Laptop Computers

[surgtech1956]

I currently have a Dell laptop(Insrion E1505) in need of replacing. I'm thinking about a Mac, but do to the price would probably buy the smallest 13.1" or go with another Windows 7 - Dell, etc... I've been happy with my Dell(7 years old), but thinking about the upcoming 'Black Friday' sales. Who has a Mac and are you happy with it? Any advice, input is appreciated.

[lunacycles]

I effing love my Macbook Pro. But I've always been a Mac girl. I think the Air would be a good option if you don't need the disc drive, lighter and slimmer than anything else but a little less expensive.

[Owlie]

If I had the money and wasn't going to be moving around a lot for the next few years, I'd get an Apple laptop and a PC desktop.

The problem (say all my friends with Macs) is that they're less prone to doing strange things than PCs, but when they do, they're much harder to take care of by yourself. They do love them, though.

If you don't have your heart set on a mac and the laptop isn't going to be your primary computer, I have friends with Acer netbooks who are very happy with them.

[KnottedYet]

Mac.

Remember when the whole PC thing began in the 1980's? (sure you do, you're even younger than me) Those were Macs.

I had a Windows computer briefly. Virus city.

Back to Apple. Feeling the love. Even my 6 year old bottom-of-the-line iBook is still doing just fine. Sure, it's so old that it can't download streaming movies from Netflix, but my iPod can do that for me. Apples are tough critters. I have no intention of ever subjecting myself to a Windows machine again.

[Roadtrip]

I think it depends on what all you do on your laptop too.. as a software developer I have to have a Windows based machine, but if I were using the computer for email, dic pics, and browsing the internet only, I may very well get a Mac as everything I have read is the user experience is nicer. I'd also pony up for Apple Care to extend the warranty as an extra level of peace of mind. Are you near an Apple Store? There is one locally and that would be a benefit to me as if a problem came up I could just make an appointment and take the computer in for any service that may be needed.

We've owned several Dells (Inspiron 1545 and an E1505) and we've always been happy with then, tho DH uses the older 1505 and is about due for an upgrade and it's almost four years old. Video sometimes gets flaky tho runs smooth on mine, plus he has it maxed out on memory at 2gb, while mine has 4gb and upgraded to it's max and about a year and a half old.

We bought a desktop during Christmas last year and got a really good deal, which is why we ended up buying. They normally do have some killer deals during the Holidays.

Shannon

[pll]

Whatever you end up with, it's a mixed bag. If you go for a Mac Air, have a solid state drive. I currently have a Mac Air (all prior laptops had Windows) without a solid state hard drive and these are my impressions:


Design: Very sleek, beautiful.
Utilities: Cute and nice to have iMovie, GaragaBand, etc
Performance: Terrible. So slow, it gives me that little spinning circle so many times I want to swing it out of the window, and I'm not doing anything unusual to stress it. Performance is so bad that my $300 netbook with Linux works better sometimes.


I'd rather have a Win 7 laptop now, but I will keep this one for at least 3 years.

[jessmarimba]

I love my macbook. I've replaced the battery and the power charger, and I've had it since 2006.

I've been at my company for a little over 3 years and I've been through 5 dell and toshiba laptops. Granted, I think we buy the cheapest available laptops at work, but this is working only on a network with all kinds of security settings. I've had the current one for about a year and it recently decided that it will no longer recognize it's power charger...huh??

But I was biased to begin with, so definitely don't take this as an objective response :)

[Owlie]

My laptop is a Dell (Latitude D820). It's okay, but not ideal. The model has known power supply problems and the battery life is terrible (three hours became 25 minutes after less than a year). I had to replace the charger as well as it decided it no longer wanted anything to do with the original. I'm the only person I know who had the computer and hasn't fried some part of it yet. Granted, I'm not playing video games on it and only want it to run Office, two other programs and access the internet.

My friend replaced his with another Dell (I don't remember the model) and is very happy with it.

[pll]

Of course, you could also give your old laptop another life by installing Ubuntu on it (no viruses there, either). OpenOffice is great. That'd be an option even if you buy a new one. ;)

[Cataboo]

I got a dell 8200 in 2001 that still works fine, however it weighs 8 lbs and I don't feel like carrying it around.

I've switched to just using a netbook as a laptop running windows 7 starter. $300, 11 hours of battery life, and it does everything I need it to do on a laptop :)

But I always keep a desktop for photos and the rest of that.

[surgtech1956]

Thanks for the input and advice everyone. I'm keeping my eye on the Apple and Dell websites and check the Sunday Best Buy ads.

[Crankin]

I have an older (2007) MacBook and it does everything. I run Windows for Mac, which is all I need, besides the Internet. I've watched movies on it, too.Of course, I am a technology weenie, so I prefer to keep it very easy.
I guess I am not that concerned about weight; I rarely take my computer anywhere. It's my only computer. So far, all of my counseling internships have had PCs and I have to relearn certain things every September. I really don't know what the right click on a mouse does! Since we are not allowed to put any confidential files on our own computers, it's not an issue.
Almost every student I see at my university has a Mac. I just don't use it in class, as I find it difficult to type and pay attention; taking notes the old fashioned way is much easier for me.
For what it's worth, my DH, who is a director for a software company became a Mac person about a year ago. He can do everything he needs and some of it is complicated. He told his company to ditch the crappy PC lap top they gave him (which had to be "fixed" a number of times) and get him a desk top, for the days he didn't feel like bringing his lap top (like when he rides).

[Koronin]

Well this isn't going to help you much. I personally have no use for Apple or Dell in any way shape or form. We currently have a Toshiba netbook, a Segar laptop and a Toshiba laptop. Our desktop died back in May and my husband is deciding on rather to buy and easily upgradable desktop (Acer, Asus, HP, and a couple others) or to just build a new one as our old one is too old to be upgraded. Anything that requires proprietary components is not even considered. To me Dells are too expensive for what you get. You can get better computers for the same cost or less than what you are paying for a Dell. My computer came from Best Buy. My husband ordered his on line as the top end laptops you can't get at your typical electronics stores. When we replace his laptop it will most likely be another Segar.

[OakLeaf]

I've been a Mac user forever.

The thing about it is, the last time I looked (which admittedly has been a while ago), if you compared apples to apples - processor speed, number of processors, bus speed, hard drive speed, graphics card, sound card, ports, etc. - the price was about the same. As a hardware company, Apple just doesn't sell the kind of junk that you can buy to run Windows.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend a netbook as your only computer. To me, it would be a real PITA having to use an external optical drive. No Ethernet port (a USB adapter is available, but again, another piece of external hardware you have to deal with) and only one USB port.

I do have Parallels, but the only thing I use it for is SportTracks.


My DH uses both. MacBookPro for his photography, and Windows boxes (which is where he came from) for most other things. He has had a couple of issues trying to configure external drives with the Mac.

He hasn't had an issue with viruses at all. We were just discussing that - how he continues to run his virus detection even though it hasn't picked anything up in years. You just have to set your security settings. Factory defaults on a Mac are reasonably secure, whereas factory defaults on a Windows box are wide open. Don't do anything dumb with email. And if you want to avoid spyware, that's the same on both sides - use Firefox with NoScript and allow the minimum of scripts and cookies that you can get away with for any given site, including setting session cookies only if the site will let you. These days, though, a few sites are requiring LOTS of scripts to even run. :( Then you have to make a choice as to how badly you want to look at that content. And afterward, clear your cache, delete any cookies you don't recognize, delete your Flash cookies using an app like Flush, re-enable script blocking, and quit and re-start your browser. PITA.

[Cataboo]

My netbook has 3 USB ports & an ethernet port built in. I do have an external dvd drive, but mostly I just share my desktop dvd drive over the network for it.

However, I need a desktop and always keep one.

[ultraviolet]

I'm both a Mac and PC user. My main machine for home and freelance work is a 13" MacBook Pro hooked up to a 24" Apple Cinema Display. And I run Parallels on it so that I can still use the Windows applications that are must-haves for my work.

But, I also have a Toshiba laptop running Windows 7 for when I need to do a lot of work in Visio or Expression Studio, an Acer netbook running Windows XP that I hook up to my television for shows and movies via Boxee and Netflix, and a Dell Inspiron 700m that I've had for something like six years and is still running strong. The Dell is the machine that I always took with me when I had to work on site for clients, because it's compact but powerful. I don't see myself parting with it anytime soon.

It's generally not productive to get involved in the back and forth over which platform is better. They're both good, and it all depends on what you're going to do with your system and how much you want to spend.

My advice about Windows laptops in general has always been to not buy the least expensive model on offer at the store. Step up a rung or two in the price offering within a brand, and you're likely taking home a solid machine.

And by the time you're looking at those prices, you're about equal to the entry-level MacBook prices. So, then it comes down to aesthetics and your personal preferences.

[Irulan]

New egg has some great buys on Windows lap tops right now. I am seriously looking for one to just mess around on ( not a desktop substitute) for very reasonable prices.

I'm not sold on macs. I am a windows user, and I have to help my mom with one every now and then. I don't see what the big deal is as windows has gotten so much nicer over the years. Also, if you don't do stupid stuff on your computer, it's pretty easy to NOT get bugs.

[ultraviolet]

I'm not sold on macs. I am a windows user, and I have to help my mom with one every now and then. I don't see what the big deal is as windows has gotten so much nicer over the years. Also, if you don't do stupid stuff on your computer, it's pretty easy to NOT get bugs.

That's pretty much always been my position as well.

I finally gave in and purchased a Mac because a lot of my clients are advertising and creative agencies who are all Mac in-house, so having one myself makes my professional life a little easier.

[smilingcat]

Go with apple, you'll be happier in the long run.

Windows 7 is okay... But its not Ubuntu or some other Linux software. And god forbid to use internet explore. Who use it anyway. Most people I know use Firefox/Mozilla or gone with Chrome from Google.

Right now, I'm dealing with my partner's desktop computer where it thinks its running out of disk space and internet is going brain dead. Internet explorer is not happy. Oh she does have Norton anti-virus stuff but its not good enough.

Then my sister's laptop also XP based is having internet problem. I'm going to try to install Firefox in both to get around the problems. If you have MAC (BSD unix based OS) or Linux then you wouldn't have this problem.

Linux and MAC have all the software you ever want to have. I also can run Adobe photoshop elements 7 on my Linux machine, open, read, modify any word (microsoft) documents, excel spreadsheet...

There is really no excuse in using windows 7, or XP.

I also have a friend with a Hackintosh (Running Tiger was it??) and I have a Dell with Mandriva linux, and my Acer net book also has Mandriva Linux with external 300G portable hard drive.

You have to pay me to use windows 7. Oh that's right I do get paid to work and at work they use Windows 7.

This is just my biased 2 cent opinion.

[roadie gal]

LOVE my Mac! I had Dell for years. I bought a laptop that had problems and got totally danced around by Dell trying to get my money back. The Mac folks have been great about answering any questions and helping me out. (If customer service is a concern to you.)

I also find the Mac easier to use than a Windows based system. To me it's just more intuitive.

[emily_in_nc]

Both my husband and I have HP laptops (dv6t) running Windows 7. We're very happy and see no reason to switch to Apple b/c of the greater costs, and we've been using PCs for years and are just comfortable with them. Windows 7 is secure and robust. No complaints here, but I don't get into religious wars with Apple users. My philosophy is live and let live...in computers and life. :)

[shootingstar]

I have a new computer that is Windows based. Still Internet Explorer.

He uses Mac laptop, has a Windows based desktop. His next desktop with be Mac.

I choose Windows based primarily because alot of jobs required I used software that is Windows based. This is the main reason why I choose this operating system. I realize that one can run Windows via a Mac.

[Koronin]

One of the companies I work I have to use Internet Explorer to report my work and to answer and email that is sent through the site. There was another company I worked for briefly that you can only access their site with IE. I didn't like the work with that company so I quit. The first company I still work for and enjoy the work, but having to switch to IE for reporting is a PITA. Thankfully I can do most everything else on their site with Firefox and the other companies I work for are fine with Firefox. Well, except for one Mystery Shopping company that for that reason I haven't done any work for for a couple of years.
I will 2nd the netbook not being a good idea as your main or only computer. We have one that is mostly as a backup and was bought in that capacity. My husband had an issue with his power cord for his laptop and we had to make sure he had something, so we bought the netbook so he could easily continue with his school work. We don't use the netbook very often, but it is there in case we need it. It is great as a back up or if we are traveling and need internet access without being near a plug for a laptop. I took it to Wilmington with me when I was doing some work in case I needed to access that companies site while working.

[blackhillsbiker]

I have a screaming fast Mac desktop at work (I'm a graphic designer). We've had Macs at home since 86. I do like Windows 7, though. We have that on one of the computers at the shop. My laptop is an elderly 12" G4 PowerBook. It does what I need a laptop to do, though. It won't run the Adobe CS4 programs. I do have an older version of Photoshop and Illustrator on it. Hubby and DD have MacBooks. The other DDs share an old iBook. I used to have an old "Lombard" Mac PowerBook but they fried the processor using it to do a slide show on a mission trip (RIP faithful friend :()

Deb

[Owlie]

Go with apple, you'll be happier in the long run.

Windows 7 is okay... But its not Ubuntu or some other Linux software. And god forbid to use internet explore. Who use it anyway. Most people I know use Firefox/Mozilla or gone with Chrome from Google.


My parents use IE. My dad still uses AOL. Short of doing what DBF did to his parents (uninstalled AOL, made AOL mail the Firefox homepage), there's no getting him off it. :rolleyes:

[moonfroggy]

i used to have a dell and when it wore out i replaced it with a 13 inch mac and it was the best thing i ever did as far as laptops go. this laptop just feels so much nicer the case is so much stronger it is so much sturdier and the os is so much slicker than windows.

[shootingstar]

Who else does not use Internet Explorer?

Frankly I haven't taken time to look into all this but I know some of the big employers have IE enterprise-wide as the base and then layer their web-based, licensed tools on top.

[OakLeaf]

My DH doesn't use IE. Too many security holes and too few security add-ons.

The Mac-side equivalent is Safari. I will use that occasionally, but for the same reasons, I pretty much keep it to Firefox and allow a minimum of scripts and cookies; limiting them to temporary script permissions and session cookies as much as possible.

[emily_in_nc]

Who else does not use Internet Explorer?


I haven't used it for years, save for at work, where they still have a few dinosaur sites that need IE 6 (yes, IE 6, riddled with security holes!) to run properly.

I've been using Firefox for several years. I initially switched b/c of all the security holes in IE. Recently tried to make the switch to Google Chrome b/c I'd heard such good things about it, and Firefox has had more and more security patches lately, but had to go back to FF. Why? I could never get pdf files to display in Chrome, and that's a deal-breaker. I sell on ebay and have to print my shipping labels using pdf files. Read all sorts of online support tips for it, but nothing worked for me. Other than that, I really liked the simplicity and speed of Chrome. My DH uses it and loves it.

All that said, I read a couple of PC geeky newsletters, and it sounds like the latest versions of IE are much, much improved from IE 6 and 7. One testing lab did a head-to-head test between the latest IE (9, I think), FF, and Chrome, and each one did better in some areas, but overall, it was pretty much a draw, as I recall.

Go with what you like and feel comfortable with.

[OakLeaf]

Google by definition is spyware... the whole way they make their money is from data mining and selling the demographics.

Yeah, I have an Android phone. There's really no privacy with phones anyway, but it did give me pause to put my calendar onto Google. If I were working or getting any kind of serious medical treatment, I'd either have gone with a Blackberry, or just kept my calendar on a separate, non-networked device. And yeah, I use Facebook. :rolleyes: There too, I weigh the benefit against the risk, keep my privacy settings fairly tight, use a minimum of FB apps.

Spyware - i.e. "legitimate" software - is a much greater threat in this day and age than non-corporate-sanctioned viruses and Trojans.

[Crankin]

I use Safari; never had a problem with it. Every time I try to switch to Firefox, something bad happens to my computer. I don't like change, anyway.
The clinic where I work uses Explorer. It's so old, you guys would laugh.

[badgercat]

The clinic where I work uses Explorer. It's so old, you guys would laugh.

I've done clinical rotations at two different hospitals that are still using Internet Explorer 6. It's shocking, considering that IE6 got a reputation back in the day as being about as secure as a piece of swiss cheese.

As far as the original topic goes, I have an almost-3-year-old MacBook. Before that I had a Dell laptop (Windows XP) that I got in early 2005 and still runs fine. That was back when Dell was still essentially direct-order. My mom has a Dell laptop that she bought at Best Buy last year and it just doesn't seem as "solid" as the old ones. I also have an Asus EEE Windows 7 netbook that I bought this past spring--I got in the habit of taking lecture notes on my computer last year, and I was getting nervous about schlepping my Mac (which is my primary computer) back and forth to campus every day. I call my netbook my MacBook insurance policy. ;)

I guess what I'm getting at is I'm not a die-hard supporter of anything... I like all of my machines. Go with what feels good. If you're thinking about trying a Mac, now's as good a time as any. I'm glad I got mine and "expanded my horizons," so to speak, and if my MacBook dies I'll probably replace it with another Apple product (if I can afford to), but I'm not bonded for life.

ETA: if you do go with Mac, I also recommend the AppleCare... I took advantage of mine recently when my wi-fi card failed. I brought it in to my local Apple Store and they replaced it while I waited, no charge. It doesn't cover any kind of accidental damage, but it is a little extra peace of mind since it extends your warranty from one year to three.

[pll]

I've been using Firefox on Windows for years, and in the Mac, I am using Safari but a friend who's a Mac guru swears by OmniWeb (http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omniweb/). I have yet to give it a fair try.

Related to web browsers, did anyone read about how offers change depending on the web browser you use? See the blog entry here (http://expertlywrapped.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/looking-for-a-low-interest-rate-try-using-a-different-web-browser/), on the Capital One interest rate offers.

[OakLeaf]

did anyone read about how offers change depending on the web browser you use?.

Not just your browser, but everything. Location (easy, from your IP address), content of your posts, everything they can correlate about your demographics from the above-referenced data mining. That's why Facebook and Google are worth so much money.

[Irulan]

Who else does not use Internet Explorer?

Frankly I haven't taken time to look into all this but I know some of the big employers have IE enterprise-wide as the base and then layer their web-based, licensed tools on top.

We don't, and it's annoying as hell to run into sites, all government, that still will only run IE. I mean, c'mon guys, get with the new millennium.

[jessmarimba]

Yep. I switch between Firefox and IE at work and use Safari at home - but I had to do an online file review with a gov't department the other day who sent an email stating that their system works on IE 6 (or whatever) and NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR!! Does that browser even exist anymore??

(And for what it's worth, their review system doesn't work on IE, either. The browser shuts it down instantly as malware, regardless of the security settings I choose)

[Roadtrip]

Not just your browser, but everything. Location (easy, from your IP address), content of your posts, everything they can correlate about your demographics from the above-referenced data mining. That's why Facebook and Google are worth so much money.

Your IP is always going to be viable to the server your hitting when requesting a web page (they need to know where to return the request) and yes, a simple report can show that to the server owners, so it's really easy to see where your viewers are. If you enter your private information in the browser settings, yes, that info can be crawled by the server and captured.

NEVER put your information into the browser properties.

ALWAYS assume that anything you put out on the internet is just as good as placing an avert in the local paper.

As to why Google is worth so much money, they developed a very simple (easy to use) tool, with a powerful back-end that indexed and crawled the internet so that finding information was more intuitive. People flocked to the site and Google started to monetize it... ever do a web search for "Car Loan" and all of a sudden your seeing tons of ads for Car Ins, Lending Tree, eLoan, etc? That's how Google makes it's money, by charging a higher rate for ads because they can target you and the advertiser knows his ad is being see by a more interested demographic.

Think of a billboard and if you had the ability to know the demographics of the person walking by who would read that billboard. If you knew how they voted in the last election, how many kids, relationship status, what hobbies or special interests they might have. If you knew they were an avid biker, the LBS would likely pay a premium to get his advertisement seen by that demographic group, right?

Same thing goes on on a broader level all the time. Ever notice how those Lottery Jackpot billboards always are placed in poorer neighborhoods and the luxury car billboards are conveniently located near the mall or affluent communities?

Facebook is just evil and looks the other way while advertisers scrape the data of you and ALL your friends any time play a game or interact with a part of the site. Not all advertisers do this, but Zynga is the biggest and has made millions (and likely paid Facebook a good chunk too), while they collect data on you and your friends every move. Oh and yea, if one of your FB friends inadvertently opens up the private data cookie jar, because your linked as friends, your private information is out in the wild now too.

Shannon

[smilingcat]

Soo where are the internet explore based cell phones?? I think it would be really funny if someone were to write a hack to jail break all those cell phones out there :D :D ahem I would like a jail broken iPhone... I would like to use the iPhone on pay as you go plan with virgin mobile and use their flat rate 3G network.

No I don't use IE, I use firefox on Linux box. Less malware to contend with on Linux box. If you were a hacker, I think you would target an easy prey like those using IE. One can safely assume that those using IE are less sophisticated than those using Firefox, Chrome, Opera...

A bug in Windows 7 office suite: You need a service pack 3 to fix this ugly bug!! Well this is what I was told. Remember, I hate windows so I try my best to be a ignoramous when it comes to Windows.

If you create a graph in Excel spreadsheet and paste it into word document and print, sometimes the graph line will disappear and nothing you can do about it.

And when I tried to paste several different graphs into word, it literally froze up my computer (work computer).

I hate windows.

Linux anyone??? Cute Penguin for a mascot! He is very charming BTW :D

[moonfroggy]

linux is pretty cool. i used linux and nothing but for about 8 years. i have ben to lazy to install it on my current mac though. if my library would let me download audiobooks and ebooks in linux it would be installed but i need to be booted into mac to do that and a few other things.

[itself]

I am also looking for a netbook/small laptop. What I struggle with is the fact that many computers only "seem" to have a life of about 3-5 years.

So the new Macbook Pro is $1200. At Best Buy, you can get into a netbook for about $400. Samsung is making some really great netbooks, as is Toshiba, Acer, and Eec.

[NbyNW]

I am also looking for a netbook/small laptop. What I struggle with is the fact that many computers only "seem" to have a life of about 3-5 years.


Yep. That's why AppleCare is such a good idea. I have a 2006 MacBook Pro and the motherboard failed just a month shy of my AppleCare expiring. They replaced it, free of charge. Thankfully I did not lose any data. I'm usually good about making backups, but had gotten a bit lazy a few months prior.

I know I can automate backing up my computer, but a few years ago I was having trouble deciding between a remote server or an external hard drive. Maybe a good idea to revisit this!

[OakLeaf]

I know you know (and I don't do both, either :rolleyes:) but technically, you shouldn't "choose between" onsite and offsite backup - you really need both to be secure in case of theft, fire or flood, and yet have your backups most quickly accessible in case of a garden variety hard-drive failure.

I'm sure there's a level at which technology is rolled out more slowly than it ought to be, but honestly, I see more of the opposite (companies rolling out new technology that isn't quite ready for prime time). So I don't know that obsolescence in the computer world is really planned - I think it's more that technology is just marching on at an ever-quicker pace ... remember Moore's Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law) (yeah, I had to look it up to remember the name :p)? (The good news is that according to a cNet article cited in that Wikipedia article, the growth is expected to slow in a few more years.)

[Irulan]

we use Carbonite for off site back up. For $50 a year it is a great deal. It's saved us several times as we run an engineering company out of our home. The bonus is it acts as a remote desktop, too.

[NbyNW]

I know you know (and I don't do both, either :rolleyes:) but technically, you shouldn't "choose between" onsite and offsite backup - you really need both to be secure in case of theft, fire or flood, and yet have your backups most quickly accessible in case of a garden variety hard-drive failure.


Yes, very well stated. I think I've just been very lax at figuring out how much space I'll actually need, what it will cost, and getting it set up. I really should just bump it up on my priority list. After the million other things that need to get done! :p

Thanks, Irulan, for the Carbonite recommendation. I'll take a look at them!

[smilingcat]

I have one of the first netbooks. Asus Eee900.

Next netbook will have an internal hardrive. The 900's keyboard is just too tiny even for my think small fingers. I also don't care for the touch pad, instead, I use a very small USB mouse. Also check on the battery life or usage time before it needs to be recharged.

The last item is the weight. 2 pounds doesn't sound much but wait until you lug around your "purse" well I carry lots of things in it but the added 2 pounds and the weight of the power pack, external USB drive really does a number on my shoulder.

I still like my net book. I take it with me on my trips.

[pll]

In addition to a Macbook Air and a Lenovo Thinkpad, I have an Acer One with Linpus, a light version of Linux. I like it quite a bit and it travels with me to check email and backup pictures. It fits in any hotel safety box. Sometimes I've even used it to teach -- OpenOffice is great, opens any MS Office without complain. I also like to use GIMP, a freeware Photoshop-like image editor. One of the best things is that Linux boots and shuts down fast, faster than the Mac and so much faster than Windows.