Share your experience with the Macbook?

[coffeeinthebin]

I am almost sold on this laptop. I only need it for school to take notes on it and I am going to use it a lot outside of school, but I only need it for basic things. Yet, I still really like it and I want it! Only problem : I'm 15, and my family is trying to talk me out of it. They claim compatibility issues, and "weird operating system" and how fragile it is. What do you think? Is it worth it to pay more than for a generic pc laptop? and whatever else you know about the Macbook, please include it in your reply!
Thank you

 

[andalusia]

It's worth it. There are little to no compatibility issues.

 

[MrCheeto]

Compatibility?

Listen, and you can turn around and say this to them as well; Macs are MORE compatible out-of-the-box than any crappy Windows box.

My cameras, plug & play. All of them! Not one bit of software to get any of them to work, full featured!

My printers? Plugged them in, drivers downloaded right away, installed and done! Ready to print in five minutes without all the HP desktop software crap taking up space.

USB microphones, cameras, keyboards, mouses, printers, drives, networking devices all just WORK!

As a matter of fact, get the MacBook, and when you do, you'll be able to do MANY things they couldn't dream of, AND you'll be able to do it all with less than half the work! That'll show 'em.

I created a file sharing network when I was new to MacOS X in less than five minutes. Using Windows for 10 years, I was pulling my last hair out trying to get a network to work.

Get the mac. It makes life simple. As for the people talking you out of it, confront them. Ask where they get their "facts" and ask when did they use a mac in the past 25 years. They'll spill immediately with a bunch of, "um well" and "well...about 10 years ago" and you'll know right away that they're talking out of distant "experience."


Sorry, after being so Mac ignorant for so long myself, I can't stand to hear such ignorance spill from people like that. Five years ago, the only thing I "knew" about Apple was, "macs suck." I had nothing to back up anything I said and no experience, but I just couldn't accept anything Apple did. Boy am I sorry now

 

[jmoore5196]

My guess is that no one in your family is an avid Mac user. Am I right?

I would echo what the previous poster said: comparability issues are largely a thing of the past.

As more and more users see Microsoft for the gigantic time and resource usurper that it is, more will migrate to OS X. By the time you are 25, your choice will doubtless seem pretty forward-thinking to your stuck-in-the-mud family members.

Go for it! I think all of us can promise you won't have any regrets.

 

[Cheffy Dave]

They are just trying to baffle you with BS, as most people do, who don't have a clue. my MB Is a BMB (black Plastic MacBook) it has been bullet proof. has a C2D Processor, with 6GB of ram and a 500 GB Hitachi 7200 RPM HDD.(I added the RAM and HDD). Absolutely flies, never ever had a single issue with it.
it's an Apple, buy with confidence,and realize your friends are just
Jealous

 

[Vantage Point]

I'm a PC guy that recently made the move to Mac. I bought an iMac but also needed something portable so I picked up a MB about two months ago at a local Microcenter.com that has a special deal for $799. No regrets at all. It is fast and responsive and handles Photoshop well. I upped the RAM to 4Gb and put the original 2GB from the MB into my iMac. I just went on a 10 day photo trip that included about 4 nights off camping. I used the MB for about an hour a day to organize my pictures and got by for that period without needing a recharge.

 

[alust2013]

Definitely a great experience. The MB I have is roughly the same as the current white MB, with a few minor differences, and it works beautifully. Definitely haven't had compatibility issues, and basically the only things that are windows only anymore are some games, and even that is changing. Plus you can run windows on it if you have to, so there is that problem gone. However, if you are planning to pay for this yourself, I suggest you save your money. At 15, I am very heavily betting that you don't have a need for a laptop, and if you have another computer available, just use that. As cool as the MB may be, saving your money might be the wiser way to go, and I am saying that from experience.

 

[MrCheeto]

As a testament to Apple's dependability and quality, check ebay. Go ahead. There are PowerBooks from NINETEEN-NINETY-SIX that are selling for over $150!! How many other laptops from 1996 are selling for close to that?

As well, I recently used an iBook from 2000 as a gaming notebook. Being ten-years-old it still boots and runs like new! I was flying on some great old 3D games. It had no issues what-so-ever.

Macs last. It's just a fact.

*as there is a dead 3-year-old Compaq Presario F500 sitting on my desk*

You will save money if you buy a Mac, believe it or not! ZERO antivirus software needed. It comes with hundreds of dollars worth of "lifestyle" software, such as iPhoto for editing, managing and sharing photos, iMovie, for editing videos, iDVD for creating full-featured high-quality DVD's, iWeb for creating and managing a webpage, and Garageband, said to be one of the best music-creation devices. Garageband has, in fact, been used to cut entire albums you hear now.

As well, if you buy a $500 laptop now, you'll have to buy ANOTHER in three years when it's on its last leg or outright dies. That's $1,000 in four years for what? For what reason should you pay $500 for something that will need to be replaced for manufacturing faults? Buy a MacBook for $1,000 upfront, and it will still feel fresh four years down the road, and run for well over a decade.

There are countless web pundits that have posted figures proving that it is, in fact, far more affordable to go with Apple than Microsoft and their OEM's.

However, at fifteen, you should probably just save your money, as another poster said, and use what you have available now. For what reason do you require a full-fledged notebook? Why not go for a netbook or an iPad, assuming you have another computer with which to sync it?

At fifteen, I was a huge computer noob, though I had used computers since I was five. I didn't get serious until I was seventeen, and oddly enough, bought a mac Just wait. You probably won't be serious about computers for a number of years, and by then, you'll be glad you waited for the better hardware.

 

[andalusia]

MrCheeto, does Apple pay you commission?

Garageband, said to be one of the best music-creation devices.

Uhm.. Who has said this?

 

[MrCheeto]

-.-'

Consumers, not professionals.

 

[andalusia]

-.-'

Consumers, not professionals.

Right, that clears things up.

 

[coffeeinthebin]

Well I do need a laptop.. I'm switching to a new school (not college, high school and no i'm not rich, scholarship, if i was rich i would already have my mac . next year, and living there, and they require either desktops, or laptops. I pick laptop > desktop because I want to take it to class and type notes on it. I don't think an ipad will do it. I DO have a laptop now, but its 128 mb ram, 100 gb hard drive, and s-l-o-w. really, really slow. and its kinda full of viruses cause, at 15, i don't really know much about computers. and i think mac is just simpler, and i would do better with that.. but thank you, i know my parents need to calm down about the price, i told them that it costs more upfront but is worth it in the long run.. eh, they were like alright, but you still need a virus thing and microsoft.. probably will not get the antivirus just yet though.

 

[MrCheeto]

I've been doing great without Windows for the past two years, and I do far more than you, it sounds like.

Therefore you won't need ANY antivirus software, period.

As well, there are countless tech pundits that all agree, owning a mac is far more cost-efficient and far less troublesome.

 

[cloroxbleach4]

No compatibility issues at all. Anything you hook up to it should basically work. I just switched over myself and everything you need for school (assuming high school for you) will be covered.

 

[coffeeinthebin]

Noo I have never used a mac before, except when i go to the apple store.. not one of my friends has one.. i will feel pretty cool when i get mine ha
my cousin has the mb air.. he doesn't like it cause he says it has no dvd/cd slot so its not even that light when you carry the external docking station around. but i think the macbook shoud.. i actually think the macbook is better than the macbook air.. seemed about the same speed, and ram.. actually, the only good thing about the air i think is that its light for people who travel a lot. but again, you would probably need an external thing. anyway.. no one uses a mac in my family except that one cousin, so they really don't know anything but outdated information from the 80's or something.
i think it will be fast to me , too. the fastest computer we have in our house is 512 mb ram.. mine is 126 mb and my sister's is 256 mb.. so i don't care much that its not 4gb either.
i'm really excited to get this! i don't think its good how excited i am to get this laptop.

 

[MrCheeto]

RAM≠Speed.

Once you have enough ram to allow your applications to run without paging, then no more ram would make a difference.

I have 4gb of ram installed now, but I wouldn't notice a difference on 2gb.

It really just allows you to run more applications at the same time. If you notice, using Windows on low ram, try to copy an image and paste it into paint. That long loading time and the choppiness means it doesn't have enough ram to store the image you copied, run IE and Paint all at the same time and so has to use the hard drive to perform that duty, which is sloooow.

Is your cousin willing to let you try out the MacBook Air? If I had a friend interested, I'd offer one of my macs up in an instant. All you have to do is password-protect the owner's Account and create another account that can be deleted later.

Worth a shot.