Which Mac laptop?

[Conanius]

We have a 2010 non i5 (2.66 penryn?) MBP with 4gb ram and a standard 7200 320gb HDD. Its far from a slouch.

Tempted to chuck 8GB Ram and an SSD in it at some point in the future. Been super happy with it, and its hardly 'unportable' and the extra ports and DVD drive are useful.

Personally if I was you I'd get a pro and put the extra ram and bigger SSD in it.

 

[lamboman]

In terms of battery life (in response to some posts on the first page), I do get roughly 7 hours with my normal work (Safari with four or five tabs open, Pages, at least on PDF open, and Skitch). A bit less, but still, near as makes no difference. My m4 has improved battery life a hair, I must say.

In terms of price, no, the MBA isn't more expensive than the competition. It is expensive, but that's the price you pay for the form factor - of course it's going to be more expensive, it's more expensive and difficult to design and build, and the components inside are generally a tad more expensive (the SSD, for one).

Saying that the MBA is expensive compared to other notebooks that you could buy is just a little silly, considering that all of the MBA's competition is roughly the same price, just sayin'...

 

[Amp34]

But the point is the competition is expensive too, compared to the average laptop.

Going back to the Lamborghini analogy, it's not expensive compared to a ferrari however it's an expensive car. Just like the Air isn't expensive compared to a UX31 or Sony Z, however all are expensive laptops.

 

[Ben Cole]

But the point is the competition is expensive too, compared to the average laptop.

Going back to the Lamborghini analogy, it's not expensive compared to a ferrari however it's an expensive car. Just like the Air isn't expensive compared to a UX31 or Sony Z, however all are expensive laptops.

Pretty much says it all. Lamborghinis are expensive, as are MacBook Airs.


Anyone that says they aren't is just being deliberately contrary and playing a game with semantics to suit them being awkward.

Go out on the street and ask the public if either are expensive.

The vast majority will say they are. That's as conclusive as this argument can get I reckon.

I now feel I should apologise to peerzy for this going so far OT.

All I said was that it was an easy proposition to dual boot a MacBook air.

How was I supposed to know that saying a MBA was expensive would cause some people to get so defensive that they'd even accuse me of being a troll

 

[lamboman]

Yes, compared to the average laptop. This would be fine if the Air was also the average laptop. But it isn't.

I can't quite believe that people honestly cannot see that the Air and its competition is more expensive for a reason.

 

[Ben Cole]

Yes, compared to the average laptop. This would be fine if the Air was also the average laptop. But it isn't.

I can't quite believe that people honestly cannot see that the Air and its competition is more expensive for a reason.

I think you've totally missed the point.

NOBODY is arguing about the value for money of the MBA or whether it's worth it or not or whether it's a fine machine.

I think we all agree it's a high quality, highly mobile, capable piece of kit.


And for all that you have to pay the privilege. ie. IT'S EXPENSIVE.


It's expensive, that's all I said. Others have agreed with me but some have disagreed.

Forget about Ultrabooks or other competitors, it has to be judged on it's function.

A £300 Samsung is a laptop. A MBA is an expensive laptop.
A Focus is a car. A Lamborghini Gallardo is an expensive car.

That's it. If you disagree with those statements then you have an odd perspective on the issue of cost.


You pretty much said it yourself:

the Air and its competition is more expensive for a reason.

Yes....MORE EXPENSIVE. ie. The Air and it's peers are EXPENSIVE LAPTOPS.

p.s. I really am still amazed that such a simple statement/concept is so difficult for some people to grasp. I can only presume that there is some uncomfortable psychological justification going on.

 

[Amp34]

Yes, compared to the average laptop. This would be fine if the Air was also the average laptop. But it isn't.

I can't quite believe that people honestly cannot see that the Air and its competition is more expensive for a reason.

Who said anything about not being more expensive for a reason. However the second statement at least means you admit they are more expensive than most laptops, which was the point.

 

[Amp34]

p.s. I really am still amazed that such a simple statement/concept is so difficult for some people to grasp. I can only presume that there is some uncomfortable psychological justification going on.

I did wonder that too. For me it was the best laptop for my needs, in my budget, so I bought it...

No Apple affiliation, no struggling to pay, no need to justify my decision.

If I had to save up for months, sacrifice other things and just bought it on a whim them maybe I would also be arguing that it wasn't an expensive laptop?

 

[Conanius]

Just read some of the other posts in this thread.

To those calling Apple stuff expensive, yes, the initial purchase price can be high, however resale value is equally good.

I just sold a Mac Mini 1.6 Ghz Intel Core Duo (none C2D, so Snow Leopard is the latest OS for it), 2GB ram, 80 GB hdd. I think it was a 2006 model.

I got £240 for it, and possibly could have gotten more elsewhere, I paid £280 for it in February 2010. I'd be interested to know what other near to 6 year old computers you know of that retain their value this well.

 

[Ben Cole]

Just read some of the other posts in this thread.

To those calling Apple stuff expensive, yes, the initial purchase price can be high, however resale value is equally good.

I just sold a Mac Mini 1.6 Ghz Intel Core Duo (none C2D, so Snow Leopard is the latest OS for it), 2GB ram, 80 GB hdd. I think it was a 2006 model.

I got £240 for it, and possibly could have gotten more elsewhere, I paid £280 for it in February 2010. I'd be interested to know what other near to 6 year old computers you know of that retain their value this well.

I agree but again that's not the point of the argument that this thread has descended in to.

If you read back you'll see that I bought a second hand MacBook recently.

It was EXPENSIVE bit worth it in my opinion. Nobody is questioning resale value or value for money.

I'm glad to see that you agree with me on the main point though,

Apple stuff is EXPENSIVE. Good in the case of their laptops but EXPENSIVE.

 

[IxD3ViiLx]

13" IMO is really small... I had the MacBook 15" and managed with that. I will admit, 17" for a laptop is big if you are on the go 24/7.