How exactly is apple "overpriced junk?"

[bfdd]

LOL. We're trying to get rid of the Lenovo's here b/c all they do is break. The touchpads on them are absolutely horrid.

Seriously, mine won't. Everyone in my office with one hates it because they're older and won't break, while everyone else is getting new Dells and HPs that they seem to go through like hotcakes(at least a new one every year or so).

Farmer, have you looked at the Acer TimelineX? No? How about the Sony's that are comparable in price? IMO Sony is the premium laptop brand, they are the Mercedes, Apple is just a Lexus. OOO I DID A CAR ANALOGY!

Looks are important, this is why people didn't buy the Pontiac Aztec. I knew plenty of people who said "fuck that ugly car!" without knowing shit about it. Pontiac could have made it the more reliable car ever and nobody would have known. Because nobody wanted one. I hate ugly laptops, but I can't afford a Macbook, and the Windows laptops I see that are getting close to Apple's level cost either almost the same, or even a a bit more.

Well it was a fucking Pontiac and ugly. So it had two things against it. Not to mention it wasn't cheap for the AWD model which is the one that they used to show how awesome it was outdoors and could do everything.

 

[slackerinabox]

This is your problem, you have the princess virus. You want everything to look sexy and sweet and pretty. Real men don't give a fck how it looks as long as it does its job well. You have fallen prey to the marketing, and we're going to have to revoke your mancard.

Single? Thought so. Why should I allow you to define what a "real man" is? I used to wear walmart clothes and dickies, now I brush my teeth and wear moderately priced but well fitting attire. I had $10 dishes but now have a lovely set that cost me $200 but, you know what? I like the way they look and feel and sense the craftsmanship behind it. I used to wear $10 shoes but, you know what? The $150 pair of eccos I'm wearing are outstanding, feel great, and are worth every penny. Why does having taste make me a sissy? I'm not judging people who prefer value over everything- I understand that and the recession is rough, kudos if you can find a good deal for what works for you. But to say cheap is better wholesale and that masculinity means settling for ugly? To place a judgement on my worth as a male based on such is completely douchy- you can take your man card and shove it.

Had an htpc (quad core monster, still serves my dad well now) that sounded like a jet engine and looked like.. Well, that was my fault because I cheaped out on the case but the amount of flashing blue LEDs was ridiculous! Looked absolutely ridiculous. My wife will like the new mac more than I do because, frankly, it just works and looks good while working.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I've been in the market for a desktop and a laptop and have vigorously looked for alternatives to buying an apple. Everyone says that macs are pieces of shit that are overpriced and only appeal to hipster, but I did a fair amount of research and came away with a simple conclusion- excellent customer care and build quality costs extra. After touching a "premium" windows laptop (hp envy) and comparing it to my new macbook air, I seriously have to wonder what everyone's smoking.

I don't have a brand preference (until now, actually) and did a thorough comparison (not just of cheapies):
1. HP - Junky trackpads, mediocre keyboards, horrid LCDs unless you upgrade (which ends up costing more than a mac)
2. Sony - very nice once you get higher in budget but you still don't have the ease of walking into an apple store and getting your system repaired
3. Dell - I actually like my vostro but the keys fell off and the lcd mediocre. tech support was awful, awful, awful when I called about the keyboard
4. Lenovo - my pick for great windows laptops. Love my little thinkpad but it does get too hot sometimes
5. Apple - outstanding build quality with a great keyboard, outstanding trackpad, and performance to match the premium look. Also, the peace of mind of apple care is wonderful,.

My point is, for my budget Apple was the best bet. UNLESS YOU'RE A GAMER, why would you call the superior build quality "overpriced junk?" I'm trying to understand the cult of Windows here, we're american after all - don't we embrace excellent workmandship and customer service over the cheapest shit money can buy?

Looking for a mac mini now and sincerely want a cheaper i5 windows alternative but just can't find something that packs the same form factor, specs, and build quality plus the customer service...

My Thinkpad x220 cost the same as a MBP 13 but had substantially better hardware. Compared to the mac I got

-a better IPS screen
-the same processor
-same ram
-same gpu
-a 120gb SSD vs a pos 5400rpm HDD in the MBP.
-considerably better battery life
-better keyboard

If you managed to get one of the sales Lenovo frequently runs you could easily beat the MBP 13 while maintaining the x220's hardware advantage.

Even with the IPS display upgrade an Envy 15 is still substantially cheaper than a MBP 15 so I don't see how you figured it was more expensive.

 

[shortylickens]

Oh shit, really?
We havent had this fuckin conversation enough times yet?

 

[slackerinabox]

Looks are important, this is why people didn't buy the Pontiac Aztec. I knew plenty of people who said "fuck that ugly car!" without knowing shit about it. Pontiac could have made it the more reliable car ever and nobody would have known. Because nobody wanted one. I hate ugly laptops, but I can't afford a Macbook, and the Windows laptops I see that are getting close to Apple's level cost either almost the same, or even a a bit more. And "men" pay more all the time for looks, just go into the Case and cooling subform, expensive cases get bought all the time for their appearance. But for some reason it's only dumb when extra money is spent on buying a MAC not a PC, go figure...


A Range Rover's nicer than a Honda CRV, or whatever Honda's SUV is called. Some people don't care, so the Honda would be just fine. But if you want a nice SUV you're probably going to want the R.R.

Hint: check out cowboom for a previously used mac. Great values there! Also, best buy had an open box macbook pro 13 for $800 last I checked. They don't display their open box macs for some reason, but they usually have a few on hand.

 

[bfdd]

Single? Thought so. Why should I allow you to define what a "real man" is? I used to wear walmart clothes and dickies, now I brush my teeth and wear moderately priced but well fitting attire. I had $10 dishes but now have a lovely set that cost me $200 but, you know what? I like the way they look and feel and sense the craftsmanship behind it. I used to wear $10 shoes but, you know what? The $150 pair of eccos I'm wearing are outstanding, feel great, and are worth every penny. Why does having taste make me a sissy? I'm not judging people who prefer value over everything- I understand that and the recession is rough, kudos if you can find a good deal for what works for you. But to say cheap is better wholesale and that masculinity means settling for ugly? To place a judgement on my worth as a male based on such is completely douchy- you can take your man card and shove it.

Had an htpc (quad core monster, still serves my dad well now) that sounded like a jet engine and looked like.. Well, that was my fault because I cheaped out on the case but the amount of flashing blue LEDs was ridiculous! Looked absolutely ridiculous. My wife will like the new mac more than I do because, frankly, it just works and looks good while working.

Not single and I don't care at all about looks. If the woman I'm with cares, she can groom me or take care of that shit. Me? I care about usefulness and cost value. I would much rather save a few hundred on a laptop purchase that I could go spend on delicious food or drugs.

 

[Zedtom]

These discussions are nothing compared to our friends <--- over at The Garage. We're talking about hundreds of dollars more for a better quality device that essentially does the same thing.

They talk about spending thousands of dollars more for a better quality car that essentially does the same thing.

 

[slackerinabox]

These discussions are nothing compared to our friends <--- over at The Garage. We're talking about hundreds of dollars more for a better quality device that essentially does the same thing.

They talk about spending thousands of dollars more for a better quality car that essentially does the same thing.

You're absolutely right. I drive a beater - it gets me from a to be without any drama. But I don't name call people who appreciate german engineering. I don't insecurely call them sheep or iDiots because they value fit, finish, performance, and style. In fact, I'm kinda jealous

 

[SP33Demon]

Single? Thought so. Why should I allow you to define what a "real man" is? I used to wear walmart clothes and dickies, now I brush my teeth and wear moderately priced but well fitting attire. I had $10 dishes but now have a lovely set that cost me $200 but, you know what? I like the way they look and feel and sense the craftsmanship behind it. I used to wear $10 shoes but, you know what? The $150 pair of eccos I'm wearing are outstanding, feel great, and are worth every penny. Why does having taste make me a sissy? I'm not judging people who prefer value over everything- I understand that and the recession is rough, kudos if you can find a good deal for what works for you. But to say cheap is better wholesale and that masculinity means settling for ugly? To place a judgement on my worth as a male based on such is completely douchy- you can take your man card and shove it.

Had an htpc (quad core monster, still serves my dad well now) that sounded like a jet engine and looked like.. Well, that was my fault because I cheaped out on the case but the amount of flashing blue LEDs was ridiculous! Looked absolutely ridiculous. My wife will like the new mac more than I do because, frankly, it just works and looks good while working.

Nope, not single. Btw she hates Apple, and loves Star Trek. /wink

So you just admitted to spending $200 on a set of "lovely" dishes, and that you bought a mac because "my wife will like [it because it] looks good".

^^ This is a good case in point for mancard revocation. Look, you created this thread - if you can't take the heat then get out of the (nicely decorated with matching colors) kitchen.

 

[oznerol]

I've always been a PC guy - with the mentality that Macs were far overpriced compared to PCs. And, for desktops, I'd probably still only get a cheap Windows machine. But I needed to do some iOS development and a friend let me borrow his Macbook Pro...

When it comes to laptops, unless Microsoft ups their game with Windows 8 (I doubt it), I will only go Apple from now on. And the reasoning is very simple - it's not really about "build quality", or customer service or whatever else people here are saying. It's about productivity.

With the Macbook - and I suppose I should generalize by saying an Apple laptop with Mac OS X - I can honestly say I am as productive than I would be on a desktop - something I could not say with any Windows-based laptop.

I've used my fair share of Windows laptops - all different makes and models - and it's always the same issues. The trackpads are too small, or feel off. The keyboard is an odd size. There's no backlight. Whatever.

Gestures in particular make the Macbook a winner for me. I have a couple Windows laptops for work and something as simple as scrolling up and down (without a mouse) is just terrible. Then I use my Macbook - two fingers on the touchpad, and it's seamless - and really, it's because of both the touchpad's design and the OS's gesture recognition. Don't even get me started on Windows' scrolling by touching the sides of the touchpad - awful.

I also really dig the ability to click the touchpad to click - rather than a tap or a separate button that is common on Windows laptops. I know the Sony Vaio has incorporated the same feature, but my Lenovo and Dell laptops do not. It makes drag-and-drop actions much easier.

And as for the cost comparison - if you compare exact specs, then the Windows machines are definitely the best bang for your buck. But I've really reached a point where I'm not entirely interested in specs - it's more about functionality. I find the Apple laptops far more functional, and I'll pay more for that.

All that aside - they really are aesthetically pleasing. The Macbook Air in particular is a beautiful design. It puts my Lenovo Thinkpad to shame.

 

[slackerinabox]

Nope, not single. Btw she hates Apple, and loves Star Trek. /wink

So you just admitted to spending $200 on a set of "lovely" dishes, and that you bought a mac because "my wife will like [it because it] looks good".

^^ This is a good case in point for mancard revocation. Look, you created this thread - if you can't take the heat then get out of the (nicely decorated with matching colors) kitchen.

My wife hates Star Trek but is hotter than yours, aesthetics for the win.

 

[OverVolt]

My wife hates Star Trek but is hotter than yours, aesthetics for the win.

omg lol, not necessary there asshole, but still lol.

 

[SP33Demon]

I've always been a PC guy - with the mentality that Macs were far overpriced compared to PCs. And, for desktops, I'd probably still only get a cheap Windows machine. But I needed to do some iOS development and a friend let me borrow his Macbook Pro...

When it comes to laptops, unless Microsoft ups their game with Windows 8 (I doubt it), I will only go Apple from now on. And the reasoning is very simple - it's not really about "build quality", or customer service or whatever else people here are saying. It's about productivity.

With the Macbook - and I suppose I should generalize by saying an Apple laptop with Mac OS X - I can honestly say I am as productive than I would be on a desktop - something I could not say with any Windows-based laptop.

I've used my fair share of Windows laptops - all different makes and models - and it's always the same issues. The trackpads are too small, or feel off. The keyboard is an odd size. There's no backlight. Whatever.

Gestures in particular make the Macbook a winner for me. I have a couple Windows laptops for work and something as simple as scrolling up and down (without a mouse) is just terrible. Then I use my Macbook - two fingers on the touchpad, and it's seamless - and really, it's because of both the touchpad's design and the OS's gesture recognition. Don't even get me started on Windows' scrolling by touching the sides of the touchpad - awful.

I also really dig the ability to click the touchpad to click - rather than a tap or a separate button that is common on Windows laptops. I know the Sony Vaio has incorporated the same feature, but my Lenovo and Dell laptops do not. It makes drag-and-drop actions much easier.

And as for the cost comparison - if you compare exact specs, then the Windows machines are definitely the best bang for your buck. But I've really reached a point where I'm not entirely interested in specs - it's more about functionality. I find the Apple laptops far more functional, and I'll pay more for that.

All that aside - they really are aesthetically pleasing. The Macbook Air in particular is a beautiful design. It puts my Lenovo Thinkpad to shame.

Why not plug in the mouse like normal people? Let's face it, the majority of your "work" is not going to be accomplished on the "go", it's going to be stationary sitting somewhere where 80% of your work will be conducted. Use a mouse like everyone else when working on their laptops.

Complaining about non-mouse use on non-Macs when talking about productivity is like complaining that guns don't have full auto when hunting.

 

[edro]

My wife hates Star Trek but is hotter than yours, aesthetics for the win.

:thumbsup:
I would not want a wife who is interested in Star Trek either...

 

[Jodell88]

DELL support sucks? That's news to me. I live on a tiny Caribbean island and DELL's support has been phenomenal!

 

[SP33Demon]

My wife hates Star Trek but is hotter than yours, aesthetics for the win.

Even if I gave you that, I'm guessing that your wife doesn't make 6 figures, dress up as the women on Star Trek, and go to Cons with you. Function always trumps aesthetics, sorry.

 

[kevinsbane]

Touchpad = :thumbsdown:

Trackpoint = :thumbsup:

Touchpads, on a whole, are a pain to use. Apple touchpads better than the rest. But Trackpoints.... there are times I prefer my Trackpoint to a real mouse. Crazy, I know. Like right now, I have an urge to reach for my non-existant trackpoint (on a desktop atm) to move my mouse around, but then I realise I don't have one and get frustrated.

I find whenever I need to type with both hands, trackpoints are ridiculously more useful than touchpads or even mouses.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Anyone think it's funny that the op tried pulling the "you hate Macs because your to poor to afford one" line when he was just looking for an entry level iT job?

 

[AstroManLuca]

You can get a $500 Windows laptop that is faster than a $1200 Mac laptop.

The cheapest Apple laptop, a $1000 MacBook Air, comes with 2 GB of non-upgradable RAM. Increasing it to 4 GB from the factory (since there is no upgrade slot) costs $100, which is approximately 10x what it costs to actually buy an extra 2 GB of RAM from NewEgg or something.

Anyone who tries to say Apple computers aren't overpriced is deluded.

I won't say that they have bad build quality, because they don't. They're very well made, I'll give them that. But if you take good care of your computer and don't toss it around all the time, that shouldn't be an issue. Then again if you look around, 90% or more of people treat everything they own like shit. Nearly every other person's laptop I've used has a disgusting messy screen, dents/scratches everywhere, broken keys, etc. To these careless people, Macs are super great because it means they can continue to be lazy slobs and their computer won't break.

 

[slackerinabox]

I've always been a PC guy - with the mentality that Macs were far overpriced compared to PCs. And, for desktops, I'd probably still only get a cheap Windows machine. But I needed to do some iOS development and a friend let me borrow his Macbook Pro...

When it comes to laptops, unless Microsoft ups their game with Windows 8 (I doubt it), I will only go Apple from now on. And the reasoning is very simple - it's not really about "build quality", or customer service or whatever else people here are saying. It's about productivity.

With the Macbook - and I suppose I should generalize by saying an Apple laptop with Mac OS X - I can honestly say I am as productive than I would be on a desktop - something I could not say with any Windows-based laptop.

I've used my fair share of Windows laptops - all different makes and models - and it's always the same issues. The trackpads are too small, or feel off. The keyboard is an odd size. There's no backlight. Whatever.

Gestures in particular make the Macbook a winner for me. I have a couple Windows laptops for work and something as simple as scrolling up and down (without a mouse) is just terrible. Then I use my Macbook - two fingers on the touchpad, and it's seamless - and really, it's because of both the touchpad's design and the OS's gesture recognition. Don't even get me started on Windows' scrolling by touching the sides of the touchpad - awful.

I also really dig the ability to click the touchpad to click - rather than a tap or a separate button that is common on Windows laptops. I know the Sony Vaio has incorporated the same feature, but my Lenovo and Dell laptops do not. It makes drag-and-drop actions much easier.

And as for the cost comparison - if you compare exact specs, then the Windows machines are definitely the best bang for your buck. But I've really reached a point where I'm not entirely interested in specs - it's more about functionality. I find the Apple laptops far more functional, and I'll pay more for that.

All that aside - they really are aesthetically pleasing. The Macbook Air in particular is a beautiful design. It puts my Lenovo Thinkpad to shame.

Absolutely right, especially when it comes to the track pad. But I have to say that I love windows 7 as an OS and blame a lot of the quirks with windows laptops on manufacturers aiming for the lowest common denominator. When microsoft has the level of control that apple does they can do amazing things - I absolute love my windows phone (zune ftw!), and hope windows 8 chases the high end and not the netbook audience. Netbooks, I feel, completely destroyed the windows market by making budget the primary concern for manufacturers. Apple defies that mentality, and does well for it.

I have an acer 11.6" souped up netbook and it's absolutely USELESS for productivity purposes - tons of scrolling left and right, atrocious mouse, etc. I don't like typing long emails on it let alone doing real work. My 11.6" air does everything I could do on a desktop and, with those slick gestures, I actually prefer it (I'll get one of those magic trackpad things sooner or later). Never ever thought I'd edit 1080p video on a 11.6" form factor but it's completely doable. On that note I just don't get why pinch to zoom and scrolling on windows sucks so much. Is it like android and lacks hardware acceleration for gestures or something? It's always choppy to the point of useless, while os x mirrors smartphones in its zoomability.

 

[Capt Caveman]

You can get a $500 Windows laptop that is faster than a $1200 Mac laptop.

The cheapest Apple laptop, a $1000 MacBook Air, comes with 2 GB of non-upgradable RAM. Increasing it to 4 GB from the factory (since there is no upgrade slot) costs $100, which is approximately 10x what it costs to actually buy an extra 2 GB of RAM from NewEgg or something.

Anyone who tries to say Apple computers aren't overpriced is deluded.

You can get an i7 with a SSD for only $500?

 

[slackerinabox]

Even if I gave you that, I'm guessing that your wife doesn't make 6 figures, dress up as the women on Star Trek, and go to Cons with you. Function always trumps aesthetics, sorry.

Yeah, we just have sex instead of playing dress up... We went to comic con together (comped), mostly to mock people like you.

 

[SP33Demon]

Anyone think it's funny that the op tried pulling the "you hate Macs because your to poor to afford one" line when he was just looking for an entry level iT job?

Most baristas are in the same boat, so not surprising.

 

[mnewsham]

Yeah, we just have sex instead of playing dress up... We went to comic con together (comped), mostly to mock people like you.

Can we all just agree that his wife is nerd/geek and you're just an asshole?

 

[SP33Demon]

Absolutely right, especially when it comes to the track pad. But I have to say that I love windows 7 as an OS and blame a lot of the quirks with windows laptops on manufacturers aiming for the lowest common denominator. When microsoft has the level of control that apple does they can do amazing things - I absolute love my windows phone (zune ftw!), and hope windows 8 chases the high end and not the netbook audience. Netbooks, I feel, completely destroyed the windows market by making budget the primary concern for manufacturers. Apple defies that mentality, and does well for it.

I have an acer 11.6" souped up netbook and it's absolutely USELESS for productivity purposes - tons of scrolling left and right, atrocious mouse, etc. I don't like typing long emails on it let alone doing real work. My 11.6" air does everything I could do on a desktop and, with those slick gestures, I actually prefer it (I'll get one of those magic trackpad things sooner or later). Never ever thought I'd edit 1080p video on a 11.6" form factor but it's completely doable. On that note I just don't get why pinch to zoom and scrolling on windows sucks so much. Is it like android and lacks hardware acceleration for gestures or something? It's always choppy to the point of useless, while os x mirrors smartphones in its zoomability.

1) He was talking about productivity so trackpad superiority is irrelevant, 90% of productivity is used with a mouse.
2) Netbooks weren't meant for productivity.
3) Not many people would classify pinch to zoom as helping productivity (keyboard faster).