MacBooks...cheaper to own?

nathand_2

It really depends on what you're going to use it for. Any Apple product comes at a premium and that puts a lot of people off. When I first got an iPhone I never considered switching to anything else and after purchasing a Macbook Air I can say the same thing about that. Something that's often not touched upon is the support. I work online so if my computer has a problem I'm losing money (or earning potential anyway). If I have a problem with Apple I can take it to a store and have it fixed or replaced the same day. I've had to do this before and the process is superb.

-TangleFoot-

flexrider wrote: »

see the cited link:http://maccrazy.com/macbook-air-heat-fan-noise

Doesn't really mention the older model all that much... and all I use mine for is web browsing and reading ebooks. As for discolouration, anything likely to affect a metal exterior in that way is apt to turn the machine's innards to slag.

I must admit however that fan failure is a distinct possibility; it's one of the few moving parts the machine possesses.

tombruton87

-TangleFoot- wrote: »

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

asus zenbook lighter thinner and sexier than an air

tombruton87

Notmyrealname wrote: »

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.

where do you get those figures from I used to work for PC world and the failure rate in the 1st 3 years is around 4%, Macbook pros have issues with the hindge cover the glass over the screen cracking just to name a few. Ps you really should shut ur machine down often but to be fair I dont do that with my Mac, Linux or Windows laptop. Apple failure rate is pretty much the same, fair enough better batteries but not user replaceable.

Dussed

-TangleFoot- wrote: »

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

I meant the specs e.g. cpu ram etc. silly.

gino_76ph

What i am trying to ask/say here is is (Yes!) the cost/running cost/durability/performance/compatibility/light angles.

A similar specced (say) 13" i3 Macbook Air/Pro to a similar specced Windows 7 laptop/ultrabook factor in the angles above plus battery life/heat, OS features etc. which is cheaper to run in the long run?

Yes, i am an NHS staff and i'm aware i can get discounts but i feel discounts aren't enough to get you going.

Also, with my current Windows 7 laptop i almost never had to use my optical drive so i am now geared towards an Ultrabook or a mid-to-high spec Macbook Air.

What do you think guys?

Mondez

A macbook air is pretty much equivalent to an ultra book, macbook pro is much heavier. I've not played with many ultra books yet, but from what I've seen they are on the face of it of similar build quality to the MBA so really they only question you need to ask yourself is will you want to learn how to use a new OS with new ways of doing things or are you happy with the devil you know (windows).
Don't be tempted kid yourself that dual booting will give you the best of both worlds, its a pain to have to restart your system and of course you need to buy windows as well to do that. If you are happy with windows I think you will be happy with an ultra book.

-TangleFoot-

tombruton87 wrote: »

asus zenbook

Ta for that. For anyone still wondering what I was referring to, here's a video.

bazster

gino_76ph wrote: »

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.

Any £300 laptop will do all that. You'll pay a bit more for slim and light, but you don't need to spend £1,000 on either a Mac or a PC. Unless it's for the pose value in which case, fine, whatever floats your boat. Just don't kid yourself that you need enough computer power to put a man on Mars.

-TangleFoot-

bazster wrote: »

Just don't kid yourself that you need enough computer power to put a man on Mars.

Remember what it took to get a man on the moon?