apple? or pc?

[tpark]

apple? or pc? that is the true question when buying a laptop.
I am thinking of buying one of them.

I am familiar with both system however, I found out some information that makes my decision much harder.

These are the models I was considering.
Dell Latitude x300
Toshiba Proetege r100
Apple Powerbook 12.1''
Apple Powerbook 15.0''

Now I have noticed some problem with dell system. Generally I don't find it very reliable or good.
I also know that Toshiba r100 is quite expensive for its features but it is slim and that is what I need. However, Toshiba couldn't make the magic happen. The hardware does not have cd-rom or dvd-rom or etc. I have to buy a external one.

Now I considered Powerbooks. 12.1'' is very nice. It has good pricing for a mac but the problem is not with the screen but I heard it goes pretty hot and it does not have enough battery time with only the main battery. To get an extra battery it will cost me about 100 bucks more. That is too much it even costs to put airport extreme.
However 15.0" is heard to be relatively stable. Same problem with the battery.
So when I think about battery it comes to Toshiba which includes an 2nd battery and lasts about 6.7 hours, perfect for my business time.
When I think about dell it is cheap but not that reliable and I need to get a 2nd battery (even getting a second battery is cheap).

Also I needed to take consideration of graphics. I know apple is very good with graphics. Relatively fast in graphics. (Also comes with a digital output)
When it came to dell with graphics , it was just terrible. It had 64 MB graphic card which I found at first to be very nice but when I read the reviews. It was using 64 MB of ram directly from the Ram itself. Not the ram in the graphic cards. So the reviewers recommanded me to put at least 512 MB. Dell just ripped me off when I went to customize and maxed the ram. Alternate was putting the ram by myself but What am I going to do wih 64MB x 2 ram that cam with it? Just through away? There was only 2 slots. Even though I get 512MB I could only put one of the 64 MB.

I found it to be very difficult to choose a laptop though.
I need one since graphic/design work which I am currently working with a mac at my office( which is not mine) is not enough. I need to work at home and office and during flights and car trips.
So I would some ideas about mac? or pc? and than what model in the 4 choices that you would recommend.

Thanks

-Tom-

 

[g5orbust]

Well, this totally depends on what you want to do. I see graphic design, so Ill help you with that area specialized.

I personally own a 12 inch powerbook (original one 867MHz) can can vouch for its heating issues. The thing gets bloody hot. No way around that one because the thing had a metal case. The battery is a respectable 3 hours (2:50-3:00 is my normal) with airport on and bluetooth disabled. Without airport you can linger in the 2-3 hour range for a while. Longest Ive hit was 4:50 on the standard battery.

The GeforceGo 420 I have in my powerbook works well for every game Ive played on it (UT2k3, Max Payne and WC3) and no doubt that GeforceFX Go5200 will just be a little screamer.

For the 15 inch powerbook, heat isnt much of an issue (the thing is much bigger so it disipates heat easier) and neither is battery. Ive heard reports consistant with what I get on usage for my 12 inch. Never trust company battery ratings, because theyre usually attained using jack crap (monitor at lowest brightness, no cd in the drive, no wifi, nothing active) for system usage.

If you have a mac graphic design workstation, make sure its running Mac OSX so you dont have to go out and buy new software to use a mac laptop (new mac laptops dont boot into Mac OS9). If your software is OSX compatable, then just load it up onto your laptop. TAHDAH! Instant graphics workshop.

I suggest to you the 15 inch powerbook with a combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW), as much RAM as you can afford (1GB minimum for graphics design). The 15 incher has a Mobility Radeon 9600, the fastest mobile consumer chip out there, so this is top of the line stuff.

Some options along those lines:

• 1.25GHz PowerPC G4
• 1GB DDR333 SDRAM - 2x512 SO-DIMMs
• 80GB Ultra ATA drive @ 5400 rpm
• Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
• AirPort Extreme Card
• APP for PowerBook (w/ or w/o display) - Enrollment Kit
• 15.2-inch TFT Display
Subtotal $3,273.00

1GHz PowerPC G4
• 1GB DDR333 SDRAM - 2x512 SO-DIMMs
• 80GB Ultra ATA drive @ 5400 rpm
• Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
• AirPort Extreme Card
• APP for PowerBook (w/ or w/o display) - Enrollment Kit
• 15.2-inch TFT Display
Subtotal $3,147.00

• 1GHz PowerPC G4
• 1GB DDR333 SDRAM - 2x512 SO-DIMMs
• 60GB Ultra ATA drive @ 4200 rpm
• Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
• 15.2-inch TFT Display
Subtotal $2,499.00


Good luck.

 

[ekÆsine]

is it just me or was that odd how you said "I need to work at home and office and during flights and car trips" ?

how are you able to work with graphics on a laptop let alone while in a car or airplane? you have inertia to contend with and unless you plan to use a desktop mouse, that fingerpad has absolutely no precision.

i think it would be better to get a desktop for your home.

 

[tpark]

thanks

This is the solution I came up with. I also chose the 15.2" powerbook.

1GB of RAM
Airport Extreme
60GB of HDD
Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)

I had another question. Do you recommend buying from ebay? Since mac, I cannot find anystore so it is the same from buying off the internet.

The internet options was this

1GHz
Memory 1GB PC2700 DDR SDRAM
Display 17-inch (diagonal), 1440x900 resolution, TFT widescreen
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go with 64MB of DDR SDRAM
Hard disk drive 60GB Ultra ATA/100
Optical drive Slot-loading SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
Ethernet Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit)
Modem Built-in 56K V.92 modem
Wireless networking Built-in Bluetooth 1.1; built-in AirPort Extreme card
System Software Mac OS X v10.2 Jaguar

Also it included 23" cinema display

and a few extra battery and mouse and keyboard.

I currently do have monitor and also was looking for another one. I think it is a great chance.
The total was $1300. I think it is pretty good for a used .

-Tom-

 

[g5orbust]

thanks

This is the solution I came up with. I also chose the 15.2" powerbook.

1GB of RAM
Airport Extreme
60GB of HDD
Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)

I had another question. Do you recommend buying from ebay? Since mac, I cannot find anystore so it is the same from buying off the internet.

The internet options was this

1GHz
Memory 1GB PC2700 DDR SDRAM
Display 17-inch (diagonal), 1440x900 resolution, TFT widescreen
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go with 64MB of DDR SDRAM
Hard disk drive 60GB Ultra ATA/100
Optical drive Slot-loading SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
Ethernet Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit)
Modem Built-in 56K V.92 modem
Wireless networking Built-in Bluetooth 1.1; built-in AirPort Extreme card
System Software Mac OS X v10.2 Jaguar

Also it included 23" cinema display

and a few extra battery and mouse and keyboard.

I currently do have monitor and also was looking for another one. I think it is a great chance.
The total was $1300. I think it is pretty good for a used .

-Tom-

Good price, old model. You wont get as good of performance out of that as you would out of the new 15 inch, but thats really good enough, especially with the widescreen (for pallates and the like).

 

[spfd]

i must say, the apple laptops are crazy.

but .. ive never used apple personally =p

 

[T1junkie]

For Graphic Design I would go for A Mac

but for must other uses I recommend a PC

And that is that in my mind