don't like safari

but it may have been a compatability issue

also dont like ITunes

but QT is decent - not as good as MediaPlayer tho

Y'know, you can install browsers OTHER than Safari ... same for software ... if you want to go to the trouble, you can even install (gasp!) ... WINDOZE on your Mac ... which automatically opens you up to every PC virus, Trojan, worm, etc that you'd get in Windoze-land anyway when you boot up in Windoze ... Try installing OS X on a PeeCee, tho' ...

no need to hostile -y is that needed

I have not had those problems as I run excellent security (that is MY thing), and quite honestly MAC users give me a pain

MACs are best if ur using a lot of graphic art apps or educational/school purposes. I had thought about getting one, but think If I do get a 2nd machine I'll build and dual ubuntu with 7

have a great nite sugar

I have to disagree with the Macs being that good. Apple is terrible about product support. Parts are ridiculously expensive. They are WAY over priced for what they are.

The thing with Widowez is that it is peoples internet habits that get them rossed. Rosses don't just happen spontaneously. Now I am no novice to computers. I tried to load Ubuntu 9.15 into a macbook Pro and damn if I could not get the sound drivers to load up at all! I mean it is frikken impossible.

You can get a dell with a 17" monitor for a third what an equivalent macbook costs and you can load Ubuntu into it no problems!!

Macs are trendy. if you want that go Mac. if you want something that won't rape your wallet? Get a Dell! At least you can expand on a dell. You had better know what you are doing if you plan on upgrading hardware on a Mac!

dell

i'm glad this thread was posted i myself was looking into a new laptop. anybody got a good suggestion for a laptop under $600?

no, not really unless u can get a deal....thru someone u know

look at thinkpads - some of them might be ok but it depends on what ur using it for - I'll ask my son how much his cost, it was a lesser expensive thinkpad but I believe he;s already needing a memory upgrade from what is telling me


http://shop.lenovo.com/us/notebooks/thinkpad

the smallest is around 500 but there are add ons - good luck - these are among the best in their price range in almost every category - doesn't mean u won;t find anything else as good - just u won't find any better for the buck!

Ummm ... how come you think there's any 'hostile' in that response? If pointing out advantages is 'hostile', well, I'll quit, okay ... ?

I got a dell for under $600, but that was around Christmas time. I've been pretty happy with it.

If you stretch your budget just a little you can get into a dell with a 17" monitor. To get the same in a Mac be ready to shell out close to $1700-1800 for a Macbook and a Macbook pro is $2500+ smackers! Mac is over priced for what you get, rotation time for repair work as needed is usually SIX WEEKS! Dell has it down to two weeks! So does Gateway. In many instances if your computer really did go bad they replace the HDD to another new laptop unless it baked out too and send that off and don't make you wait! That is nice! They know not to keep customers waiting. Mac is a Snobs computer in some cases! they are repair UNFRIENDLY, upgrade UNFRIENDLY, software is seriously limited to MAC Proprietary, and also like in the case of the Macbook Pro having a video failure last year the company refused to acknowledge the failure and issue a recall until they were sued and then they admitted they had bad nVidea video chip sets in them that were going bad. They were silent about their recall and it took * EFFING WEEKS to get the replacement computers and repaired computers back to consumers! Image means nothing compared to price and performance. For what a 17" Macbook Pro is I can get a FASTER MORE FEATURE RICH AND MUCH MORE POWERFUL MACHINE FOR LESS THAN HALF THE COST IN A DELL! Also there is a chip set that has a battery in it and when it goes bad you have to replace the logic board instead of a battery. How much does that cost? $650 and you pay shipping! That's right, YOU PAY SHIPPING ON TOP OF A SERVICE FEE OF $600 MORE SMACKERS! Apple is all about how to rape your wallet! So is Mac! Do yourself a favor and stay away from Mac/Apple! Steve Jobs computer company is a pack of crooks as much as Bill Gates was and Microsoft is!

Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, these are the brands I usually recommend for those on a budget. I have an old Toshiba Satellite 2100CDS and it is a Dinosaur! I mean a velociraptor used to own it before I got it that is how old it is. It still works. It still works well for a 400MHz machine. It has been abused a little and it still does its thing. I have never really had any issues with it except for the dot mouse on the keyboard. That is one feature on both IBMs and Toshibas I hated!

Sites to check out,


Tiger Direct
Newegg
Directron
PC Outlet Store
Dell (Direct from site)
Gateway (Direct from site)
Fry's but STAY AWAY FROM THEIR HOUSE BRANDS! THEY USE ELITE GROUP PARTS AND I DON'T CARE FOR ELITE GROUP AT ALL!


I know what I am doing for my next computer build though. I am building a computer around the ASRock X85 MOBO so I can have a VICIOUS Graphics Grunter! I would love to see what I can get going with 24GB of RAM on an OCed QUADCORE and three SLI bridged 1GB Video cards! Man that one computer will be able to handle ANYTHING 3D I throw at it. Unfortunately to get computers this powerful you are stuck with a tower configuration. With that puppy I can do down right COMPLICATED and very complex 3D modeling and animate in real time!

How do you know when you need a PC vs Laptop? How much power do you need? I know people do 3D on laptops but it all looks Armature. if you want to get all Pixar on people you need a PC, PERIOD! There is no way with current technology a Laptop can handle that kind of work. Hell, the tower I got now BARELY is capable of that level of graphics without rendering taking weeks to render five minuets!

Laptops are nice for day to day users like when we are on this site.

very helpful man. thanx. not looking for anything fancy so hence the budget mind LOL

Andy ... deeeeeeeeep breaths ... deeeeeeeeeep breaths ... it's only computers ...

I've heard the arguments you make about Mac being 'unfriendly' and all that other stuff, and you may have had that experience, but it's totally outside the experience I've had in almost 20 years of Mac ownership. I've never had to bring my machine to an Apple store for repairs, I've never had to contact Apple's customer service, I've been able to do my own upgrades and install my own 'upticks' and 'tweaks', have never had a virus (altho' I do miss the old 'Virex' AV software that ran under OS 9), and, in general, have had nothing but a positive experience with Mac compared with ANY and EVERY PC I've ever used, owned, or been responsible for maintaining. When I had to maintain production and rental computers for a large national company, my mantra was "Macs: Install once, run many; PC: Install many, run once". My PCs required at least 180% more maintenance and 'TLC' than all of my Macs combined. The only time there was a hint of a problem with my Macs was when 'Burn' was the popular overwrite program scriptkiddies used to avoid paying for rental time ... I don't say you haven't had problems with some Macs, but your experience directly contradicts the experience I've had and that all of my friends who also own a Mac have had ... Sorry you've had that problem, but seriously, it's NOT that widespread. I'll take Mac over PC any day of the week - and it's not 'cuz I'm married to a particular OS - if I could find another machine that was as elegant and as much fun to work as my Mac, I'd make the switch. Thing is, there's nothing else out there that compares with my Mac G5 desktop. BTW: My most frequently-used software is Photoshop, LightRoom, Illustrator, QuarkXpress, FreeHand MX(a), and Word. I've got InDesign, but it's not the 'QuarkKiller' people say it is.

If you do not feel like purchasing a new laptop at this moment then i would suggest three things. 1) Undo the bottom of laptop and dust it. I have repaired several that just need cleaning. 2) buying a laptop fan would also help with the over heating. 3) Buy a new battery. Most laptop batterys start deteriating after 3 years. On the otherhand, if you are lookiing for a new laptop then here a few I recommend. 1) Asus- May not be the flashiest(as far as looks) however it is top notch especially if you plan on playing games on it. They tend to have I330 standard. 2) Sony Viao- Looks sharp and is excentlly made. Top quality laptop with a company known for its top dollar electronics. I loved mine. 3) Gateway- Cheap Price with great standard features. I paid $500 for my ex's and it had an I330 processor, Nvidea graphics card, 17" LCD LED screen Windows 7 and the works. Gateway also has great customer service. As far as OS, Stay away from Vista. It is another mistake like ME. I would stick with XP or Windows 7. I did not mention MAC because they are way expensive. Great yes but way too pricey. Leopard is cool but Windows 7 is better. Good Luck.

Recently there was a recall on Macbook Pros (The most expensive laptop they make) because if the Nvidea video chips being defective. The computer turns on and you can hear the "welcome" sound they make when they turn on. The screen stays black and plugging a second monitor in it also stays black. 20 years ago Macs were competitive. Now they are just over priced by miles. When they work they are decent computers. For most applications they do OK. But in the last five years Apple went from computers that could be fixed to "throw away' computers. Take the iPod for example. When its battery dies what do you do with it? I know for a fact unless you KNOW what you are doing you are not replacing the battery that is permanently fixed in place. If Mac came back down to earth I would praise them but like i said lately Mac has been about how to squeeze the end user for more money in tasteless ways.

The reason I know this is a friend of mine owns a Macbook Pro and it failed like I described. It's manufacture date is within the recall period. Apple makes it very difficult to get it serviced even though they acknowledged the failure. Like I said before also Apple refused to acknowledge the failure until after they were sued. If Mac can't admit and fix mistakes easily and act in good faith with consumes their product need not apply.

Vista sucks so hard it swallows! Windows took XP 64x and turned it into Vista but also made Vista a cheap ripoff of OS-X! Then MS strips half the BS from Vista, goes back to the Windows format and called it Windows 7. Windows is already working on releasing Windows 9. Windows is a headache waiting to happen.

So is anyone using Ubuntu 10.4? I have used previous versions and although legacy support was a little wanting it still is a DAMN good OS! I have version 9.10 on one of my computers and it is pretty bullet proof. On top of that it is more feature rich and tailo5rable to meet your specific needs. I just miss the bouncing cow screen saver!

Me too!!!
Have 2 acers, now need a laptop since I
have my wifi set up.
Always built from NewEgg.com

Let me know guvnah when you pick one so
I can benefit from your search and find.
Thanks :-)

I agree with your point about 'throwaway' computers - why should they be the exception when we live in an increasingly 'disposable' world? As to the whole 'laptop' thing ... I'd never be interested in owning a laptop - I LIKE ... no, LOVE ... my desktop G5. I've seen too many people have too many problems with laptops ever since their introduction, and I've watched my daughter go thru her own horror stories with her laptops, too ... they have zero attraction for me. Overpriced, unwieldy, a beyotch to work on, not enough space to work in when y' gotta go inside ... it's a long list. As for Apple's laptops, I have no reason to consider them any more (or less) highly than the Vaio, Lenovo (even tho' that's a ChiCom unit), Dell, or any other brand. In my world, all laptops suck - who makes 'em isn't important. I'd also never have an iPod or an iMac. The point you make about the iPod battery is quite valid, and it would seriously piss me off to find out after the fact that I (1) had to ship it back to Apple for replacement, and (2) couldn't get my ORIGINAL unit back and had to settle for a refurb ... that sucks serious asss. iMac ... ? Pretty, sure, but wait 'til you try to work on it. Space is NOT its strong suit. 'Cramped' is being generous. My biggest complaint with Apple is that AlGore's on its Board of Directors. THAT pisses me off WAY more than other things they do ... I'll keep using OS X and the G5 desktops - they are just killer machines. Ain't nothing close to 'em for graphics work ...

Actually, that was true until 64-bit architecture was introduced into PCs. Now its pretty much all the same. Especially now that Macs have gone Intel. And as for "try installing OSX on a PC" ... you can now. See the whole Macs have gone Intel bit. My Core 2 Duo machine tri-boots Ubuntu, Win 7 and Snow Leopard.

I had been using 64-bit XP Pro for years (went to Win7 this weekend) and it was great, but the problem I had with it is a lack of product support. Not many have been (and with 7 out now, especially), no one IS bothering with backwards compatibility for products for 64-bit XP. And why should they? Win7 will not only be far more prevalent, but is actually a good platform. I've heard mostly good things about it from all corners, even people who are even more hardcore Linux users than I who hate Microsoft.

I wouldn't be bothering with anything Windows, but for the fact that I'm a gamer and windows emulation in Linux is touchy at best (Wine is ok for many Windows programs, but not so much for gaming).

To get back on topic though, every product of ASUS I've ever owned has never let me down and I have a couple friends with new ASUS netbooks who are extremely pleased with them. In my experience, anything HP/Compaq has serious issues.

PC vs Mac ... Mac is expensive and really, that's the only difference. Back in the day, you were paying for quality and product support, but anymore you're just paying for the label. PCs have virii, yes ... but that's because they're far more common. All you have to do is pay attention to what you're doing and be cautious when you're surfing or downloading, a good practice to have anyway. But, the more prevalent Mac becomes, you'll start seeing them for OSX. So in the end, you chose to pay round about $500 for a Win 7 notebook or $1700 for an Macbook Air. Considering all the info in this thread and how the market has changed over the years, its a really easy choice.

Unfortunately, you're right about the reason Macs are so 'virus-proof'. The writers are primarily looking to make the biggest impact and gain the greatest amount of notoriety possible, so they target the platform with the biggest percentage of installed user base. Right now, that's PeeCees. As the market share changes, Macs will become higher-profile targets. I'd like to see a company developing a serious Mac-based AV program. McAfee and Norton just don't play nice with OS X. You're also right about the changes and commonalities developed since Macs have become Intel-based. Even tho' I'm quite happy with the platform, I'm not married to it. If I can find an OS that's equally as elegant as Mac that lets me do more with even less, then my Mac becomes history. Sticking with any platform or product simply because of 'branding' is the height of irrationality.

I recently had a choice to make....
put up with XPs BS or Buy a Mac or install windows 7 64bit

Windows 7 ROCKS!!!!

Cheers