Macbook Pro or Sony Vaio AW?

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

<p>"I wouldn't trade my MacBook for 3 Sony Vaio's."</p>

<p>That's why Apple has such high profit margins ;)</p>

[andylynn]

<p>Dell Precision. Heh. Let me tell you something about Dell Precisions.</p>

<p>I went to architecture grad school and a Dell person had convinced our department's tech people that the only thing for an architecture student to have was a Precision laptop with a Quadro video card, and offered a bit of a discount to the students. Many of the incoming students bought them. Turns out they were cheap plastic crap, exactly the same as an Inspiron model that some of the people had that was half the price, only with a different label and a Quadro video card that turned out to be no better than a Geforce card.</p>

<p>One of my friends had memory fail in hers. She got on the phone and spent an hour getting through to a guy in India and another hour doing stupid tests to confirm that there was bad memory, which I had told her after looking at it for 2 minutes. The Dell guy dispatched new memory to her and told her she would have to install it herself (which meant I would do it and be compensated in beer).</p>

<p>When the memory came I opened the bottom and swapped the memory, and... nothing. Still broken. I'm mighty confused because I know it's bad memory, but then I notice the DIMM that I swapped was a 1GB, and I know the student model has 2GB, but I don't see another one. Figuring the bad memory must be on the motherboard or something, I tell her to call back, we start drinking the beer and wait to get through, and when we get a guy on the line he tells us <em>the second DIMM is conveniently located under the keyboard and the entire front bezel needs to come off!</em> It's one of those snappy plastic deals and I know the parts are crap and likely to break, so I make him swear that if I break anything doing this it will be replaced and make him wait on the line while I do it, but I do it, and it's fixed.</p>

<p>This is after my own Dell laptop experience when I had a model that was high end for its time, and the shoddily designed hinge broke and was replaced four (FOUR!) times. My next computer was an Apple.</p>

<p>And Dell is charging SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS for one of these pieces of garbage! Listen, I get paid to write about this stuff, I know what I'm talking about, and I offer the following for anybody actually considering paying for this horrendously overpriced system, who does not happen to be involved in the 3D animation or CADD business:<br>

-The Quadro video card does nothing for you. Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Absolutely zero improvement over a comparable Geforce card. In some cases it's detrimental - if you want to play video games, a Quadro hurts you because its DirectX drivers lag behind the current ones for Geforce cards. The video card in the Dell is not better for you than the video card that is standard in a 15" or 17" Mac.<br>

-The 1.73GHz i7 in this model will run Photoshop slower than the 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo that is standard on the 15" Mac.<br>

-The 8GB available in the Mac is not going to be noticeably slower than the 12GB in the Dell. Most Photoshop users don't have files that get memory usage up to anywhere near that level of usage. Most users who do, do so because they are lazy and do not use good technique.<br>

-A Blu-Ray reader is only for watching movies.</p>

<p>The 17" Mac, at half the cost (when including the memory upgrade and 3 year service plan) is at least as good as the Dell, is better built, weighs less and has better battery life. If you need tech support and live near an Apple Store you can get it in person, and you will never be instructed to remove the keyboard yourself.</p>

<p>You would have to be insane to buy that Dell. Unless you're in animation or CADD.</p>

[cc_chang2]

<blockquote>

<p>would be nice to have a Matt screen with almost no reflections.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>That is what I though when my experience was limited to using a Dell laptop. I have a 13'' MacBook pro now. Its glossy screen is bright and very sharp to give the pictures a 3D look. It also has a very wide viewing angle to you can easily till the screen to find a comfortable angle without reflection. I thus suggest that you save the money and just use the standard screen. I also use it to edit videos and find it more than powerful enough for video editing. A full-charged battery can last a whole working day, unless you leave it running all the time. </p>

<p>While I love the Mac, one note of caution if you plan to use Nikon's software, only recently Nikon's Capture NX2 becomes compatible with the newest OS. The free ViewNX is still not compatible. Since I can run Windows in the Mac, I thus use the Window version of the free software for now. </p>

[danielleetaylor]

 

<p><em>"I wouldn't trade my MacBook for 3 Sony Vaio's."</em><br>

<em>That's why Apple has such high profit margins ;)</em></p>

<p>They deserve every dime.</p>

<p>Not 30 minutes after I made that post (I kid you not) my neighbor called and asked if I could come down to look at her HP notebook. Despite having a fully paid for and updated version of one of the better anti virus products made, her notebook was infected. No applications would launch, IE was constantly launching and trying to connect to porn sites, and dialogs were continually popping up warning her of a security risk and asking her to "activate anti virus". The dialogs were very well designed to look like they were part of Windows XP, and would open a scam company website just waiting for her credit card.</p>

<p>The computer was also sluggish and hot from what I presume to be background network activity by the malware. What I have identified so far is designed to take over the PC and use it for such stuff (typical). DoS attacks? Illegal file sharing? Music, videos, porn, perhaps illegal porn? Who knows. The malware had a wide open FIOS connection for an hour or more. God only knows what it did.</p>

<p>The PoS Windows notebook is now sitting on my office desk booted in safe mode and running virus scans. I can pretty much guarantee that cleaning it will require multiple scans by multiple products since <strong>the Windows virus problem is now so bad that no single company is able to keep up with all the threats in the wild.</strong> There's even a chance that I'll call her tomorrow and recommend just wiping the whole drive and starting fresh.</p>

<p>Oh yeah...she's bad about backups and all her photos are on this one drive. <strong>Hope they're still there.</strong></p>

<p>Windows is a pile. The lack of security is so glaring and dangerous at this point that Microsoft should be forbidden from selling any more copies unless and until they are able to fix it. Mac or PC? That's not even a question in my book.</p>

<p>Funny thing is her and her husband want more computers for the house, what with two kids and all. She was asking me about netbooks and I told her to buy a Mac. She looked at my aluminum MacBook but said they are too expensive. I wonder what she'll say tomorrow.</p>

<p>Using Windows is like unprotected intercourse with a street hooker after you've shared needles with her pimp. If you like that sort of thing, by all means, pick up a shiny new PC.</p>

<p>(Queue all the "but I've never had a virus" comments from people whose PC's are probably right now being used as filesharing and DoS attack nodes.)</p>

 

[chrismarkes]

<p>Being a lifetime PC desktop user it was finally time for a big road trip which meant I needed to consider a laptop. <br>

I spent a little more and got myself a 15.6" MacBook Pro. It's worked great for the trip and the "annoying" glossy screen actually doesn't bother me; and I'm one of those people that always finds things to complain about.<br>

It's been a great machine especially if you travel a lot. I found other laptops to be bulky and really am tired of the nonsensical perpetual "updates" on my pc...<br>

I say atleast give the Macbook a shot. The other thing to consider is the software. Everything seems a lot more stable and photoshop cs4 flies on this thing! I'm also able to watch native 5d MKii .mov clips with zero issues!<br>

The other thing I like is the solidness of the thing. It doesn't squeek, flex, or feel cheap compared to every other laptop I looked at. The two finger scroll makes web surfing a lot less frustrating for the first time laptop user. The entire trackpad clicks or you can use two fingers to right click. All stuff that beats the heck out of being frustrated using other laptops.<br>

For those that capped on Apple service: So once or twice a year it actually snows here in Portland. I had my macbook in my luggage. When I popped the trunk some snow dropped onto the luggage which melted and got water into the mac. The monitor flickered and stopped working. Took it to the Mac store and they replaced the backlight and logic board all for free and all done in 48 hours! No questions asked, no bs involved. I didn't even have applecare either! They are def. class acts atleast at the store I delt with. :)<br>

One thing most people miss: distractions. On the mac I don't have popups, constant updates, permission requests, software conflicts, etc. It's a lot more focused experience. Less crap and more time to work on actually photo editing.</p>

 

[sven_felsby]

<p>I used Microsoft for 20 years before switching to Mac. I regret not switching years before, but that´s life.<br>

I can attest to all the praise, and add one thing: <em>macs don´t lose performance over time! </em>No "cleaning" jobs (that usually didn´t help much) needed.<br>

And yes, they cost more. Apart from a superior operating system, you also get superior ergonomics and design. I was laughing all the way from the bank.</p>

[eddes]

<p>Lots of stuff about memory , processor, graphics cards and other points. In these matters most laptops do the job as long as their is enough memory. There's not that much difference.</p>

<p>By far the most important point for photo editing is the <strong>quality of the screen</strong> . I am talking about gamut. Not number of pixels nor graphics card. You are into <strong>Photo</strong> editing, you need a good screen. Most laptops have mediocre screens. The apple pro have a better screen. Others I don't know. In this matter specs are useless and casual store inspection is no better. No laptop comes close to a good screen such as a NEC series 90, apple display and others. Save your money get a less expensive model and get a good screen. Then calibrate it. You'll save yourself a ton a grief and lost time.</p>

 

[carbon_dragon]

<p>I have an iMac at home with the glossy screen and it doesn't bother me, but I don't have a mac laptop. I did have a Sony 17" VAIO with a very high resolution screen and I can tell you that 1920x1200 on a 17" platform was beautiful but requires awfully good eyes to use for any length of time. Also the thing was a bear to move. The power brick weighed more than my netbook. If portability is REALLY an issue, I suggest a 15" with an external monitor at home. Macs do have the advantage of having fewer viruses and other malware written for them and that is not insignficant. Also I like Aperture a lot and it's cheaper than Lightroom and only runs on the Mac. Apple's built in "time machine" backup is not bad either and while I wouldn't use it as my only backup, it is pretty much fire and forget so it's much better than nothing and you get it free (you DO have to buy an external drive to store the backup though).</p>

<p>The thing is that if you're a dedicated windows user, you might not be able to adapt to the Mac and vice versa. If you're "open minded" you could do worse than a Macbook Pro if you can afford it. Good luck with your decision. Go to an Apple store and try them first before you buy.</p>

[aruns]

<p>Hi Brent,<br>

I am one of the people who recently moved from PC to Mac after using Windows for 16 years. I am from tech support background, and I complain a lot about bad computers. So I hope my feedback below is impartial and useful to you and others in future.<br>

Hardware: I have used Dell, Sony and now a Mac. Software: I have used Windows and Mac.<br>

I will try to provide my feedback succinctly, and try not to repeat the things mentioned by others.<br>

Dell:<br>

+ Onsite support. Good value for what you pay.<br>

- Telephone support sucks. They make you do stupid tests for an hour on the phone, and I hate it especially when, for ex., I know the DVD drive is NOT reading anything. Or when the Wifi card isn't connecting to ANY network. Depending on your support plan, they make you install components yourself, which you may or may not feel comfortable with. (I am from tech support background, I am from India/currently living in the US, and I hate the current Dell support based in India - I don't even think many of them have seen a disassembled laptop in their life. And yes, Dell's telephone support process sucks).</p>

<p>Sony:<br>

+ Nice design. 'Supposedly' trendy laptops.<br>

- Quite fragile actually. (They cost considerably more than other pc vendors and correspondingly more fragile. If you travel often, don't forget your thick neoprene or foam bags, etc. I had a Vaio for a few months and it started rattling all over, the trackpad failed, the hard drive started making funny noises and the system got WAY TOO HOT when running few apps at the same time).</p>

<p>Mac: (I bought a 2009 MBP 13.3 inch and upgraded the HDD to 7200 rpm drive. I bought this three weeks ago).<br>

+ Nice design. Not too hot, and Quite fast actually. Apple doesn't offer 7200 rpm on 13.3 inches, probably due to heat etc., but I upgraded to the 7200. The OS loads 50-60% faster now (18sec vs. 40 sec). Apps like Entourage, MS Word, iTunes, and Quicktime load in 3-4 seconds. On my windows Vista pc, they used to take 30-40 seconds easily. I have enabled the 64-bit booting and it is great. (There are some programs that aren't compatible with 64 bit booting, like 3G NTFS - so I reboot into 32 bit when required, by pressing 3 & 2 keys. nice.).<br>

+ I am not a pro photographer, only a passionate hobbyist. I find the screen alright, although if I were to do it again, I would have gone for 15 inch or 17 inch. I still plan on getting an external matte screen sometime for editing pics.<br>

- No blu-ray. yet (?!).<br>

- Uses little outdated processors when compared to a similar PC. Lesser configuration for same money (for ex., hard drive capacities) or more cost for same config (when compared to similarly configured pc's).<br>

- I purchased a factory refurb model to save a couple hundred bucks, and the trackpad gave out. (I went for refurb based on my experience with iPods, which were quite sturdy. Takeaway: I'd not do that again, of course).<br>

- I called Apple (US based Support, FWIW).. they wanted me to send it in for service or check with a local store. Local store doesn't stock parts, so it is on its way to Apple now. It will take 1 week. (Takeway: If you are going to have only one computer, this may be a deal breaker -- 'can you send in your computer for a week for service, although service may be free?'. If I were to do it again, I'd check the size and number of apple support stores nearby area. Fortunately, I still kept the old vista pc after switching to mac, and I as much as I hate it I am using it to type this response (and do my work, browse the web, etc).<br>

- The local shop (where I left the MBP to be shipped to Apple) called me today morning - Apparently Apple support wants the master password of the system or they would ERASE the HDD when you send it in for service. No one mentioned it before. Luckily I swapped the factory default HDD (with OS) because I was lazy to backup the new 500G drive. So I asked them to go ahead and "ERASE" it. (Takeaway - if you are like me, and keep sensitive stuff like tax return documents (which contain SSN etc.) on your computer, you may want to take frequent backups and be prepared to "erase" them or "give the master password" to Apple if you need support).<br>

(Off topic: Why the heck Apple wants to access my HDD for replacing and testing a new trackpad is beyond me. They have boot cd with utilities and they can definitely test the new trackpad with those utilities. Also, if Dell can offer on-site support at a cost, why can't Apple do the same? I don't know. May be others here can enlighten me).</p>

<p>Now, moving on to OS, I don't have a lot of new stuff here than what others have offered above.<br>

Windows:<br>

+ cheaper (this is really not the case if you value your time that is spent on maintaining the system through frequent patches, registry cleanups, virus/malware/spyware/factory-crap-ware/other-ware cleanups)<br>

- It is Windoze. Slow and filled with security holes. (I don't know about the 64 bit version though - I lost patience and switched to mac). I agree with one response where the poster suggested M$ should be penalized for pushing more copies. -- Takeaway: How many copies of external backups of your photos do you have? (I have 2). I also agree with the poster that one AV software is not going to be effective for a common user. The problem is, multiple AV software don't coexist well on a Windows system. Overall, Windows feels more and more like a patchwork of code rather than a coherent operating system. I was sick of it so I moved. YMMV.</p>

<p>Mac:<br>

+ There are no unannounced tuesday patches, and unannounced system restarts. FAST, especially when paired with a good hard drive and fast memory. I have a 13.3, but I can imagine speed gains on with higher end systems.<br>

- compatibility with 32 bit programs may breakdown your computer's speed expectations. it is not Mac OS's problem, really, but something to consider when you are moving into the platform. I can't talk about Windows 64 bit version as I don't have experience with it.</p>

<p>Hope this helps. Cheers,<br>

A.</p>

[garrison_k.]

<p><em>Windows is a pile. The lack of security is so glaring and dangerous at this point that Microsoft should be forbidden from selling any more copies unless and until they are able to fix it. Mac or PC? That's not even a question in my book.</em></p>

<p>(One should also be careful about others pro-Mac opinion when their "evidence" is from their neighbours pc.)</p>

<p>I know plenty of Mac's that have crawled to a halt as well. Yet I've been on the net with Windows since 3.11 and haven't had a problem. Conclusion? It has nothing to do with operating system. It has everything to do with responsible usage.</p>

<p>Mac's are the best choice for the dumb and lazy. PC are the worst choice for the dumb and lazy.</p>

[sven_felsby]

<p>You hit the spot, Garrison. Although people may call me bright and industrious, I am as a matter of fact dumb and lazy, especially when it comes to computers. Let me explain:<br>

Computers can do things for you and save time for you. Yet, so much of my time using Windows was wasted on fiddling with the system and waiting, when I could have made actual work. Realizing that I was too dumb and lazy to fiddle, reinstall, upgrade and wait, I switched to Mac.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>(One should also be careful about others pro-Mac opinion when their "evidence" is from their neighbours pc.)</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I take it then that my testimony based on 20 years of MS-DOS 3.3, 4.0, 5.0, Win3.1, Win95 and WinXP (avoided Vista - phew!) makes my Windows experience highly credible.</p>

[andylynn]

<p>I was ready to get all offended by the "dumb and lazy" comment but then I realized it's correct, and doesn't reflect on the "smart and not lazy" user - the Mac is the best choice for many users across the dumbness/laziness spectrum.</p>

[garrison_k.]

<p>:)</p>

[garrison_k.]

<h2>Problem with Your Input</h2>

<p>We had a problem processing your entry:</p>

<ul>

<li>One ! is enough (if not too many) </li>

</ul>

[garrison_k.]

<p>Sven, I tried half a dozen times to respond to your post. Not being rude.</p>

<p>So buggy. PN is the only forum that I sometimes see accidental double posts all the while not letting you make a single post because you've already apparently posted it.</p>

[jeff_ford]

<p>Can you buy Mac OS as a separate install and put it onto a home built computer? No?<br>

SHame.</p>

[nino_frewat]

<p>Personally, it's a choice of an OS rather than a machine. For me a Mac is stylish, heavy-duty, and just too cool to carry around, but the OS is the question.<br>

They will both do the same thing eventually, I do not want to discuss at all which is faster/better, it's just that on a mac, you can organize your work into spaces (I set them 1 to internet & mail, 2 to everything photo, 3 to writing and office work, 4 to multimedia). This way the Mac becomes calm; no jokes. I was wondering about the difference between the two, and there are very rarely, system popups from the mac (software update is the notable exception), as opposed to the antivirus/ad-aware popus informing that so and so is now updated, and no jittery animations, everytime u hover your mouse over some label or window, or whatever.<br>

My MBP wakes-up in 3 seconds, and I'm ready to start working, and the integration of so many different applications, the god-sent automator, quicksilver, really speed up your workflow once you get the hang of them.<br>

I switched last year (July) after using a PC for 15 years, and I'm definitely not regretting it</p>

[edward_benton]

<p>Forget the OS argument. The majority of mac users justify their expensive purchases based on the "Less malware / more stable / more secure" argument. Their OS is Unix based. Any Linux / Unix OS on a PC will provide you with those benefits without the hefty Mac idiot tax.<br /> The Mac OS offers little over other *nixes than a little gloss and some apps with fanatical fandom (Alternatives are available with equal features but much less fanboy fervour)<br>

Nick's "spaces" feature is essentially virtual desktop, which has been available in Linux distributions for at least ten years. Old tech - jazzed up with buzzwords - sound familiar?<br>

<br /> The price to power ratio on Mac machines is horribly low, a friend of mine just bought a MBP for £1600, it has a core 2 duo processor. I just bought a vaio with an i5 for £700, it destroys the Macbook in benchmarks. In essence, for the same power you will pay more, if you go with mac.<br /> On the plus side for macs, most do think they look good. The sturdiness of the unibody shell is unquestionable. Whether or not you plan on tapdancing on your new notebook is something you will have to decide.<br /> To sum it up, if you want to look "cool" and "alternative" and don't mind paying way over the odds for it, go ahead and get a mac. Be sure to spend some time around other mac users also, so you can learn the standard catchphrases they use to justify their purchases.</p>

[edward_benton]

<p>In correction of the above, Nino, not Nick.</p>