Apple laptops

[-LG-]

Does anyone use a Apple laptop? I'm really tempted to buy one as I don't really like Windows 7.

Are there any pros and cons to them?

Also, I seem to remember seeing on the Gadget Show a place to get second hand ones online...does anyone know of the site? It wasn't eBay.

Many thanks!

[.....]

Got a MacBook Pro. Love it, 'tis metal and doesn't need reinstalling every 5 mins. In fact I'm sat here browsing on it while I sort out the GF's knackered XP installation on her PC. Don't miss Windows one bit.

[Frost]

Hardware = good, but expensive
OS = graphically pretty, bit quicker than windows to get stuff done, but otherwise i'm not a fan.

[...]

[Irn-Bru]

Recently got a 13" Macbook Pro and loving it so far. The track pad is nothing sort of epic, makes using a laptop soooo much easier. I use it over my wireless mouse which says a lot. OS X isn't as rock solid as some say though, I've had a crash or two thanks to to Finder not wanting to restart I get at least 8:30 hours of battery life (browsing, listening to music, word processor etc.) but on Windows it drops to about 6. The track pad isn't as good with Windows either, whether its because of incompatibilities or because Apple want it to be that way who knows. Suspect its the later though knowing Apple. Finding replacement software for your favourite Windows apps was the hard part for me but you get used to it. Even found Steam works so I can play CS:S in OS X The build quality is flawless obviously.
____________________
KTM 990 SMT & Suzuki DR-Z 400 SM

[The Artist]

If you like apple and don't mind paying for overpriced un-customiseable pieces of wank then go ahead, makes Steve Jobs's day.

[el_oso]

i hate apple laptops. if you are a basic user. they are brilliant. they look pretty. battery lasts forever. better bundle of stuff than windows that you would use everyday. expo function. track pad is great except that it takes a while getting used to not having a proper right click.
if you like fiddling with how your computer works, then they are rubbish. less customizable than windows. can change the background colour and things like that, but that really is about it
____________________
Duke 390
Previous: '05 XR125L | '96 XJ600S Diversion |'05 Suzuki GSXR1000 | '05 Honda CBR125-R | '97 YZF 600R Thundercat | '11 Honda CBR250
Car: Jeep Wrangler 4.0L

[tvchimp]

used mac's since 2004, owned since 2006. currently own a macbook 13" for ease of use (it does everything I need it to do, including some photoshop work and video editing)

In 4 years, the only thing which has gone wrong is the backlight on the screen, which went due to my dog sitting on it and bending the screen. I had the applecare warranty (I'd bought the macbook direct from apple via their regent street store) and they had it sorted and repaired within 5days. I was impressed.

Its easy to use, they aren't as susceptible to virus' as windows machines (I've never had one *religiously touching wood*), my macbook is still really quick - put next to my brothers laptop which is just over a year old, mine has the better chip, better memory (I upgraded to 4gb, but it came with 2gb) and a bigger hard drive. Graphics chip, but it's a 'basic' laptop, not a professional laptop - but as I said, I have used it in the past for some serious photoshop/after effect/flash/dreamweaver and video editing work, and it coped more than fine with whatever was thrown at it. The build quality is amazing and still looks good next to brand new laptops.

I cant really see a downside to something that costs a bit more to other laptop manufacturers, but gives a hell of a lot more than a comparable laptop running windows.
____________________
Bike: Currently Bikeless... Gahh

[-LG-]

Thanks for the replies!

I've seen one on Amazon that I like the look of, but no idea if the specs are any good.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-Macbook-GeForce-graphics-battery/dp/B002MRRRRI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287951901&sr=8-1

Compaq CQ71

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Presario-CQ71-140EA-17-3-inch-Processor-Accelerator/dp/B0026ZPBT2

(Although I'm sure its 2GB RAM not 4).

I've had to reinstall Windows 7 or 8 times since the summer, its only a year old, and always getting crash dumps.

Would the Apple be a upgrade as such? It does look really nice, but I made that mistake last time with this laptop lol.

Thanks!

[stinkwheel]

Tried linux? Mac OS and windows are not the only operating systems.

If you have a computer that will run windows 7, it will absolutely fly on linux.

With a little fiddling, the desktop environment is almost infinately customiseable and you CAN fiddle with everything on a linux system.

I presume you're thinking about replacing an old computer? Try bunging the latest version of ubuntu on your old one and see how it goes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvfRpmqKRbs
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Irn-Bru]

Well, that raises a good question... what exactly do you want the laptop to do? 17" ones are generally desktop replacements, I wouldn't recommend a 13" MBP as a desktop replacement, maybe if you're a student or something.

Also macs do have proper right clicks, you tap with two fingers or presses at the lower part of the track pad. You can customise them if you want, just not as easy as in Windows (exactly the same with iphones, can be done just not supported by Apple). Don't see the point though, generally fannying around with "customising" leads to bloating and even instability.
____________________
KTM 990 SMT & Suzuki DR-Z 400 SM

[-LG-]

I've tried Linux before, didn't really get on with it. If I'm honest I don't really use it to get the best out my laptop, just something to use the internet, watch films, play music, some photoshop and web design as well.

[-LG-]

[stinkwheel]

[Flip]

XP is shit. Vista is shit. 7 I like a lot (was worried initially about moving to it) and have no need to try anything else tbh. I've never had to reinstall windows. I have done 3 factory resets on Vista though. People with XP are always reinstalling because they won't admit that it's shit and tired now.

People with Apple don't like to admit it has faults because they hate Windows. Apple probably has some brilliant software that Windows doesn't but the price of macs just stuns me.

Google is a company I'm learning to hate though.

[-LG-]

I've only really liked XP. Didn't have any problems with it on my old laptop. Current laptop had Vista installed and a free (although turned out it wasn't free!) upgrade to Windows 7, was so despite to get rid of Vista I did it...had just as many problems lol.

I know its most likely going to have faults, and don't consider myself a 'fan boy' at all, I'll buy whatever I think is the best/I like the most. Although I have owned a lot of Apple products lately...xD

[Flip]

[-LG-]

[Neorion]

If you can afford one get one.

You wont regret it.

Simple.

People hate Mac and people hate windows or linux, its just whats good for you.

They are fast, stable and built well (for the most part)

Buy one and you gt 14 days to take it back no questions asked.

Easy
____________________
VFR FI 2000- Shiney Red Thing
"some things man was never meant to know, for everything else there's Google"

[Frost]

£1,350.67 - Apple MacBook Air - Core 2 Duo 2.13 GHz - 13.3″ - 2 GB Ram - 128 GB HDD

£329.00 - Dell Inspiron 1525 Laptop, Core 2 Duo 2GHz, 2GB RAM, 120GB HDD, HDMI, Windows Vista

So basically stick a 1 in front of the price of a normal laptop and ask the shop to put an apple sticker on it and install Linux

[stigger]

[Frost]

The Air i quoted was in production from January 29, 2008 to present with the same spec. The 1525 was in production from January 11th, 2008 - February 26th, 2009, so they both have about the same spec and were in production at the same time.

I recently ordered a new laptop for £1000, it's the fastest I7 with 8GB of ram and a 128GB SSD, sadly no operating system wasn't an option. To be honest it wasn't my money so i went for the most outrageous spec i possibly could. It was still cheaper than the same spec mac which comes witht he slowest I7 cpu and costs £2,739.00 incl. VAT That's also the purchase without any software, so it would be pretty useless.

[Kickstart]

Hi

We have a Mac Book Pro laptop, plus a load of Windows machines. My work laptop is running windows 7, my home machine Windows XP.

Bought the Mac to do some iPhone stuff.

The Mac does have some good features. The track pad is lovely to use. The screen is very good quality. Battery life isn't bad (although in reality not that much better than my Lenovo work laptop). Keyboard is pretty good (and the illumination a nice feature, although it does seem to hammer battery life).

However it also has some really annoying features. No delete key for example (you have to use fn and backspace). Needing to use 2 fingers for right clicking. Only supporting c / v / x for copy / paste / cut rather than ctrl / insert, shift / insert and shift / delete. 3 fingers on the track pad should page forward but works inconsistently. Still haven't worked out how to tab between instances of the same app (ie, in Firefox if you have the downloads window open I cannot see how to tab between it and the main window).

I am not convinced on Mac reliability. Too many stories of them going pop at a fairly young age with hideous repair costs. My sister and her other half bought a pair of Macs, one for her and one for his mother. Both machines died at a shade over a year old. Fortunately one had an extended warranty and was fixed but the other wasn't worth the ~£500 repair bill so was broken up and the parts sold on Ebay.

Price wise they are hideous. Buy a Mac Book Pro and you struggle to find a Windows PC of any spec that is expensive, let alone one with such a small screen. Current price for a basic Mac Book Pro is £999 from PC World. Only normal machine with a similar size screen for the same amount (excluding a Sony for twice as much with an SSD hard disk, more memory, etc) is an HP with a faster hard disk that is twice the size and a larger higher resolution screen.

For Windows I personally I still prefer XP. I prefer the XP user interface over the Mac, and also over the Vista and Windows 7 interfaces. Later versions of Windows are (to me) less usable. They seem to be aiming for Mac prettyness at the expense of usability.

All the best

Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Frost]

The newer versions of Windows like to hide stuff in unexpected places for the sake of 'usability' e.g for one this you have to right click on an icon, another is nested deep in some menu, another is only accessible through getting to some point of some wizard etc. The reason for this is to stop people breaking their own PC or finding something and mistaking it for something else. Ultimatly with such a big market share Windows has to be aimed at a wide range of users with different abilities and requirements. Consequently people like me get pissed off with Windows constantly telling you how to use it, or trying to stop you from doing certain things. Mac's are similar, a bit more sensible as they try to keep things simple where ever possible, but still ain't what i need. My software needs are very specific and requires lots of software libraries and stuff, so i'm Linux material. Linux is getting a LOT better for the average user though. I know quite a few non PC expert girls who run Linux as it's quicker and easier for checking facebook, emails, writing letters etc. Obviously Linux still heavily uses the command line for some things which though i don't mind it, i can see how it's a real spanner in the works for a lot of people.

[-LG-]

Well I bit the bullet and ordered it! Going to be here by 1pm tomorrow! Get my old laptop sorted and can sell it to my parents for my sisters xmas present lol xD.