Any computer geeks in here?

[VinniE30]

all keyboards are the same.

:facepalm:
That's like saying all laptops are the same. Keyboards can be very good and bad. Key spacing and resistance, backlit or not?, chiclet keyboard or not? Some of these things are subjective and personal preference too.


By the way the apple laptops have an amazing trackpad. I've never came across any other manufacturer's trackpad that's even close, they are garbage, although some have gotten slightly better in the past couple years.
Apple really puts a lot into every aspect of their laptops from the screen resolution and how it does in sunlight, to the aluminum case which has a very durable, strong, and high quality feel. There are many aspects of the hardware you have to consider - i.e. noone has even mentioned battery life yet.
There may be laptops that are better certain categories, but none that are better all around. Keep in mind they also have great customer service.


And to the OP - looking at just those specs you listed is a stupid way to make a decision. And if you really care about speed then put them next to each other and see which one does things faster - boots up, shuts down, loads programs, etc. Make sure it's a fresh boot when you load the programs or that they have both just been opened and closed on both laptops for a fair comparison.

[ethrtyiS]

:facepalm:
That's like saying all laptops are the same. Keyboards can be very good and bad. Key spacing and resistance, backlit or not?, chiclet keyboard or not? Some of these things are subjective and personal preference too.

what i meant and mentioned about was that all keyboards have nearly the exact same layout, hence why i said they are all the same. if you wanted to get technical, then you can go into great depth on sensitivity, size, loudness, depth of key press, so on and so forth.

[twism]

Okay so I did go to bestbuy today and checked the laptops tho the Sony was a slightly different version than the one I'm looking at. What I saw was that the screen of the Apple was much much better than the Vaio screen, the trackpad is really amazing and the materials used for the laptop just feel better when you touch them. On the other hand tho, I was disappointed that the apple has no USB 3.0, I mean seriously for the price they are asking, they should have put at least one! Another thing is that they don't offer 7200 rpm Hard Drive which I would really like to have. I guess I would wait couple more days before I make my final decision, and I would like to thank you all for your input. And please don't argue and fight, everybody have their own opinion and a way they see things so there is no way to make somebody else like what you think.

[ethrtyiS]

well that is what you should expect from apple. they are months behind on their computers.

[dirk619]

It was all my fault on that one, actually just connected the ram wrong. Ended up putting it in the secondary slots (a2, b2, c2) ended up working when I put it in right, face palm I know.

[j0oftheworld]

I ordered this over the weekend.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834230214
Plan on ordering an SSD for the spare HD slot from work and it should be fine for what I do. I'm also looking in to Andriod tabs. since I feel that's the mobile platform for the future. :)

[accident]

I would put the SSD in the main slot and the hard drive it comes with in the expansion bay. Some laptops don't like to boot from the expansion.

[pandaboo911]

I've never been a fan of apple really. I've always preferred a pc over anything. I hate laptops. But that said, I would still get the macbook.
Windows blows ass, and most of the laptops I've had have really poor battery life, and come with enormous amounts of bloatware (all that software you dont want), and it can't be removed without reinstalling the OS.
The macbook is up to speed in terms of hardware, and you know you're getting a quality product, with a superior OS.

Half the people here are comparing a desktop PC to a mac, of course the PC will be better.
We are talking about laptops here..

[msportr430]

If you already have a desktop just pimp that shit out, IE new video card and blu ray or something like that, and get a cheap netbook. I wouldnt buy a 1,500 dollar laptop to to take to class and watch a couple videos on.

[Nairb]

Just curious, but what the hell are you guys doing that you can say "windows blows ass?"

Are you designers or software editors or something? I consider myself a heavy computer user (games, school, internet, music, video, a billion family photos, etc etc) and I honestly have no complaints at all about Windows 7 in it's current form. However, I am not one to whine and bitch about trivial shit... so maybe that's my problem?

I mean seriously.. with years of XP, Vista and Windows 7 usage, I can only remember like 4-5 BSOD or anything major happening to where I had to restart my computer.. and I cannot remember the last time Windows caused me to lose any of my data.. (seriously, maybe 8-10 years ago I lost a Pokemon story I was writing or something on an Intel 3 Hewlett Hackard non-tower.. not really, but seriously, that's how long it's been.)

[Dermeister3]

Just curious, but what the hell are you guys doing that you can say "windows blows ass?"

Are you designers or software editors or something? I consider myself a heavy computer user (games, school, internet, music, video, a billion family photos, etc etc) and I honestly have no complaints at all about Windows 7 in it's current form. However, I am not one to whine and bitch about trivial shit... so maybe that's my problem?

I mean seriously.. with years of XP, Vista and Windows 7 usage, I can only remember like 4-5 BSOD or anything major happening to where I had to restart my computer.. and I cannot remember the last time Windows caused me to lose any of my data.. (seriously, maybe 8-10 years ago I lost a Pokemon story I was writing or something on an Intel 3 Hewlett Hackard non-tower.. not really, but seriously, that's how long it's been.)

You probably have a good experience with windows because you are a responsible computer user. Most people who have problems may be inexperienced and mess with some things they don't know about. This causes the crashes that most people experience (user error). So then they get angry and blame it on a poor OS, when really it's their own stupidity that causes the "crash". This leads to buying a more basic Mac, that you can't do as much to. "do as much 'TO' ", is different than "do as much 'with' ".

"The macbook is up to speed in terms of hardware, and you know you're getting a quality product, with a superior OS."

Up to speed? Yes, it has good hardware now, but its not breaking any ground. Quality? ya i guess. It's certainly not indestructible and not worth $500 extra dollars for the case it comes in. Superior OS? Depends on what you use it for.

[ieatpeople]

until they get laptops up to par with desktops, my 4 year old toshiba sattelite will do just fine.

my desktop however, i love.

amd phenom2 x6 1100t 3.3ghz
8gb ddr3 ram @1600
2 500gb 7200rpm sata6 hd (set up as raid-0)
radeon hd 6870R 1gb
corsair 750w ps
gigabyte mb


if they can build a laptop with comparable performance, for $900 (which is how much my whole setup cost) i will be first in line.

i get 70fps playing bf3 with all settings on ultra w/ 1920x1080 res.

[Thizzelle]

Didn't read all, go for sony with windows, stay away from the Apple Nazis (ie. if you buy apple you have to replace everything with apple, super expensive, their way or the highway)

[VinniE30]

This leads to buying a more basic Mac, that you can't do as much to. "do as much 'TO' ", is different than "do as much 'with' ".

This is pure bullshit.

Explain why you think a mac is more "basic". What do you mean by that?

What do you mean by you can't do as much to it?
What do you want to do to your computer that you can't do that a mac?

[Dermeister3]

This is pure bullshit.

Explain why you think a mac is more "basic". What do you mean by that?

What do you mean by you can't do as much to it?
What do you want to do to your computer that you can't do that a mac?

Modify system files. I game on my laptop occasionally (CS:S and such) and by using a few programs installed in Windows program files and changing a setting (which i forget now, it's been a few years) I can halve my ping to the CS servers. I tried the exact same thing on my friend's mac (from 2008 i think) and it wouldn't let me do anything to it's OS files.

Also, I work for an accounting/auditing company and the software we run doesn't work with mac, much to my co-workers dismay. So he ended up having to buy a net-book to bring to work every day. I don't if he tried "boot camp" (i may have the wrong name)

I will agree that OSx (snow leopard?) boots on average quicker, and can do some things that Windows 7 can't. And like i said, Windows 7 can do things OSx cant. Pick the one you like better. the extra money i would pay to own a mac is too much for me. I have better things to spend money on (ie hookers and cheap beer)

el fin