Mac vs. PC Laptops

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Are the specs between the 15" and the 17" the same? If so, then I guess it all comes down to size. The bigger screen is nice, no doubt about it. What will you be using it for?

The specs are the same, so yeah, that price is for the screen. I'm just shocked by that.

(ETA: I was wrong - the specs were not the same. One had a smaller processor and a smaller hard drive; 2.16 GHz, vs. 2.33 GHz. They're only $300 apart in price for the larger screen. That makes MUCH more sense!)

I'm a realtor, but do a TON of reports and take a TON of photos, so I need something that moves and saves.

The MacBook Pro is a little smaller than the Dell, spec-wise, but I think it'll be sufficient.

My MacBook is 13" and I love how light it is. I wanted black because it hides scratches better than white. The black one costs $200 more than the white one. I did get a student discount when DH bought it. Also used my discount when he bought the G5. Do you qualify for a student discount?

It sounds like you have the same one my daughter at Tech has. Her laptop is white though. She did get the discount. It's why she went to Apple, when her Dell got stolen from her dorm room. From a roommate, I might add! Anyway, I digress...

I don't like to spend a lot of money on things like computers, but DH is a computer geek. His motto is: Price is no object. He gets a kick out of having these gadgets, so I don't even get upset about it. He tells me that I'm lucky to be married to him because his colleagues buy a new computer system every year.

The thought of purchasing the computer and walking out with it right then and there, really appealed to me. But, I got cold feet because I didn't know much about them. (I knew I could count on you guys!)

I balked at that, but the Coach store sure snagged me as I walked by!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I just bought my macbook pro 15in less than a month ago. I love it!!!!!!

I think with the new intelcoreduotingymaboby you can run windows on the mac and run windows programs. I don't know how i just know it is possible.

Hey! We speak the same computer language!!!

 

[Free4Life11]

I just got an Inspiron E1405 and I am in LOVE with it! I got it for about $1700. Here are the specs:

Processor: Intel® Core™ Duo T2250 (2MB Cache/1.73GHz/533MHz FSB)
LCD Panel: 14.1 inch WXGA+ UltraSharp™ TFT Display with TrueLife™
Memory: 2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHZ, 2 DIMM
Hard Drive: 120GB Hard Drive
Battery: 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium

It also included 3 years of At-Home Service, Lojack, and Accidental Damage Protection. The price also included Microsoft Office 2007 Students which I added on.

I don't know what all that gobblegook means, but all I know is that it is SO fast compared to my last laptop even with Vista. This thing is blazing which is good because I am very impatient. I love the size and it's a good weight. I actually kind of like the white plastic

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I just got an Inspiron E1405 and I am in LOVE with it! I got it for about $1700. Here are the specs:

Processor: Intel® Core™ Duo T2250 (2MB Cache/1.73GHz/533MHz FSB)
LCD Panel: 14.1 inch WXGA+ UltraSharp™ TFT Display with TrueLife™
Memory: 2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHZ, 2 DIMM
Hard Drive: 120GB Hard Drive
Battery: 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium

It also included 3 years of At-Home Service, Lojack, and Accidental Damage Protection. The price also included Microsoft Office 2007 Students which I added on.

It's so unbelievably fast compared to my last laptop even with Vista which everyone says is slow! :confused This thing is blazing which is good because I am very impatient. I love the size and it's a good weight. I actually kind of like the white plastic

I can't use Vista. Not yet, anyway. Our MLS won't support it. Apparently there are issues with it, but I haven't been following the details.

Sounds like you got a great price!

Does it get hot? My Inspiron (1150) is blazing... but in a bad way.

 

[Free4Life11]

I haven't noticed it get too hot. I was very leery about getting Vista, but I am suprisingly impressed. A little hard to get used to but I just love the new features and it looks so nice! What is MLS?

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I haven't noticed it get too hot. I was very leery about getting Vista, but I am suprisingly impressed. A little hard to get used to but I just love the new features and it looks so nice! What is MLS?

Multiple Listing Service. I'm a realtor.

 

[smphbear]

We use Thinkpads at the school where I teach. We have a mobile cart of 14 that we have been using for the past 3 years. They have been wonderful. They are used by students in grades 4 - 8. The only problem we had was that the spot where the power cord plugs in on 1 of the 14 became loose. That isn't bad if you saw what these laptops have been through.

We just bought 5 Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet PCs for our school. I use one of them on a daily basis. I absolutely love it. Our district has given every principal one, and they are working on getting them into the hands of each high school student at some schools. The science lab has had one for the past year.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I edited my title, because it's not really any certain brand of Laptop, but PC's that I'm interested in hearing the differences in.

 

[Demosthenes]

I own 20 PC's at my office, and two Macs (I have an iMac desktop, and MacBook Pro 17"). At home, I have a Mac Pro and a iBook G4 (wife's). Al but the iBook are Intel machines, and I run a program called Parallels that lets me run Mac OSX and Windows XP or Vista simultaneously.

I bought my first Mac in December 2005, and as you can see from my list above, I have added three since then. Honestly, I can't conceive of going back. The only reason I don't switch my work computers over is that I run a program called Timberline that does not operate in Mac OSX. Truthfully, with Parallels, this isn't really a problem, but it is not quite as simple as simply running both operating systems at once. For instance, when I am running another OS, I have to choose whether I want certain peripherals (printer, scanner, etc.) active in OSX or Windows. I can easily switch between the two, but you do have to flip that switch for it to work. Still, the minor headache associated with that is worth it. The machines never crash, I get no "blue screens of death," the OS comes loaded with great software, and peripherals just work with a Mac (no "Found New Hardware" nonsense). I couldn't be happier with the switch.

BTW, you can run windows as a stand alone OS with a program free from Apple called Boot Camp. You have to be running an Intel based Mac, but if so, you can install Windows on a separate partition on the hard drive. I find Parallels to be much better, because whenever possible, I prefer to reside in the Mac OS instead of Windows, and if you really want to use the machine to run Windows all of the time, then buy a cheaper Dell machine.

Mac will release their updated OS called Leopard in June (rumored release date, Apple simply claims Spring, but has delayed the original March 24th roll-out). If you can wait until then, I would just to avoid paying for an upgrade, if you would be so inclined.

 

[Demosthenes]

I forgot to mention that you can run Microsoft Office on a Mac (the 2008 version will be released mid to late summer). It has an e-mail client called Entourage, and it work fairly well, and even has some features that are upgrades over Outlook. It will not, however, import your Outlook PST file, so you would have to export your contacts as a vCard, and import them with Entourage. I stopped using Entourage because I prefer the built-in Mail client and Address Book that come with MAC OSX. Word, Excel and Powerpoint docs can all be read cross platform with no discernible problems (occasionally a font exits in only one of the two operating systems and a compatibility report will make you aware of that; if you do send out a font from your Mac that is unavailable in Windows, the Windows user will simply be asked to select a replacement font).

 

[Forevryoung]

Another person who switched to a macbook after a horrific dell experience!

I absolutely love it- I'm a graduate student and I carry it with me quite frequently (requires a mile walk with it too... so I'm really "carrying it" )

I love entourage as compared to outlook and the issues that I have had tech support has been great for the most part. They are based in the US and have funky hours (well because Im EST and they are on the west coast) so it's a little annoying when the computer has issues at 3am while I'm writing my thesis but it's livable as compared to talking with "john" in India who takes 4 hours to understand your problem, another 3 to trouble shoot it, another hour to tell you that he cant fix the problem and will have someone call in the morning... I've spent countless hours on the phone with my dell desktop and now I just leave it turned off. I turn it on when I need windows based programs (they are specific to my specialty/degree... most anything you need should have a mac version)

Good luck!

 

[safetymom]

I know quite a few people that switched from Mac to PC. I have a Lenovo desktop and love it. When I was looking for laptops I got a Toshiba and have had no problems with it.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Mac will release their updated OS called Leopard in June (rumored release date, Apple simply claims Spring, but has delayed the original March 24th roll-out). If you can wait until then, I would just to avoid paying for an upgrade, if you would be so inclined.

You've been very helpful! The sales person told me a little bit bit about running Windows, and I will definitely take them up on the classes that they offer, to learn more about the Mac. I really don't know if I'll need Windows though. All of my work is internet-based. I used MS Office, but I can purchase that for the Mac.

I was up until past midnight last night, doing research and I think I'm going to go for it. I just don't know if I want to save money and get the smaller machine, go for the 2.33 GHz, but with the 15" monitor, or go for broke (literally!) with the 17" monitor and larger hard drive. I really want the 17" monitor; it's the whole reason I went to see the Dell in person and I'm so glad I did!

I am interested in the new upgrade. I wonder if when you purchase a Mac, if you can get the upgrade sent to you later, like Dell does. Although my husband hasn't gotten his Vista CD yet, he ordered it when he got his XPS. Otherwise, waiting until June isn't that big of a deal. My Dell is fine for now.

Like you, my husband runs business software that is Word-based and I think he's more apprehensive about me going with a Mac than I am... mainly because I think he's worried he's going to like it too much and he has a brand new Dell.

Thanks again!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I love entourage as compared to outlook and the issues that I have had tech support has been great for the most part. They are based in the US and have funky hours (well because Im EST and they are on the west coast) so it's a little annoying when the computer has issues at 3am while I'm writing my thesis but it's livable as compared to talking with "john" in India who takes 4 hours to understand your problem, another 3 to trouble shoot it, another hour to tell you that he cant fix the problem and will have someone call in the morning... I've spent countless hours on the phone with my dell desktop and now I just leave it turned off. I turn it on when I need windows based programs (they are specific to my specialty/degree... most anything you need should have a mac version)

Good luck!

Yes... "John" in India. I've met him! Many, many, MANY times!

As a matter of fact, "John" once told me that I had a virus and needed to reformat my hard drive, when all the while I had a bad Targus port replicator!

"John" was so knowledgeable, he had me do it right then and there, because he said I'd never be able to do it on my own, or get him again if I called back, so like an idiot, I did it. Then, when that didn't eradicate my "virus", it was determined that I had a bad keyboard, so it got sent back to Dell and sent back to me with the same issue!

I eventually figured out that it was the port replicator. Looooong story.

I'd still like to knock "John" upside the head.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I forgot to mention that you can run Microsoft Office on a Mac (the 2008 version will be released mid to late summer). It has an e-mail client called Entourage, and it work fairly well, and even has some features that are upgrades over Outlook. It will not, however, import your Outlook PST file, so you would have to export your contacts as a vCard, and import them with Entourage. I stopped using Entourage because I prefer the built-in Mail client and Address Book that come with MAC OSX. Word, Excel and Powerpoint docs can all be read cross platform with no discernible problems (occasionally a font exits in only one of the two operating systems and a compatibility report will make you aware of that; if you do send out a font from your Mac that is unavailable in Windows, the Windows user will simply be asked to select a replacement font).

Okay.

I'm actually more concerned with my Blackberry. I have to dig out my software and see if I'll be able to use it on the Mac.

I tether it as a modem and use it all the time, and it's critical for my job. I can't imagine that it won't work, but I'd hate to find that out the hard way.

(BTW, we'll still have two laptops here running Windows, and we're all using the same router, so worse case, I can get back on this Dell (or my husband's), which my daughter will then have.)

 

[Forevryoung]

Okay.

I'm actually more concerned with my Blackberry. I have to dig out my software and see if I'll be able to use it on the Mac.

I tether it as a modem and use it all the time, and it's critical for my job. I can't imagine that it won't work, but I'd hate to find that out the hard way.

(BTW, we'll still have two laptops here running Windows, and we're all using the same router, so worse case, I can get back on this Dell (or my husband's), which my daughter will then have.)

If your Blackberry isn't too old, I would just do a search online... might be a bit faster than digging for the software

I have the 13' macbook and sit on it for around 7-9 hours plus a day. While I wear glasses (and I'm younger ), I love the size. It makes it easier to carry around as well.

I would suggest getting the 15' instead because when it comes down to it, the 2' is minimal in relation to everything- it's not adding 2' total... it's adding 2' to the diagonal measurement (that's how they measure screens but rarely tell you). I don't have time to tell you in square inches how much that would really increase the screen space but you could figure it out. I bet you would be surprised. Remember that the largest side of a right triangle is the hypotenuse (the 2') so you are definitely adding less than 2' total to both the length and the width (sorry about the math reference if it scares you )

Good luck and if you enjoy the Mac, go for it (I doubt they will have free upgrades, they don't have to... they are Mac!)

PS to the poster who spoke about "John", I had a similar experience except it was a busted video card. Reformatted and it still didn't work and then oh yea, I'll send you a new video card

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

If your Blackberry isn't too old, I would just do a search online... might be a bit faster than digging for the software

It looks like it should be old, as bulky as it is, but I bought it last October.

I would suggest getting the 15' instead because when it comes down to it, the 2' is minimal in relation to everything- it's not adding 2' total... it's adding 2' to the diagonal measurement (that's how they measure screens but rarely tell you). I don't have time to tell you in square inches how much that would really increase the screen space but you could figure it out. I bet you would be surprised. Remember that the largest side of a right triangle is the hypotenuse (the 2') so you are definitely adding less than 2' total to both the length and the width (sorry about the math reference if it scares you )

Actually, I understand! THAT scared me!

The 15" will save me about $300 AND I just realized that I qualify for a student discount, since my daughter is attending a participating university and her Mac is over a year old! That knocked off about $300 too!

 

[crcormier]

Was it a $300 or $800 difference in the price? I'm confused.

And stock configuration in the Apple Store on line, the $300 price difference between the 15 and the 17 inch also gives you a 160Gb hard drive versus a 120Gb, and an 8x burner versus a 6x burner.

I have the 15" MacBook Pro and I love it. Got it a few months after it came out (as soon as Boot Camp was introduced, so I could use it at work.) Had a problem with the fans over the last two months and tech support was great both times. Had to send it back, but it was returned in a matter of 3 days both times.

Go for it, you'll love it!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Was it a $300 or $800 difference in the price? I'm confused.

I was too!

There was an $800 difference in the 15" and the 17", because I hadn't noticed that the price for the 15" was for the 2.16 GHz processor and the 17" had a 2.33 GHz. There is only a $300 difference if you bump up the processor of the 15".

And yes, there is the larger hard drive on the 17". That is double the size of the one I have on my Dell, and right now I only have 512 MB of memory. It's not getting any faster either!

I have the 15" MacBook Pro and I love it. Got it a few months after it came out (as soon as Boot Camp was introduced, so I could use it at work.) Had a problem with the fans over the last two months and tech support was great both times. Had to send it back, but it was returned in a matter of 3 days both times.

Go for it, you'll love it!

I think I am. I had planned on going out tonight, but now all I want to do is go to the mall and purchase the computer!

I still have the screen-size decision to make though. And I need to decide whether I want the matte, or glossy screen.

Decisions, decisions...

 

[Tinijocaro]

Why do y'all love them so much?

Change is scary! Switching just sounds like it'll be such a PITA!

I have been using the same computer (mac g3) for 8 years- we have never had ONE problem. I also use pc's when I have no other choice, and I'm very familiar with them, but would never choose to buy one. The price of macs is so worth it. I've seen my entire family go through at least two computers to my one- some have had three. All have had to take their computers to a shop for de-bugging, new motherboards, whatever. Always problems of some sort.

Macs can do all the same things that pc's do, usually with fewer clicks to get there. Macs will even run windows if you really want them to, I've never had the need, so I don't.

I don't run any type of virus protection- I download from email, music, video, anything, without fear of viruses. I also don't get pop-ups.

For something like a computer, it's so worth it to spend the extra money, take a bit of time to get to know the mac OS. I would be livid if I spent the money on a computer, only to have to deal with viruses, and all the other problems that come with owning a pc.

Oh- I also spend more on cars, to avoid similar problems. It's just worth it to me to not have my car breaking down often.