macbooks

Willowx

Hi,

I've been looking at the Apple website trying to work out if they are worth the extra money compared to a standard laptop as some people seem to swear by them and I have a few questions.

Is the only difference (other than the colour) between the black macbook and the higher spec white one the size of the harddrive?

Do they come with any word processing software as they didn't seem to mention any on the program list?

Also is a 13inch display alright to use as a quick look on ebuyer seems to show 15inch as the standard small size for laptop.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Willow

Millionaire

Willowx wrote: »

Is the only difference (other than the colour) between the black macbook and the higher spec white one the size of the harddrive?

Yes, You pay a premium for the black colour

Willowx wrote: »

Do they come with any word processing software as they didn't seem to mention any on the program list?

No, you may get a trial version of Office 2008 for Mac or iWork08. There is a Openoffice version for Mac which is free.

Willowx wrote: »

Also is a 13inch display alright to use as a quick look on ebuyer seems to show 15inch as the standard small size for laptop.

This is subjective. I personally don't like the 13inch screens as I think they are too small.

Pop down to your local Apple store or go to PcWorld and have a play around with them and see if they suit your needs.

By the way, as this is a Moneysaving site what do you want to use it for? As you can pick up decent spec Laptops for around £350-£400 mark nowadays.

Willowx

What I will be using it for involves report writing, spreadsheets and the occasional database while away from home or the office. I was looking at a laptop for about £370 but a friend was rather enthusiastic about macbooks so was trying to work out if they were worth the extra money.

Doesn't seem like it at the moment given the price of the software given that most windows laptops seem to have works included in the price.

chuckley

depends on your needs, ie, screen size and ease of the OS. if ur looking for basic on a budget id suggest a second hand windows based one.

Millionaire

Willowx wrote: »

What I will be using it for involves report writing, spreadsheets and the occasional database while away from home or the office.

By the way I've got an iMac and brought it for video editing etc, but for what you want to do any laptop between £300-£400 will easily do the job so why pay over double the price?

My advice, Save your money;)

david.clabon

I'm a massive Mac fan, and yes it's true, you do pay a premium for Macs over a PC. There is a good reason, Macs just work, PC's are clumsy and awkward to use.

The built in software you get is worth the extra alone, i.e. imovie, iphoto, itunes etc.

Also Macs are so easily upgradable, I recently set up a wireless router for my dad, my mac picked it up within seconds (no configuring), the PC tokk about 1 hour to get it to work, had to upgrade everything seperately.

BillScarab

How are PC's clumsy? It's all point and click whichever you buy. So what if you get imovie and iphoto you get decent video and phot editing software with Vista and as for easily upgradable, compared to a PC they're not. PC's are designed to be upgraded, how many different nmotherboards can you choose from if you want ot upgrade the one in a Mac?

Macs are good machines but some of the biased nonsense that Mac fans come out with seems to be based on experiences 20 years ago.

To the OP, for what you want to do a Windows Laptop will do fine and so will a Mac. Have a look at the Macbooks and if you like them go for it, just pick whichever machine you are happier with and fits your budget. But don't get wayed by anybody raving about a particular machine without hard facts to back it up.

amaseal

I bought my daughter a macbook when she started Uni. She wanted a small portable laptop and it was much cheaper than the small Sony alternative. She keeps it in a foam case and it fits in her bag. She bought Mac Student Office as part of the deal - we got 15%off as student discount.
I would certainly get one myself next time, it does seem easier to use than a pc.

jampton

alexjohnson wrote: »

Hmm - you said it! A laptop right? Unless you are technically proficient you should assume you cannot upgrade any part of it apart from memory, which is usually pretty straightforward.

Also, I think you'll find those that "upgraded" to Vista beg to differ:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business/09digi.html
(That's complaints from Microsoft board members about the lousy experience of upgrading.)

I don't want to get into the whole Mac/PC thing either, though I will say it is a myth you pay more for a Mac, although one huge exception to that is a lot of people (rightly or wrongly) "borrow" a copy of Office or Photoshop from their employers, whereas on a Mac you're much more likely to have to go out and buy that, and leaving aside the ethics it is a cost that lots of PC users don't have to bear. What is true is that Apple simply don't make cheap low-end machines. You can pay less, but I would argue you get less. Whether that's a good trade is up to you. I do think it's worth noting that you don't get many complaints from Mac users about their user experience - the viruses, spyware, anti-virus software bogging down their systems like syrup, weird cryptic error messages, etc. I wouldn't switch if you literally paid me but we all have differing priorities, and for sending the odd email there's a good case for saying why pay more?

It's not about 'differing priorities' for many of us but expense. I think you'll find a clue in the name of this site!

For the majority of peoples computing needs I am sorry but I think you'll find it's a fact you'll pay more for a Mac - simply because you justify this extra expenditure doesn't make Macs cheaper in real pounds and pence and this certainly is the key issue for me and many others - I can't afford a Mac. To paraphrase you even low end Macs are expensive. At time of writing a white Macbook 2.1 is £700 from apple whereas a similar specced Dell Vostra 1500 is 445. It's some premium for similar hardware for those of us that are very price conscious.

I am sorry but I found your post really patronising.

jampton

alexjohnson wrote: »

It wasn't meant to be patronising - in fact I bent over backwards not to be - but if that's what you want, try this: I'm sorry, but you're confusing saving money with being poor. I'm sorry to be blunt but you're probably not very active on the ISA or stoozing board in that case: do you feel patronised that some people are rubbing your nose in the fact of their good credit? Does the mere existence of Tesco Finest offend you? What a frankly ridiculous sentiment.

I'm also sorry that you can't afford a Mac but you need to define what you mean by "pay more." If you mean you can spend less money on a PC, then you are right. If you mean that once you compare like with like you will pay more, then the answer is no, you won't. This has been demonstrated time and again: if you pay less then typically you are not getting like for like either in name, design, quality of components, size and weight, or software. You would tend to pay about the same for a Sony, Toshiba, IBM (Lenovo) etc. Observing that you can pay less is rather like obersving that Daewoo's tend to cost less than BMW's. (For what it's worth I don't own a car at all.) Now, you (or anyone else reading this) may decide that there is no value in a nice design or bundled software or whatever - to you - in which case you're completely right to think you'd be better off with a cheaper machine - which is what I said in so many words, isn't it?

And lastly, it is priorities. It is always priorities. Clearly you've decided a laptop is a must-have item or you wouldn't be commenting. You could at any given time buy a second-hand Mac on eBay for the money you would have spent on a (bad) Tesco cheapo laptop. But you don't. Or you could get a laptop from Freecycle. Including a Mac, and you could get one that worked and got you on the web for next to nothing. But you don't. Why not? That's none of my business and actually I don't care, but you have decided not to. What is that but "differing priorities"?

You are again extremely patronising and I am delighted for you (and indeed the apple shareholders) that you see the 'value' in the name and not the over inflated cost of their products.

geekgirl

BillScarab wrote: »

Macs are good machines but some of the biased nonsense that Mac fans come out with seems to be based on experiences 20 years ago.

*cough* some mac fans, please.

To the OP. I am a PC user at work and a mac user at home. A PC will do all the things you want to do with it (and much more of course). It comes down to a question of preference. Some prefer a mac, some prefer a pc. I am a mac girl but each to their own.