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Computer Guru's

Thumper

Thumper

Autocross Champion
fender177 said:
Not exactly true. Think about this - if you buy a run of the mill motherboard, chances are it will underwhelm you. If you shell out the extra cash for a motherboard that is well designed and equipped, you will have a better experience. Apple spends a lot of time developing their hardware and then again spends a lot of time making sure the software is optimized for the hardware. Just because it's an apple and it's more expensive than its PC counterpart does not mean that it isn't worth the extra cash. It's actually really hard to compare PCs to Macs because there are trade offs on both sides. You will likely never find an identical hardware lineup to compare them.
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The main components (CPU, RAM, ect) are identical. At the core of a Mac of any kind you will find the SAME Intel CPU you will find in Dell, Asus, HP, and every other PC. The RAM is the same core components as well just in a different, proprietary slot design so that it is harder to upgrade older tech and save money.

Sorry man, if you want to argue OS benefits back and forth, we can certainly do that and I will happily discuss the cost bases difference between the new Windows OS and the newest MacOs all you want...and I'll throw Linux in there to further prove my point. But the bare facts remain that for double the price for Apple products you get the same hardware inside flashy white plastic and a MacOS. If it's that important to you, I'll build you a system with PC components, paint it white and load MacOS on it. lol


plac said:
inferior OS.. funniest thing ive ever heard. obviously you don't have any kind of unix backround.
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Dude, I am still rolling on the ground. Course, I had not stopped laughing at the "no viruses" ridiculousness either so maybe that helped. Someone has never used anything but Windows is my guess.

Asus is good, I haven't had any issues with the few HPs I have owned (have a HP DV6 less than 6 months old with no issues), Dell is hit and miss, have some friends that swear by Toshiba though I have never had one.

Get one with good specs, whatever version of Windows that comes free, half the cost of a Mac, and then wipe Windows and install Linux Mint 11. Best of both worlds.....a solid OS that you will have to try to break and is more secure than MacOS, and money in your pocket from not paying for the hipsters tech. :D
 
S

surrealchemist

Ready to race!
They aren't plastic anymore, they are aluminum. I have dropped my last one from 2 or 3 feet onto a sidewalk and all it did was dent the corner.

There is a reason why the PC manufacturers are starting to make laptops that look more like the mac has for 6 years. They are usually ahead of the design curve.

If all you want is a box that will do some work and are happy with windows you can save money, sure. Not going to deny that. Not everyone just buys on numbers. But if you can't appreciate the attention to detail in the OS design then you probably wouldn't care about hardware design either, you just want it to be functional.

Most people that get macs are still using the same one 4 or 5 years later, or they upgrade and sell the old one (or use it as backup). If you do graphics, video, music work you are probably more likely to buy one.
 
fender177

fender177

Ready to race!
Thumper said:
.and I'll throw Linux in there to further prove my point.
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Yes, please throw linux in there - I'd love to hear your thoughts on Linux. I'm especially interested because my day job is a UNIX administrator. So please, further prove your point that PC and Mac -hardware- are identical using linux as an arguing point.

I completely agree that Macs are overpriced. I generally buy a mac with minimal RAM and go elsewhere to buy it. But what you do get with a mac is the top of the line hardware. They don't cheap out because they might sell 1,000 more units. They stick to their guns and make hardware that performs extremely well because it's operating system knows exactly what hardware will be running.

It's an age old debate and no matter how good one's argument is, they will always be wrong because in the end they are both wonderful machines and it boils down to personal preference.
 
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plac

Guest
thats the other thing. Mac's hold their value better than any Windows laptop. I can sell them for 90% of value after a few months use. Like I did for my Air 11".
 
fender177

fender177

Ready to race!
To the OP - sorry for participating in taking your thread so far off track. Obviously, if you don't want to spend more than 1,000.00, you won't be getting a mac - and that's not a big deal. One thing to check out is - does your editing software leverage your GPU at all? If so, I would not worry about getting an i7, and I would focus on trying to find a laptop with a better video card and something like an i5. Also, RAM is of the utmost importance in my opinion - followed directly by a fast HD. SSDs are great, but they will jack your price up. IMHO I'd rather get double the RAM, especially for video editing.
 
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plac

Guest
i tripled my ram for $49.95.. the ram upgrade cost isnt even a factor.
 
DBESTGTI1

DBESTGTI1

Go Kart Champion
So I had a buddy of mine who does computers for a living start looking for what best suits my needs at up to the $1000 price point.

He said the non SSD isn't a big issue, it's the crap video card that's gonna be the main problem. He looked around came up with a recommendation. This one is priced a little bit over my $1,000 mark but it's the bang for your buck is fantastic, it's pretty much ideal for what I want to do, and the extra $100 is well worth it for the differences.

http://www.frys.com/product/6976467
 
VW-TX

VW-TX

Go Kart Champion
That is a very good system. i7, with a Nvidia card. I'd say get it. I will say my field is IT and been in it since 1995. :)
 
iGTI1

iGTI1

Go Kart Champion
Another reason to consider Mac is the resale value is great compared to other Laptops... I sold my Aluminum Macbook 13" +3 years and I sold it for 500 with some cosmetic blemishes... without the blemishes I could easily sold this 600-700... I only spent 999+tax...
I was amazed how quickly it sold I had it on craiglist for about 8hrs, come to think about it I probably underpriced it but I didn't really care at that time
 
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plac

Guest
the only reason that system it NOT good is the weak resolution on a 15". Especially for photography stuff.
15.6” HD LED backlit screen (1366×768)

A good 15" will have 1080p resolution. like an Asus G53 line.

A good 13" will even have better resolution:
13.3" LED-backlit widescreen display With 1440 x 900 resolution offers stunning images.

This one is a lot better screen. and cheaper. and out of stock cuz everyone buys it.

http://www.frys.com/product/6796985?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
 
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DBESTGTI1

DBESTGTI1

Go Kart Champion
But not for that price. price being the same I'm gonna go with the first one if the second one isn't available to order by the weekend.
 
M

Muskie

Go Kart Champion
Lenovo's last forever. Parts are cheap and I deal with them every day. You will be very happy with it. They also have the nicest keyboards of any laptop.

Also parts are super cheap and easy to swap. That thing will easily last you 5+ years
 
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