pc notebook || macbook?
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- doctor_shim
I've read, read more, read further, and still can't decide which one is better.
At some places the macbooks are *way* too overpriced. I can get a laptop with similar specs for less at places like Newegg. So what makes them so special?
And what are the big differences between the macbook Pro, and the normal macbooks? I know the pro comes with a dedicated video card, bigger screen, larger testicles.
What I do love is how OS X looks. Unix? Oh yeah.
Please, someone, give me a neutral POV. I'd like one for my programming + music work. Which do I choose?
- studderine0
if you are going to be programming you might as well get a notebook. you can do the same thing on a mac as you can with a pc..its more about the os...for me anyways. i like my macbook..but then again..
- doctor_shim0
I don't like Windows much, thus my decision to research macbooks.
What makes them such good designer tools?
- ********0
I buy my apple computers from the referb section on apple. Good discounts and they are pretty much new computers. Same warranty, same software everything. In fact I am on my 2nd laptop from apple. Havn't had a problem. I just bought a referb macbook pro.
The best thing about the macbook pro is the resolution, video card and extra storage. Believe me when i say the video card really helps speed up a computer.
And do not forget, you can now dual boot XP or Vista and OSX on Macbook Pro's
To get to the referb section on APPLE.com go to
1 apple.com
2 Click on store
3 on the right hand side down the page a bit there is a Big Red tag that says SAVE. Click on that.
4. you will land on the APPLE certified page. There are tons of deals here.Right now they have a 15 inch macbook pro core duo for 1499. Pretty good deal. I also got the core duo instead of the core 2 duo.
Even though apple says 39% increase with teh core 2 duo, this is a lie. It is more like 10% overall and the battery life is the same.
I love my macbook Pro
- ********0
as for your designer tools question.
There really isnt an advantage besides the fact that most deisgners use apple. Back in the day there was an advatage but not anymore.
But that being said, OS X is a dream. I am a switcher also. I still do stuff on my pc, but i hate using it now. OS X is what sells appls now days. It is very stable, pretty much virus free for now, no spy ware... etc.
- rafalski0
Right now macs (under osx) are actually worse design tools, at least until CS3.
Even though apparently most type lovers and typographers use macs, I am running into font compatibility problems I didn't know in windows (bad kerning mostly). Multitude of mac font formats is hard to justify other way than making it harder to move projects to windows.
Why can't it at least import TTF's properly?..System fonts - while all windows fonts look good when pixelated, only Verdana, Osaka and Monaco are osx fonts that can do the trick. Whenever text in websites is smaller than preset smoothing treshold size, the text looks bad.
Some rant: http://www.atpm.com/12.01/paradi…Some text input windows have a strange problem, the cursor is off writen text, sometimes by a few characters. This is very common and annoying in Thunderbird and not rare at all in Dreamweaver.
I hate that in Photoshop you don't have the program's background beneath your canvas and a random click on the desktop makes all disappear, but that is prolly what old apple lovers love.
I don't like how Firefox bookmarks behave in OSX.. Generally firefox loses a lot of appeal in osx, also its font rendering leaves something to be desired.
Anyway, I still use windows for work.
Even if there still is room for improvement, the machines are best looking laptops out there, period. They're extremely slim, snug and hip. They're probably the only laptops out there with DVI-out. I sure would buy one again. If, as the rumour goes, there is going to be a 15.4" macbook in July, I will likely buy it. And with vista being just windows 2000 rebranded badly, I guess I will be moving further towards OSX.
- modern0
"only Verdana, Osaka and Monaco are osx fonts that can do the trick. "
And Helvetica System and Geneva and Chicago and so on.... anything with a pixel version to it basically, exactly the same as in windows.The main different between fonts on windows and macs is that they don't look shit when anti-aliased when on a mac because Apples font renderer is much better at it than Microsofts.
Windows leads too many straight pixeled edges which makes things looked chewed and forces cleartype on you too much.While on the subject of Cleartype, Clear-SHITE more like.
- rafalski0
Lucida Grande isn't optimized for pixel display at all, and most fonts have bad kerning in pixelated sizes.
In texts where pixelated sizes mix with smoothed ones, there is some kerning drama. Enter non-basic-latin characters(ie. Central European), and we have a tragedy - some characters in a word are smoothed, some are not.. that's just bad.And what's with this win vs. mac attitude? I don't give a shit which system wins, I just want my mac to display fonts correctly.
While in general I like Quartz display better (windows fonts being uglier being a factor too), I have to say Cleartype never gets into mac-like kerning problems.
- doctor_shim0
Would this font smoothing issue affect how Flash renders fonts?
And aren't there problems with working on a FLA outputted by the Windows version of Flash?
- k0na_an0k0
this is a very serious question.
to answer it i suggest you ask yourself this.
wwjd?
- rafalski0
It wouldn't affect Flash font display in general, it has its own font rendering engine afair..
I had recently kerning problems with one font in Flash, but then, Flash was so slow through rosetta, I used Windows anyway.
- Mimio0
Went through the same decision recently. I ended up buying a Sony AR. Saved about $700 compared to the Macbook Pro. In a year or two I might revisit getting another Apple laptop, after CS3 has been out for awhile, as well as next version of Flash etc.
- orkman0
Mmm, I was in Best Buy over the weekend and was surpised that most the PC laptops (Core 2 Duo) around $1,000 were 1.66GHz. The Sony Vaio at 2.0GHz was $1899. So for me it was worth getting a 2.33GHz for a few hundrew more. I put Windows on it and it runs like a champ. It is however, more expensive to go Apple.
Also, my sister-in-law brought her Vaio to our house on Thanksgiving and that laptop just felt cheaper to me than my MBP. Cheaper keybpard, stickers all over it (they can be removed), just not as solid or sexy. Desktops could be argued int hat respect, but they do the job.
I love my MBP, I love being able to boot in Windows when needed, but I love OSX.
Agreed on going the refurb route. That is my only regret.
So I would say if you have the $$$ go Apple.
- doctor_shim0
I wonder what's up with the prices, though. Is it that you get more software bundled with it?
My main reason for considering OS X is that I have *horrible* stability problems with Windows, and I am generally tired of it. (I bump the Windows key while I'm in a fullscreen application, and I get a blue screen, for instance.)
Thanks for the refurb link, btw.
- tkmeister0
i bought a macbook pro. i saved about 1000 for not having have to buy a pc laptop and still being able to test and run windows.
as a designer who is in interactive industry, i need to be able to check in both platforms.
- spk0
oh man
check out the carbon fiber asus
www.asus.com i really like mine despite the sometimes flakey bios
- i_monk0
have you had any problems booting into windows? I'm looking to go the referb Mac notebook route soon, but I can't quite let go of XP just yet.
- mbr0
Macs:
Pros- look pretty, well built and look pretty
Cons- expensive, worst warranty in the market (for high end)
PCs:
Pros - cheap, lotsa choices, tons of software, Vista is looking better and better (see them new flash memory hard drives using Vista code? Looking pretty nice)
Cons - most are boring
Be really careful to compare apples to apples for everything. I have a Dell M90 withe a Duo 2 Core 2.16 processor. I paid over $4k for it, but you could have gotten a similar computer for $2k.
BUT I've got a graphic card in it that cost $800+, 2 gigs of ram - the best of everthing.
Processors are only part of the cost.
- orkman0
One problem was when the battery would run out it would crash in XP.
Another thing is no left mouse click in Windows. I hade to download an app to do it, and then just gave up and bought a Microsoft mouse.
No problems otherwise. Flash and video games run great in XP on MBP. It's sweet!