Wife wants a Mactop...advice?

[Mike Lowe]

These are such a rip off but my wife wants a Mac as a new laptop as she uses one at work (as a Graphic Designer).

I'm sort of thinking going the refurbished route since Apple charges 5-6 times the amount for the same computer that you could get on a PC model. Is going refurbished the best route?

Thoughts? Websites? Downfalls of refurbished? Want to jump on me for hating Macs?

Thanks!

[Abe Sargent]

Divorce?

[Noop]

Tell her no....(I don't have a wife so my advice is useless.)

[samifan24]

The refurbished Macbooks sold in the Apple Store come with a one year warranty. I've never owned a refurbished Macbook but I've heard good things. I'm very pleased with my own Macbook. I've had it for just over a year and I love it.

[Logan]

I don't really need the extra benefits of a Macbook as far as what I use it for, but it's so worth the money. In all my PC experiences, you could feel the system start to slow down so quickly...nothing remotely like that with the Macbook (granted, I wasn't spending the same amount on an equivalent PC). The reliability is the most important to me.

[JediKooter]

If your wife is a graphic designer, it makes perfect sense as to why she wants a Mac. It's pretty much the standard in that industry from what I hear.

Buying a refurbed Mac will be fine.

P.S. I work for Apple, so, yes, buy her the Mac please.

[Mike Lowe]

Jedi,

I will let you give me your discount!

Thanks for the info people, keep it coming!

[JediKooter]

15% off for friends and family.

[Mike Lowe]

You are now officially my friend! I am a teacher, what sort of educational discounts are available? Are discounts good on refurbs?

[johnnyshaka]

Just got my Macbook on Tuesday. It wasn't cheap but work was buying so I decided to see what the Dark Side is all about.

Haven't had much time to play just yet but so far I do like it. It's going to take some time to get used to finding what I need in OS X but I'm sure I'll manage.

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by Mike Lowe

You are now officially my friend! I am a teacher, what sort of educational discounts are available? Are discounts good on refurbs?

Woohoo!!

I think the educational discount is 15% (if not 15 then probably 10) as well, not 100% sure though. I know a guy who used to work in one of the retail stores, who should know.

I know my discount is good for refurbs, not sure about the educational discount, but, I don't see why it wouldn't apply to them.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Mike Lowe

These are such a rip off but my wife wants a Mac as a new laptop as she uses one at work (as a Graphic Designer).

I'm sort of thinking going the refurbished route since Apple charges 5-6 times the amount for the same computer that you could get on a PC model. Is going refurbished the best route?

Thoughts? Websites? Downfalls of refurbished? Want to jump on me for hating Macs?

Thanks!

I'll not worry about the fact that what you're saying is blatantly untrue, and say that I would assume the refurbished ones are fine. I have had mine for 3 years and it still works fantastically (but I bought it new).

[Daimyo]

Apple charges 5-6 times the amount for the same computer that you could get on a PC model

That's not really true. You can spec out a cheap Windows PC that will be much cheaper than a MacBook, but if you really do apples to apples comparison difference won't be near that much.

FWIW, I got a 15" Macbook Pro in January for work after a lifetime of being a PC user including 10+ years as Windows server administrator. I have never been so satisfied with a computer as I am with this one and am now looking at swapping out my home PCs for Macs.

[lordscarlet]

A PC laptop with similar RAM, HDD and Processor specs MAY be about 1/3 the price of a macbook, but that doesn't mean it is comparable in anyway. It's heavier, moor poorly constructed, less reliable and has worse customer service in most cases.

The only comparable PC laptops I have experience with are ThinkPAds. They cost about the same as a macbook and are quality machines.

[SFL Cat]

Mac >> PC

[flere-imsaho]

In general, I've heard only good things about refurbs (especially refurbs from the Mac Store). I'm planning to get one myself (iMac) in a month or so.

Also, is this now the thread where we all ask Jedi for discounts? Because I could really use a discount.

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by SFL Cat

Mac >> PC

That's right, a Mac's cost is 2 times greater than that of a PC.

[Logan]

Can I use this thread to spew my hatred toward that commercial with the annoying redheaded bitch who was on a quest to buy a PC laptop for under a grand, which was aired roughly every 6 minutes during the tournament?

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

In general, I've heard only good things about refurbs (especially refurbs from the Mac Store). I'm planning to get one myself (iMac) in a month or so.

Also, is this now the thread where we all ask Jedi for discounts? Because I could really use a discount.

Oh, you can 'ask'...

I am limited to a certain number (a low number) of discounts in a 12 month period.

[SFL Cat]

Originally Posted by johnnyshaka

That's right, a Mac's cost is 2 times greater than that of a PC.

If you buy a PC and add the extra stuff to it that comes with a Mac, you'll be paying about the same price for your PC. Plus you don't have to spend hours and hours removing bloatware from your Mac like you do a PC

[Travis]

Originally Posted by SFL Cat

If you buy a PC and add the extra stuff to it that comes with a Mac, you'll be paying about the same price for your PC. Plus you don't have to spend hours and hours removing bloatware from your Mac like you do a PC

A lot of that depends on the user and what you're trying to do. I've been working on macs for the last 5 years (graphic designer), have a pc laptop at home (for the last 3) and had been on desktop pc's for the 8-10 years preceding that (databases/coding/website work). There are just as many issues with macs as there are pcs and 90% of them on both sides are user related. Personally I prefer pcs and that's even before the mac commercials came along and pushed me even further into the pc camp.

Maybe once the "hip mac fad" has been around long enough and software supply/demand equals out before the two it'll be a closer race to me, but I'm quite happy spending half as much on a pc and getting pretty close to the same performance as I get at work.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Logan

Can I use this thread to spew my hatred toward that commercial with the annoying redheaded bitch who was on a quest to buy a PC laptop for under a grand, which was aired roughly every 6 minutes during the tournament?

Different strokes. I absolutely loved that commercial. Hits Apple right where it hurts.

The vast majority of people don't need the "extra stuff to it that comes with a Mac". They just want a device to check email & surf the web, play music, and fiddle with their pictures a bit.

[MJ4H]

What extra stuff are we talking about?

[Logan]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Different strokes. I absolutely loved that commercial. Hits Apple right where it hurts.

The vast majority of people don't need the "extra stuff to it that comes with a Mac". They just want a device to check email & surf the web, play music, and fiddle with their pictures a bit.

I had no problem with the commercial. I just hate her.

[JediKooter]

We've put out a hit on her...her days are numbered.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by SFL Cat

If you buy a PC and add the extra stuff to it that comes with a Mac, you'll be paying about the same price for your PC. Plus you don't have to spend hours and hours removing bloatware from your Mac like you do a PC

I have purchased an ovepriced Mac because Apple lock in their development environments so you have no choice if you want to look at developing for Apple products ....

It had NO software I'd ever want to use in a month of sundays and have to pay for normally, in fact I can't even remember what was on it because the first thing I do with any Mac or PC when I buy it is clean off the rubbish they pre-install.

(and PC's generally come with much more useful stuff imho - at least you get some decent free games usually)

Bah humbug ... apologies but I've been playing around with the Mac and Xcode this evening, am current jonesing for a hit of Visual Studio - you know a development environment which isn't designed to torture the person using it

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Logan

I had no problem with the commercial. I just hate her.

Nerdy hot, says "I must not be cool enough for a Mac"... I dunno about you, but I'm in love.

[MJ4H]

It seems like I only saw the commercial once, but I seem to remember her being hot???

Sign me the hell up for that.

[molson]

This thread is useless without youtube



I'd hit it

I love the mac people freaking out in the comments that she was an actress...

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by SFL Cat

If you buy a PC and add the extra stuff to it that comes with a Mac, you'll be paying about the same price for your PC. Plus you don't have to spend hours and hours removing bloatware from your Mac like you do a PC

Hours upon hours?? Not sure how much you want to uninstall but why not reinstall the OS instead...that'll take less than an hour. While you're at it, why not install Linux if you aren't a Windows fan? That would install even faster.

Like I said earlier, I just got my first Macbook and so far it's pretty sweet but it was over $2100 CDN with the educational discount. It's a 13" with 4GBs of RAM, 2.4 GHZ, and a 320GB hard drive. I could've gotten this instead for $800 cheaper and it's actually "more" bang for the buck.

Work paid for this one...had it been coming out of my pocket, I wouldn't be typing on a Macbook right now.

[Comey]

The Dell Studio XPS 16 that's arriving tomorrow has very little bloatware. I think the only thing I'll be getting rid of is McAfee and the dock (in favor of avast and another dock).

[DanGarion]

Has anyone even mentioned you could Hackintosh a PC and save some dough yet?...

OSx86 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://lifehacker.com/348653/install...king-required/

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

Has anyone even mentioned you could Hackintosh a PC and save some dough yet?...

OSx86 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lifehacker - Install OS X on Your Hackintosh PC, No Hacking Required - Leopard

And, for the most part, have inferior hardware and customer support? No thanks.

[ISiddiqui]

Or rather, non overpriced hardware?

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Or rather, non overpriced hardware?

No, inferior.

[lordscarlet]

I will give some full disclouser. I looked at Consumer Reports to back myself up, and Apple as not the most reliable. For "Repairs and Serious Problems" every body is just about the same.. Sony, Lenovo, Compaq and Toshiba had 18%. Dell, Gateway and Apple had 20% and Hewlett-Packard had 21%.

Every Apple laptop, however, is at the top of every category in the "Ratings", and by a large margin for everything but the 13" models.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

And, for the most part, have inferior hardware and customer support? No thanks.

Inferior hardware?

Not according to consumer reports.

Apple was second from the bottom at 20% of the computers with repairs and serious problems. True it's not a significant difference but they are right at the bottom...

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

Inferior hardware?

Not according to consumer reports.

Apple was second from the bottom at 20% of the computers with repairs and serious problems. True it's not a significant difference but they are right at the bottom...

Did you read my last post?

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Did you read my last post?

After I posted this yes. But I don't think the markup is worth it... IMO.

The one thing that Apple does good is that their OS will usually (from 10.4 and up) autodiagnose network configuration issues and resolve it all on it's own via the Safari browser, something that Windows still can't do in Vista with IE 7 (unsure about 8 yet, since I haven't tried it).

The hardware just isn't worth the markup of about 30-50% for a Mac to the competitors. Also another factor is the fact that you get what they make and that's it, it's the Mac way or no way, there are no other options other then the way Mac makes it. You basically get to choose size of screen, amount of ram, and that's it (unless they have changed in the past year). No to mention the piece of shit they call a mouse, the first thing to throw away when you get it.

Another problem I've ran into with every Mac I've had (for work) is the keyboard never feels right. I'm always fumbling over the keyboard whether it's the Black G3 I used to have or the silver powerbook I have now.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Every Apple laptop, however, is at the top of every category in the "Ratings", and by a large margin for everything but the 13" models.

Because it is sooo pretty . What are the prices, btw, of the Apple laptops compared to the others in the ratings?

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Because it is sooo pretty . What are the prices, btw, of the Apple laptops compared to the others in the ratings?

Best Models
13 Inch
Apple $1300
HP $850

14-16 Inch
Apple $2000
Toshiba $700
Sony Vaoi $1000

17-18 Inch
Apple $2800
Dell $750
Lenovo $1300

[lordscarlet]

Hardly the 4-5x people in this thread are claiming. There certainly is a premium, but I feel there is an intangible difference.. and I'm sure I come off as a fanboy for saying so. I think a Dell feels very cheap in my hands. A macbook just feels more solid. And I also wonder what the specs on those comparable models are. Same HDD? Same RAM? Same Processor? Etc.

Also, to DG's claim of lack of customization -- if we were talking about desktops, perhaps. However, most companies provide the same level of customization for their laptops, IMO.

[MJ4H]

Apple's prices are ludicrous. I've always been semi-interested in them for music production, but the prices make me look elsewhere instantly.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Hardly the 4-5x people in this thread are claiming. There certainly is a premium, but I feel there is an intangible difference.. and I'm sure I come off as a fanboy for saying so. I think a Dell feels very cheap in my hands. A macbook just feels more solid. And I also wonder what the specs on those comparable models are. Same HDD? Same RAM? Same Processor? Etc.

Also, to DG's claim of lack of customization -- if we were talking about desktops, perhaps. However, most companies provide the same level of customization for their laptops, IMO.

I claimed 30-50% and that's about what it is, I'm pretty familiar with the pricing because I'm the one that tells my bosses what to buy for training purposes. I'll throw together a couple examples later if I find some time. True for most manufacturers there aren't many options, I usually like to compare Dell to Apple since that's what we buy at work.

And I pulled my prices off the Consumer Reports ratings, so I would figure they used comparable setups.

[Daimyo]

IMO, Thinkpads used to be in the same quality range a few years back (we buy ~2000 of the T-series and a large handful of the X-series a year at work), but, like Macbooks, they were also much pricier than typical consumer laptops.

Unfortunately the Thinkpads of the last two years have had significantly more quality issues than before so I don't know that they're really all that far ahead of the Dells and HPs of the world anymore... I was pretty disappointed with the x61 tablet I used up until 3-4 months ago.

[DanGarion]

Just for reference.

Apple Macbook Pro 17 Inch 2.66 GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB of DDR3 Ram
320 GB Hard Drive
Nvidia GeForece 9400M+9600M GT with 512 MB
8 Hour Battery
No extended Apple Care Protection Plan
$2800

I have the options to upgrade to a 2.93 Core 2 for $300
8GB Ram DDR3 Ram /1066 $1000
320 GB SATA @7200 $50
Antiglare Sreen $50

Dell M1730 - 17 Inch 2.66 GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB Ram DD2 /677
320 GB Hard Drive @7200
Nvidia GeForce 8700 GT 256
9 Cell battery
$2124

Can get 2.8 Core 2 for $375
8GB DD2 /677 $550
500 GB HD @7200 for $150
Have SLI Dual GeForce options from $500-800


No productivity software on either computer and standard support

That's as close as I can get because the DD3 /1066 that Dell has only comes on the XPS Studio 16 inch.

[Daimyo]

So slower RAM, lesser discrete graphics, and no option to switch to onboard graphics to save battery/heat. And, I bet the screen is inferior.

[Daimyo]

Geez... and if I found the right one, the Dell weights 10.6 lbs vs 6.6 lbs for the Macbook Pro!

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by johnnyshaka

Hours upon hours?? Not sure how much you want to uninstall but why not reinstall the OS instead...that'll take less than an hour. While you're at it, why not install Linux if you aren't a Windows fan? That would install even faster.

Like I said earlier, I just got my first Macbook and so far it's pretty sweet but it was over $2100 CDN with the educational discount. It's a 13" with 4GBs of RAM, 2.4 GHZ, and a 320GB hard drive. I could've gotten this instead for $800 cheaper and it's actually "more" bang for the buck.

Work paid for this one...had it been coming out of my pocket, I wouldn't be typing on a Macbook right now.

I've had this Macbook for just over a month...the honeymoon is over, baby!! I'm once again reminded why I hate Macs.

A couple of weeks ago it started freezing randomly and then it started freezing everytime I tried to wake it up from sleep mode and then one morning it just wouldn't boot...it beeped instead. Awesome.

Showed it to one of our Mac Lovers at the office and after tinkering he couldn't get it to boot either. So, dropped it off at our local Apple store and they had it for over a week because they had to order a new logic board and then reinstall the OS. Funny, they had to call me for my install discs because none of the ones they hard would work. Huh? A few days after dropping off the discs they called me and said it was ready to go...two weeks after dropping it off. Super, awesome.

That was two days ago and now I'm typing this from my desktop in the basement...not my POS Macbook. It started freezing again this afternoon and then wouldn't boot by suppertime.

This Apple is ROTTEN!!!