Neptune Aquatics

Laptop Advice Please

If you are even considering a MAC, before you buy it, go to an apple store and play with one. Sit down (well stand) and really test it out. Ask for help to find the things you are familiar with with windows. If after solid session, you don't feel the good vibe, DO NOT get it. Some people love them, others hate them. Keep in mind though, that there is a some of evidence right now that Apple is going to release a new macbook pro semi-soon (hardware upgrade). This won't effect your experience on demoing it, but you will want to get the fastest hardware option if it is coming out soon.

http://www.macrumors.com is a great site to find out this stuff.
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/
 
I think the Macs are good especially for non-techie types. And I'm a PC guy from way back.

My brother-in-law is non techie. Actually, he is slightly techie which is worse. He knows enough to create more problems. I end up being the guy that goes over to fix his computers or network or the computers that his friend builds out of spare parts for the kids. No biggie for me really.

But he got a Mac recently, and it just does what it's supposed to do. It doesn't do any of the PC stuff that makes him think he wants to tinker with it. So everything has been fine.

I had a Fujitsu notebook for quite a while. I really liked the hardware quality. Worked great and lasted a long time.

I got a Sony notebook after that, but it didn't last nearly as long as the Fujitsu. Cold solder joints.

I don't know what it is about Sony. My impression is that they've been coasting on their rep for quite a while. Seems like their TV's, video cameras, computers, and whatever show up with cold solder joints a lot. At least that's what happened with those Sony products that I bought. And when I went online to diagnose, each of the problems actually did track back to cold solder joints. Anyway, I won't ever buy Sony anything again. They remind me of the Toyota situation.

I used to do all the IT stuff for my work group. I always liked Asus and Abit hardware and built all the computers myself. Did Windows desktops and Linux servers.

My boss had me turn over everything to our official IT unit. "What if you ran got ran over by a bus?" "We have to let people do the jobs that they're supposed to do." I went along with that, but he found out shortly after that all the reasons why I was taking care of the stuff in the first place.

Anyway, our IT goes with Dell, which is pretty typical. The Dell hardware is mediocre, and the performance is so-so. But the main attraction is that that it's easy for IT to support because you buy Dell service contracts and they are reasonably responsive when there are problems. The DVD drive on my Dell wouldn't read after a few months. It was too much hassle for me to call in a service tag, wait on IT, wait on Dell, schedule a time, etc. So I just grabbed a apare drive off the shelf and took care of it. So much for buying the service contract.

I won't buy HP on principle. Had numerous bad experiences with their support in relation to firmware problems. Their hardware and engineering side had been great. Maybe they still are, that being the roots of the company. But their software and customer relations leaves me unimpressed and annoyed.
 
The Mac sounds good except for the cost, looks like $1600, and the noncompatibility with Word aand Excel. I like the idea of them aging well.
 
My mac (13" macbook pro) cost me ~ $1100. It is compatible with word and excel (I use them both)
There is a free equivalent to Microsoft office called Open Office http://www.openoffice.org/ which you can try on a PC
Or you can get a Mac copy of Office to run natively on a Mac http://www.microsoft.com/mac/default.mspx
Or if you want to run windows programs emulated in a mac, you can use crossover http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/
Or you can install and run windows on your mac independent of OSX using bootcamp which comes with OSX http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/
Or you can install and run windows simultaneously while running OSX (which I do and have windows on the second monitor) using parallels http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/
 
yes. Open office has both it's own file format and the ability to open and save Microsoft office documents. They do operate a little differently.
Your best bet is to just try it out if you are considering it. It is free afterall :)
 
I've installed Open Office on puters for those that didn't want to pay for MS Office licenses.

Slight differences, but pretty much compatible.

For web, Word, Excel, and minimal hassles, the Mac should be fine.

On the PC side... anybody ever build one of these notebooks or netbooks?

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/diy_notebooks/

Who makes decent stuff for something like that these days?
 
also Steve, you always can go with 1984..er...I mean google and use GoogleDocs. They have a very similar software suite similar to office.
http://docs.google.com
 
Just ran across that OCZ diy netbook.

I haven't been following hardware lately. I remember Asus had a whitebox notebook that you could build a while back.

Didn't know what the current offerings are.

I did run across the OCZ netbook on Amazon of all places.

They were teh sh17 for memory the last time I was building stuff. Don't know who all the hot hardware vendors are nowadays though.
 
Gomer said:
also Steve, you always can go with 1984..er...I mean google and use GoogleDocs. They have a very similar software suite similar to office.
http://docs.google.com
Click to expand...

Haha.. sure. Everybody(not me) is doing their taxes online nowadays...

Surrender to cloud computing! It's so tasty :D
 
OCZ is still really good for memory. They are charging down in the SSD market as well (no surprise). You should follow anandtech.
 
Mr. Ugly said:
Gomer said:
also Steve, you always can go with 1984..er...I mean google and use GoogleDocs. They have a very similar software suite similar to office.
http://docs.google.com
Click to expand...

Haha.. sure. Everybody(not me) is doing their taxes online nowadays...

Surrender to cloud computing! It's so tasty :D
Click to expand...
I been doing taxes online for maybe 5-7 years.
 
I like Dell Latitude laptop. HP laptop isn't bad. If you want to keep the laptop running fast, don't install anything that pop up on the screen. I saw so many system that has 3-4 different tool bars install (google, yahoo, searchengine..... ). Do you really need them? Regular laptop are not design to toss around. Handle them with care and they will last a long time. I'm using an IBM T41 right now and it still running great. Install what you use and remove what you don't.
 
Gomer said:
OCZ is still really good for memory. They are charging down in the SSD market as well (no surprise). You should follow anandtech.
Click to expand...

Used to read anandtech and tomshardware quite a bit. Too much other stuff to read these days.
 
Elite said:
I saw so many system that has 3-4 different tool bars install (google, yahoo, searchengine..... ).
Click to expand...

Yep, one of the first things I do is to uninstall all the shovelware and add-ons, and disable any unneeded services.
 
A mac is more expensive that the equivalent specs on an Acer, sure, but you get what you pay for in my opinion:

- super solid well engineered unix core
- well thought out consistent user-level interface
- light but sturdy aluminum unibody (with the macbook pro)
- really nice details, like the mag safe connector, an excellent screen, the keyboard back light, etc.
- time capsule! it really does make backups effortless.

As Tony pointed out, there are mac versions of most major software packages and software that doesn't have a mac version can be run with parallels or by just installing windows along side OSX.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top