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i will be purchasing a new laptop within the next couple of months and I was wondering what kind should I get? I will primarily use it to for school and surfing the web and downloading games, movies and music. There are so many choices out there and for me it is confusing. People keep telling me that Mac books run better that PC's and are more trouble-free. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
It's a matter of personal opinion, both have their good points and bad points. Just research and get some hands on with each at a store to see what you like. As far as gaming, all serious gamers use a PC, many games aren't available for the Mac. There are a few threads debating the Mac/PC, have a look at those as well.
Ditto what NHDave said. I would advise finding out first what the school wants you to get. They may or may not be partial to a specific OS. If you go Mac, OS X does have Boot Camp. With it, you'll be able, right out of the box, to install any version of Windows and use it in addition to OS X. That gives you more flexibility over the long haul, but you'll have to anti up for a copy of Windows.
Apple's bundled software is the best there is. The computers retain their value when taken care of. Viruses and spyware are not a problem unless you install Windows.
Apple's bundled software is the best there is. The computers retain their value when taken care of. Viruses and spyware are not a problem unless you install Windows.
And even then, they'll only be a problem on your Windows partition which you can get rid of at any time. I have a Mac Mini that I run Boot Camp with and I love it.
basically if your not ready to fork out money for a mac and an edition of windows to run boot camp then your best bet is a pc.
but id suggest if you get a mac to look online for a cheap copy of windows on new egg or something like that otherwise the store will charge you an un ethical amount of money for windows vista/xp
I was looking at factory remanufactured notebook prices today and the whole tbhing is a racket! The price of a new model is usually less than two hundred more! I am refering to IBM's. A lenovo U330 used $929, new <$1200. It was the same for all of the models over $500 that i looked at.
The price of Mac's was absolutely insane! You could get a top o the line pc with change for the price of a reman mac! I guess the economy is tanking because I'm not buying anything at these prices.
Hey Bull W,
I am no techie, but I am pretty certain the specs were exactly the same. The list read the same. What is this shared RAM thing? I'm guessing shared between graphics and data processing.
The reman did not mention which OS or any software making me think thta might be extra. All the new were Windows Vista some 64 bit some not.
Yeah, sometimes it looks like the specs are the same, but they are not. Several things affect speed, but most people simply cite processor speed as a proxy for the whole thing. I only buy Macs, so I'm less familiar with the processors other than the ones Apple sticks into theirs. I do know, however, that the type of processor, its MHz speed, the bus speed and the memory speed all contribute to the overall performance. In addition, the type and speed of the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) and whether the GPU has its own memory are important factors as well. If the GPU shares RAM with main memory, the traffic on the main bus is increased over that of dedicated (to GPU) RAM.
All of Apple's current computers have fast spec processors and buses. Some do share RAM between main memory and the GPU. All are 64 bit and have been for some time. There is no legacy issues with 64/32 bit.
All Windows PCs should be scrutinized very carefully as anything is possible, combination wise, as faster tweaks increase the cost of manufacturing.
Last edited by Bull Winkus; 04-30-2009 at 11:32 AM..
My daughter is a college student and has a Mac Book. She absolutely loves it and so do many of her friends that have them as well. She started in her freshman year with a Sony VIAO laptop and it was not that great. It had several hardware issues which required repairs. Since we purchased it at Best Buy it had to be sent off to Sony for repairs and that took time. One thing that is good about buying APPLE products is that the company provides exceptional customer service and onsight technical/repair services in their stores. That is definitely a plus if you have any problems - you can get technical assitance/repairs done very quickly.
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