Looking at buying a laptop.

[backwoodsracer]

I'm thinking a MacBook pro or used mac book then buying apple care.or the cheapest alienware. I really can't stand anything toshibia all of them I have seen have fallen appart. What do y'all think I'm trying to save and I know the mac is expensive. I'm using it for college writting papers Internet surfing videos maybe a game or two. Whatchall think?

[ridered11]

MacBook Pro FTW.

[brian76708]

mac FTL why get half the computer for the same price . hell you could even get the mac operating system and install it on another ie. dell/hp/asus if it makes you happy they use a lot of the same components. Not worth the money in my book.

[exrider12]

Mac book pro... best computer iv ever had

[CJM]

I cant stand macs, they software imho is just to annoying and stuff.

If anything Id suggest an HP, I had one for 8 years and it finally croaked (gfx card died and its built in of course). My brother has an hp too, never failed.

If you want indestructible the only one is the toughbook tho.

[Canadian144]

I've had awful luck with just about every Windows laptop I've owned. When I buy my laptop for university this summer, I'm going to get the 15" Macbook Pro. After using my Mac Mini for the past few months, I'm in love with OSX and Macs. The specs aren't great on my little Mini but it runs just as quick as my old Vista running quad core, 8GB of ram HP desktop.

If you are going to go with Windows... the only laptops I've had good luck with have been "professional" laptops, like Lenovos.

[ProspectorJim]

With the mac, youre paying for the big apple on the case. There are $800 pc laptops that have better components than a mac that's twice as expensive. Even if it only lasts half as long as the mac, you can buy a brand new one ,which would have even better components by that time, for the price difference.

That being said, stay away from alienware. Theyre more overpriced than macs.

[mcginty33]

Had my 13 in Macbook Pro for over 2 years now and not a single problem :) I will never switch to a windows based computer again. Love the OS, the programs, and everything about it!

[bdubwiley]

my next laptop will prob be a mac, but if you decide to go with anything else id dump windows and install some form of linux, its really whichever you prefer. i just hate dealing with windows, linux is so much better in my opinion.

[tjsdaname]

cant beat a macbook...
I would get one if I were you lol...

I have my regular macbook and my imac. could not be happier.

[ridered11]

Everyone who doesn't like Mac books hasn't owned one. Once you go Mac you'll never go back. Well worth the extra money, you get what you pay for.

[backwoodsracer]

My parents are concerned that i wont be able to run a business off of it if i need to, They are concerned that it is going to block to many things and wont let me open e-mails.?

[fast426]

I will agree that a mac is the way to go, but you said you are trying to save money. In college you will have to run microsoft programs on it anyways like Word, PPT, and excel that will work better on a Windows based machine.

My brother just graduated HS and he got a $400 HP that is really nice, way better than the one I bought 4 years ago for $1200. If you take care of it, there is no reason you wouldn't make it through college and beyond with it. My parents had a PC that was new when Win 98 came out, and they just stopped using it last year. Granted it was extremely slow and all they used it for was surfing the web.

You will literally pay 3x the amount for a comparable machine, so if you trying to save money I would definitely go with a Windows machine.

[exrider12]

Originally posted by ridered11
Everyone who doesn't like Mac books hasn't owned one. Once you go Mac you'll never go back. Well worth the extra money, you get what you pay for.

True.. very true. My MacBook Pro is by far the best computer in my house. Alot faster than my dads "professional" HP.

[Crystylephoto]

I've had 2 macbook pros in the past maybe 8 years... and have only been to the apple store with problems 3 times... and every time I've gone, their customer service is outstanding. One of the sales associates even sat there and went through step by step how to take out my hard drive in my old mac, since it wasn't under apple care anymore, and he saved me hundreds of dollars. I now also switched to the iphone and couldn't be happier. It may take a bit to get used to the mac style, but in my line of work, designing and photography, I could never do what I do on my mac, on a pc. I will never ever switch to using a pc again. I use one at my day job and it's miserable. It's a personal preference really, there isn't much I can complain about any of my apple products. Yes they are expensive, but I can say that for me, it's been worth every penny.

[destey]

Back in 08 I bought a used HP DV6000 (core 2). Other than having a 30 minute battery life, it works perfectly.

[Ichoptop]

I refuse to suckle at Steve Job's teet.

I have two IBM notebook pros for work that have worked perfectly for at least 5 years and my personal Dell that is 2 years old without a hitch.

Look at the ease of upgrades before you spend the money for that white polycarbonate case.

[quad2xtreme]

just be ready to switch to Windows when you enter the corporate world. Microsoft owns the corporate world and it isn't going to change by the time you get out of college.

[ProspectorJim]

Originally posted by ridered11
Everyone who doesn't like Mac books hasn't owned one. Once you go Mac you'll never go back. Well worth the extra money, you get what you pay for.

I've used several macs. I don't care much for the operating system. I also don't care much for paying twice as much for half the computer.