HELP! Geeks................

[baja]

http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/2041/738/store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/step2_beautyshot_pb17_050131.jpg


Should I buy this as my only computer and why or why not?

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71301/wo/bc6xSIno6kri2EMxmfj15qwP044/1.0.11.1.0.6.17.1.4.27.3.1.1.0?52,8

[Meck77]

My girlfriend just got the 14inch a few months ago. She loves it being that she is a graphic designer. I'm not a tech guru so I'm sorry but that's all I can tell you. She is definetly a Mac junkie and laughs everytime I complain about getting a virus. She'll say something like "If you had a Mac you wouldn't never have that problem...ha ha neener neener neener"

[TheManeMan]

Make sure you purchase a G5 if anything...

[ak1971]

[QUOTE=Meck77]My girlfriend just got the 14inch a few months ago.


Man Meck you need to do that more than a few months ago! lol

[Borks147]

My girlfriend just got the 14inch a few months ago. She loves it being that she is a graphic designer. I'm not a tech guru so I'm sorry but that's all I can tell you. She is definetly a Mac junkie and laughs everytime I complain about getting a virus. She'll say something like "If you had a Mac you wouldn't never have that problem...ha ha neener neener neener"

yeah you wouldn't have that problem because there is no program in mac in which you could encounter such a problem :p...but seriously baja, it all depends on what you wanna do with the computer...anything with video editing = mac, or if you are a computer illiterate bozo go for the mac...but for power users who want a little of everything go with something else...

also just my opinion: If you are going to be getting a 17 inch monitor (as the link states), you probably won't be toting the thing around much and its pretty much a desktop replacement..if thats the case don't pay the jumbo fee to have a huge on board hard drive...get an external hard drive instead...I got a 250gb hard drive for 100 bucks and an usb2.0 external case for 30 bucks and voilá, jumbo capacity. Also, get more ram than 512, especially since the new Windows OS (if ur going with windows that is) will be a ram hog....eehhh ok any more questions fire away

[mattleecrew]

It all depends on what your using the computer for. If your using it for any design work I would reccomend the G5 but infortunately the powerbooks only come with the G4 processor. If its a space issue, they do offer the imac with a G5 processor and would be much faster than the powerbooks. If it has to be a laptop then your stuck for now. Theres a chance at the next Mac Expo this summer they could release a G5 powerbook but i havent heard anything. Im running on a G5 now and the difference in speed and power of the machine versus my old G4 is amazing. 100 times faster. If you do go with the powerbook, definitely max out the ram, especially if your going to run OSX and and design applications (photoshop, quark,flash, etc) OS X and photoshop alone take up a big chunk of ram so the more the better. I agree with the above post as well, get an external hard drive as well. Will come in handy backing up everything.

[Taco John]

http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/2041/738/store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/step2_beautyshot_pb17_050131.jpg


Should I buy this as my only computer and why or why not?

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71301/wo/bc6xSIno6kri2EMxmfj15qwP044/1.0.11.1.0.6.17.1.4.27.3.1.1.0?52,8



Um.... It's an Apple... Of course you shouldn't... Unless maybe you're a graphic designer.

[Meck77]

[QUOTE=Meck77]My girlfriend just got the 14inch a few months ago.


Man Meck you need to do that more than a few months ago! lol


Always thinking like an Orange Pimp aren't you. ROFL! :pimp:

[broncoblue]

Maybe I Shouldve Gotten The 16 " For The Wife Or Whatever She Is

[Play2win]

http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/2041/738/store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/step2_beautyshot_pb17_050131.jpg


Should I buy this as my only computer and why or why not?

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71301/wo/bc6xSIno6kri2EMxmfj15qwP044/1.0.11.1.0.6.17.1.4.27.3.1.1.0?52,8

Baja,

I'll get back to you in a little while about this. There are some definite advantages/disadvantages. It also is depending on what apple in going to unvale at WWDC, June 6-10 in San Francisco.

The most important question is what are you going to use it for. What programs are you going to use on it?

[Play2win]

Um.... It's an Apple... Of course you shouldn't... Unless maybe you're a graphic designer.
Or if you work for NASA. OSX has developed into a VERY powerful system. The first season of 24, did last minute video edit at deadline on a powerbook, video in, finish product out.

[scorpio]

Macs in general are great if you just want something for email, word processing, porno, etc. It's true that they 'Just Work' most of the time, but when something does go wrong, the chances of you being able to fix it yourself are about .00001%. And Mac repairs are incredibly expensive.

PCs may have more issues (although depending on what you run, XP is a very stable platform. I've never had a blue screen in XP on my home machine. Work is a different story, but I work with some very dumb people.), but you are going to save money both on initial cost and on any repairs or upgrades you might need down the road. Plus, chances are you have a brother or a cousin or a nephew or something who is a PC wiz and can be shamed into helping you.

Overall, Macs don't compare to PCs in terms of monetary value - bang for the buck, if you will. a LOT of people who own Macs do so for incredibly pretentious reasons (ie, to thumb their nose at people who own PCs and run Windows.) The desktop Linux crowd is pretty much the same.

FYI, I do own a Mac with OSX, and several PCs running both Windows and Linux.

So, in short, if you have the money to blow and want the 'neat' factor, look at a Mac. If you want to be price conscientious and be able to run almost -any- software that will do -anything-, I would look at a PC.

-Charlie

[Rock Chalk]

Dude, just get a Dell. If you are looking for a laptop, Dell gives you the best value period. And there is not a computer company out there with better customer service. 6 months later, Dell still calls once a month to check on my computer and if I am satisfied with it. If I encountered any problems or anything. I had a problem with the sound card initially, talked to Dell for two minutes and two days later a new sound card arrives with a box to ship the old one back (for those that arent aware, soundcards in Dell laptops are incredibly bozo proof to replace).

Unless you are hardcore into computers and use them for a variety of things including high end video editing and graphic design as well as sound editing, Macs are just not worth the price. Overall, it is a better machine, and more stable (though XP is closing the gap, Longhorn should close it completely but we'll see), but its not worth the expense IMO.

[scorpio]

Dude, just get a Dell. If you are looking for a laptop, Dell gives you the best value period. And there is not a computer company out there with better customer service. 6 months later, Dell still calls once a month to check on my computer and if I am satisfied with it. If I encountered any problems or anything. I had a problem with the sound card initially, talked to Dell for two minutes and two days later a new sound card arrives with a box to ship the old one back (for those that arent aware, soundcards in Dell laptops are incredibly bozo proof to replace).

Unless you are hardcore into computers and use them for a variety of things including high end video editing and graphic design as well as sound editing, Macs are just not worth the price. Overall, it is a better machine, and more stable (though XP is closing the gap, Longhorn should close it completely but we'll see), but its not worth the expense IMO.

I support about 500 Dells for a hospital daily, and you're right, their customer service and warranty can't be beat. Their quality, however, is another story. It seems to me that they have really gone downhill in the last year or so...I've recently had 6 different hard drives fail within 2 weeks on brand new laptops. Granted, they were all replaced without question, but it's still a hassle (especially when dealing with cranky doctors who think everything that goes wrong is the IT guy's fault.). And that's really just the tip of the iceburg.

When it comes to PC laptop quality, i think Toshiba is the clear winner. They may not have as kickass of a warranty as Dell, but in my experience you'll never need to use it.

[TheNextStep]

What? This is about tech advice?

I thought you were being attacked or something. I had a vision of an unruly mob of courduroy pant wearing, "Members only" jacket adorning adolescents assembling outside of your door, pushing their taped together glasses up on their noses, screaming "ROFLMAO," "ur 2 dum," or "Microsoft must die" while wielding torches or pitchforks forged from old Intel 386 processors or something.

Man, you really need to work on your story-telling.

[Play2win]

Overall, Macs don't compare to PCs in terms of monetary value - bang for the buck, if you will.

-Charlie

I'm going to call BS on this one. I have a G4 450 that came out in 1999, and still works fine, in fact more than fine. I can run my browser, email, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, Dreamweaver and more on it. It doesn't freeze or lock up.

The machine is 6 years old, and I say its got another 3 years for sure, probably much more after that, once I turn it into a render farm (hopefully by then my 3d skills will warrant one).

When was the last time a PC lasted 5 years. That is running the state of the art OS.

Simple fact is Macs last longer (in most situations). They cost alittle more, but you get what you pay for.

I paid about a grand for this machine (plus monitor, scanner and printer), used, about 4 years ago. I couldn't have been happier.

BTW- since I have owned the machine, NO viruses, NO pop-up ads, hardly any spam and it has only crashed MAYBE 2 or 3 times. NO VIRUSES!!!!

But I'm kind of Biased. I like my Broncos and I like my MACS!

[Borks147]

I'm going to call BS on this one. I have a G4 450 that came out in 1999, and still works fine, in fact more than fine. I can run my browser, email, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, Dreamweaver and more on it. It doesn't freeze or lock up.

The machine is 6 years old, and I say its got another 3 years for sure, probably much more after that, once I turn it into a render farm (hopefully by then my 3d skills will warrant one).

When was the last time a PC lasted 5 years. That is running the state of the art OS.

Simple fact is Macs last longer (in most situations). They cost alittle more, but you get what you pay for.

I paid about a grand for this machine (plus monitor, scanner and printer), used, about 4 years ago. I couldn't have been happier.

BTW- since I have owned the machine, NO viruses, NO pop-up ads, hardly any spam and it has only crashed MAYBE 2 or 3 times. NO VIRUSES!!!!

But I'm kind of Biased. I like my Broncos and I like my MACS!


my windows pc is 4 and running fine, multiple p2p programs, multiple browsers, msn messenger and winamp running top notch...of course this is the exception to the rule

[Play2win]

my windows pc is 4 and running fine, multiple p2p programs, multiple browsers, msn messenger and winamp running top notch...of course this is the exception to the rule
I dunno, maybe things have changed in the last few years and Window has become, GULP, more reliable?!?

[baja]

I have a Gateway 600 something or other lap top which was one of the best lap tops when I bought it 3 years ago. It has been in for repair 4 times (which is a huge hassle if you live in Mexico ) It has a new mother board, new hard drive new case top and a bunch of other stuff I forget. My browser closes on me all the time and the machine is slowing down It was a virus that destroyed my hard drive. I do have to travel with this machine so maybe I should get a 14 incher and buy a bigger screen for home. I have not checked yet but it appears the Mac does not come loaded with software like a PC does (Word etc). I want something bullet proof and virus proof as possible if a Mac gives me that and costs a little more to me it's worth it.

Should I pay $369 dollars for the 3 year warranty

BTW I just bought the new 60G i photo .... WHAT A JOY............

[Needa Pass Rush]

Funny, must be laptop day. I was at best buy today and was looking at the Toshibas, Sonys and HPs. I kind of warmed up to this HP.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/popups/seeBigger.jsp?image_path=/shopping/images/products/du913u_400.jpg&prod_name=HP+Pavilion+zv5470us+Notebook+PC

[scorpio]

I'm going to call BS on this one. I have a G4 450 that came out in 1999, and still works fine, in fact more than fine. I can run my browser, email, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, Dreamweaver and more on it. It doesn't freeze or lock up.

The machine is 6 years old, and I say its got another 3 years for sure, probably much more after that, once I turn it into a render farm (hopefully by then my 3d skills will warrant one).

When was the last time a PC lasted 5 years. That is running the state of the art OS.

Simple fact is Macs last longer (in most situations). They cost alittle more, but you get what you pay for.

I paid about a grand for this machine (plus monitor, scanner and printer), used, about 4 years ago. I couldn't have been happier.

BTW- since I have owned the machine, NO viruses, NO pop-up ads, hardly any spam and it has only crashed MAYBE 2 or 3 times. NO VIRUSES!!!!

But I'm kind of Biased. I like my Broncos and I like my MACS!


Uh, actually a LOT off casual PC users still have P2's or early model P3's (ie, from 1999, 6 years or older.). A P3 of any variety will run Windows XP ably enough to get done what most people do on their macs.

And I'm going to have to call BS here as well. There is no possible way that you run any modern (CS) version of Photoshop or Dreamweaver (MX) on a 6 year old mac that cost $1000 (which is about 1/3 of the price of a GOOD mac back then) without having upgraded it at some point. A P2 can run photoshop 3.0 as well as a 6 year old Mac, but that's hardly a meaningful benchmark :P Btw, what is your state of the art OS? Do you have 10.3 running on a 6 year old comp?

[Play2win]

Panther, and soon tiger. So, OK, Its PS 7, ILL 10, InDesign 2, Macromedia MX (not MX 2004). But I can afford only so much. But yes, on a 6 year old POWERMAC I can run many of those programs at the same time. With DESKTOP MANAGER I can have many of them open on different virtual desktops, all at the same time.

But really its all about memory, I only have 700 something megs in it. If I max it out at 2 gigs, it would really fly.

I am so happy I use Macs, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I just leave it at that.

Just like I am so happy a Broncos fan, I wouldn't have it any other way. ;D

[Play2win]

Uh, actually a LOT off casual PC users still have P2's or early model P3's (ie, from 1999, 6 years or older.). A P3 of any variety will run Windows XP ably enough to get done what most people do on their macs.

And I'm going to have to call BS here as well. There is no possible way that you run any modern (CS) version of Photoshop or Dreamweaver (MX) on a 6 year old mac that cost $1000 (which is about 1/3 of the price of a GOOD mac back then) without having upgraded it at some point. A P2 can run photoshop 3.0 as well as a 6 year old Mac, but that's hardly a meaningful benchmark :P Btw, what is your state of the art OS? Do you have 10.3 running on a 6 year old comp?

BTW- I said I got it USED at that price and it has and will continue to serve me well. USED.

[Darkhawk24]

http://www.alienware.com/Images/product_detail_page_images/area-51m_7700/hdr_shot.jpg

No love for Alien Ware? (www.alienware.com)

I've been high on Sony when it comes to quality. My office has had Dell for 5 or more years. The Customer Service may be decent but I'll never praise the quality of the 500 or so machines I've had to support.

[alkemical]

Buy a toshiba laptop.

[DrFate]

http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/2041/738/store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/step2_beautyshot_pb17_050131.jpg


Should I buy this as my only computer and why or why not?

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71301/wo/bc6xSIno6kri2EMxmfj15qwP044/1.0.11.1.0.6.17.1.4.27.3.1.1.0?52,8

Avoid the hype and Mac vs. PC rhetoric, Baja.

Decide what your computer is for. For browsing/email/office applications - both do the same thing. If you are a gamer, you'll find more games for PC.

Macs are certainly solid systems but overpriced for what you get. Normally you pay 50% more for a Mac.

I buy Dells. Just my 2 cents

[alkemical]

I like toshiba, great support - good product - i feel that they might be the best laptops on the market.

[baja]

But the Mac is soooo beatuiful..........

And well made too :-)

[Sideburn]

http://www.alienware.com/Images/product_detail_page_images/area-51m_7700/hdr_shot.jpg

No love for Alien Ware? (www.alienware.com)

I've been high on Sony when it comes to quality. My office has had Dell for 5 or more years. The Customer Service may be decent but I'll never praise the quality of the 500 or so machines I've had to support.
Are you asian? In the gaming community, alienware is known as aznware. They seem to be the only ones that have them. I just built a hoss machine. AMD fx-55 processor (939) chipset. 4 gig corsair c2pt ram, dual 160 gig hd on a raid 0, audigy 4 platinum sound card, and an x850 xt platinum series video card. It'll be outdated in 07. 07 is going to be the next gen of computer stuff. So if you can wait, go ahead and do so.

[enjolras]

Not to mention its Unix based:)

[Darkhawk24]

Are you asian? In the gaming community, alienware is known as aznware. They seem to be the only ones that have them. I just built a hoss machine. AMD fx-55 processor (939) chipset. 4 gig corsair c2pt ram, dual 160 gig hd on a raid 0, audigy 4 platinum sound card, and an x850 xt platinum series video card. It'll be outdated in 07. 07 is going to be the next gen of computer stuff. So if you can wait, go ahead and do so.


Not Asian.. Just been in the IS field a long time... Too long!

They are some nice machines though. I also build my desktops... I currently have a Dell laptop Latitude D600 as that's what work has went with right now.

Your machine is sounding nice!

[baja]

Well I bought the Power book but I got the 15 inch screen with all the bells and whistles.

[Taco John]

Well I bought the Power book but I got the 15 inch screen with all the bells and whistles.



You can't say you weren't warned... ;)

At least the thing does the basics... :thumbsup:

[Play2win]

Buy Apple!!

[TD30]

Make sure you purchase a G5 if anything...

Damn I miss my G5.

[Popps]

Baja,

I run three different Macs for my business. (Two G4 duals and an iBook.)

The heart of my business is the G4 dual 867 running our Pro Tools rig. I have been running this same configuration for 3 years.... flawless. ANY problems I've had have been outside the box. (External drives, firewire issues, etc.)

I have not had a single day of down-time. For me, that's all I need to know. I run CPU intensive applications all day long. I kick the $### out of the thing and it just keeps ticking, stable as hell. No bugs, no blown mother boards, no viruses, no nothing. OSX took Macs from near perfect... to perfect.

My PC friend has gone through about 3 different computers and multiple mboards and hard drives in the same amount of time as my one Mac.... and he doesn't even run any CPU intensive applications.

Once again, I've used both. (Mac and PC, extensively.) Anyone who HAS used both, extensively... will tell you to buy a Mac every day and twice on Sunday. It's the biggest no-brainer in the history of mankind.

But, I'm glad the masses keep rushing out to burn money on Window's based machines. It ensures that spyware and virus makers will continue to focus on Windows, not Mac OS.

[Play2win]

Baja,

I run three different Macs for my business. (Two G4 duals and an iBook.)

The heart of my business is the G4 dual 867 running our Pro Tools rig. I have been running this same configuration for 3 years.... flawless. ANY problems I've had have been outside the box. (External drives, firewire issues, etc.)

I have not had a single day of down-time. For me, that's all I need to know. I run CPU intensive applications all day long. I kick the $### out of the thing and it just keeps ticking, stable as hell. No bugs, no blown mother boards, no viruses, no nothing. OSX took Macs from near perfect... to perfect.

My PC friend has gone through about 3 different computers and multiple mboards and hard drives in the same amount of time as my one Mac.... and he doesn't even run any CPU intensive applications.

Once again, I've used both. (Mac and PC, extensively.) Anyone who HAS used both, extensively... will tell you to buy a Mac every day and twice on Sunday. It's the biggest no-brainer in the history of mankind.

But, I'm glad the masses keep rushing out to burn money on Window's based machines. It ensures that spyware and virus makers will continue to focus on Windows, not Mac OS.

Thats the bottom line, Macs last longer.

[Play2win]

That 15" Pbook is a power machine. Good Choice!

[baja]

I was going to get the 17 but I do travel some and I thought some day I would just buy the cinema screen for home use.

Thanks everyone your feedback is much appreciated.

Popps a big part of my decision to switch to Mac was from your previous input, you make a strong case for Apple. I got the 15 inch power book with 100G hard drive and 1G of ram with the 1.67 Hz processor. Got the back lit keyboard too. Do you know this machine.

Anyone know this machine?

[alkemical]

I use WinXP, Souse and i won't buy a mac because i don't need it. But i have bought my Mom a mac to use. Makes my life easier.

[baja]

Living in Baja I need a durable machine that was my main motive. I had to find a way to send my curent PC to the States for repair four times in three years, not good!

[Popps]

I was going to get the 17 but I do travel some and I thought some day I would just buy the cinema screen for home use.

Thanks everyone your feedback is much appreciated.

Popps a big part of my decision to switch to Mac was from your previous input, you make a strong case for Apple. I got the 15 inch power book with 100G hard drive and 1G of ram with the 1.67 Hz processor. Got the back lit keyboard too. Do you know this machine.

Anyone know this machine?

That's a powerful machine you're getting into, there. Congrats. Keep in mind, as always... laptops are a bit more sensitive than desktops... but I rarely hear about any probs with macs.

You should get a large (21" or so) monitor and a keyboard and set yourself up a workstation at home. The Powerbooks can run dual monitors from the video port. I have a similar set-up, but the iBooks only mirror from the video port. (Both monitors show the same thing.) It's still cool, though... because if you set it up like this... you can use it like a desktop, or just unplug it and use it as a laptop. I like keeping mine stationary unless I need to move it.