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How is the MBP better than PC notebooks??
- Thread starter powz
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Other than being more visually pleasing I love OSX. I am a recent Mac convert (SR 2.2 MBP) and the OS is really what drew me in right off. All the applications are powerful but extremely user friendly. And the glowing apple is cool too! 
Thanks everyone for your (mostly) thoughtful posts! 
I especially liked yellowtip's post about the supposed greater number of quality issues for Apple. I agree that the user base is probably quite different and that explains why there seems to be more complaints on the forums.
In any case, here's what I came up with for why I'd prefer the MBP over most PC notebooks (a lot of which have already been mentioned): sexy design, thinner/lighter than almost any notebook in it's class (15.4" or 17"), OS X, long battery life, great gaming and multimedia capabilities, and of course OS X. Finally, there is a simple elegance to Apple design where less is sometimes more. I think the best example I can think of is the Apple remote, which has only a couple of buttons, yet does almost as much -- and much more intuitively -- than remotes with 10 times more buttons. The same goes for OS X. My general impression is that it gives you fewer options than Windows, but the options it does give you are the ones that really matter so you don't waste all your time trying to micro-manage your OS (of course, you can also access the command line to get more options if you need to). So sure, Sony notebooks might have the looks and Lenovo might have the specs, but I think nothing beats Apple at bringing the two together with as much elegance.
I especially liked yellowtip's post about the supposed greater number of quality issues for Apple. I agree that the user base is probably quite different and that explains why there seems to be more complaints on the forums.In any case, here's what I came up with for why I'd prefer the MBP over most PC notebooks (a lot of which have already been mentioned): sexy design, thinner/lighter than almost any notebook in it's class (15.4" or 17"), OS X, long battery life, great gaming and multimedia capabilities, and of course OS X. Finally, there is a simple elegance to Apple design where less is sometimes more. I think the best example I can think of is the Apple remote, which has only a couple of buttons, yet does almost as much -- and much more intuitively -- than remotes with 10 times more buttons. The same goes for OS X. My general impression is that it gives you fewer options than Windows, but the options it does give you are the ones that really matter so you don't waste all your time trying to micro-manage your OS (of course, you can also access the command line to get more options if you need to). So sure, Sony notebooks might have the looks and Lenovo might have the specs, but I think nothing beats Apple at bringing the two together with as much elegance.
I'm still waiting for my MPB 17" 2.4 to arrive, but I think I agree with you. The MBP is a visual work of art, but the T42 I'm replacing is built like a tank and I like the ThinkPad keyboard better (at least for now). But the BEST reason to choose the MPB for me was I can have BOTH OS X and Windows on one machine thanks to Parallels. I do graphics and video editing in an all-PC corporation, but now I can use Final Cut and Adobe CS3 in its Mac version and exchange files with outside collaborators and still use the Windows corporate apps our IT guys insist upon. Perfect! ...and folks at the office are drooling ;-)
Here is my opinion:
Yes, you can buy other IBM compatible laptops that have better features, are faster, better (higher resolution) screens, 2 buttons (I don't understand why apple hasn't put 2 buttons on their notebooks yet), better video cards, etc.
Also, for a very experienced user XP or Vista aren't that bad. I've NEVER had a virus, I've NEVER had a trojan, and other than hard drive failures I've never had any major problems with my PCs. And I download, install, and run more stuff than the average user by far. I understand it might not be so easy for most, I have been using windows since 3.1 and also have a computer science degree (not that this makes me a genius, but I have spent a sad portion of my life on computers!). Even Vista isn't a bad OS, it looks very nice, is fast, and after a service pack will be rock solid stable I'm guessing. As is, after running it for 3 months (since the day it was released) I had fewer crashes/hangs than I have had in the 2 weeks owning my MBP.
BUT
I really like how the MBP looks, is designed, and I enjoy (so far, for the most part) using the OSX OS. The OS looks nice (not THAT much nicer than Vista IMO), Expose is a god, the iLife suite is fun and the applications are well written (though I wish there were some more advanced import functions for iPhoto). Also the computer is very fast.
The MBP has great hardware from the inside out. It's almost cutting edge, and it's solid. The remote is a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to going home and showing my family (hell, even letting my mom) my iPhoto slideshows.
And here's the big thing: The price is very good for what you get. At least for a student.
I got the 2.2ghz S.R. 15" MBP, for 1800 with my student discount - I also got a free ipod AND a printer. I could have easily sold the iPod for 150 bucks, and the printer for another 50 at least. That's around 1600 out of pocket for a laptop (even if it was a Vista laptop) with great features and a very solid design. I had just bought (and sold so I could buy my MBP) a Laditude (business class Dell laptop, way better quality then inspirons, all metal, 1920x1200 resolution, etc) and it cost me around 1800 (though it had a 3 year next day service plan, a much higher res screen and a 256 meg video card). It wasn't that much cheaper. At all.
Even if I end up running windows Vista on this full time someday (for whatever reason - I don't plan on it!) it was still a good buy.
edit: but yeah, raw speed performance and features, there are deffinetly other laptops out there that are better.
Yes, you can buy other IBM compatible laptops that have better features, are faster, better (higher resolution) screens, 2 buttons (I don't understand why apple hasn't put 2 buttons on their notebooks yet), better video cards, etc.
Also, for a very experienced user XP or Vista aren't that bad. I've NEVER had a virus, I've NEVER had a trojan, and other than hard drive failures I've never had any major problems with my PCs. And I download, install, and run more stuff than the average user by far. I understand it might not be so easy for most, I have been using windows since 3.1 and also have a computer science degree (not that this makes me a genius, but I have spent a sad portion of my life on computers!). Even Vista isn't a bad OS, it looks very nice, is fast, and after a service pack will be rock solid stable I'm guessing. As is, after running it for 3 months (since the day it was released) I had fewer crashes/hangs than I have had in the 2 weeks owning my MBP.
BUT
I really like how the MBP looks, is designed, and I enjoy (so far, for the most part) using the OSX OS. The OS looks nice (not THAT much nicer than Vista IMO), Expose is a god, the iLife suite is fun and the applications are well written (though I wish there were some more advanced import functions for iPhoto). Also the computer is very fast.
The MBP has great hardware from the inside out. It's almost cutting edge, and it's solid. The remote is a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to going home and showing my family (hell, even letting my mom) my iPhoto slideshows.
And here's the big thing: The price is very good for what you get. At least for a student.
I got the 2.2ghz S.R. 15" MBP, for 1800 with my student discount - I also got a free ipod AND a printer. I could have easily sold the iPod for 150 bucks, and the printer for another 50 at least. That's around 1600 out of pocket for a laptop (even if it was a Vista laptop) with great features and a very solid design. I had just bought (and sold so I could buy my MBP) a Laditude (business class Dell laptop, way better quality then inspirons, all metal, 1920x1200 resolution, etc) and it cost me around 1800 (though it had a 3 year next day service plan, a much higher res screen and a 256 meg video card). It wasn't that much cheaper. At all.
Even if I end up running windows Vista on this full time someday (for whatever reason - I don't plan on it!) it was still a good buy.
edit: but yeah, raw speed performance and features, there are deffinetly other laptops out there that are better.
dont rip on lenovo
my brother has a thinkpad running ubuntu, it's sweet, and yes when i cant have OS X i prefer linux. the things you may not like about the lenovo are the things people buy them for, bullet proof, fast, insanely durable. before my macbook i loved his lappy, and now i love them both, besides anything that isn't winblows is a plus
my brother has a thinkpad running ubuntu, it's sweet, and yes when i cant have OS X i prefer linux. the things you may not like about the lenovo are the things people buy them for, bullet proof, fast, insanely durable. before my macbook i loved his lappy, and now i love them both, besides anything that isn't winblows is a plus