Laptop recommendations?

[DevilBoy]

Believe me, I am the furthest thing from an Apple Evangelist... but I will respectfully have to disagree with almost everything you have said about Macs.

Look, I'm going to say this flat-out. If you don't need a Mac-specific program, don't get a Macbook or MBP. You'll have limited software options

Not true.
Many software titles are cross-platform. Those that aren't fall into one of two categories.
1. They either have a very close Macintosh counterpart, or
2. There is no Mac equivalent software for a Windows version because one simply isn't needed.

networking with a Windows-based computer will be awkward

Again, untrue.
I have been using Macs for over 20 years and I have never had any issues networking them with my Windows machines.
Not even when I was still working in IT and had to support both platforms.
Networking protocol is OS independent so it makes little difference what OS your machines are running.
Hey, machines crash from time to time. It makes no difference what OS the computer is running. If the machine was crashing as often as he claimed it was, then it's likely something just wasn't set properly.
I can count on one hand how many times I have had any Mac crash on me. Yeah, it does happen... I just haven't seen it happen often at all. Just like any computer, if you know what you are doing and you are doing it properly, you won't encounter too many system crashes.

and you'll be paying more for the "status symbol" aspect (also known as the "Mac Tax").

This is the biggest misconception of all.
Yes, in the past (we're talking about 10 years ago) Apple computers were much more expensive than a Windows machine. Those days have been over for a long time now.
I challenge anyone to spec out a Windows machine and an Apple machine to the exact same specs. You will find that when you do, the machines are equal in cost... maybe one might be slightly higher, but in my experience... when you spec out a Windows machine to match a Mac... more often than not, the Windows machine costs more.
Sure, there are the $350 Dells and the $500 HP's ....etc.
When you buy a machine like that, you simply don't get everything that you would get with a Mac. Quite frankly, you get what you pay for.

Macs have their place in a professional environment, but not for general use.

Again, I have been using Macs for over two decades. I use them for everyday use as well as professional use. I do have a Windows machine, but I have not needed to even turn on my Windows machine in over 5 years... I simply don't need it to get anything done.
The Mac can do anything a Windows machine can, and vice versa.
Macs are fine machines for everyday use.
The only reason I even had a Windows machine was for gaming, and I don't really play games that much anymore.

Most people who say things like you have about Macs have simply never used them for any length of time. They have no real, personal and in-depth experience with using the Mac and spout off what amounts to nonsense about it.
Much of the arguments are shallow and simply not true. They're more a matter of opinion.
Mac users, on the other hand, usually have lengthy experience using both platforms.

I am not like majority of Apple users... blind fanboys who worship the ground Steve Jobs walks on and spend every waking minute of their life preaching the gospel of Mac... those people make me sick and give Macintosh users like myself a bad reputation.
I don't get preachy about Apple and I don't try to coerce anyone into buying one, however, when someone makes accusations and statements about Macs that simply aren't true or factual, it bugs me and I have to speak up.

Look, I don't care what computer or OS a person wants to use.
Use whatever is the best fit for you... whatever you are the most comfortable with and whatever works the easiest for you.

[sld72382]

I just got an Acer, out of all the ones I look at, it had the best specs. I will not be an HP or Dell and Toshiba's warranty policy stinks.

Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115506

[Broomjockey]

I challenge anyone to spec out a Windows machine and an Apple machine to the exact same specs. You will find that when you do, the machines are equal in cost... maybe one might be slightly higher, but in my experience... when you spec out a Windows machine to match a Mac... more often than not, the Windows machine costs more.

Okay, so I may be stupid, but these two laptops look very similar to me.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834100045
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220412
So explain to me the over $1k difference in price.

As for software, then explain why I can't find anywhere near as many portable apps to put on my USB drive as I did for Windows for use at work? Or why I can't find more than one or two programs to do something, ignoring the portable aspect? I guess I don't need choice, but it's certainly nice to have. Trust me, I've looked in to this, it wasn't a light comment. Just because there's a "Mac counterpart" doesn't excuse the fact that there's only one or two pieces of software commercially available to do that thing.

Networking is OS independant, but trying to browse files on one computer from another isn't, which is what I MEANT. Obviously network protocols are the same, or you'd need Windows/Mac specific routers, but trying to set up permissions and ensure the file tables are readable both ways is a pain sometimes.

Yes, the "general use" comment was personal taste, and if that's what you've been raised on, you probably should have a different opinion. I was raised on the Apple IIe, and then on Macs when they made the switch to a GUI, and I much preferred Windows. I feel it allows me a greater level of customization, whereas Apple's computers have always felt "idiot-proofed" like I can't be trusted to meddle with the settings. For someone who's computer illiterate, then it's probably better to get a Mac, since there's fewer viruses and such to get, and fewer things to screw up. For intermediate users and up, it's a personal taste matter.

As for my "spouting nonsense," and "not having any real personal experience," my most recent time was 4 months of 3 hours a day, 3 days a week in a dedicated learning environment just over a year ago, with periods of use more intermittant before that, and before the switch I talked about eariler, all I used were Macs.

"Mac users have more experience with both"? I have to call complete bullshit on that one. Every "dedicated" Mac user I know has ZERO experience with Vista, but absolutely refuses to believe me when I say it is a good operating system at least the equivilent of XP. I know what I'm talking about, so I'd thank you not to imply that I'm incompetant, unknowledgable, or fanboyish.

As for crashing, I've had my desktop Vista box crash on me one time in the over a year I've had it, and my laptop not at all in the year I've had it. And as for my friend's Mac not being set up properly? What's to set up? I thought Macs were supposed to be easy in that respect? There's no hardware issues, it's all factory spec. There's no personal programs running on it, it's a work machine. It's not customized at all. There simply is no good reason for the OS to be crashing as often as it is in the environment it's in.

So a 5 minute search on Newegg shows the huge price gap between machines, which you call the biggest misconception, and spend a great deal of the rest of your post insinuating that I'm reactionary, and know not what I'm talking about. I hate to break it to you but you ARE an evangelical Mac user, the worst of what you professed to hate. Unfortunately all of this is now massively off-topic, so if you've a rebuttal, PM me about it.

[Gravekeeper]

Still running my little eeePC here. Does everything I'd need it to do away from my desktop, was cheap as dirt, required no set up beyond turning it on and runs a surprising amount of games for a mini laptop. Also its on XP.

Plus its cute. Yes, that's right. Its cute, dammit.

Her name is Rin-chan. <3

Actually posting from it right now as I'm still at the office. ><

[Dave1982]

Those machines are similar only in their bare bones specs. The Asus lacks FireWire, slot-loading drive, multi-touch trackpad, doesn't appear to have a PC or Express card slot, etc. Doesn't include anything like the iLife suite.

By the way, it's not "fewer" viruses on Mac OS X....it's ZERO.

Anyway, getting BACK ON TOPIC...........

If you are seriously considering getting a Mac, than I'd get the base MacBook.

If you are thinking Wintel, then I'll second the vote for Sony, and also suggest HP (including Compaq) or Toshiba as good brands, and also reiterate to stay the hell away from Dell. HP/Compaq, Toshiba, and Sony are of generally much higher quality than Dell, and their support is MUCH better.

Acer is a mixed bag. Some of their stuff (like the Aspire One netbook) is awesome. We've sold dozens and dozens (probably hundreds now) of the Aspire One and had I think two come back with a problem. On the flip side, we recently had one (can't remember the model, but it was a cheap-ass "doorbuster" item) where fully 50% of our stock was in some way defective.

As for Vista vs XP......I've used both and had to sell both. The fact of the matter is that unless you have a specific application that you NEED to run that doesn't work under Vista at all, than there really isn't any reason to stick with XP. And if it IS the case that a program you need doesn't work under Vista, then it's time to re-examine your need for that application, because if the vendor hasn't released a Vista-compatible version yet then you have a much bigger problem in the long run.

I'll admit that I'm a lifelong Mac-user here, so take this with a grain of salt, but in my experience, 99% of the anti-Vista/pro-XP vitriol is unfounded crap. The overwhelming majority of people who complain about Vista to me at the store can't even come up with ONE actual reason as to why they don't like it. They just say "it sucks" or "I've heard it sucks."

If you can't come up with a reason, and if you don't want to get a Mac, then get a Vista machine and don't sweat it. Yes, there will be a bit of a learning curve if you're used to XP, but in the end you'll adjust. I had to make a similar leap when I went from the Classic Mac OS to OS X.

[Evil Queen]

By the way, it's not "fewer" viruses on Mac OS X....it's ZERO.

This is why I have Linux.

I'm looking into getting an eeePC (with Linux, of course) as well myself. I just want it for writing and the random internet surfing.

[RootedPhoenix]

Count me in as someone else recommending Gateway. I have a Gateway laptop my friend gave me that was already a year old then. Still works, though I did add some RAM to it a couple of months ago. It runs on XP. I use it to take notes and do my homework. It's not an impressive machine, but it does what I need it to.

Macs are good machines with good tech support people, but they are rather expensive. If you're only looking to get online, the Mac may not be what you want. They are shiny though.

[PepperElf]

another vote for mac.

i've had mine for ... omg, 1 year 9 months now!... and it's served me wonderfully.

the only *issue* i have really is that i keep my monitor on a lot and i think i'm shortening its lifespan, but that's my fault.

and i've had two upgrades (3 if you count installing Leopard)... I installed new memory (2G) and a new hard drive (500G).


and of course you already know that anything Diablo will play on the mac
blizzard always puts both PC & MAC on the same disks.


and if you still want to play PC games, .... well you could always install a bigger HD like i did and partition it into two operating systems with Boot Camp or Parallels.

[azn_pyscho_007]

well, i currently own a dell, mac, and dell is good....their xps line is great and they put quality parts in the computer.....like acer and hp, gateway, etc... they put in crappy parts and their warranty support is like from foreign countries and dell is good due to customer service.......or in the other hand apples are freakin great !!!!woo hoo