O/T - Thinking of getting a MacBook Pro.

[bhaexpress]

I don't have to do any of that on my Mac !

You think ? They slow down and break down too. However you will have paid at least twice as much. That procedure I mentioned needs to be run about once a year, hardly an effort. Of course I see at least 200 PCs for every Mac I see, just easier in the long run.

 

[Fungus]

Its good to read about another linux user. What distro are you running? I have been running Ubuntu for the few years on my machine, not had one single issue and every release gets better and better.

Got Ubuntu on a second PC. Itching to try it on my netbook, as XP is slowing down drastically. Will probably do a dual-boot, though.

 

[Bozza]

My Macbook Pro has not been rebooted for 5 or 6 months now and it's still as zippy as a zippy thing.

Close the lid at night and open in the morning and it's good-to-go immediately and will happily churn away all day long.

Oh, and it's beautiful too. I love it.

 

[bhaexpress]

My Macbook Pro has not been rebooted for 5 or 6 months now and it's still as zippy as a zippy thing.

Close the lid at night and open in the morning and it's good-to-go immediately and will happily churn away all day long.

Oh, and it's beautiful too. I love it.

What slows down PCs is invariably spyware which, like viruses, are aimed at the far more common PC. Not very hard to get of but with a decent Internet Security package (not free AVG for example) it's not an issue anyway. I've just picked up a three user license for Webroot for £10 on Ebay, bit cheaper than buying a Mac.

 

[tinx]

What slows down PCs is invariably spyware which, like viruses, are aimed at the far more common PC. Not very hard to get of but with a decent Internet Security package (not free AVG for example) it's not an issue anyway. I've just picked up a three user license for Webroot for £10 on Ebay, bit cheaper than buying a Mac.

With the best anti spyware etc in the world, no way could you run a PC without rebooting for 6 months and not see the performance drop through the floor.

 

[Bozza]

1. I'm happy to pay a premium price for what is a premium product. I appreciate some others are not able to or simply do not want to. But even if I wasn't...

2. Whilst an Apple computer undoubtedly costs more up front than an equivalent PC, I'd be surprised if the total cost of ownership is greater, given...

- time waiting for PC to power down and reboot, either as a matter of course or as part of a "reboot to complete installation" of new software or software upgrades.

- time spent installing/updating software or patterns for software to protect the machine from the evils of the world.

(simply: my time is very valuable and I don't want to waste it keeping a machine up and running so that it will work when I want it to.)

- the very high resale value of a Mac. Even an old machine will sell for £hundreds when a similarly aged PC is pretty much worthless.

 

[bhaexpress]

With the best anti spyware etc in the world, no way could you run a PC without rebooting for 6 months and not see the performance drop through the floor.

True but in order to save the environment I turn mine off.

 

[bhaexpress]

1. I'm happy to pay a premium price for what is a premium product. I appreciate some others are not able to or simply do not want to. But even if I wasn't...

2. Whilst an Apple computer undoubtedly costs more up front than an equivalent PC, I'd be surprised if the total cost of ownership is greater, given...

- time waiting for PC to power down and reboot, either as a matter of course or as part of a "reboot to complete installation" of new software or software upgrades.

- time spent installing/updating software or patterns for software to protect the machine from the evils of the world.

(simply: my time is very valuable and I don't want to waste it keeping a machine up and running so that it will work when I want it to.)

- the very high resale value of a Mac. Even an old machine will sell for £hundreds when a similarly aged PC is pretty much worthless.

Quite true, I guess most organisations haven't seen this saving yet.

 

[adrian29uk]

I was considering a Mac before they went over to Intel Processors. I had my eye on Power Mac with G5 processor. For me the G5 processor made the Mac different and justified the extra cost. After Macs went over to Intel processors, It felt like I was just buying an expensive PC once you compare motherboards and processors inside the Mac to the off the shelf price.

Then on top of this Ubuntu Linux was getting better so I could really not justify spending out loads of money.
So now I just run Windows for work and Ubuntu on my home machine.

I admit the Apple looks like a lovely machine, the OS is built on top of Unix which means its way more stable than Windows. Ubuntu is also built on top of Unix also so again it shares the same characteristics of stability. 30 second boot time, and 5 second shut down. Runs for months and months without any issues and still feels zippy even after installing tons of packages.

The biggest issue with Ubuntu was running Dreamweaver and Photoshop in the early days. Well Dreamweaver 8 and Photoshop 7 run perfectly in WINE these days as quick or better than in Windows, so again I could not see any reason to get a Mac. I know these verions of Dreamweaver are old but they still do the job.

 

[Fef]

You think ? They slow down and break down too. However you will have paid at least twice as much. That procedure I mentioned needs to be run about once a year, hardly an effort. Of course I see at least 200 PCs for every Mac I see, just easier in the long run.

Yup. I think.

I work in the IT sector and use a PC for work-based stuff, and use my MacBook Pro for hobby and everyday stuff. I've had to rebuild my Vaio twice since I've had it, as it got so slooow, but my MacBook - admittedly a little slower than when new - just keeps rolling along.

In my pre-Apple days, I found I had to defrag and clean the crap out of my registry every 4-6 months; I've had fans replaced on Sony laptop, two motherboards replaced on a HP laptop (that is really dire kit). I'm more than happy to pay more (but its not at least twice as much) for decent build quality, which I know will outlast the cheaper laptops with their built-in obsolescence.

Yes - it is easier in the long run!

 

[lost in london]

I'm thinking of getting a mac. I used both a PC and Mac for work but would like a Mac Book Pro for home. I have thousands of itunes tracks on my old PC (XP) how easy is it to get it all off and on a new mac if I decide to go for one?

I'm a computer numpty, but when I did the switch I googled how to transfer all my stuff across and ended up using an ethernet cable to send it over. It ended up being pretty painless, and there are some good 'hot to' guides out there.

 

[lost in london]

Another thing to remember when considering the switch is that you can run Windows on a Mac. You need to partition the hard drive (a lot easier than it sounds) and load windows onto the bit of the hard drive you've allocated for windows. You'll need the Windows discs of course, but after setting it all up it runs well. Apple have produced a great guide on how to install windows.

 

[adrian29uk]

Another thing to remember when considering the switch is that you can run Windows on a Mac. You need to partition the hard drive (a lot easier than it sounds) and load windows onto the bit of the hard drive you've allocated for windows. You'll need the Windows discs of course, but after setting it all up it runs well. Apple have produced a great guide on how to install windows.

That's the part I don't get. Why would you want to infect your lovely machine by installing Windows. I know there are some things you cant run on Mac, however when you put Windows on your Mac does it not ruin your experience. It then becomes a PC in a Mac case. You might as well buy a second hand mac case, sling some components in and then build a hackintosh

Install OS X on Your Hackintosh PC, No Hacking Required

 

[lost in london]

That's the part I don't get. Why would you want to infect your lovely machine by installing Windows. I know there are some things you cant run on Mac, however when you put Windows on your Mac does it not ruin your experience. It then becomes a PC in a Mac case. You might as well buy a second hand mac case, sling some components in and then build a hackintosh

Install OS X on Your Hackintosh PC, No Hacking Required

You don't even know Windows is there. Your machine boots up into the Mac operating system every time exactly as normal. When you want to use Windows, click on the apple icon, system preferences and click to re-boot into Windows. When you're done with Windows, a couple of clicks shuts it down and re-starts in Mac OS. I use Windows very rarely, and for a programme that does not function in Mac OSX.

 

[Bold Seagull]

That's the part I don't get. Why would you want to infect your lovely machine by installing Windows. I know there are some things you cant run on Mac, however when you put Windows on your Mac does it not ruin your experience. It then becomes a PC in a Mac case. You might as well buy a second hand mac case, sling some components in and then build a hackintosh

Install OS X on Your Hackintosh PC, No Hacking Required

There are a few major software makers and specialist software that only run on Windoze i.e. AutoDesk's AutoCAD products (although that is coming out on a Mac version). I don't think anyone is suggesting you run Windoze on your Mac permanently, but those concerned they may not be able to run Windoze only applications, know that they can turn it on when they need it. I agree with your point however, buying a Mac to only run Windoze on it would be pointless!

 

[bhaexpress]

Yup. I think.

I work in the IT sector and use a PC for work-based stuff, and use my MacBook Pro for hobby and everyday stuff. I've had to rebuild my Vaio twice since I've had it, as it got so slooow, but my MacBook - admittedly a little slower than when new - just keeps rolling along.

In my pre-Apple days, I found I had to defrag and clean the crap out of my registry every 4-6 months; I've had fans replaced on Sony laptop, two motherboards replaced on a HP laptop (that is really dire kit). I'm more than happy to pay more (but its not at least twice as much) for decent build quality, which I know will outlast the cheaper laptops with their built-in obsolescence.

Yes - it is easier in the long run!

Well your first msiatke was buying a Sony, they're notorious for hardware faults despite being expensive. It does amaze me that no company I have ever seen has invested in basic PC tuning software. I know from the improvements I can get from using something ASC it's quite amazing the improvement a bit of free software can bring. One thing to remember is that if more people bought Macs then there would be a lot more people putting viruses and spyware on them. That's what slows a PC.

 

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

There's lots of good advice on hear folks, thank you.

I have heard there is due to be a new MacBook Pro released in Feb 2011....is anyone able to verify?

A bit more research also opens up the potential for USB 3.0 on a new release. I'm not much of a techie but it looks like this is going to be a massive leap in technology and could be worth trying to hang on for it. Is anyone more in the know?

 

[bhaexpress]

There's lots of good advice on hear folks, thank you.

I have heard there is due to be a new MacBook Pro released in Feb 2011....is anyone able to verify?

A bit more research also opens up the potential for USB 3.0 on a new release. I'm not much of a techie but it looks like this is going to be a massive leap in technology and could be worth trying to hang on for it. Is anyone more in the know?

To be honest Macs don't age the way PCs do. You wouldn't miss out much if you bought one now.

 

[Bozza]

Apple rarely announce new product ahead of time as people will then stop buying old models and wait. Rather they tend to announce and release at the same time.

Macrumors has a buyers guide that tracks product releases and can give a good idea if something is due soon based on past release schedules...

Mac Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy Your Mac, iPod or iPhone

 

[eastlondonseagull]

This is the one I got six months ago, the MC373B/A - excellent laptop. 15" display, i7 processor, 2.66ghz, 500Gb hard drive, 4Gb RAM.
Was £1800 in John Lewis when I was comparing prices, now £1699. But I paid £1350 on eBay for brand new, sealed unit. Definitely recommend eBay.

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