<p>My sibling recently got a Macbook Pro 13 inch for like $900 dollars, I’m not a big fan of smaller laptops, but it’s actually pretty good, I wouldn’t mind having that around! </p>
<p>Actually I take it back, my parents are going to get me one too once we get back, haha!</p>
<p>Lee- where did she get it for 900?</p>
<p>Maybe it’s not this Generation? Perhaps a used one somewhere?</p>
<p>Or maybe it was 900 dollars after she bought a Lower End MBP 13 inch and sold that free iTouch that came along with it :)</p>
<p>I’d go with PC. </p>
<p>I don’t get what everyone is raving about with Macs. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a pretty objective guy. I didn’t throw hate at Mac before the iPod when everyone was whining their OS was far too complicated and I’m not giving it love now when everyone seems disillusioned to believe Apple is God of tech companies with gadgets such as the iPhone.</p>
<p>To me, the Mac OS just seems slow a lot of the time. I also dislike the price gouging Apple does. I do admit that their laptops look pretty nice. I like the aluminium (?) casing and the inbuilt keys. In terms of specs, you’re not going to get that of half the price you’re paying for rest assured. A bunch of Apple-philes would argue that Apple consumers don’t care about things such as graphics card or processor type but to me, the numbers person I am, that’s a load of crap. Paying more fore less never makes sense.</p>
<p>I will admit that Apple has a strong presence at universities, however. As a PC user, I sometimes feel a tad bit left out. You can conform to the movement to unconform from PCs! -.-</p>
<p>P.S. I wouldn’t worry too much about PCs crashing or their lifespan. With the money you’d be saving, you could buy a second new better PC later. Actually, I don’t know what these guys are talking about because a PC has never died out on me and I’ve used HP forever, the <em>gasp</em> crappiest of brands. PCs will crash on you every now and then but I’ve had to reboot my OS only 2 times in 2 years and with the new recovery points in Windows 7 your computer will turn out just how you left it. </p>
<p>Thinkpads are nice. Vaios were nice too but they’ve made shoddier models recently.</p>
<p>Hate to comment on a Mac vs. PC thread but everyone seems pretty mature in this discussion…</p>
<p>I’ve always been with the motto PC for Desktop Mac for laptop If your not bringing both I would stick with a mac. I’ve purchased a $1400 Gateway FX laptop only to give it to my father 5 months later. The thing was a pos, it was always slow, weighed more than a brick, and after about 3 months a new set of games came out which made the gaming possibility aspect of the laptop completely irrelevant. </p>
<p>Now to the poster above, its not that us Mac users don’t care for things such as a good graphics card, its just that in a laptop its pointless because it is a pain in the ass to upgrade, will be outdated after several months, and really for a good computer with a high end graphics card, you’re going to be spending what you would on a Mac anyways. Plus, if you really care about having that high end computer, you’re going to be using a desktop anyways. </p>
<p>The 15" MBP I bought on clearance almost 2 years ago still runs like its brand new, is super light for the size, and has overall been the best purchase of my life. I still get 4-5 hours of battery life on the same battery it came with and I have zero fear of ever losing a paper or class notes before a final. Plus, I’ve never heard 1 person say they regretted buying their Mac but I know tons who have regretted purchasing a PC (myself included with my pos gateay). Basically, get a mac and you wont regret it, get a pc and there is a good possibility you will.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard anyone use slow to describe Mac OS before. OS X certainly feels faster than Windows to me, even compared to Windows 7 on my brother’s Core i5 desktop I recently built.</p>
<p>The few hundred price premium is worth it to me for the aesthetics and build quality. If you have never picked up a unibody MacBook before, you should. It truly feels amazingly solid. I thought my old HP laptop was pretty stiff and sturdy, but the MBP makes my HP feel like boiled pasta. Apple, IMO, is a premium/status brand and there will be people think it’s worth it to pay the premium. Others will just go by numbers, in which case PCs will always win out. It’s like buying a Honda/Toyota vs a BMW/Mercedes.</p>
<p>Ah sentimentGX4, I remember you. You clearly stated that you hate macs: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-los-angeles/929635-using-mac-engineer-ucla-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-los-angeles/929635-using-mac-engineer-ucla-2.html</a>.
Quote:
“I don’t love PCs. I just hate Macs. They’re the #1 sign that our ‘promising’ youth aren’t so intelligent. Well Obama is the second…” </p>
<p>sentimentGX4 just cares about numbers, and if you looked at his/her previous posts, he/she wants full-fledged Visual Studio for PIC classes… talk about credibility.</p>
<p>bringing politics into a discussion about mac vs pc is pretty objective! haha</p>
<p>I think the best argument going for Mac’s is “anyone can use them”. While this might be a good argument, I disagree. </p>
<p>An analogy - A wise man once said:
“Anyone can drive an automatic Ferrari, but once you learn how to drive stick…”</p>
<p>North campus: get a mac
South campus: get a PC</p>
<p>It’s THAT simple!!! :)</p>
<p>Hahaha. Mac v. PC. I agree tho! I have a PC desktop but I have a MacBook, same with my dad and now younger sister. I did have a netbook…</p>
<p>It’s this store I found in the Tustin area (reminds me of Frys). They only do it once every so often. We got it for $900, the month before it was $700, oh and my bad-it was a Macbook Pro. Oh and a free USB drive with your first purchase!</p>
<p>Micro Center?</p>
<p>That’s it! I remember the thick ad we got in the mail.</p>
<p>edit-she had a coupon, not sure how much of a difference that made…</p>
<p>
Try the Macs in the De Neve computer labs or in the GSEIS building. They take forever to load up and constantly lag. These are desktop Macs. While I’m not sure if they’re the latest, they can’t be old because they have the latest Mac Desktop “look” (well the ones in the GSEIS building… the De Neve ones are old). Of course, it could just because of their poor partitioning of two OSes. </p>
<p>
I don’t think people comprehend how overpriced Macs actually are.</p>
<p>The $1999 Macbook carries an i5 and 256MB video memory. A comparable PC with 512MB dedicated literally costs less than half the price. You’re not going to be paying the price of a Mac for a really nice computer. Macs are the most expensive casual computers on the market!</p>
<p>The only PCs in the price range of Macs are gaming computers and those are completely different animal altogether. These are thick bulky Alienwares, etc and I in no way am supporting anyone to buy them.</p>
<p>
I didn’t really mean I hate Macs. My tone is clearly of frustration-tinged humor.</p>
<p>Also, reading my previous posts I’m constant rambling about specs and numbers. Yes, I do mostly use numbers in my arguments. Mac supporters don’t like how your best argument is simply to discredit others and dig up old posts. That’s because in the “PC vs. Mac” discussion, numbers always support PCs. (Except in the number of viruses but then PCs have better compatibility with software. Professionals still aren’t certain which operating system (Linux/Mac/Windows) is actually most secure considering hackers prefer the OS with the largest population.)</p>
<p>A PC that costs “less than half the price” will definitely not be comparable to a Mac. In order to be comparable, the PC should have all the little features that the Mac has, including being less than 1" thick, 8+ hours battery life, weigh less than 5/6/7 lbs (13, 15, 17 inch, respectively), sudden motion sensor for the hard drive, backlit keyboard, Bluetooth, webcam, high res LED backlit display, etc etc. A comparable PC with all of those things will not be as cheap. Factor in student/education pricing and other promos on the Macs (eg free iPod Touch for back to school) and the price difference is really not that big.</p>
<p>There is certainly a price premium (or “Apple tax”, if you will) on Macs, but like I said earlier, Apple is a premium brand. If you are looking for value or bang for your buck, Apple products should not even be on your radar. </p>
<p>I haven’t used any of those Macs you’ve described, but it could be an old OS version, old hardware (PowerPC?), a network boot of the OS (since it’s in a lab environment), or any combination thereof. Lab environment computers aren’t a good judge of how it will perform on the consumer level anyways.</p>
<p>These threads just go in circles.</p>
<p>Apple - nice design/features; cost over $1000
Windows - variable designs, won’t have every feature; equivalent specs run to half price</p>
<p>Mac’s desktops are a whole different deal though.</p>
<p>i started with an hp pc but it was too bulky to carry to class. then it crashed on me, so i got a mac, but i got pages. be sure you get microsoft word if you decide on a mac. really a netbook is nice for notes but i like my macbook pro because of playing movies, good antivirus, plus its light if you get 13-15 in-good luck! congrats and have fun picking out your computer!</p>
<p>sapphire- what is pages?</p>
<p>Pages is the mac version of microsoft office and it kinda sucks because you have to export docs before sending them and some fonts and borders and such get altered when you export to doc or import a doc. Microsoft office for Mac is easier to deal with in my opinion</p>
<p>MacBooks are great if you’ve got lots of money to spend. Otherwise, you could get the same tech specs for $1000 cheaper with a PC. The advantage Macs have is that they look better. If anyone is a serious gamer in a graphic-intensive game, then a higher-end $1200-$1800 PC is needed. </p>
<p>But if you can get a student discount and get the macbook for about $1300, it could be worth it.</p>