whats great about macbooks?
- Thread starter HTMLHugo
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OSX 
It's really only the OS and stuff like the two-finger scrolling on the mousepad. It did used to be a very good price and would pretty much always cost less than an equivalent PC laptop back when they were released, but Apple have done what Apple always do and kept it at the same price for months while the market refreshes around it.
If you don't want OS X then don't bother.
If you don't want OS X then don't bother.
Small, light, thin,sexy, fast, great user friendly OS, hardly looses value like an equivalent PC laptop would, excellent Apple support, just does the job etc. They list is endless.
Soldato
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- 26 Aug 2003
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It's just a really nice bit of kit. There's a lot of nice things about it. A nice to use trackpad, a very good quality built in webcam, the groovy magnetic latch, the magsafe power connector, decent quality glossy screen, among other things.. None of the features are all that special alone, it's just a nice package.
Mostly it's OSX though.
Mostly it's OSX though.
Soldato
Agree with the above. OS X aside, theres nothing a MacBook can do that a PC laptop cant, but its a good balance of form and function in one device. The only thing I wish they'd include is an integrated card reader.
I wouldn't mind an Expresscard slot, every other laptop on the market has one, why can't the MacBook.
Not too sure but based on the Battary, HDD locations and how tight the mobo is, for the size, an Xpress Card slot isn't going to be a possibility...
Then shuffle things around a bit? I wouldn't decide to release a laptop without a hard drive because I ran out of space for it when I was designing the machine.
It's obvious that Apple do it to artificially limit the MacBook in comparison to the MacBook Pro, and it's something they do across their entire product range. I don't blame them, but it doesn't seem to happen as much in the product lines from other manufacturers..
but he said it's funny how a mac runs XP better than any other PC/Laptop he's ever had!
Where do you propose they add an expresscard slot? or any other additional hardware, remembering that all the space at the bottom is used by the HD and battery, there is no way to fit anything else in without making the battery smaller and killing the battery life.
Please point out the part of my post where I said it could be easily added to the current model.
I'd hazard a guess that at some point the decision was made not to put the Expresscard slot in the MacBook, for whatever reason. If Apple had decided to include it, they wouldn't have designed the current MacBook and then stuck an Expresscard slot on the bottom, they would, you know, have designed it into the product.
To suggest that they were trying really hard to include it but just ran out of room is crazy.
My point still stands, how are they supposed to design it to accomodate an express card without losing battery life, or making it thicker, it's pretty impossible.
The MacBook was designed to be compact, just like the 12" PowerBook before it, so making it at least 25% thicker just to add an expresscard probably wasn't high on their list of goals, they could have done it, yes, but it would have been a compromise on the MacBook we have now, just for an expresscard slot.
The MacBook isn't such a compact machine, yes it's got a 13.3" display, but a pretty large bezel. I doubt putting an Expresscard/32 in would have resulted in the entire machine being a quarter of an inch thicker. I'm not a laptop designer, I don't know what components could be smaller, all I know is that there are machines on the market which are physically smaller than the MacBooks, with the same or better battery life, and Expresscard/32 slots.
My point was that it would have been a nice thing to have in the MacBook (especially as it's almost free to add in terms of component cost), and that it was left out not due to technical limitations, but because Apple want to separate the MacBook from the MBP.
My point was that it would have been a nice thing to have in the MacBook (especially as it's almost free to add in terms of component cost), and that it was left out not due to technical limitations, but because Apple want to separate the MacBook from the MBP.
Soldato
Yes it is.
Anyway, why does the average consumer user of a laptop want an ExpressCard Slot? They don't. They do want however is:
lightweight/portability - got that!
quiet - I can count on one hand the number of times I have heard the fan.
performance - Core2 Duo, fast RAM and an OK video card, so that's good.
battery life - got that in spades.
Don't see most users wanting some crap expansion. If they do the MacBook has USB2 and Firewire.
Not counting the OS which is one of the better reasons for owning an Apple, what PC laptop can you get for £700 that isn't as thick as a door stop or as well made as a french car? I have had a Dell Latitude 131L and a Dell D520 - one costs less than my MacBook the other more. Both are plasticy pieces of rubbish but they do have PCMCIA/ExpressCard expansion slots!
Associate
Got myself a shiny white Macbook (My first MAC) as a personal laptop last weekend and so far I'm very impressed.
I have a number of other laptops, Dells and thinkpads, which cost vastly more than the Macbook but not a single one comes close to apple build quality...
Took a little time to get used to OSx but coming from an x86 and Unix background so far I'm very impressed.
Already put an extra gig in the machine, might upgrade the HDD but for my personal usage don't think it's needed...
For portabilty beats both my dells and thinkpad hands down
Also apple are sending me leopard for just P&P
I have a number of other laptops, Dells and thinkpads, which cost vastly more than the Macbook but not a single one comes close to apple build quality...
Took a little time to get used to OSx but coming from an x86 and Unix background so far I'm very impressed.
Already put an extra gig in the machine, might upgrade the HDD but for my personal usage don't think it's needed...
For portabilty beats both my dells and thinkpad hands down
Also apple are sending me leopard for just P&P
Mate please lose the rose-tinted specs, it's 2.31kg, a long way out of ultra-portable territory, and is only a touch smaller than the 15" MBP.
I didn't say it wasn't portable, but it's not the lightweight, small, well-built machine that you're making it out to be. I wouldn't sell mine any time soon because it's a good machine for what I paid for it, but it doesn't really have anything in the build quality department over most other laptops.
But thanks for speaking on behalf of the average consumer and knowing what they all want, you're right of course, who's want some crap expansion? If Apple don't include it then obviously it's rubbish anyway!
Whatever happened to Mac users? When did they all turn militant?
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Deleted member 651465
D
Deleted member 651465
...because Apple has it on the MacBook Pro, and it's another reason to tease people to part with the extra cash
Had my macbook (black) since June 2006 and will never buy a PC laptop again. I use PCs at home for gaming and as an office pc, but on the move the macbook outclasses everything around it in every possible way.
It is all things to all men - as JC once said
And now with Leopard will doubly cain any pc laptop
It is all things to all men - as JC once said
And now with Leopard will doubly cain any pc laptop