Mac or PC laptop

[WoodPeckr]

enyaw

A lot of M$ folks don't know that open source = free.
Many Windows users think they have to pay for any extra software they want. Then many think if it's free, it's no good! Which is a marketing ploy software makers use to trick them into buying their SW. You hear this BS claim made even here by certain Mac & M$ fans.

Look how many think Avast & AVG AV is no good because it's free!...
The only viruses I got was in the first 7 yrs when I ran McAfee and Norton!
Since going to free Avast in 2006 I haven't been hit by any virus!

 

[jwmorrice]

Look how many think Avast & AVG AV is no good because it's free!... The only viruses I got was in the first 7 yrs when I ran McAfee and Norton! Since going to free Avast in 2006 I haven't been hit by any virus!

Since you've mostly used linux the past couple years, what does that prove??

jwm

 

[jay964]

ive been a pc user my whole life, infact i still have 4 pcs running in my house

i just recently however switched my main laptop to a macbook pro

while i love my pcs, i could not be happier with my macbook. ive had some high-end laptops in the past but this simply blows them all out of the water

in the end they are both computers and provide me the same functions... its just the little things i like about the mac... for one when i close the lid to my laptop and then open it a few hours later, it takes 1 sec to resume exactly where i was... ive had very fast windows based laptops and this was never the case b4, always took like 20-30 sec... second i love how this thing remains just as fast as the day i bought it, not the case with my windows machines... like i said its the little things, like expose, spaces, the trackpad..

the only annoying thing is the lack of software options for a mac, while almost every major software company now makes a mac platform, i use a lot of little bullshit apps that dont provide mac support, but ive fixed this problem by running windows inside mac for theese programs, and im actually shocked at how fast it runs or i just boot into windows with bootcamp...believe it or not the mac hardware actually runs windows the same if not better than my pcs...

 

[tboy]

Let me ask you a few ??s Jay:

1) You say high end PC based laptops vs Mac: what is the cost difference between them? (for that 19 seconds of boot up time)
2) You say you don't have many small apps that support mac but do for your pc, do you think that maybe it is the loading and unloading of all these "little apps" that slow down your system? Unless you load the same amount onto your mac, that isn't a true comparison.

The only "true" speed comparison that can be done is the first time you boot up a machine. After that, if you've used any app, browsed any site, sent or received an email, the system will begin to change.

As an analogy: it is like getting a BMW M3 sedan and driving around a track with just you the driver. Your time is 1 min 48 seconds. Then you drive an Audi sedan around the track with 2 passengers and it does it in 1.58 seconds. Then state: the audi is slower....the BMW is faster.

 

[tboy]

I don't know about that..to me, my MBP is just a tool. It works fine enough but I have no emo attachment to it. *shrug*

lol I'm with you Nibbs. I can't help thinking that goomer takes his MBP to bed with him, has given it a "name", has a special silk "wipe" to clean it with, buys it a present on its birthday (purchase date), arranges playdates with all his "knowing" friends and their MBPs and even think that when it dies, he'll hold a funeral for it....... then all his "knowing" friends can bring their MBPs and hold a vigil for it.......

 

[Tam69]

It all depends on what you are going to do with it. If all your doing is browsing the net, Word, and email. Just buy a good Dell laptop w/ the Windows 7 upgrade. You will never have to search for compatible software or figure out how to run that really old game you like on your PII.

My Mac tower is my work horse. I use it for all my web and linux administration work. When I want to play games, I switch to the Windows 7 side.

Buy a Dell laptop for a fraction of the price with Windows 7 upgrade and you will be a happy camper. Windows 7 is very solid and I have had very few problems with Dell computers.

Yes Linux is free... but you pay for it with having to learn a new system. I love linux, but no way is it ready for non geeks. You will have a hard time running any software on it without knowledge of how to set up a Windows emulator. Yes there is a lot of free software for linux, but again you will end up having to spend time on how to use it.

 

[tboy]

speaking of windows 7, is that out for release now?

I'm curious to see how it runs as it is true 64 bit like xp pro and vista.....

 

[WoodPeckr]

Oct 22,2009 is the official Win 7 release date

Win 7 will come in several flavors!
You have your choice still like with Vista for either 32 or 64 bit versions of Win 7.

I noticed in last Sundays paper most of the PCs on sale came with 64 bit Vista. After using 64 bit Linux since this past May, my next PC will have 64 bit Win 7. 64 bit boots up faster and is more snappy than 32 bit and practically all driver issues have finally been resolved.

The main problems remaining with 64 bit is some 3rd party SW hasn't upgraded to run on a 64 bit OS.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Since you've mostly used linux the past couple years, what does that prove??

jwm

It's only this year 2009, that I've run Linux ~95% of the time.
Before then I still used M$ often.......you're just used to running M$.
Last 2 months Linux has been used ~99% of the time.

i.e., Yesterday XP was booted just for update purposes.
It took over ½ hour to update XP Pro, Avast, Opera, FF, CCleaner, etc., just to make them all current.

Should do the same with Vista but haven't as yet.....

 

[WoodPeckr]

Yes Linux is free... but you pay for it with having to learn a new system. I love linux, but no way is it ready for non geeks. You will have a hard time running any software on it without knowledge of how to set up a Windows emulator. Yes there is a lot of free software for linux, but again you will end up having to spend time on how to use it.

Ubuntu is as easy to pick up as Snow Leopard.
No need to be a geek today to run it. However I do admit the very helpful Ubuntu and openSUSE, help Forums taught me how to run 'command line'. I never bothered with WINE because it will only run ~50% of M$ apps. Prefer to use pure Linux apps that do the same and are not difficult to master at all. Most are easier to learn than their M$ counterpart.

I mean look at what a bloated beast Nero 9 my fav burning app for M$ has become!..
K3B and Brasero do the same in Linux and are much simpler to use.

This is why a dual boot system is recommended, so when you want to run M$ games, fav M$ apps etc., you just reboot into M$. You have the best of both worlds.

 

[enyaw]

Like woody says, save your money. Run a dual boot system. And follow his very good advise. Linux has come a long way. There are some hardware issues regarding chipsets etc. Vid cards, But if you want to save a buck or 2 linux is the way to go. If you want to start from scratch. Format the drive then install windows first, make your windows partition. Then when you throw in your nix distro, select use existing free space. The benefit of using live distros are, hardware issues without installing. If you have a greenlight go for it. And save a few $ while getting the best of both worlds. Good recommendation, Macs are Macs. But macs are one up on windoze, ie they can run windoze as well. Not vice versa.

The choice is yours my friend

 

[Goomer]

lol I'm with you Nibbs. I can't help thinking that goomer takes his MBP to bed with him, has given it a "name", has a special silk "wipe" to clean it with, buys it a present on its birthday (purchase date), arranges playdates with all his "knowing" friends and their MBPs and even think that when it dies, he'll hold a funeral for it....... then all his "knowing" friends can bring their MBPs and hold a vigil for it.......

tboy, you have taken a perfectly innocent comment of mine and contorted it into something downright insulting. Me saying that I "enjoy spending time with it" meant that it is simply enjoyable to use, but of course you knew this but still decided to twist it into something stupid, and IMHO tasteless and insulting.

I didn't even want to continue posting in this thread, but you forced me to respond to these ridiculous comments of yours. At no time was I insulting like this to either you or WoodPeckr, but both of you decided to take things to the next level (ie. the Apple salesman comment, even though WoodPeckr is just as zealous about his Ubuntu as I am about OSX). Anyways, you can continue twisting things all you want, as I am officially done with this thread. Thanks for taking the enjoyment out of this thread and debate for me with your insulting comments.

 

[tboy]

tboy, you have taken a perfectly innocent comment of mine and contorted it into something downright insulting. Me saying that I "enjoy spending time with it" meant that it is simply enjoyable to use, but of course you knew this but still decided to twist it into something stupid, and IMHO tasteless and insulting.

I didn't even want to continue posting in this thread, but you forced me to respond to these ridiculous comments of yours. At no time was I insulting like this to either you or WoodPeckr, but both of you decided to take things to the next level (ie. the Apple salesman comment, even though WoodPeckr is just as zealous about his Ubuntu as I am about OSX). Anyways, you can continue twisting things all you want, as I am officially done with this thread. Thanks for taking the enjoyment out of this thread and debate for me with your insulting comments.

lol these poo poo Mac types are sensitive aren't they? lol.....

 

[OddSox]

lol these poo poo Mac types are sensitive aren't they? lol.....

You're pretty funny!

 

[enyaw]

why hasn't marble chirped in?

 

[WoodPeckr]

At no time was I insulting like this to either you or WoodPeckr, but both of you decided to take things to the next level (ie. the Apple salesman comment, even though WoodPeckr is just as zealous about his Ubuntu as I am about OSX).

Come on Goo,
Don't be so thin skinned.
Believe most of this is meant in joking good natured fun. Gotta admit you do seem overly infatuated with your Mac and do come across as those Mac salesmen I kid with regularly .........not that there is anything wrong with that!

The PC/Mac/Linux battle will most likely go on, till PC & Mac see the light that Linux is the best out there!
Just trying to point you in the correct direction and save you a little, opps I mean lots of, coin in the process.
More for the 'hobby', don't ya know.....

 

[wollensak]

Linux as a learning tool

]Those old junkers you speak about. wouldn't run the latest linux distros that great either. Ram, vid card being factors. Even linux needs some leeway.

I really beg to differ. In contrast to Windows, Linux is not a resource hog. I am currently using an AMD Athlon machine with 2600MHz chip, 1 GB DDR ram, ECS K7S5A mobo at 266 MHz. I use 32MB to 64MB Nvidia Video cards and SCSI hard drives.

If I were doing video editting or gaming. I would probably need more horsepower.
I also have a P4 machine with 800FSB, dual channel ram, and a 3GHZ CPU that will do that for me. I built that machine for $50.

I also have access to recent Windows machines - socket 775, 1 GB ram and IDE hardrives, and the only significant performance difference I notice is that the Linux machine boots up at least 4 times quicker than the Windows machine.

The "old clunker" is proposed as a way to learn Linux with almost no investment and to obtain skills which you can transfer to any PC-based machine.

Just for fun, I took the oldest machine I could find, from back in 1998 when SDRAM was new, and loaded Ubtuntu 9.04 on it. The fastest CPU I could use was a P2 400.
The machine loaded Ubuntu and I was on the internet browsing within about 40 minutes.
The machine was usable but too slow as it would only take 256MB ram.

But the point is Linux will run on any machine built within the last 12 years or so. Windows on the other hand is NOT forward compatible.
XP obsoleted millions of computers and Vista attempted to obsolete any computer older than 4 years.

Microsoft builds it's fortunes on deliberate obsolescence.

 

[tboy]

Wollen: The only thing I'd correct is to say that Intel AND Microsoft plan obsolesence. But then again, just about every other industry is based on this standard (at least in North America).

Compare it to cellphones: the market is pretty well saturated in the US hence why the US providers are moving here. You have to keep re-inventing the wheel else markets will stagnate.....

 

[WoodPeckr]

It's nice to be M$ & Mac FREE!

As wollensak points out Linux distros run great on old PCs because Linux is not a resource hog like Windows. Linux runs lean and fast. I'm running Ubuntu 9.04 on an antique 12 yr old P2 400, maxed out with 384 SDRAM RAM, with only 100 FSB! A new 7,200 RPM HDD made it run much faster than the OEM 5,400 RPM HDD.

That said, on my new dual core laptop, 64 bit Ubuntu 9.04 absolutely flies!
Snappy as heck and boots up in < 1 minute!

So if you have an old PC lying around with better specs than my antique doing nothing, install a Linux distro and watch how it will perform better than the Windows OS you had on it. You will think you have a new PC....

 

[djk]

why hasn't marble chirped in?

He's on Linux now. Maybe he got knocked offline just like TERB did?