MacBook Pro

[buffcoat]

This question comes up every now and again, but not since the new MacBook Pros came out...

I'm looking for a laptop (I've been using an old Dell C series which was so dang light it was wonderful, but the 750Mhz processor just makes it impossible.

I looked at Netbooks, but I'm thinking the processor speed and memory are just too low.  All I really want to do is browse the web and do Office tasks, but I often have 10-15 tabs open and that just eats any old computer for lunch.

Anyway, most everything I see online is that the MacBook is the best thing going.  I haven't used a Mac regularly in about 15 years, but I'm very familiar with the iPod/iPhone and Safari interfaces.  I also went to the local Apple store and checked them out.  Seems like something I could pick up quickly.

I covet the MacBook Air, but it just doesn't seem practical.  Coolness - 10/10, internal only battery only bleh, limited processor speed and memory bleh, price for the speed double bleh.

So I'm looking at the 13.3" MacBook Pro (I want smaller and lighter - don't need a desktop replacement), which doesn't seem too heavy to lug around and seems pretty flat, unless you compare it to the magical MacBook Air dammit.

So I'm thinking 2.53 Ghz, 4MB RAM, 250GB HD.  Prices out at $1,499 at the Apple Store and on the Apple site - other places you can save on tax, which I'd have to pay from Apple - but I'm not sure saving $100 is worth not getting it from Apple.

Also there's some stuff online about the ease of saving $100 with the student discount, regardless of, you know, whether you are a student.  Not sure about that...


Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice about how much better (or more challenging) the MacBook Pro is vs. Windows laptops.  It certainly looks like a better computing experience.  I've been dealing with Windows crashes and failures for a long, long time.


Thanks!

[yesno]

Since I'm a pro-Mac bigot I won't say much. I switched after OS X came out, and my love of Unix underpinnings won't impress you.  Are you a fan of kerning perchance?

But, l'll give you a list of good software.

[yesno]

I guess I could say that 3 years of law school did not pose a problem for a Mac user, and that if you can afford it a Pro is better--though only because you can natively boot into Windows for emergency shit software.

The Pro is so really so much better in nearly every respect.

Student discount scam is pretty easy. Also you're better off buying from Apple if there are any Apple stores nearby.

[AllisonLeGnome]

I swear I'm not generally a Mac evangelist (though I can't thank the Mac evangelists on this board enough for their help about a year ago), but I can offer anecdotal evidence- last year was my freshman year of college, so nearly everyone had a new laptop. I witnessed way, way less problems with Macbooks than PCs- and I know several people buying Macs after their Windows laptops died but none going the opposite way. I was somewhat reluctant to switch and I love my macbook now.

[kittykittymeowmixhead]

Once you go Mac you never go back. Believe the hype!!!

[methanolcereal]

Once you go Mac you never go back. Believe the hype!!!

Not true. I've used a Mac at work for the past year or so and it finds ways to frustrate me just as much as my Windows-based PC does. Usually, just in different ways.

I'd go with a netbook. My buddy just got one and upgraded the RAM so that's doable. He uses it for limited media playing, office stuff, and web surfing, which sounds like what you're doing, and hasn't had any problems. Plus, it's like 1/5 the price. Unfortunately, you don't get any scene points by using it.

[buffcoat]

Thanks to everyone so far.

Unfortunately, methcereal, while we have our own quirks, I won't get any points for riding around Raleigh's version of McCarran Park on my tall bike with my MacBook while playing kickball!

I realize that tall bikes and kickball have probably become the new leisure suits among the scenesters, but I lost my login to Brooklyn Vegan (probably also passé by now).

[Martin]

If you have the cash, get a Macbook Pro. I like my PC, but if I could afford it, I would probably go Mac.

[Bryan]

I got an Acer netbook a couple of months ago, and I love it. It does everything I want it to do, and it's very light. It's no good for high-powered stuff - video editing/conversion/rendering, etc., but works perfectly for web stuff, normal office-type software, music and watching video (it plugs into my tv very easily - I know you can do this with Macs, but goddam their proprietary plugs. I'm convinced this is where Apple makes their real money: selling an endless number of adapters.)

Total cost for the netbook and a 750 GB external drive: $475. And it's probably cheaper in the U.S.

The only problem I've run into so far - a glitch that causes the machine to freeze up when it goes into sleep mode. Annoying, but I expect there will be a fix sometime soon.

I like Macs fine, and have used them plenty, but I wouldn't buy one for myself unless I was intending to use it for video stuff. The price difference is just too big. I bet they'll have a netbook-type product soon, but it'll still be twice as much as a Windows netbook.

[yesno]

It's not like with super cheap PCs that you're getting top shelf stuff.  The cheapest Mac is still a 2 core, 64 bit machine with decent specs all around, and a top-of-the-line Macbook is cheaper (last I checked, it changes every day)  than an identically-configured top-of-the-line Sony or Dell.  Apple just doesn't make a "cheap laptop" so it makes no sense to compare other company's cheap laptops with the laptop that happens to be the cheapest one Apple sells.

Since I use a computer so damn much it's worth it to avoid death by a thousand cuts and have a laptop that feels solid and doesn't skimp on the little details (hard drive speed, FSB, etc) that together constitute Snappiness.

I do not have monster sausage fingers and I can't type on a netbook (though some of the new Linux UIs like Moblin are interesting in that space). Also, bundles are objectively superior to a program throwing files hither and yon all over your hard drive when it gets installed. FYI.

Joel Spolsky (a Windows programmer) wrote about why Windows "power users" sometimes hate Macs years ago: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000057.html

[yesno]

This somewhat recent article compares the Macbook Pro to PCs with similar specs and finds the price is in the middle of the road.

http://technologizer.com/2009/03/31/hey-lauren-is-apples-17-inch-macbook-pro-expensive/

MacBook Pro: $2799
Dell Precision M6400 Mobile Workstation: $2955 (after “instant savings” of $257–normal price is $3212)
HP EliteBook Mobile Workstation GW678AV:$2815.06 (after applying an 18% discount e-coupon–normal price is $3433)
Lenovo ThinkPad W700: $2444 (sale price–normal price is $2853)
Sony VAIO VGN-FW390: $1604.98

Of course it's impossible to account for things like "build quality" and "I like the keyboard" in the price tag. That Sony is a good value but she talks about why it's so much cheaper in the article.

This is for the high end stuff. The same woman did a later comparison, not of the Pro to "similarly configured" PCs but of the Pro to "popular" PC laptops and the Pro is indeed much more expensive (even when you don't get the maxxxxed out one).

[buffcoat]

Bought it.  Thanks to everyone for the counsel.

[methanolcereal]

This somewhat recent article compares the Macbook Pro to PCs with similar specs and finds the price is in the middle of the road.

http://technologizer.com/2009/03/31/hey-lauren-is-apples-17-inch-macbook-pro-expensive/

MacBook Pro: $2799
Dell Precision M6400 Mobile Workstation: $2955 (after “instant savings” of $257–normal price is $3212)
HP EliteBook Mobile Workstation GW678AV:$2815.06 (after applying an 18% discount e-coupon–normal price is $3433)
Lenovo ThinkPad W700: $2444 (sale price–normal price is $2853)
Sony VAIO VGN-FW390: $1604.98

Of course it's impossible to account for things like "build quality" and "I like the keyboard" in the price tag. That Sony is a good value but she talks about why it's so much cheaper in the article.

This is for the high end stuff. The same woman did a later comparison, not of the Pro to "similarly configured" PCs but of the Pro to "popular" PC laptops and the Pro is indeed much more expensive (even when you don't get the maxxxxed out one).

To be fair, I ordered stuff of Newegg, and a friend of mine helped me put it together. I spent like $350 and it's probably the fastest computer I've ever used. Needs a stand-alone video card, but I can still play 'nem 'puter games. Granted, I "stole" my operating system from school, so that's a nice chunk of change off the price tag.

[betheboy]

I made the switch to the Macbook last year after using my wife's for a while. We still have a desktop PC but we rarely use it.  We both spend at least 8 hours a day on them and never have any problems that weren't caused by my own mistakes.  We also splurged on a Time Capsule to back up everything.  I highly rec. both if you have the money to spend.  If you go PC I had an off the shelf Dell that I used for nearly 5 years.  They get a bad rap from mac users but for the price they get the job done.

[pete]

If you folks are looking to score some Apple-y stuff on the cheap, I'd recommend checking local Best Buys for open box/clearance items.  I got a MacBook Pro that had been $2500 a couple weeks prior for $1400 (it was open box and one model back, only difference was 2.53ghz processor vs. 2.6), and a display model Cinema Display for $200 (down from $600ish).