Advice on buying laptops

[gbm85]

Actually, I'm referring to a very visible measure of speed on the typical laptop: The RPM for the hard drive. The higher the capacity, the lower the RPMs. This is not a small difference, either, as the really big drives (160GB+) tend to run at 4200 RPMs, while the smaller drives (60GB) run at 7400 RPMs. Somewhere around 75% extra motion on the platters per second.

That is a noticeable difference in speed.

While faster rotational speeds certainly are available as upgrade options, and are much more common on smaller-sized drives, very few "stock" configurations will ship that way. Why would a company spend the extra money on a faster hard drive that the overwhelming majority of purchasers won't know or care about?

[Mr. Rager!]

The higher the capacity, the lower the RPMs. This is not a small difference, either, as the really big drives (160GB+) tend to run at 4200 RPMs, while the smaller drives (60GB) run at 7400 RPMs. Somewhere around 75% extra motion on the platters per second.

That is a noticeable difference in speed.

Well, you're never going to find a 7400rpm hard drive. And, I can't think of a single laptop on my floor that has a 7200rpm hard drive. Some of the newer laptops with the larger storage capacities have 2 SATA hard drives in them. So, if blazing hard drive speed is a major issue you, you could stripe those drives. (RAID 0)

[Shabo]

I never said it was legal or illegal, I only said it was possible.

Wrong! It's actually illegal to put Mac OS on anything other than an Apple unles you have a developer license through them ($600). The only way to get Mac OS on your non Apple machine is to download a cracked copy of the OS via torrent. So the legality of it all is a major issue in that it's not legal at all. Trust me, I've looked into it.

I've just delved further into it as well. It is true that the EULA for the Mac OS says you can only install it on an Apple branded product. It is true that you would be violating the EULA if you were to install it on a non-Apple machine. However, I'm unable to find a law that says what the consequences will be should you actively choose to violate the EULA. Here is what Wikipedia had to say about violating EULA...

The enforceability of an EULA depends on several factors, one of them being the court in which the case is heard.

So technically, they can try to sue you, and they would probably win in this case. Or, you could sign up for a free online developer membership and bam, no more EULA violation. So it is still possible to get around that.

You don't need to download a cracked copy. You do need to purchase a copy (as it says in the guide that I read. They don't condone piracy either), and I believe it can be a regular copy. In addition, unless you ARE tech savvy, you wouldn't want to mess around with installing the OS on a PC since it does involve some in-depth stuff.

As for the 7200 rpm drive in a laptop: They do exist. However, you are unlikely to find them in any but the most expensive laptops, and I don't think that's something you want right now.

[Mr. Rager!]

You don't need to download a cracked copy. You do need to purchase a copy (as it says in the guide that I read. They don't condone piracy either), and I believe it can be a regular copy. In addition, unless you ARE tech savvy, you wouldn't want to mess around with installing the OS on a PC since it does involve some in-depth stuff.

You will not be able to go to an Apple store, pick up a copy of Leopard or Tiger, run home and install it on your Windows machine. The reason for that is that software is going to look for Apple specific hardware. Your Windows machine (notice I'm saying Windows Machine, because PC can refer to both Mac and Windows machines since it stands for "personal computer") does not have that Apple specific hardware. If it did, you'd already own an Apple machine.

I'm still looking for this free online Apple Developer Membership... and I don't see it. Here's the link to the Apple Developer Connection... http://developer.apple.com/products/

Still looks pretty expensive.

In short, if you want to run Mac OS, then buy a Mac. If that isn't important to you, by a Windows Machine, or a machine with Linux or one of its flavors.

I still think getting an HP computer, with 12-cell battery, Windows Vista Home Premium, T5250 Centrino Processor, 200GB hard drive with 2 gigs of RAM is a good deal. And if you hate Vista so much, you can download for free a flavor of Linux and have fun. Guess what? You still got out cheaper than buying over-priced hardware to run a version of Unix.

[Shabo]

I'm still looking for this free online Apple Developer Membership... and I don't see it. Here's the link to the Apple Developer Connection... http://developer.apple.com/products/

Psst.... second tier down on the left... right next to the student membership... It's called the ADC Online Membership. Or if you qualify for the student membership, you get the operating system and save $30. And on that note, we should really stop debating this since this isn't a fratching thread. It seems that all this techno babble has scared Ryu off.

[tacohuman]

i'll say this: i recently switched from a windows machine to a mac and i adore the mac. it's been so much more functional and stable than my windows machine, not to mention far more intuitive. as for portability, my macbook weighs in at around 5 lbs, vs. 8 on my windows laptop. i know that's mostly because i have an older (3 yr old) windows laptop, and you can get smaller, lighter ones now, but that may be something to consider. also, as a college student myself, i've found iwork (the word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation suite for mac) so much easier to use and makes for prettier final products than ms office suite. and it gives you the option to export your files to .doc, .xls, or .ppt files in the event you need to send them to someone who uses word, excel, or powerpoint.

just my two cents on the issue.

[Broomjockey]

also, as a college student myself, i've found iwork (the word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation suite for mac) so much easier to use and makes for prettier final products than ms office suite. and it gives you the option to export your files to .doc, .xls, or .ppt files in the event you need to send them to someone who uses word, excel, or powerpoint.

just my two cents on the issue.

And as a college student occassionally forced to use the Mac lab at school, I've found I can do almost exactly the same stuff as easily on either system. I really think that if there is no compelling reason to switch, then there's no reason to switch either way. If you know what you're doing, a Windows machine isn't horribly unstable and crash every so often. And if you don't know what you're doing, crashing a Mac isn't that hard (Seriously, the remedial Mac Skills class was hilarious to watch)

My two cents.

[JustADude]

Notice I'm saying Windows Machine, because PC can refer to both Mac and Windows machines since it stands for "personal computer"

The correct term, if you'll pardon a veteran of the Platform Wars butting in, is technically 'IBM-Compatible', even though that company has long-since stopped trying to be a presence in the mass-consumer desktop market.

As for the topic at hand, I'd stick with an IBM-C machine, since the hardware is significantly cheaper, and if you don't like Windows you can switch over to Ubuntu or some other similar flavor.

[Mr. Rager!]

The correct term, if you'll pardon a veteran of the Platform Wars butting in, is technically 'IBM-Compatible', even though that company has long-since stopped trying to be a presence in the mass-consumer desktop market.

Macs are now IBM-Compatible. Boot Camp made that possible.

[Impetrix]

I just skimmed the responses, so apologies if I missed someone else saying this, but Mac has a rather nice educational discount. So if you go that route, it'd probably be better to get it before you graduate.