streak_56

I am in the market for a new computer, I am looking into a laptop but I cannot decide between a Mac or another maker... I'm working out of town alot lately and need something I can take with me.

I like the Mac for the lack of virus' and its more tailored toward to my uses (multimedia, specifically music) but for some odd reason I cannot accept the price, I went online today and a 13 inch macbook pro was 2700 for me.

I haven't looked at any other companies as I have been checking out what the mac is all about. I'm afraid of getting roped into the "lifestyle" that Mac continues to sell... so that may be a factor as well.... but I do believe that for quality, you have to pay for it...

Now I cannot decide between a Mac or a just another one of the generic laptop makers. I want to spend around 1200-1500, and I am just looking at using it for music storage/manipulation... I'm also looking for mass media storage, as my fiancee has an affinity for taking pictures and video.

amonkie

If you are looking for storage options you are far better off looking at external hardrives.

I've been a mac laptop user for 6 years - I will say that for the same computer power, you will be paying more for the mac name than you will for a PC maker. Lifestyle.. I dunno so much about that. I'm not one of the people that is iphone/ipod/mac warped so it is really matter if you like to have seamless user experience - THAT is the mac package and what they do well.

Check out Apple's refurb listings. I snagged their baseline 13" MBP for $999 from there.

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streak_56

where would I find the refurb listing? I was also looking at an external hard drive option... it seemed like a good alternative.

snowy

Streak, here's the link to refurbished Macs on the Canadian Apple store: Refurbished Mac - Apple Store (Canada)

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Redlemon

Another thing to consider alongside the initial cost is the lifespan of the equipment. People tend to keep Apples for longer than they would keep the equivalent PC, in my experience.

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amonkie

Yes I would agree with Redlemon on that. I had my previous macbook for 4 years with absolutely no issues other than having to buy a new power supply after 3 years. It still is running, but is running on Tiger and so I use it as my media laptop.

Many people I know with PC laptops usually keep theirs 2-3 years before feeling they need a new laptop/or PC.

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Calling from deep in the heart, from where the eyes can't see and the ears can't hear, from where the mountain trails end and only love can go... ~~~ Three Rivers Hare Krishna

Redlemon

Oh yes, don't forget to buy the Applecare. My iMac conked out at 3.9 years old. Applecare gave me a new logic board, new power supply, new hard drive, and a new optical drive.

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Baraka_Guru

I'm assuming you beefed up the CPU/RAM/HD to get to that price. What you should do if you haven't is see what kind of PC you can get for that price and then think if you really need those specs. Next, see what price you can get for a PC of similar specs to the Mac you tricked out.

Don't believe the hype about the lifestyle or the hip factor. Just consider the OS and the way Apple stands behind their products. As mentioned above, people tend to get more life out of Mac products. Part of this reason is the uniform hardware configurations, another part is the OS itself. I find OS X runs way, way more efficiently and conveniently compared to Windows.

Believe in testimonials you trust as well. If you trust me, believe it when I say that when it comes to work and productivity, I'd use nothing other than a Mac. I use it for basic office productivity in addition to media production related to book publishing (Acrobat, Quark, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc., often in multitasking operations). I've used old machines and new machines alike. It's scary how much life you can get out of them. The early editions of OS X were running on machines with an old hardware configuration that would have had its ass handed to it in terms of simply booting the likes of Vista.

The new machines are nice. From what I know, media production such as music is well suited on a Mac. The stuff I've done through Windows has been relatively frustrating. But it would help to try things out on both systems to get an idea. Definitely try before you buy.

I have a Macbook (not a Pro) that I've been using since Fall 2007. I doubled the RAM to 2 GB and Apple replaced the HD a few months ago when it conked out (the model they used in this build had a shorter-than-usual lifespan). The HD replacement was free of charge, despite not getting AppleCare. Next time I get a machine, I'm getting AppleCare though. I've been fortunate thusfar, but I've heard great things about the plan. I don't normally get extended warranties ever, but AppleCare is legendary.

So, my machine is going on 4 years old, and I'm not planning on replacing it anytime soon. All I've needed to do is upgrade the RAM to keep the performance reliable with the newer OS upgrades and newer software versions. It's not blazing fast, but it gets the job done and reliably so. And, remember, it's not even a Pro. Even the new Macbook (non-Pros) have beefier CPUs and a completely new graphics card compared to my build. So factor in the Macbook Pro specs and you're going to get a fast machine that will last a long time. However, unless you're doing some serious heavy music/video/photo editing, I'd argue that you don't even need the Pro unless you want a screen bigger than 13 inches.

The one thing I'll laud about Macs in terms of hardware and the OS: stability, stability, stability. It's no contest. Between OS 9/OS X and Windows Vista (can't speak much about Windows 7, unforch), there is no comparison. OS X especially is stable, clean, and predictable in its behaviour patterns. Windows is full of glut and has a history of being painfully unreliable at times. I don't understand how the OS tends to mutate over time regardless of your not really changing anything in the background. You don't get that at all with OS X. I've rarely seen the OS freeze or require rebooting. When it happens, you think, "Well, isn't that curious?" And you reboot and the problem usually is solved.

A couple of times, I've had a "Problem" with the OS, but it's usually much easier to fix than the typical Windows "Easy 18-Step, Trial-and-Error, Waste-of-a-Saturday" Process. (Coincidentally, the lion's share of my problems in OS X have been related to the use of Microsoft products.)

As mentioned above, your storage will depend on external as much as internal (if not more) HD storage. The computer shouldn't be a huge factor when it comes to that. Manipulation is another thing. What kind of processes are you doing? As I said, if it's heavy, consider the Pro. If not, the regular Macbook might do you just fine.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Lindy

I can't imagine where you got $2700 price.

I just got an email ad for this this morning:
As of today, MacBook Pro 13" brand new, latest generation at $1199 (US)
MacBook Pro - Buy MacBook Pro notebook computers - Apple Store (U.S.)
I don't know what the currency difference would be, but certainly not double!
All the time I have for now, but baraka pretty much says it all. Especially the part about Macs remaining useful for a longer time.
Very few people regret buying a Mac.

Lindy
Long time Mac user since 1990, when I was 14 years old.

Baraka_Guru

Lindy, if you beef up the processor (from 2.3 GHz to 2.7 GHz), max out the RAM (from 4 GB to 8 GB), and place a bigger HD (from 500 GB to 750 GB) into the Macbook Pro, in addition to adding some of the extra Apple software related to photo/video editing + iWork/MS Office, you will get that price pretty quickly.

In the Canadian store, the Macbook Pro starts at $1,249.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Embic

Since you are in Calgary I would recommend checking out either the Apple store at Market Mall or Chinook Center and talk to the staff, they are quite helpful.

If you wanted to look at the PC side of things I would recommend checking out any of the Memory Express locations, their staff is also quite helpful and knowledgeable.

chewybaca96

Macs are great hardware and will definitely last if taken care of properly. It looks like everyone has given you enough info about Macs and where and what.

If you still want an alternative to look at, the Dell XPS series are nice as well.
Some people hate Dell, I'm fairly indifferent. I'm typing this on a Dell Vostro 1000 that I picked up for $400 back when I was on a more limited budget. It's served me well for almost 4 years.


My laptop prior to this one was a Toshiba M35-S456. It was a great machine that lasted 4 years or so before the vid card went out. It still runs, and I use it as a headless server.
That's my only experience with Toshiba ownership and it was good.

Not a fan of Compaq or HP systems. I worked in the tech shop for Compusa back in the day and we saw those most often for problems.

Lenovo(was IBM) systems I've heard are good. I know when they were IBM they were rock solid. I haven't heard any major changes in quality since they moved to Lenovo.

My two cents.

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