You know, what I really need now is some sound laptop advice. I am contemplating buying a new laptop because my old one died. The trouble is the choice and the price. I have been mainly looking at ThinkPads (based on a nice experience at my Former Corporate Employer) and at MacBooks. I don't like Dells (clunky, nasty keyboards, just...unpleasant) and HP is just not exciting, and I won't even mention the rest. Everybody tells me the MacBooks are great. Personally...I don't know. I feel faced with a long list of cons, not a pro in sight.
ThinkPad:
- I could buy a machine with XP, but if they fix Vista, then I am stuck with an outdated OS for three to hopefully five years
- The Lenovo site is terrible; ugly, unworkable, ungainly. It does not bode well
- Lenovo is also unreachable by phone. If they can't be bothered picking up the phone for sales, I worry about support
MacBook:
- They are about to release a new OS. This is a nuisance because it means I shouldn't buy anything till October, and then risk all of the new OS's nasty bugs of newness.
- The MacBooks come with a 90 day warranty, and they charge $183 for a year-long warranty. Considering the cost of the machines, I think this is outrageous. Everything else seems to get a year automatically.
- I then have to buy Office for Mac, and face the 2003 vs. 2007 dilemma
- Honestly, I know everybody loves Macs, but I resent the learning curve, the bizarre quirks and the fact that there is a lot of stuff out there that doesn't work with it (like Skype video, apparently). I refust to run Windows on it. See above
Between those two, the specs are pretty good, you get decent value for money. I am not very demanding, because I don't have much money; but it all looks ok.
Anyway, just wanted to share my frustration. And yes, Perelaar, I know you're going to tell me to go with a MacBook.
4 comments:
Macs are great if you're going to do anything in regards to graphics. Not sure the $$ in the US but up here they are pricey and you can't download software(not that anyone would be a pirate).
John @ http://knumbknuts.blogspot.com/ would be the best person to ask..he's a computer whiz with his own business.
Hope that helps
Try Toshiba. They make great machines and sometimes have awesome sales.
I have the Toshiba Qosmio and have had a few problems. After 7 months it needed a new fan, at 13 months it needed a new mother board...the fan was covered under the 1 year warranty and I was glad I purchased the extended three year plan which covered the MB.
My desk computer is the new HP Pavilion Slimline..i love it, really compact with a tiny hard drive...but the darn thing does this "freeze" act every once in a while.
Hmm. Indeed, go for the Macbook.
- warranty is one year. 183$ for 2 extra years, and you have the entire first year to buy it. Anyway, all other brands have payable warranty as well.
- don't bother for the OS upgrade - there is nothing in there that can't be missed. All nice to have, but that's it. A bit like Vista.
- Office for Mac is only available as Office 2004. Fully compatible with all recent Windows Offices. I know, I use it myself. Don't bother with Office 2007; we have so many problems with it here in the office that I refused to be a test user. Also don't bother about price - I bought a fully legal Office for Mac last year, directly from Microsoft, for 30 EUR.
- Don't know about Skype video. I can honestly say though that I have never had any issues with compatibility - and I can honestly say I'm a "power user" :)
As for the Windows, don't do anything else than Lenovo. The professional series, that is. With XP - XP will still be supported for at least 4 to 5 years; Vista (for me) at this moment is no option due to compatibility and resource issues.
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