To Mac or not to Mac, that is the question
I would love to get a new notebook. Currently I have the Dell Inspiron 1100 which isn’t a bad notebook, but it is underpowered and only has a measely little Celeron processor. In addition it only has integrated video and so it only good for surfing the web or programming. It also only has about 2 hours of battery life.
The question though is what to buy. Currently I have a Dell and I have been very happy with Dell. However, I would love to get a Mac. My biggest problem with Apple though is the price of their computers. The bottom of the line iBook is $1249CAD and that only gets you:
- 1.2GHz PowerPC G4
- 512K L2 cache @1.2GHz
- 12-inch TFT Displays
- 1024×768 resolution
- 256MB DDR266 SDRAM
- 30GB Ultra ATA drive
- Combo Drive
- ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 with 32MB DDR video memory
- AirPort Extreme built-in
Whereas for a little bit more I can get a Compaq Presario R4000 series notebook for about $1499 with the following:
- 2.0GHz AMD Athlon™64 Processor 3200+ with Cool’n'Quiet™ Technology, 512KB L2 cache, up to 2000MHz system bus
- 1024MB DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) at 333MHz; expandable to 2048MB DDR SDRAM (2 x 1024MB)
- ATI RADEON® XPRESS 200M IGP video graphics with 128MB DDR (dedicated) video memory
- 80GB 4200RPM Hard Drive
- DVD±R/RW and CD-RW Combo Drive with Double Layer Support
- 15.4” WXGA High-Definition BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 800) Display
- 54g™ 802.11b/g Wireless LAN with 125HSM/SpeedBooster™ support
- Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
So my question is: which purchase makes the most sense. With Apple you get a poorer quality notebook and an amazing operating system whereas with the Compaq machine you get an amazing notebook with a passable OS. I would love for someone to tell me that the 1.2GHz PowerPC processor is going to perform as well as the 2GHz, 64bit AMD processor. There is also the RAM to consider. The iBook only comes with 256megs where as the Compaq has 1024megs. A computer these days just does not function properly with less then a gig of RAM in it (at least in my opinion).
I would really like the iBook. However, the Compaq is a very tempting computer with some amazing hardware in it. I tried looking for some reviews but could not find any, so I will be eagerly waiting to read what others think of this shiny new notebook. In the meantime, I am going to have to settle this little argument with myself.
i’ve got a powerbook 1.25 ghz and a thinkpad 1.8 ghz, the thinkpad blows the pb away on everything.
Plus you get a really crappy spec’d mac - 30gb disk is crap and you’d need at least 512mb of ram to use any decent app - garageband is right out the window.
plus if your scared of running windows theres a better range of linuxs’ for the x86 processor.
plus if your fitting into a windows network then the mac makes it a bit harder.
> i’ve got a powerbook 1.25 ghz and a thinkpad 1.8 ghz, the
> thinkpad blows the pb away on everything.
This is what I am afraid of. With the Mac, I get a very cool OS and a not so cool computer. Whereas with the Compaq, I get a really cool computer that I can always put linux on.
I am not too worried about the networking part. I have successfully networked Macs, Linux and Window computers together before. Hooking up a Mac to a windows computer is easier than trying to do the samething with a Linux computer. They both use Samba, just OS X has some tools that make it really easy.
I received a Compaq R4000 for my birthday. My Son in law, grandsons and grand SIL, went in together and bought it for me. That was Sat. May 7, 05. on Tuesday it crashed trying to load the software for my DSL. Took it back to the store and they reformatted it and installed all of the software that came with it. It crashed a second time after loading the DSL software. Took it back and the tech got it working again and deleted some of the crap programs that came with it (AOL & trial Norton) and the DSL software. It has worked OK ever since but I still can’t get it to talk to the router. Still working on that problem. If I had been in on the purchase it would not have been a compaq or anything else from HP. This is my first “store bought” computer since my VIC-20 (which still reads high speed Morse code for me on my lowband radio.) I have built a number of computers for friends and grandkids. Have been through several MB, monitors and cases of my own so I would have bought probably a Toshiba or a Sony. It is a great computer when it isn’t crashed.
Wow, talk about rough. I hope your fortunes improve.
I have taken a look at the Toshiba notebooks and I really like them. My only complaint with them is the price. They seem to be several hundred dollars more expensive then an HP or Compaq equivalent. Although this may be a case of you get what you pay for I am not sure.
To end this little story, I decided to buy a Mac Mini for my wife who has been wanting a computer of her own for a little while. She is a Mac fan through and through and the Mini looks like a really good first computer. We already have the monitor and several keyboards so the ability to buy just the computer is nice.
I have just placed an order on the costco.com for the Compaq Presario R4000, with AMD 64 bit, it cost me $1082 plus 8.8% tax. It was free shipping but it will only ship in June :(, I figure it takes them that long to assemble and process it. I was wondering if I can run Linux and Windows at the same time? In addition, where would i get Linux software, I have never used it and I heard there are several versions of it. I dont know which one to get. Please help me with my dillema.
Thanks,
> I was wondering if I can run Linux and Windows
> at the same time? In addition, where would i
> get Linux software, I have never used it and
> I heard there are several versions of it. I
> dont know which one to get. Please help me
> with my dillema.
You can have Windows and Linux installed on the same computer, but you can not run them on the same computer at the exact same time. You can run either Windows or Linux. This is what is called dual booting. When you boot the computer, you get to decide what operating system to boot into, or to use. This is a very common way to run a notebook as peole are either experimenting with linux or still need access to certain windows programs.
Have you ever installed an operating system before? If not, then I highly recommend getting someone who has installed an operating system before to help you out. Installing Linux is probably easier then installing windows these days, but neither is a trivial tasks and both can have their potholes.
If you do want to continue and do the install yourself, then you can not go wrong by selecting any of the following fine versions of linux:
Fedora Core 3
Mandrake 10.1 - it is now called Mandriva
SUSE 9.3
Ubuntu
However, personally, I would go with Knoppix. This is a CD that you can boot your computer from that will run linux. It does not need to be installed and won’t touch anything on your hard drive. It is a guaranteed way of running linux on your new notebook without actually having to do any of the messy stuff like installing linux. With Knoppix, you can give linux a trial run and see if you like it without having to commit to it first.
Knoppix is actually an amazing little CD. You put it into your computer and boot off the CD-rom drive. Knoppix will then load up and detect the various parts of your computer—video card, processor, network card, screen resolution, etc—and configure linux to work with your computer. Then it boots into linux and lets you play.
So, my recommendation — Knoppix.
I hope that helps.
Thanks for the detailed answer. I will try experiencing with the CD at first, and then hopefully will get in to Linux. I just cancled my order at costco.com because it will take them a month before they ship it, and I have bought an IBM thinkpad t41, for $945. I got it used of craigslist.com
Thanks,
I bought this Averatec 6200 last Saturday for $1299. Very nice slim lightweight laptop. Only 2.5 kg. You can play mp3 and DVD without powering it on. No try-wares (yes, no-try-it-before-you-buy wares). Hard drive used is just a little less than 5 gigs. Likes it very much. The only things that dismayed me was the remote control stopped working but I can have repalcement for it, and no productivity programs which I need most.
But when I browsed for laptops online, this Compaq’s specs caught my attention. Couldn’t believe it has all those for the $1499. So, I returned the Averatec and bought Compaq instead. Cost me almost $500 more for everything.
The moment I got the machine out of the box, I want to return it. It’s so huge and heavy just like my very old Fujitsu and Toshiba! Looks like it is as heavy as a desktop! With hard drive size of 80 gigs, free space is 66 gigs. Stuffed with trywares. Lots of them. Even the Intervideo WinDVD, you have to register it and buy it. Averatec doesn’t have that crap and you just play movies without any problem. The Microsoft office 2003 is 60 days trial.
The specs are really good. Going to keep it if I didn’t encounter any problem in two weeks. All I have to do is to get rid of those trywares. Could buy cheap Office 2003 OEM anytime.
I have a problem with the law of gravity, but with extra 5 kg more? Tsk! Besides, I’m not sure if I can parade desktop-sized laptop in coffee shop or in the park. (I’m, just exagerating with desktop-size. But you have to see it yourself.)
Regards