Anyone have an Apple laptop? What do you think?

[chrismiss56]

Hi and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

After several go arounds with Dell's poor customer service the family has decided to look elsewhere for future computer purchases. Both DD's have expressed interest in Apple laptops.

I know nothing about them so I am asking for your HELP!!

Anyone own one? Pros and cons? How is customer support? How user friendly? How compatible with the "PC" world?

Thanks in advance for any information!!

Have a Magical Disney Day!!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

We gave my DD one for graduation and she loves it. We've always owned PCs before this and one reason that we went with the apple was that there are supposed to be fewer problems with them (and less calls to customer support!). Since she went away to college with it we didn't want her going away with something that would be likely to give her problems.

 

[LoraJ]

One thing to think about is lack of software for Macs.
Graphics and editing are great on them, but you are limited elsewhere.

I had an iBook and I had lots of problems with it. I ended up giving it to my mom. Now I have a G4 Aluminum and it has problems with the wireless antenna.

They are usually good about fixing stuff though, as long as after 1 year you buy the Apple Care. Which is about $300.

 

[tiggger1]

Im on my husbands Ibook right now! we love it! it took a few days to get used too the commands and stuff but its really nice

 

[LeCras]

Be careful if you or DDs are avid gamers - lots of games do not run on Macs...

Charlotte

 

[Tinijocaro]

If you are heavily into gaming, you may not want a mac. There are lots of games available for mac, but not likely if you are REALLY into gaming. I figure most people have PS2, XBox or other systems to make that not really a issue.

The only other software issue that I've encountered with mac is there isn't a really great greeting card software like the Hallmark one for PC.

Your mac is completely compatible.

The thing about people spending hours on the phone with tech support- none of my mac friends or myself have ever had to do that. I can't imagine receiving such a bad product, bad customer support, and still continuing to buy a product- blows me away! Why?

Jackie

 

[dcentity2000]

Apple Powerbook here and very happy with it. Office for mac beats the PC version, the internet browser is more advanced, there are fewer viruses, the OS is infinitely more stable and pretty, media software to do with music, movies and images are all more advanced and plentiful than on Windows. The only software hole is in games, and even then there is a plentiful supply (Halo, Doom 3, The Sims etc).

If you're planning on getting one for goodness' sake WAIT! In January they're updating the entire lines to use advanced Intel chips which will be faster and more futureproofed.

Customer report remains unsurpassed, according to both experience and surveys.



Rich::

 

[disneynutt1225]

Hate to hijack the thread, but I have a question. If you have an Apple and get the Microsoft Word program for Apples, can you type a document [on an Apple] and edit it on Microsoft Word for Windows? Do the two talk to each other?

 

[Forevryoung]

Hate to hijack the thread, but I have a question. If you have an Apple and get the Microsoft Word program for Apples, can you type a document [on an Apple] and edit it on Microsoft Word for Windows? Do the two talk to each other?

What do you mean if you type a document and edit it on a different system? Like through email? An email attachment should open up fine.

If you are not a tech geek and don't pick this stuff up rather quickly I would go to the Apple Store and play around with it first. It will be a call to tech support anyway when you cant get it to do x like your pc did it (and sometimes you wont be able to do x)

Just keep that in mind-

And whoever mentioned the internet browser stuff, you can use a very similar browser on PC's. It's called Opera and it's free (www.opera.com). 95% of the websites are compatible. Infrequently I have to switch to Firefox to be able to get a site working right. If you are only switching because of a browser, pick another one!

 

[dcentity2000]

Hate to hijack the thread, but I have a question. If you have an Apple and get the Microsoft Word program for Apples, can you type a document [on an Apple] and edit it on Microsoft Word for Windows? Do the two talk to each other?

They interact almost perfectly.



Rich::

 

[disneynutt1225]

Thanks Forevryoung and dcentity2000 for your quick replys! Looks like I'll be able to get my Apple next year.

 

[Maleficent13]

I have had two iBooks (started with one and then ex and I fought over it all the time so got another one!) at home and love, love, love them. I really had no trouble picking it up (it's a little different, but not all that much). And their customer support has always been excellent.

 

[Pamlur]

I've always had Macs, and am on my second Powerbook. I'm not a big gamer, but if I want to play a game I go to Pogo. I love Macs, and my Powerbook is so light!

I can receive documents written in Word, and open them with my Word with great ease.

 

[lap3]

Just like the others have mentioned, the Macs are pretty dependable. My DW uses my old G3 iBook and I'm currently using a G4 PowerBook. Both have been flawless. If you ever have a problem, you can stop by your local Apple store(if there's one near you) and go to their Genius Bar for tech support on the spot.

BTW, I'm not much into gaming so I don't know how games perform on the Mac. But as far as photos and music goes, iLife is awesome. You'll find it's very easy to use...

 

[palmtreegirl]

I'm a Mac person, love my iBook G4, it's the best!

 

[Tinijocaro]

I'm not a gamer either, but my kids have some games- there are no problems with them. The gaming problem is that many software game developers don't make their games available for Mac. Mac does have their own games though, and we've found many kid games available for both mac and pc. It's not ben a problem for us, but we play most of our games on PS2 anyways.

Jackie

 

[debloco]

I love my Mac Powerbook! And we just got our DD a new iBook.

No problems with tech stuff, so we've never even had to call customer support/tech help and we've had Macs for the past 18 years or so.

Compatibility hasn't been a problem for us. We use Microsoft Office for Mac and it's seamless between a Mac and a PC. AppleWorks (the comparable software for the Mac, stinks IMO)

Since my DH had to switch to a PC at work (he was one of the very last Mac hold-outs) he spends a fair amount of time cursing at/being frustrated by/hating his PC. DOS is evil.

I'd say...

Get a Mac, don't look back!

 

[arminnie]

You can't use Ding from Southwest Airlines on a MAC.

Most machine embroidery software doesn't work on a MAC.

 

[Tinijocaro]

Actually, any Mac user who absolutely NEEDS to be able to use a certain PC software not available for Mac, can. There is a program called Virtual Reality that literally turns your Mac into a PC, so you can run any non-Mac software on your Mac. You do have to have Windows to use it.

Jackie

 

[DisneyStar006]

I used (and still own) an ibook G4 for a year & 3 month, and I had ZERO problems with it. I'm not a big gamer either, so I don't know about that side. I didn't like the office software, but it was useable. I love, love loved iphoto and some of the other software applications and didn't really have any problems with compatibility (except the msn messenger for mac is terrible, and I communicate a lot with my friends via msn)

Actually, any Mac user who absolutely NEEDS to be able to use a certain PC software not available for Mac, can. There is a program called Virtual Reality that literally turns your Mac into a PC, so you can run any non-Mac software on your Mac. You do have to have Windows to use it.

Jackie

I heard about that, I wish I had known about it before I went out and bought a windows laptop Oh well, its good for backing up files