Laptop, Netbook, or MacBook?

[lindsey clare]

another Mac vote here. if i was more computer literate or had the time/energy/inclination to spend time tinkering with my computer, i'd be fine with a PC (i can use either if i have to). but i choose Mac because they so rarely have problems, which means i don't have to spend much time figuring stuff out. i've had one virus in 5 years (and even then it wasn't a malicious one at all, just annoying), and only a few other minimal problems.

they are expensive, but for me they're worth it. oh and they look soooo good

 

[rotlex]

another Mac vote here. if i was more computer literate or had the time/energy/inclination to spend time tinkering with my computer, i'd be fine with a PC (i can use either if i have to). but i choose Mac because they so rarely have problems, which means i don't have to spend much time figuring stuff out. i've had one virus in 5 years (and even then it wasn't a malicious one at all, just annoying), and only a few other minimal problems.

they are expensive, but for me they're worth it. oh and they look soooo good

What I actually love about OS X is that it can be as simple, or complex, as you want it to be. I Administer Windows and Linux systems for a living. (Actually, VMware ESX servers, which run a Red Hat flavor of Linux as a base OS). Anyway, I like to tinker, and LOVE Unix based OS's. OS X fits my "geek" side beautifully when I want to play from the command line, yet is simple and elegant when I want to do things like process photo's, movies, or simply browse the web and check e-mail.

 

[Jonereno]

Another vote for the Mac!

I made the switch when Apple started using the Intel chips instead of PowerPC. I just added the fourth Mac in our house - and there's only 3 of us! (In case you're curious - the fourth is a Mac mini that is being utilized as a media server).

I've influenced a number of people at work to try Macs - no one has been less than enthusiastic with their purchase.

The greatest testimonial is my wife. When she had a Windows laptop, she would use it 1 - 2x per week, primarily to check e-mail. Now that she has the Mac, she is on it 4 - 5x per day - the user experience is just that much more pleasant!

True, you will have a small learning curve, but it is small. In order to help that, I would suggest Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Snow Leopard Edition by David Pogue. It's <$20 on Amazon.

Also, check out www.apple.com today (Black Friday). The MacBook Pros are $101 off.

Have fun with whatever decision you make!

Jon

 

[Michele]

True, you will have a small learning curve, but it is small. In order to help that, I would suggest Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Snow Leopard Edition by David Pogue. It's <$20 on Amazon.



Jon

Also the video tutorials on Apple.com are incredibly helpful. PC to Mac: The Basics. Just go to Apple.com, click on Mac at the top, then scroll down a bit, on the left you'll see featured tutorials, PC to Mac is there.


This is another favorite thing about Mac to me, you can find a video tutorial about almost anything, very helpful if you aren't near a Mac store like me.

 

[kathrna]

Get the Mac. It was the best thing I ever did. The rest of the house is PC (desk top and DH's laptop). It works fine with the wireless network and HP printer. It's more money, but well worth the cost. Good luck!

 

[Minnie]

Wow I'm suprised to read all the "mac love" on this thread

My HP laptop died a while back and I'm "making do" with another one until I pull the trigger on a new laptop. I've been leaning towards a Macbook Pro and over the holidays I got to play with one on Thanksgiving and

Now I'm just trying to decide whether to order now or wait until January in case a refresh will occur I'd love to be using it now but better specs for the same $$$ hard to decide....

 

[wildfan1473]

Thank you all so much for the information!

Learning a new OS isn't a big deal to me. Before I was a Mom and held an office job, I was the unofficial tech person in our department and part of the team to make the Y2K conversion, and everything I know about computers (which used to be a lot, LOL) is self-taught. The boys use Macs at school, where I have subbed and volunteered and used their computers, so it's not completely foreign.

Now my big issue is getting DH to buy into it. He's the one who will ultimately make the purchase for me, and isn't completely sold yet, however he does concede that it would make sense since that is what the boys are using at school.

 

[sarahsar]

Thank you all so much for the information!

Learning a new OS isn't a big deal to me. Before I was a Mom and held an office job, I was the unofficial tech person in our department and part of the team to make the Y2K conversion, and everything I know about computers (which used to be a lot, LOL) is self-taught. The boys use Macs at school, where I have subbed and volunteered and used their computers, so it's not completely foreign.

Sounds like it's not a big issue for you anyway, but I would just mention that if you have been using XP on your current laptop, you're going to be learning a new OS one way or the other, since it's almost impossible to get anything with XP anymore.

I made the PC to Mac switch a few months ago. I needed a new laptop and it was Vista or OS X. I figured I would be learning something new anyway, so it might be time to make the leap. I second the other post about watching the videos on the Apple site. They have several about switching that I found helpful when I was trying to decide what to do.

I haven't regretted the switch for a moment. I like tech stuff, and was initially a little concerned that a Mac might be a little _too_ easy to use (if that makes any sense), but it's actually been wonderful. I spend so much less time tinkering with things that I actually use the computer to _do_ stuff.

I do have Windows 7 installed on a Boot Camp partition and with VMWare Fusion to use it as a virtual machine. When I learned it was possible to do that, it made the whole switching experience less scary, since I knew I could still use Windows if I needed it. I have gradually just about completely given up Windows, but having it there was kind of like training wheels.

As for the Windows 7 versus OS X debate, there are many opinions on this. I can't say I've given Windows 7 a fair test since I don't use it much, but I find OS X prettier, more compatible with the devices I need to use, and a better experience overall.