why to choose Apple

Rickyleroy,

if minimizing cash outlay is your main criterion in making your decision, then there’s no reason to argue the point: you can install Linux on a computer which you already own without spending a single, er, whatever your smallest local currency unit is, and you can download a gratis virtualizer for Linux in which Windows can be run. Job done, without affecting your wallet.

To be honest, I'm in the process of making a move out of Apple, so I can't give you any good reason to buy a Mac. The software is no more expensive than on a Windows machine - and much of the productivity software for Mac is available for the same pricing on Windows machines.

Windows has gotten to the point where it mimics the Mac user experience to a certain degree so the Mac 'experience' (using OS X) is not much different from running Windows applications. There is less techie stuff in OS X - external hardware doesn't require all of the drivers that Windows normally uses, you don't have to fool much with things such as the Windows registry, etc.

It's a myth, I think, to point to Apple as having the 'best' hardware - you can get a customized Windows notebook hat will run rings around the MacBook Pro for the same price (though certainly not as 'portable'). Unless you just dying to try out the Mac experience, I can't recommend a Mac at this time (particularly not a MacBook Pro).

Just my 2¢...

Clinton

Questions for a salesperson, really... Not what this forum is for, is it?

This question should not be posted here

Terence Devlin,

Not really, I don't think - the poster is seeking to learn of user experiences and not all Mac salespersons are Mac users... what better place to come to ask questions before purchasing? Better than Best Buy, I think!

Clinton

Macs are cheaper to own that PCs: http://techpatio.com/2010/apple/mac/it-admins-total-cost-ownership-mac-less-pc

and: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/tco-new-research-finds-macs-in-the-enterprise-ea sier-cheaper-to-manage-than-windows-pcs/6294

Why will you love Mac? http://www.apple.com/why-mac/

- Better Hardware http://www.apple.com/why-mac/better-hardware/

- Better software http://www.apple.com/why-mac/better-software/

- Better OS http://www.apple.com/why-mac/better-os/

- Better Support http://www.apple.com/why-mac/better-support/

- It's Compatible http://www.apple.com/why-mac/its-compatible/

Switching from Windows to Mac:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2514?viewlocale=en_US

and

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2518?viewlocale=en_US

clintonfrombirmingham wrote:

you can get a customized Windows notebook hat will run rings around the MacBook Pro for the same price (though certainly not as 'portable').

The hardware on the PC is often lacking when directly compared feature for feature; whether you need those bits of hardware is up to you.

William Kucharski,

When compared to the Sager that I recently purchased, it's the hardware on MacBook Pros that is lacking... although my 17" Sager is nowhere as 'portable' as a new Retina MacBook Pro, it's certainly more user upgradeable!

Clinton

Once again, it depends on hardware; your system has a 17" display, but it's not a retina display.

I also doubt your PC has Thunderbird ports, and it definitely doesn't have MagSafe.

But as I said, whether those features are important to you (or whether the PC's are) is a personal choice.

My Sager NP9377 does have a single Thunderbolt port and works well with my Thunderbolt drives and even my Apple Thunderbolt Display. But, no, it doesn't have a MagSafe adapter. That's a trifling thing, though, It can hold up to four SSDs, has dual high-quality NVIDIA GPUs, etc. It's hardware is far more advanced than any MacBook Pro on the market (save for portability and PCIe based flash storage).

It also has a three year warranty. And I paid right around $2,700 for it.

Don't get me wrong - I've used Macs since 1985 and will use this one until it dies (which, with the 2011 models, may be sooner than later) but the time just came where Apple didn't care about the PROsumer any longer, making closed boxes and making you pay out the nose for RAM, flash storage, etc. Apple shifted before I did.

Clinton

So how are we to answer questions like

hardware quality?

- OS performance?

- OS to easy?

- software more careful?

- strong frame?

They're all too vague. The hardware quality is fine compared to... well compared to what? What on earth does "OS performance" mean? Or "OS to easy" ? Even allowing for the fact that the OP may not be a native english speaker, what meaningful answer can you give? Assuming tha 'OS to easy' means something like 'Is it easy to learn?', what do you answer? Yes it's easy to learn. But then some folks find it difficult too. Who's right?

So what meaningful answer can I give based on my experience of using Apple products? I like 'em and they've always worked just fine for me.

There's an answer. Now how useful is that?

Rickyleroy,

for the problems that you’re trying to solve or work around — a small home and a need to run a Windows virtual machine — any portable will be a workaround for the first problem, and any OS which runs a Windows virtualizer will solve the second problem. Based on these criteria, there’s no reason for you to purchase Apple hardware and applications — you’ve already judged them as being “too expensive”, regardless of what their quality, performance, ease of use, &c. might be. Since you know Linux, and you have concerns about paying for something that you’ve already determined to be too expensive, why not stick with Linux and hold on to the money that’s currently in your wallet?

From a purely personal view, my preference is to avoid purchasing a computer with soldered-in RAM. Since all Retina Macs have soldered-in RAM, and all of the 15-inch MacBook Pros currently manufactured by Apple are Retina models, I will not purchase any currently manufactured 15-inch MacBook Pro.