Notebook Computer Recommendation

[madscot13]

BF and I both use Macbooks and have for several years. Unless you have some software need that can't be met with a Mac, I would strongly encourage you to look at Apples. I was at my parents' recently helping them with some computer issues (they both have Dells) and after a few years of saying, "well, it's all about what you get used to," I finally realized that Macs really are 'smarter' and more elegant.

I'm lusting after a Macbook Air.

the 2 pound difference is not worth the money to me- or the lack of a DVD drive- for a Macbook air.

I do love macs though. Most programs you can run on a Mac and with the Intel duo processor you can run PC programs also.

[ilima]

Consumer Reports is biased against Macs.

I also am a Mac user (and biased towards them). The claim is that Macs are more expensive than PC notebooks. But that doesn't bear out when you look at specifications. What is true is that Mac doesn't offer any of the truly low-end notebooks. But for similarly spec'd computers, the price is very similar for Mac vs. PC.

Before I bought my MacBook Pro last December I priced a Dell notebook with the same configuration (as much as possible). The Dell was several hundred dollars more and they didn't offer a processor as fast as the one one I spec'd for the MBP.

If you are budget-minded, take a look at the white MacBook, starting at $999. The specifications were just upped in the last week or so. You'll save a few hundred dollars over the silver MacBook.

And remember that you can run Windows natively or through emulation with programs such as VMWare Fusion. I have some Windows programs that run better on my Macs than they ever did on my Dell!

[MartianDestiny]

If it's your main computer definitely a Mac. I'll never go back and I run my MacBook Pro into the ground day in and day out (I'm a research scientist, and it does all my number crunching, full res image viewing, etc. on top of the day to day stuff and also doubles as my DVD player so it NEVER gets a break).

However, they ain't cheap (in that they don't make a low-priced model like other companies), so I'd have a hard time buying one as a secondary computer for just email and storage.

I'd either go for a used Apple (maybe refurbished) or get a cheapy and strip it of the Windows nightmare (yes, I'm that anti windows) for a Unix distribution. I've had good luck with HP (back in the terrible days of Windows and AOL), but that was a desktop.

[sfa]

I have a MacBook that I love, but we're Mac geeks around here. Last year, though, DH got an Asus EEE and has had no problems with it. It's running Linux, but you can get a Windows OS if you like that better. The size drives me crazy because it's too tiny to really type on, but DH is a hunt-and-peck typist so the tiny keyboard doesn't bug him. The monitor is small but very clear, and it does just about everything he wants it to do (primarily e-mail and internet).

The Macbook Air is very cool looking, but doesn't give you as much as a regular Macbook. Lightweight is all well and good, but I don't think it's worth the tradeoff. My BIL has one and likes it, but it's not a very powerful computer and he mostly uses it for the coolness factor. When he really wants to work he switches to a Macbook Pro.

Sarah

[fastdogs]

I've got an ASUS eee, and I love it. I needed something to check emails and surf the net, and it's great for that. The battery lasts a long time. It came with windows operating system and I got the extra RAM and installed it myself (and I am not computer savvy). I still have not gotten used to the left shift key location, though.
I like macs (I have one of the original Imac from when they first came out), but it doesn't matter how much they are worth it if you just don't have that kind of money.
vickie

[TsPoet]

I've got an ASUS eee, and I love it. I needed something to check emails and surf the net, and it's great for that. The battery lasts a long time. It came with windows operating system and I got the extra RAM and installed it myself (and I am not computer savvy). I still have not gotten used to the left shift key location, though.
I like macs (I have one of the original Imac from when they first came out), but it doesn't matter how much they are worth it if you just don't have that kind of money.
vickie

They've fixed the shift key on the new generations. I have the old one, too - who's terrible idea what it to put that key there?
I also installed the extra RAM, pretty easy.
I also use mine to organize photos on trips.

[batsheva]

dont waste your time on a PC - macs are the only way to go - unless you want to be looking at that eggtimer forever, calling in the computer repair man on a biweekly basis, updating virus definitions, looking at kernel.dll errors, pressing control-shift-delete several times a day... mac laptops JUST WORK

[SadieKate]

dont waste your time on a PC - macs are the only way to go - unless you want to be looking at that eggtimer forever, calling in the computer repair man on a biweekly basis, updating virus definitions, looking at kernel.dll errors, pressing control-shift-delete several times a day

Wow, so not true . . . . .