The Mac Lounge forum: Are Apple's notebook computers really that good?

This is something most people don't realize when they buy an apple product. There is much more to the hardware but a perfect blend of software that really allow for macs to do a lot more. Not only that but the mac comes packed with so many added goodies all you really need is iWork (office version of mac, but there is Microsoft office for mac as well) You can trim videos, rotate photos, practically anything minor and handy with about 2 clicks.

Not having to worry about maintaining it, and self notarized updates is just as great.

There are bugs none the less I found at least 2 on different programs but then after submitting error tickets, they actually had updates on the programs, I was so impressed at this, how could I not want something that works to my needs!

It is worth the money if for nothing else than the LACK of worms and viruses. I have been using computers since Windows 95 came out. The Apple computers are a JOY to use!!!!

I am a student at the University of Michigan-Flint, and will be graduating this December. I just purchased a Mac Book for my classwork - and even though I still have to get some of my files from my Mac Mini copied over to the new machine, I already love what the Mac Book offers. I could not afford a Mac Book Pro, but this is definitely the next best thing.

As far as OS-X Leopard goes, it is very stable.

Now that your daughter has a Mac, and you are no longer her support tech, does she need as much support as she used to?

P

Not only are you getting OS X, an amazing, smooth, and beautiful os, Apple computers themselves do live up to the hype. A few months ago, my old computer just wasn't producing the quality and speed I wanted, so i began to look for a new one. As an avid computer gamer, definitely graphics capability and speed are crucial, but, being a gamer, I was all but tied down to using windows. After some time of searching I began looking at a macbook pro, and talked myself into buying one, because I have worked with apples before and absolutely loved them. This computer runs windows via boot camp at incredible speeds, far beyond anything I had seen on brand new Dells or HPs that friends had recently bought, and has yet to disappoint in terms of graphics capability and game speed.

I bought a macbook two years ago. I've used windows for years and was waiting for Vista, but heard all sorts of horrible stories about it, and then tried it and found it rather slow, despite 3Gb RAm and a dedicated video card, So I thought I would give OS X a whirl, and I could always dual boot windows on it.

1. The specs in my macbook were 2 GB RAM, 2.0 7200 Intel Core 2 processor and the usual stuff, you get cheaper PCs, but Macs always use something near the high end. No Celeron stuff or "duo" processors.The 7200 C2D processor in my mac, was the one with 4 MB cache memory, so a similar PC would not have been cheap. I've noticed, they always give you a mac with the latest processor (the move to Penryn was pretty quick for macs), you seem to get the latest tech, and the latest usually is more expensive and this was for the entry level macbook ( I added 1GB RAM)
2. There are a lot of extras you get, like the subtle, tiny webcam, magsafe charging point, LED lights to check the battery charge without booting, magnetic latch, sleek form factor, that you wouldn't get in most PCS, or none
3. I love the keyboard
4. Finally, the OS is just incredible, for instance XP always used to hang on me, crash a times, slow down after a years use, I would have to defrag, virus check, this and that.. my mac has never slowed down in over two years. Leopard came after a year or so, but I found Tiger so good, and didn't really want spaces, cover flow or Time machine,and stuck with Tiger. It is smooth, doesn't have that taskbar jitter on start up and works seamlessly with all my apps. It still works as fast, even though I have only 500 MB left on my hard drive, in some of my old windows machines, that alone used to slow the whole PC.
5. What I would like in my mac: Palm desktop for mac that is like the app for windows, a lot of software was a little better ( I felt) on the windows OS, which might not be so for mac, Nokia PC suite, things like that. No card reader for my macbook , wish there was one,

But all in all, I do 95% of my work on the mac, and only used the windows side (slow boot, slow work,and jittery) for syncing my palm and some programs, maybe games and I do not like MS word for the mac.. but text edit and pages serve my purposes pretty well too.

So, if you have a mac, and add windows, you have both, and trust me, you won't be using much of the windows. Unless Windows 7 does something radical, I feel macs will penetrate further into microsofts market share.

The answer is yes. I have been running both platforms on different laptops and there is no comparison. Apple products are head and shoulders above all other competitors. Some people will feel more comfortable staying with an OS that they have history and experience with (windows). I am glad I ventured out and tried both. I used to recommend Windows products to my friends and family, but after I used an Apple product (Macbook Pro) I changed my mind and now I recommend Apple/Mac to everyone I know. It's just better, and that's all I can say.

See the subject title.

No what? While Apple's offerings are based on the same architectures and hardware as many PCs, Apple has seen to it that their chipsets and whatnot are still unique to their machines. That way, OS X only runs on their products. 3rdAlbum is partially correct in this, though I think that most Intel Macs are 64-bit capable because Leopard pack it in. Future Macs will be able to make more use of 64-bit tech than the current crop of machines.

Stating "no" without an explanation isn't going to get you anywhere. Apple is using the same or similar hardware as their competitors. But Apple's modifications, if you could say that, and their system make it "that good".

-BMF

was actually an answer to the previous post, the one about ia32 hardware and not to the original question.

If you take a look at your post you will see that it says, "In reply to: (NT)Meh. Its standard ia32 hardware"

That's where the confusion arose.

P

First step is determining what your going to be doing when you get out of school. Lets face it college isn't the end of the line its just prep for the real world. To that end you shouldn't spend 4 years getting used to a Mac if you'll be going to a job that uses windows or vice versa... People often say that it isn't hard to swap from one machine to another but it isn't really that easy.

If you are going to be in a advertising graphics artist type job after college then a mac might make sense. Those are really about the only places that embrace Macs like crazy. Otherwise businesses use Windows, and boot camp can help some but it isn't perfect. For one thing a macbook only has one mouse button, windows has a left and right which means a laptop made for windows will do things a macbook running bootcamp can't do (no right mouse button).

If you want any games, guess what, most are made for windows not for mac... in the end you'll find that macs are the favorite for the Paris Hilton types of the world... they have lots of money to waste and not enough brain power to use a real computer. I think its why they push macs to elementary schools because they are toys for kids not machines for adults.

And for the last 3 years all desktop Macs ship with a multibutton button mouse. The Macbooks have something Windows laptops all need to adopt: multitouch.

One finger on the trackpad moves the mouse, two fingers scroll the window in any direction your desire. Hold two fingers on the track pad and tap with your thumb gives your a right click context menu that is useful for both lefties and righties.

According to Gartner, Inc. Apple's first quarter 2008 sales were 6.6 percent of the US market. That put then in fourth place after Dell, HP, and Acer. In world-wide sales Apple was not in the first five position of sales. Put another way, in the US for every apple sold about fifteen Wintels are sold. I do not know or care what Paris Hilton does, but I do know that CSC Verizon, and Lockheed Martin a basically PC or UNIX shops.

Has anyone brought up the fact that you can run Windows on a Mac? Or that OS X is UNIX? Because you can, and it is.

In fact, you can run a whole host of guest operating systems on a Mac with BootCamp, VMWare, and Parallels.

In addition, there are technologies like WINE that enable you to run Windows applications without installing Windows.

Can you do that on a PC?