Macbook or Laptop?

maryjanell79

Hi Guys,

Here's my dilemma I have a packardbell laptop that sounds like it might snuff it soon, which is annoying because I have only had it 2 years but I can hear the fan isn't doing very well. This happened with my Compaq before it and my Dell before that.

Can someone please tell me (in layman's terms) what the difference is between a macbook and a laptop?

Will a macbook last longer? Does is perform better? Etc

Just seems like an awful lot of money to spend but then I have gone through 3 laptops in 6 years totalling around £1800 :-(

Thanks in advance!

Cisco001

Why don't you fix the previous laptop? Or you should buying good quality brand.

gonzo127

maryjanell79 wrote: »

Will a macbook last longer? Does is perform better? Etc

1) They can do, but not necessarily

- the most recent reliability reports/surveys based on warranty claims and helpdesk calls places Apples systems in 3rd or 4th place usually behind Asus, Lenovo and Samsung

2) They can do, but not necessarily

- some programs will run better due to the optimisation of the operating system, but other will not due to them being optimised for other operating system

personally what i would be worried about is why you keep getting through laptops as quickly as you do as a £600 laptop once every 2 years is either really really really bad luck, or incorrect usage such as turning them on and then leaving them on a fabric sofa or on top of a big fluffy quilt which will start to block the vents

steve-L

gonzo127 wrote: »

personally what i would be worried about is why you keep getting through laptops as quickly as you do as a £600 laptop once every 2 years is either really really really bad luck, or incorrect usage such as turning them on and then leaving them on a fabric sofa or on top of a big fluffy quilt which will start to block the vents

I have to agree......
The quickest way to kill a laptop I see repeatedly is overheating.
This occurs due to either:
1) Getting dust and dirt into the fan
2) Blocking the vents by putting it on a sofa/bed/carpet etc.

2 can also contribute to 1

If its dirt you can clean out the fan if you are technically competent (dextrous) and can follow instructions/you tube and its already out of warranty (if its in warranty you break it when you open the case).

i.e. Google Change fan on <your laptop model>

Will a macbook last longer?

Well the fan outlet is on the back! Good start but that's not the real reason.

Mostly I find my Mac's last longer because they don't feel old so quickly..... My Macbook is 4-5 years old and still perfectly usable because its more efficient at most of what I use it for.

The windows laptop of the same age and similar specification just stopped being used because it was too slow when Vista came out.... both are core duo 1.2Ghz with 4GB RAM.....

Part of this might be me working all day with Windows and not wanting to spend time on it at home... so I might have put more effort into keeping the Mac clean.... but mostly its just more efficient for what I use it for.

Noony

I think that you alos need to consider why a macbook may meet your needs more?
For me, a Macbook is essential because of my job. I wouldn't really buy one if I was just doing word processing.

closed

Fan spinning doesn't mean it's going to snuff it.

Have you thrown them all away?

maryjanell79

thanks for the response guys.

So you think I'm just not caring for it properly? I do try to keep them clean and I tend to keep them in cool places where I can when using them, not on the sofa etc.

What about one of those laptop cooling mats? do you think they will help. My laptop is on a lot and I'm always using it for work, etc which might be why they don't last very long but maybe I should be a bit more diligent with it?

closed

Your machine is working, why worry?

What failed on the other 2, do you still have them.

They are designed to be on a lot, and without a cooling pad.

Software can cause the fan to spin excessively

01001011

6 months ago my then 3.5 yrs old Samsung netbook's (read: cheap) fan was getting noisy. I picked the fan apart, cleaned it and then put some silicon lubricant on the shaft. I am typing in it. No problem so far.

maryjanell79

yea the first one to be fair had other problems and I got rid of that. I still have both laptops and they both run (albeit rather loudly and slow) so maybe I should give them a thorough clean? Not much memory is used on either of them. They just seem to get very hot, very loud and very slow

Cisco001

maryjanell79 wrote: »

yea the first one to be fair had other problems and I got rid of that. I still have both laptops and they both run (albeit rather loudly and slow) so maybe I should give them a thorough clean? Not much memory is used on either of them. They just seem to get very hot, very loud and very slow

If you are not using them, get the fan clean. Re-install the OS. Then running kill disk for the rest of the space. Sell them on ebay before they die.