So, I finally have enough $$$ to buy a laptop...
 

...what would you recommend for someone that will use it for:

--surfing the net a lot
--typing notes in class
--burning CDs and DVDs

I'm considering either a used Mac or a new Dell. I'd love to get a new Mac, but they're still too pricey for my liking. I've liked the Dell PCs I've used in the past, and I have a friend that loves her laptop, but I've heard of support issues with them.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Go here: http://www.illwillpress.com/vault.html

Click on "Tech Support".

Yeah, that sounds like (insert one of many company's names here).

take a look at this.

2nd hand ibook. Or new, they'll be new ones soon however so wait for that. They work, they keep working, they keep working after you drop them and you don't get that icky feeling you get from touching dell hardware. Battery life is good too. sm is dead on.

Except when you drop them and get a dent in the case and Apple wants to charge you $750 to repair it. (Don't get me wrong, Macs are great, but in my experience their post-sales service is sometimes fabulous and sometimes useless & overpriced.)

Hmmm...the iBook is not bad. I wonder how big of a HD/how much memory I should have, though. I'm going to stick a second HD on my desktop, which will hold all my mp3s, plus I'll have my iPod. I'm also going to throw some more memory in the desktop (currently 256 MB).

We have an Apple retailer here in Philadelphia called Springboard Media...I might check out what they've got used.

This is true. However you don't really need to get it repaired. It took two drops from 1m+ onto concrete, more than 20 flights in a soft bag being kicked around, beng dropped onto chairs, hit with hard objects, one memorable time skidding off the desk discus-style into a wall because someone stepped on the powercord HARD and being crushed between big heavy books on a regluar basis before I needed to replace the case and then it was only because the HDD had died.

You want half a gig of memory min really, OSX loves the stuff and Tiger is no exception. Also if you do get one, pm me if you need any software.

Apparently Tiger will use as much video card memory as you give it, as well.

it does make use of it but it's not necessary.

Goof. All of the software you own is PC.

You will end up spending triple on your machine if you switch formats, even if you save some bucks on the hardware costs.

I've had my Dell laptop for 4 years. It faithfully served me throughout law school - typing notes and papers, surfing the web during class, chatting during class... I also have used it to burn CDs... don't have the DVD-R capabilities because that was pre-this laptop.

I never had any problems with this machine and would highly recommend a dell laptop.

It is coming to the end of it's life... but i want an ibook next because they look cool ;).

I'm thinking of getting one too. What do you think about this ?

I bought an old iMac off ebay last week for a friend (400Mhz, tangerine - perfect for writing essays and browsing the web). We looked at ibooks, overall the value-for money seemed noticeably lower, they all needed more ram(that one doesn't have ram listed?), in many the battery was on the way out as well. Also keep in mind the acution price will probably more than double in the last day. Once again (syc as well as cat) if you need mac software, pm me.

I don't own any software, and anything important that I've downloaded to the PC is available for Mac.

I'd recommend the iBook except that you can't get the DVD burner except in the 14" model (which is bigger than the 12" but has the same number of pixels). I have a Powerbook myself, unfortunately they are much more expensive. TechRestore.com has a 12" Powerbook with DVD-RW for $929.

As for dropping it... well, don't.

Sycamore,

My mother has an iBook G3/700 with 640MB RAM and OS 10.3 (she will have 10.4 very soon however), along with Office 2004.

It's quite a servicable system, and much better than the Dell desktop she has.

Failing that, I'd go for an IBM Thinkpad R50 or R51 on special from PC Connection. These machines come with XP Pro, and are the toughest laptops next to my Powerbook G4 12" :).

Mitch

Thanks for the input, guys!

I'm gonna go with a PC. I used Mac before PC, and think that it is superior to the PC. But everything I've looked at Mac-wise is a little more than I wish to spend...and I prefer to go with something new. And I'm still going to have my desktop PC, so I figure that it's wise to stick w/that format. Maybe my next computer will be a Mac.

*sighs* another one lost

You didn't really have him to begin with.

Once you go mac you don't go back, we only lose them before they've been converted...

I've been a PC guy since '84 or so. Learned DOS backwards and forwards then windows. I pretty much make my living on MS Office/MS Access.

But, all my *really* cool friends always swore by the MAC. I listened to Leo LaPorte extoll the virtues of OSX plus I'm not a big fan of Windows/Microsoft. So, fast forward to 2004, I have two toddlers so I figure its time. I get an eMac. I set up an airport/router/etc to share my internet connection, crack my knuckles, sit myself in front of it and....

Its a black box to me. I can't figure out how to do much of anything other than surf the net. Now, to be fair to the Mac and to myself, I don't have endless hours to explore, read book after book and learn by trial and error like I did with PCs.

So, what advice do you have for those of us PC lemmings who really like the idea of converting but are having trouble getting over the hump. Is there a Bible for Macs that I should just bite the bullet and read front to back? I really bought this for the kids to grow up on but I am not doing a good job at all of engaging the kids with it because I don't have the same confidence I do with a PC. I need a jump start.

There is a bible. It's called the Mac Bible. No, really. Published by Peachpit press, they've been doing it for ages, big fat fucker, covers everything. However, frankly, if you can get windows to do things you shouldn't be having any issues with OSX, it's all about as straightforward as you can get. I came to OSX with basically zero experience (last MacOS I'd just was 7.5) from a combination of Linux and Windows and beyond a few little things, I've found everything to be pretty much intuitive. If you've got specific questions I'm happy to answer them. Some things on mac are just too simple after windows, like installing applications, 99% of the time all you do is drag it onto the hard-drive. That's it. Or removing them, you drag it to the trash. The whole thing of disk images takes a little getting used to but it shouldn't be a showstopper.

Well, there's another potential convert here. I'm about to allot the necessary funds to buy a laptop to take with me on the road. I will spend whatever I need to, as long as the damn thing doesn't cost more than the truck! I figure $1500 should do it, yes?

I will need a wireless network card so I can hack into other systems left unprotected and a decent HD and screen. Some means of connecting a digital camera (also to be purchased) will also be needed. This system will occasionally be connected to my home network but mostly will spend it's time all alone. I'm looking hard at a Powerbook so I can also hook up my iPod and enjoy music in those dead spots that only have country and local talk shows.

Now, I haven't used an Apple anything since ProDOS and the IIe. Here is an opportunity for Apple to turn me from the dark side, although I've been doing that myself, migrating to Linux.

Any suggestions?

Brian

All macs have USB & Firewire, any digital camera will use one of those, pretty much every camera out there you simply plug in and it works, no software needed. Most of the Apple laptops come with wireless cards now, if not they can be purchased with it, the signal strength is pretty damn good, particularly on the iBooks as it's intergrated into the display. iPod is firewire so iBook or PB are fine. A 12" iBook is plenty fast for normal stuff, decked out with 768Mb RAM and an 80GB HDD (wireless built in) it's roughly $1300. Can dual-boot linux too ;)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what they told me about Betamax too. :p

BrianR,

An iBook with Tiger will do fine for you, and has wireless. You can also hook it into your battery on your car with an inverter and charge it that way.

Heck of a nice laptop, too.

Mitch

Why would you want to dual boot Linux when you could use the BSD underlying OS X?

:corn: :dunce: :bolt: