Mac versu PC,{snicker,snicker}

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Doug

Just as a point of fact. I,m no gamer. I surf, e-mail and do lots of photo stuff, {one reason the Mac appealed to me.

I do a tone of phot editing also. not a reason to get a mac. the photo editing is why i bought that pen pad and then spent a whopping 99 bucks on photoshop elements 8. years ago I would have had the suite for free but I can proudly say everything on my computer is legal now. well in canada anyways

the money you save buying the toshiba will buy you the bigger pen pad, awsome software for editing photos and a few corals for your tank.

Steve

[Doug]

LOL Steve. This is a great thread with lots of info for others looking without great knowledge like me.

I disagree, the photo editing on the Mac is an important reason to look at them. Thats why I said if I could keep the Toshiba,s end cost well under the Mac, then it would be a shoo in but seems not to be the case.

What software. Dont think I have any extra but then could and dont know it.

Laurie, When I look at the pro, the price is close enough to the iMac, so I cross the isle to look at it again, with its large screen.

Anyone think the larger 17in. screen HP is a decent deal @ $700, but with 3 yr. warrenty added? It has the cheaper company processor, dont recall the name, but at least its their new model. Ot better to stick with Intel processor.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Doug

LOL Steve. This is a great thread with lots of info for others looking without great knowledge like me.

I disagree, the photo editing on the Mac is an important reason to look at them. Thats why I said if I could keep the Toshiba,s end cost well under the Mac, then it would be a shoo in but seems not to be the case.

What software. Dont think I have any extra but then could and dont know it.

Laurie, When I look at the pro, the price is close enough to the iMac, so I cross the isle to look at it again, with its large screen.

Anyone think the larger 17in. screen HP is a decent deal @ $700, but with 3 yr. warrenty added? It has the cheaper company processor, dont recall the name, but at least its their new model. Ot better to stick with Intel processor.

would need to see the modle numbers.

Apple used to be the choice for graphic design about 20 years ago. but now there is no differance in which computer to use. I just looked up the Iphoto to see what it was like. it is not a real photo editor, it is a organization/share/red eye fix up program like windows photo editor. so if you want to do more advanced photo editing you will still need to buy something on either computer. is it an AMD processor? I wouldn't realy call them the cheeper company.. prices are lower but chip is not cheeper, I personaly prefer AMD chips over Intell, but I would need to know which chip to know how good it is.. best thing to do is to go to FS again and write the modle numbers down for the two computers then post them so they can be compared.

Steve

[Doug]

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...03eb47191fen02

[Doug]

Here is the Toshiba thats on this week. Regular is $799

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...c54377c962en02

[Ron99]

Originally Posted by Doug

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...03eb47191fen02

What I don't like abut the HP:

1. Decent graphics processor but no discreet graphics memory. It shares systme RAM with the video processor.

2. No Bluetooth.

3. No firewire. May not be important to you but the Macbbok pro has it.

Originally Posted by Doug

Here is the Toshiba thats on this week. Regular is $799

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...c54377c962en02

Toshiba:

1. Again, no discreet video RAM, it shares the system memory for that. and the graphics processor is inferior.

2. No Bluetooth

3. No Firewire.

So if you are going to com,pare to the Macbook pro you have to keep in mind it has discreet video memory for better graphics performance, built in Bluetooth, built in Firewire etc.

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

comparing apple vs PC is useless, it is a brand other than thet they are the same thing.. chev vs ford, and all the other brand wars. apple dell, toshiba, ect they are all the same thing and acomplish the same thing although the directions may get there in a different way.

To get a 17" screen size on a mac at London drugs you are spending 2600.00, so I check bestbuy the same thing.. for 800 your getting a 17" HP . I just looked up a comparable mac system to my new laptop. I can get mine for 1000.00 now, the mac book with the same speed processor, same ram, hard drive, ect is 2100.00 so ya. a mac is still double the price, and now that they are using intell chips you have the same problems. I do like the fact they are using the same hardware now, as it is easier to compar them.

Steve

Possibly true for 17" screens as Apple only offers high end configurations there. But not true for 15" laptops. You can't look at Apple's cost for HD and RAM upgrades as that skews the price. the same upgrades can be had for far less from third parties. Futureshop's website is working right now but let's do some proper comparisons:

1. 15" Macbook Pro with a 2.53 GHZ processor, 250GB HD 4GB RAM. $1800 retail. If you want to buy a refurb unit from Apple (I have bought several Apple refurbs and they look and function as new and come with the same 1 year warranty) it is only $1500.

2. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...nufacture=Acer Has same amount of RAM, slightly larger HD, no firewire but otherwise close in specs. $1530. So difference is $270 ($30 more when compared to the refurb) but also no included software such as iLife.

3. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...acture=Toshiba this has very similar specs to the MacBook Pro but is lacking Firewire. Price is $1600 so $200 more for the Mac (or $100 less for the refurb Mac).

4. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...lett%20PackardThis one has a slightly larger HD but only VGA graphics output? Price is $1650. $150 less than the Mac or $150 more then the refurb.

You have to look at similar specs. I can pretty much be sure that any Windows laptop of decent quality with similar specs will be close in price. Not anywhere near half the cost of a Mac.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Ron99

What I don't like abut the HP:

1. Decent graphics processor but no discreet graphics memory. It shares systme RAM with the video processor.

2. No Bluetooth.

3. No firewire. May not be important to you but the Macbbok pro has it.





Toshiba:

1. Again, no discreet video RAM, it shares the system memory for that. and the graphics processor is inferior.

2. No Bluetooth

3. No Firewire.

So if you are going to com,pare to the Macbook pro you have to keep in mind it has discreet video memory for better graphics performance, built in Bluetooth, built in Firewire etc.



Possibly true for 17" screens as Apple only offers high end configurations there. But not true for 15" laptops. You can't look at Apple's cost for HD and RAM upgrades as that skews the price. the same upgrades can be had for far less from third parties. Futureshop's website is working right now but let's do some proper comparisons:

1. 15" Macbook Pro with a 2.53 GHZ processor, 250GB HD 4GB RAM. $1800 retail. If you want to buy a refurb unit from Apple (I have bought several Apple refurbs and they look and function as new and come with the same 1 year warranty) it is only $1500.

2. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...nufacture=Acer Has same amount of RAM, slightly larger HD, no firewire but otherwise close in specs. $1530. So difference is $270 ($30 more when compared to the refurb) but also no included software such as iLife.

3. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...acture=Toshiba this has very similar specs to the MacBook Pro but is lacking Firewire. Price is $1600 so $200 more for the Mac (or $100 less for the refurb Mac).

4. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...lett%20PackardThis one has a slightly larger HD but only VGA graphics output? Price is $1650. $150 less than the Mac or $150 more then the refurb.

You have to look at similar specs. I can pretty much be sure that any Windows laptop of decent quality with similar specs will be close in price. Not anywhere near half the cost of a Mac.

2, is a 2.66 processor, 4 is a 2.8 processer, the mack is a 2.5 big differance in price, about 200 or more to upgrade from a 2.5 to a 2.66 and 3 to 400 to go to the 2.8

#3 doesn't show any specs so I don't know what you are uasing for a comparason. also lets compare new to new.. you can probably find a refurbished version of any of these for 400 to 800 less.

as for firewire.. how many times have I needed it in the last 20 years I have had a computer.. hmmm oh none.. so realy firewire is a mute point. especialy with USB2 and serial ATA inputs. I have a HD camcorder and a new fancy DLSR and neither of them have firewire.. I couldn't even tell you what stilluses firewire except Apple.

bluetooth, I have to say big deal for that also.. realy what would you use it for? any bluetooth device I have that I would want to hook to my computer come with USB cords to do this. so I program them then unplug. now some one may want bluetooth, but for the average person...



Steve

[Ron99]

Well, in the real world I don't think those small differences in processor speed would be noticeable. I was trying to find ones of mostly equal specs but it is difficult to find identical ones. I think the comparisons are pretty good.

I'm sure you can find refurbs of Windows machines too but do they come with full manufacturer backing and warranties as well?

Bluetooth is very useful for syncing to many devices and if you want to use a wireless mouse with it. Lot's of interesting gadgets are now incorporating bluetooth so i think it is a useful feature.

Firewire as well. File transfers to a firewire HD are way faster than USB2. I haven't done a comparison with eSATA but I suspect firewire is still faster. Mostly it is storage but I think plenty of cameras still have firewire as well.

[Slick Fork]

Iphoto has a couple of features that I really like when compared to elements 7. However Stir Crazy is right as it doesn't have the editing power that elements does.

I run exclusively adobe on my PC, my Dad has iphoto on his mac, he absolutely loves the organizational features and uses that for organization, but has to edit all the photos with Elements on his PC first.

This bamboo pad from London Drugs
http://www.londondrugs.com/Cultures/...6&ProductTab=3

Has Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 bundled with it for $159

And yeah, don't be afraid of the AMD processor, they are quite good. Depending on the year and the chip they swing back and forth with intel for quality but usually win in price.

As far as the warranty goes... I've always thought that if these things are going to have a hardware failure, they'll fail in the first year. I've had failures on Hard Disks and power supplies ranging between the first time power hits them and about 9 or 10 boot ups but I don't think I've ever had a hardware failure after the first year of normal operation. That's just my personal experience though and may not be everyones experience. When I bought my LCD tv EVERY online review site said exactly the same thing. That if it's going to fail it will fail in the first year thus the extended warranties these stores like to push on you are really just cash grabs.

[Slick Fork]

Out of those two I would pick the HP, Two BIG reasons are the ATI graphics, and the pre-loaded Paintshop Pro. I have an old version of PSP, and it is comparable to photoshop.

Interesting that with the bigger screen it still comes in almost a kilo lighter than the toshiba.