<p>Macbook Pro all the waaay! I’ve been a very unhappy PC owner for years and my new macbook pro has been a dream!</p>
<p>^This. :)</p>
<p>Okay, I’m going to have to ask this:</p>
<p>How exactly is a $1200 Macbook that does the exact same things as their Windows counterparts the best laptop for schoolwork and listening to music?</p>
<p>I’m asking because they aren’t designed for multimedia, and their specs (Intel Core i5 2.3GHz, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, integrated graphics card) are comparable to Windows-based laptops for half their price or less.
Plus the “no viruses” and “they’re more reliable” arguments no longer hold water- Mac OS gets a fair amount of viruses, and I’ve seen plenty of Apple recalls. There’s a reason they no longer use Nvidia graphics chips in the Macbook line).
Honestly, the only thing they really have going for them is the “7 hour” battery life- and most laptop makers severely overstate their battery life. </p>
<p>So really, what is it about a Macbook Pro that makes it the best laptop for what lovetodance is looking for?</p>
<p>I’ve yet to see OSX or previous Apple OSs suffer malware on any of my machines. OSX is simply more reliable than even Windows 7, which is far better than previous Windows versions. The BSD based OSX just works more smoothly, more predictably and more promptly than Windows 7. Part of this reliability is due to to the fact Apple controls the hardware and matches the OS to the hardware, as has been done for years in high-end servers in the UNIX world. More expensive Windows operating systems such as Win Server 2003 and later are fine, and I still like Win 7 Enterprise as I spend most of my time working with it. But I love my Mac.</p>
<p>Apple as a company has brought forth some superb computer technology that still has few interface peers such as SCSI, Firewire (IEEE-1394 a and b) and now Thunderbolt.</p>
<p>You wouldn’t find malware on the machine unless you had something scanning for it, though. There’s a reason that Apple recommends having a security suite installed on your Mac. As for working more smoothly, predictably and promptly than Windows 7, how are you testing this? Just by your best guess? </p>
<p>Apple laptops aren’t any more reliable than their PC counterparts. Macbooks fail just as much as PC laptops, and due to the limited customization that Apple has, any hardware issues typically impact the majority of the Macbook line.
Again, there’s a reason Apple doesn’t use Nvidia graphics chips anymore. Anyone remember about 3 years ago when it came to light that any Macbook Pro with a specific Nvidia chip had a much higher rate of failure than normal?
Plus, the only Macbook Pros with a dedicated graphics card are $1800 or more. There’s no reason for a $1200 laptop to not have a dedicated graphics card, although it’s not surprising considering that it also only has 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive. </p>
<p>However, I don’t think you answered the question:
How is the Macbook Pro, at $1200, the best laptop for schoolwork and listening to music?</p>
<p>
Not quite. You can see what processes are running and perceive drops in performance. On a simple Linux computer, for example, connected to the Internet for testing suddenly SSH comes alive and the machine starts spontaneously and furiously working where I had it untasked. I disable SSH and all goes quiet. A little checking shows that flavor of Linux had default settings on SSH which were well known and an automated Web probe found it vulnerable. Checking firewall logs shows the Web is constantly probed for exploitable computers. You can find hijacking software redirecting your browser or ARP poisoning, for example. You can find ports open to unusual IP addresses and no purpose reference or only a murky reference. </p>
<p>In general, however, Apple OS X is more secure than Windows due to the fact it presents a generally malware-unfriendly UNIX-like platform and it has far fewer people shooting at it. We should note that Windows has become more Apple-like over the years as opposed to the reverse.
Ever work from the command line? Try some tools and commands that work at lower levels than the GUI and you will see what I mean. OSX performs instantly, Windows frequently requires reboots. If you work this way for any time all that rebooting is a real pain. Much of this has to do with the fact Windows cannot be written to specific hardware, a point where Apple has elected to retain more control between the software and hardware.
Agree with this. Hardware is hardware. Apple packaging, however, is very hard to beat. Buy an extended warranty as any hardware, especially laptops, are subject to failure.
Few really need the advanced graphics card. Maybe gamers, real photography buffs and CAD users. Memory is expandable and hard drives are cheap. The cost difference lies in Apple’s reputation to successfully deliver a very user-friendly device that many really like and are willing to pay for.
This is personal preference. In our case it was worth the few extra dollars <em>at the outset</em> to buy intuitive, reliable Apple computers each with robust operating systems and security structures which do not need much in the way of constant tweaking and maintenance. Perfect for young college students away from home.</p>
<p>Regardless, we should note that ALL operating systems are vulnerable over time and risk needs to be properly managed. Don’t do risky things with your computer resources.</p>
<p>Yikes…computer geek fight! Both systems will do the job, and selecting a computer is indeed a personal preference. Some people like Saabs and Volvos, some people like Corvettes; taste is not to be disputed!</p>
<p>“Nerd” is the socially acceptable term to “G**k”. :D</p>
<p>“Whiz” would have maybe been a better term for me to use and is complimentary. Differentiating nerds, dweebs, geeks, dorks, etc. gets too complicated for me.</p>
<p>Not a nerd war anyway, just the age old Mac vs PC preference discussion. </p>
<p>Certainly no big deal.</p>
<p>Yep, it’s pretty much just a Mac vs PC discussion.</p>
<p>However, I really have to question your “just a few more dollars” comment. You’re not talking $50. You’re talking anywhere from $600 to $900 more for the Macbook Pro than a PC that does the job just as well (as I’ve posted many examples of these here). I just can’t recommend a $1200 laptop that’s not any better for schoolwork and listening to music than a laptop that’s 1/3 of the price. </p>
<p>As much as I hate the study and have some issues with the lack of precise information in it, the SquareTrade study I linked to earlier shows that Apple laptops aren’t the most reliable- in fact, as shocking as it might sound they’re 4th, behind ASUS, Toshiba and Sony in reliability. </p>
<p>Honestly, if someone is looking to spend $1200 on a laptop, they might as well invest that money in a really nice Lenovo X series ThinkPad or the X series Tablet. For one, they’re constantly receiving rave reviews on their build quality (as is the rest of the ThinkPad line), but they also get an astounding battery life (much longer than the Macbook Pros). </p>
<p>The comment about security measures sound like a stab at the UAC in Windows Vista and Windows 7. Guess what? It took about 10 seconds in Google to find out how to disable that. I’ve run Windows 7 Pro since the start of 2010 without being bothered by the UAC except for once. While I have done plenty of tweaking and optimization to my laptop (I’ve done pretty much everything under the sun except open it up and upgrade the parts), that isn’t necessary to get a good Windows laptop. </p>
<p>Yeah, it’s going to come down to preference. However, there is absolutely no reason to spend $1200 (nearly $1300 after sales tax) on a laptop for listening to music when a laptop 1/3 of the price is just as likely to last as long and will do everything just as well. </p>
<p>Plus, in all of the classes I’ve taken at FSU, the preferred OS was Windows- and, if you are required to take CGS2060 to graduate, you will HAVE to have Windows to complete the assignments. If you buy a Macbook, that’s another $100 ($30 if you skate around a few rules) or more to install. </p>
<p>Unless you are a graphics-related major or are in a program that recommends a Mac over a Windows computer (I haven’t heard of any at FSU; the school doesn’t recommend one over the other), there’s no reason to get a Macbook.</p>
<p>Clearly the dominant OS platform in business and home is Windows. Microsoft Office is equally dominant for word processing (Word), spreadsheets (Excel), email (Outlook) and light database operations (Access).</p>
<p>Production scale programs in Windows are very popular as well with *Microsoft Exchange Server<a href=“email”>/I</a> and *Microsoft SQL Server<a href=“database”>/I</a>. *Windows Server 2003<a href=“all%20flavors”>/I</a> are excellent as server OSs.</p>
<p>Generally, in the professional world, Windows rules. Yet very large scale production and data operations as well as infrastructure still use UNIX variants (including Linux). Such custom systems run for years and are almost never rebooted.</p>
<p>However, for personal use and overall coolness with a revolutionary flair Macs rock. 
</p>
<p>Macs also integrate natively with another favorite - the Apple iPhone. </p>
<p>I still recommend Microsoft Office for Mac, however.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>just wanted to point out that this isn’t true. I took CGS2100 (same thing but for business majors), and the prof has both Mac and Windows-specific instructions because he actually had a class during one of the shorter summer sessions in which there were more Mac users than PC users.</p>
<p>One feature I really like on the MacBook Pro is the backlit keyboard. My laptop has black keys and it is impossible to hunt and peck when I’m looking for oddball keys in dim lighting. My next laptop I’m going to look for backlit keyboard or at least white keys that I can see in dim lighting with the computer’s display lighting.</p>
<p>This is 2011, who looks at their keyboard anymore</p>
<p>Sid, since when did people ever look at their keyboard while they are typing?</p>
<p>
In CGS2060, MS Access is a required program (one of the projects in the class revolve around having to create a database in the program) and MS Access is Windows only. That was made clear from day 1 in the class- either find a windows computer or you were SOL for that assignment. It might have changed since I took it in spring 2010, but that was the case then. </p>
<p>parent2noles: Yeah, and you have to have iTunes in order to sync your iPhone/iPod (unless of course you look around). iTunes has one of the clunkiest interfaces I’ve ever encountered in a program (not to mention, it’s ugly).
That’s still not $800 though (or really explaining why a Macbook Pro is the best for listening to music…).
Plus, Android is where it’s at. I haven’t heard any reports of an Android phone needing a band-aid so that it doesn’t drop the signal just because you hold the phone…</p>
<p>I plead guilty to looking at my keyboard sometimes. I sometimes look down at my shoes to make sure my laces are tied too. I don’t have the top row of “swear” keys !@#$%^&*()_+ memorized; I cheat and look for them!</p>
<p>And the beat goes on.</p>
<p>Android vs. iPhone… This could go another 4 pages. :D</p>
<p>PC’s are cheaper and do everything a college student needs. I don’t understand why a college student would pay triple the amount so they can download “those videos” without getting viruses. No viruses is really the only benefit of a MAC. </p>
<p>MACS have a program called Parallels to install windows as an OS. You don’t see PC users installing the Mac OS.</p>