iBook/PowerBook or PC Laptop

[newParadigm]

Hey guys,

I mite be getting a laptop soon, and i wanted some input about the iBooks/PowerBooks.

I've demoed a few of them and they seem fast enough, i was wondering from someone that had used them in real life are the practical, and does the stabilty, speed of a Mac outweigh the software that you can't use.

Btw, i have an iPod if u were wondering.

 

[DarkAmeba]

I'd defineitly get the powerbook. I love mine, and have not been limited at all in terms of software. Its got everything you'd want to run on a laptop. Its super good looking, and super fast and reliable. I do most of my surfing on the powerbook now. Plus if you're a student like me, you get a huge discount.

 

[newParadigm]

Thanks for the info, i just read ur thread gave me some great info.

Oh, you don't by any chance have the new iPod,

I was wondering if the click wheel worked good. (And how it werks).


Anyways,

Thanks

 

[Wuzup101]

The New iPods were just realeased today so chances are noone here has one yet. I would definitely consider the Powerbook if I were you, they are great machines. I just bought a new one myself (see sig). Really, there is a ton of software for mac, software to do everything you need pretty much unless you are super specialized in some obscure windoes stuff. What size are you considering and are you a student? If you're a student you can get some good deals by signing up for Apple's Student Developers Program. It's $99 for a year but even with that I had a net savings of $200 on my book. On top of that it comes with a copy of each new OS as they come out. OSX 10.4 "tiger" is expected within the year, so that makes up for your $99 down right off the bat!

www.macnn.com if you need more info (forums)

 

[Bloodstein]

Hmm....

"stability and speed" of the Mac

Well, controversial subject, but I'd like to add my 2 cents. I'm not paid by Microsoft to say this, but I don't see why a PC Laptop running Windows XP should be inferior in terms of stability and speed. It's probably less secure, but I find XP fairly fast and stable (assuming you don't install junk software whose secondary purpose is to destabalise ur machine)...and in no way inferior to any other OS out there, fresh out of the box.

And if you're really hard on stability and speed, then why overlook linux??....which could also be installed on a laptop.

Personally, I would say go for a laptop with Windows if you're not really into computers and just use the computer to help you with your day-to-day work. Life is much easier....you'd be "compatible" with the rest of the world (face it....there are far more applications written for Windows than any other platform on this planet)....though the price you might have to pay is less security. If you are a hardcore computer geek, then do go ahead and experiment with Macs, Linuxes and so on.

Just before you guys start flaming, I'd like to re-iterate that I do not live-and-die-by-Microsoft....on the contrary.....i actually dislike many of their software (with the exception of a few...eg. .net platform, office).

 

[addragyn]

Compatible with the rest of the world generally means being able to trade doc and pdf files.

OS X handles PDF like a champ in Preview, it is the fastest PDF reader I've ever used. Imagine PDFs of all sizes that handle like text files.

OS X's default text editor, TextEdit, will work with basic doc files. Otherwise you can get Microsoft Office, ThinkFree Office, etc.

DV, PSD, HTML it all moves from one to the other without a problem. Sure their are bunches of Windows apps but that doesn't mean the Mac is lacking. The Mac software community is fantastic. There is great freeware/shareware, for example Carbon Copy Cloner would be like Ghost on Windows. Except it's freeware. And there are fantastic apps on the Mac that you can't get on Windows; OmniGraffle & Final Cut Pro.

"Personally, I would say go for a laptop with Windows if you're not really into computers and just use the computer to help you with your day-to-day work."

IMO this is just backwards.

 

[DavLucMac]

I'd put my two cents in for the powerbook. I was a long time Mac-hater when they ran os 7-9... but with osx and the new hardware they have, I've become a lover of the mac for my everyday PC. I have the 12in powerbook, and it has plenty of horsepower to do anything I want. I can run almost any open source software in the *nix environment using X11 which means there is literally *any* program you need out there for free. But I've hardly needed that. Apples stock installed apps like mail, safari, textedit, et all are outstanding at getting the job done right, and integrating my information all accross the OS X platform. It's nice to see this done right for once.... and kept simple.

There are downsides. You might not be happy with a mac if you're a big gamer. the Mac platform is just not big enough for game companies to write software for... but this seems to be changing somewhat. Note that id software (doom3) is committed to releasing on OS X. There are other downsides... but not really anything of value in my life.

On the upside, you will not find a laptop with a better battery life for it's power and quality in the x86 world. At least none that I've come accross. There are also a thousand little things you will learn to love in osx which have to do primarily with apple's attention to detail. Instant on, terminal for access to the *nix command line, full integration of all the .apps accross the os, the quality of the hardware, a QUIET machine, etc, etc, etc.

I won't rave about macs... but they make life simple, easy, and enjoyable. That's more than you'll find over the long run with windows or even linux... both which I have longtime daily experience with. All three platforms have their place... but I"ve chosen OSX as the place to play daily.

hope that helps.
dav

 

[desteffy]

I vote for powerbook. My main computer is a PC but I have owned several laptops, and after my first experience with an iBook I just love apple. Right now I am using a Powerbook and it is excellent. I play some games on it like Warcraft III, but if you are serious about getting a gaming machine, you really dont want a laptop anyway.

 

[Wuzup101]

Originally posted by: Bloodstein
Hmm....

"stability and speed" of the Mac

Well, controversial subject, but I'd like to add my 2 cents. I'm not paid by Microsoft to say this, but I don't see why a PC Laptop running Windows XP should be inferior in terms of stability and speed. It's probably less secure, but I find XP fairly fast and stable (assuming you don't install junk software whose secondary purpose is to destabalise ur machine)...and in no way inferior to any other OS out there, fresh out of the box.

And if you're really hard on stability and speed, then why overlook linux??....which could also be installed on a laptop.

Personally, I would say go for a laptop with Windows if you're not really into computers and just use the computer to help you with your day-to-day work. Life is much easier....you'd be "compatible" with the rest of the world (face it....there are far more applications written for Windows than any other platform on this planet)....though the price you might have to pay is less security. If you are a hardcore computer geek, then do go ahead and experiment with Macs, Linuxes and so on.

Just before you guys start flaming, I'd like to re-iterate that I do not live-and-die-by-Microsoft....on the contrary.....i actually dislike many of their software (with the exception of a few...eg. .net platform, office).

Not paid by Microsoft huh? LOL just kidding man. I do agree with you, there are plenty of great win XP machines out there. IMHO there is nothing "wrong" with windows XP (pro of course... the only one to get). However, I tend not to agree with the statement about not getting a mac if you're not a computer geek. The OSX learning curve is far lower than that of windows. I feel it's an EASIER operating system to learn by far. Also, compatability is not an issue. There are tons of mac programs out there, and many blow their windows counterparts away. It is true that there are more programs written for windows; however, there's also far more inferior windows programs out there than you have for mac. OSX supports a host of great apps that allow you to do pretty much everything. IMHO the mac is a more solid self contained system, though I'm not trying to bash windows in any way.

To the poster, do yourself a favor and go check out a mac store near you to see what the powerbook is all about. Chances are you will fall in love with it and that will be that. Don't be afraid when people tell you hardware/software support isn't there for OSX.... it definitely is! You will also find that peripheral support is much nicer in OSX than it is in windows anyway... just based on mine (and pretty much every other mac user I've ever talked to) observations. I don't want to come off as a mac fanboy... this is only my first mac anyway. I'm just saying don't shy away because of what some people say (not trying to bash the windows guys... heck i'm one of them too).