Thank you boxxa
You cannot build the “same computer”. Can your build run mac OS native? You can dick up bios settings, pick incompatible/untested components etc… when you build your own. You don’t have an R&D team behind your build, do you? It’s not comparable on many functional levels. Can anybody buy a basic PC laptop cheaper? YUP. Can you build a PC tower cheaper even with higher specs, YEP. Is it the same or superior, NOPE.
How come you’re bumping the above but not addressing your incorrect claim that Mac’s have 3rd party memory issues? You’re not touching on the virus issue I brought up either. I have ALOT of experience with BOTH platforms and can disprove all the haters with fact and my said experience. Not trying to be a dick, well maybe a little. 
If I couldn’t fix my own shit I’d buy a Mac. If you can fix your own virus issues and anything else that may come up…buy a prebuilt PC and save the money. That’s my 2 cents anyhow.
Added thought…99% of Viruses (<–my own stat) are from poor user judgement. If you can’t keep a Windows PC clean, you suck at the interwebs.
Not gonna disagree with that stat I don’t think.
But I will say that on a Mac you’re allowed to be a moron and get away with it. LOL.
PS. You just won the Hindu lottery. Check your email.
My Core2Duo “hackintosh” ran WAY better than my Core2Duo mac mini…Still use it as my main file server.
Running a 2 month old iMac as the primary though
Geek. 
J/K
I’m not saying Mac’s are gold plated or anything. Again…I run PC’s myself, with Windows. Just personal preference with me and my stock trading software runs on Windows. I must admit I HATE the Mac firewall (especially when it decides on it’s own to block DHCP). I also see a fair share of permission issues you need to correct running the Mac Disk Utility. They aren’t bulletproof but for the virus prone jackassess…mac would save them money in the long run. I shouldn’t say all this because the virus side work pays really well.
Where I truly believe Mac wins it for me is in the following. Aluminum unibodies are VERY strong, and act as good heat dissipation. The keyboard on macs is insansely good to me. My Lenovo for work is also very good… but the mac takes the cake. My Mac Magic mouse, again, phenomenal. No more scroll wheel, just slide your finger anywhere on the mouse, and it scrolls. Now has support for right clicking as well. That’s right, a Mac product with right-click GASP. The screen is phenomenal, period. This display is GREAT.
So, while the processor, memory, hard disk is the same as any x86 machine, the rest is not even close.
Oh, I should note that the Lenovo laptop mentioned above is only like 200 bucks cheaper than equivelant mac. Bottom line, if you want quality, you have to pay for it.
It’s a matter of style, IMHO.
If you’re doing mostly light computing and moving around alot, the MBA is probably the way to go. Anything more processor-heavy like video editing, and I’d think of something else (like the MBP 17 mentioned).
I also have (several) Lenovos and the 11" 2g MBA to carry around at work. Of course, my Air doesn’t have the chip security/fingerprint reader that my T400 has, but then again, my T400 doesn’t have the SSD drive the Air does.
You picks your poison, you pays your price.
However, that being said I’m now interested in how the new Thinkpad Tablet looks.
Tradersbase I’m giving you the fact that it’s overpriced for the hardware that’s in the system, it’s the same exact CPU and memory and Hdd you find in a pc or laptop the only diff is they have their own board and other components, I personally do not have any issues really with Mac I like them alot for the fact they don’t require much attention I’ve also worked on a fair share of macs before (fishbowl macs are not fun to take apart lol) i also agree that viruses are not as prone as pcs all in all macs are good machines Personally I just can’t justify shelling out $550-$2,000 on a Mac when I can use quality namebrand parts and build my own pc that can do as much as a Mac if not more, boardjunky I remember when I did my hackintosh I did a p4 2.80ghz Prescott 478 chip on a intel board with 2gig ram and threw x86 the first version worked tities, I also agree that it’s not that hard to keep a windows pc clean and virus free, another reason that windows is prone to viruses is because it’s more common so their fore people are going to write viruses for it unlike Mac & linux
“Fishbowl” meaning the old Imac’s I’m guessing? Those were a bitch to open depending on what you had to get at. The old pre unibody MBP were a bitch to open up also. The unibody is a much easier design finally.
Want a PC to stay virus free? Run virtual box and revert to snapshot after you watch porn. LOL.
You may or may not be surprised at how many buy a mac then run friggin windows on it. That drives me nuts because it’s like…why did you pay 2-3x the price of a PC if you’re running windows. LOL
Lmao that is true, xxxx amount of people do that all the time. when I use to work for best buy whoever had purchased a Mac would also buy windows and I can’t remember the name of the virtual software it’s not clicking in my fat head but it’s common they would also pay for it to be put on the Mac also so their is another $500 down the drain if not more lol. And yes fishbowl I’m referring to the all in one CRT ones iMac etc I hated those damn things most common computer we had in hs also
The 17" MBP is rather obscenely large, I think the 15" with the Hi-Res Anti-glare or a 13 Macbook Air are two best options.
But Macs can dual boot natively…I’m assuming they wanted something like Parallels? I can build myself a Windows machine that could smoke a Mac at the same price…I also don’t like their lifecycle of products and their support for OSX. It seems people complain about something and they refuse to acknowledge it. I also can realate to what traderbase said about the Macs assigning itself a 169 address. You have to delete a firewall file to correct it, even if the firewall is turned completely off.
Yea that’s what it was and did you read the whole thread I said the same thing about building a pc for half the cost that would smoke a Mac …
The MacBook’s sucked. Every model of every generation ever made was not something I would recommend to anyone. There is no need to compare them to anything else.
Find a notebook thats better than the 11" or 13" MBA for less. Its not possible.
Try and find something comparable to the 15" HR-AG MBP or 17" AG MBP. Its hard to do, but definitely possible to find something with the same or ‘better’ hardware specs for less. However, the whole package does not exist. Not much has a better processor than the 17" MBP, since its the second highest mobile processor Intel sells, extreme edition aside. You also have the expensive option to get the 2.3 Ghz model, which is Intels current highest spec mobile processor, again with the exclusion of the crazy expensive extreme. The GPU’s aren’t stunning, but they’re fine for the form factor and everything anyone would ever want to do, aside from hardcore gaming. Battery life is the best in the industry, warranty is fantastic, build quality is second to none, most say the trackpad and keyboard are about as good as it gets. Speakers are very good in the 17" MBP, average in the 15". 15 and 17" MBP have both optical in and out, which can be quite useful. Backlight keyboards are harder to come by than they should be, displays are generally junk in cheap notebooks, etc… You can expect the custom prismatic battery in the MBP to last you about 5 years, whereas most cheap notebooks use cheap 18650 cells with a garbage BMS that fail in a year or less. The power adaptor is small, easy to carry, and disconnects if you tug on the cord. Resale is again, best in the industry.
All of these things add up to the MBP being a very good notebook. Yes, it IS expensive, but it really isn’t terribly overpriced. Its quality hardware with a quality design, and you are paying for it. If you can afford it, its likely to be the best notebook you ever owned.
Yeah just restating it. I also have a 17" MBP I have at work…I use it primarily for displaying my tweetdeck…
Its a little large… It depends on what you expect out of your notebook. I used to use a 15" MBP, and had several gens over the years. A while ago I switched to a 17" MBP and would never go back. The display is fantastic, 1200P is enough resolution to get serious work done. Put that res in a 17" display, and the pixel density is relatively high as well.
When you take a look at the physical dimensions of the 17" MBP, its comparable to the average 15" notebook, except its usually thinner.
Are you talking about a desktop I assume? You would have to compare desktop Apple hardware if you wanted to make this statement, and this thread is regarding a notebook. Try and build your own notebook. While its possible, its going to suck, be gigantic, and get horrid battery life.
As far as desktops go, the Mac Mini definitely can be beat at its price point. However, it will undoubtedly be larger. I’m not sure it would exactly be easy to make a machine about the same size as a Mini, thats faster AND cheaper. Also, the Mini uses notebook hardware to fit in that form factor, which tends to cost substantially more than big desktop hardware, so its really not that great of a comparison. Then there is the iMac, which is a great all-in-one, but still uses mostly laptop hardware to pack it into the display, and you sure are paying for the quality IPS display and form factor. The only thing left is the Mac Pro. Go ahead and try to make a machine yourself without ‘overclocking’ thats higher performance, and less cost. It might be possible, but it surely will NOT be a substantial cost savings. Also, the current gen Mac pro is at the end of its cycle, so its currently the worst case senario, and still hard to do. Also, some people care about things such as sound level, reliability, build quality, general appearance… These are things that are hard to achieve and guarantee when you make your own machine. You can power on a quality pre-built computer and expect it to run at 100% CPU load indefinitely without complaint.
Jesus fucking Christ you type alot lol well your points are solid but I don’t see the justice in spending $2,000 for a MBP that’s alot of money for a laptop and you could buy a alienware mx17 for half the cost and twice the power might I also add that alienware laptops have improved over the years and don’t include a shit load of bloatware and crap etc, I bought my mx11 for $750 with a 500gb Sata hdd 4gig ddr3 memory and the power efficient core 2 duo 1.3ghz chip it also has a deciated also have 4year warranty on it yea it doesn’t have a DVD drive and only a 11.6" screen but It doesn’t bother me I got it brand new too it can do a shit load more then a MBP could do IMO
Mother fucking iPhone it has a dedicated 335gt nvidia video card that is amazing for gaming video editing etc
Also I was comparing the Mac mini to a desktop since apple sells you on the ideal that it has the same power as a desktop