Posted on 12/21/2004 7:32:12 PM PST by shellshocked
I just got screwed by Dell trying to buy one of their laptops. It seems they are out of Pentium M chips and won't tell their customers, so my wife’s Christmas present is doomed.
I am now looking at maybe a 17" wide Apple laptop for the wife. If it can run windows applications, even remotely well, I might just buy one.
This is a Christmas present, so I am REALLY short on time here, and this is a great place to ask. There is also an Apple store near my house. Buying over the Internet from Dell is unreliable. If it isn't in my grubby paws, I don’t believe it will actually show. Dell Hell.
Any thought or suggestions? Thank you. She’ll appreciate it.
My wife loves her mac and it will run the only thing MS makes worth running (MS Office). It will also run Internet explorer but MS is no longer going to make IE for the Mac. There is always the option of a program called Virtual PC which runs windows on top of the mac when you need a windows program.
Your needs will dictate what you should get, as will your means. You pay a touch more for a mac but to me its worth it. I got my wife a Mac and I *never* have to come home and do tech support for her, her computer just runs. She has never had a virus, spyware, or blue screen. The worst thing that happened is the power cord that came with her computer went bad.
If you can afford it go mac (unless you really need many windows programs) then, go pick up a computer a circuit city.
The best advice I can give you is go to an Apple Store, and tell them what you need.. don't let them sell you go in there knowing what programs you need to run, and if the mac cant do it go pick up a PeeCee
I had a desktop PC for some time before buying my Mac. My Sony digital camera was an absolute pain in the neck to use with Windows. Installing drivers (which sometimes were the wrong ones), plugging and unplugging the USB cable, system hangups, you name it. I brought home my iBook laptop, plugged in my digital camera and turned it on, and the computer automatically recognized it. It opened iPhoto and began the upload process without me having to lift a finger. I used to wait months to upload photos because of the hassle, and now I upload them as soon as I take them.
I worked for 2.5 years in college doing on-campus networking and tech support. I know my way around computers, particularly PCs. Just because I can handle problems doesn't mean I should have to! My 14" iBook has never crashed or acted funny in the 7 months I've had it - and that's with being on and networked 24/7. I have all of the Windows apps I could desire (with the exception of the Sims 2, but I digress).
I'm typing this now from my living room couch, on my iBook. It's wirelessly networked and gets great battery life, so we do a lot of surfing from the comfort of the living room. :-)
I use a Dell laptop at work and in fairness it's actually not terrible. I'd be happier with a faster processor and it does lock up more often than I'd like. There is a price differential to consider. I compared my iBook with a number of Windows-based laptops and with my fiance's student discount with Apple, the Mac ended up being only a little more expensive than a comparable PC. It's just a terribly intuitive and easy computer, and after dealing with my PC at work I'm glad to come home to something that I don't have to struggle with.
Which windows apps would you want to run? Office is available native for OSX, lots of other 'mainstream' apps are. There are native browsers and news clients, chat clients and graphics apps, emailers are there, as are some of the most-popular games (are you a serious gamer?).
The main question is: Do you have any special (non-multi-platform) applications to run? In that case, Virtual PC may be the thing for you. My preference: choose version 6.0 because it was the last version by Connectix before micro$oft assimilated them - I haven't hacked with ver 6.1 yet to see if it tries anything funny (i.e. trying to connect with micro$oft, etc.).
OK, amigo, here's a serious answer from a mac-based support guy.
Yes.
The laptop will run Wintel Apps in a couple of ways...
1) Cross Platform apps. Applications like MS Word, Excel, and various forms of productivity and game software will run on both Mac and Wintel platforms. It may simply be a matter of buying the right version.
2) Emulation. Virtual PC is a fine little application that I used for many years to test PowerPoint presentations for our client (Windows using bankers) to make sure all worked as it ought to on either platform.
3) Necessity. One man I work with, he does some basic image editing, but not a lot. Instead of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements ($500/$125), he uses Graphic Converter ($49), which does the job.
The main concern you need to have is what she'll be using it FOR. If it's productivity in an MS based world, the Mac will run her Apps (MS Office). If it's games, the Mac will run games. If it's serious, my-life-revolves-around-my-high-score-in-Half-Life gaming, go PC.
If it's high end photography, in my side business as a DJ, I work with two or three iBook packing Digital Photographers. Mac works great.
Now, some advice: if you do go Mac, don't use the catalogs (macmall, macconnection) for PARTS. They'll give you a decent price and good service (usually) on big ticket items that they can't control (high end hardware and software), but they'll try to gouge you on stuff like RAM and Hard Drives, which are the same in a mac as they are in any PC.
Anecdotally, I know a couple photographers personally, who use and love the platform, simply because 'it works'. And, visually inclined people tend to like the design of the package, as well.
Good luck in your purchase.
This is a woman's perspective. I have used Apple computers for almost 20 years (Apple IIC original user). Never had a crash that couldn't be remedied with a hard reboot and have never had any viruses.
Using a PowerBook G4 now (as my only computer). It's a great (fast) and reliable machine. I use it primarily for business and personal correspondence (word-processing and e-mail), editing photos and videos and burning CD's and DVD's (iDVD is a GREAT application) and surfing the net (Safari browser). I also enjoy iTunes. I use the Apple Mail program. It's great and has so many useful features. The Address Book is also terrific. There is an IM program called iChat which I use from time to time in leiu of AOL.
I also use Palm Desktop for Mac -- works great. There is a built in app called iCal which will supposedly interface with PDA's, but haven't used that.
iPhoto is a terrific basic photo editing app, but I also have Photoshop Elements installed for more options. Final Cut Express is a GREAT application (costs about $200 or so). I use it a LOT to edit video before burning DVD's.
I don't use any PC applications, but have no trouble translating or sending documents to/from PC users. Sometimes the formatting comes out a bit off and I have to tweak it. Virtual PC would be the answer for someone requiring perfect calibration with PC based software -- like a client management program, e.g.
I'm not a technical person in any way, shape or form, but have always found it easy to understand how the Macs operate and have intuitively found my way around problems (usually of my own making).
I have a 15", but I'm sure your wife would LOVE the 17". I think my next machine will be a 17"er. I got the smaller one thinking I would transport the computer more often, but wherever we go, my husband usually takes his and I just use his. The 17" display is wonderful.
Thought you'd appreciate a woman's perspective.
We ordered two Dell's online and got them pronto with no problems. Don't blame Dell because they sell well and you waited too late to get your 'present'.
I have had similar nonsense from Dell... they list a ship date of X when you order, then you keep getting notifications of delays. I cancelled my order when the estimated date got to be a month-and-a-half out from the original date. Dumb liars.
Anyhow, I wouldn't waste my money on a Mac. The Sony Vaio is supposed to be good. I just got my wife an eMachines M5405 for Christmas, pretty good for ~$750 aside from the fact that they forgot to install the wireless adapter driver at the factory.
Dell didn't ruin anything. You did, by waiting so long.
Dell lied to me regarding ship dates. Repeatedly.
Check out ramseeker.com for buying memory.
My 2 cents on your dilemma would be to go to the Apple Store with a list of what your wife wants to use her computer for and what she needs to be able to do. Talk to one of the staff there and make sure all your concerns are addressed.
Macs play nicely with PC's now and even though I have Virtual PC on my Mac, I rarely open it. If you do get VPC, make sure you have virus software for it. I know of a person who got a virus on theirs, but the Mac OS was fine.
Be careful to realize you might be having to deal with a very happy wife if you get a Mac for her. She will fall in love with it.
Cheers! CC :)
P.S. Make sure you get an AirPort network going - it rocks!
No, not prices. I meant Apple can use standard memory. That's a huge plus. I thought it might take Apple memory.
We got both of ours before they were supposed to arrive.
"Personally, I think you'd have to be insane to throw your money away on one of those boxes when you can get a machine for close to the same price (see the Dell outlet prices)."
Just remeber that Wal-Mart is targeting the lowest income levels. To them, when sending a kid to college, this cheap laptop from Wal-Mart is a Godsend. They couldn't afford a laptop otherwise.
Apple builds bunches of machines with identical specs, am I right? It's a totally different scenario.
I have no financial interest in either, just sayin' is all...
Nope, no series games. Just a few games from the internet. Her primary purpose is Office apps, surfing, and photos. Besides, if the Mac won't do what she needs (And I doubt that it won't), I'll buy her a different laptop.
"the CPU shortage, which could well be Intel's fault."
After millions spent on inventory and production management software, Dell knows damned well if they are short on processors, of all things. That, and they lied about the status of the order, saying that the computer was built and was just waiting to be boxed and shipped.
Frankly, I believe Dell is trying to get people to wait through Christmas, as Dell knows many orders this time of year are Christmas presents and people will cancel if their orders won't arrive in time. I canceled mine, and I made my order several weeks ago.
If they have a delay getting parts, that's fine. They can tell me so. They shouldn't fabricate a new false date.
"Dell didn't ruin anything. You did, by waiting so long.
"
And just how long do you think an order needs to take? Three weeks isn't long enough??
Dell is the one with millions spent on software to manage their delivery process, not me. I am not the one who told a customer when the product will be shipped and then lied about the status. Dell knows damned well if they are out of processors. There was no need to lie to a customer about that. If I hadn't brow beat a rep who told me the truth I would still be expecting shipment. My order status STILL shows that it is completed and waiting shipping.
Absolutely. I've been using a Mac since 1989. I'm currently using a two year old iMac and it ran solid for the first year until I installed Virtual PC.
First, the installation process was painful as hell. The installation manual was incorrect as I found out with my one free call to Microsoft to some dude that I could barely understand in Sri Lanka or somewhere.
Second, every time I ran Virtual PC, it crashed my Mac. But what do you expect; after all it is Gatesware.
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