Purchasing decision - Mac vs PC (no trolling please)

AfricanTech said:
I think the issue that the Macbook is so old that it's slow by definition - ie. the Wintel machines are all newer so the the updates run quickly - the Mac, albeit having to be updated much less often, absolutely chugs along <--- but that's a function of the relatively slow HDD and only 2 Gigs RAM, not the o/s.
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Ye, any operating system on a old hard drive and 2GB of ram is going to struggle.
 
AfricanTech said:
Does the 8GB SSD portion really make that much of a difference?
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It really does! It's dynamic too, constantly adapting to the most current work/most used data, which sits in the cache.

It's not an SSD, but when storage is needed, it's the best of both worlds.

cerebus said:
PC restarting is such a nightmare for me because I always have like 20 windows open to work on and it totally breaks my workflow. Is that not a thing you need to worry about with Mac? It would figure.
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On Mac, everything opens up just as it was before restarting (you have the option to, or not). Busy with documents and other work? No problem, you can restart in confidence, without having to close everything.
 
If it is just school work and browsing/etc... with some graphic design, then another option is getting the cheaper Win PC and a separate HD IPS screen, which you can pick up relatively cheaply these days.

Of course, this is assuming that the design stuff will be done predominantly on school PC's or at home. It isn't really clear here to what degree portability matters.
 
Rudimental said:
If it is just school work and browsing/etc... with some graphic design, then another option is getting the cheaper Win PC and a separate HD IPS screen, which you can pick up relatively cheaply these days.

Of course, this is assuming that the design stuff will be done predominantly on school PC's or at home. It isn't really clear here to what degree portability matters.
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Although non Retina MBPs do use 6-bit TN panels (I think), they do use dithering which is a 'virtual' way of increasing colour accuracy, I believe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dither
 
PostmanPot said:
It really does! It's dynamic too, constantly adapting to the most current work/most used data, which sits in the cache.

It's not an SSD, but when storage is needed, it's the best of both worlds.



On Mac, everything opens up just as it was before restarting (you have the option to, or not). Busy with documents and other work? No problem, you can restart in confidence, without having to close everything.
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Hmm, maybe I should try that first - won't be a waste anyhow - could always be reused somewhere else if required - might give enough of a speed boost even without a RAM upgrade
 
PostmanPot said:
I was pleasantly surprised working on a 2008 MacBook with 1GB RAM, running Snow Leopard. I was actually amazed. It's so similar to Linux in efficiency.
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My mom is still using her 2006 Core Duo Macbook Pro with Snow Leopard. She has replaced the battery once. I've upgraded it to 2Gb RAM and put in a 7200rpm drive. It's too slow for my needs, but does what she needs.
 
AfricanTech said:
Hmm, maybe I should try that first - won't be a waste anyhow - could always be reused somewhere else if required - might give enough of a speed boost even without a RAM upgrade
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Honestly you can't do anything with 2gb ram.
 
PostmanPot said:
First port of call is definitely 2x 2GB. Difficult, again, finding 2GB DDR3-1066 SO-DIMMs, though. Might be worth it taking it to iFix or the like who usually have stock.
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If he can take it you can get 4gb modules for like R700. So for R1400 he could possibly get 8gb. But I don't know, I tend to agree with Wesley on this. A 2.13ghz core2duo is puny these days. It's really time to just bite it and upgrade.
 
PostmanPot said:
First port of call is definitely 2x 2GB. Difficult, again, finding 2GB DDR3-1066 SO-DIMMs, though. Might be worth it taking it to iFix or the like who usually have stock.
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I might actually have a **** load of 2 x 2GB laying in my office drawer which comes out of all the stock MacBooks we upgraded in the past.

But I'm in Jo'burg for the week so sadly can't check.
 
cerebus said:
If he can take it you can get 4gb modules for like R700. So for R1400 he could possibly get 8gb. But I don't know, I tend to agree with Wesley on this. A 2.13ghz core2duo is puny these days. It's really time to just bite it and upgrade.
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This is the reality.

Although the extra memory and SSD would make quite a drastic difference it's still just a stop gap.
 
SauRoNZA said:
I might actually have a **** load of 2 x 2GB laying in my office drawer which comes out of all the stock MacBooks we upgraded in the past.

But I'm in Jo'burg for the week so sadly can't check.
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Ooh, will keep this in mind.
 
You should be able to do 2x 4GB modules to make 8GB.

I've got the below running at 8GB DDR3 1333mhz and a 128GB SSD.

It's perfectly usable, even for a techie who likes to keep 2 VM's running.

Just be careful which RAM you go for - I had to try 2 sets first. The first brand gave me Kernel panics, the 2nd didn't.

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook6,1
13" Macbook Late 2009 (White Model)

If you're in CPT and need anyone to install / transfer data over to the new drive then let me know.

I can quote.

Cheers,
 
jsheed_sa said:
You should be able to do 2x 4GB modules to make 8GB.

I've got the below running at 8GB DDR3 1333mhz and a 128GB SSD.

It's perfectly usable, even for a techie who likes to keep 2 VM's running.

Just be careful which RAM you go for - I had to try 2 sets first. The first brand gave me Kernel panics, the 2nd didn't.

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook6,1
13" Macbook Late 2009 (White Model)

If you're in CPT and need anyone to install / transfer data over to the new drive then let me know.

I can quote.

Cheers,
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Thanks.

Will keep that in mind
 
AfricanTech said:
What are your guys views? Is it worth going for a Mac given the use can below? (15k saved and set aside specifically for this purchase - just not sure if value for money is being realized).

Use case: school student, non-gamer, Internet, YouTube, has IPad and iPhone
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My neighbor just graduated from varsity and she used a Lenovo i5, which she purchased for R6500.

She got Microsoft Office student edition - think it's R1000 - and that is all she needed to do all her tasks, etc. Oh, and a laserjet printer. Lastly, she has an ipod and got iTunes installed on her Lenovo. Worked 100%.

If money is not a factor, rather go for the Mac, as you mentioned your daughter has an ipad and iphone.

Just my 2c.
 
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