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sunshinedaydream
Trad climber
the big granite bubble
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Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 2, 2008 - 01:35pm PT
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Sorry for the OT... but its pouring rain here in Yosemite, but not cold enough for snow... so I'm shopping for a new laptop...
Advice??
Are Mac's really worth the switch??
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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Muir Woods National Monument, Mill Valley, Ca
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Macs are way overpriced, and you could build a kick-ass PC for a fraction of the cost...
Edit: Oh, I see you're asking about laptops...
Still, you get get a kick-ass PC laptop for a fraction of the cost of a Mac, and Vista is actually fine,
despite what those commercials might lead you to believe. Why do you think PCs are so ubiquitous?
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hoipolloi
climber
A friends backyard with the neighbors wifi
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I disagree about the extreme over price-ed-ness of macs.
Two years ago, I was a die hard PC person. Gaming, programing, music, piracy, I swore macs were the stupidest things ever.
Then over the course of a year I watched a roommate use his iBook Pro for all kinds of things, one day it broke, i dont remember what, it stopped working though. He went to the apple store and a week later he had a perfectly fixed computer, for FREE.
So I got a mac and have decided they are just a FAR better computer for a normal person. They are fast and real simple to use, they have lots of great programs that are also simple to use. And with apple care, you can do just about anything to it and they will fix it free. That was huge for me (I seemed to always be f*cking something up on my PCs).
Go to an apple store and check them out, talk with one of the sales kids, they are fat nerds that love macs and will show you all the cool sh*t they can do.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Having a Mac is like having a non-codependent, loving, and sane relationship with a mature person. It feels aesthetic, and intuitive.
It's costs more and I'd suggest you buy the applecare for a laptop.
Peace
Karl
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firegrunt
climber
Santa Cruz
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I had only used a PC until I bought a MAC last year (got a family discount). You get what you pay for. I would put buying another PC in the same category as buying a used rope on Ebay.
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Redlands
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I switched in 2003, wouldn't go back. Especially now that you can run pc apps on a mac.
Still have to use PCs at work, and it just reinforces why I prefer the mac. If price is an issue, you can surely build out a pc thats really fast with giant memory for cheaper, but a few hundred bucks is well worth the difference to me.
Last time I was in an apple store last summer...maybe only time I was in one, the giant screen i-macs (24"?) with pretty good speed were only about $1100.
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pazreal
Trad climber
Spokane, WA
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Go for the Mac. You will have a great experience and I will echo what most everyone said here about the customer service aspect. Last year my keyboard and trackpad died during a final exam (I was running Windows on my Macbook Pro) and I was forced to handwrite the remainder of the exam. I called Apple right after the exam let out and was really upset that it would fail in that manner at that very moment. They overnighted me a brand new machine (which mind you was a newer model than mine) right away. I received it in the afternoon the next day (less than 24hrs) and with my Time Machine backup was back in business as if it never happened.
Apple for life.
I will also say that I do boot Windows about 2x a year (my school does not have an OS X native testing program) and up until recently to watch the occasional Netflix movie (although that is no longer the case since I just opted in to the Netflix Mac beta).
You won't regret it.
Feel free to ask about any specific questions you may have.
The last thing I will say is that Macs (especially the notebooks) hold their value very well and you will get a good portion of your money back when you sell it. I have financed about 80% of all of my Macs by selling my other Macs.
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ec
climber
ca
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``When you buy a Mac you leave there like a kid on Christmas: You can't wait to get it home and turn it on,'' said Michael Cherry, an analyst at Kirkland, Washington-based Directions on Microsoft. ``Buying Windows is more like buying a used car. I'm not sure I got the right price, I'm not sure it's going to work and I'm not sure what's going to go wrong.''
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aCwEYNK1HRgw&refer=home
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Jingy
Social climber
Flatland, Ca
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sunshinedaydream - Get a Mac.
I have, and have been lovin' it ever since.
Short explanation:
So, when I got my first Mac, I wanted to learn a few things about programming. I learned the processes that go into making an elegant OS. Simplistic at it's core, yet amazingly power and intelligent in it's design, are all qualities I found.
Mainly because it its seemingly intelligent design, I like Apple products.
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snowey
Trad climber
San Diego
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My dad knew nothing about macs but saw that I used a mac laptop and became interested. In his home office he now has a new Dell PC with a big flat screen monitor, an old Sony Vaio PC, and an 23" iMac. They are all plugged in and work fine. Guess which he spends most of his time on?
Its the mac. by a long shot.
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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I am forced to use a PC for much of the day whenever I'm teaching or doing stuff on campus machines (GIS stuff, SAS, etc.). I hate 'em, and can't wait to get home and function efficiently again. And Vista IS a friggen nightmare, despite claims to the contrary. I'm accustomed to having piles of windows from different apps all open and heaped up on my desktop, and at home I run two monitors (occasionally switching one back and forth to an older G4 that still runs Classic). I can easily and efficiently blast around back and forth between windows, apps, monitors, and even machines, thanks to the Mac OS. The Exposé function is the greatest thing ever invented, ever. EVER! And despite often running processor intensive apps simultaneously, and tending to drive sorta fast, I never have problems with the whole shebang crashing or tying up my machine. Much easier to Force-quit a single app on a Mac than on PC, at least in my experience. But, I've loved Macs since waaay before these developments. What Karl said above is quite well-put, although I have had one or two stubborn friends that had some difficulty adapting to the different OS. I recommend a test-drive, but keep your own prejudices and ways of doing things in mind. Another issue some converts have with macs is that there are often several ways of accomplishing the same task; you'll have to find your own preferred modus operandi. Once you're cozy with your way of doing things, however (which shouldn't take too long), Windows just can't hold a candle to it. Oh, and I too, have had great experiences with customer support. Mac fans are rather cultish, but there's a good reason.
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Paulina
Trad climber
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Another voice for a Mac.
I've been using PCs for at least a decade. Most recently, because a lot of AutoCAD-type software (in my case, for electronics and mechanical design) isn't available for Macs. I'm no longer doing that stuff though, and just bought the new MacBook. It's fast, intuitive, there's a lot of cool stuff you can do with the trackpad. Some things like keystrokes will take a while to re-map and get used to, so there'll be a bit of a learning curve. But so far I really like it. Plus, it's pretty. :-)
The only thing is: if you need to use office-type software, you'll probably want to splurge on MS Office for Macs for a smoother transition.
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WBraun
climber
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Mac laptops are best for general use, ie photos audio video etc.
Most people don't do much on their laptops from what I've seen.
But my self I run Windows, Backtrack, unix, many different linux derivatives, and Mac OSX, because of the many different applications I use.
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HighDesertDJ
Trad climber
Arid-zona
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People who like macs like macs. If macs were SO MUCH BETTER OH MY GOD then the world would use Macs but instead most of the world runs PCs. If you are familiar with your PC and are generally happy with it there isn't much reason to switch.
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Jaybro
Social climber
wuz real!
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Get a Mac, you'll save money in the long run over replacing obsolete PC's. The school districts I've worked at are officially PCiezed ( though 90% of the teachers use MACs themselves) but I find it's quicker to do grades, IEP reports, what have you, in the MAC world and translate it into PCease, than it is to go the whole distance in that swamp.
It does depend on what you do, however, if your activities are as varied as Werner's, talk to him, though I think you can do that all from a high end Mac platform, these days...
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TradIsGood
Chalkless climber
the Gunks end of the country
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If you get a Mac laptop...
The case is metal and the Apple warranty does not cover water damage!
Don't take one from an air-conditioned room out into tropical conditions - like say Florida. Condensation will cause problems.
Other than that, they seem to be pretty nice and expensive. Even more expensive if you end up putting windows software on too, just so you can run some windows app(s) you need.
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Anastasia
climber
Not here
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Karl said it best... :)
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I "never" had a better computer than this ibook laptop. I have owned three PCs and two MACs. The MACs have always been more dependable and easier to use.
AF
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Anastasia
climber
Not here
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HighDesertDJ,
Most people buy the cheapest computers they can find that will fit their needs. They don't look at the long term cost since most computers become obsolete in two years. They also don't look for the best that is available. "That is why PC dominate the market."
Macs actually are cheaper if you look at their long run cost for they can remain effective for five+ years. They also have the most stable platform which means they rarely suffer from freezing and random losses of data. Also, my laptop has been in a car crash, used in a classroom and is surviving "me!" As far that I am concerned, I am surprised at how well it is holding. (I have only needed to add some ram and replace the battery to keep it running like a race horse.)
AF
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