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04/07/2009 09:37:49 AM · #1 |
I am looking for a new laptop for not only my phtography but also for college. I will be completing high school this year!!! May 21st!!!!! I can't wait. But then comes an even harder challenge, college. I don't have a real prefrence in brand... I like Mac but for college I think that Windows will be better. The reason being is that I have notticed that Mac is not compatable with a lot of programs needed for different things. If I am wrong please tell me and PLEASE voice an opinion. I am not really the "high tech" kid... I know somethings but not a lot. Thank you all for your help...
P.S. $1500 is my limit!
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04/07/2009 09:42:29 AM · #2 |
Do you know what programs you'll need to run on it? - If it's word processing etc. then Office Mac works fine (word, excel etc.)
If you'll be running programming or engineering applications, then you'll probably need Windows. You can either run something like Virtualbox on the Mac, or just buy a Windows-based machine.
When it comes to laptops, I tend to see them as disposable - Buy something now that's cheap ($400-$500 or whatever) and meets your requirements. Expect it to last 2 years, by which time it'll be lost, stolen, broken, or obsolete. And then buy a replacement.
Spend the $1000 change on booze. |
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04/07/2009 09:49:32 AM · #3 |
Haha! Booze huh? I like that idea... Sometimes I wish I was a drinker!!! Things like $500 spare change would give me a SHIT load of fun (pardon the language)!!! Haha! But I will be wanting something that will last as well... I tend to keep things FOREVER! If you know what I mean.
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04/07/2009 09:59:05 AM · #4 |
I've been through 5 laptops in the past 15 years. The *most* you'll get out of a laptop is 5 years, if you're lucky. The battery usually starts wearing out first ($50 for a battery), then hard disk issues ($100), then perhaps the backlight on the screen goes ($$$) - Most of this stuff has a limited lifetime anyway.
Not to mention new operating systems or applications will come along which you'll need a better machine for. Or a new whizz-bang technology that your laptop hasn't got.
And then there's the added wear and tear on a laptop. If you're dragging it through muddy fields on photography expeditions, or throwing it around your dorm in a game of alcohol-fuelled 'catch'
The most robust one I've had to date is a Thinkpad R60 - But even on that the battery died after 2 years and the hard disk failed after that (nothing unusual tbh) - I'm still using it, but I know it's past it's best before date. |
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04/07/2009 10:02:02 AM · #5 |
I see... (I like the game of catch very funny!!) I just hope I make a good decision! Thank you for your help.
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04/07/2009 10:05:14 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by mbrutus2009:
I see... (I like the game of catch very funny!!) I just hope I make a good decision! Thank you for your help. |
Thinkpad, Dell or Compaq/HP - I've had all these brands, and they do the job well. Good luck!
Check //www.notebookreview.com/ as well
Message edited by author 2009-04-07 10:05:20. |
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04/07/2009 10:11:39 AM · #7 |
It mainly depends on what you're doing in school and what you're using it for and what applications you need.
I do engineering and my Mac is perfect for it. Most of the engineering software is actually ran on linux which can easily be run using virtualbox or if you're really into that sort of thing you can even boot natively using bootcamp for Linux or Windows (Mine is set to Windows but hardly need to boot into it).
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04/07/2009 10:46:30 AM · #8 |
My Macbook is the shit.
I've used PCs all my life (for gaming, some video editing, and at the start of my photo days) but I got a Mac for grad school a few years ago and it is awesome. It is small, reliable, easy to use, no bugs/problems (thus far), and generally just works really well for note taking, photo editing, browsing, etc.
BTW you can probably get a student discount (I did) on your Macbook, look into it either thru Mac or thru your school. |
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04/07/2009 11:09:46 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by AP:
My Macbook is the shit.
I've used PCs all my life (for gaming, some video editing, and at the start of my photo days) but I got a Mac for grad school a few years ago and it is awesome. It is small, reliable, easy to use, no bugs/problems (thus far), and generally just works really well for note taking, photo editing, browsing, etc.
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I would love to have a MAC notebook but I just can't justify the cost. They are so much more money and you can get such a faster and better performing PC for cheaper. I would really love the no bugs/problems of them and I really like the OS MAC uses but I don't see it being worth the cost. |
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04/07/2009 11:27:29 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by JEason:
Originally posted by AP:
My Macbook is the shit.
I've used PCs all my life (for gaming, some video editing, and at the start of my photo days) but I got a Mac for grad school a few years ago and it is awesome. It is small, reliable, easy to use, no bugs/problems (thus far), and generally just works really well for note taking, photo editing, browsing, etc.
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I would love to have a MAC notebook but I just can't justify the cost. They are so much more money and you can get such a faster and better performing PC for cheaper. I would really love the no bugs/problems of them and I really like the OS MAC uses but I don't see it being worth the cost. |
I had a hard time convincing my wife to let me get one, but I'm glad I shelled out for my MacBook Pro. It seriously does everything. To me it was worth it for the OS.
What did it for me was boot camp. It allows you to have a native Windows on the HD, meaning it can be both a Windows system AND Mac OS. Windows on my MBP runs better than most other notebooks I've used. You get best of both worlds.
The no antivirus thing has been rather nice too. Oh, and system stability has also been nice as well.
Photo editing in CS4 on this thing too is a dream, I'm completely spoiled now in that regard.
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04/07/2009 11:37:30 AM · #11 |
Originally posted by JEason:
Originally posted by AP:
My Macbook is the shit.
I've used PCs all my life (for gaming, some video editing, and at the start of my photo days) but I got a Mac for grad school a few years ago and it is awesome. It is small, reliable, easy to use, no bugs/problems (thus far), and generally just works really well for note taking, photo editing, browsing, etc.
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I would love to have a MAC notebook but I just can't justify the cost. They are so much more money and you can get such a faster and better performing PC for cheaper. I would really love the no bugs/problems of them and I really like the OS MAC uses but I don't see it being worth the cost. |
It's totally worth it. I got a Dell laptop for work about the same time I got my MacBook for myself. The Dell has required several repairs and has locked up or crashed several times. The worst thing I've had happen on my MacBook is that I've had to Force Quit a few programs, that's because of the program, not the OS or the laptop.
ETA: I have the regular MacBook, which is a very capable machine and much less expensive than the MacBook Pro.
Message edited by author 2009-04-07 11:39:07. |
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04/07/2009 11:40:17 AM · #12 |
Originally posted by mbrutus2009:
... Mac is not compatable with a lot of programs needed for different things.... |
I've found the opposite to be true. While, all in all, there are still more programs written for Windows, less of these are actually used to the extent Mac apps are, and the big boys, especially graphics and science apps, are cross-platform. And when it comes to cost, it may be wise to consider that every Mac comes with a slew of integrated AV software, which do not need to be purchased separately. |
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04/07/2009 11:58:59 AM · #13 |
Originally posted by zeuszen:
Originally posted by mbrutus2009:
... Mac is not compatable with a lot of programs needed for different things.... |
I've found the opposite to be true. While, all in all, there are still more programs written for Windows, less of these are actually used to the extent Mac apps are, and the big boys, especially graphics and science apps, are cross-platform. And when it comes to cost, it may be wise to consider that every Mac comes with a slew of integrated AV software, which do not need to be purchased separately. |
Agreed. I'd go so far as to say the Mac is actually more capable than a PC since, out of the box it's running both OSX and Unix, then, with the addition of Boot Camp or Parallels, it can run Windows as well. So, there's not really any kind of compatibility issue I can see. |
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04/07/2009 04:22:10 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by zeuszen:
Originally posted by mbrutus2009:
... Mac is not compatable with a lot of programs needed for different things.... |
I've found the opposite to be true. While, all in all, there are still more programs written for Windows, less of these are actually used to the extent Mac apps are, and the big boys, especially graphics and science apps, are cross-platform. And when it comes to cost, it may be wise to consider that every Mac comes with a slew of integrated AV software, which do not need to be purchased separately. |
Maybe MAC is the way to go for me when I start grad school in a year and a half. I'll look into it a little more.
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04/07/2009 05:41:48 PM · #15 |
| And beware of the 64 bit Vista architecture, it looks nice but it is far from integrated with Windows or Adobe products. My favorite feature in my 64 bit Lightroom? The fact that you cant burn CD-DVDs without using and external application. Seems Adobe's partner who is writing that won't be ready for a year or two. Grrr. |
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04/07/2009 07:03:58 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by BrennanOB:
And beware of the 64 bit Vista architecture, it looks nice but it is far from integrated with Windows or Adobe products. My favorite feature in my 64 bit Lightroom? The fact that you cant burn CD-DVDs without using and external application. Seems Adobe's partner who is writing that won't be ready for a year or two. Grrr. |
Vista 64 is awesome. I'm running CS4(32) and Lightroom (64). I run CS4 32 bit, not because of Windows, but because most of the PS plugins I have are not 64 bit compatible. I can run the 64 bit CS4, but then I can only use Topaz. Most of my other plugins don't work.
I have 6GB of memory, and I run a ton of stuff all at once. Vista 64 behaves much better under heavy load than my Mac Pro ever did (on my Mac, my background music, running on iTunes, would often stutter.
For example, last night my Vista 64 machine was running Python/MySQL XML data processing programs, recording a TV show to the hard drive using a built in tuner in Windows Media Center, playing music in XMPlay, managing my skype-out/skype in telephone service, several OpenOffice spreadsheets sitting open partially edited, email in the background via thunderbird, fifteen or so tabs open in Firefox, another 6 tabs in Google Chrome, a whole lot of of SmartFTP file transfers to my remote FTP site, Carbonite running backup, adobe bridge, Lightroom 64, and Photoshop CS4/32, and Acrobat Pro all open, severak VNC windows open to my other machines, ... and more.
Obviously, not everything was actually being used heavily at once, but I switch between those apps a lot, and my background music and tuner/DVR functionality never miss a beat. And of course there were lots of FTP transfers going and Carbonite was backing up (slowly--I still have 162 GB to go in my first backup out of 600GB and it's been running more than a month...)
I've always bought Dell notebooks and Gateway convertible tablets, but my last desktop was an HP, and my next notebook will probably be one. The specs on a few look very good and they are very inexpensive for the power/features. And they even have a convertible tablet now!
Good luck!
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04/07/2009 08:49:57 PM · #17 |
| I use both Mac and Windows. Support both Mac and Windows. Run both, Mac and Windows on my iMac. If you love the Mac and need Windows once in a while or at native speeds then Mac is the way to go in my estimation. Good luck in whatever you choose. |
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04/07/2009 09:16:21 PM · #18 |
| I have had great luck (knock wood) with my Toshiba Satellite - going on 7 years now. They have had some over-heating issues, but a can of compressed air works wonders. |
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04/07/2009 09:16:39 PM · #19 |
Thank you all!!! I have plenty of time to think about it... I am also thinking of waiting to see which side makes the newest version. (This will give me the newest things possible so that I can keep it as loooong as possible!) Again thank you all for the suggestions! I will update you all with the decision I make.
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04/07/2009 09:56:02 PM · #20 |
Between my own experience and the IT work I've done, I will personally only buy Acer, Dell, or perhaps an HP laptop. From my experiences, Compaq are total junk and Toshiba is prone to trouble. As for Mac, they don't do anything that a PC doesn't do, and are vastly overpriced.
As a few others have said, your software needs dictate some of your choice. If you're going into a science or engineering major, you will likely have a lot of software to run that is usually resource-intensive. On the other hand, if your major is going to need you to write a lot of papers, or do spreadsheets, or a few presentations, you don't need to worry about performance so much.
In the second case, look at the new netbooks. They're just really small, portable laptops, meant for web surfing and basic programs. Not sure they'd run Photoshop, which may be an issue for you. If you go for a regular laptop, and get Vista Home (there's nothing wrong with Vista, it works just fine), be sure to get at least 2 GB of RAM memory, more if possible.
Check with your school before you buy any software - they often provide some sort of anti-virus for free/cheap, as well as other software at a discount. Contact their IT department to find out for sure if you can't find it on their website.
And as far as Microsoft Office goes, I wouldn't spend the money on it - get Open Office by SunMicrosystems instead. It does almost all the same things, is compatible with MS Office, and since it's open source, it's free. I'll be putting it on my next computer, and all the people I know who have it like it a lot.
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04/07/2009 10:03:23 PM · #21 |
Originally posted by nshapiro:
Originally posted by BrennanOB:
And beware of the 64 bit Vista architecture, it looks nice but it is far from integrated with Windows or Adobe products. My favorite feature in my 64 bit Lightroom? The fact that you cant burn CD-DVDs without using and external application. Seems Adobe's partner who is writing that won't be ready for a year or two. Grrr. |
Vista 64 is awesome. I'm running CS4(32) and Lightroom (64). I run CS4 32 bit, not because of Windows, but because most of the PS plugins I have are not 64 bit compatible. I can run the 64 bit CS4, but then I can only use Topaz. Most of my other plugins don't work.
I have 6GB of memory, and I run a ton of stuff all at once. Vista 64 behaves much better under heavy load than my Mac Pro ever did (on my Mac, my background music, running on iTunes, would often stutter.
For example, last night my Vista 64 machine was running Python/MySQL XML data processing programs, recording a TV show to the hard drive using a built in tuner in Windows Media Center, playing music in XMPlay, managing my skype-out/skype in telephone service, several OpenOffice spreadsheets sitting open partially edited, email in the background via thunderbird, fifteen or so tabs open in Firefox, another 6 tabs in Google Chrome, a whole lot of of SmartFTP file transfers to my remote FTP site, Carbonite running backup, adobe bridge, Lightroom 64, and Photoshop CS4/32, and Acrobat Pro all open, severak VNC windows open to my other machines, ... and more.
Good luck! |
I think you have the worst case of ADD I have ever seen. |
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