[Josiah]

One thing to note you alredy have a nice PC, so why not get a mac, and if you don't like the mac os go get your copy of XP (you can put it on a desktop and laptop i think) and load it on yor mac, your out nothing.

if you get an intel mac

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Well the intel macs are just normal PCs the only difference to them is a slight modification to the motherboards but most vendors will do that anyway, they are just the same as some of the newer windows laptops they just dont use windows thats the only difference really.

Although you cant put you XP copy onto your Mac as that in most cases would be an illegal action.

If the macs were cheap i would think they got a good deal but they arent any cheaper than the new windows laptops with duo cores and Dell will get a better deal from intel probably due to the fact they are the bigger and more reliabel customer, the Duo chips are good but they do cost alot.

[warriorscot]

Well the intel macs are just normal PCs the only difference to them is a slight modification to the motherboards but most vendors will do that anyway, they are just the same as some of the newer windows laptops they just dont use windows thats the only difference really.

Although you cant put you XP copy onto your Mac as that in most cases would be an illegal action.

If the macs were cheap i would think they got a good deal but they arent any cheaper than the new windows laptops with duo cores and Dell will get a better deal from intel probably due to the fact they are the bigger and more reliabel customer, the Duo chips are good but they do cost alot.

[Josiah]

I ment the chips are expensive if you buy them to put in a PC you build yourself (or at least they were)

and yes dell has similar pricing

and thnks for updating me on XP i am not up on it (like i said i am a formor windows guy)

[warriorscot]

Were quite strict on legalities here its the only reason i know to mention it, i would have the same logic myself if left to my own devices.

They are expensive but all good chips are, they are really desinged for laptops though intel are bringing out a new range of desktop chips this year that are supposed to be very powerful. Intel have always been expensive though its one of there trademarks.

Mind you ive always been surprised that mac switched to intel x86 systems, i would have thought if they went with anyone they would have went for the cheaper AMD CPUs. I would never have left IBM though the G5 chips were properly powerful chips and held there own it was always the mac OS and its gaming abilities that prevented it becoming truly powerful as the powerPC chips make ideal chips for gaming if used properly. And the powerPC chips are being replaced by the new cell processors the 8 core beasts if were apple i would have wanted some of that action.

[Josiah]

Were quite strict on legalities here its the only reason i know to mention it, i would have the same logic myself if left to my own devices.

They are expensive but all good chips are, they are really desinged for laptops though intel are bringing out a new range of desktop chips this year that are supposed to be very powerful. Intel have always been expensive though its one of there trademarks.

Mind you ive always been surprised that mac switched to intel x86 systems, i would have thought if they went with anyone they would have went for the cheaper AMD CPUs. I would never have left IBM though the G5 chips were properly powerful chips and held there own it was always the mac OS and its gaming abilities that prevented it becoming truly powerful as the powerPC chips make ideal chips for gaming if used properly. And the powerPC chips are being replaced by the new cell processors the 8 core beasts if were apple i would have wanted some of that action.

I am not sure what you mean in the first par.

Second you are right most people think a switch to intel was a bad move; the reason I see apple swithched to intel is for the laptops 1, the G5s just weren't cut out for laptops and mac uers were getting sick of G4 mobles...next apple may have went to intel for technologies like prosserser partitioning on the fly which is or will be in the next gen. of intell chips, this would allow you to run multiple OS's side by side if I am right.

that is whay apple may have left PPC which is a good chipset and AMD (although i don't own one) seems to be the fastest on the market todate

[warriorscot]

What i mean is we arent allowed to help with anything illegal and if we do theres big trouble so you have to be careful.

AMD arent neccesarily always faster but they are almost always cheaper so you can get faster chips for your money. If i was apple i would have waited and stuck with IBM for the cell CPUs because thsoe unlike the G5s are possible in a mobile platform and would allow them to get some serious laptop power. But you make your choices knowing intel they probably gave apple some seriously huge amounts of money to switch to there chips.

[lt b0ngo]

Or apple switched for things like boot camp and virtualisation which runs a lot quicker on native chips.

[animatedguy]

Bootcamp is in Beta now but will be standard (if all goes well for apple) in 10.5, 10.5 is also supposed to have faster search (by the way spotlight search is a fast as they advertise ,but it dashboard isn't) and a better finder...

Just remember if you buy an intel mac or the intel macbook (formerly ibook) which should be out in the next mo. or so if the rumurs are true; only Universal Apps will run at full speed.

Just a note the intel Core Due is to my knowledge the fastest chip intel offers, and apple must have got one deal cause it's expensive to buy for PCs!

Presicely.

Here in Canada, the MacBook Pro is already out!
From what i am reading (google: Reviews on macbook pro) The macbook is indeed the fastest laptop out there, no doubt about it.
We have two models available: 1.83 GHZ and the 2GHZ machine which is summerized right here on the Canadian Apple store site. http://store.apple.c...nclm=MacBookPro

[lt b0ngo]

animatedguy the macbook and macbook pro are different. The macbook pro replaced the powerbook and is out in most places. The macbook is going to replace the ibook and hasn't been announced yet.

[Josiah]

Yes the macbook hasn't been anounced yet and the macbook is very fast...if I had the money I would buy one.

[warriorscot]

If i could get one cheaper than a windows laptop i would probably get one myself. I would probably put windows on it but you never know.

[animatedguy]

animatedguy the macbook and macbook pro are different. The macbook pro replaced the powerbook and is out in most places. The macbook is going to replace the ibook and hasn't been announced yet.:

...Macbook and the pro are different? =/ blah, well i didnt expect that.
As far as im concerned though, i'd probably personally buy a MacBook Pro. (i only got around 2 grand to spend >.<)

Edited by animatedguy, 12 April 2006 - 04:20 PM.

[warriorscot]

Only lol, but really if apple ever release an x86 version of OSX or sale they would be totally naffed, imagine it they would actually have to COMPETE with other companies to make good hardware.

If they ever released a retail version of OSX or sold there laptops without an OS i think they would sell more. Most people are either put off of mac by the OS which has an effect known in the UK as the marmite effect. If you could choose your OS i think people would buy more mac systems now, and that would mean apple could sell systems that could actually play proper games.

They are redoing that tacky white finish though they are bringing back the old multicolour style finally i would buy one of those, as you look like a bit of plonker carrying around those bright white machines.

[Josiah]

Here is a nice set of benchmarks it has some of the intel macs running windows in bootcamp vs. some similar pc's. Its very interesting sometimes they won sometimes they didn't! The link is below...

http://www.macworld....marks/index.php

Edited by Josiah, 14 April 2006 - 09:46 AM.

[Exdeus]

Hey all.

Thanks for all these replies!

So, I have some good information from everyone, including a few good links to read up on.

As far as the looks, I think the macs are aesthetically pleasing to look at and such, but I also think some of the newer laptops are pretty sharp, such as the Dell XPS.

How is Dell as a laptop manufacturer? For some reason I don't like buying from these incredibly huge, mass companies, I don't know why. Maybe because they are so impersonal, but it just strikes me as their stuff won't be on par quality wise with say Alienware or something of that nature.

The Macs are great for music and animation and art based things, which I won't really be doing. I do slight video editing and audio editing every now and again, as well as photoshop cs2 (great program), but otherwise, its mainly for internet browsing, spreadsheets, papers, music, and the occassional game when I can.

I'm still stumped on which to go with though lol! Im going to start looking around now I suppose then, as I won't be buying until mid-summer time.