To Mac or not to Mac - is my Q

[Rickster]

Ok lets say I was given R19K and I wanted to buy a laptop, I just randomly picked a normal laptop vs a MacBook

Dell Inspiron 17 7000

- 5th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5500U Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.00 GHz)
- 16GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (8GBx2)
- 17.3-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) Truelife LED-Backlit Touch Display
- Nvidia GeForce 845M 2GB GDDR5
- 1TB (5400rpm) Hybrid HDD with 8GB Flash
- Windows 8.1 Single Language 64bit

MB 12"

1.1GHz
1.1GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor (Turbo Boost up to 2.4GHz) with 4MB shared L3 cache
Configurable to 1.3GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor (Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz) with 4MB shared L3 cache
256GB PCIe-based onboard flash storage
2304 x1440 Retina Display

Lets be realistic here, why would I pick the Mac Book in this situation?

 

[ghostR]

Ok lets say I was given R19K and I wanted to buy a laptop, I just randomly picked a normal laptop vs a MacBook

Dell Inspiron 17 7000



MB 12"




Lets be realistic here, why would I pick the Mac Book in this situation?

Your not comparing apples with apples... LOL.

It would need to be the dell vs MBP not dell vs cheapest mac you can get.

 

[Rickster]

Your not comparing apples with apples... LOL.

It would need to be the dell vs MBP not dell vs cheapest mac you can get.

What do you mean? They the same price range.

 

[Hamish McPanji]

What do you mean? They the same price range.

I don't know many Macites who are buying that 12" Macbook. They are waiting for the new developments to feed into the other Macs and will opt for those instead (Haptic touchpad, battery technology, etc)

 

[Rickster]

I don't know many Macites who are buying that 12" Macbook. They also think Apple has lost the plot, because as you said the price isnt justifiable.

FTFY

 

[PostmanPot]

Ok lets say I was given R19K and I wanted to buy a laptop, I just randomly picked a normal laptop vs a MacBook

Dell Inspiron 17 7000



MB 12"




Lets be realistic here, why would I pick the Mac Book in this situation?

Smaller, lighter, flash storage, battery life, high res screen, full metal, makes life much easier, seamless integration with iDevices, it's not Windows, it won't have to be reinstalled in 2 years upon slow down, support and service.

The comparison is bs in anyway, a desktop replacement with something designed for portability etc.

And you just cannot explain something based purely on specs.

Ask any ex Windows fanboys.

Also note all the professionals on this forum who use Mac.

Go through Sauron's thread where he tried going back to Windows for some decent perspective.

What do you do Rickster, and how old are you? Ever opened up a MacBook and taken a look at the internals?

 

[Joker]

Windows diehard my whole life, always considered Macs to be overpriced with dumbed down interfaces. However I'm in programming, and after a while felt I needed to get some insight into this huge other market which I'm just ignorantly ignoring.

Bought a 15" Macbook almost 3 years ago which I'm typing on right now, still going strong. My windows gaming machine now feels like the dumbed down interface..

Many people simply look at specs, then price, and can't see the value - but once you learn the tools and features the value becomes crystal clear to everyone. The only people I know who don't prefer Mac/OSX are people who don't own one..

 

[Jase]

As a layman who recently purchased a Macbook pro 13 " (2015), I was really skeptical especially the price if you compare what you are getting on paper vs other brands.

All I can say is wow (as a layman that is). From the boot time (20 secs or so), to the beautiful display and the battery life is phenomenal compared to my old Acer Timeline (5 hours was great back then). It is lighter than my old Acer.

I have Microsoft office 2016 (beta version I guess) and have no problems doing work on the work desktop and running it on my Mac when I have to do presentations or send reports whilst on the go.

I guess the only downside would be that I cannot do any heavy gaming whilst travelling but I never did anyway.

All in all, a great buy that should last me a good number of years.

 

[Thor]

Ok lets say I was given R19K and I wanted to buy a laptop, I just randomly picked a normal laptop vs a MacBook

Dell Inspiron 17 7000



MB 12"




Lets be realistic here, why would I pick the Mac Book in this situation?

As a hardcore anti Apple activist

I will take the mac.

Why?

I was recently given a Mac and iPhone to lend for a week just to feel of it is that big o deal.


I realized very Quickly, specs is the last thing that makes a Mac a Mac, that thing is an engineering feet, the track pad, the buttons the way it works, absolutely nothing can compete with that elegance and it doesn't stop.

Your total experience from pressing the on switch is an engineered experience nothing is left without being absolutely designed for the user.

I wish I really wish I can scrape together the money to buy one.

I'm not a fanboy I don't have apple products and I hated them, but after that week, experiencing it for myself I cannot lie and say nah apple is overrated, it's not, it really ain't.

 

[bwana]

I was recently given a Mac and iPhone to lend for a week just to feel of it is that big o deal.

Who did you lend it to?

 

[Thor]

Who did you lend it to?

I hate that lend lending stuff. Help a brother out what is the correct term to use?

 

[bwana]

I hate that lend lending stuff. Help a brother out what is the correct term to use?

Lend to, borrow from.

And it's engineering feat… unless you're actually engineering artificial feet.

 

[Thor]

It's early don't have my coffee in yet speaking in this foreign language.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

I would like to get your opinions if you don't mind, I know forums are good for that.

I'm able to upgrade my laptop which is on contract with MTN. My situation is like this. I run a small IT services business and have never owned a Mac in my life, don't really know much about them. One thing I'm sure would be nicer is the web and graphic design part of my business and don't doubt that it would be great for that, but my real concern is the following, it could be a dealbreaker.

1)Would I still be able to go to clients and be able to configure Cisco and other routers with something similar to Putty? 2)With my current laptop (Acer) it doesn't have a serial port, so I got a USB-Serial cable, would something like that be supported on a Mac?
3) What is the negatives when not using a non Mac for business?

I use Linux as well and for me it's very close to perfect, I just can't get myself to not have a Win machine at all, not that I love it. It's like the Land Rover chirp "Land Rover, making mechanics out of customers since 1947" that's how I feel about Windows in general, making techies out of users since the beginning. My current laptop would most probably last another two years, and I would probably still be able to do everything with it for the next two years, BUT when you have a new toy, you don't really wanna play with the old ones, and if something does happen to the Acer, I could be forced to buy another one to do the work if the Mac can't.

Looking forward to your replies.

Oh btw, the deal is very expensive in my opinion. MacBook Pro MD101 from R1079/m it is a bit tight considering it would be for 24 months or 20 till next upgrade.

Linus Torvalds runs linux on a macbook air because he likes the hardware.
I tried to like the macbook I had but ended up passing it off to a minion in the office and getting a better laptop for less money.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

Once you go Mac, you never go back.

I went back after two months of trying to like it.

 

[Hamish McPanji]

Linus Torvalds runs linux on a macbook air because he likes the hardware.
I tried to like the macbook I had but ended up passing it off to a minion in the office and getting a better laptop for less money.

And what exactly didn't you like about the hardware ?

 

[PostmanPot]

I went back after two months of trying to like it.

What didn't you like about it? You couldn't game as well or run some special software? Kindly elaborate.

We obviously can't argue about the quality and thought behind everything, that is a fact.

 

[Sonic2k]

For the record, I am running my games on my MacBook... I often question the need for my Windows desktop... if I had the money today I would go off and buy an iMac

 

[PostmanPot]

What do you do Rickster, and how old are you? Ever opened up a MacBook and taken a look at the internals?

Please let us know?

 

[Rickster]

Please let us know?

23, Ive never opened a MB, but I have seen the inside of one,

But hey, if some how you can justify the price of an Apple product then by all means spend your hard earned money on that product.