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The man who wants it all, but can he ????

I

igmolinav

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 15, 2005
1,126
4
The man who wants it all, but can he ????

Thank you very much in advance for all your help.

I have recently decided to buy an apple laptop. I am not sure yet, if it will be an ibook or a powerbook. I am only sure it will be apple, and still this decision has me a bit worried.

I have used a PC most of my life and I wonder how easy, seamless, and succesful is to run programs made for PC on an apple. My major is economics, so I need to use excel, and other PC based programs for finance, economics, math, and statistics on the computer. The question for me is, is it really possible to succesfully run programs made for PC on an apple, can one do that on any of the current models for apple laptops or should one wait up until the apples with the intel processor come out to the market?

If that can be done with what is currently available from apple, I would just go ahead and buy the latest update of either the ibook or the powerbook. However, I see that for whatever money you spend on a 12” powerbook, you can get a larger size ibook and a lot more ram. So what is so special about the powerbook anyway, if I can get a much more equipped ibook for the same I’d spend on the powerbook? People tell me it is better, but could you please tell me a little bit more how will it benefit me choosing a smaller powerbook with a little less ram over a much more equipped ibook.

Thank you very much for your time and kind attention to this matter. All your help is really appreciated since whatever computer I choose will be for me a major decision that will have to last me for at least four years.

Ignacio Molina : ) !!!
 
Okay, well you can use Virtual PC to emulate Windows and run your apps from there but it's not really a very viable option since it's so slow. I recommend seeing if there are Mac versions of your software. The Mac version of Excel is perfectly compatible and very similar (albeit a better interface) to the Windows versions. If you list the other apps you use, we may be able to find alternatives for you since VPC is very very slow.

As for the PowerBook, you probably wouldn't really need the benefits which I see as a better graphics card, easier screen-spanning ability (using more than one screen), slightly faster overall (hard drive and processor mainly) and arguably a better keyboard. For most people (me included), the iBook is perfectly adequate. I even think it looks better, but that's my very subjective opinion. :)
 
i'm an ex-pc poweruser and I managed to ween myself completely but for 2 programs:

3d Studio Max
HL2/CSS :p

Everything else I found an (often better) alternative to it's windows counterpart. List some software needs you have and we'll be glad to help you find your wares.
 
mad jew said:
Okay, well you can use Virtual PC to emulate Windows and run your apps from there but it's not really a very viable option since it's so slow. I recommend seeing if there are Mac versions of your software. The Mac version of Excel is perfectly compatible and very similar (albeit a better interface) to the Windows versions. If you list the other apps you use, we may be able to find alternatives for you since VPC is very very slow.

As for the PowerBook, you probably wouldn't really need the benefits which I see as a better graphics card, easier screen-spanning ability (using more than one screen), slightly faster overall (hard drive and processor mainly) and arguably a better keyboard. For most people (me included), the iBook is perfectly adequate. I even think it looks better, but that's my very subjective opinion. :)
Click to expand...


when he says Virtual PC is very very slow, its HORRIBLY slow...i used to for about..hmm...maybe 18-23 minutes and couldnt take it anymore, and took it outta my HD. then a light bulb when off in my head ...and i said to myself "hey thats why i bought an apple, so i can throw that windows garbage away, and never see it again"...I WOULD suggest an ibook, cuz IMO, pb's look like they get very easily scratched and get deformed somehow...
 
AJ Muni said:
when he says Virtual PC is very very slow, its HORRIBLY slow...i used to for about..hmm...maybe 18-23 minutes and couldnt take it anymore, and took it outta my HD. then a light bulb when off in my head ...and i said to myself "hey thats why i bought an apple, so i can throw that windows garbage away, and never see it again"...I WOULD suggest an ibook, cuz IMO, pb's look like they get very easily scratched and get deformed somehow...
Click to expand...
Actually the iBook's are the ones that scratch easily, believe me, before my PowerBook I used to have a 1 GHz 12-inch iBook. My PowerBook has no scratches, much more scratch resistant than the iBook, but you are right about the dents, but I don't have any of those either. :D
 
AJ Muni said:
when he says Virtual PC is very very slow, its HORRIBLY slow...i used to for about..hmm...maybe 18-23 minutes and couldnt take it anymore, and took it outta my HD. then a light bulb when off in my head ...and i said to myself "hey thats why i bought an apple, so i can throw that windows garbage away, and never see it again"...I WOULD suggest an ibook, cuz IMO, pb's look like they get very easily scratched and get deformed somehow...
Click to expand...

Aint that slow on my 500mhz G3 with 128mb ram, why does everyone always say that?

My computer went wrong, but sorted itself out. Maybe it overclocked itself or some crap

:confused:
 
I am not sure about which PC progs you will need to run yet (like others have said if you post them we will try and help you out). What I can tell you is that I am a scientist (chemist) and have been using macs for about 5 years now and I have found that you can get pretty much all the alternative software that you need although it is not nessisarily the same software that is available for the PC.

On to which laptop you should get, I have had both an iBook and Powerbook and I would say that the benifits of having the powerbook are worth the extra cash. First, you have the fact that you are getting a faster HD, better graphics card (double the video ram), faster processor (although now only a little faster), audio in, better video spanning capabilities, it's thinner, lighter and dare i say even sexier! Also, IMHO the aluminum seem not to scratch!! (although this might be because I inherently treat my pbook better) and I have not dented mine so it can't be that easy ;) Oh and 3rd party RAM is dirt cheap! so you can pretty much max either one out for another $100 or so.

All that being said, either machine is worth it (and more) for OSX! I am sure that if you are accepting of change either of these 'books will be awsome
 
I can't really say anything about VPC since I've never actually used it, but from my experience of WinXP, if you want to squeeze out that extra bit of performance, you should configure it to get rid of the eye candy, and turn off all the unnecessary background services that for some reason are on by default (especially the useless disk indexing service):
http://www.jasonn.com/turning_off_unnecessary_services_on_windows_xp

There's also another thread somewhere on Macrumors that details how to optimize VPC.

That said, considering the price of VPC+Windows, unless there is some software you absolutely need that's not available for MacOSX, I wouldn't even bother using it if I were you. Spend that little bit extra for the Mac versions (buy the iBook and use the money you save for software).
 
andy89 said:
Aint that slow on my 500mhz G3 with 128mb ram, why does everyone always say that?

My computer went wrong, but sorted itself out. Maybe it overclocked itself or some crap

:confused:
Click to expand...

cuz it just sucks IMHO (thank god i didnt buy it)...like the mouse pointer would lag (compared to that of the mac)...and i couldnt even maximize the whole "windows xp" screen.... and andy are u running tiger???
 
Okay, I got a PM from igmolinav with a few more questions on the same/similar topics so I thought I'd post them up and give my best attempt at answering them. This way, everyone can have a chance at pointing out where I go wrong or can add to my answers.


igmolinav said:
1) Will the intel-apple technology be so amazing that the one-year wait for the new computers to appear is so great that I should wait (my brother has an old PC laptop that I could use).
Click to expand...


Nobody knows just how great the Intel laptops will be yet. I recommend waiting if you know you can get by for a year or so without one but on the other hand, the first batch are likely to have some teething problems and if anything from the current line up looks like it'll suit your needs, I recommend going for it now. The greatest thing about Macs is OSX (their software) as opposed to the hardware they run on.


igmolinav said:
2) Should one expect a promotion like the one they have with the ipod when the new mactel comes out?
Click to expand...


It's likely that Apple's marketing department will run similar promotions in the future but obviously any specific details are unknown.


igmolinav said:
3) Due to the needs I expressed in the forum, I was suggested amply to buy an ibook. Would you reconsider and suggest as worthwhile purchase, the purchase of a powerbook, if my needs also extend to the use of architectural programs like Archicad, Photocad, and Vectorworks. Or should I be able to use and work fine all these programs with a 14” ibook?
Click to expand...


The benefits of a PowerBook would be a bigger screen (if you're willing to pay the premium for a 15 or 17 inch one) and the better GPU. They are the only benefits you are likely to notice in architectural usage. The GPU in the 12 inch is only slightly better than an iBook's though, so unless you want a 15 inch PowerBook, I highly commend a 14 inch iBook.


igmolinav said:
4) If I want to buy the least of “original” ram from apple and try to buy cheaper ram from a third party. Do you recommend doing this? Is there a source on the internet to buy lower priced ram and whose business you would recommend?
Click to expand...


I am in Australia so I can't really recommend any good sources for RAM for you. However, I really do recommend going to a 3rd party seller for RAM since Apple overcharges. Maybe try Crucial.com.


igmolinav said:
5) Can the apple laptop work as a TV and how?
Click to expand...


Have a look around Elgato's site for the best options for getting TV on a Mac.

If anyone has anything more to add, I'm sure igmolinav would be very appreciative. :)
 
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