Stop me buying a Macbook Pro

[sebo]

Have wanted an Apple / OS X for a while, almost certainly as a result of their marketing and friends evangelising about them.

I currently use Ubuntu at home which has been my effort to use something different to the XP that I use each day. It's ok but sometimes it's frustrating not being able to use some applications without frigging about.

Should I

A. Stick to what I know - Ubuntu / Windows
B. Scratch the Apple itch with a 2nd Hand Mac from eBay (Probably not an Intel one)
c. Continue with my (what to me seems expensive as have only ever built my own desktops / bought refurbed laptops) purchase of the below.

15-inch: 2.53GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB Memory
250GB hard drive1
SD card slot
Built-in 7-hour battery2
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
£1,299.00


I have a 1hr 45 commute each way so the battery appeals to me although I could get that from a Samsung N110.

I know this is essentially another Mac Vs Windows thread but I am confused. Is the grass greener over there.. in Mac Land (and is it worth the additional expense over a Windows machine?)

[sebo]

Silver993tt said:

Go for a Lenovo W500, fantastic machine.

Currently use a Lenovo T62. Very good piece of kit.

I must say, I need lining up against a wall and shooting. I basically want a new toy.

[sebo]

Strangely Brown said:

Neil_H said:

I also find there's not enough control over moving files etc, everything is oversimplified

In what way is there not enough control? There are lots of things that are, shall we say, less than well documented but I don't know of anything that you can't do. What's the problem, maybe we can help?

To the OP, yes, get one. I am biased of course but you really won't know unless you try. Maybe one of your friends would be prepared to lend you their machine for a weekend?

One of the lads has a PowerBook and has offered but lives a fair distance away. Another chap has an iMac and has given me some training on it after work.

I liked the way it looked but I'd say the fact that I would be buying MS Office for the Mac possibly says that I wouldn't be doing anything that I couldn't do on a machine for a 1/3rd of the price.

I know the Macs cost more in the first place but they hold their value well when it comes time to sell on and they "seem" to not need upgrading as often as their Windows variants. The latest OS will still run on very old machines (try running Vista on anything much older than 3 years).

[sebo]

Mousey

Are you saying you don't shut the laptop down? Just close the lid (I guess it goes into standby mode) and then open the lid again and it's all fired up and ready for action ?

Is it still best practice to allow a battery to fully discharge before fully recharging it? Do these Lithium batteries have memories like some used to years ago ?

[sebo]

Man-At-Arms said:

Mr. Potato Head said:

sebo said:

Built-in 7-hour battery2

Is the battery in a Macbook replaceable?

white MacBook - yes
Aluminium MacBook - no

It can be replaced in the Aluminium one by Apple but at a price of $129 (parts, labour, disposal of old barrery)

It should last between 3 and 5 years before needing a replacement

[sebo]

Here's a full list of what I currently use my Laptop for.

Watching Movies, both from the HDD and from a DVD
Surfing the Net
VPN to work and then work from home via Remote Desktop
Store, view photos
Edit Websites and upload to FTP Location
iTunes
Java IDE

[sebo]

I like Ctrl C and then Ctrl V.

Surely you can do that on a Mac?

With regards to the comments about the WiFi card - what's inferior about it? It seems to be an A,B,G,N card.

[sebo]

Thanks for all the replies.

I have decided that for what I want to do, I am going to go with a Samsung N110.

I'll upgrade the RAM to 2gb and hve a friend with one already that has Windows 7 working on it with almost no difference to the speeds at which XP runs on it.

I really like the look of Macs and so would likely get an iMac for home use (particularly for viewing photos and movies on in the lounge) once we move house.

But I think for my needs I'll go down the budget route with this Samsung. At least I won't cry too much when I spill beer on it.