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I couldn't argue back...

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RiCEADDiCTBOY

RiCEADDiCTBOY

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 26, 2007
699
1
My friend recently argued with me about how stupid I was being about selling my Dell XPS for a less featured MacBook. His standing argument was that Apple gets away with murder - and by that he was arguing that they manage to sell hardware that is subpar by todays standards (hd space, cpu and graphic cards) that you could always find considerably cheaper laptops with good builds with much more impressive hardware and features.

The argument over just the OS was starting to haunt me. I knew this before I had decided to return to OSX...but, egh...I guess it would be nice for Apple to deliver offerings that are more common place on the hardware side of things...
 
Well... u do get an OS which works flawless with 'inferior' hardware. Windows laptops need to be more powerful just to be able to run it smoothly.

They can boast about how they have 4GB Ram standard, etc etc but its cause its needed to run Vista smoothly.
 
I know how you feel. I just sold my Dell Latitude E6400 to return to a MacBook. The Latitude had WAY more features, but in the end OS X is what brought me back. I couldn't be happier.
 
Here's your counter argument: The kind of hardware your friend likes is overrated. Most people won't notice the internal hardware differences between some Dell box and some Apple box, but they just might realize that one of the two operating systems works better for them. And I'm not even beginning to talk about readily perceptible external hardware differences like build quality and MagSafe (which I love) here.

Murder? Oh, please. It's just supply and demand.
 
I've heard Vista eats your CPU, therefore, battery life on a Macbook.

After I'd noticed the instant speed boost of getting dual CPUs in my old mac, a friend of mine was saying computers have got so fast these days that they're adding transparency and all the extra graphics to the interface, just to give the CPU something to do.

I said OS X uses the GPU to handle all of that so the CPU can be used for other things so that's not really the case with macs.
 
Cassie said:
I'll agree that Apple's hardware is darn near crap compared to most other competitors offerings. But OS X is worth the sacrifice I guess.:p
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Man, that's why I left the PC world. :D

Have you seen the laptops they're building now for $1200?

Granted, I'm not too keen about what's under the hood for either camp but my macbook white and its polycarbo... policarbi... plolycarbon..., the hard plastic casing is solid. If feels like I'm carrying a slab of concrete around but that's what I want. And the keyboard, unlike the Dell and HP counterparts is solid as well. There's no "flex" in my macbook like I notice in PC laptops. I could live with either OS.

As far as the innards... it all comes from China anyway.
 
The thing is, PC hardware needs to be more powerful because Windows is such a hog. A less powerful MacBook will most likely perform better than Windows because it isn't eating all the system resources.
 
I like the look and feel of Apple computers. That's why I buy them. If every component from my Macbook were encased inside of a turd instead, then I would not buy it.
 
maclover001 said:
The thing is, PC hardware needs to be more powerful because Windows is such a hog. A less powerful MacBook will most likely perform better than Windows because it isn't eating all the system resources.
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True but only in the past. Windows 7 is faster than Vista and even faster than XP in some cases. Leopard is generally slower than Tiger for me. Snow Leopard may improve on this but for now, MS seems to have turned the game on its head.
 
Meh if you try to argue then you'll never stop.

I tend just to go "I have what I like, you have what you like so things worked great for both of us yeah? Awesome"

I hate the arguments anyway. They're often so stupid on both sides, I got the **** kicked out of me in halls last year for having a mac.
 
When confronted with this question, it made me think. Why is it that I go for Apple? Is it because of the operating system? Is it because of the hardware, or is it because of my dislike for Windows PCs?

In reality I think it's because of the way I have been brought up. I have been raised to think Apple machines and operating systems are better, since my father has used them all my life for his graphic design. He passes his old ones down to me. He told me about his theory for why Windows is baaad in comparison to Mac OS, and I guess I just took that in and agreed.

However I do enjoy OS X over Windows these days. I have much more enjoyment using OS X than I do with Windows 7. On 7 I don't feel like I know what to do. There doesn't seem to be anything useful on it, I don't know, maybe that's because it's only a virtual machine and OS X is the main operating system, but it just seems lacking.


I guess I'm just rambling now, that's just my opinion.

instaxgirl said:
I hate the arguments anyway. They're often so stupid on both sides, I got the **** kicked out of me in halls last year for having a mac.
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That's AWFUL man! That's the most annoying thing I've heard all day. Argh. I hope he was punished.
 
RiCEADDiCTBOY said:
My friend recently argued with me about how stupid I was being about selling my Dell XPS for a less featured MacBook. His standing argument was that Apple gets away with murder - and by that he was arguing that they manage to sell hardware that is subpar by todays standards (hd space, cpu and graphic cards) that you could always find considerably cheaper laptops with good builds with much more impressive hardware and features.

The argument over just the OS was starting to haunt me. I knew this before I had decided to return to OSX...but, egh...I guess it would be nice for Apple to deliver offerings that are more common place on the hardware side of things...
Click to expand...

Well, your friend is absolutely right.

For the $1299 the unibody MacBook costs, a PC will get you a larger screen, blu-ray, HDMI, card readers, 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, twice the RAM as the $1999 MacBook Pro, 4 times the video memory of the $1,999 MacBook Pro on a faster GPU (9800M GS versus 9600M GT), and loads of other standard features as well as better optional extended warranties that actually cover things like damage and water.

And if it boils down to the OS argument, well OS X loses that as well. OS X is more functionally limited than Windows and the third party software selection is virtually non-existant compared to Windows.

There literally isn't anything that OS X can do that Windows can't. But on the flip side, theres a lot that Windows can do that OS X can't. Windows is either more capable thanks to built-in technology, more available third party software, and even just standard technology available on PCs that Apple does not support, like HDMI.

Theres other areas where Windows has greatly surpassed OS X as well, like the area of drivers. I recently threw the Windows 7 RC on my HP. Both it and Vista detect and install the drivers for my hardware on a fresh install. I click Windows Update and it updates the drivers for ALL of my hardware without a hitch, including my built-in fingerprint reader and card reader. And thanks to individual driver updates, I'm not shackled to Apple being the only driver supplier. Look at the ATI and nvidia driver issues that have been present in OS X. With OS X you have to wait for Apple to supply updates. In Windows, if you have a problem, you just go to ati.com or nvidia.com and download the newest update. Look at printers as well. In OS X you have to have several gigabytes worth of drivers installed to get your printers to work, as well as download hundreds of megabytes worth of updates for them. In Vista and Windows 7 you just connect it and it works. Same goes if you have a scanner, which requires additional drivers in OS X but not Windows.

I saw your post over at notebookreview.com where you said you sold your Dell for $900. I mean honestly, you made a huge mistake. You're taking a huge step backwards in hardware functionality and an even bigger step backwards in software functionality. The MacBook will be nowhere near as capable as your Dell was and OS X isn't going to let you do everything you could in Windows.
 
mosx said:
The MacBook will be nowhere near as capable as your Dell was and OS X isn't going to let you do everything you could in Windows.
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Those are fighting words right there. ;) What do you think that OS X is so incapable of doing?

There literally isn't anything that OS X can do that Windows can't.
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I'll throw an idea out there. Develop an iPhone app? You can't do that on a PC? But I don't really want to get too involved in this argument that this thread has degraded too. This topic has already been beaten to death. If you like Windows use Windows. If you like OS X use OS X. It is simple, each OS has their advantages/disadvantages. There is no argument to be won here. :)
 
jmann said:
Those are fighting words right there. ;) What do you think that OS X is so incapable of doing?
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OS X can't pass 8 channel 24/192 LPCM over HDMI like Windows can. OS X can't play blu-ray discs. OS X certainly isn't CPU efficient and throws CPU cycles around like nothing.

My favorite: OS X based portables don't have proper external display support. Do you know how ridiculously stupid it is that I have to hit the MacBook power button and close the lid really fast to use it exclusively on my external display? And if I don't close it fast enough, I have to wait for it to boot, close (sleep) the system, connect everything, and wake it back up. Why can't it work like Windows? First time you connect the display it asks you want you want to do. Every time after that it auto configures to that setting.

I'll throw an idea out there. Develop an iPhone app? You can't do that on a PC? But I don't really want to get too involved in this argument that this thread has degraded too. This topic has already been beaten to death. If you like Windows use Windows. If you like OS X use OS X. It is simple, each OS has their advantages/disadvantages. There is no argument to be won here. :)
Click to expand...

That isn't because Windows technically can't do it. It's because Apple refuses to release the development tools on Windows. But you can't bet as the iPhone OS platform gains popularity and more people want to develop for it, Apple will run into anti-trust issues.
 
mosx said:
I saw your post over at notebookreview.com where you said you sold your Dell for $900. I mean honestly, you made a huge mistake. You're taking a huge step backwards in hardware functionality and an even bigger step backwards in software functionality. The MacBook will be nowhere near as capable as your Dell was and OS X isn't going to let you do everything you could in Windows.
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Nice troll, I guess the OP can all let us know if he made a big mistake or not though.
 
mosx said:
Do you know how ridiculously stupid it is that I have to hit the MacBook power button and close the lid really fast to use it exclusively on my external display?
Click to expand...

How about you just download something like InsomniaX that will prevent the computer from falling asleep while closed. Obviously you like a Mac enough to buy one. If you are so unhappy with it sell it and buy a Dell. ;)
 
beg_ne said:
Nice troll, I guess the OP can all let us know if he made a big mistake or not though.
Click to expand...

Its not trolling when its stating facts.

jmann said:
How about you just download something like InsomniaX that will prevent the computer from falling asleep while closed. Obviously you like a Mac enough to buy one. If you are so unhappy with it sell it and buy a Dell. ;)
Click to expand...

If you want to find me a buyer, I'll happily sell it. As I've said before, its near impossible to find a local buyer (SoCal) in this economy. People have wisened up to the fact that used Macs aren't worth jack.

Second, I'm well aware of InsomniaX. Why should I have to download and use a 3rd party utility to add functionality that should be built into the OS? Windows has had this functionality since Windows 95. Why doesn't OS X have it?
 
beg_ne said:
Sorry but just because you decree it doesn't make it so. There is so much spin in your posts I thought I was watching Fox News for a while there.
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Its funny you say that, because Fox News is actually the number one cable news network when it comes to ratings ;)

But anyway, care to back up what you say? Let's see some Macs that have as many features as PCs for the same price. Let's see OS X do all the things Windows can. If what I'm saying is wrong then it should be easy for you to prove otherwise.
 
mosx said:
Its funny you say that, because Fox News is actually the number one cable news network when it comes to ratings ;)

But anyway, care to back up what you say? Let's see some Macs that have as many features as PCs for the same price. Let's see OS X do all the things Windows can. If what I'm saying is wrong then it should be easy for you to prove otherwise.
Click to expand...

What changed your mind from here? You seemed so excited and happy. :(
 
I saw your post over at notebookreview.com where you said you sold your Dell for $900. I mean honestly, you made a huge mistake. You're taking a huge step backwards in hardware functionality and an even bigger step backwards in software functionality. The MacBook will be nowhere near as capable as your Dell was and OS X isn't going to let you do everything you could in Windows.
Click to expand...
I disagree. There is plenty that Apple has to offer that Dell simply can't; customer support. And mind you, this is from someone who just dropped a lawsuit with Dell. Hardware is subpar to comparable Windows machines save for FSB and memory clock speeds. Software is highly subjective, as I would assume you know. Even new to Apple products and software, I find OS X many times more agreeable and simplistic than Windows or Ubuntu (both of which I have used, the latter as a replacement to Vista because I wasn't paying $100 for XP again). I dislike the fact that I need carry adapters to have my display upon a projection of external screen, a small inconvenience but far better than having a single VGA port. And my Macintosh is perfectly capable of playing Blu-Ray, thank you.

As far as software goes, I am loving iLife. I would have gladly payed a few hundred for comparable software on a PC. Nothing I found found matches the integration, GUI, or features of the entire iLife suite. My opinion anyways.
 
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