Boring laptop question

[Slim Jim]

Oooooh, me brain hurts - sounds like I should just do what I always do as regards shopping - wait until frustration is at boiling point and then just pick something and go home!!

It'll mainly be for web-browsing, email, loading up images and playing DVDs on boring journeys....which I guess means find one with a decent battery!??

Most people have advised Macs but most of that advice seems to be on aesthetic terms rather than any practical advantage. There's loads of techie nerds here at work who can overhaul it if it goes bananas....

[chimptown]

if thats all its for then just get a cheap pc laptop.

[Electro_suze]

Hang on Jim, what do you want to use it for? That's important. I've been looking at this myself recently, and its very difficult. If its music-related, macs are good, but obviously you cant get any cracked software, and macs have the nasty habit of just completely crashing from time to time with no warning...

You get can a really good purpose build PC for music, and it probably works out less in cost too.

I would go for PC for music, mac for film, but that's just me...

[john stapleton]

macs are good, but obviously you cant get any cracked software

really?

[john stapleton]

macs have the nasty habit of just completely crashing from time to time with no warning...

really?

[pitch]

.....macs have the nasty habit of just completely crashing from time to time with no warning...

nonsense!!!! PCs do that - I've used Macs for 15 years and they have always been more stable.

Having said that - in this case if cost is key and you have limited requirements, a PC will be fine.

[Sergio Paradise]

Get a second hand / refurb Macbook. With the amount of mac users on here alone i'm sure you can get any questions answered.

[Mr_Hopkinson]

From my experience computers can crash from time to time ( or glide by problemless for years ) whatever brand they are, it seems problems are usually, um, attributable to human error . . .

i.e. I reckon if you're using an unfamiliar system its more likely to "go wrong" and reaffirm what you're used to as "best" . . . but ultimately they are just machines in different boxes.

Broadly, I think one system really can now do everything the other does ( I tend to use a mac laptop for on-the-move internet browsing and a purpose built pc for high end video editing, for example ).

If you're starting from scratch, and going to be using one laptop for eveything, you've got to decide carefully what you plump for because to an extent you'll be tied to a particular way of doing things . . . If money's no problem then I think Theeman's advice is great to go with what friends and family use - obviously across the board more people use pcs ( presumably because they are cheaper ) so it can be an advantage to be at ease with them, but for creative use ( and it would seem across this board ) more people proportionally use macs ( presumably because they are cooler, whatever Brian May says ) and so it can be an advantage to know your way around them too . . .

The attractive look of macs extends to the easy to digest operating system so starting from scratch they are probably easier to "learn" but I presume you know how to use a computer already seeing as you're posting on an internet forum . . .

So yeah, go with what your mates have, so they can help you and you can help them . . .

[jakartajive]

What's a laptop?

[Sie-Fly]

What's a laptop?

it's what a lap dancer wears to keep warm

[jakartajive]

it's what a lap dancer wears to keep warm

Aw. Those Ukranians.
Bloody nippy in Lvov at this time of year.