veritech

I'm i right in thinking that the macbook is the only "pc"

with dvi out(even if it is via a dongle)
dual core cpu
16:9 screen under 15.4"
wifi and bluetooth
with good battery life
under a $1000/£800

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Joel

It never hurts to try it... then return it if it does not meet your needs. I've heard extreme stories of people "just" buying the MacBook for the form factor and running exclusively XP with it.

Always remember that computer (and gadget) needs are heavily subjective. So go with what you feel... and let us know about what eventually your choice will be.

minimalposter

And read Switchblog!

I recently switched (January) and will never leave Mac again ... well unless something better is around

Joel

Thanks for the mention I've been busy the past few weeks but I'm trying my best to post a bit more stuff that I find interesting.

daver

Macs and PCs are completely different creatures altogether... so it's hard to directly "compare" them...

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veritech

how did you come to that conclusion, they are both x86(well they are now) machines capable of running windows. The only difference is that macs ship with a different os.

All i really want is a unix environment to learn about software development, and nice easy access to a terminal. I like the design and finish of the mac book, along with the size. The mac os x is bonus, not the selling point for me.

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daver

Macs are designed to run Mac OS (i dunno what versions and stuff), while PCs aren't specifically designed to run any OS (but obviously Windows is the OS of choice). plus, Macs are better for multimedia out of the box (iLife anybody? and if i'm right, i'd say in at least 75% of cases) while PCs are built mostly for just getting things done (PCs don't have an iLife style suite because the majority of PC users away from offices are just home e-mail checkers and video game players).

i would say that a Mac is more like a designer computer, while a PC is just a generic computer. it's how they're marketed and how they're designed that makes them different from each other. also, their evolution from day one until now clearly shows that they're different. look at how many different designs Apple has put out in the past 20 years.

but if you like the Mac, and since it is Unix (Mac OS is Unix, is it not?) it'll fit your needs fine. i just think that it's safer to go with a cheap PC to kind of trial software dev before going and further. a lot of people go nuts first, give up whatever they're doing, then look back and go "son of a gun, i don't need this anymore"

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bh77a

@ daver,

You are correct, the Mac OS X is UNIX with a GUI (very nice one at that).

@ veritech,

There are many things that make the Mac stand above most PC's, and the main one of those is Mac OS X itself. Rock solid stable, and on, and on................................................ .....and on!

Personally I have an iMac, two iBooks (work) and a PC that quickly was relieved of Windows by Fedora Core 5 (Linux). Couldn't be happier... well unless I had a MacBook.

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dragonsgames

MacBooks look awesome. They are better looking than most PC laptops (thinner, simpler), faster (because of Mac OS X), easier to use (because of Mac OS X). If I had the money, I would go out and buy one right now!

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daver

but likewise, there are many things that make the PC stand above Macs. unlike most people of this world, i'm not a fanboy of any operating system (OK, maybe Palm OS, but that's different). i think that all hardware and software have their strengths and weaknesses... no one is better than the others, just different.
but if i came out sounding like a Windows defender, then i take back my original comment. i just thought it's not fair to directly compare different types of computers (Macs and PCS) as if they were similar models, for example comparing iBooks to Macbooks... (sorry guys, i really don't know my Macs, but i tried)

i think that the Macs are great computers, and that the Mac OSX would be a good SW dev environment as well. but i just think that the price tag is a bit too hefty if you're somewhat reserved in thinking that you really want to dive into SW dev. maybe that's just me though; the more cautious type

you know, Windows can just be as rock solid as Linux (woohoo, go linux!).... as long as you don't install anything or even *touch* the computer! i think one time i sneezed and my computer hung. coincidence or bad luck? lol
the Windows logo should have 2 quadrants with broken glass for all the crashes and then the other 2 quadrants iced over for all the program freezes/hangs, lol!

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daver

see, one thing i don't understand is how does the look of a computer make it "better" than a different computer? just because it is a different colour, or has rounded edges doesn't make it perform faster or necessarily have better or worse hardware.

they're just different.

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Joel

Just a reminder:

All Intel-based Macs can run Windows XP via Boot Camp as a dual boot setup. Meanwhile, Parallels Desktop lets Windows, Linux, or any other OS run from within OS X.

egadgetguy

Sooo... If MACs are so great, Why did they have to switch to Unix OS, Intel Chipsets, and be able to run windows???

I Use about a dozen or so PCs daily for different tasks. 7 are streaming capture boxes using windows media.I go weeks without rebooting any number of them because they are so stable, I don't need to. Most of them are newer then two years, but a couple are up to 4 years old.

I also use two different G5s that are two years old. They are identical configurations. The one I have had to use the most is unstable. I have had some kind of crash almost ever time I have used it. Sometimes its IE that crashes, Final Cut Pro, the ONLY reason we even HAVE the MACs, crashes EVER TIME.
See, I edit video, I currently use Premiere Pro or AVID. ON the PC I am using PP, it is stable and may have a hiccup causing me to have to restart the app once every 30 hours of use. Re-booting is usually only needed 5% of these times.
The MAC usinf FCP... well, I didn't buy it for me, but the few times I have tried to use FCP it has crashed within 10 minutes. I have NEVER successfully edited the smallest project on it. Rebooting is mandatory when it crashes. Also, FCP loses everything I did 100% of the time because I never can get to where I can save anything. PP autosaves backups and recovery is usually a matter of redoing the last five minutes or less of work.

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dragonsgames

Very strange. I don't know why that is happening to you, but I have never heard of that happening.

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