I can't decide whether or not to get a laptop, EEE PC or a Mac

NamelessMC

NamelessMC

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Okay I'm starting school again, and I'm starting to see the uses of having a laptop. Do your homework on campus, take notes by typing instead of writing, access email, internet and all that. Plus you could toss some emulators and roms in for good pleasure.

The thing is, it's a healthy investment for something you can't upgrade in the future and loses a ton of resale value.

The thing about the EEE PC is, it's very small, very affordable, but laptop deals put it to shame usually. Working at Best Buy, I see deals on 2gb, 160gb, dual core Dell or Toshibas for $499 and the EEE PC is $399 so I can't justify the $100 saving.

Being a technician I don't have to worry about things like extended warranties or anti-vi-spy software or anything like that.

I also use Open Office so I don't need a full license version of Office.

The thing is, I also see that a Mac has a lot of value.

I'm studying web design, film production and screen writing so I'm going to be doing work that would be really easy on Final Cut Pro and Photoshop and those programs scream on a Mac.

The thing is, the cheapest Mac is $1099 and I don't want to get a Power PC edition.

What do you guys think? The other option is of course, getting a PC notebook and putting OSX86 on it, but it won't run as well as a Mac does.
 
Well for me it would come down to cost and usability. Sounds like you need the mac for your degree and classes so I'd go with that.
 
When i got my mac for video editing i had to spend maybe another 700-1000 $ on software and peripherals. Also the mac came with Imovie and Iphoto, which are really easy to pick up learn. Final cut studio and express are advanced software for the hardcore, Final cut express took me around a month to master all the functions, but it was worth it.
 
If you're going for a macbook, if you wait till registration you can get like a $100-150 discount for being a student, and Apple should be having their back to school promo soon, where they give a free ipod nano or something with it, which can help offset the cost.
 
How big of a difference between a iBook G4 and a Macbook?

With the discount, I'll get maybe 10% off a Macbook to bring the cost from $1099 to about $950. But factoring tax, iWork and a .mac account, it'll be back up to $1100.
 
Why does everyone always say macs are the best for video, photo editing? They only say that because there is already software preloaded onto it. You can download as good or better video editing tools for the pc and most peripherals work on the pc too. Macs are overpriced and I really dont see the pros of having one unless you are some big artist/tech person that needs one.
 
[quote name='s00pNAZi']Why does everyone always say macs are the best for video, photo editing? They only say that because there is already software preloaded onto it. You can download as good or better video editing tools for the pc and most peripherals work on the pc too. Macs are overpriced and I really dont see the pros of having one unless you are some big artist/tech person that needs one.[/quote]

I work in the computer sales department of a "Big Blue Electronics" store. Let me tell you... You're 100% wrong.

Let's say, on average, a competent PC laptop with Windows Vista, 2gb of ram, a 120gb hard drive, a Core 2 Duo, built in webcam (Yes I use it), bluetooth from a GOOD brand (HP, Dell or Toshiba, nothing else) is on average $750-800, on a GOOD deal. A Mac with the same specs (Save for 1gb of ram instead, because 2gb to Vista is 1gb to OSX) is $1000 with my student discount. I don't get discounts on PC laptops because they're usually $50-100 below cost and our employee discount is 5% ABOVE cost.

A PC laptop, without a premium security suite, is pretty much going to have viri spread through it worse than a black market porn star infected with STD's. So let's say $30 for a decent vi-spy software suite. So we have roughly $830 before tax.

$170 less than a Mac, but you have to use Windows Vista, it's slower for Photoshop rendering, has a lower resale value than a Mac, and let's face it, it's not as nice.

Bottom line, OSX is the future, people are just too poor to catch on.

So many people buy $450 laptops with 1gb of ram and don't realize what a pile of garbage they're getting. As a salesperson I'm sick of it, so I knew going into the laptop market, I was going to have to spend a decent chunk to get a good PC laptop because anything short of $700 on a PC laptop is usually crap.

It doesn't matter... I decided on a Macbook. I just have to get a friend to finance one for me because my credit is recovering right now.

EDIT: I know this post kind of contradicts my OP saying I was considering a $500 laptop, but the thing is, I was on the fence about the cost of a Macbook or saving money by going with a budget PC laptop. Thinking about the things I do, it's worth it for me to invest in something longterm. A Macbook for someone like me holds a lot of weight. (I'm a film production major and I also do web design and my own graphic design. No I won't be using iWeb but I love the production orientation in OSX)
 
I'm going to have an EEE in about 2-3 days. I could fool around with it and give you an honest opinion on whether or not the small size is a fair exchange versus a loss of power, especially if you are only getting one for simple uses like notes/surfing/e-mail and such.

Aye?
 
[quote name='NamelessMC']A PC laptop, without a premium security suite, is pretty much going to have viri spread through it worse than a black market porn star infected with STD's. So let's say $30 for a decent vi-spy software suite. So we have roughly $830 before tax. [/quote]

If you spend money on anti-virus/spyware software, you are an idiot. Bottom line. Free versions work just as well, if not better. I've been using Vista for months, no problems. Xp for years before that, again, no problems. Saying "PCs are virus prone" is false. It's stupid users who are virus prone.
 
Now I'm thinking about it. A Lenovo 14" with a Core 2 Duo, Bluetooth, 2gb, 120gb hard drive would be roughly $700. Ugh. I'm confused.
 
Unless you absolutely need a laptop, I would avoid it. I find hand writing notes much easier than lugging my laptop around.

I would not recommend a mac but some people seem to love them. I do all my media work on the pc I built which runs much better than the imacs in my school lab and the 22'' monitor gives me more space to work with. I really can't stand media work on the small laptop screens.
 
I'm actually using my eee pc 900 to write this message. And unless size is your #1 priority then don't get one as your primary laptop. I couldn't imagine how hard it would be to write a paper on this thing or take notes on. For web surfing on the road it does own.

I say go with the cheapo-o standard PC laptop for now. Get 1 or 2 years use out of it, I'm sure you can pull off some web design, film production and screen writing on a decent pc.

It's not like macs are going to go away. Get a PC laptop and see what can be done with it then when your ready to "upgrade to mac" you'll end up with a better model then you could buy today.
 
OP, I'm in the same boat you're in right now. My major doesn't involve content creation, so a mac isn't a necessity, but I've heard horror stories from college (All three of my siblings had laptops that crapped out by their senior year). However, I've heard good things about Mac customer service, and they fixed my ipod, no questions asked, after I dropped it.

Can anyone vouch for Mac's durability/service policies? I wouldn't mind spending the extra money if I were guaranteed it would last 4-5 years. Are PC manufacturers (I could get Dell or Lenovo from the college store) just as reliable?
 
I have had an intel macbook for almost 2 years and its been great. The touchpad does pick up oil/grease extremely easy...so after a few months u will notice a spot on the pad. It doesn't effect the scrolling or the use of the touchpad, its purely a cosmetic problem. Thats the only problem i can say i have had with the mac.

I wouldn't expect to do any major film editing on a laptop in the first place. I know photoshop cs2 works fine on the mac not sure of any web design programs since im not really into that part of the IT field.

Parallels and/or Bootcamp make the mac worth getting. I spend about 90% of the time in 10.5 but when i need to use that ocassional windows app both those programs make is very easy to do.
 
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