49 replies to this topic

[Harut]

Wow ... menak mnum a jur berel sovori

mi hat anikdot kpatmayi, bayts xuzhanakan a...

[Ashot]

Harut, Borsh epel sovoatsru u rad eghi - etia???

[Harut]

Harut, Borsh epel sovoatsru u rad eghi - etia???

yerevi... nman mi ban...

[Harut]

btw... i noticed recently that it has some kind of issue... if i plug in the power while the windows is loading, it crushes... any ideas?

[Ashot]

New battery!!!

[Em]

Sip, would you consider buying a MacBook but getting it with the Microsoft OS? I was told it is costly, but I have fallen under Apple's spell. I am used to Microsoft and would prefer it over learning a new (though relatively easy Mac) system. However, I like media apps. and other features that the MacBooks are popular for.

My Dell notebook is slowly dying, and though we have had a very good relationship, I am looking to get something different.
I will need to get a new one in the next few months, so I am considering my options.

I would appreciate any/all input. Thanks.

[Sip]

Do they sell Macbooks with Microsoft OS? You can definitely install yourself but that's like buying a toyota and then switching all the insides with Honda (they are both good) ... so not much point to it really. The Mac hardware is decent but it's basically the same as a PC so switching to Microsoft OS on the Mac "hardware" won't really make things any better or worse compared to just starting with a good PC.

The macs are still rather expensive. But I have personally not used Vista nor any Macs so I can't really recommend either way. The main question I have is what you plan to do with your PC as these days, pretty much the cheapest notebook will get 95% of what people want to do done and then some.

[Garo]

You can install Parallels on Mac ( http://www.parallels.com/ ) and run Microsoft Windows and Mac OS at the same time.
If by Microsoft you mean Word, Excel, etc then they're available for Mac OS as well so you don't have to install Windows at all.

[Em]

Microsoft Word Processor, not the operating system. That is what I meant. Can you guys tell I suck at this?

So now that Garik helped me clarify what I meant (thanks Garik), my original question remains, the cost aspect aside, should I do it or not?

Sip, some features I like are: easy to create photo albums, websites, charts and stuff for school projects, and most importantly aren't Macs known to be faster and less virus prone?

[Sip]

Ok makes a lot of sense now (and no worries about confusion).

Office is office on either one so yah that's definitely what you want to use no matter whether it's a PC or Mac. There are free alternatives but nothing nearly as good as office (OpenOffice comes close).

About the rest, you can definitely do all of those easily either on Mac or a PC (like making web pages, photo albums, etc). So that shouldn't change your decision either way.

It is true that Microsoft has traditionally had trouble with "viruses" but that is because over 90% of the world's PCs had been running windows (now it's a bit less than 90% due to Mac and Linux). Now that Mac is gaining market share, they are seeing problems pop up more. Actually there was talk recently that Apple is starting to recommend protection software mainly since most problems these days come from people clicking on bad stuff on the web so it is more of a browser security issue (and the browser trying to figure out is this something you wanted to do or is it bad). Apple's safari is definitely not one of the best browsers but again, either way you go (PC or Mac), you can chose to run a better browser like Firefox (and hopefully Google Chrome soon on Mac). Still, the problem will remain that you would either have to be very careful on what you click, or have some sort of protection/anti-virus software. On a Mac, it's less of a problem but that doesn't mean there is no problem or there will never be any problems.

Some people will jump up and down and swear Macs are better. Other people will do the same for PCs. The fight has been going on since there were Macs and PCs Again, not really having used a Mac or new PC (vista), I can't personaly recommend either way but I would suggest you play with a Mac at a mac store and a couple of pc's at best buy or something and see which laptops appeal to you. Either way you will be fine and either way you will be able to do most of what you want to do. So look at the costs, and other esthetics with the laptops (size, shape, battery life, screen, keyboard, trackpad, built in speakers if you are going to use them, availability of peripherals (much more on PCs), availability of other software (much much much more for PC ), dvd/cd recording ability etc etc).

There is no doubt the Macbooks are very sexy but the true advantage of Mac vs PC is no longer the safety, reliability, simplicity, etc that has been associated with Mac (for various reasons, mainly because of their stupid commercials). Both platforms are pretty damn good these days with the PC, in my opinion, still having a number of advantages over Mac -- but I am probably not a typical user so probably not the best person to give advice.

Edited by Sip, 08 December 2008 - 07:10 PM.

[Em]

Thank you very much for all of the input, Sip. It helps a lot.

Many die hard PC fans old me to forget the Mac. However, they were unable to explain to me why. You clarified it for me. Thanks again.

BTW, you should begin charging by the post for all of this help.

[Nané]

Question - do Sony laptops crash frequently? and if so - are they un-repairable?

[DominO]

Question - do Sony laptops crash frequently? and if so - are they un-repairable?

Crashing is more related with drivers, OS and softwares issues. The problems with laptops are not on that front, but heat generation, how much it can hold on a charge, if the computer is resistant etc.

I do have one of the Vaio's, I don't like the keyboard it's a bit fragile if you do a lot of typings. The rest is OK... get anything as long as it is not an acer.

[DominO]

As of being repairable, they're on warranty unless there is something which physically brake. Like any laptops.

[Sip]

No PC should "crash frequently". If it does, that is a serious problem which could either be due to software (operating system or applications) or hardware. Software problems are much easier to diagnose and fix than random crashes due to hardware problems.

If it's an older laptop, it might be a lot easier to just re-image the thing to factory condition (basically reinstall everything from scratch). Usually sony ships DVDs (or has some built in functionality) to do that easily.

In terms of hardware problems, sometimes older laptops just get clogged with dust and dirt and start to overheat. Of course there could be a number of other reasons things can be crashing.

A bit more info about what is happening with the PC might help here.

[Ashot]

to be honest with you guys, I have had problems with multiple Sony PC's and Notebooks... The main problem that would be caused is the software crash... I hate the original Sony installed software, it sucks... I have had 5 Sony's which eventually I custom installed the software, anything that I need without the bunch of useless stuff that comes along the original CD, DVD or pre installed functionality...

Want an advice? - once you get that Sony, ship it to Sip, have him erase everything, then install a fresh copy of windows on it, then all the software that you require, and then have fun with it, otherwise you will experiance what I did, most likely fixing a computer once every 3 months!

[Nané]

Sip jan - there is nothing happening. We haven't bought it yet. And Ashot, I'm sure Sip is thrilled about your suggestion.

This is the thing - we need to buy a laptop to take to Armenia (for a relative). I think he's mostly going to run simple programs on it. We are trying to decide between HP, Dell, Sony and Toshiba. We are looking for something that will cost no more than $1,000. Any suggestions?

Oh - here's something that was just offered to me. Let me know if you guys think it's a good deal.

Dell XPS M1530
Intel Core 2 Duo T6400
4 GB Memory
500 GB SATA Hard Drive
15.4 inch LED LCD
etc.

$1,065.78

[DominO]

to be honest with you guys, I have had problems with multiple Sony PC's and Notebooks... The main problem that would be caused is the software crash... I hate the original Sony installed software, it sucks... I have had 5 Sony's which eventually I custom installed the software, anything that I need without the bunch of useless stuff that comes along the original CD, DVD or pre installed functionality...

Want an advice? - once you get that Sony, ship it to Sip, have him erase everything, then install a fresh copy of windows on it, then all the software that you require, and then have fun with it, otherwise you will experiance what I did, most likely fixing a computer once every 3 months!

I can't tell, I always do a fresh install without the goodies fresh from the Windows CD.

[Sip]

Haha ...

Well Sony is traditionally more on the expensive side. I have had a tiny portable one (Vaio T-series ... T350 to be exact) for several years now with heavy daily usage (goes everywhere with me). It has never missed a bit though most of the parts on it are now really worn out from over-use. It has really been an exceptional laptop. The new ones are the TT series that are will in the $2000 range.

The Dell XPS 15... are pretty decent. I can definitely see myself buying one. That's not to say Dells don't have problems but they are usually pretty good with warranty. My brother had a Dell 13xx (I think) with some bad hardware parts in it and they sent a guy to our house to replace the parts. Of course he screwed it up and would have had to come back to re-fix it if my brother hadn't figured out what the guy didn't do right

To be honest, it is very hard for me to decide whether a $1000 laptop is worth it these days with all the sub $500 "netbooks" running around. Heck there are some that are even in the $300-$400 range. But if the person you are taking it for doesn't have access to any other computers, then a full laptop is a good idea (just in case he or she needs to do some work where teh cheap netbooks might fall short).

So about the Dell, I'm not up to date on prices but it's a decent machine with the caveat that I don't know how Dell warranty will work if the machine is physically in Armenia.

[MosJan]

Sip jan - there is nothing happening. We haven't bought it yet. And Ashot, I'm sure Sip is thrilled about your suggestion.

This is the thing - we need to buy a laptop to take to Armenia (for a relative). I think he's mostly going to run simple programs on it. We are trying to decide between HP, Dell, Sony and Toshiba. We are looking for something that will cost no more than $1,000. Any suggestions?

Oh - here's something that was just offered to me. Let me know if you guys think it's a good deal.

Dell XPS M1530
Intel Core 2 Duo T6400
4 GB Memory
500 GB SATA Hard Drive
15.4 inch LED LCD
etc.

$1,065.78

Nane jan partadir nor pit lini ?
Karogh em arajarkel 1525 ( Inspiron 1525 ) kam XPS M170 arajarkel