Im buying a new laptop/mac, advice please :)

L

lukewoodford

FYI, I am Luke Woodford.....by Luke Woodford
Messages
3,320
Name
Luke Woodford
Edit My Images
No
Hi guys,

I need to get a laptop or macbook (if thats what they're called) in the next couple weeks. I fancy a macbook I think, any adice on where to get them from to get a good price and which ones are best would be most helpful :)

Cheers,

Luke
 
Dell are a good bet for a windows machine, don't whatever you do go for a PCworld "brand" (median, advent, iqon) one though, try and stay with the better brands (Sony, hp etc.).

I don't know about macbooks, they are around the same price everywhere I think, unless you know someone with a .ac.uk address (student).

Specifications - look for a 7200RPM HDD (if they don't say the speed expect it to be a slower one) at least 2GB or RAM and a reasonably fast processor. GFX isn't important for a photo laptop, unless you use CS4 which has graphics acceleration(?), in fact it can be benificial sometimes to go for onboard GFX rather than a standalone card (cheaper and uses less battery).

Screen resolution - macbooks and other 13inch laptops run at 1280x800, if you want a 15 inch screen look for something higher, say 1680x1050 or similar, also LED backlighting is better than normal lightling (less battery and lighter/thinner) so if you have the option of the two (dell for example) have a look into the LED options. :)
 
Apple have just announced a new range of MacBooks . Best to nip into the nearest Apple store for a look. Watch out though as there may be hoards looking at the new 3Gs iPhone.

Apple stores are a good place to look at the kit as you don't get hassled by salespeople, and the computers have programs loaded on them and are not just displaying the latest promo from Tomb raider.
 
just bought a new dell laptop with a 2.4ghz, 4gb ram 320gb 7200HD and a 17" 1900x1200 screen for 684.00 including VAT
 
If your buying a Mac look at John Lewis's prices, and bear in mind they give an additional 1 year free warranty on top of Apple's.
 
Whats wrong with medion computers??(far as im aware they are the people who ake the pcworld brands)

got one of there lappys that works fine
 
If you do mac-it, perhaps go for a refurb. I defy anyone to distinguish one from brand new. Great savings to be had.
 
Refurb definitely, especially with your budget. I bought a white macbook refurb 2 yrs ago and all is still well.

Steve
 
Merovingian said:
If you do mac-it, perhaps go for a refurb. I defy anyone to distinguish one from brand new. Great savings to be had.
Click to expand...
:plus1:

If i had the cash i would get the latest aluminium macbook refurb as they come up every so often at £750 which would be my price point for one i would love the macbook pro but start new at just shy of £900 i think.
 
neil_g said:
are you prepared to rebuy/licence all of your software etc?
Click to expand...

Not usually necessary. Most vendors will allow a transfer without charge, some can use the same license key / serial, some just need a quick call or e-mail to request the transfer.

Adobe certainly do, they're some of the most expensive tools we photographers use, and they've got some of the most draconian license restrictions in the market yet switching between platforms is allowed.
 
neil_g said:
have you tried a mac so see if you like the way it works? are you prepared to rebuy/licence all of your software etc? if so and you like it then go for it :)
Click to expand...

A lot of decent software on the mac is free anyway.
 
JasonRS said:
Not usually necessary. Most vendors will allow a transfer without charge, some can use the same license key / serial, some just need a quick call or e-mail to request the transfer.

Adobe certainly do, they're some of the most expensive tools we photographers use, and they've got some of the most draconian license restrictions in the market yet switching between platforms is allowed.
Click to expand...

thats all cool then
 
fletch5 said:
Whats wrong with medion computers??(far as im aware they are the people who ake the pcworld brands)

got one of there lappys that works fine
Click to expand...

Poorly built, full of rubbish and pretty expensive for the spec (they generally bung a "big" processor and HDD in and then use substandard and slow components elsewhere, people will look at those two components and think it is fast). However some of the lower end Dells are almost as bad. :)

Merovingian said:
If you do mac-it, perhaps go for a refurb. I defy anyone to distinguish one from brand new. Great savings to be had.
Click to expand...

Dell Outlet (refurbs) is also a good idea to look at if you have a little give on specs. As new (either never left the fatory or sent back within 7 days) and I got a £1000+ XPS laptop for £660 inc delivery (came with visa business instead of HP and black instead of red top that I wanted:LOL:).

I think Sony also do an outlet store as well.:)
 
I just throw in, in case you are unaware, the Intel macs can all be dual boot with OS X and Windows, which is handy. :)
 
Look at the pc magazines and they will have 4 or 5 pc's and laptops in there each time that they highly recommend. You can take their word as they probably know more about them than the average buyer.
 
I decided I wanted a Mac some months ago - got a white Macbook and got used to the differences in a few days of use. Shortly after, I got an iMac - I now do not own a PC and would not go back.

The only issue I had was swapping out my PC CS3 as CS4 had come out and had to pay Adobe £180 to upgrade and xplatform. Apart from that the big issues are stopping yourself thinking how to do something in Windows and just think about the logical process - OSX tends to be straight forward and logical.

The new version of OS was recently announced and I think will cost £29 for a single license upgrade - I think that they will give new purchasers an option to upgrade from the announcement date for £7.95 for postage as they did with iLife 09 (which is great).
There is a load of apps available for Mac - seems to be better quality than the PC shareware equivalent.

If you claim to work for a company with Employee discount (teacher, civil servant, police etc) you get 6% off if you buy from Apple. Although I qualified, they did not check.

Chris
 
Tulipone said:
The new version of OS was recently announced and I think will cost £29 for a single license upgrade - I think that they will give new purchasers an option to upgrade from the announcement date for £7.95 for postage as they did with iLife 09 (which is great).
Click to expand...

Any Mac purchased after 9 June qualifies for the upgrade for the price of $9.99 for shipping.

So buy now, and you'll get Snow Leopard for under a tenner.

Snow Leopard's very good, although they have "borrowed" a few ideas from Win 7 (like Dock Expose) which is why they're still not in the current Dev previews overall it's a really nice upgrade.
 
Go mac and you won't look back. Pro version is far better so it is worth the extra (FW800, video card and screen). You can also find some great used MBPs (under 1 year old, and get extra warranty - just be careful!) at half price.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top