I am going to be getting a laptop for college soon and I was wondering what OS I should get. I have used windows all my life so I really don’t know anything else but I’ve heard good things about the osx and Im thinking about getting an apple notebook. The only thing is, I also want to give windows vista a try so Im not sure if I should wait for vista to come out or just go with apple. Decisions! Anyone have any suggestions?
i dont know if this is really true, but windows vista doesn’t look like much of a change from wondows xp. i havent really researched this, so i may be wrong.
If you are into CG, then i would suggest getting an apple. they deal with graphics better. (and look better in my opinion, too) If you are to get an apple, get the new MacBook Pro with the intel chip in it. those are just as fast as a good desktop computer! i really want one of those.
The only trouble with Mac laptops is they cost a lot. You get a good quality machine (not in the ibooks) but you don’t get enough choice in the laptop section at the moment.
The Macbook is good and $1999 for a dual core 1.67 when a 1.7 single Vaio is $1399 isn’t terrible - plus it has that new pci express card thingy (2x faster than gigabit ethernet) and a decent graphics card. However, there isn’t enough software for OS X Intel yet. Adobe announced that Intel compatible Photoshop won’t be out for another year - although if people get the situation sorted with virtualization, it might help. PC users would be able to run the software they already own.
And don’t think that buying a powerbook will solve the issue because you should know by now that they are way overpriced for what they offer. Apple are still selling the single proc 1.67GHz G4 powerbooks with 133MHz system buses for $1999. That’s the same price as the Macbook with 2 processors and a 667MHz fsb. W…T…F?
Nah, I’m sick and tired of Apple’s BS when it comes to laptops. I say buy a Vaio if you want a quality laptop at decent value - their display technology is better. Maybe Apple will get their head sorted on the laptop issue one day but I fear that day is not soon.
OS X redeems them by a long way but there a lot of bad points on the laptop side that would even make me have to think long and hard about buying a Mac laptop again.
I actually don’t like laptops for the lcd display. I hope the introduction of SED means all laptops get CRT quality output but again that’s going to take at least another year.
From all the marketing hype, Vista sounds like it won’t be anything special but that won’t be out until the end of the year, which is when Apple plan to release 10.5 Leopard. By then, people are suggesting Apple will be 100% Intel and all PPC will be discontinued.
I’m also interested in Apple ibooks vs Sony Vaio laptops.
On paper the iBook seems much better value, as it fulfils the criteria that are important for the use I need it for better than the Vaio, and at a lower price.
These are:
Battery life
Weight
Wifi (hardly a problem)
An Apple at £699 has twice the battery life and a weight of 2.2kg vs 2.9kg than a Vaio at £799.
The quality of the screen is not an issue, and the speed need only be good enough for basic use such as internet and work processing.
This in mind, is there any reason why the Apple would not be a better buy?
Sorry for the hijack, but I am going to make one valid point. Will this be a carry around laptop, or a desktop replacement laptop? Makes a big difference.
Alex
what will you be using it for?
my laptop i use for highschool work has lots of battery life in it so itll last the day for me. it isnt the fastest thing but it has battery life, which is what i need it for. typing and surfing the net are its only uses. games really arent an option for a laptop that is used for education because they need power and there are no power outlets near you
I will be using it for college mostly, typing papers, internet research, and the like. I will probably be doing some blendering on it too in my free time but I will still have my desktop so it will just be when Im on the school campus. It really doesnt need to be super heavy performance since Im not a gamer. I was just wondering if it would be worth the switch to a whole new unfamiliar OS since Im used to windows. I guess theres not any big advantages to osx then. Oh yeah…my major is going to be graphic design. I hear macs are better with graphics so is that one big reason I should consider one? I really dont care what processor it has.
well, since you wont be doing much other than work on it,
go for a mac.
lemme know how it turns out
software wont be a real issue because almost all graphic design software has mac support except for the few oddballs out there.
also, theres the whole ‘less viruses’ thing
Sounds good. I will probably go for a mac then. Im getting sick of windows and all the problems it gives me personally. Hopefully apple will be better. Ill let you know how it goes.
DO NOT GO FOR WINDOWS VISTA! Never go for a BRAND new OS, besides being Microsoft, it’s brand new and guranteed will be full of awful bugs unless you have a personal computing angel. Let the poor people who don’t know any better report all the bugs to Microsoft so that they make them features. 
Don’t believe what’s on paper. I was lucky to get 3 hours out of my 700MHz g3 ibook and it was brand new. It certainly wins on weight though and the Apple airport is really pretty good.
Yeah, it depends on usage. But films/images don’t look as nice on a washed out display.
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the Vaio is a 1.7GHz pentium-m where the ibook is a 1.33Ghz G4. The pentium-m is like the Intel duo chips - not that it has two cores but I mean in performance. The p-m will be at least 2 times faster than the G4. Also as I say, the battery life ad on the G4 isn’t accurate. That’s why Apple switched to Intel because the G4 and G5 drew too much power.
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the vaio has an Intel 128MB video card vs Radon 9550 32MB on the ibook. Texture memory matters in Blender. However, I think the ibook wins here because the 9550 is much better than the Intel 915GM. From benchmarks, it seems it might even be twice as fast. The Intel 915 is slower than a Radeon 9000:
http://kettya.com/notebook2/gpu_ranking.htm
The 9550 supports Core Image and Video in OS X so you get those fancy water droplet refraction effects.
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Vaio has 80GB HD over ibook 40GB. Laptop drives are expensive to upgrade.
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Vaio has one extra usb 2 port and they both have firewire but the Vaio has gigabit ethernet.
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Vaio has a dual-layer dvd burner where ibook only has a combo drive.
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can’t comment on the Vaio but the ibook audio is bad. The powerbook is ok though.
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Big issue for me: the Vaio gives you 1280x800 screen space where the ibook is just 1024x768. I hated that limitation and it’s still the case with my 12" powerbook that I use at work :(. Blender is usable at that but it’s much better on a higher resolution.
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ibook trackpad sucks. Like I say, built quality in the ibook is poor. My trackpad peeled away from the casing and I had rarely ever used it. Plus the ibooks have had recurring issues with the logic board and mine failed. Apple replaced it free but still, it’s a pain. The Vaios have better build quality.
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you get Photoshop Elements with the Vaio.
Sorry for the hijack, but I am going to make one valid point. Will this be a carry around laptop, or a desktop replacement laptop? Makes a big difference.
I agree but even so, I think the Vaio is the better deal apart from the graphics card.
OS X is the best thing about the Mac at the moment. It definitely has advantages. It’s the only OS at the moment that combines all the strengths of unix with a very easy to use interface and minimum configuration.
As for graphic design, yes the Mac is still widely considered the best in that area. By brother is a graphic designer and the department he works at all use Macs. Plus the graphic design people where I work all use Macs too.
Speaking of raw performance against price though, a PC comes out on top, especially in the laptop dept. Another thing to remember is that in a years time when Apple discontinue the ppc, G4 laptops will be very hard to sell. I’m sure they even will be at the moment.
Good God, have I turned into Alltaken? checks to see if my penis has shrunk by a factor of 3 
I don’t want to be the one to rain on the ‘get a mac’ parade (since my next computer may be one) … but given a couple of the things you mention you might want to think otherwise. I’m assuming you’re looking at the MacBook (Intel CoreDuo) and not a Powerbook (G4).
Going into graphic design. Yes, macs are in high use - but remember that on the MacBook all the Adobe apps (except Lightroom) will be running through the Rosetta emulation layer for probably another year or so until the next version of the creative suite comes out. That will leave them at a bit of a performance disadvantage to their Windows counterparts. The current versions work well on the G4 and G5 processors, but the G4 is getting a bit old (and slow) and the G5 just doesn’t come in a notebook (hence the reason for the switch.)
Additionally, if you want to do any 3d. Right now the only released Universal Binary application is Cinema4D. Everything else will run through Rosetta (if at all).
Since most people use a notebook for a couple years before upgrading, you may want to think about staying with the ‘devil you know’ for now and making the switch later after the platform transition has worked itself out.
If you’re using Windows now, and you like Windows, then stick with Windows. I use Windows at work, Mac OS X at home, even had Linux on one of my computers for a spell (Debian distro ‘woody’), so I don’t really have a bias. As long as the OS runs the software you want to use, then it doesn’t really matter…