Apple Macs Are they worth it?

Leopard

I did say "If".

isofa

I really wish they'd offer all products with and without glossy displays, it's so annoying, might be fine to watch films etc, but it's not good for colour accurate work IMO.

Leopard

I'm surprised that little BlackBook hasn't already sold (particularly after being mentioned on here!). It's got a great spec and it probably looks like new.

It would blow the socks off what the OP is thinking of buying.

And, of course, it has Firewire.

Friends came to dinner on Easter Sunday and one of them brought with her a brand new AluBook 2.0 GHz (plus some excellent wine ).

I played with it a little (as one does) while logging it on to our guest wireless network.

It's certainly good-looking (as, indeed, is its owner) and its unibody construction is extremely robust.

But I was surprised by how little it appealed to me. Apart from its glossy screen and its deal-breaking lack of Firewire, the keys are very difficult to read in gentle light - it would be useless, for example, on an aircraft at night.

You do get a backlit keyboard on the 2.4 GHz model but for that much money one might as well pay the extra and get a 15" ProBook.

That BlackBook on eBay , though, is a remarkably well specced Mac for sensible money. If I was in the market for a 'Book, I'd have bought it myself instead of posting a link to it on here!

But I love my little 10", black, Mac-hacked Wind which cost me half as much - and it's got a matte screen . I certainly wouldn't swap if for the fair lady's AluBook.

Incidentally, have you seen the prices that Airs go for on eBay and even from the Apple Refurbs store? Serious bargains to be had on those, if you want one.

asininity

I'd never consider a Mac Air. I hate glossy screen, very annoying why did they even invent them especially on a laptop! Firewire is gonna be a dead format soon, USB 3 kicks its !!!.

Leopard

Well, somebody bought it at 2:46 pm this afternoon. I reckon they got quite a Mac bargain. :T

(Wonder if they'll now purchase the RAM, the Applecare and the mouse that I suggested? )


:idea: Maybe I should contact the seller and suggest an ex gratia payment by way of commission? :cool:

Come to that, a finder's fee from the buyer might not be unwarranted, either. :hello:

RightyTightyLeftyLoosey

Leopard wrote: »

Incidentally, have you seen the prices that Airs go for on eBay and even from the Apple Refurbs store? Serious bargains to be had on those, if you want one.

They are pretty slow, though. The lack of a superdrive might be a deal breaker for some. They are what an Apple Netbook should/might be, marketed as a premium product. Suspect they haven't sold all that well.

Leopard

Broadly speaking, specs-wise, the Air could be described as a 13.3" netbook.

They inhabit the middle ground between a 10" netbook and a 13.3" AluBook.

Neither a netbook nor an Air is a substitute for a powerful laptop but they are nice things to have in addition to a laptop: for simple tasks they can be a lot handier.

You're right that Airs haven't sold well. My local independent Apple dealer has been surprised and disappointed by that. I told him to consider Apple's RRP for them.

If Apple does find itself obliged to enter the netbook market to protect its tail, I suspect that something like a 10" Air could emerge.

Apple needs to fill the gap between the iPhone/iTouch and the Air without cannibalising its sales of either.

The problem for Apple is that it doesn't like getting into areas of the computer market where the competition is cut-throat and the profit margins are low and rely on a high volume of sales.

But when times are hard, they have to go where the available money is.

RightyTightyLeftyLoosey

I agree entirely. I'm a huge fan of netbooks generally, I bought an Asus eee 701 at launch and until recently was doing most stuff I needed on a Samsung NC10, plugging it into an external monitor or LCD TV when needed. A DVD drive for me is only needed for software installation from time to time, so its not a big deal.

Apple will enter the market for these eventually, they'll have little option when times are tight and people are willing to 'make do' with their current machines. The attempt to fob the public off with the old 'but the iPhone 3g is practically a netbook' excuse won't wash forever. I have one and love it, but it isn't.

A sub £600 Apple netbook would be a very desirable item indeed. I know Apple tend to enter markets late (e.g. mobile phone) but could they get a move on???!

I really hope their 'netbook' when it arrives isn't like the Sony attempt. 'Fail' doesn't even begin to describe it.

So I'm stuck with a tidy sum of cash, wondering whether (like the OP) to buy the White MacBook or Aluminium unibody model. I suspect I'll be seduced by the good looks of the latter.:rolleyes:

DatabaseError

Leopard wrote: »

... one of them brought with her a brand new AluBook 2.0 GHz

It's certainly good-looking (as, indeed, is its owner) and its unibody construction is extremely robust.

But I was surprised by how little it appealed to me.

You suggesting that she's fat? you only like thin women?

Leopard

DatabaseError wrote: »

You suggesting that she's fat? you only like thin women?

I worded that sentence extremely carefully! (I word most things extremely carefully. I survive by it. :cool: )

The degree to which a woman's girth is of importance to me is relative to the role she plays (or might be persuaded to play) in my life. (Pick the bones out of that one. )

It is most certainly true, nonetheless, that it is nice to be surrounded by things of beauty in one's daily life: be they women or computers (or anything else). And excess bulk and/or weight in either is not attractive to me.

The lady newly possessed of the AluBook is quite remarkable by any standards: she's drop-down-dead gorgeous, looks like a supermodel and her own unibody, whilst pleasingly curvaceous in the most appealing places, is both sinuous and extremely robust. She regularly (to my utter amazement) competes in Ironman events for which the triple discipline is (something like) a 3 mile swim, followed immediately by 110 miles on a bicycle, followed immediately by running a marathon. :eek:

She brought excellent wine, sipped half a bottle of champagne before dinner, drank Sancerre with the first course, iced vodka with the interlude, most of a bottle of Burgundy with the main course, port with the cheese, Moscatel with the desert and Armagnac with the coffee.

And I can assure you that you (like I) would consider her - for all Apple's efforts - greatly more desirable than her 2.0 GHz AluBook. :happylove

I hope that clarifies it for you.


PS. Check your email box.