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Need Forum Users Advice (HP laptop purchase over a MBP)

S

ShaneBunting

Suspended
Original poster
Aug 10, 2009
161
0
United Kingdom
So it's a new college year..

And where I am, in Northern Ireland, barely anyone has a Mac that's 18.

So I'm a bit weary of carrying around my 13" Pro all day and putting them to shame (and with the chance of being mugged for it) lol

So should I buy a £300ish HP 11" machine or an older, say White MacBook?

The HP/Windows option is good, because Windows 8 looks OK, and they'd use the latest processors, and be new and compact. But it would mean investing in a new machine which is expensive kind of..

OR, Do I invest in an old white MacBook (even the ones that don't support Mountain Lion).. It would be good to stick with Apple for seamless syncing files.. however the latest Office might not run on them, and they could break easy - as any white MacBook would now be a used machine..

Do any of you find yourself in a similar situation and/or use a PC and a Mac notebook?

Thanks
 
Because the Mac is too 'high profile' to be used in the areas and around the people who I will be using it around. IF that makes sense? I don't want anyone to look twice at my laptop. In a place where no one really uses Macs, the aluminium, shine from the screen, and lit up logo on the lid will draw attention. Basically, I want non of that!
 
You can always cover your laptop in lame stickers and make it look abused and unworthy of being stolen.

Ultimately, I have to say use what you're most comfortable with. I have never been to Northern Ireland and not sure just how bad it would be for a college student with a Mac there, but I do know that a certain amount of "I don't give a ****** what others think" can be healthy. You will get more of it as you age :)
 
One is the perception, the other is the reality of theft. If there is real risk, go with the older laptop. Keeping yourself safe is what matters, no point hiding a good machine that you end up coddling during a confrontation.
 
I have a top of the line hp laptop and a 2007 MacBook.
I'm disappointed by the hp. Trackpad always works correctly on the MacBook.
I run lion no problems & latest ms office works just fine.

I think an old MacBook would work just fine.
 
ShaneBunting said:
For the record.. this is what I'd be looking at for a Windows machine..

http://h20386.www2.hp.com/UKStore/M..._4080109&opt=&sel=PCNB#merch-product-overview

:)
Click to expand...

haha never pick a HP over a MAC they are garbage but then again if this computer is semi new and all you are going to use it for is Microsoft office while at school. Go with the HP. Why buy a 5+ year old mac(think that's when they stopped making the white ones). That and the white ones had crap plastic that breaks off all the time and was insanely painful to write on. Felt like I could cut my risk on them by mistake.

Hell get a chromebook by google they are like $200-250 US.

I understand the safety thing. I got a crap smart phone for when I go visit Latin America for work. My bosses tell me not to whip out my iPhone in public or I am going to get mugged. I look like a local so I am good but one of my friends got jumped for his iPhone 5 when he was in Venezuela last year.
 
MeUnix said:
They actually stopped making the white MacBooks in 2010 (3 years ago).
Click to expand...

You sure about that? I had a 2010 macbook pro and for a while they had silver MacBooks. I think they stopped making white ones in 2008/2009.

Never fully trust a seller. Ask for the serial number and look it up online for what version it is. I had someone try to sell me a slim PS3 and it was a launch one that was fat ass hell:D
 
crzdcolombian said:
You sure about that? I had a 2010 macbook pro and for a while they had silver MacBooks. I think they stopped making white ones in 2008/2009.

Never fully trust a seller. Ask for the serial number and look it up online for what version it is. I had someone try to sell me a slim PS3 and it was a launch one that was fat ass hell:D
Click to expand...

2010/2011, they discontinued the black model MacBook in 2009.

http://technologizer.com/2011/07/20/white-macbook/
 
ShaneBunting said:
So it's a new college year..

And where I am, in Northern Ireland, barely anyone has a Mac that's 18.

So I'm a bit weary of carrying around my 13" Pro all day and putting them to shame (and with the chance of being mugged for it) lol

So should I buy a £300ish HP 11" machine or an older, say White MacBook?

The HP/Windows option is good, because Windows 8 looks OK, and they'd use the latest processors, and be new and compact. But it would mean investing in a new machine which is expensive kind of..

OR, Do I invest in an old white MacBook (even the ones that don't support Mountain Lion).. It would be good to stick with Apple for seamless syncing files.. however the latest Office might not run on them, and they could break easy - as any white MacBook would now be a used machine..

Do any of you find yourself in a similar situation and/or use a PC and a Mac notebook?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Whether you have your current machine or buy some worthless(but supposedly brand new) HP laptop for 300, you could still have it stolen from you. People that would be willing to steal from you in public would steal a Mac along with whatever working POS is right next to it.

Getting a white macbook could arguably cause you to receive just as much attention. Well, look at this guy over here..."has a nice aluminium macbook pro at home and only totes his shiny white macbook out around us suspicious types."

Either way, you're screwed if you're around a bunch or thieving bastards. <---Is this word ok in the forums? So just use what you have and try to act normally about it instead of thinking that you're putting them to shame. It could also be that maybe everyone there thinks Macs suck and are really just looking on you in pity.

I started this post with good intention to make it useful and to offer good advice, but I think it really just turned into a "who really knows" response that is only "slightly" longer than those three words.

Anyway, keep the pro. Apple go bragh and all that jazz. Or however you spell it!

And no, I have yet to see anyone around the Phoenix, AZ area eyeing my Mid-2005 iBook, but if they do, then I'll fool them by buying an iBook clamshell(with the nifty little handle).
 
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