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Macbook or Sony Vaio?

Kanda said:
Actually Ed, I was having a wee joke, oh look, a smiley!
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Jokes are not permitted on these threads. This is a serious business goddamit!

Anyway, I reckon the Dell XPS 1530 offers far better value than the MacBook: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5550, 15.4" Widescreen (1280x800) Display, 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 250GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS card with 128MB dedicated graphic memory, 2MP webcam, WiFi, Bluetooth, good battery life, biometric fingerprint reader and 8x DVD+/-RW for just £589 with free delivery.

It's also got the neat MediaDirect function, giving instant, one-touch access to movies, music and photos and some Office stuff without the need to boot up. I'd say all that makes it by far the best value 'first' laptop.
 
The XPS didn't fit in my new camera bag, so I bought a Macbook Pro :D

1017057.jpg
 
Piers Gibbon said:
Now I absolutely LOVE my current Macbooks touchpad which has a 2 fingers to scroll option - couldn't go back now tbh!..but not having used the iPhone I have no idea whether Multi Touch is the next step up, or an innovation too far...I certainly don't need the graphics card so this is the ONLY feature pushing me to pay that extra whack - any advice??
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I've played around with a Boss's Mac Air thingy that has this... Its handy, and once you get used to it does make life slightly easier, although its not supported on all applications yet.

I'd of thought that the MacBooks will probably get this in the next revision or so. I wouldn't say its worth buying the MacBook Pro for, though... It might also be possible for Multi-touch to be included in a Software Update, or by a third-party extension...
 
jæd said:
I've played around with a Boss's Mac Air thingy that has this... Its handy, and once you get used to it does make life slightly easier, although its not supported on all applications yet.

I'd of thought that the MacBooks will probably get this in the next revision or so. I wouldn't say its worth buying the MacBook Pro for, though... It might also be possible for Multi-touch to be included in a Software Update, or by a third-party extension...
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Oh..I assumed it was a hardware thing

you are probably right about Macbooks getting it in the future - there's never a right time to buy grrr
 
The release cycle's frustrating really. Even the macbook pros don't look too costly compared to the competition when they're first released, usually boasting the latest uber-expensive top processor. But after a few months between releases and they start to look increasingly out of step. Happens to all manufacturers I guess, but Apple's small product range and love of launches makes them look particularly obvious.

The plus side is, I guess, that the refurb market on slightly out of date models is pretty handy.
 
editor said:
Jokes are not permitted on these threads. This is a serious business goddamit!

Anyway, I reckon the Dell XPS 1530 offers far better value than the MacBook: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5550, 15.4" Widescreen (1280x800) Display, 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 250GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS card with 128MB dedicated graphic memory, 2MP webcam, WiFi, Bluetooth, good battery life, biometric fingerprint reader and 8x DVD+/-RW for just £589 with free delivery.

It's also got the neat MediaDirect function, giving instant, one-touch access to movies, music and photos and some Office stuff without the need to boot up. I'd say all that makes it by far the best value 'first' laptop.
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Can you run Leopard on it?
Seriously though, that's what it boils down to, the best OS. I've never been able to get my head round a Microsoft product whereas Apple software is so damn logical to me.
 
twisted said:
Can you run Leopard on it?
Seriously though, that's what it boils down to, the best OS. I've never been able to get my head round a Microsoft product whereas Apple software is so damn logical to me.
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I think this is the clincher for me.

I've had pcs (desktops and lappies) with Windows and never felt as in control, or perhaps comfortable, as I do with OSX (I haven't even got Leopard yet). We all have different levels of experience, and we are all prepared to do different levels of mainenance and 'learning' to understand our computers and OSs. For me - well I don't know a lot and I can't be bothered to learn, so a Mac with OSX is perfect for me. I'm sure Vista on a pc works great for most, but in my experience I've run into too many head-scratching moments for my patience to deal with.
 
editor said:
Find me a single comment where I've slagged off Mac in this thread, then.
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say somthing nice about the Macbook Pro.. go on.. I bet you can't!! :D

My PC finally died... so I have a 15" Mackbook Pro on order. I hope it works out. Planning to plug it into my old monitor and use a dual screen set up...
 
Vintage Paw said:
I've had pcs (desktops and lappies) with Windows and never felt as in control, or perhaps comfortable, as I do with OSX
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Comfortable is the word ;) apple is in control of what you can and cannot do, just like windows of course. On the other hand free os's like linux you have complete control of everything. Sure it might not be what you want, but I like to point that out to anyone who thinks they are "freeier" by using osx , that they are not...
 
lobster said:
Comfortable is the word ;) apple is in control of what you can and cannot do, just like windows of course. On the other hand free os's like linux you have complete control of everything. Sure it might not be what you want, but I like to point that out to anyone who thinks they are "freeier" by using osx , that they are not...
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I'm well aware of that but like Vintage Paw seemingly, I have neither the skills nor the inclination to learn and cope with high end techie stuff. i want something to use out of the box and for me Mac OS has always let me do what I need.
I can respect the Linux argument about being able to customise something completely but I don't need that amount of control and I'd argue that for the vast majority of computer users Apple is the better tool.

Meanwhile...I'll join PK in his rant about the Apple Uberstore on Regent Street. They just don't like you paying cash do they?? I made the point of giving them 48 purples for my Macbook. The guy had to go to a special cash till as most of them are just set up for CCs.
 
In my day you used a computer by deflecting cosmic rays to flip bits in the CPU registers, uphill, both ways, in the snow. And we liked it that way damnit.

You kids and your "operating systems". Personally, if I had to recommend a portable minicomputer I reckon you should get a DEC PDP11, awesome machine with one of the best OS's ever. Can have a problem running the latest games though.
 
Yep, I'm fair and balanced enough (lol) to understand I'm a slave to Apple using OSX, but like twisted don't have the wherewithal to get all Linuxy etc. As an end user who has little tech knowledge, and doesn't really want any, I'm prepared to pay more for something that makes me feel fluffy and happy and safe.

Many are obviously happy with what Windows affords them, and good for them. I feel happier with OSX and would recommend it to anyone else in my situation without even thinking.
 
Good to see the battle is still rolling along.

I really think its time Apple got its own sub-forum on u75. Though I suspect that'd be over Editor's dead body.
 
TBH I'd recommend OSX for starters as well, because it's lower maintenance than windows (incidentally, I use Linux personally because IME it's lower maintenance than OSX).

Generally though most people are slaves to $application, which usually dictates the choice of OS for them. If you're in the sort of situation where you either a) don't have a "MUST HAVE THIS!!!!!!1111" application or b) are quite happy to learn new applications (and possibly spend time converting data to/from different apps) then it generally doesn't matter which OS you use.

Mac. There, I said it.
 
lobster said:
Comfortable is the word ;) apple is in control of what you can and cannot do, just like windows of course. On the other hand free os's like linux you have complete control of everything. Sure it might not be what you want, but I like to point that out to anyone who thinks they are "freeier" by using osx , that they are not...
Click to expand...

It's a lot simpler to customise and play about with OS X than it is Windows, if you have the urge. Everything from Automator actions, which are just drag and drop batch scripts but can still be very handy indeed (I have one to clean up my desktop, file documents, pictures etc in the right directories, import the MP3s into iTunes... anyone could write that) through Applescript and then on to various already-installed scripting languages, bash, perl, ruby, python... then there's the fact that preferences are stored as easily-locatable .plist files, not obscured in the registry...
 
I've just had a quick skim off this topic and I've an ibook from 2001.
I would recommend apple but if I were anyone buying one i'd recommend buying from John Lewis for their 2 year guarantee.
I had a problem with my screen a year and week after buying and ok being an engineer I fixed it I'd rather have a longer guarantee.
Laptops are bugger to get apart and time consuming (expensive) to fix.
I recommend the apple from easy of use and just superior OS and you can run windows on them if you need. I do for my OU course this year and its fine.
 
FridgeMagnet said:
... anyone could write that) through Applescript and then on to various already-installed scripting languages, bash, perl, ruby, python... then there's the fact that preferences are stored as easily-locatable .plist files, not obscured in the registry...
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I'm not sure much of that is in the OP's list of things to do, to be honest.
 
I'm selling a MacBook, 6months old - pm me for more details if interested. I'll make a nice donation to the server fund!
(hope not out of order, will delete if need be)
 
Kid_Eternity said:
Imagine if a poll went up and was overtly in favour of it!?
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If a substantial amount of people were in favour of it, there was a clear need for such a forum and the mods were up for it too, then I see no reason why it wouldn't be created.

I remain highly sceptical about the amount of users that would use it - after all Mac users make up a tiny percentage of visitors so if anything a PC forum would make more sense (I'm against that, btw).
 
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