SarahC Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Hey all, For Christmas this year I am asking all my relatives for money instead of gifts (did the same thing 2 years ago to pay for guitar instruction) to purchase a laptop computer for school. I've been thinking about going with a Mac, but I dunno. The price tag on them is very hefty. I don't think I've ever even had that much money, so I'm wondering, is it worth it? I'm really leaning towards it mostly because that seems to be the only computers they use in the music dept. at the school I am going to transfer to next year... So what do all you mac users think? Is it a good decision to spend the extra bucks rather than go with a dell or hp laptop? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OOO Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 I would definitely go for a macbook (this is the new name for iBooks), but make sure you get a student discount. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rwrkb Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 i have a macbook, and i would strongly endorse it. i also have an imac that i mostly use for my recording, but i'm a big proponent of macs Quote Link to post Share on other sites
austrya Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Get the Mac!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
quarter23cd Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 If it makes your decision any easier, I just got a new Dell laptop with Vista on it--and I have never hated a computer quite the way I hate this thing. Unreal. I am hardly a Mac fanboy, but right now I'd say get the Mac. Or get the Dell and install Linux instead of Vista. Your call. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SarahC Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 Yeah, I was going to get a Dell because that's what the home PC is(sill running XP because it's a good 5 years old), but since Vista came out and everyone hates it, I think a mac is probably the sure way to go now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hollow Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 We have 3 laptops and 3 desktops in our household. Laptop-wise my husband has a Dell and it's a piece of plastic crap, I have a ThinkPad for work, and I have a MacBook for my personal computer. I LOVE my MacBook. It's very good quality and no Windows issues. They are pricey (but so are ThinkPads, and that was my other choice as I'm rough on my laptops due to travel), but worth it. If you're a student, be sure to find out the current student deals. I got a discount through work, and at the time there was an awesome student deal, but alas, my student days are behind me. And, yes, almost everyone hates Vista. I have friends who work for the company that makes it and they hate it. Most F500 companies aren't deploying Vista. The majority of Vista sales that made MSFT's earnings and stock price soar were consumer- or OEM-related. Basically, people who "had" to have the new OS and all its problems or computer manufacturers that installed Vista on new machines. Net is, I have used PCs for 15 years, I bought a MacBook in July, and I haven't regretted my purchase at all. Buy a Mac Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rwrkb Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 good point, mac always has good student deals. it's still a chunk of change, but more than worth it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 I Quote Link to post Share on other sites
solace Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 have had my MacBook for a year now.. my first laptop but i love it to death Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Another option for price point considerations is to buy a certified Apple refurbished MacBook. I bought mine a year ago and love it like a cherished book, and have not had a minute of trouble with it. Check out the deals, Sarah: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebO...lm=CertifiedMac Edit: I should not have started looking around on that link. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rileykill Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Get the macbook unless you enjoy slamming your head against your desk in frustration. I'm forced to us a PC at work which only makes me love my macs that much more. If you're planning on using the laptop for recording music the answer is even more obvious. Garageband is actually a decent program and Logic, while it does have a learning curve, is awesome. If you really want the headache of using a PC OS you always have boot camp (to boot Vista on your mac). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hollow Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 I Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 I'm in the industry, but not a gamer -- not sure how you're defining an expert -- but we've had Vista issues and have switched back to XP on our non-Mac machines (my husband is a developer). My (very large) company hasn't switched to Vista due to deployment problems. So, Vista does not work for everyone. As for getting used to the Mac OS, it took me an evening or two at most, and I prefer it over Windows. And, don't know about anyone else, but the lifetime of a laptop is not that long for me (can't swap out parts as easily as a desktop). I upgrade at least every other year, so I wouldn't be too concerned about upgrading to Vista, especially if you have a Mac Every operating system upgrade has brought with it a host of problems and complaints. However, some of the same folks who are now proclaiming XP Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SarahC Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 I don't own anything for the computer other than what's on it and the Sims, so that's not a big deal at all. I do wonder though, will my Ipod work on the mac? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
quarter23cd Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 The UI and layout have undergone some minor and not so minor changes, but, if you are essentially purchasing a laptop for schoolwork, web surfing and email, Vista works perfectly fine. It may take a little getting used to, but maybe not as much as switching from a Windows based operating system to a Mac.Now that I've spent enough time to tweak some of the settings, Vista is getting more tolerable. But the out of the box settings my laptop came with were completely unacceptable. Basically, the rule of thumb with my laptop is--don't let it go to sleep. If you do, it takes 15 minutes to "wake up". WTF is that?? When I first got my computer, it was maddening that whenever I closed the lid or (god forbid) walked away for more than 5 minutes, my computer bunkers itself down into deep-freeze mode. When this happens, I just hold down the power button to kill it and boot from scratch because it is not worth it to try to restore. With a few tweaks to the power settings I can avoid this, but the fact that it behaves this way at all is alarming. It is about as fast as booting up the old IBM XT my dad had in 1985. In terms of usability, the interface isn't much different at all from XP. Some minor cosmetic changes. But Vista is a resource hog--I thought I had purchased a computer with a sizeable amount of RAM and a plenty-fast processor, but the thing still feels almost (if not MORE) slow than the 6 year old Gateway laptop with Win2000 that I was supposedly "upgrading" from. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rwrkb Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 I do wonder though, will my Ipod work on the mac? not if it's been set up for a pc. you'd have to reformat it for a mac, which would mean re-filling it with your music Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SarahC Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 not if it's been set up for a pc. you'd have to reformat it for a mac, which would mean re-filling it with your musicoh dang that sucks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hollow Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 I don't own anything for the computer other than what's on it and the Sims, so that's not a big deal at all. I do wonder though, will my Ipod work on the mac?You iPod will work fine on the Mac. MacBooks don't come with Office for the Mac, so you'd have to purchase if you need Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rwrkb Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 oh dang that sucks. definitely. but i'd still suggest getting the mac. in the long run you'll be a happier person Quote Link to post Share on other sites
solace Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 your new MacBook HD will be big enough to just transfer the songs back to it and then reformat though Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SarahC Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 Oh yeah, I will just have to either run the ipod on the home PC or figure out how to put the songs on the mac without having them erased from the ipod... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rwrkb Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Oh yeah, I will just have to either run the ipod on the home PC or figure out how to put the songs on the mac without having them erased from the ipod... if you still have access to the pc your music is on, it's not a big deal. i take care of my wife's ipod for her, 'cause i formatted it on my mac, but she has a pc Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hollow Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Every operating system upgrade has brought with it a host of problems and complaints. However, some of the same folks who are now proclaiming XP Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tapmyglass Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 add my vote for you getting a mac at my house there are three: a powerbook, a mac book and a mac book pro. all three are amazing and have had very little problems. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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