is an apple macbook worth the extra

frugalwannabe_2

Marty_J wrote: »

If the hardware is so standard, it much be pretty easy to put together a Mac by purchasing the components yourself, huh?

You can, the company don't like it, but people are creating their own macs from standard components. They call them 'Hackintosh'.

Marty_J

vyle wrote: »

Insufferable enthusiasm :P

Well that's a matter of opinion.

Even apple's reps have stated (as a selling point) that every first party apple program has the same layout, so if somebody is used to windows and can't stand itunes, everything they use on the mac as standard will be like that.

I don't know what "apple's reps" are talking about, but every program made by Apple does not have the same layout as iTunes.

The navigator's layout is strangely inconvenient. I find it incredibly hard to find programs in it. The dock thingy at the bottom never seems to work properly either. Whenever I use it, i click an icon, the icon bounces, then stops.

There are several ways to launch applications. You can click it in the dock, navigate to the Applications folder where all the apps are stored, you can add your applications folder to the dock and have direct access to everything installed on your Mac, or you can just start typing its name into the Spotlight search feature (something you apparently like doing in Windows), and it will bring the application right up. There are also a number of application launchers such as Quicksilver.

There are lots of different ways to do something on a Mac, and the user can choose the method that he or she finds convenient.

It seems to be very flashy, but not really practical.

An icon in the dock just bounces to indicate that the app is loading. It's just a way to provide feedback to the user so they aren't left wondering if clicking on something has actually done anything.

Apple's Human Interface Guidelines are an interesting read (if you're into that sort of thing), and explain why things are done the way they are.

Marty_J

frugalwannabe wrote: »

Similarly, you shall find that you have to check for compatibility on every product, for Word (although Open Source alternatives exist) you will have to pay more for less, and this is something you will find with most software available for both Operating Systems.

Lets take a look at some Amazon prices:


Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition--for purchase with PC Hardware only, 3 Users (PC) - £89.99

Office 2008 for Mac, Home and Student Edition (3 User Edition) (Mac) - £71.30


Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 (PC DVD) - £55.62

Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 (Mac) - £50.97


Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 Student Edition (PC DVD) - £100.51

Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 Student Edition (Mac DVD) - £96.16


Cinema 4D Release 10.5 Studio Bundle (PC) - £2,251

Cinema 4D Release 10.5 Studio Bundle (Mac) - £1,917.96

(that's a saving of £334, just for using a Mac)


Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate, Upgrade Edition for XP or Vista users (PC DVD) - £154.38

Mac OS X Snow Leopard v. 10.6 (Mac DVD) - £20.68


The total for buying the above PC programs is £2651.50. The total for buying the above Mac applications is £2157.07. That's a difference of £494.43, which is easily enough to cover the difference in cost between a nice Mac and a cheap PC.

I'm curious as to why you think the OP would get less with the Mac version though. In my experience, cross-platform software generally works better on a Mac than under Windows.

frugalwannabe wrote: »

You can, the company don't like it, but people are creating their own macs from standard components. They call them 'Hackintosh'.

No, they're not creating Macs. They're creating PCs that, which a variety of hacks and workarounds, can run Mac OS X.

If they could make a Mac using "standard components", there would be no need for the hacks.

Leopard

frugalwannabe wrote: »

Without being flippant, if the school require her to have a computer at 10...

The OP made no such assertion.

...then you would save a lot of time and money on tutors by withdrawing her as soon as possible. There is no reason that a child should require their own laptop at that age; being able to use them is one thing, and if by this we mean word processing and internet usage then almost any machine shall do.

Who are you to advise what the OP's daughter "requires" and with what knowledge of the specific individuals concerned do you do so?

I am a mac fan, and am infact writing this post on one at the moment, however they are overpriced and can present several issues concerning compatibility. If you buy a mac you effectively must go all the way, Microsoft are the monopoly in charge, as such pretty much all new devices and commercial software is released for Windows.

And, when necessary a Mac can run Windows. :rolleyes:

In this day and age of the iphone, my Sony Ericsson W950 has no support for Apple, when I encountered a problem I had to install the supplied software on my friends machine to reset it. If I had not had access to such a machine, I would have had to send the phone back to the company for them to do it. Similarly, you shall find that you have to check for compatibility on every product, for Word (although Open Source alternatives exist) you will have to pay more for less, and this is something you will find with most software available for both Operating Systems.

My (very nice) Sony Ericsson 800i, my (wretched and disposed of) Sony Ericsson K850i and my (brilliant) Nokia N82 all synch(ed) effortlessly with my Macs. As does my much loved Nokia 9300i.

And since a Mac can run Windows anyway, the rest of what you write is rubbish.

Essentially a school will use their macs for word processing, and internet usage. Everything else will be emblematic and superficial e.g. power point presentations and music lessons via the computer. As such, if you must buy her a computer, I would suggest a £300 netbook, or a windows laptop / desktop.

Since you have not the faintest clue which schools are involved in the OP's dilemma, what you write is again rubbish.

If she has aspirations towards being an artist then, as with her schooling, learning the basics thus developing a foundation should be the first priority. Leave the macs for the teenage years when becomes all about style.

Less about style; more about the ability to construct a coherent sentence.

The OP's daughter wants a MacBook and price isn't a factor. The two of them are better able to decide what's best for her than a preening illiterate who knows nothing about either of them, their talents or their personal and financial circumstances.

If you have a daughter of your own, I pity her greatly.

Now after all that, I will negate everything I have just mentioned and point out the Apple Education program. For some reason, as a new member I cannot post links, so I recommend you google Apple Education UK, it should take you to their website.

Quite. That's the only useful advice you've given.

michaelro

STUFF POSTED BY frugalwannabe

Leopard wrote: »

And since a Mac can run Windows anyway, the rest of what you write is rubbish.

Since you have not the faintest clue which schools are involved in the OP's dilemma, what you write is again rubbish.

Less about style; more about the ability to construct a coherent sentence.

The OP's daughter wants a MacBook and price isn't a factor. The two of them are better able to decide what's best for her than a preening illiterate who knows nothing about either of them, their talents or their personal and financial circumstances.

If you have a daughter of your own, I pity her greatly.

Quite. That's the only useful advice you've given.

Bit Rude.
This was his Opinion, pitying his Daughter because of his response is hardly fair is it?

My Two Pence:

If money is no object, get a Mac. It will be easier for her if all the schools are using them and generally they are very good machines.

My only gripe with Apple products are 'Fanboys' & price.
Whenever a debate like this arises, they appear in droves to convince you that spending the extra money is worth it and to bash windows in to the ground.
If the product is that good, it will sell itself.

I recently bought myself a laptop and considered a Mac for a brief while.
However I couldn't justify the extra money for a lower spec machine than I ended up buying.
Apple products aren't as perfect as some would lead you to believe http://appledefects.com/ and viruses do exist, most hackers don't bother as Window's is easier and has a wider audience.

vyle

Marty_J wrote: »

Well that's a matter of opinion.





I don't know what "apple's reps" are talking about, but every program made by Apple does not have the same layout as iTunes.



There are several ways to launch applications. You can click it in the dock, navigate to the Applications folder where all the apps are stored, you can add your applications folder to the dock and have direct access to everything installed on your Mac, or you can just start typing its name into the Spotlight search feature (something you apparently like doing in Windows), and it will bring the application right up. There are also a number of application launchers such as Quicksilver.

There are lots of different ways to do something on a Mac, and the user can choose the method that he or she finds convenient.



An icon in the dock just bounces to indicate that the app is loading. It's just a way to provide feedback to the user so they aren't left wondering if clicking on something has actually done anything.

Apple's Human Interface Guidelines are an interesting read (if you're into that sort of thing), and explain why things are done the way they are.

It's odd that on the mac training I went to, the woman didn't mention any of these things. Her whole training mentality was "CAN WINDOWS DO THIS?!!!!" to which most of the replies were, "yes, actually."

And then trying to demo some things that didn't seem to work on the hardware I, and one of my colleagues, had been given to play with. I know it was training from apple on how to point out nice selling points, but at no point did she show anything practical about how to do anything customers would actually want to see, like how to do normal, everyday things in leopard/snow leopard.

There was no mention of spotlight apart from in passing (i remember the name, but she didn't say what it was for). And like I said, on the macbook I was using, icons would bounce but wouldn't load anything.

We sat there, clicking this icon and it would bounce for a few seconds, then stop.

me: that should have loaded, right?

colleague: i think so...

me: oh, it's stopped...

*waits. nothing*

me: i'll try again

*same thing happens*

colleague: maybe youve got to double click it while it's in the air...

*tries...nothing*

*reboots*

apple rep: THEY JUST WORK!! LAWL!!!

In between, she claimed that mac could not get ANY form of virus or malware because it was IMPOSSIBLE!

She had no answer when I asked why my local apple store sells norton for macs.

asininity

randomtask wrote: »

I find using spotlight's search to be an excellent app launcher for programs not kept in the dock - just type the name of the application (or the first few letters of it) and it finds it and you can quickly open it - very slick and convenient compared to hunting it down via a start menu or opening multiple directories. I wish Windows could implement something equally powerful and fast.

I'm pretty sure I can open the start menu in vista and type in a program in the search function there and find any program on the system and launch from there too????

asininity

Marty_J wrote: »

Lets take a look at some Amazon prices:


Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition--for purchase with PC Hardware only, 3 Users (PC) - £89.99

Office 2008 for Mac, Home and Student Edition (3 User Edition) (Mac) - £71.30


Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 (PC DVD) - £55.62

Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 (Mac) - £50.97


Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 Student Edition (PC DVD) - £100.51

Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 Student Edition (Mac DVD) - £96.16


Cinema 4D Release 10.5 Studio Bundle (PC) - £2,251

Cinema 4D Release 10.5 Studio Bundle (Mac) - £1,917.96

(that's a saving of £334, just for using a Mac)


Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate, Upgrade Edition for XP or Vista users (PC DVD) - £154.38

Mac OS X Snow Leopard v. 10.6 (Mac DVD) - £20.68


The total for buying the above PC programs is £2651.50. The total for buying the above Mac applications is £2157.07. That's a difference of £494.43, which is easily enough to cover the difference in cost between a nice Mac and a cheap PC.

I'm curious as to why you think the OP would get less with the Mac version though. In my experience, cross-platform software generally works better on a Mac than under Windows.

Marty youre now talking hardware vs hardware. I could build a powerful pc, hardware wise, with more than a difference of £494.43. And it'd be a core i7 with a couple of terabyte harddrives, massive graphics. Infact for as near the same components (on the uk apple site I could get i7) in a mac pro (tower for tower comparison) I could save about £1000. Even with a Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz.

lfc321

lfc321 wrote: »

Cue tedious debate (which hasn't changed in decades) over which OS is best...

Just as I thought. Yawn...

Petty squabbles aside, the OP's daughter has asked for a macbook for Xmas, so obviously likes it. Whether you think it's better than a windows PC or not is neither here nor there. If the OP can afford it and wants to get his/her daughter what they've asked for, then a macbook it is.

asininity

lfc321 wrote: »

Just as I thought. Yawn...

Dont read it then... simples.