First apple computer purchase - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

engatwork · #1 02-04-2011, 06:36 PM

I'm looking at getting a laptop computer and am considering an Apple after having spent my computer life using MS products. The wife purchased an Apple for the stepdaughter a while back and I was impressed with what I saw. I will use it for accounting at the store and for wireless internet use at the house. I would appreciate any recommendation, etc... in regards to which one to purchase and where to purchase from. I looked at a 17" MacBook Pro at BB today and that would be the top of my price range ~$2200.

tia

MTI · #2 02-04-2011, 06:45 PM

Careful, PawoSD May Schedule an Intervention

You may as well get some Birkenstocks while you're at it . . .

pawoSD · #3 02-04-2011, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTI

Careful, PawoSD May Schedule an Intervention

You may as well get some Birkenstocks while you're at it . . .

Psh, I support computer users as my job, and the fools buy Macs. I enjoy each day telling them "no, that will not work, because you bought a MAC!"

Why waste the money on a shiny system running a free-operating system turned expensive by a company? Keep in mind all the MacOS is...is a revamped distribution of Linux.

Mac hardware and PC hardware = essentially the same. Its like buying a MB with silver paint instead of black and paying twice as much for it....would you do this with a car? Then why do it with a computer?

My *intervention* is merely a recommendation to apply logic before the purchase.

Dollar for Dollar, you can buy a PC nearly twice as powerful, and with a lot more freedom to make changes to it.

Apple purposely closes off their system, and picks and chooses which things to support. The most annoying thing ever are people who buy a mac, then complain when they can't use their company's remote web workplace and other features. Then what do they end up doing? Dual booting with windows or using a Windows VM. Then why did you buy one in the first place?!

LandYaghtLover · #4 02-04-2011, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

Apple purposely closes off their system, and picks and chooses which things to support. The most annoying thing ever are people who buy a mac, then complain when they can't use their company's remote web workplace and other features. Then what do they end up doing? Dual booting with windows or using a Windows VM. Then why did you buy one in the first place?!

That the biggest line of BS I ever heard. Usually comments like that are make by scared people. Scared because they portray themselves as "IT geeks" to their friends. But since they really don't know anything out a Mac, its krypotonite to them. And then since they dont know anything, they bash it since they dont want to look like an idiot.

The above is not my opinion, but many peoples' factual observation of the situation. In other words, the truth.

Apple does not close off anything. They operation system is open source. Its called the Darwin project and Apple contributes MUCH to it. Same goes for the web browser, Safari. The WebKit project is well and alive. They are much, much more open that MS will every be. They even release SDKs and update them frequently. And if something is PC only and they need it, at least they have options anyway.

I must say its funny that a Mac gets bashed on a Mercedes forum.

I mean Apple designs every little detail. They invent manufacturing processes. The motherboards are designed and made "in house". Unlike most PCs that are just slapped together parts, Apple designs the product form the ground up. Sure they may place looks first, but it forces the engineers to get ever more creative.

Its simple. If you want the best, you buy a Mac. They even have great resale valve if you later decide to buy another. If you want something prone to viruses/spyware and something that can be used to prop a door open when its old and tired up then get a PC.

pawoSD · #5 02-05-2011, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LandYaghtLover

That the biggest line of BS I ever heard. Usually comments like that are make by scared people. Scared because they portray themselves as "IT geeks" to their friends. But since they really don't know anything out a Mac, its krypotonite to them. And then since they dont know anything, they bash it since they dont want to look like an idiot.

The above is not my opinion, but many peoples' factual observation of the situation. In other words, the truth.

Apple does not close off anything. They operation system is open source. Its called the Darwin project and Apple contributes MUCH to it. Same goes for the web browser, Safari. The WebKit project is well and alive. They are much, much more open that MS will every be. They even release SDKs and update them frequently. And if something is PC only and they need it, at least they have options anyway.

I must say its funny that a Mac gets bashed on a Mercedes forum.

I mean Apple designs every little detail. They invent manufacturing processes. The motherboards are designed and made "in house". Unlike most PCs that are just slapped together parts, Apple designs the product form the ground up. Sure they may place looks first, but it forces the engineers to get ever more creative.

Its simple. If you want the best, you buy a Mac. They even have great resale valve if you later decide to buy another. If you want something prone to viruses/spyware and something that can be used to prop a door open when its old and tired up then get a PC.

Apple closes off ALL of their products. This is how they lock in their customers and make money.

Most computer manufacturers design their own motherboards, ever opened up a PC? They are generally pretty customized when from the big players (HP, Dell, Acer) And if by "in-house" you mean in a factory in China where they are made alongside PC's....then you are correct. Apple has a huge profit margin on their products vs PC makers, because their customers follow the "if its shiny and made by apple I will buy it!" mentality. People who do real work on a computer don't use a Mac. (excluding their cult of video editors) My brother does video animation and design, and he uses a PC I built him. 16GB of DDR3 ram, 6 core CPU, mega graphics, tons of storage...and it cost less to build than a lower end iMac. People complain that Windows is updated/released too often, Mac OS is a new release every 2 years or so, this would be an incredible headache in the business world.

I've been using Windows for 15 years and...amazingly...have never had a virus or malware despite running 0 software to prevent it. You end up with those things on your system the same way a person gets an STD. Visiting less-than-clean websites/establishments. Its always the same people who have their computer repeatedly infected. Mac's have security flaws just like any operating system, if more than 10% of people had them, you can bet there'd be a LOT more malware out there targeted at them, its a simple numbers rule.

Ara T. · #6 02-05-2011, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

Apple closes off ALL of their products. This is how they lock in their customers and make money.

Most computer manufacturers design their own motherboards, ever opened up a PC? They are generally pretty customized when from the big players (HP, Dell, Acer) And if by "in-house" you mean in a factory in China where they are made alongside PC's....then you are correct. Apple has a huge profit margin on their products vs PC makers, because their customers follow the "if its shiny and made by apple I will buy it!" mentality. People who do real work on a computer don't use a Mac. (excluding their cult of video editors) My brother does video animation and design, and he uses a PC I built him. 16GB of DDR3 ram, 6 core CPU, mega graphics, tons of storage...and it cost less to build than a lower end iMac. People complain that Windows is updated/released too often, Mac OS is a new release every 2 years or so, this would be an incredible headache in the business world.

I've been using Windows for 15 years and...amazingly...have never had a virus or malware despite running 0 software to prevent it. You end up with those things on your system the same way a person gets an STD. Visiting less-than-clean websites/establishments. Its always the same people who have their computer repeatedly infected. Mac's have security flaws just like any operating system, if more than 10% of people had them, you can bet there'd be a LOT more malware out there targeted at them, its a simple numbers rule.

+1 on the porn site viruses

iwrock · #7 02-05-2011, 02:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

Apple closes off ALL of their products. This is how they lock in their customers and make money.

Most computer manufacturers design their own motherboards, ever opened up a PC? They are generally pretty customized when from the big players (HP, Dell, Acer) And if by "in-house" you mean in a factory in China where they are made alongside PC's....then you are correct. Apple has a huge profit margin on their products vs PC makers, because their customers follow the "if its shiny and made by apple I will buy it!" mentality. People who do real work on a computer don't use a Mac. (excluding their cult of video editors) My brother does video animation and design, and he uses a PC I built him. 16GB of DDR3 ram, 6 core CPU, mega graphics, tons of storage...and it cost less to build than a lower end iMac. People complain that Windows is updated/released too often, Mac OS is a new release every 2 years or so, this would be an incredible headache in the business world.

I've been using Windows for 15 years and...amazingly...have never had a virus or malware despite running 0 software to prevent it. You end up with those things on your system the same way a person gets an STD. Visiting less-than-clean websites/establishments. Its always the same people who have their computer repeatedly infected. Mac's have security flaws just like any operating system, if more than 10% of people had them, you can bet there'd be a LOT more malware out there targeted at them, its a simple numbers rule.

Your comparing a gaming desktop to a laptop.

How is that fair?

Dollar for dollar, a homebuilt gaming PC is going to beat out any factory built PC. Thats an orange and an orange. Comparing a desktop and laptop. Thats an apple and an orange buddy.

I think it is called an "inferiority complex."

LandYaghtLover · #8 02-05-2011, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

Apple closes off ALL of their products. This is how they lock in their customers and make money.

Most computer manufacturers design their own motherboards, ever opened up a PC? They are generally pretty customized when from the big players (HP, Dell, Acer) And if by "in-house" you mean in a factory in China where they are made alongside PC's....then you are correct. Apple has a huge profit margin on their products vs PC makers, because their customers follow the "if its shiny and made by apple I will buy it!" mentality. People who do real work on a computer don't use a Mac. (excluding their cult of video editors) My brother does video animation and design, and he uses a PC I built him. 16GB of DDR3 ram, 6 core CPU, mega graphics, tons of storage...and it cost less to build than a lower end iMac. People complain that Windows is updated/released too often, Mac OS is a new release every 2 years or so, this would be an incredible headache in the business world.

I've been using Windows for 15 years and...amazingly...have never had a virus or malware despite running 0 software to prevent it. You end up with those things on your system the same way a person gets an STD. Visiting less-than-clean websites/establishments. Its always the same people who have their computer repeatedly infected. Mac's have security flaws just like any operating system, if more than 10% of people had them, you can bet there'd be a LOT more malware out there targeted at them, its a simple numbers rule.

So tell me EXACTLY how they "close off their products"?

No they do not all design their own motherboards. Dell and HP use a third party company that they purchase the designs from. The only manufacturer that I know for certain on the PC is Sony that designs in house.

Define profit margins? Its Apple's margins bigger than others or are the others just small? Your comparing a Geo Metro to a Lambo. Which has a higher profit margin you think? Just because one company is better at business at others is NOT a bad thing. Welcome to capitalism!! I would rather buy from a stable secure company. Remember eMachines? Gateway? How did those low profit margins work for them?

"Mega Graphics", "Tons of storage"? Well you just shot any notion of portraying yourself as anything close to being a "PC guru".

If you have to ask why, you further proved that point! lol And thats great that you built him a pro system for less than $700! Good for you!

"People complain that Windows is updated/released too often, Mac OS is a new release every 2 years or so, this would be an incredible headache in the business world." Please explain. Again, if you were an IT PC guru as you seem to want us to think, then the above statement is humorous. Constant 1.0 releases are a big, big pain in the PC world. Why do you think many companies are still running XP? Of course you would know that ANY large corporation never updates right away. This is true both on the Mac and PC side of things. So an update schedule is not very important in the business world. Duh. the problem is with Windows and the incredible amount of "critical updates". Those small pesky ones that can often break things yet seem to be so important and required. Windows has so many that came out any random time of the month they had to settle on a once a month schedule due to so many complaints. How many critical patches does Apple pump out? Maybe 2 or 3 per quarter? And the API architecture used means they rarely (if ever) cause an issue.

"I've been using Windows for 15 years and...amazingly...have never had a virus or malware despite running 0 software to prevent it." I totally believe you on that. But maybe you should try going online with them. Ever hear of port sniffing? Etc? If your computers have been online, they have been infected. Period. Software may get to it quickly and block/prevent damage. But if it landed on the system, its an infection. Its been proven that any new PC pulled out of the box and just plugged in online (and turned on) will be infected within 10 minutes without the user doing anything more than pressing the power on. I can find that report if needed, but its well know among anyone in the PC world so I am sure you read it.

More than 10% do. Try over 20%? Been hearing the whole gloom and doom for years about the Mac. STILL WAITING! Only had one virus on a Mac that I have seem in the past 10 years. You guesses it. Friend went to a porn site and it said to download a codec. It was a trojan. Did not actually do much other than interfere with Quicktime. But that has been the only instance. From what I see, since the vast majority of Mac users dont spend money on protection, even at your claimed 10% it would be a better an easier target than a larger group supposedly locked down. It would even be the ultimate feather in the cap to a hacker to release a Mac virus! Yet, still waiting!

TnBob · #9 02-04-2011, 06:46 PM

Take the Apple store in house training. Really cuts the learning curve down. You wont look back.

MTI · #10 02-04-2011, 06:50 PM

You'll be cursing your muscle memory on the keyboard, scrolling buttons on the screen and the "Why won't the window fill the whole desktop?"

The Clk Man · #11 02-04-2011, 06:51 PM

Once you go "Mac", you'll never go back.

engatwork · #12 02-04-2011, 07:28 PM

I've got some Berkshire Hathaway stocks. I have not been able to find the symbol for Birken stocks. Do you know what it is? I'll check into it.

Skid Row Joe · #13 02-05-2011, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by engatwork

I've got some Berkshire Hathaway stocks. I have not been able to find the symbol for Birken stocks. Do you know what it is? I'll check into it.

You'd be better off buying more Berkshire-Hathaway stock. After 25 years since buying my first shares - I still buy more now and then.

My HP 15" works flawlessly, btw.

#14 02-04-2011, 07:26 PM

It depends what you need to use it for and how large a screen you need. The 17 inch is pretty big to carry around; my main computer is a 15-inch MacBook Pro which does everything I need. My daughter does well with a 13 inch MacBook (about $1000). If I was looking for something very portable, I would consider a MacBook Air (if I didn't need a disc drive). What are you planning on using it for?

iwrock · #15 02-04-2011, 07:45 PM

IMHO, 17" is wayyyy big, and is a PITA to lug around.

15" is a happy medium.