop would be better than a mac?

 

[adrian29uk]

It will do exactly the same job for half the price. Many years ago Mac was only choice around. Put it this way I designed a magazine on Windows using Adobe indesign and it went to commercial print as well. I asked exectly the same questions to the people at the printers the room was full of macs and they said there is no difference.

 

[WATFORD O]

It will do exactly the same job for half the price. Many years ago Mac was only choice around. Put it this way I designed a magazine on Windows using Adobe indesign and it went to commercial print as well. I asked exectly the same questions to the people at the printers the room was full of macs and they said there is no difference.

Cheers. Nice one Adrian. Thanks for the advice.

 

[bhaexpress]

You'd be better off buying a Dell, not the cheapest but a better bet as the quality is there. The after sales support is good too.

 

[D'Angelo Saxon]

Get a Mac. End of.

I've used em for about 8 years now as a designer and I've never had a single problem, virus or fault.

 

[Cian]

You'd be better off avoiding Apple laptops for at least a year, they're UTTER SNAILS. G4 is a paralytic processor.

Viruses, software faults, etc are not the fault of the computer but the OS. They're unconnected

Get the Sony. My 2001 Vaio is faster doing the -damn same tasks- in Photoshop CS on Windows as my 2004 Apple is in Photoshop CS on OSX 10.4. Because Mac laptops (and the Mac Mini) are utter shite.

 

[1959]

I've used PCs for years but finally gave up completely this year and went for a Mac.
I should have done it years ago. It made me realise just what a pain in the arse PCs are. The bugs, the viruses, stuff changing inexplicably overnight and the bloody spam.
Get a Mac and forget all of that crap. They're also much more cross-platform than they used to be, so opening old Word/Excel etc documents on my new Mac is perfectly possible.
Go to The Apple Store every Wednesday morning at 10:00 at this address:
http://promo.euro.apple.com/promo/refurb/uk/?&store_type=cons
for some fantastic bargains.
Also, the Mac after-sales service is a million miles better than anything I've evr experienced with a PC.

 

[Cian]

I've used PCs for years but finally gave up completely this year and went for a Mac.
I should have done it years ago. It made me realise just what a pain in the arse PCs are. The bugs, the viruses, stuff changing inexplicably overnight and the bloody spam.

Thats Windows, not the PC platform. BIG difference. Also, viruses, "stuff changing inexplicably", etc, are user errors for the most part. Spam doesn't get stopped by changing OS or changing hardware platform, even if OSX's Mail.app has a spam filter.

Get a Mac and forget all of that crap. They're also much more cross-platform than they used to be, so opening old Word/Excel etc documents on my new Mac is perfectly possible.

By spending $699 on Microsoft Office for the Mac or living with one of the atrocious OpenOffice ports. You're deluding yourself if you think AppleWorks is actually showing you all the contents of a document

Go to The Apple Store every Wednesday morning at 10:00 at this address:
http://promo.euro.apple.com/promo/refurb/uk/?&store_type=cons
for some fantastic bargains.

And a second hand machine

Also, the Mac after-sales service is a million miles better than anything I've evr experienced with a PC.

No, it sucks beyond belief. At least Dell will still talk to you when the box is out of warranty, Apple want €39.99 off my credit card to answer the phone.

They also expect £99.99 for each point release upgrade to the OS, no discounts for owning previous versions (I have 10.1, 10.2, 10.3 and 10.4 all boxed here...). These are free to download at least on all other major OS's

In addition, the ONLY computers I've ever had a safety recall have been Apples - two with exploding battery problems.

 

[tonebha]

pcs are fine - but not for anyone entering the creative world.
if you are going to be mixing with other designers etc then i would seriously advise you to get a mac (choose which model carefully) because they are the people who you will be sharing tips/files/advice and so on with. if you are using a pc you won’t get a great deal of support from the majority of mac based designers/artists/musicians - just because we don’t understand the inner workings of them. however, if you have a mac you will find a great willingness for other mac users to help you whenever possible - a bit like bikers that stop by the roadside to help each other.
of course, the choice is yours - if you consider there really is a choice.
tone

 

[Goring Gull]

McGoo out!!!

Oh sorry you said MAC got abit carried away for a moment.

 

[tedebear]

pcs are fine - but not for anyone entering the creative world.
if you are going to be mixing with other designers etc then i would seriously advise you to get a mac (choose which model carefully) because they are the people who you will be sharing tips/files/advice and so on with. if you are using a pc you won’t get a great deal of support from the majority of mac based designers/artists/musicians - just because we don’t understand the inner workings of them. however, if you have a mac you will find a great willingness for other mac users to help you whenever possible - a bit like bikers that stop by the roadside to help each other.
of course, the choice is yours - if you consider there really is a choice.
tone

exactly what I would have typed if I was quick enough!!

 

[Cian]

pcs are fine - but not for anyone entering the creative world.
if you are going to be mixing with other designers etc then i would seriously advise you to get a mac (choose which model carefully) because they are the people who you will be sharing tips/files/advice and so on with. if you are using a pc you won’t get a great deal of support from the majority of mac based designers/artists/musicians - just because we don’t understand the inner workings of them. however, if you have a mac you will find a great willingness for other mac users to help you whenever possible - a bit like bikers that stop by the roadside to help each other.
of course, the choice is yours - if you consider there really is a choice.
tone

considering the file formats are identical between Windows and OSX versions of applications these days (used not to be, I remember the craptastic "PC Exchange" application on MacOS Classic), sharing files isn't an issue. The software is also generally identical, but usually cheaper on Windows, so advice relating to the software can be shared

In addition, 95% of Mac users don't understand the inner workings of their machine - you ever seen the inane problems people go back to the Apple Store with? You're more likely to find someone able to help with a PC problem than a Mac problem due to force of numbers.

One thing - the number of mouse buttons required to use a computer is directly proportional to the average knowledge of how the machine works among its userbase.

 

[Black Country Seagull]

God get a mac, 2 reasons, they are superior and if he turns up with a pc, the poor child will be the target of non-stop ribbing. The PC's struggle to run design progs and good speeds and the Mac operating systems is light years ahead of windows.

However does he really need a laptop? They restrict you upgrade potential. Also your need to take out the cover on them as well, has it's an expensive piece of kit to repair.

 

[tedebear]

In addition, 95% of Mac users don't understand the inner workings of their machine - you ever seen the inane problems people go back to the Apple Store with? You're more likely to find someone able to help with a PC problem than a Mac problem due to force of numbers.

As far as I'm concerned I don't wish to know the inner workings - I buy something and I expect it to work!!

 

[Cian]

God get a mac, 2 reasons, they are superior and if he turns up with a pc, the poor child will be the target of non-stop ribbing. The PC's struggle to run design progs and good speeds and the Mac operating systems is light years ahead of windows.

Bullshit - OS X is an utter RAM hog, and the average mid-range x86 laptop is about 3x the speed of the -highest-end Powerbook available, as well as being cheaper. The applcations run faster on Windows, and you'll just have to accept that.

Also, an OS that only got decent file searching 6 months ago and still ships with two seperate media players (so 1998...) isn't light years ahead of anything. Apple are the company that have had to spend 8 years catching up, and are just about getting there now.

 

[tonebha]

sorry MYOB but you seem to have missed my point.

 

[Cian]

As far as I'm concerned I don't wish to know the inner workings - I buy something and I expect it to work!!

So do I. However, Mac's don't work. My main one needs its network routing tables modified to route DNS requests (turn web adresses into the server number to find it, oversimplified). On Windows, if this needs doing its done once and that that. On a Mac, it needs to be done at EVERY f***ing POWERON because the OS tries to "fix" stuff for you, and never gets it bloody right

Install Final Cut Pro HD on Tiger and you get a recurrent boot error message about file permissions. Ditto for VirtualPC 7. Oddly enough, Windows apps don't do that to you...

 

[WATFORD O]

Get a Mac. End of.

I've used em for about 8 years now as a designer and I've never had a single problem, virus or fault.

Is it compatible with word etc?