looking for advice on a new computer

[~Britt~]

ok, im looking into a new computer, i was full force ahead toward a mac until a friend told me a couple of concerns. He told me that he has heard about macs being kind of glitchy and somewhat touchy. Things like leaving it in the car for even short periods of time or banging it around in a laptop case will cause problems. Im not crazy rough with my computer, i mean hell, i made a Dell last me 5 years before having to get the another one, but i need something that can take the occasional mis-judgment.

I also want some advice on what kind of specs i should have. Im looking at doing Grad school via distance education and need a computer that will provide the ease of doing things like a virtual class room with little to no problem and of course a good paper writing program. I WANT YOUR DETAILED INPUT! thanks

 

[miles01110]

Things like leaving it in the car for even short periods of time or banging it around in a laptop case will cause problems.

Broad and vague statements like this are true for a subset of any computer brand.

Im looking at doing Grad school via distance education and need a computer that will provide the ease of doing things like a virtual class room with little to no problem...

You should see what the graduate programs require if you are buying a machine for distance learning. Some things might not work properly in OS X.

...and of course a good paper writing program.

"Paper writing programs" are basically all the same. The Office suite will be fine for you and will give you the best compatibility if you have to send in papers to professors.

You also haven't stated your budget, which is fairly important.

 

[~Britt~]

thnx

thnx miles01110 for all that generic and useless information

 

[miles01110]

thnx miles01110 for all that generic and useless information

It was plenty useful for those intelligent enough to understand it. Let me "Simplepedia" it for you.

Find out what you need before you spend your money.

 

[spinnerlys]

thnx miles01110 for all that generic and useless information

Really? miles provided information, though it was about you getting the information yourself via research into the graduate program and what it may require.

And you friend is completely and utterly speaking the ..., it just happens to other computers too, especially if there are still running while one transports them via car, though transporting them via bicycle is another matter.

Anyway, how much money do you want to spend and shall the Mac be mobile or stationary?
And have you checked the requirements yet?

Maybe this is an episode of fail/lamebook.

 

[alust2013]

thnx miles01110 for all that generic and useless information

how was that generic and useless? Pretty sure that included that rumors about fragile computers happen, not necessarily true. Also, the software you need might not work on a mac, so check before you buy. There was also a suggestion made for a word processing program to use. As far as specs go, any modern computer should be able to handle that type of stuff.

 

[jav6454]

thnx miles01110 for all that generic and useless information

Not the best way to make friends, or get a response from here. Since miles01110 is a colleague, I was going to help, but now you screwed yourself over.

 

[Peace]

Mellow out kids or I'm gonna pull some cards out.

This IS the only warning too.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

...until a friend told me a couple of concerns. He told me that he has heard about macs being kind of glitchy and somewhat touchy. Things like leaving it in the car for even short periods of time or banging it around in a laptop case will cause problems....

I think your friend doesn't like Macs or just doesn't know much about them.

I've been a Windows user since version 2.x (when used as a runtime for PageMaker).
Then I bought my first Mac, a Macbook Pro in October 2007, and I still have it, solid as a rock. I am also careful with my stuff, but can't control the people
surrounding me. More than once some bozo has bumped it. Once it got bumped so hard while running, that the hard drive got bad sectors. Still, this would happen to any hard drive. I got it replaced under warranty. Never again had problems with it.

Every day more and more people switch to Mac. I know several people who I thought they would never switch to Mac, and to my surprise they did. I was One of these people, who used to say that "Macs caused me seizures".

If you decide to go for a Mac, just three very important suggestions:
1) Don't buy anything until after October 27th. I suspect new MacBook Pros will be released.
2) If you can afford it, get 3 Years of AppleCare.
3) For extra accidental damage protection, get insurance from www.safeware.com or similar company (I can only speak for Safeware, as I have had their insurance for 3 years now).

 

[miles01110]

i need information not idiotic broad statements.

That's nice; it sounds like you are unwilling to take the necessary steps to provide necessary information in order for people to even begin to help you. Otherwise you're just going to come back when you start "graduate school" (did you mean High School?) complaining about how such-and-such doesn't work because it's Windows-only. The ultimate irony about your above statement is that I thought the exact same thing upon reading your original post :-o

i will start a new thread with a more specific question.

Perhaps you could include your "graduate school"s computing requirements in said thread.

Also, if you plan on keeping this 'tude throughout your academic and professional career... best of luck to you!

 

[kingsal]

i was full force ahead toward a mac until a friend told me a couple of concerns. He told me that he has heard about macs being kind of glitchy and somewhat touchy.

You're coming to a forum about Macs to ask about whether Macs are "glitchy" and "touchy" ... smh

 

[milbournosphere]

My two cents on durability: I ran my MBP over with my Jeep. It was a horrific accident, but other than a bump on the bottom and some slight bruising on the LCD, it works great, and keeps on goin' over four years after I bought it. My girlfriend's G3 still works great as a home machine, and her G4 iBook was just given to her cousin as a first laptop. I've seen a few of the unibodies take quite a beating as well. If you take care of it (and don't buy a Rev 1 product), an Apple machine will last you five years. My experiences with Apple laptops have far trumped nearly every PC laptop that I've come into contact with.

 

[S.B.G]

ok, im looking into a new computer, i was full force ahead toward a mac until a friend told me a couple of concerns. He told me that he has heard about macs being kind of glitchy and somewhat touchy. Things like leaving it in the car for even short periods of time or banging it around in a laptop case will cause problems. Im not crazy rough with my computer, i mean hell, i made a Dell last me 5 years before having to get the another one, but i need something that can take the occasional mis-judgment.

I also want some advice on what kind of specs i should have. Im looking at doing Grad school via distance education and need a computer that will provide the ease of doing things like a virtual class room with little to no problem and of course a good paper writing program. I WANT YOUR DETAILED INPUT! thanks

My first experience with Mac started when a girlfriend of mine asked my advice on whether she should get a Mac or a Windows PC. I told her I can tell you anything you want to know about Windows (I'm an IT administrator in the Windows world for better than 12 years) but I didn't know a single thing about Mac.

So for her benefit I went to the nearest Apple store and spent an hour there talking to them and I was so impressed that I bought my MacBook Pro (right when they started putting the Intel processors in them).

That was in January-February 2007 and I still use the same MBP today and use it quite extensively. I haven't had one single problem with it or the Apple software on it (OS/X Tiger, Leopard and now Snow Leopard, iLife and iWork). As far as the Apple hardware/software goes, I've experienced no glitches at all except for when Adobe Flash would mess things up. I eventually either turned off, disabled or blocked Flash in all ways that I can find and haven't had any other problems. The hardware has been great, it is sturdy and durable. I am careful with my things so they don't get abused.

I had bought a really nice Sony Vaio in 2006 and the MBP smoked it in every way. Granted I had a learning curve to adjust to going from Windows to Mac, but I eventually got through it and converted my whole household over to Apple products. I still have technical questions from time to time as I don't know OS/X anywhere close to as well as I know Windows OS's. But that's where this MR forum is great.

I use iWork and Pages to type up business reports all the time so it does all that I need.

I hope my experience helps you.

 

[moel]

As other posters have said

Drop the attitude or prepare to be unhelped.

Your "mate" knows less about Macs and apparently computers in general than I've forgotten in the last 15 years.

They are much less 'glitchy' than anything that says "Windows" when it starts up, the machine does not slow down necessitating a nuke and pave every 18 months..80% of issues are solved with 3 clicks of a mouse and a few minutes waiting (as a posed to the hours that a really non effective 'defrag' that windows suggests you do)

Also support is second to none.

I can't really think of anything that wouldn't work in some way shape or form on your machine, especially with either parallels or virtualbox installed.

Oh as for taking a few knocks here and there. Here's a photo of my Macbook Pro earlier in the year, after I STUPIDLY drove my MX-5 over it

Basically 1 tonne of car managed to buckle the case a bit and smash the glass overlay on the screen. Aside from that it worked perfectly well.

So go for it, it's going to last an age, it's not going to break and if it does break your local Apple store will be able to sort you!