MacBooks: How I became jelly

Chrono212

Fluttershy has a mean K:DR
May 19, 2009
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I have a new MacBook Pro on my lap.

However, it is not mine. It belongs to someone else and my housemate is setting it up for them. They've very kindly let me mess around with it until they can give it back.

The only thing is, I'm really very jelly. I worked at a couple of places that only used Mac's because, you know, if you can afford to only use Mac's you must be a successful business!*

*this is a bad way to tell if a business is successful, no matter what Apple's adverts portray

There are many things I do like about Mac's:
It's light, the battery is actually decent (even when using wifi), it boots up faster than you can say "freaking bloatware".

There are other things I don't like about Mac's though:
This laptop costs £1000. I don't have £1000. But I could save £1000.
Software is getting better with compatibility, but still not everything can work with it.
Apple's theology that old is bad and new is better, they say what you can and can't do.

What my rambling is trying to say, what should I do, dear users of the Escapist?

Save, save, save or just wait until I get a job (ha!) that gives me a MacBook, or similar?
 

Genocidicles

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Sep 13, 2012
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Just get a laptop PC with the equivalent power for half the price or less. Is a mac being slightly lighter worth £500?
 

Wadders

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Aug 16, 2008
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I know it's all down to opinion, and you're obviously enamored with said MacBook, but is it really worth you saving up £1000? Is it worth that much more than an average laptop at half the price?

In the end though, it just comes down to what you want to spend money on - everyone has stuff they splash their cash on that seems stupid or pointless to others. I'm one of those idiots that buys branded/designer clothing at several times the price of unbranded stuff, so I'm in no position to lecture you as to why you shouldn't buy a Mac. If you really want it, and it's worth that much to you, then go for it.

As far as the actual advantages it gives you go, I'm not much help. They certainly do look nice though - and as far as I'm concerned that's a big selling point on its own :p
 

tippy2k2

Beloved Tyrant
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Mar 15, 2008
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It's an old one but always good for a chuckle:



Apple's ARE getting better about not just being a simplified PC at twice the price but I still don't see the costs being worth it. However, those pros you listed can be pretty big freaking pros depending on your uses (if you're using it for travel/business, it being lighter and boots up lightning quick can be a HUGE plus).

Basically, is the lightness, the battery, and the boot-up speed a big enough convenience that you would spend an extra $500 for them? If yes, get the Macbook. If no, get the PC laptop.
 

azukar

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Sep 7, 2009
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Comes down to what you want. Macs are lovely and easy to use. Windows 8 looks like Vista all over again.
Battery life on a Mac is great, no bloatware is awesome.

Here's another old-but-good comic that illustrates the ultimate point pretty nicely:

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/mac_pc.png
 

Vault101

I'm in your mind fuzz
Sep 26, 2010
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$1000...for a laptop

you cant even play games on the damn thing, you could get a sweet ass gaming rig for that much

just get a regular PC laptop
 

lacktheknack

Je suis joined jewels.
Jan 19, 2009
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You have to learn a whole new OS, and if you're not extremely flexible, that can be quite irritating.

There's lots of good battery laptops out there. I'm on one right now that lasts for five hours without wi-fi, three to four hours with. Find one for those (they'll cost you about 400 pounds sterling, I think) and run "PC-Decrapifier" on it. And then install CCleaner (best freaking PC registry and temp file cleaner in existence, and free to boot!) and use it to turn off any remaining startup things. Boom, speedtastic startup with minimal effort.

With a bit of know-how, Macs are simply not worth the money. If you're dead set on getting one, then yeah, go ahead and by one, but I'm laying out a good alternative here.
 

Dryk

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Dec 4, 2011
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Chrono212 said:
Apple's theology that old is bad and new is better, they say what you can and can't do.
Microsoft's been doing that too

In general consumer electronics seem to be moving from "Here are some tools, use your imagination" to "You want this thing, you want to use it this way. Why? Because we said so" and I really hate it
 

lacktheknack

Je suis joined jewels.
Jan 19, 2009
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Vault101 said:
$1000...for a laptop

you cant even play games on the damn thing, you could get a sweet ass gaming rig for that much

just get a regular PC laptop
1000 pounds sterling, actually.

http://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/

That's $1,487 Australian.

You could cram liquid cooling and a second graphics card into that sweet-ass gaming rig with that money.
 

Vault101

I'm in your mind fuzz
Sep 26, 2010
18,863
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lacktheknack said:
1000 pounds sterling, actually.

http://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/

That's $1,487 Australian.

You could cram liquid cooling and a second graphics card into that sweet-ass gaming rig with that money.
0_0

well thats just fucking rediculous...

I paid a little under that for my gaming PC..granted I paid a bit more because It was put together for me..but fuuuuuck
 

Frezzato

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Oct 17, 2012
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It sounds like you already know what you want. I'm not entirely happy about Apple soldering the RAM to the board (not sure if it's for all SKUs), and the use of the Thunderbolt port for both display-out AND Ethernet (which you have to buy adapters for), but that may change by the time you save up enough money. Also, maybe every Apple device will have Retina displays by the time you're ready. And I'll keep saying this until I'm banned from the forums, but Time Machine for Mac OS, it's incredible [http://macs.about.com/od/backupsoftware/gr/time-machine-review.htm].

I'm not partial either way.

-Owner of a MacBook, HP quad-core desktop, PS3, 360, Wii, blah blah blah.
 

Vault101

I'm in your mind fuzz
Sep 26, 2010
18,863
15
43
Dryk said:
Microsoft's been doing that too

In general consumer electronics seem to be moving from "Here are some tools, use your imagination" to "You want this thing, you want to use it this way. Why? Because we said so" and I really hate it
at least they dont charge you up the ass for a white picture of an apple
 

Nalgas D. Lemur

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Nov 20, 2009
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FizzyIzze said:
I'll keep saying this until I'm banned from the forums, but Time Machine for Mac OS, it's incredible [http://macs.about.com/od/backupsoftware/gr/time-machine-review.htm].
I have to agree there. Not only does it completely blow away any other free backup solution built into any other OS I've used, it's far better than most paid ones too. It made dealing with that aspect of things on my MacBook completely trivial, and it makes the built-in backup manager in Win7 that I've been reluctantly using (the backup manager, that is; I like the OS overall) on my desktop look like a joke in comparison. The way Time Machine works on a technical/filesystem level is much more elegant too, and you can easily browse through all the multiple layers of files and recover them using only the standard file browser because of how they're linked, or even from the command line if that's all you have access to.
 

Not G. Ivingname

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Nov 18, 2009
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Chrono212 said:
I have a new MacBook Pro on my lap.

However, it is not mine. It belongs to someone else and my housemate is setting it up for them. They've very kindly let me mess around with it until they can give it back.

The only thing is, I'm really very jelly. I worked at a couple of places that only used Mac's because, you know, if you can afford to only use Mac's you must be a successful business!*

*this is a bad way to tell if a business is successful, no matter what Apple's adverts portray

There are many things I do like about Mac's:
It's light, the battery is actually decent (even when using wifi), it boots up faster than you can say "freaking bloatware".

There are other things I don't like about Mac's though:
This laptop costs £1000. I don't have £1000. But I could save £1000.
Software is getting better with compatibility, but still not everything can work with it.
Apple's theology that old is bad and new is better, they say what you can and can't do.

What my rambling is trying to say, what should I do, dear users of the Escapist?

Save, save, save or just wait until I get a job (ha!) that gives me a MacBook, or similar?
GO PC.

This is written from a Mac.

It may look nice, but your going to run into all kinds of problems you can't afford to have fixed. The cords? It is basically made of silly string for how durable it is. I have issues with battery life, heat issues, and can't play many games on it. A laptop PC for the same price will play any game on the market on high levels (barring maybe Planetside 2).

One more thing, having the body being a single piece means crap will get under the keys and you CAN'T clean it out.
 

Charli

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Nov 23, 2008
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They're just not worth it... Why are you jelly unless you're a magpie, because that shine is it's only selling point over a decent PC or hell even a decent gaming laptop. I got my gaming rig for HALF the price my stupid sisters crappy Macbook Pro abomination. Hers is now bugged to pieces and might as well just be replaced for the service charge Apple will bumplunder you for. And mine looks like it's going to last me for over 5 years, maybe I'll upgrade the graphics card once along the road. I just don't need any bigger.
 

JochemHippie

Trippin' balls man.
Jan 9, 2012
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The UI and Touchpad are quite orgasmic indeed...

Though they're expensive... Soooooooo, I'd say save up and get a good upgradable Windows lappy
 

Playful Pony

Clop clop!
Sep 11, 2012
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I can see why you'd want one. They have a great feel of quality to them, they look very clean and efficient (I'm a sucker for elegant design) and of course is pretty much THE name in the business these days. I still can't swallow the prices though, thats what's holding me back. Like when I tried to make my mind up between an iPhone and the Galaxy SII. The iPhone has the biggest name, and by far the biggest app market and a whole world of attachments available to it. Yet the Galaxy was more powerful, more comfortable to use and significantly cheaper (in my country anyway). To top that off the Galaxy also won every test it was included in, beating the iPhone and its other contenders.

To me, Apple products will always be about fashion more than anything. I told my brother he could get a really nice Galaxy SII and not have to work all summer to get it, or maybe have some money left over in the end. He still went for the iPhone, because thats what the kids in school has, thats what "everyone" needs to have. Like all fashion it is terribly overpriced =p. I have a slightly quirky taste in clothing, so I get my clothes from very diferent places than my friends. For the price of some jeans and a top at her store, I can get 2-3 complete outfits, including shoes! But because that gay man on TV said so, she just has to get those particular clothes... Ohw well =p.