Why buying a Mac is simply fucking rediculous.

MacBook Pro
2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
MacBook Pro 15-inch Glossy Widescreen Display
Backlit Keyboard (English)
Nvidia GeForce 9400m grapics

$1,700

HP HDx16t

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P8700 (2.53 GHz, 3 MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
4GB DDR2 System Memor
250GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
16.0" diagonal High Definition HP BrightView Infinity Display (1366x768)
LightScribe SuperMulti DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
Webcam + Fingerprint Reader with HP Imprint Finish (Fluid)

$1,149.

I can get more for a LOT less?! Gee, let me think about this for a minute...
xxovercastxx says...

You have an unhealthy obsession with Apple. I wouldn't buy one either, though I did consider it at one time, but I don't have to make an announcement about it every few weeks.

This isn't a great comparison, either. A Ford Fusion V6 AWD is far less than a BMW 328xi with comparable specs but nobody in their right mind would consider them competitors.

ps. For $1300 I just built a Thinkpad T500 that'll outlast either of these two laptops.

Sagemind says...

If you need a Mac, Such as if you are a designer, or you do video editing on a major scale, there is no substitute. I have both and both have their purposes. Being compatible with printers and service bureaus goes a long way. Macs also just make the job easier when you are bouncing back and forth between programs. It’s also great for kids who just want to play the kids games. Mac is basically a tool of the trade and the best one for the job.

Windows is more for the serious gamer. It is made for office networking. It is well balanced to be both a business tool and a game component. Microsoft is steering it away from gaming (if it can), that’s why they came out with x-box. It is customizable in so many ways; it is easily tailored to fit most people’s uses.
And it’s what I call the “New Car” remember how guys used to sit around and brag about the engines of their cars, pull things out change it up, customize it… well engines are getting more sophisticated now and a lot of people have switched to computers. “Wow, great computer, whatcha got in it?”

My point is, both are great at what they do. I have two windows computers and a mac at home and a high-powered mac at work. I use them all. Each has their purpose. Now when I upgrade, and that could be sooner than I want; What will I buy? It’s leaning towards Mac, but my expensive software is all in windows…

By the way, does anyone know where I can get a copy of the OS 9 operating system? I need to yank 10.x some old discs no one’s using any more… copies…. anything… download site…

dag says...

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

It's the hardware and the software - working together well to make a good user experience. and a third thing that is rarely mentioned. There's a small sample of Steve Jobs' semen under the apple key of every mac sold - so yes, magic.


>> ^rottenseed:
>> ^dag:
If a computer is just a shopping list of parts for you- then I agree you're probably not suited to a Mac.

um what else would it be? "magic"?

rottenseed says...

So you're saying the OS is worth $500???

>> ^dag:
It's the hardware and the software - working together well to make a good user experience. and a third thing that is rarely mentioned. There's a small sample of. Steve jobs' semen under the apple key of every mac sold - so yes, magic.

>> ^rottenseed:
>> ^dag:
If a computer is just a shopping list of parts for you- then I agree you're probably not suited to a Mac.

um what else would it be? "magic"?


dag says...

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Whoops posted to rotty's profile by mistake:

I don't usually think of it as "hardware" and "software" it all just fucking fits together into something beautiful.

If I am forced to split it up then yes- I'm willing to pay $250 more for the software that I use for 12 hours of my life every day. Then I'm also willing to pay another $250 premium for a hardware design that supports those 12 hours.

fford says...

That comparison is total bullshit.

Memory
Mac: DDR3
HP: DDR2

Video Resolution
Mac: 1440x900
HP: 1366x768

Bluetooth
Mac: included
HP: +$25

Battery Life
Mac: 5+ hours
HP: < 3 hours

Case Construction:
Mac: unibody aluminum
HP: plastic crap


And that's just off the top of my head.

kronosposeidon says...

Do not smack the Mac, Gunny, lest ye incur the wrath of a thousand angry Mac fanboyz. Because Macs are the bestest puters EVAR! How can you type and blow Bill Gates at the same time!?! You'll smoke a Pentium turd in PC hell (where Steve Jobs will send you when you die) just for writing this!

What IS this blasphemy!?!!?!?!?
.
.
.
.
And it's FOOTBALL, not SOCCER!

Hawkinson says...

I am not a hipster (I grew up in/live in echo park, and I hate their parking spot taking/beard growing ways), but I have to say that most of the time, a mac is a good deal.

It just works.

Another reason is the bundled and subsidized software. iMovie and Final Cut Express are unmatched on PC. I LOL when I see the MS PC commercial that shows some woman buying a computer for video editing for less that 2 grand. What is she going to use to capture and edit video? Adobe's Premiere costs almost 2k.. iMovie is free, and is more than enough for 95% of home users. Need more features? Final Cut Express is subsidized, $99. Want to spend a shit load of money? get the full final cut package, it will cost the same amount as Premiere Pro.

I have never bought a mac. I have a retail license for windows xp pro that cost $150. I did this because, at the time, there was more open source video encoding software availible on Win32.

However, I will never upgrade to Vista, and will likely never upgrade to Windows 7. Linux desktops are mature enough for everyday use, especially since 95% of poeple ONLY use their web browsers (my sister-in-law has used her computer for 12 months and has not created a single document).

Need a document? Open Office is okay (not great), and works on Win32, Mac, and Linux. Open Office Base works very well.

Summary: most users would be better off with the closed hardware and subsidized software that comes with mac. Nerds should be using Linux 100% of the time. Microsoft should be severely punished for their OS blunders (home users chose them only because it is the de facto standard in busness, but the majority of businesses are still using XP, two years after Vista's introduction, so there is NO reason for home users to use Vista.)

ulysses1904 says...

Well, maybe to some people it's worth paying the extra $500, so that for the life of that computer they don't have to worry about ever having to wipe their drive and reinstall their OS, apps, and data because of all the freaking malware that's taken for granted in Windows.

I'm amazed at what some Windows users have to go through, not just computer newbs who unwittingly got viruses on their computers but tech savvy hard-core gamers who built their own PCs and are offline for days because they have to reimage after getting infected.

budzos says...

I could easily run Ubuntu but I want to you know actually use my computer and not sink dozens of hours per year into sticking it to MS. Oh also I play PC games. Vista's pretty sweet for that.

spoco2 says...

I completely agree with those sticking up for the Mac here.

While I have posted elsewhere (the sub $1000 laptop sift most recently) that Mac has zero entry level pcs/laptops, the comparison you're making here is a little off base.

I just bought myself a sub $AU900 Dell laptop, with a 15" screen. The cheapest Mac Laptop with a screen that size is $2600. That's an insane divide, and one I cannot justify at all.

The gap you're showing here though is not as much, and you would have to start weighing up the pros of the Mac.

For me, I would LOOOOVE iLife. iMovie and iDVD, from my brief playing with them, run absolute bloody rings around Windows Movie Maker and Windows DVD Maker.

Having unix type OS under the hood would indeed make my coding tasks easier also (running local servers etc.).

So these things ARE worth a premium.

Are Macs better built and more reliable? Don't really think so, recently when being with some Mac users, one of their quite new Mac Book Pro's fan was whirring away maniacally. I mentioned how noisy the Mac was compared to the Dell I was using (which I couldn't even hear) and he said that the fan was about to die, and it was a really common issue with the Macs.

Right.

Buying a Mac is NOT 'simply fucking rediculous[sic]', it is a matter of choice. If a PC does all you want, then yeah, you can get a laptop for a lot less. BUT if you start to value some of the software that Macs have included with them, and having a unix backend, then you may start to think the extra dosh is worth it.

YOU don't want one.

Why do you feel the need to loudly justify yourself to everyone and try to shout down those that think Macs are worthwhile? Seems pretty juvenile, and the sort of thing I used to do when I was 9 about my ZX Spectrum compared to Commodore 64s.

budzos says...

In my case it's because the false perception that Macs are better tools leads many of the marketing victims among my clients to cock an eyebrow. It clouds perception because it's simply not true. I mean, look at your rationale... the bundled software is better, and justifies the added expense. That's goofy.

spoco2 says...

>> ^budzos:
I mean, look at your rationale... the bundled software is better, and justifies the added expense. That's goofy.


I don't see how that's goofy. I'm prepared to pay money for better software that makes doing things easier/better/faster. I gave OpenOffice a damn good try because it was free, but you know... I ended up paying for MS Office 2007 because it's just better.

Same goes with the Macs, the software that comes with it, and therefore the day to day experience with it can make life better... that is worth more money.

spoco2 says...

>> ^budzos:
Yeah but how is that any better than buying a nice PC and the equivalent software? It's fucking six of one, half dozen of the other, except with PC you get more choice.


You find me equivalent software.

I can't.

Really.

There's nothing that's half as good as iMovie and iDVD for creating movies/dvds easily and yet with nice flexibility to do funky stuff when wanted.

I cannot at all vouch for whether they are good with a wide range of media formats, but I find it hard to think they could possibly be worse than Windows DVD Maker which dies at the 99% mark without prior warning with all sorts of media formats.

volumptuous says...

The Macintosh Titanium 800mghz G4 laptop I bought in 2002 sits right next to me, and runs Logic Pro and Ableton like a fucking champ.

Yes, I spent a lot in 2002. Seven years later the thing is still solid.

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