Mac or Windows laptop - any advice?

[Withdean and I]

Our laptop has given up and is quite old now.

I see MacBook Air laptops are top rated by 'Which' but we've always used Windows so far so all stuff is excel spreadsheets, word docs etc.

Also store lots of photos and digital home movies which we burn onto DVD using internal writer that Macs don't have.

I'm also concerned that Mac storage is only 128gb. Doesn't seem much.

Have an iPad and love the simplicity of iOS but worry the change will be to much on a laptop.

Any help much appreciated.

 

[Beach Hut]

We bought windows for MAC and never looked back if it helps

 

[Stockseagull]

Don't buy laptop. Windows 8 is awful. If you have an iPad you will regret it. I have had a samsung laptop with i5 processor for last year and am about to throw it out of window. MacBook Air is more expensive but is what I am going to get.

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

If you can afford a Macbook, get a Macbook. They are superior in everyway. My 2007 model is still flying along nicely

 

[sussexseagullHH]

Be warned the macbook air dosnt come with a CD drive (im guessing because it so thin), you have to pay for an external one. Caught my friend out last week when she went to put all her CD's on Itunes. Macbook Pros are great, well worth having a chat with someone in the Apple store to see if you like Macs. Macs are incredibley reliable which is huge plus. If you want a computer for internet and general normal computer things you may opt to save your money for a cheaper Windows computer.

 

[omgitsjames]

one thing to keep in mind coming from a windows environment is that you will most likely have to repurchase mac versions of software that you use on windows. if you use programs that are only available on windows, stick with a windows computer unless you really really really want a mac and will deal with bootcamp/Virtualization.

 

[Windows]

It all comes down to budget.

If you are loaded, an Apple MacBook is the classy option, but if you are not like most of us, a decent branded Windows laptop is definitely the best way to go, particularly if you already know your way around "Windows"

 

[Surf's Up]

I switched from Windows to an Apple MacBook for my home computing about 5 years ago. My initial concerns about having to learn a new operating system were completely unfounded. I still have to use Windows at work and it really highlights how superior Apple is on almost every front.

 

[yxee]

4 months ago I would have recommended the macbook, now all the other competitors are putting 4th gen chips in their new machines so there's not much of an advantage any more, just another expensive ultrabook that sacrifices nearly everything for size and weight. Don't get an air if you want a CD drive, there are plenty of alternatives that don't come with the huge price mark-up if you happen to want more than 128 GB as well, and that don't charge you £25 for a charging cable or £18 for the capability to connect your laptop to a monitor with non-proprietary connections.


no need to spend £1000 on something for excel and home movies.

 

[Bozza]

Once you've had Mac, you never go back.

 

[mwrpoole]

If your are considering a Mac it's worth taking a look at the Apple refurb store. I got a 13" MacBook Pro nearly 3 years ago from there, it was 6 months old but was in mint condition and had the remaining 30 months extended Apple care warranty, plus it was preloaded with Office 2011 for Mac which was a bonus. They really are worth the extra spend, it still boots up in seconds even 3 years later.

If you take a look on Ebay you'll see hundreds for sale but check out the prices for used Macs, that probably tells you all you need to know.

 

[scooter1]

Once you've had Mac, you never go back.

Pretty much this is what I hear every day. Missus has an iphone, we have an ipad mini, and budget allowing our next computer purchase will be a macbook

 

[Bold Seagull]

Are Mac's expensive?

I bought a MacBookPro at the end of 2006, and 7 years later it is still a superb machine. It's an intelcore2duo 2.4ghz, max'd out with 6GB RAM, and it still handles Photoshop, InDesign, Web design, video very well. My wife uses it now, and I have a newer 2011 MacBookPro Quad core i7 bought for £800 off ebay (well, privately for cash after the seller dropping the listing ), and again it's superb, and I expect it, like it's predecessor to be lasting a good 6 or 7 years and beyond.

If you buy a used Mac, the Apple Stores are more than happy for you to take it in and give it a health check. I've gone in with a couple of Mac's, including my Dad buying a used one, and they are more than helpful - and are enthusiastic even about people getting into Macs via the used market.

You can check the Applecare status of a Mac by getting the serial no. off the seller and checking it here: https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do

Another avenue is the Apple Refurb Store - http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac
You still get the warranty, and they are often machines just returned to Apple for no reason etc.

This place also has some good deals with a warranty, and mostly deal in corporate sales of Macs when offices just have a clearout. http://www.thelaptopcentre.co.uk/apple-mac-laptops.html

If you only use Windows for Word / Excel, just get the office package for Mac, or a free office package like LibreOffice. If you really want to use Windows, it will of course work very well, but it is inferior compared to OSX.

 

[Smithy]

If it is within your budget, I would go for the new Macbook Pro 13 inch with retina display. The baseline model only comes with 128gb storage and 4gb of ram, so get the next level up which comes with 256gb storage and 8gb of ram.

 

[willyfantastic]

If it is within your budget, I would go for the new Macbook Pro 13 inch with retina display. The baseline model only comes with 128gb storage and 4gb of ram, so get the next level up which comes with 256gb storage and 8gb of ram.

i got the next level up mbp with extra ram and storage about 2 weeks ago - incredible machine, boots up in seconds, extremely light and thin but still retains all the power of the macbook pro vs. the air

i've had pcs most of my life (except a brief foray into an 11" powerbook about 7 years ago which i didnt like) but when my latest laptop gave me its latest problem i'd had enough

my dad has had macs all his life and has just bought the latest macbook pro. his previous laptop was about 6 years old and still works fine, albeit slowly compared to newer models. he has an imac he still uses thats the same age, and even has a 10 year old imac (the one that looks like a lamp) that still boots up and works

 

[Bold Seagull]

and even has a 10 year old imac (the one that looks like a lamp) that still boots up and works

My kids still my old PowerBook G4 from about 12 years ago, which doesn't do Flash, but they surf the web, and do homework on it etc. Still a decent enough machine to be honest. Not that the OP will want one of those, but that is the longevity you get as you've said.

 

[CheeseRolls]

I would suggest checking Macbook Air prices versus the leading shonky brand and decide for yourself where the value lies.

http://www.apple.com/uk/mac/compare/notebooks.html
http://www.simplyasus.com/Products/cat/Laptops/refine/46562~144409

 

[Gary Leeds]

MacBooks hold their value very well compared to Windows based laptops. As has been said just look at the prices that 3-4 year old Macs sell for and then look at the prices for Windows laptops. Yes you will pay more to start off with and the small storage space is an issue depending on what you want to do but I got round this by buying a 64gb SDCard that lives permanently in the card slot of my MBP which I run all the windows software from meaning my bootcamp partition can be a lot smaller than normal. Plus you get the retina display which is clearer in my mind than any other display I have seen.

Open Office is available for the Mac and can open all MS Office documents so there is not the problem reading them.

Lack of DVD drive I thought would be an issue for me but I have never once found myself missing it but it sounds like that is an essential thing for your needs. You can get a cheaper USB drive but as the MBP only have 2 USB ports (a major flaw in my mind when you only have 256gb of storage available and find an external drive and a mouse are needed for working in the office you are then out of ports) and they are on the opposite sides of the computer you might struggle to plug it in. Or of course you go for the superdrive but this still takes a USB port up (Why no thunderbolt version Apple?).

Personally I would look at your budget and plan to that, look at the features of everything in your range and make sure you get what you need and don't pay for extras that you don't need. And remember, a Windows based laptop will be much much easier to add a bigger hard drive or more ram at a later date if you need it, with a macbook you have to make that decision now and pay for it now. There is no going back and adding an extra 4gb ram later.

And for those that can't stand the look and feel of windows 8, get start8 (www.stardock.com/start8) and turn it back into looking and acting like windows 7. Best $5 I have ever spent

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Our laptop has given up and is quite old now.

I see MacBook Air laptops are top rated by 'Which' but we've always used Windows so far so all stuff is excel spreadsheets, word docs etc.

Also store lots of photos and digital home movies which we burn onto DVD using internal writer that Macs don't have.

I'm also concerned that Mac storage is only 128gb. Doesn't seem much.

Have an iPad and love the simplicity of iOS but worry the change will be to much on a laptop.

Any help much appreciated.

Switched from PC to Macs 14 years ago because it was what I used at work. In short they are great and, in my opinion, a lot easier to use than PCs. You can get Apple versions of Word and Excel (Pages and Numbers) which are pretty much the same, and you can save files as .doc or .xls.

Had very few problems with the machine, or the formats over the years. I would say go for it. In terms of storage, there is the cloud to store stuff, or external hard drives (it's a good idea to back stuff up on these anyway, in case of any problems further down the line).

Once you've had Mac, you never go back.

This, pretty much.

 

[Bold Seagull]

I would suggest checking Macbook Air prices versus the leading shonky brand and decide for yourself where the value lies.

http://www.apple.com/uk/mac/compare/notebooks.html
http://www.simplyasus.com/Products/cat/Laptops/refine/46562~144409

Quite clearly the Air looking at those prices!