Laptop Advice, Mac Vs MS - Uni Related.

When did I say it does? I simply said I was going to run some tests. The thing is, if a Macbook can run solid works (At all) then it can pretty much run anything.

Quoted for ***... My 5 year old Acer laptop can run Solidworks. The most CPU/RAM/Graphics intensive program, erm no.

So I guess you're going to bootcamp win 7 and run benchmarks against a Thinkpad that costs 2x more against your thin little shiny macpro.

Macbook Pro 15.4"
- Intel® Core™ i5-540M processor (2.53GHz)
- 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
- 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 256 MB
Price: $1899.00

Asus G51JX-X1
- Intel Core i7 720QM(1.6GHz)
- 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
- 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
- NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M 1GB GDDR5 VRAM
Price: $1,174.99

So for $725 less you get a better processor, same RAM, better HDD, and a MUCH better graphics card

qft.

I really doubt your 5 year old acer can run solid works 2010. It takes 2 minutes to load the program on my roomates laptop and he has a quadro video card, 8 gigs of ram, and dual Intel I7s. If you're running a version of SolidWorks older than your laptop than maybe.

Here's a question, have you ever used a Macbook?

I love how his comparison had a POS sony vaio.
Both=overpriced garbage.
by the way, Haxorking is now blocked, I can only deal with one delusional *** at a time and Stanflame is the one I choose to deal with.

Reminder for all mac people...

Days of Apple RISC based processing superiority is over, it died with the G4 processor.

A Mac, any Mac, (Macbook, iMac, Mini, Pro series, Xervs) are nothing but PCs, using PC parts, with PC RAM, PC based video cards just tweaked at the firmware level to prevent conformity with industry standards to salvage what little minuscule amount of uniqueness the fanbase has.

Who cares how long a program takes to load.

When we cold boot our enterprise servers, they take about 2 mins to boot too. It means nothing.

Solidworks 2010 min requirements are

PIII and 1GB of ram.

So, what are you talking about?

Its running 2008, bought it in 2006 I believe. I run 2010 on my PC (Core2 Quad, 4 Gb RAM) and it takes around 25 secs to load.

Yes I have used a Mac, and not just for a quick test. My main complaint, the damn sharp edge where I rest my wrists quickly became painful. I completely see where Macs are suitable, but you are just spouting BS.

In relation to the OP, if he wants to develop apps for the iPhone/iPod, hes going to need the apple SDK, which is only available for macs. (or Hackintoshes)

I'm usually a lurker, but I'm kind of in the same situation as the OP.

On-topic-ish:

How long do a majority of the laptops mentioned here last? Do they come with 3-year warranties as well?


Off-topic:

I was planning to get a desktop for FFXIV, would anyone have any suggestions for one that will run FFXIV and some kind of video recording software (FRAPS) in high settings? With video editing software?

To be honest I was looking at the iMac 27" quad-core at first, but if there's another computer with the same/better specs that has a warranty, at a lower price, I might change my mind. :)


Thanks, and sorry for stealing OP's thunder.

And it's made from $0.50 worth of plastic with a horrible trackpad, a non-magsafe power connector, a garbage CD tray, and have you ever looked at the laptop?

If you want a MacBook with higher specs, you can buy a Macbook with higher specs.

Mac was never about being the most cost effective computer, it's about being comfortable. Which goes right back to the Rolls Royce argument. If you want to spend a lot for a comfortable car, you spend a lot for a comfortable car. If you want a cost effective car that works, you buy a cost effective car that works. If I had any other laptop it would have been out the window by now because asthetically and ergonomically it's god aweful by comparison. 40% of university students (at this university at least) use a Macbook pro, Why? Because a MacBook can do pretty much anything a PC can, and make you feel better doing it. If you're going to spend 8 solid hours on a computer, you want one that's comfortable, and that's what the MacBook is all about.

Of course, arguing comfort to someone who likely has never seen a Macbook in person is pointles. Go out and try one for a day and then speak.

Almost all laptops come with a year warranty, with the option of purchasing an extension or upgrade. For instance Macs come with a One Year limited warranty, and you can choose to purchase Applecare Protection Plan.

Lol, so your only argument now is a mac is made better, therefore it costs more. Nothing new.

I hate macs but my gf has been using macs her entire school and pro career, she has yanked out her usb ports on every single macbook we have bought, which is more than likely to happen than ripping out the power cord. If Apple is so special, why not invent a maglock USB adapter? Because Apple knows it'll decrease the convenience factor of the Mac, although helpful, they won't do it. They only care about the first level of the user experience. Nothing beyond that.

Mac is aesthetically pleasing ***. Nothing more.

The Mag-safe connector is nice, but I would rather stick with being able to manually eject CD's from a tray which I have never had a problem with. I like how you generalise every CD tray ever made as being garbage.

Ok, so I tried a Mac, and it hurt my wrists, hows that for ergonomics. How about I choose a different style which has a more rounded front... Oh wait, there are no other styles.

Aesthetics can't be used in an argument for or against Macs or PCs, as it is entirely subjective and varies between individuals.

When you say a Macbook makes you "feel better" doing your work, are you referring to its ergonomics, or implying that simply by using a Mac I can increase my happiness levels?

That's impossible. The groove is DIRECTLY below the trackpad, if you're resting your wrists on the groove that means you're also resting your hand directly on the trackpad, which if you do that is goung to flail the mouse around the screen regardless of what laptop you do that with. In fact It's near impossible to type like that if you force yourself too. If you really have your wrist dead centered on the keyboard you really need typing lessons

Lolololololol.... Looking at a macpro at this second, the entire outter rim is not as user friendly as any "real" PC based laptop out there.

Excuse me while I attempt to slit my wrists on the supposed razor sharp edges of my MacBook. As a side note, if you know how to type it wouldn't matter if they lined the edges with actual razors because it's designed so that any reasonable person who doesn't try to commit suicide with a laptop won't rest their wrists on the edge to begin with.

Can't slit your wrists on the steering wheel of a Royce Rolls (lol) even if you tried.

Ok, how about you stop trying to theorise about the possibility of the problem I have described, and take it from me that it happens.

You can calculate the measurements of the mac and the thickness of my wrists and the pressure exerted versus the position of the body relation to the mac for as long as you like, but I can tell you straight that it is not well designed.

Note: As I was unable to harm myself with my razor edged laptop (and believe me I tried hard after listening to you), I must leave for dinner. I suggest that if you've found a way to harm your wrists with a Macbook you really should see a doctor and have them fixed

Ok so anyone who wishes to own a Macbook must have good typing form (as dictated by the designers at Apple), and never lapse from this type of typing.

You talk of 8 hours of use. After 8 hours I'd like to be able to rest my forearms somewhere so I can type without having to hover them in mid-air.

I never said it was razor edged. I never said it physically harmed me.

What I said is that the edge is a sharp corner, which I found became quickly uncomfortable.

Regardless, I feel I have at least confronted some of the crap that you have been spreading.

I know im all over the place, however i feel i may be resting my head at a Vaio.

I like them aesthetically and i underestimated its specs before.

for £ 1,028.98 inc. VAT

i get

Intel® CoreTM i7-640M, 2.80GHz with 4 MB L2/L3 Cache

320 GB Serial ATA (7200 rpm)

6 GB 1066MHz DDR3-SDRAM

ATI MobilityRadeon HD5650 1GB

And if i want i can lower to 4gb ram or i5 proccessor to reduce the cost to between 700-900 and it should still run ffxiv ok.

Wow, you don't know your metals sir. If you didn't know, Aluminum is one of the cheapest metals there is. If it were THAT expensive, we wouldn't have aluminum foil, aluminum cans, aluminum cooking utensils etc. Not to mention the fact that all the items I listed are mass-produced which further confirms that aluminum is cheap and that you sir, are talking crap.

On topic (Sorry for the delay OP), don't bother going for the Mac. You'll get more bang for your buck with a non-mac laptop. Heck, you can probably even get laptops with the same spec for cheaper compared to some Vaios. However, I'm not denying the aesthetic goodness of both Vaios and Macs. The only thing is, from what you're saying OP, a Windows OS would suit you more seeing as not once have you mentioned having experience with Macs. And I'm doing a similar course to yours and I can safely say that a Windows OS would help you more.

Hope I helped OP. I know where you live... :P

I'm not sure if you read through the Mac vs PC arguement, but I'll mention again:

If you are going to be developing apps for the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch etc, then you will have to work with the Apple SDK, which only runs on Macs. (or Hackintoshes)

Thats a good point you make actually, i would like to try but i dont think in reality i would bother investing enough time into it to properly develop apps. One of my friends does make them already and he makes pretty good money out of it, although he is very good with that sort of thing.

I thought I would mention it as I can across the problem recently. I was going to have a go at making some simple apps, but realised it wasn't going to be doable on my PC.

Stanflameisgay also makes a good point: If you haven't used a Mac before, then the start of a uni course is probably not the best time to attempt to learn it.

It might also be useful to find out what computer systems your uni uses, and follow their lead. It much simpler and you won't find your program's throwing a fit when you try and switch between MS and Mac. I did an engineering degree which of course involved lots of maths and formulas, and found the formula tool in MS Word a god send. My friend with a Mac however, even with MS Word for Mac, had constant problems with not being able to use it. You can blame it on Apple or MS, it doesnt matter. At the end of the day he had the constant problems, and I didn't.

I worked for geek squad for two years, up until two months ago, I worked with plenty of macs doing repairs.

If you're spending 8 solid hours on a computer, which I do since I am a developer now, you do want something comfortable, which would be a mouse, no trackpad at all.

you're not getting any more comfort on a mac laptop than specifically that asus I mentioned, the asus has soft touch plastic which is extremely nice to rest your palms on, the trackpad is nothing special but its not uncomfortable.

So if a computer with crappier hardware besides the trackpad, and much more expensive, then be my guest buy the mac

I personally, having used plenty of computers, find no justifiable reason for the cost of a mac

Unless the laptop comes with a chair, desk, bed, pillows, and blankets, I don't think it really has anything to do with comfort. Mac is just about making things look flashy to distract you from the obvious suckage.