It's the time for me to find a new one


I have an old gateway that I bought used here on the TFF about 8 years ago and it's finally dying on me

The USB ports are broken and the hinges are about to pull out of the screen

What I need is a new one that is good for Internet and very basis gaming

I have an copy of Microsoft office to out on it too but I have my work computer for anything professional

Any ideas on brands you prefer?

I'm computer savy but just don't keep up with the "new" stuff
And
I'm damn tired of typing on this iphone

Mac......you can thank me later

I've had my macbook for almost 3 years now. I love it and wouldn't have any other laptop. No viruses, fast internet servers, more than enough memory.

Typing on an 6yr old mac now...love it.

One other thing is I tether my iPhone for Internet service. Not sure if that is going to matter

I've had mine for about 4 and agree. I actually partitioned the Hard Drive to run windows for some work applications, and it will run windows better than PC/laptop. I don't surf the web on the windows side, just use it for work.

Ok Hookem your over my head now

Oh believe me if I can do it anyone can. Actually I had a friend who is good with computers do it for me, but from what I'm told it is very easy to do since I have bootcamp on my Mac. I only use the windows side to run work applications that aren't available for Mac.

I have a Lenovo and love it.

Again I am a cheep basstard! I'd rather spend 400 on a reel than 300 on a computer. Arnt macs expensive?

yes but worth it

You can buy one Mac or 2 or 3 laptops over the years.

My sister has gone through 2 dells since I got my macbook.

Watch Fry's and you can get the Lenovo pretty cheap (less than $300) sometimes.

LSS your sig disturbs me

My family are pc users. We are all changing to Macs as we need new computers. I will be buying a mac soon, I don't think my girl has much more left in her...

Mac's are expensive but worth it for home use. They don't run windows any better than a similar spec'd pc. Bootcamp is fine if you can install from a windows disk, but in a corporate environment bootcamp can be a pain to get working. Can also use vmware to run off bootcamp while on your mac OS.

If you don't wanna spend the dough for a mac, I'd get an HP. They have EXCELLENT warranty policies. They'll ship you a box with prepaid return shipping and have any warranty issues fixed within a week. Lenova makes you pay for the shipping.

I'm not too fond of it myself...but a bet's a bet. I lost. I get to remove it on the 29th.

I have a toshiba but it was still about 1k 5 years ago, but its been a pretty good computer. Had some problems with it when it needed a new battery last year, but after a new battery its been a lot better.

Look at the Sony Vaio if you want to stay pc. I got this one for $450 at Fry's and it's a very good lapper.
On the HP's, there's a reason they supply return boxes and labels. I work for Fedex and I pick up probably 4-5 a day being returned. And that's just me. HP returns are big business for us.

That all said, I'd switch to a mac if I could afford one.

on my 4th toshiba (only because I upgraded) never a problem with the hardware, had 2 on the truck with me and they got all the vibration and rough riding they wanted and still worked great.
look at office depot for a good one set up like you want.
a good toshiba satellite should only run you about 4-500 for a pretty good setup.

I loveeeeeeeeee my new Fujitsu. Smoking fast and was several hundred $ less then comparable brands.

Lenovo at Frys... Got mine on sale awhile back for $300. Only had it crash when I dropped it. They paid shipping to/fro to replace hard drive under warranty.

FK, call me tomorrow I got one that I will part with, that's in your range

I don't care much for laptops, as I love a good desktop computer. I've got a Dell Inspiron that's been just fine, and it wasn't all that expensive.

I got the Acer Aspire 5552-5495, it has the AMD phenom iiX3 N830...
its a 3 core processor. its a little costly but I have yet to see another as fast, well other than an alien ware that cost over a grand.

mac...worth every penny!

if ya want fast and game capable, spend some bucks on this.

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=prod4870092

Mac all the way!

If you have to dumb down the Mac and run a Windows application, VMware Fusion or Parallels Desktop are your two best options. Those let you run both the Mac OS and Windows at the same time.

See reviews at macworld.com.

Get another used one and install Ubuntu.

I'm running a couple of 10+ yr old puters in my kids' rooms. 1 gig processors and a mere 256 ram with Puppy Linux installed. Puppy's faster by far than XP ever ran on them and they surf at the speed of click on Firefox with NoScript for security.

I gave my mom an old 486 clocked up to a whopping 600mg! 196 mb ram! It runs pretty lean on Puppy. She surfs it and it runs way faster than her 3 yr old laptop with Windows Whatever.

Linux is where it's at.

I got linux on my cell phone, can't keep the dam kid from draggin that dirty ole blanky around the screen!

Could the mac users give some reasons why the Mac is worth the extra money if all you really do at home is surf the Net, load pictures and Music.

If that is all you do you may as well just have an iPad or some other tablet. Personally I would not buy a Mac because of the expense. There are very good laptops under $500 and I would lean to a Toshiba because of reviews.

I bought a Macbook upon my daughters recommendation. It's a great trouble free, virus free computer. But I do basically 2 things on a computer. I hang out in the OT and I chat on Yahoo.
After spending $1300 on the Mac I found out that Yahoo chat does not work on it. So presently it is dedicated to Netflix.
In order to chat on Yahoo I bought a $300 Acer Aspire on sale at Walmart. It has Windows 7. I am completely happy with this cheap computer. Yes I do have to guard against virus but that is well taken care of by the ESET NOD 32 Antivirus, Malwarebytes, and Ccleaner. The NOD32 is a premium (not free) antivirus Leo LaPort.
It outshines any free antivirus on the market.

You don't spend time fussing around with a Mac. It just works.

A number of business studies show that that it takes a lot more computer support people to keep Windows machines happy and running compared to Macs.

I have 6 Dell desktops and 2 Mac desktops and 2 Mac laptops at work. Guess which ones are always trouble-free, maintenance-free, and just keep on doing the job with no fuss?

Go online and spec out a Mac and comparable Windoze machine. Given the software included with a Mac, ease of use, and the fact you won't be spending your time keeping it happy, any price difference will be negligible over time.

If you can't afford a Mac, get an HP. You can get more machine for less money with HP, AND I called for warranty work yesterday and a redneck answered the phone.

Try this link, http://www.visioncomputers.com/index.asp.
Neal Boortz advertizes for the company. The part I like is when you call customer service you get a live person who speaks English without and accent and they remotely fix your problem right then.

Just a thought.

got 5-6 years on my Lenovo right now...never had a crash or major problem. We also have a Asus that we have been very happy with so far (for about 1.5 years). My next laptop will probably be a Lenovo.

I would love to have a Mac but since I have had Windows since they came out with Windows 95, I am not sure I could even operate or navigate a Mac.

I scooped up one of the $200 Compaq laptop special WalMart had on black Friday. It is fine for my needs. I just need to be able to download my pics from my camera, connect to the internet, use the word processor from time to time, pay bills online, and have email.

There's alot of mac fanboys that will say mac's can do no wrong. It's not true of coarse but Mac fan's are religious about their expensive piece of equipment. For home use, if you want to spend double to browse the internet and be in the "in" crowd it's worth it, and they do run relatively maintenance free. Software availability could also be an issue as Windows has alot more for it's OS. If you intend to use it as a work machine, especially in a larger corporation, consult with your IT guy before getting it. CAD on a Mac is a big NO NO and your IT guy will hate you for it.

Mac website has refurbished products that are as good as new. They come with a full warranty and at fraction of the cost of a brand new machine. They are packaged as new and delivered to your doorstep.

Toshiba hasong been the besr reviewed puter on the market for reliability and customer service.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505144_162-37044009/the-most-reliable-laptops/

the good and the bad of a pc vs. mac.

windows pc if you want it for work or gaming. there are a few games that aren't happy with the mac or just aren't compatible. there is a lot of specialized software that isn't compatible for work. at minimum, talk to you're IT guy. unless macs are already connected to the server, he'll hate you.

but even if you're just using it for internet browsing, mac is much more people friendly. virtually no viruses, quick browsers. very very few crashes. it doesn't slow down nearly as quickly or much at all compared to windows when you pile on tons of software or open ten tabs. graphics are insane without paying the high price of a quality graphics card. photo programs are nice. if something does go wrong, there is a huge online support staff of techies and other mac users that will help you out. all new software comes from an appstore on the computer (except for windows office - i don't think microsoft likes mac very much). and those apps are cheap and many times free. it's a much more customizable os as well.

techies generally don't macs because even $2000-3000-5000 top of the line mac doesn't have the amazing, top of the line, highest quality, biggest number pieces of hardware. it doesn't even like to play blue-ray. so even though your mac will last for years and years, it'll look more and more sluggish because for each pc you buy during that time, the pc will have the best, newest hardware to date. in exchange, you do get a quality operating system built to last, and very organized machine that simply functions more efficiently.

overall, macs are so popular because as long as you don't drop them, they're idiot proof. this comes from an owner of two macs (although i don't have an iphone or ipad, i know poop when i see it).

As you might well know, it’s not often that I and Tallgrass agree on something. However, when it comes to computers, especially what brand of computer is best we do AGREE. We both will tell anyone:“Get a Mac”!


Nuff said,
TFP

Many of the good things said about a mac can also be said of a basic Toshiba running Linux. (such as lack of virus problems)

A lot of the games that will not run on Linux will also not run on a mac. There are now a lot of free games for Linux as well. You do still have to wade through the ones that are pretty clunky but about 10% of those games are actually pretty good.

Both Mac and Linux are based on a UNIX type operating system that existed long before Microsoft existed.

Linux has a program called WINE that will run many Windows programs but not all. There is a version of Vmware for Linux as well.

If you want CHEAP, buy a used Toshiba that is still solid as far as hardware. Wipe the drive and put Ubuntu Linux on it and you will have 90% or more of what the Mac guys have plus all the free stuff.

edit: If you are hooked on Microsoft Windows, make sure you get Windows 7 and 4 gigabytes of RAM. (I also recommend the AMD 64-bit processors running Windows 7 64-bit)

I agree with very much of what you’ve written above. However, anyone, and I mean anyone in IT that does NOT like dealing with, or especially can NOT deal with Macs has ABSOLUTELY no business in IT in the first place. Period, end of story.

Other than that my only quibbles are that if I want to watch a Blu-Ray Disc then I’ll get a Blu-Ray player that is hooked up to a LARGE high end flatpanel HD TV. I’m of the opinion that the late Steve Jobs viewed Blu-Ray as being a short term medium. Herr Jobs most likely viewed/believed that that HD video was beyond the short term going to be obtained by download, or by streaming over the internet, thus rendering Blu-Ray at best a redundant medium after only a brief period beyond it’s introduction to the market. I understand his point here, and do —in part— agree with it. Still there is a period where a lack of Blu-Ray support will hurt Mac owners a might. I’m not AT ALL fond of the decision not to include a CD/DVD drive in the latest Mac mini. Right now I’m looking to replace the original model Mac mini that I’m using here at home with a Mac mini 4,1 which is the last model of Mac mini before the most recent model. I’m looking for a 4,1 specifically because the current model does NOT have a CD/DVD drive.

For all practical purposes a home computer does not need to be the most current generation of ‘hot-rod.’ unless one is a BIG TIME gamer. For all others a reasonably recent intel based Mac is just fine.

MS Office is vastly overrated. I rarely use the copy that came with my Mac mini. Mostly I use Textedit. When I don’t I almost always use Mariner Write. Mariner Write is much more user friendly. If I was going to write a masters thesis, dissertation, or had need of a word processor for some other heavy duty use, I would use the latest version of Nisus Writer Pro. The only real reason to use MS Office is if one needs to make an Excel, or PowerPoint document available for wide distribution.

I know that Grandpa was not happy about the lack of support of Yahoo! chat for the Mac. All I can say is that Yahoo! botched it here. With so very many iPads, and iPhones out there this shortcoming by Yahoo! is going to bite them in the posterior.


TFP

The only thing that MS office does really well is the Visual Basic Assistant (VBA). I don't see any other office package that is that easy to learn how to program. Yes, a real programmer can do better and looks down on it but it sure is nice to just be able to record a macro and then edit it's code.

Wow

You guys are way over my head now

Now if one of you can tell me how to break into a neighbors wifi signal I would be much appreciative!!!

I hate teathering from my iphone

If you're cheap and you want a fast computer, there's really no debate. TOSHIBA!!!

I had a buddy a few years ago that had worked for years at the best buy customer service counter, and I asked him what computer they got returned the least, and without hesitation he said Toshiba. I've bought two the have lasted me the past 7-8 years (2nd one still going strong), and I spent $700 on both of them combined. I've dropped them at the airport and taken them on countless business trips and spend a couple hours surfing the net every night, and they just keep on going.

I usually just go get the cheapest Toshiba available, but you might want to look a level or two higher if you're going to do some gaming. My FIL just got a $380 Toshiba at Best Buy that had the i3 processor, and it's a freaking rocket ship.

It just doesn't make sense to spend $1200+ on a Mac. Too risky of an investment, doesn't work with all PC stuff, which the rest of the world uses, and if it breaks within the first year or two, you've lost a ton of money. A $400 Toshiba only has to last a couple years to be a better value, and from my experience, they last much longer than that. I've got my wife and brother using one now too and they both love it, especially for how cheap they are.

This one looks like a really good deal to me for $430. i3 processor, 4 GB of RAM, etc.:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Sa...p;skuId=4672073

FWIW, I think the Toshibas with Intel processors seem to do better than the ones with AMDs.

I would like to share several thoughts on this topic:

You should get whatever best suits your usage needs and price range, at the end of the discussion most users are doing daily home based computer task: Email, chat, pics, music, video, ect.. so as long as the computer has the proper ammount of hardware and that hardware is in balance with the operating system everything else them becomes a matter of user interaction.. make a set of recovery disc if it is a windows based system (I see far too many computers where the owner has failed to take this step along with creating a startup repair disc), properly and adequately protect your computer against internet threats ( those of you whom i have spoken to know my stance on this)and last but not least back up the data that is important to you.. It will not matter if you have a Mac or windows based PC if you suffer a catastrophic failure.

So really pick which operating system works for you, find the kinds of software that you want to be able to run and make sure you have good hardware specs = happy computing!!!

On a separate note: Might be worth the time for some of you to look into booting from a linux live cd/dvd.. you can pick the flavor of distribution that suits you, download and burn the iso to disc and for those times when windows is giving you problems (and you really need to get online or work or whatever) you can boot from that live disc, establish your internet connection and get on about your business.. I have one laptop that runs from a dvd 24/7 and for basic email, forums, browsing, ect.. you cant get any more solid than that and everything gets flushed when you restart the computer.

MAC is way too much $$$ for normal home computing.

A lot of MAC folks are about like Toyota owners that say the big toyota motor is getting 15mpg towing...

Look at an Asus or similar. Same programs half price.

My Nissan Titan gets 14.9 mpg....towing....up hill....against the wind.

Yes I do have a Mac.

Why?

Because I can.