Are macbooks any good?

Willbo

Willbo

Willbo

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I've never really used any kind of Apple desktop or laptop before so relatively a newbie when it comes down to it.

Just wondered are the macbooks any good? Was looking at the ones with the 13" or 15" screen. I'm only really looking at laptops as a backup to my main machine, internet access, photo work/editing, mp3 use. Do the 13"/15" have much power?
Whats the difference between a macbook and a normal laptop with windows for this kind of use?
 
you get the stability of Mac OS and yet can still run windows just like any other laptop.

The macbooks pros have a dedicated graphics card so will be better for games/video work. For anything else the macbook should do you fine. Best bet is to go to apple store or a major high street electrical store and play about with them.
 
They are pretty, but apart from being able to run OSX (legitimately), they offer nothing more than any laptop, yet they cost a substantial amount more.

All the "new" technology in the new Macbooks has already been done by other manufactures, a long time ago.
 
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JimpsEd said:
They are pretty, but apart from being able to run OSX (legitimately), they offer nothing more than any laptop, yet they cost a substantial amount more.
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stronger, lighter than most others. cheaper laptops tend to be a bit flimsy and built of plastic. The nvidia graphics are also better than intels integrated found in most cheaper notebooks.
 
topshot said:
stronger, lighter than most others.
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You say they are stronger because Apple tell you they are stronger than their previous books. They are certainly not lighter, either.

Take most of the high-end Vaios; they're made out of carbon. You're telling me that is weaker and heavier than Macbook's aluminium body?

The nvidia graphics are also better than intels integrated found in most cheaper notebooks.
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The nVidia graphics are found in Dells which cost £600, let alone familiarly priced laptops. In my two-year-old Vaio SZ3 (which I paid slightly more than the Macbook for), I *still* have a faster CPU, more memory, a bigger harddrive, hybrid graphics (one dedicated nVidia, one Intel integrated - which only the Macbook Pro has), a TPM, fingerprint reader, it is smaller, lighter, largely made out of carbon, has a firewire port (among several others) and the screen is of better quality (colour reproduction and viewing angle).

And this is a 2year old laptop.

So, I say again - apart from being able to run OSX and having a buttonless trackpad, the Macbook offers nothing more than other laptops priced the same.
 
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the touch pads on the macbooks are awesome, so much easier to use than most other laptops along the two finger scrolling. Combine that with hot corners for expose and you can use change windows scroll and generally use more windows at once relatively easily.
I have yet to find a windows based laptop (or desktop) which is nicer to use.

well worth the extra money imo
 
A similar topic has been discussed previously in this thread after post #21 and also in this thread.

Saves time arguing against each other. Unfortunately, this is never going to happen in any Mac vs PC thread :p
 
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JimpsEd said:
You say they are stronger because Apple tell you they are stronger than their previous books. They are certainly not lighter, either.

Take most of the high-end Vaios; they're made out of carbon. You're telling me that is weaker and heavier than Macbook's aluminium body?

The nVidia graphics are found in Dells which cost £600, let alone familiarly priced laptops. In my two-year-old Vaio SZ3 (which I paid slightly more than the Macbook for), I *still* have a faster CPU, more memory, a bigger harddrive, hybrid graphics (one dedicated nVidia, one Intel integrated - which only the Macbook Pro has), a TPM, fingerprint reader, it is smaller, lighter, largely made out of carbon, has a firewire port (among several others) and the screen is of better quality (colour reproduction and viewing angle).

And this is a 2year old laptop.

So, I say again - apart from being able to run OSX and having a buttonless trackpad, the Macbook offers nothing more than other laptops priced the same.
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Mate has the dell XPS that cost a grand and its no faster than the macbook, its not that well built and the screen is no better. He also only got a years warranty and has to put up with vista.

Im about to pay under £1k for a similar spec macbook with 3 years warranty and i have the ability to use both OS's. Not to mention the macbook will hold its value, compare the 2nd hand prices of both in 3 years.
 
Thats true, I did look at picking up a cheap second hand one, but prices are...not quite as high, but like new so they do hold well
 
I dont think they are worth the extra money, you are better off spending around £600 on a good normal laptop with good graphics with which you can game with. Laptops such as lenovo's are more reliable than macs.
 
Ross1234 said:
I dont think they are worth the extra money, you are better off spending around £600 on a good normal laptop with good graphics with which you can game with. Laptops such as lenovo's are more reliable than macs.
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Its not really going to be used for gaming, just want a powerful machine which can be used either at home, or on the go for net use, work, but mainly photo editing etc with my DSLR. So needs to be light to carry around and powerful enough for Photoshop work. Dont really want an extra large screen, 13-15" should be more than big enough
 
Willbo said:
Its not really going to be used for gaming, just want a powerful machine which can be used either at home, or on the go for net use, work, but mainly photo editing etc with my DSLR. So needs to be light to carry around and powerful enough for Photoshop work. Dont really want an extra large screen, 13-15" should be more than big enough
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Then you'll find it more sensible to buy a PC. Dell XPS laptops are very good and considerably cheaper than Macbooks. You can also get three levels of screen grade (standard, like (although better colour reproduction) than the MacBook, or two Truelife options - £60 and £100 each giving higher resolutions). They are lighter than the Macbooks too.

If you want more style, you could look at Sony Vaio SZ or Z series, but you'll pay a premium for them being lighter, smaller and being Vaios.
 
Willbo said:
Its not really going to be used for gaming, just want a powerful machine which can be used either at home, or on the go for net use, work, but mainly photo editing etc with my DSLR. So needs to be light to carry around and powerful enough for Photoshop work. Dont really want an extra large screen, 13-15" should be more than big enough
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Photoshop doesn't really need too much power. The new version will use the gpu though. A cheap laptop will run photoshop reasonably. You could get away quiite easily spending £400 and get a dual core with 3gb ram etc
 
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