Posted on 08/30/2007 3:02:25 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Laptop design has advanced a great deal over the past decade, but a few things still generally hold true: Batteries won't last through a cross-country flight, and affordable laptops weigh too much.
This is supposed to be the most innovative part of the computing business. But too many portable machines are designed with no more attention to detail than the average desktop.
Laptop battery life can vary widely. In terms of how long batteries lasted during DVD playback, (1) Apple's MacBook led the way, followed by (2) the Toshiba Satellite U305, (3) the Dell Inspiron 1520 and (4) the HP Pavilion dv2500t.
Not every manufacturer is stuck in this rut: Apple's well-crafted machines have been gobbling up market share, even though the MacBook and MacBook Pro cost more than many other laptops.
Manufacturers of laptops that run Windows complain about having to compete in a commodity market yet fail to make their machines less of a commodity. They ship machines built from the same components, add the same mediocre programs and hope that some glossy paint will make the results stand out.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
"Not every manufacturer is stuck in this rut: Apple's well-crafted machines have been gobbling up market share, even though the MacBook and MacBook Pro cost more than many other laptops." - Washington PostPING!
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
My 80 year old Mom just bought a Mac Book last month. I used it a couple of weeks ago. Fantastic machine. Well worth the extra $200 or $300 over the average windows laptop.
"But this gets little attention from firms besides Apple: Its Mac OS X and iLife multimedia programs offer an ease of use and elegance absent in Windows."They're beginning to get it... even the pundits at the MSM.
That pretty much describes the Windows PC industry. At least the sad attempts to differentiate usually aren't as disgusting as they used to be. Remember the standard boxes with monster plastic faceplates that looked like they were designed by an art school reject on crack?
I am what you'd call a computer expert, and I know a lot about how DVDs work, but I've never authored a DVD before. I played with some Windows DVD authoring programs just for fun, but pretty much gave up because it was definitely not fun.
Then to a Mac with iDVD. I wanted to make a couple DVDs of German cartoons I had encoded from tape so the kids could watch them on the road. I thought maybe with a flashy main menu and that cool running-video chapter selection you often see.
I got all that and more, and I was literally ready to hit the Burn button in less than five minutes with no help, no tutorial, nothing. That included looking up a picture for the main menu. The second DVD with some different cartoons took me about 30 seconds to set up for burning.
I bought my 85 year old brother an iMac in April and he is doing OK. He lives 500 miles south of me but his granddaughter comes over once a month to keep him going. I made a big mistake and told him how to forward eMail this week. I forward him all the anti Shillary jokes and he wants to get even with me... >:)
Do it. My 80 year old Mom is on her Mac Book every day.
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