Should I buy a MacBook?

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Sam Trevor

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Hi Guys,
I am interested in buying a Macbook - not sure to get Pro or not.

I am new to Mac and was wondering is any of you have got any thoughts if a MacBook is worth the cash.

I know this is pobally a stupid question, but
Why is a MacBook better than a normal Laptop?

Any thoughts would be most appreciated
Thanks Sam:wave:
 
In many ways it isn't any better.

I decided to switch from Windows to OS X when I decided a laptop was required, and whilst I thought XP was OK I disliked Vista. So I thought a Mac was an option as I could install windows if I didn't like OS X.

I've found OS X just works - no fiddling around with drivers and so on. As Apple control both the hardware and the software they can keep it under control. Windows can't as desktop PCs can be a real mixture of different bits of hardware.

Suggest going to an Apple Store and having a good play with one.
 
I agree with above.

I was a PC man through and through, until i actually played on one, and i got teh MBP a few months back when Currys did that stupid deal when yo ucoud lget it for just under £700 :D

I love my MBP and would not give it up for anything and am considering changin my desktop for an iMac.
They are easy to use, no fuss, stylish, cool and the screen is amazing.

I use it to show clients photos and it really does give my photos that extra zing.

If you do have a play you will want one, they are a class bit of kit.
 
Yep, get one asap, you'll meet many a person who made the decision to switch this way round and very few that switched the other way, its because once you get used to it you'll love OSX, it's not the hardware thats better and the reason to swap. You are paying for a better operating system.

and it's well worth the money
 
Same for me. Although I have an iMac rather than a Mac Book, it just works, gets on with everything, you don't have to fanny around setting stuff up etc. And yes, the screen does wonders for photos... Is it worth the extra money (ie Mac over Windows PC/laptop) ? Yes.
 
here we go with the mac vs pc thing again..

no one is not better than the other, its personal preference down to what feels better. my advise go and try OSX and windows 7 and see what you prefer.

there. thread finished, we may as well lock it now.. lol
 
Come on Neil - you know these have to run for 12 pages ;) Call someone a "fanboy" and let's get this over with. The OP already has his answer :)
 
neil_g said:
here we go with the mac vs pc thing again..

no one is not better than the other, its personal preference down to what feels better. my advise go and try OSX and windows 7 and see what you prefer.

there. thread finished, we may as well lock it now.. lol
Click to expand...

You're right neither is better than the other, with the exception of osx being better, lol
 
I'll stick to the MacBook vs MacBook Pro part of the question.

The main differences are the price, construction and Firewire port. The Macbook pro is an all metal construction, so is going to be more rugged and has the benefit of a firewire 800 port, which if you have the kit to go with it is a lot faster than USB.

At the moment I've got a white Macbook, but will be going for a Macbook Pro when I replace it later in the year.
 
Neil is always quick to add the voice of reason, possibly rightly. The range of Macbooks is far more limited than those sporting Windows and it is easier to decide where you want to be powerwise. I guess I'd admit that although my basic white macbook does run CS4, I would not want to process a whole day of large RAW files on it. If this is your first Mac, remember that probably all your software is for Windows and there will be a cost to transfer it.

I understand that Windows 7 is far better than XP/Vista but (a netbook aside) I am totally OSX and would not dream of going back (and I am trying to sell the Netbook!).

Chris
 
PC vs Mac will run on forever. I have both, and am sat typing this on my white MB.

I guess the biggest difference for me is price. You pay a significant premium for the apple logo on most of their products. And don't get me wrong OSX is great (i have an Imac too) - but windows 7 is also getting there.

If I were buying a new portable - it would be a toshiba or samsung laptop - equivalent spec is usually £300 cheaper than a MB - which you can spend on buying a copy of photoshop, or new lens :D

Fezman
 
i've been in this situation for a few months now (as i'm saving for my replacement)

for me my next purchase is my only access to a home computer which i hope last 4-5 years like my last two and current laptop

i'm still deciding on justification of the apple over pc, due to budget. if budget wasn't an issue i would jump for an apple, based on people's experience and i'm happy to try something new.

one main reason i would like a mac is that i've heard people say generally it runs well for most of its life unlike pc's which seems to bog down and run slow at the end of its life. i know the pc if well maintained it might not bog down, but i'm no techie to spend time maintaining it running software, defrag, clean-ups etc.

back on topic macbook or macbook pro.

main positives for MB:
- cheaper by about £100
- same spec as MBP i.e. processor, graphics etc. but bigger hard drive @ 250gb

positives for MBP:
- better built, as the white seems to scratch, get dirty, and aluminium casing is alot nicer than plastic
- has firewire, sd card slot, back lit keys

for me i'll rather spend an extra £100 for something a bit more solid

i've seen a samsung laptop with great spec for my uses at £600, but then i get the scenario i could spend the extra £100 and get a refurb white macbook, but when i pay for that i might as well get the MBP.

price wise the samsung laptop fits the bill better, but for something for me paying so much and using it daily for what i hope 4-5 years, want to ensure i get the right thing, while the MBP base model would be my highest budget to go for
 
Fezman said:
If I were buying a new portable - it would be a toshiba or samsung laptop - equivalent spec is usually £300 cheaper than a MB - which you can spend on buying a copy of photoshop, or new lens :D

Fezman
Click to expand...

in all honesty how would a cheaper toshiba or samsung at £500-600 perform against the white macbook you are using some few years down the line?
 
p1tse said:
one main reason i would like a mac is that i've heard people say generally it runs well for most of its life unlike pc's which seems to bog down and run slow at the end of its life. i know the pc if well maintained it might not bog down, but i'm no techie to spend time maintaining it running software, defrag, clean-ups etc.
Click to expand...

generally you should only get slow down if youre constantly installing/uninstalling applications. but NTFS filesystems are self defragging, i havent defraged a volume for years lol
 
fair enough.

to the original poster, what's your budget?
 
I'd wait fro a short while as there are rumours ( very strong ones) of a new model coming out with a new processor. There may be opportunities for some bargains. I noticed Computer Warehouse had some offers last month.

See cowasaki post for more details .

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=202001

If you get the chance go to an Apple store and try them yourself. It's probable that many will have Photoshop installed so you can see well it functions. I got a MBP over a year ago and it's a great machine. But like everything you've got to decide yourself....Decisions, decisions!
 
Chappers said:
I'd wait fro a short while as there are rumours ( very strong ones) of a new model coming out with a new processor. There may be opportunities for some bargains. I noticed Computer Warehouse had some offers last month.
Click to expand...

any sample offers that you can remember?
 
I had Windows for ten years before switching to a mac last feb. I had problems galore with Windows with viruses, system problems and hardware problems but since I've had the macbook, just one problem - i spilt a pint of water on it. apart from that is smooth, quick efficient and a pleasure to work on.
 
With regards to expense when comparing a pc or a macbook, you get what you pay for. The initial cost is more for the macbook but you'll have a happier experience because of it.

Take iLife for example, comes already installed. iMovie is a huge leap up from windows movie maker, it's kind of in between Movie Maker and say Sony Vegas. iPhoto is a superb piece of software for viewing and organising images, much better than anything you get free on windows.

Then there is antivirus software, you'll need to get some for a windows machine so you can either purchase norton or go with one of the free ones like avast with less protection. Essentially it's a pain, it can be a draw on your cpu, it can pick up trojon viruses in programs when they aren't there, it'll make using your machine more irritating because of all the alerts and scans that need to go on and if you do get norton it will eventually double the time it takes to boot up. Mac is based on UNIX and as such it is more difficult to write viruses for, also with it being the minority system there aren't as many viruses around for it because the virus maker wants to infect the biggest audience. You won't need virus protection for your mac. Your mac can still get a virus, but the chances are a lot slimmer, I don't know a single person who has virus software for their mac and when I did run a scan on my 4 year old macbook that had never had a single piece of virus software on it it came up clean.

Then there is drivers, anything you plug into the pc will need a driver installed. I've yet to have to install a single driver for anything I have plugged into my mac. Sometimes drivers fail and you have to go into device manager in widnows, uninstall, re-install - pain in the butt.

Then there is maintenance. Someone on here said windows will get slow and bogged down if you don't clean it up avery once in a while. With a mac you'll just not need to do that, so whilst a windows user may see this routine maintenance as just part of the process, to a mac user it's just another pain in the ass.

So thats why it's worth paying more money in my opinion, it's like flying. You can pay ryanair fees and get to spain but the service will suck, or you could fly British Airways and get a meal, a movie and more legroom. Both flights will get you to SPain but the journey will be very different. The BA will cost more but will be more enjoyable
 
Its all a question of software really.

You can buy premium windows laptops and cheap and nasty windows laptops. A Macbook is a premium laptop, but they don't bother with the cheap and nasty versions.

The real crux is Windows vs OS X.

Sadly its against OS X terms and conditions to install OS X onto a normal PC to sample it but people do (google Hackintosh) but you can skin Windows to give it a bit of a mac feel, including a dock bar.
 
joescrivens said:
it's like flying. You can pay ryanair fees and get to spain but the service will suck, or you could fly British Airways and get a meal, a movie and more legroom. Both flights will get you to SPain but the journey will be very different. The BA will cost more but will be more enjoyable
Click to expand...

OO can we have a Ryanair v BA thread for a change ;)

There are actually NO wild MacOS viruses despite what some people might say and the only trojan of any note infected about 50000 dodgy individual who downloaded a hooky iLife09 torrent. Even then the trojan didn't actually do very much. Both are however feasible.
 
joescrivens said:
With regards to expense when comparing a pc or a macbook, you get what you pay for. The initial cost is more for the macbook but you'll have a happier experience because of it.

Take iLife for example, comes already installed. iMovie is a huge leap up from windows movie maker, it's kind of in between Movie Maker and say Sony Vegas. iPhoto is a superb piece of software for viewing and organising images, much better than anything you get free on windows.

Then there is antivirus software, you'll need to get some for a windows machine so you can either purchase norton or go with one of the free ones like avast with less protection. Essentially it's a pain, it can be a draw on your cpu, it can pick up trojon viruses in programs when they aren't there, it'll make using your machine more irritating because of all the alerts and scans that need to go on and if you do get norton it will eventually double the time it takes to boot up. Mac is based on UNIX and as such it is more difficult to write viruses for, also with it being the minority system there aren't as many viruses around for it because the virus maker wants to infect the biggest audience. You won't need virus protection for your mac. Your mac can still get a virus, but the chances are a lot slimmer, I don't know a single person who has virus software for their mac and when I did run a scan on my 4 year old macbook that had never had a single piece of virus software on it it came up clean.

Then there is drivers, anything you plug into the pc will need a driver installed. I've yet to have to install a single driver for anything I have plugged into my mac. Sometimes drivers fail and you have to go into device manager in widnows, uninstall, re-install - pain in the butt.

Then there is maintenance. Someone on here said windows will get slow and bogged down if you don't clean it up avery once in a while. With a mac you'll just not need to do that, so whilst a windows user may see this routine maintenance as just part of the process, to a mac user it's just another pain in the ass.

So thats why it's worth paying more money in my opinion, it's like flying. You can pay ryanair fees and get to spain but the service will suck, or you could fly British Airways and get a meal, a movie and more legroom. Both flights will get you to SPain but the journey will be very different. The BA will cost more but will be more enjoyable
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i want to rip this argument to bits but ive said it in about 30 million mac/pc threads already so cant really be arsed.

to the OP - my original statement still stands, go out and try both OS and make your own decision. if you dont know if you "need" a mac then chances are you probably dont NEED one.. W7 is perfectly stable these days.

just try not to get taken in by the fanboy statements that macs never crash.
 
neil_g said:
i want to rip this argument to bits but ive said it in about 30 million mac/pc threads already so cant really be arsed.

to the OP - my original statement still stands, go out and try both OS and make your own decision. if you dont know if you "need" a mac then chances are you probably dont NEED one.. W7 is perfectly stable these days.

just try not to get taken in by the fanboy statements that macs never crash.
Click to expand...

Did I mention crashes once in my reply?

what is there to rip to bits?

1. Does win7 come with a package as competent as iLife?
2. Does win 7 not need antivirus software?
3. Does norton not increase the time it takes to boot up?
4. Are UNIX systems not more difficult to write viruses for?
5. After a few years of using windows, isn't it recommended to do some maintenance on the registry from all the programs that were installed and uninstalled?
6. Does windows not need drivers installed for devices?
 
joescrivens said:
Did I mention crashes once in my reply?

what is there to rip to bits?

1. Does win7 come with a package as competent as iLife?
2. Does win 7 not need antivirus software?
3. Does norton not increase the time it takes to boot up?
4. Are UNIX systems not more difficult to write viruses for?
5. After a few years of using windows, isn't it recommended to do some maintenance on the registry from all the programs that were installed and uninstalled?
6. Does windows not need drivers installed for devices?
Click to expand...

wasnt all necessarily aimed at you..

really? do we want to go down this road again...

1) im not sure who bought iLife into the argument or why for that matter..
2) who said it didnt, however norton is a pile of toss. avast, avg and MS security essentials are free and perfectly capably while using minimal resources.
3) i dont use norton, as said its a bloated piece of toss.
4) difficult? no. less profitable due to less users? yes.
5) only if youre constantly installing and uninstalling apps you might need it.
6) yes. but so does osx.
 
1) im not sure who bought iLife into the argument or why for that matter..
I brought it in because I was talking about the value of the OS. The comparitive tools that come with windows like Movie Maker aren't as good as iLife.
2) who said it didnt, however norton is a pile of toss. avast, avg and MS security essentials are free and perfectly capably while using minimal resources.
Was just checking which parts of my argument you were going to rip apart, so making sure this wasn't one of them. Good to know it wasn't
3) i dont use norton, as said its a bloated piece of toss.
But it does do what I said, and many people do use it, so another point that can't be ripped.
4) difficult? no. less profitable due to less users? yes.
probably the one point i made that might not be right
5) only if youre constantly installing and uninstalling apps you might need it.
which we all do, and was exactly what i said
6) yes. but so does osx.
it does? i have yet to plug something in that needed one.
 
joescrivens said:
1) im not sure who bought iLife into the argument or why for that matter..
I brought it in because I was talking about the value of the OS. The comparitive tools that come with windows like Movie Maker aren't as good as iLife.
2) who said it didnt, however norton is a pile of toss. avast, avg and MS security essentials are free and perfectly capably while using minimal resources.
Was just checking which parts of my argument you were going to rip apart, so making sure this wasn't one of them. Good to know it wasn't
3) i dont use norton, as said its a bloated piece of toss.
But it does do what I said, and many people do use it, so another point that can't be ripped.
4) difficult? no. less profitable due to less users? yes.
probably the one point i made that might not be right
5) only if youre constantly installing and uninstalling apps you might need it.
which we all do, and was exactly what i said
6) yes. but so does osx.
it does? i have yet to plug something in that needed one.
Click to expand...

unless youre CONSTANTLY installing and uninstalling apps in windows you should not see slowdown. but then on the flipside we have had macs that required a wipe and reintall to get them back up to full strength.

re drivers - first one that springs to mind is canon printer drivers that were not available on the release of snow leopard. so please dont assume that only windows is vunerable to late development of drivers. however windows 7 has been fantastic with driver support, a LOT of hardware has native support or there have been vista drivers available that are compatible

anyone using norton deserves to have system slowdown, it is well known as some of the most bloated "security" software available. although i have read that their latest version is supposedly less bloated i still would never install it on anyones machine.

that said, while personally i favour windows (from a support platform its a no brainer) i dont hate mac, they make some nice kit.. we've jsut taken delivery of a load of new mac pros and they phenominal pieces of kit. however again from a support point of view macs have equally as many support logs on our helpdesk as windows boxes and to be honest im a little fed up of threads like this and others claiming that mac are the be all and end all.

(rant over)

peace :wave:
 
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