Apple laptop

Wlogan31

Wlogan31

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I'm in the market for a new computer and am leaning towards a laptop. Several of my friends that live out of town have recently gotten Apple brand laptops and are attempting me to jump in so we can use ichat, etc to keep in touch. My two questions become:

1) Is the Apple premium worth it (assuming you can afford it)?
2) Is the cheapest place to get one through the Apple store (assuming I want a "new" versus refurbished product)?

I don't know much about laptops, computer specs, etc so any input would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
 
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ease the obvious sexual tension in here

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[quote name='knotfan123']But I thought Mac's were the end all solution!! ;)[/QUOTE]

Your response makes no sense. Why would you want less options?

If someone offered you a free Yugo that was slow, ugly, and prone to crashing or a free ferrari that could TRANSFORM itself into a junky Yugo temporarily, for when you needed to, I don't know, go to a Yugo only town to get groceries, which would you want?
 
So it would seem that what the OP, who was simply looking for advice, should take away from this thread is that he needs to do his own research because the sides of this argument are much too polarized to actually offer advice and instead think that meaningless pictures are much more informative/persuasive.
 
[quote name='Haggar']Your response makes no sense. Why would you want less options?

If someone offered you a free Yugo that was slow, ugly, and prone to crashing or a free ferrari that could TRANSFORM itself into a junky Yugo temporarily, for when you needed to, I don't know, go to a Yugo only town to get groceries, which would you want?[/QUOTE]

Why would you ever want the Yugo though? Are you ashamed of the Ferrari? If they both get the exact same thing done why wouldn't you just stick with one? Or just buy another Ferrari?

Also PC's have more processing power...I have an i7 OCed to 3.8 Ghz...so I'd have to say the PC is the Ferrari in terms of speed.
 
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You have to understand Macs are Luxury products. Some people care more than just specs--they care about superior hardware design.

PC manufacturers are able to cut costs because they put almost no effort into their computers. They take a box and shove all the components into it. Apple on the other hand meticulously designs all their hardware and everything is planned out. There are no tacky LED lights all over the place, and if the light isn't in use, it shouldn't be visible. There are no excess lines, and everything must have a purpose. If you've ever actually worked with Macs, you'll know how beautiful the inside of one of their machines are. It isn't a spiderweb of wires and components, everything is laid out in a logical place for the best heat distribution.

Sure if you look at the specs, Macs look like a complete waste of money. But if you compare the actual design of the laptops, the mac will always be: thinner, lighter, sturdier, and have a much longer battery life.

I myself am a hardcore PC gamer, but that doesn't mean I'm oblivious to the fact that each company is targeting a different demographic. If you wanted a better analogy, the PC is a Toyota while the Mac is a Lexus. Essentially the same components and performance, but one has a much more luxurious and high class design.
 
[quote name='hmbtnguy']You have to understand Macs are Luxury products. Some people care more than just specs--they care about superior hardware design.

PC manufacturers are able to cut costs because they put almost no effort into their computers. They take a box and shove all the components into it. Apple on the other hand meticulously designs all their hardware and everything is planned out. There are no tacky LED lights all over the place, and if the light isn't in use, it shouldn't be visible. There are no excess lines, and everything must have a purpose. If you've ever actually worked with Macs, you'll know how beautiful the inside of one of their machines are. It isn't a spiderweb of wires and components, everything is laid out in a logical place for the best heat distribution.

Sure if you look at the specs, Macs look like a complete waste of money. But if you compare the actual design of the laptops, the mac will always be: thinner, lighter, sturdier, and have a much longer battery life.

I myself am a hardcore PC gamer, but that doesn't mean I'm oblivious to the fact that each company is targeting a different demographic. If you wanted a better analogy, the PC is a Toyota while the Mac is a Lexus. Essentially the same components and performance, but one has a much more luxurious and high class design.[/QUOTE]

I would say this is a more apt comparison then the Ferrari comparison above.
 
[quote name='knotfan123']ease the obvious sexual tension in here

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[/QUOTE]

Has this ever happened to you???


Thats why I switched to a mac.
 
[quote name='hmbtnguy']You have to understand Macs are Luxury products. Some people care more than just specs--they care about superior hardware design.

PC manufacturers are able to cut costs because they put almost no effort into their computers. They take a box and shove all the components into it. Apple on the other hand meticulously designs all their hardware and everything is planned out. There are no tacky LED lights all over the place, and if the light isn't in use, it shouldn't be visible. There are no excess lines, and everything must have a purpose. If you've ever actually worked with Macs, you'll know how beautiful the inside of one of their machines are. It isn't a spiderweb of wires and components, everything is laid out in a logical place for the best heat distribution.

Sure if you look at the specs, Macs look like a complete waste of money. But if you compare the actual design of the laptops, the mac will always be: thinner, lighter, sturdier, and have a much longer battery life.

I myself am a hardcore PC gamer, but that doesn't mean I'm oblivious to the fact that each company is targeting a different demographic. If you wanted a better analogy, the PC is a Toyota while the Mac is a Lexus. Essentially the same components and performance, but one has a much more luxurious and high class design.[/QUOTE]

Wow this thread got crazy fast! This was actually a very helpful post. I am NOT going to be gaming at all since that appears to be a factor and I am the type of person who cares more about quality than about specs as I don't know much about computers in the first place.

Thanks for the input all. I think I am definitely leaning towards getting a Mac and the refurbished sound like a potentially good idea (which I wouldn't have considered before this thread). I think I just need to figure out what size screen to get, etc...

EDIT: Also - not sure if this has really been answered... If I decide to go w/ a "new" product, should I order from apple.com or are other sites trustworthy and cheaper (i.e. Best Buys of the world)?
 
[quote name='Wlogan31']Wow this thread got crazy fast! This was actually a very helpful post. I am NOT going to be gaming at all since that appears to be a factor and I am the type of person who cares more about quality than about specs as I don't know much about computers in the first place.

Thanks for the input all. I think I am definitely leaning towards getting a Mac and the refurbished sound like a potentially good idea (which I wouldn't have considered before this thread). I think I just need to figure out what size screen to get, etc...

EDIT: Also - not sure if this has really been answered... If I decide to go w/ a "new" product, should I order from apple.com or are other sites trustworthy and cheaper (i.e. Best Buys of the world)?[/QUOTE]

Probably won't mean much coming from one against the Macs but I would personally suggest going to an Apple store and playing around with their current builds and see which one fits your needs best. Then shop around and see if you can find a better price for it. I did this with my 50" Panasonic plasma I just purchased. Shopping/buying are 2 completely different things! :D
 
I was able to get myself a refurbbed macbook recently. I love it. I used to bash the things but when i actually sat down and got to use it, i'm not going back to pc.
it does take some getting used to though!
 
I also strongly recommend getting the Applecare warranty. We had to take our MBP in and they took care of us, even though my fiance busted the keys on the keyboard, they replaced the keyboard and superdrive under warranty. I also got my Applecare off of Ebay, of course you'll have to find someone reputable, but I saved a lot of money going through Ebay.
 
[quote name='knotfan123']Probably won't mean much coming from one against the Macs but I would personally suggest going to an Apple store and playing around with their current builds and see which one fits your needs best. Then shop around and see if you can find a better price for it. I did this with my 50" Panasonic plasma I just purchased. Shopping/buying are 2 completely different things! :D[/QUOTE]

Non-MAC opinions are also appreciated :)

This is good advice - hoping to hit an Apple store this weekend to check a few out...
 
AppleCare covers the accidental stuff. You'll likely never have an issue with the OS, but if you do, they'll fix it. Battery's starting to not hold as much juice? Here's a new one off the shelf.

It's peace of mind that you won't rely on Geek Squad, some foreign tech support guy, or the 15 year old hacker kid down the street.

I get that you're paying a luxury tax for the brand and design. Please note that many of the new features that Win7 heralds were found in Tiger OSX six years ago.
 
Bought a Mac 2 years ago and have never looked back. So yes, I recommend it for all of the reasons people have already stated.

Now, for buying - refurbished products from Apple are fantastic. They're like new and carry the same 1-year warranty as the new products do. I will always buy Apple refurbs.

That said, amazon is good because of the no tax, and macmall and some other Apple resellers offers discounts and rebates.
 
[quote name='JJSP']AppleCare covers the accidental stuff. You'll likely never have an issue with the OS, but if you do, they'll fix it. Battery's starting to not hold as much juice? Here's a new one off the shelf.

It's peace of mind that you won't rely on Geek Squad, some foreign tech support guy, or the 15 year old hacker kid down the street.

I get that you're paying a luxury tax for the brand and design. Please note that many of the new features that Win7 heralds were found in Tiger OSX six years ago.[/QUOTE]


Applecare does not cover battery replacement. They are not meant to last forever and a decline of holding a charge is considered normal.

http://www.apple.com/batteries/replacements.html

They only replace if they find that the charge decline is based on a manufacturing defect.
 
[quote name='JJSP']AppleCare covers the accidental stuff. You'll likely never have an issue with the OS, but if you do, they'll fix it. Battery's starting to not hold as much juice? Here's a new one off the shelf.

It's peace of mind that you won't rely on Geek Squad, some foreign tech support guy, or the 15 year old hacker kid down the street.

I get that you're paying a luxury tax for the brand and design. Please note that many of the new features that Win7 heralds were found in Tiger OSX six years ago.[/QUOTE]

Apple definitely does not cover accidental things. They are excellent at covering manufacturer problems/issues, but if you do something to your mac they won't cover it. Batteries are tricky - if it's within the first year, they're generally pretty good about replacing them. They'll hook up a battery checker to your comp and if the battery life isn't within spec, you get a new one.

The thing I like about Apple Care is they're willing to help with anything - including software questions. As long as you haven't dropped or spilled crap in your computer and you're under warranty, you can get some help and advice on pretty much anything. It's much better than any coverage I've had in the past - and I've had Sony Vaios, Dells, and HP laptops.
 
[quote name='Synergy']Apple definitely does not cover accidental things. They are excellent at covering manufacturer problems/issues, but if you do something to your mac they won't cover it. Batteries are tricky - if it's within the first year, they're generally pretty good about replacing them. They'll hook up a battery checker to your comp and if the battery life isn't within spec, you get a new one.

The thing I like about Apple Care is they're willing to help with anything - including software questions. As long as you haven't dropped or spilled crap in your computer and you're under warranty, you can get some help and advice on pretty much anything. It's much better than any coverage I've had in the past - and I've had Sony Vaios, Dells, and HP laptops.[/QUOTE]

I'm pretty sure we got lucky, but they fixed my fiances' broken keyboard for free, even though she dropped something on it and busted a bunch of keys.
 
[quote name='Wlogan31']I'm in Cinci a fair amount so that shouldn't be a problem. Is there a reason this is so much cheaper than everywhere else? Is this legit, etc?[/QUOTE]

It's legit. Micro Center has a small Apple section in their stores. This promo has been on for a while now but it was a Mail-In Rebate at one point. It's switched over to an Instant rebate just a few weeks ago.
 
[quote name='whoasaywhat']Applecare does not cover battery replacement. They are not meant to last forever and a decline of holding a charge is considered normal.

http://www.apple.com/batteries/replacements.html

They only replace if they find that the charge decline is based on a manufacturing defect.[/QUOTE]
Applecare covered my battery when I had it replaced. It was operating at about 40% capacity and I was under the charge cycle allowance, so they replaced it for free. They also replaced my outer shell when it started chipping and my cat-chewed power adapter. YMMV, I guess.
 
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