First off, speed comparisons between any MacOS and Vista are irrelevant. I don't use Vista. I use XP. I think Vista is a dog and avoided it with no consequences other than saving money. Second, my own laptops are many years old and couldn't have run Vista anyway, but still manage to do just fine with my application of choice, Adobe Creative Suite. Adobe Creative Suite is more sophisticated than I can ever use, a fact which blows away the "Macs have better applications" argument instantly. If I can't use what I have now, what am I going to do with more?
By the way, I don't use MS Outlook for email. I hate Outlook. I use Eudora. I have for years. My version of Eudora is probably 8 years out of date. That just goes to show you what a waste of time all of the upgrades to email applications have been.
I just compared prices on the Dell I would have bought and Macbook I would have bought. It's $1100 for the Dell (500 GB HD, XP as the OS, 4 GB RAM ...) and $2300 for the Macbook Pro with a 500GB HD. Paying $2300 for a computer in 2009 is insane unless you're talking a monster gaming machine. There's just no excuse for it. To compare the prices further, assuming I was a 17-year-old boy, I would suggest this:
I can either have a Macbook Pro or I can buy a Dell and a fixer VW Microbus.
Seriously, that's the choice. My son is a surfer and really wants a Microbus. For the cost of the Macbook, he could have a killer laptop and a Microbus. If he chose to buy used parts for the thing, he could repair the Microbus for the cost of all the doodads he'd be buying at the Mac Store because the price differential doesn't stop with the laptop.
Finally, the killer argument. What does a 17-year-old chick want more - a tanned, cut surfer in a Microbus he fixed himself or a guy with a Macbook?
Luckily for him, the chicks will get both because he bought the VW Microbus equivalent of a laptop - the low end Macbook.
Macs rule! His Mac will outlast any PC he could have chosen. LOL
ReplyDeleteI also use/used Eudora (an outdated version, even though I tried following their links to - Penelope? was it). Just recently switched to Mail. I do like mail, but I miss being able to set up and move around all the individual mailboxes and files.
I kind of like the web-application email, myself, even if I can't check gmail from .mil computers.
ReplyDeleteMy top of the line Dell started falling apart before it even hit 2 years old. The 3 Macs in my house all look like they were just bought.
ReplyDeletePeople forget that when XP first came out it had major problems. It wasn't until SP1 that it became safe to turn on without getting infected. Even today if you install the first edition of XP without you will be infected very quickly since those worms are still out there. XP with SP3 is pretty good, but it really shows its age. Having used Vista, WIndows 7, and OSX there are modern features that once you get used to them you wonder how you got along without them. Especially search capabilities.
Now I am pretty happy with the release version of Windows 7. It is what Vista should have been. But it still does not come close to OSX Leopard and we will have an even better OSX with Snow Leopard released next month. The major release cycle for OSX has been around 2 years. With Windows we had XP then a very long wait for Vista, then a more rapid release with Windows 7. Hopefully Microsoft has learned its lesson and will have a more consistent release cycle.
But as a programmer and power user the extra cost of Macs pays off in time saved and just pure enjoyment of using the programs.
No idea how folks actually have PCs dying so fast-- *nobody* I know has anything like a problem with top-line computers "falling apart" after two years.
ReplyDelete*I* had one badly designed top of the line Dell, but it was repaired some six times and finally replaced 100% for free, problems from the day of delivery....
I do know that as an absolute neophyte, I was able to turn on a new XP machine and run it for over two years with zero infections. Possibly your computing habits are risky?
Jeff, I've never had a laptop fall apart and I've traveled with them quite a bit. You must have gotten a defective one. As for the enjoyment of using the thing, now that we have one in the house, I'll have to try it. My son will no doubt provide a well-reasoned and trusted opinion on it as well.
ReplyDeleteI have mixed marriage...I on a Dell, and Acer Laptop and M'Lady on a supercharged Mac and a macbook....she swears by hers, and I'm happy with mine.....Heck if we didn't disagree on a few things, why would we need each other?
ReplyDeleteFar as the Microbus is concerned, I hope it's "A red VW Microbus with shovel, rakes and other implements of destruction in the back and capable of carrying about a half a ton of garbage....."
Sounds like there's an Arlo Guthrie tune in there......
*Old Folkes joke, Foxie.....heh*
(I grew up on Marty Robins and the Oldies Station, Wollfie. ;^p)
ReplyDeleteFoxfier: "I was able to turn on a new XP machine and run it for over two years with zero infections. Possibly your computing habits are risky?"
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. If someone knows what they're doing, stays away from yucky sites, is mindful of what they download, and performs a bit of maintenance here and there, you can have a Windows machine completely adware/spyware/virus free for years.
On the other hand, you can get a mac, and not have to worry about any of that stuff. I got my first mac last year, and not only have I not had any problems of any kind, but I haven't bothered with thinking about "risky computer behavior" one way or the other. Since getting a mac, my "computer-know-how" has gone down the toilet, and I don't miss it one bit.
I know people say this all the time, but now I'm saying it: Macs truly do = No fuss no muss. And I mean ZERO fiddling with ANY of the stuff all those Windows users take for granted - not just the malware, but applications locking up, needing a driver, registry errors, digging through layers and layers of windows to figure out how to change a setting, random system failure....NONE of it. The mac works fine, and it works ALL the time.
I think it's worth it to pay a little more for a machine that simply does what it's supposed to without even minimal coaxing or prompting.
Before I sound like too much of a fanboy, I will say that the mac's utter lack of game selection is bummer. A big bummer. But, that's what the XBox is for. Note: I love my Microsoft XBox as much as my mac...I'm not some kind of partisan "brand-loyalist", but Apple computers consistently work better and they do it with zero effort on my part. And it's not even that they're LESS of a headache than Windows machines, it's that they aren't a headache AT ALL. Ever.
Maybe Windows will get there, too. I have heard good things about Windows 7, but we'll see.