ssia
it costs $1,200
(this thread is really for my sister, so please educate her on what's better than Macbook Pro [plus cheaper])
Printable View
ssia
it costs $1,200
(this thread is really for my sister, so please educate her on what's better than Macbook Pro [plus cheaper])
Thread makes no sense.
Either you want to work in OSX and use software for the platform, in which case you either want a Macbook Pro or a Macbook.
Or you want to work in Windows or Linux and use software for those platforms, in which case you probably want something else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LoneSage
My place of employment gave me a Dell Latitude. Nice machines as far as windows go.
She should just get a mac if she wants one. Thing is, even if the alternatives are better, the mac delivers a unique enough experience that won't be emulated on the alternatives. [wizkid hat]This goes deeper than, "Ignorance is bliss." The idea is that if you want a certain thing, your happiness will not be fulfilled until you obtain that thing. Even if the item is frivolous, inferior, or simply not as good as an alternative. Expectations are cast and if they aren't met then happiness declines. I studied under Richard Easterlin. Look him up. O'Canada.[/wizkid hat]
That felt weird...
I like coding/general computing better on OS X, fyi.
My Macbook 2.4 GHz is about two years old now, will sell by next year, replace with the equivalent current model.
Really all she's going to do on it is Word for homework and internet. That's it. She has no idea what differences are between operating systems. She has no idea what an OS is, actually.
Funny, i'm looking to get a Macbook Pro as well. The one i'm getting is $2100 and it has what I need for video editing (I need Final Cut Pro if i'm going into television, etc.). I'm also looking to do dual booting on it so I can run Steam and play L4D2. :)
Edit: Answered as soon as I did. :P
Dells aren't bad machines at all. A bit big and bulky for my tastes, but they do a good power laptop. My company shifted to Dell a few years ago exclusively for our work laptops. I didn't really like the size/battery life of the ones we could order... Mind you, we had a specific set configured for us. This year I decided to order myself a Lenovo x200s to replace my older x61s workhorse. I easily get 10 hours of battery life out of it (usually more if I'm misering WiFi), but I opted for a solid state drive which really helps. Total cost of it was around $1200 when all was said and done, but it's a killer laptop. I pretty much swear by Lenovo.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rade
Ditto..Quote:
Originally Posted by Rade
I interact with a lot of various environments with my employment, and almost all are Solaris/UNIX. It's so nice to simply VPN where I need to go and SSH to one of the devices and already be in a *nix environment. I laugh when I watch my coworkers all trying to setup their putty clients, Cygwin, or the like. They don't seem to grasp that there is a very accessible and well supported *nix flavor out there.
Yeah, Debian.Quote:
Originally Posted by brentsg
I got my first Mac earlier this year when I got my 13.3" MacBook Pro. It's a great computer, and I'm using it as my main computer with an external monitor, keyboard and of course mouse. I was very set in my Windows ways, so there were some transitional issues for me, but I imagine those matters won't bother you if you're almost illiterate with regards to computers. In that case, I definitely think that Mac OS is the better choice. Word/Excel works great in Mac OS; of course you have to buy a special version that runs on Macs.
One thing I find curious about those 'unibody' Pros are the weight. Mine's certainly smaller than most 'regular' laptops, but it certainly isn't light! If you're going for ultimate portability, consider the MacBook Air.
My sister's definitely not going to need something with a killer rig. I imagine she'll use most memory for photos and her iTunes. And I'm thinking, goddamn, isn't there something that can do that just as well as a Macbook for something less than $1,200.
She could do everything she needs to do on a netbook if she wanted to (not that I'm suggesting that). You really don't need to spend more than a couple hundred bucks for what she needs, however Macbook sure are nice.
I've tried about every Linux distro, even compiling my own at one time. But I never really found the complete package. Fugly fonts, rough edges, etc.. And I love the OSX iLife apps. They are quite well done. Lots of others I love too, especially the Omni apps.Quote:
Originally Posted by nruva
If nothing else, save a bit by buying from Apple's refurb store. There's absolutely nothing to be afraid of there, and sometimes you get free upgrades.Quote:
Originally Posted by LoneSage
ive had no problems with my asus laptop. id highly recommend it but its about 2 years old now.
if shes just gonna be typing up some shit and using the internet a netbook would be fine.
definitely no need to get a pro.
apples hardware is really overpriced but their laptops are generally less so than most of their other products.
still you cant get anywhere near high end graphics with an apple laptop but then its not like your sister needs that.
id look at warranties, cost of extended ones, and post warranty support. dells warranty support is great but as soon as it runs out you cant even call tech support without paying per minute.
i also have no problem interacting with linux environments from windows. its not hard to use putty or cygwin. i even have gtk installed and can and have made c based linux gui apps on windows.
Nice Batman&Robin gif btw - shit game with incredible, albeit repetitive, graphics.
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...versmaller.gifhttp://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...versmaller.gif
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...versmaller.gifhttp://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...versmaller.gifhttp://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...versmaller.gifhttp://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...versmaller.gif
Not quite the way Mac OS does things. It's very different from Windows, and I have a feeling that a computer illiterate will have a much easier time with a Mac. The Mac laptops are also vastly superior to most any other brand in terms of build quality. They may be on the heavy side, but my guess is there's a reason for that. I've had Toshiba and Fujitsu-Siemens laptops myself, as well as extensive experience with Acer (little sister's had two) and Dell (10-ish classmates in high school) laptops, and they just don't come close.Quote:
Originally Posted by LoneSage
Have to say, if she doesn't care either way on what operating system to get, avoid Apple computers... you can get a computer that oes anything she'd want for less than half the price. She can use that savings to take care of w/e she needs to.
EDIT: Forgot to add in, if the PC is just literally for surfing & some light docs or photo/music storage, get a netbook. Me & my wife each have one and it's all the computer we need, seriously. If it's not a PC for school, it's totally worth it AND they are a third of the cost of the Mac. PLUS if you want you can get Ubuntu 10.4 Netbook or EasyPeasy for the computer to gain the security of Linux over Windows, so she doesn't kill it opening a bad email or something.
Another pro-apple comment:
My Macbook has a cracked case and they are going to replace the casing free of charge, outside of the warranty.
Didn't say it was a problem to interact, but it's another layer of BS.Quote:
Originally Posted by not sonic
Last client I was working with had a secure shell on everything, where I had to SSH in as some idiotic permissions level.. using a secure token at every turn. Then had to su to root, oracle, whatever.. Any additional simplicity I could grant on my end made it a lot easier doing file transfers to/from, etc. You can just run into some pretty weird stuff in the wild and adding one more layer of stuff to deal with on your own terminal is unnecessary.
I end up using putty quite a lot anyways, as I only have 1 OSX box and the rest of my stuff is generally windows. But I often find that simply going *nix to *nix greatly reduces the headaches in a number of situations. That was my point.
Anyways this is clearly beyond the sister's scope anyways, it would seem.
Even though there are way better things to get, the kids nowadays get macbooks to "fit in" or seem cool. It's pretty irritating, especially when most of them just use it to take photos and update their social networking sites.
lol, that was fun to read. We should go get ceviche and margaritas.Quote:
Originally Posted by nruva
Actually, Linux on an Apple is really nice. OSX is what makes the machine suck.Quote:
Originally Posted by brentsg
Worst sentence ever. "can and have made c based linux gui apps" - fail. Clearly it's not a "Linux GUI App" if it's inteded for multiplatform use. Dumbest shit ever. It's like saying SSFIV was a "360 app you can run on PS3."Quote:
Originally Posted by not sonic
Cygwin is absolutely not a replacement for a real shell. You're always having to patch paths, Ctrl+Z won't work, the font is all jacked up and it's awkward to use console apps (which is all it's good for, anyway). It doesn't help that I'm forced to use this at work because "we don't support Linux on the desktop."
So back on topic....
Netbook - Cheap, great battery life, "fun" and you can get them in pink.
PC Laptop - Cheap, great specs compared to the last-years-Crapple stuff for the price, prone to bad-juju for early users. MS's new security essentials is actually a lot better than Defender and all that crap in the past, so maybe she'll do just fine if she stays away from the torrents.
Macbook - If you have money to blow, it usually is really nice hardware. They're trendy and the interface has a lot of pretty things. I personally don't believe there are any real advantages over any of the above for casual users.
On a side note - most people that say, "Should I get a Mac or a PC?" have already decided on the Mac and are looking for someone to help justify the purchase. If she's at that point, just bite the bullet and get what she wants. nruva beat me to saying this already. :)
In what way are there way better things to get? Which terms of reference do you use for making such a statement? Remember that other people don't have the same needs from a computer as you do. I can assure you that not all MacBooks are sold to satisfy some sort of Apple fetish.Quote:
Originally Posted by Xian Xi
It's for the casual user that the advantages are the most obvious. Shit just works on Mac OS, where things easily get hairy in any version of Windows.Quote:
Originally Posted by Supasaru
Way better things to spend the money on. She probably already has a laptop that's still useful.
I also like how your statement seems like you think I'm anti-apple when I've been pro-mac for a while now. My statement of spending money on other things is towards sage since it sounds like he's gonna be shelling out the money for a laptop she doesn't really need. I don't think she'll really understand how good that mbp is until 4-5 years later.
no it was specifically a gui front end to a linux command line application that used linux scripts, commands, and directory structures. it definitely did not work in windows nor was it designed to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Supasaru
Decision made :).Quote:
Originally Posted by Supasaru
Get a used Powerbook. Should only run you a few hundred.
All I have in the house is Macs. Switched over about 10 years ago because I got tired of playing tech support for everyone I knew. After the switch, I could just tell them I no longer kept up with windows, etc, etc...find someone else :D
You wrote a zenity script for gnome from Windows? The equivalent of editing a text file? I thought you said it was C based? A C based script? Not possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by not sonic
Thanks for clearing up that you can write text in Windows. I was afraid you couldn't.
You're making this more fail than it already was. Stop. :hammer:
I thought that was an influence. Vaio's were available in pink for a while - I almost had to take out a $2500 loan.Quote:
Originally Posted by sammybean
That's debatable. Most first-time Mac users spend most of the day thrashing around trying to figure out what they can "do like I can on Windows." I would even venture to say that Macs can be worse than PCs - if a PC "has a bad day" you can probably fix it. If a Mac has a bad day, they want you to reformat and completely reinstall everything when a completely useless no-smoking-sign looking thing appears that doesn't tell you what caused it to fail.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kristian Meller
On a funny note, one of my favorite things to do is have someone with a Macbook tell me "my Mac is broken and I can't reinstall because there's a disc in the drive and I can't eject it." I usually take it from them and hold it over the nearest waste basket and power it on - the CD ejects and I ask them if they knew they had to drag it to the trash can to eject it. (Protip: If you hold the trackpad down while powering up, the CD ejects).
I personally hate Apple, their philosophies and by-proxy their products. The hardware is nice, though. Anyway, I don't want to get into Apple vs Everything. If she has already made up her mind that she wants one - get her one.
And just FYI - we only have 1 out of 5 PCs in this house that run Windows, and that's only because my girl needs CS3 for work. She gets around just fine on my LInux PCs and enjoys all of the GUI effects and efficiency bonuses (expose - just like Apples, multiple desktops, "rootless" windows, etc). She's a professional graphics designer, but by no means a computer scientist.
no. youre making assumptions. i said nothing about zenity. i wrote a gui, in c, using gtk+, to effectively launch and modify settings for another command line c application, and some scripts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Supasaru
my entire point was that its not that hard to interact with or even write for linux in windows. but instead youre nitpicking and making assumptions and trying to call me out on semantics and totally missing the point.
So once again, you wrote a C application for a multiplatform framework (gtk+).Quote:
Originally Posted by not sonic
Zenity was only an example - and it sounds like you could've (should've) achieved the same thing with Zenity or even js/VBS than writing a front end in pure C.
Either way - you're still editing text on Windows. If you're proud of that, then I congratulate your achievement.
I don't care how and what you did. I already know from previous experience that you throw stuff out there trying to be some heady internet dweeb and it all turns out to be as stable and legitimate as Jenga. This conversation is over.
cool story bro.
maybe gtk is multiplatform. and maybe you could separate the gui layer. maybe there are easier and better ways to implement a gui.
but maybe that wasnt the point of the project.
if you want to be like that then all programming is just editing text.
maybe you should go back to misusing broken to describe fighters.
http://numberbox.net/blogs/mutilatin...-called-tetris
I'll send you the source to it if you'd like it. It's a multiplatform limited Tetris clone that I wrote in about 2 weeks for a course. Builds are available for Linux Console (ncurses), Windows console, Linux GTK, Windows GTK. It is truly multiplatform with preprocessor statements littering the whole thing as a proof-of-concept for multiplatform programming.
Edit - And this isn't the only thing I've written like this. I can't send you anything I wrote for the company I worked for in Florida.
For the slow, that whole thread on broken fighting games was split from a good thread where someone said, "this franchise has always been broken" and I replied, "all franchises have had their broken moments - give this franchises new engine a chance before you deem it borked." It takes a certain level of maturity and intelligence to grok that an abstract concept like "broken fighting game" can't really be legitimately quantified - thus the reason I strung everyone gullible enough to leap in on for days. HnK, which I love and was just playing, is completely broken. Infinite combos and Instant Kills can finish matches in mere seconds - making it not competitive. Then again, is it really broken? If you decide to shift your perspective to the point of the game being to leverage the engine against your opponent and they accept that - the competitiveness of the fighter is restored.
Anyway, we're polluting this thread.
cool, i'll check it out.
and on top of that ill concede to you that making a gtk gui for linux in windows is not the best example of windows-linux interoperability.
I have an older laptop im willing to let go for 100 + shipping. Sempron 1.6 ghz, 1gb ram, 40gb hdd, dvd burner, win xp home. Works as new. Kb was never used even. Runs word and any browser with flash ive tried just fine. And of course picture viewing would be fine as well.
EDIT: meant 100 + shipping (which would be about $10). And the screen size is 14.3 or 15".
Good deal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Force
Comes with 5GB of porn that your sister is sure to enjoy! :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Force
Kind of like having a manual transmission when I was in college...Quote:
Originally Posted by topher
Hey fish, can I borrow your car?
-Can you drive stick?
I fixed your typo. But hey, think of it as a bonus!Quote:
Originally Posted by Phyeir
Disclaimer: to those of you with no sense of humor, the winxp home installation would be new/clean. Porn is optional/extra.
sounds like a swell deal, Force. I don't think I'll be buying anything anytime soon since her b-day is on new years day, but yeah...if anyone else wants to jump on it, go ahead.
I can understand the netbook arguement, but there's a few things notable about macs vs pcs.
-no worries about spyware, malware, viruses, adware, etc.
-Macs are better built and last a LONG time. My Dad had his iMac for almost 10 years.
I know people who have had problems with their PCs and have to buy a new one every 3-4 years.
Pretty true!Quote:
Originally Posted by Beefy Hits
Absolutely false. Completely and absolutely false in every way imaginable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beefy Hits
There are just as much heebie-jeebies out there you can get on a Mac and it's really very silly to let people think that they're absolutely safe on a "super, infallible virus pr00f Mac." There have been plenty of viruses and other malware for Macs including a large botnet made out of Mac users that decided to pirate Photoshop.... that's just funny.
Anyway.... As for everyone that's about to say, "I've had a Mac since I was born and never caught a virus!"
Well, I've had at least one Windows PC in my home for 19 years and... I've never caught a virus or any other malware. So I suppose I could say Windows has "no worries about spyware, malware, viruses, adware, etc" but that would be completely misleading to the rest of the population.
Edit -
More food for thought.
Macs are actually more prone to Java related attacks. Why?
Because you can't update Java out of band on a Mac. You can only update when Apple "feels" it necessary and *NOT* when Sun (now Oracle) deems a critical issue worthy of an update. So, in an analogous comparison to "Macs don't get viruses," that means that Windows is actually more secure than a Mac.
Moral of the Story -
Computer like things are exactly that - computer like things. Apple made the iPhone and hardware hackers everywhere are having a blast breaking it apart. iPhones aren't safe from malware, OSX isn't safe from Malware, Windows isn't safe from Malware, Linux isn't safe from Malware, the 360 isn't safe from Malware... We can keep going all day. :)
let me talk to her sage. I will send her a message on fb tonight.Quote:
Originally Posted by LoneSage
btw, I have seen all of Brook Goin's videos and I am ready to propose to her.
-Future LoneSage.
i don't know much about the current macbooks. my 12" ibook g4 is almost 6 years old and i still use it for about an hour per day. i never even re-installed the os or anything like that. i would love to upgrade to an ipad but as long as it's still working, i will not replace the ibook.
if it has to be a netbook, then i would suggest to get one with the dual core atom and the nvidia ion graphics chip. that combo is much faster than a regular netbook. fast enough to play 1080p movies and hd youtube content.
i have an asrock ion 330 nettop with a 24" lg sreen as my main system and don't think i will have to upgrade anytime soon. it too has the dual core atom and last year's ion chip. power consumption for the nettop, the 24" screen AND the netgear router is less than 50 watts, btw.
i love it when i'm drunkQuote:
Originally Posted by wasabi
Ok my sis wants me to ask if it comes with a webcam and if you have a picture of the laptop. Thanks brahQuote:
Originally Posted by Force