Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Science and Technology > Computers
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 05-31-2010, 07:48 PM
 
1,301 posts, read 3,580,317 times
Reputation: 2008

Advertisements

I've been pretty happy without a laptop. Now I'm considering taking the plunge. I use a Mac Mini at home and a Dell at work, so I'm "batting for both teams" on the platforms and am comfortable with both.

I basically need a laptop (if I DO need one) to connect to my work computer, which runs on Windows. I can do this on a Mac because of the free remote connection software that Microsoft has. But it's obviously easier to do from the Windows environment... slightly less hassle.

Now that I'm in a position to maybe buy a laptop, I find myself hesitating to get a Macbook. First, the price - at least $1000 for a basic model. Then I feel like I've heard so many complaints about Mac laptop performance - overheating, battery life nowhere near as long as claimed, bad Apple service. I've stopped at an Apple store a couple times to look, and... well.. I just don't feel in LOVE with Mac laptops for some reason, in terms of how they feel to use. Even though I love how Macs work.

But then when I consider buying a cheaper PC based laptop, I find myself leery of having virus-prone Windows software and I don't even know what the latest or best Windows OS to look for...

ARRRGH. Are there any Mac users out there who have a PC laptop and are happy with it? Which kind are you using, with which OS?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-31-2010, 08:04 PM
 
1,807 posts, read 3,990,816 times
Reputation: 947
If Mac OSX didn't get viruses, how come there's antivirus software?

Mac Antivirus Software Reviews: The Best and Worst of Macintosh Antivirus Software
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-31-2010, 09:17 PM
 
8,263 posts, read 12,200,443 times
Reputation: 4801
What will you do with this laptop? If you are just using it to remote connect you can get a very cheap Windows one that will perform just fine, hell even one of the higher resolution netbooks would do you.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-31-2010, 11:39 PM
 
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,334 posts, read 26,089,277 times
Reputation: 3995
Quote:
Originally Posted by djxpress View Post
If Mac OSX didn't get viruses, how come there's antivirus software?
Several different versions of anti-virus software exist for Linux as well, but they are mainly so that users can scan e-mail and such for common Windows and MS Office contaminants, and are also useful for folks who run Windows software in Wine and other similar environments.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-01-2010, 06:55 AM
 
Location: West Virginia
16,675 posts, read 15,676,579 times
Reputation: 10924
If you buy a new Windows laptop, it will be running Windows 7. Some I have seen recently had Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. They also had 4 GB of memory. An up-to-date installation of Microsoft Security Essentials adequately deals with both the virus and malware issues, and it is free.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-01-2010, 09:48 AM
 
Location: Planet Eaarth
8,954 posts, read 20,683,956 times
Reputation: 7193
By the Mac then partiton the hard drive, load Windows on half the drive so you can have/use both mac & pc.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-01-2010, 09:54 AM
 
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
16,548 posts, read 19,703,819 times
Reputation: 13331
Why Apple continues to ignore the "entry level" laptop market is beyond me.
If they would seriously try to compete and release a $600 notebook I think they would really start to cut in to MS market share.
Until then, they are a niche company offering niche products.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-01-2010, 09:57 AM
 
Location: Planet Eaarth
8,954 posts, read 20,683,956 times
Reputation: 7193
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peregrine View Post
Why Apple continues to ignore the "entry level" laptop market is beyond me.
If they would seriously try to compete and release a $600 notebook I think they would really start to cut in to MS market share.
Until then, they are a niche company offering niche products.
Apple doesn't do "follow the leader" well at all. Apple would rather lead the parade ,and innovate, than crank out endless numbers of look alike products.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-01-2010, 10:01 AM
Bo Bo won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Tenth Edition (Apr-May 2014). 

Over $104,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum and additional contests are planned
 
Location: Ohio
17,107 posts, read 38,116,197 times
Reputation: 14447
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peregrine View Post
Why Apple continues to ignore the "entry level" laptop market is beyond me.
If they would seriously try to compete and release a $600 notebook I think they would really start to cut in to MS market share.
Until then, they are a niche company offering niche products.
There's not enough margin in that low-end segment to make it sufficiently profitable for Apple. Hard to argue with the company's profitability, given its huge market capitalization... second only to Exxon now.

Apple Overtakes Microsoft, Becoming 2nd Largest US Company - WSJ.com (http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100526-715058.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines - broken link)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-01-2010, 10:03 AM
 
Location: West Virginia
16,675 posts, read 15,676,579 times
Reputation: 10924
Trying to stay on topic, a Windows laptop, built with lots of features, can be found at numerous online stores, such as Dell, Tiger Direct, CDW, Newegg, etc., for about $600. Since you are familiar with and comfortable using either a Mac or a PC, I would suggest you ask yourself how you justify spending $1000 instead of $600.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Science and Technology > Computers
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:49 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top