MacBooks...cheaper to own?

-TangleFoot-

flexrider wrote: »

Macbook air [...] known for overheating

Does that hold true for the 2010 model? Mine's ice cold most of the time...

gino_76ph

I haven't set myself for a MacBook just yet. I am just inclined to buy one. One also reason I've recently dscovered is that I can install Windows7 on it v Bootcamp which is really good.

Now for that all-important question: what do I do with a laptop?

Basically: surfing the Internet, basic Facebook/twitter, YouTube, making/saving/printing Office documents, plane/train tickets, downloading movies and music, occasional games (but would love an app store similar to Apple's to download apps & games alike), basic Skype, being able to upload photos/videos via a laprop's hard drive or a connected portable hard drive to a device (such as an Android or BB phone) with having not to worry about compatibility issues, buying n' selling stuff on EBay & Amazon et al, etc.

I want something that is within £1000, backlit keyboard, slim, light, a DVD drive, latest Bluetooth & wifi standards, at least 2-3 USB ports, SD card reader, good speakers, 6-8 hour battery life, 13" maximum creen size, one that boots up pretty fast, a fan that doesn't heat much or a "self-cleaning" feature that draws out dust/heat away from the fan.

I saw a refurb MacBook Pro i5 13.3" model (October 2011 version) for under £900. Latest ultra books can be between £800-£1500 I think and with no DVD tray.

Please help!!!

-TangleFoot-

If it's got a SSD it'll boot quickly, but pound-for-pound you won't have as much space for movies, music and games as you would with a conventional HDD.

For more games, take a look at Steam.

andycrichton

I bought my first MAc in 2002, had it 7 years and have a 2nd hand Macbook (£400 well spent 2.5 years ago now) and a macBook Pro bought new. In a speccing contest I am sure a Windows machine is better and cheaper, but beyond the keypad, Macs are all about the software really. If you are wired for using a Mac, ie you like clean and no fuss then its a great value buy. If you dont care about the small differences in usability, PC all the way.

Mondez

gino_76ph wrote: »

I want something that is within £1000, backlit keyboard, slim, light, a DVD drive, latest Bluetooth & wifi standards, at least 2-3 USB ports, SD card reader, good speakers, 6-8 hour battery life, 13" maximum creen size, one that boots up pretty fast, a fan that doesn't heat much or a "self-cleaning" feature that draws out dust/heat away from the fan.

I saw a refurb MacBook Pro i5 13.3" model (October 2011 version) for under £900. Latest ultra books can be between £800-£1500 I think and with no DVD tray.

Please help!!!

Don't compare the MacBook Pro to ultra books, the MacBook Air is the equivalent. MacBook Pro should be compared against high end laptops and are not slim and light IMO. For what you want to do, any laptop made in the last 5 years will be perfectly okay for your needs with the exception of being light, in which case you need a netbook or ultrabook but will miss out on the optical drive.
You can get some more powerful laptops with optical drives but a form factor closer to netbooks from the likes of Sony IIRC, but you pay a premium for it.
I would say your choice really comes down to if you prefer it light or to have optical drive bearing in mind light weight externals can be had for around the £30 mark. If you go for light, MacBook Air or UltraBook depending on if you really think you would enjoy using OS X over windows. Remember if you plan to use bootcamp you need to factor in the cost of a Windows 7 license as well.

Dussed

In my opinion, the only reasons I'd buy a macbook pro for are the looks, battery life, and bragging rights. That's about all they have over other laptops of similar specs. Just the other laptops are a lot cheaper.
If you've got the money, I'd say go for it. I'm looking into getting a MBP myself to replace my current portable (XPS15) which is the least reliablest thing going, cause mine has had its motherboard replaced 3 times in a year, and overheats after about a month. (can fix myself though.) Not to mention Dell's customer support, who thought just because my warranty had 15 days left on it, they'd return it with a dodgy screen, a slower hard drive, and half the ram. >.>

-TangleFoot-

Dusssed wrote: »

That's about all they have over other laptops of similar specs.

Can you name another laptop made out of chunks of solid aluminium? I can't.

wba31

gino_76ph wrote: »

I haven't set myself for a MacBook just yet. I am just inclined to buy one. One also reason I've recently dscovered is that I can install Windows7 on it v Bootcamp which is really good.

Now for that all-important question: what do I do with a laptop?

Basically: surfing the Internet, basic Facebook/twitter, YouTube, making/saving/printing Office documents, plane/train tickets, downloading movies and music, occasional games (but would love an app store similar to Apple's to download apps & games alike), basic Skype, being able to upload photos/videos via a laprop's hard drive or a connected portable hard drive to a device (such as an Android or BB phone) with having not to worry about compatibility issues, buying n' selling stuff on EBay & Amazon et al, etc.

I want something that is within £1000, backlit keyboard, slim, light, a DVD drive, latest Bluetooth & wifi standards, at least 2-3 USB ports, SD card reader, good speakers, 6-8 hour battery life, 13" maximum creen size, one that boots up pretty fast, a fan that doesn't heat much or a "self-cleaning" feature that draws out dust/heat away from the fan.

I saw a refurb MacBook Pro i5 13.3" model (October 2011 version) for under £900. Latest ultra books can be between £800-£1500 I think and with no DVD tray.

Please help!!!

If you're gonna buy one, you know any students/NHS staff? they get big discount in Apple Stores, and whiel you're buying, buy AppleCare, takes your cover on the Mac to 3 years.
I don't agree with a poster above who says customer service is poor, when I've had issues (not with my 3 yr old Aluminium Mac, but my iPhone, the Genius bar in my local apple store were very helpful.

You will pay more for a mac than windows, but price is relative to how long it works for. my Macbook cost £1200 and has lasted 3 years. My previous windows laptop cost £800 and died after 18 months. work out the cost per year and the macbook has come in cheaper. that's not even adding on the cost of the virus software on my windows machine. I run iAntivirus on my mac which is free, and offers a layer of protection.

For your actual usage needs of a mac i dont think the cost is fully justified, however since i have owned a mac i have (and still do) edit video stuff in imovie, and edit photos in iphoto (stuff I NEVER contemplated doing before) and it's pretty easy to pick up.

The problem with asking for opinions on mac or PC is that there are too many haters on both sides, and not enough people willing just to tell you a down the middle opinion. If you want a mac then go buy one, but deffo get AppleCare with it, and take a student with you and get some £££ off so it's not as steep. I'd also recommend checking out Mac Format magazine that has a buyer's guide toward the back. I subscribe for £12 a quarter and it has some really useful how to guides.
Also check the cycle, rumours are that upgraded macbooks are due soon so hold on, now isnt the time to buy
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

gonzo127

wba31 wrote: »

You will pay more for a mac than windows, but price is relative to how long it works for. my Macbook cost £1200 and has lasted 3 years. My previous windows laptop cost £800 and died after 18 months. work out the cost per year and the macbook has come in cheaper. that's not even adding on the cost of the virus software on my windows machine. I run iAntivirus on my mac which is free, and offers a layer of protection.

this is always the issue isnt it, i have still got a nice 'under £400' laptop running from 6 years ago, and my last dell laptop was ~10 years old before my step daughters friend stood on it and broke the screen at which point i didnt feel it was cost effective to replace it - and you do realise anti virus software for windows can be got for free so isnt really a consideration for running costs.

so based on my £400 laptop - if i had your £1200 macbook it would have to last me ~ 18 years before it could beat my £400 laptop in cost per year usage - but as ever this is anicdotal evidence

however going on the last warrenty survey i have seen apple came in 4th based on the amount of warrenty claims within the first 3 years behind Asus and Toshiba and Sony (unfortunatly this survey was done a while back, at least 2 years i believe, but does show that they are not as bullet proof as their reputation says they are)

but as to the other comments yes they are very nice systems, but you just need to accept that in general they are more expensive, but if you are fine with that great and as wba has stated if you are going to buy one, try and borrow a student or find a NHS friend and save yourself some money

Notmyrealname

I have a Macbook Pro here which I bought two and a half years ago for £900 odd. Its had some real hammer and I would have gone through two batteries on a PC World Windows laptop long before now yet this still has 90% capacity left.

Currently its resale value is about £500 which means its depreciated by £400, the cost of a Windows laptop.

So over the same 2.5 years a Windows laptop would have gone through two batteries at £25 a pop.

Assuming that I bought a £450 laptop to have an equivalent spec CPU etc, and a resale price of about £100 then overall its as near a break even.

However repairing laptops for a living, I'd be surprised if you didn't need at least one hardware repair on a £450 windows laptop.

There are windows laptops out there with the same build quality as a macbook pro but they're also the same price OR MORE. And their resale price is far less - they depreciate more.