apple notebooks - yay or nay? (1 Viewer)

[Purp|e]

haha ok, after alot of reading, talking to people and what-not ... im still so damn confused as to whether or not i should get an apple. basically i need it to be portable, light & small for uni ... but it'd be used for music in general, some recording/mixing and stuff, and possibly in the future some sort of CAD program (prolli archicad). supposedly ill definately need an ok VC for this to work, although id mainly use it on a home pc, but it would be good to be able to run it on my laptop.

ive been looking at the 12" powerbook .. as well as the new macbook pro thing(although prolli out of my price range ... unless i take money out of the x800 pro for home pc fund and just use it as my all-rounder)

the only thing im really worried about is ... mac compatabilty. i gather it wont be trouble connecting to uni networks and stuff... but what about transferring files to and from a windows pc? (obviously im new to this whole idea ) in general are there a lack of app's for mac's?

oh and what's the go with virtual pc? will that allow me to run anyhting i'd normally use in windows? or is i just for microsoft software (ie. could i install + use something like soulseek in virtual pc)?

hmm alot of questions, sorry im pretty clueless about this business

<3 ta

 

[placebo101]

apple notebooks are better than pc laptops. but if your going for the G4 models it may not be worth the money. as you can get a higher spec pc laptop for the same price. the G4's are slow compared to the new stuff these days. the macbook is 5-6 times faster but is expensive like you said. they will update the ibook line sometime soon, but i dont know if you can wait. i'm goin to wait till i start uni, see if i need a laptop or desktop and what special programs ill need to run. after that ill either get a iMac or get a cheaper mac notebook once they arrive.

bty, the new imac is incredible value and a great all in one package.

 

[Wooz]

Wait till Feb apples releasing it's dual intel processor range.

 

[Ellie_Belly]

One of my friends has one and he is very much in love with it

 

[vizman]

yeh if ur gunna buy definately wait till the new intel range come out on the apples. it'll mean siginicantly better performance overall

 

[malkin86]

the only thing im really worried about is ... mac compatabilty. i gather it wont be trouble connecting to uni networks and stuff... but what about transferring files to and from a windows pc? (obviously im new to this whole idea ) in general are there a lack of app's for mac's?

Transferring files in most cases should be fine. Macs and PCs today are *much* more compatible these days than they used to be in the past, according to my dad. (and what higher authority could you ask for there? )

Regarding the percieved lack of Mac apps, sometimes you've just got to look and find out what's there. Check in the Mac Software thread here, for starters. What apps do you use on your PC, in general? I'm sure that someone can suggest a mac alternative for most of your software.

oh and what's the go with virtual pc? will that allow me to run anyhting i'd normally use in windows? or is i just for microsoft software (ie. could i install + use something like soulseek in virtual pc)?
hmm alot of questions, sorry im pretty clueless about this business
<3 ta

I gather that you wouldn't need Virtual PC if you got one of the new Intelbooks (or whatever they're called) but yes, you can run non-official Windows software like Soulseek or games on Virtual PC. It will be slower, though. If you do get Virtual PC, you will need to virus screen it as regularly as you would a normal PC too.

I hope that this helps you.

 

[jm1234567890]

I gather that you wouldn't need Virtual PC if you got one of the new Intelbooks (or whatever they're called) but yes, you can run non-official Windows software like Soulseek or games on Virtual PC. It will be slower, though. If you do get Virtual PC, you will need to virus screen it as regularly as you would a normal PC too.

I hope that this helps you.

No, you will still need some kind of emulator to run windows software, which isn't released. As Virtual PC is for PowerPC.

Also, the new intel macs can't run windows XP, although they should be able to run Windows Vista.

If your not-deperate or can't live without windows software. I'd wait 6 months before getting a mac.

 

[seremify007]

You sure they can't run WinXP? I was under the impression the new architecture is now mimicking a PC clone... but anyhow, Microsoft owns that Virtual PC software don't they and IIRC it looks like a pretty realistic WinXP imitation.

Btw in response to topic, whilst iTunes, MacOS (I think 'iOS' sounds good!), etc.. is great... I still find MacOS to feel restrictive/limiting- the only thing which makes up for it is the good look of Macs in general with subtle design cues like the light up Apple logo.

Oh, I'm also running MacOS X on my Windows PC.

 

[jm1234567890]

You sure they can't run WinXP? I was under the impression the new architecture is now mimicking a PC clone... but anyhow, Microsoft owns that Virtual PC software don't they and IIRC it looks like a pretty realistic WinXP imitation.

Btw in response to topic, whilst iTunes, MacOS (I think 'iOS' sounds good!), etc.. is great... I still find MacOS to feel restrictive/limiting- the only thing which makes up for it is the good look of Macs in general with subtle design cues like the light up Apple logo.

Oh, I'm also running MacOS X on my Windows PC.

No it can't run XP due to the new BIOS technology. There might be a hack later, but it will still be a hack.

I've used virtual PC and it is pretty slow for some things and definately can't run games.

 

[Purp|e]

hmmm yeah, everyone has said virtual pc is way slow, which sucks, but atm i dont think i would need it... cause as mentioned above, i have managed to find heeps of mac equivalent software.

hmm, atm i think im going to wait untill the second quarter (aprilish) when apparently apple is scheduled to perhaps release the pretty'd up iBook type thing (i read something about a 13"/12" thing with same processors as the macbook pro's coming in feb, but a little slower) ... if anything decent comes out in my price range it'll be good, if not i guess ill have to get a pc notebook

 

[seremify007]

Yeh true Virtual PC can't run games... it's very tempting to install Virtual PC onto my Virtual Mac OS X =]

 

[Wolfowitz]

Question: Can apples run CS: S?

 

[jm1234567890]

The release started this week. Intel CPU Macs can be bought from apple.com.au .

Only iMacs, the laptops are shipping in Feburary.

 

[Purp|e]

yeah, only the macbook pro's are in feb ... they're yet to announce when the new 'consumer' notebooks (ie. updated iBook) will be released ... but rumour has it, in april on apple's anniversary it will happen.

 

[Callistogenic]

I'm also running MacOS X on my Windows PC.

I'm curious what your build number is:

Go to the Apple menu, click 'About this Mac'.
Click on the 'Version 10.4.x' to reveal your build.