[jebfour]

Within the last five years or so, I’ve had FOUR laptops bite the dust…..

• HP laptop – after replacing items for the LCD (twice) this thing finally came to a point where it had to be ice cold or it would shut off (even though the fan was running). Finally had to put the thing in the freezer to get it cold enough, then I would pull it out, put one of those ice/gel packs (wrapped in a towel) on top of it. This gave me just enough time to get some files off of it before it would overheat. Repeat x 5 (BTW this wasn’t my idea I read about it as a “last resort”. Once the files were off, it was tossed.

• Over the next few years we had a Dell desktop that never gave me any problems (but made some weird-ass noises). Needed to go back to a laptop for space reasons….

• Enter the Dell laptop. I bough this thing used, but it proceeded to grind itself into a fine powder in 5-6 months.

• Sony Viao. This thing was such a P.O.S. that I won’t bother going into the details.

• HP laptop from which I’m posting this. Minor issues since the beginning, but it now looks like we are headed for “the big one”. Backed everything up on an external drive this morning.


As you can see I seem to go through these damn things. I’m tired of it. I’d like to ask a few questions of those of you who have “made the switch”.

Are Macs more reliable?

Pros? Cons?

What are some of the issues that you experienced during “the switch”?

Apple seems to be the same kind of “money grubbing whores” that Microsoft is, but does Apple keep a “stranglehold” on the system like Microsoft does?

Will my external drives work with a Mac if they were originally for a PC?

I’m also getting into photography. I’ve been told that a Mac is better for this kind of thing, but I’ve also been told that these days it really doesn’t matter. Thoughts?

Other?

 

[blue]

Are Macs more reliable?

From a hardware standpoint, no. That said, an Applecare extended warranty (I think an extra $250) gives you something like three years of coverage for anything you don't do to it.

Will my external drives work with a Mac if they were originally for a PC?

Depends on the drive. The answer is "probably most likely". You can always get new enclosures for a small chunk of change if the old ones don't work.

I’m also getting into photography. I’ve been told that a Mac is better for this kind of thing, but I’ve also been told that these days it really doesn’t matter. Thoughts?

It doesn't matter anymore, both run on the same hardware these days. Adobe still plays to the design market by generally releasing products for the Mac before the PC, but that's pretty much the only "advantage" they give from that standpoint.

The biggest advantage to a Mac laptop (that is, if you dig OS X as much as I do), IMHO, is the AppleCare warranty. Laptops are inherently unreliable pieces of crap. Apple does well standing behind their stuff, even when the fault lies with the customer. The same can't be said for the PC laptop manufacturers.

 

[Damo]

My Dell desktop is one of the noisiest things in the house.

My Dell laptop is still going strong after 3 years of use. One of the hinges has broken on it recently, so I do have to treat it carefully. I realise the lappy's days are numbered, however, so I am interested in these replies too.

Every Apple user loves their computer. Apple seems to have a following unlike PCs. I would be looking at a Macbook Pro or Air perhaps for my next lappy. Pricey buggers though aren't they!

 

[gruczniak]

Well depending on your needs (i do not see any issue here)) find a T42 or T43 and be happy. Nice performance, light, durable, best keyboard ever. Nice software (access connections etc..)

I mean IBM ones just before taking over by Lenovo - pointing this only because I had many experience with IBM and none with Lenowo. My colleagues use Lenovo with no problems (they will not tell you that thou)

 

[valve bouncer]

How much are you looking to spend? Laptops have got so cheap you can almost *almost* view them as disposable.

 

[binary visions]

Sounds like you're just bad news to laptops.

Anyone want to take bets on how quick he'll kill a Macbook?

 

[jebfour]

Sounds like you're just bad news to laptops.

Anyone want to take bets on how quick he'll kill a Macbook?

I was thinking that we could start an "office pool" kind of thing where people could buy squares.

Actually after a couple rounds of Disk Checks and Defrags this thing seems to be behaving itself - I'm hoping it stays that way!

 

[BlackAthlete]

I have 2 mac laptops, a Macbook Pro at home and a G4 Powerbook at work. Both have been flawless and neither has crashed. I've had the G4 for about three years and it's on 24-7-365 in a Bookendz dock. Former Windows user, went mac and never looked back.

Flawless.

 

[Damo]

...Former Windows user, went mac and never looked back....

And that's what gets heard everywhere.

 

[syadasti]

And that's what gets heard everywhere.

Nah. I have my G4 mini and have been using Apple since the IIc, not impressive. Its all been done before. Just another tool and they all get the job done. I've been using Solaris, BeOS, Red Hat, SUSE, etc for over ten years, not just mac and windows. So-called innovation from the low-end (windows/mac) has been around for a long, long time.

It isn't anything special and their hardware is average at best, still at a premium, and usually filled with defects for the first few generations. Apple releases a similar amount of patches every year just like any other vendor - all OS are filled with bugs. That is the reality, not end user delusion.

At work we have over three dozen Dell refurbished Optiplex bought in 1999 still in production in a 24x7x365 call center. That is a real sample size not a BS single end-user who takes good care of his stuff - the full spectrum of users - bad to horrible. In the two years I worked there one died - after 8 years of use...

 

[gruczniak]

Nah. I have my G4 mini and have been using Apple since the IIc, not impressive. Its all been done before. Just another tool and they all get the job done. I've been using Solaris, BeOS, Red Hat, SUSE, etc for over ten years.

It isn't anything special and their hardware is average at best, still at a premium, and usually filled with defects for the first few generations. Apple releases a similar amount of patches every year just like any other vendor - all OS are filled with bugs. That is the reality, not end user delusion.

At work we have over three dozen Dell refurbished Optiplex bought in 1999 still in production in a 24x7x365 call center - that is a real sample size (not BS single end-user who takes good care of his stuff - the full spectrum of users - bad to horrible). In the two years I worked there one died - after 8 years of use...

I was not aware you can install such systems on Mac, on the other hand you can on most x86 laptops.

 

[syadasti]

I was not aware you can install such systems on Mac, on the other hand you can on most x86 laptops.

I wasn't talking about multiboot and macs are x86 now so its no problem to multiboot.