Why do you buy Apple products?

heatlesssun said:
And so yeah, what's wrong with asking about what Macs can do? I would think the Apple faithful would love to stick it to Windows guys like me touting their capabilities.
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Not that I can speak for "the apple faithful" but I like the honest questioning. Sadly, far, far too many of those of us that use apples are so used to badgering, belittling, baiting, Anti-apple fanboi's that we're a bit gunshy.


As for your question, I don't know, it's not something I use my Mac for, so I've no idea I'm afraid.
 
Zumino Zufeilon said:
The interesting thing IMO is that Snow Leopard didn't show any issues with slowdown w/o TRIM. Numerous tests indicated that 10.6 didn't seem to need TRIM. No idea why, and AFAIK nobody figured out why, possibly something to do with the file system of OSX. But yeah, TRIM is enabled in 10.6, and will probably be standard in 10.7.
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It is because they use SSDs with garbage collection built into them. That requirement doesn't matter so much anymore now that TRIM is enabled, but it is how they sidestepped that issue before it was rolled into OS X.
 
heatlesssun said:
That's not entirely clear from the quote that I posted that that's what it does but upon further research it does indeed decrypt. At one point I know that MakeMKV didn't do this as the only thing at that did decrypt BDs was AnyDVD.

So now that that's cleared up, any 3D BD or CableCard support for Macs?
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I don't think OSX has 120Hz capability. So no 3D BluRay, even if you did have the 120Hz display...
 
At the time I got it, my MacBook Pro was one of the best laptops for my needs, ran OS X, was 'pretty', and was actually quite competitive in price.


The general rule (I think) with getting a Mac that isn't above a similar PC is to buy right after a refresh, they are usually competitively priced then, they just never discount the price as the specs age.
 
It is a non-issue for me. I have a Blu Ray drive in my PC that never ever gets used. That's what the plasma and 3D capable PS3 in my living room is for.
 
It was a long standing question for me, and I even made another thread on it awhile ago.

If I wanted to play Blu Rays on a Mac Pro, how would I do it?

Answer I got (which I am totally cool with) is install Windows via VMWare (or similar) and rip it there and play the ripped file in OSX.

If your opinion is different, post it.

Also, I agree with Serp, that is what I do now.

Edit: To stay on topic, I buy Apple products for many reasons, but here are a couple that are high on my list.

1. Hate being cliche, but it does "just work." Right out of the box. No tweaks, no real bloatware, nothing substantial to install to get it working immediately. Recognizes the network, printer and such. I'm not a computer guy so having it just work saves me a ton of time.

2. Customer service. No matter where you bought your Apple branded whatever, take it to the Apple store and they will take care of you. I bought an iPad (original) at Best Buy. It borked on me and I took it to the Apple store. No questions. Little fiddling and some questions, then 15 minutes later walking out with a new iPad. Try that with ANY Sony product at the Sony store.

3. iPad, iPhone and MBP all work well together. Seamless integration IMO. I totally love my Zune and the Zune Market Place. Sometimes Windows and Zune player don't play well, its infrequent but annoying coming from the same company. I understand with third party solutions (ATi/AMD/nVidia, etc), but with Microsoft products it should be seamless.
 
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Another pro I would put in the Mac side is resale value when it is time to upgrade. Selling my PC parts is a bit of a chore and depreciation is pretty brutal on them. I actually sold my last PC as almost one entire unit (decided to start from scratch with my Corsair 800D build), and again it was a pretty big hit compared to the new price.

Not long after that I sold my 24" iMac that was a little over two years old. I'd have kept it longer but the 27" iMac that just came out was too sweet, plus I could use it as a PC monitor. Either way, I sold it on eBay for about 60% of what I bought it. It was really easy too, just put the whole thing in the same box I bought it in and shipped it off. No taking individual parts and shipping them off, easy peasy. The proceeds from the sale went to the upgrade, which again was easy, just restore from my backup FW800 drive and I was back in business. That also reminds me, OS X is 100% ready to go right out of the box. I did a new Windows 7 installation last month and I was reminded how bad it is until you've run Ninite and spent an hour tweaking and getting everything set up right. With OS X you just enter your info, a MobileMe account if you have it, everything syncs and you're good to go.

Its one thing I hope Windows nails with the next version, but the first step will be for them to get a version of IE that I like more than Chrome.
 
Liver - Blu-Ray was by far the biggest waste in my rig. I'm helping a friend with a build pretty soon (he's doing the same thing I am and plugging it into his iMac), and we're totally skipping a Blu Ray drive. We'll put that part of the budget (and more, obviously) towards an SSD instead.
 
Serpico said:
Liver - Blu-Ray was by far the biggest waste in my rig. I'm helping a friend with a build pretty soon (he's doing the same thing I am and plugging it into his iMac), and we're totally skipping a Blu Ray drive. We'll put that part of the budget (and more, obviously) towards an SSD instead.
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BluRay drives are between $50 and $80. Not a whole lot of savings there. I like ripping movies that don't come with digital copies. That way I can transfer them to my laptop and watch them on the go.
 
I've been on the Lenovo x120e for all of 2-3 hours now and whenever I put it to sleep and wake it up it BSODs on me. This is why I buy macs.
 
Disclaimer: I have not read a single post in this thread....

For me, Apple products "just work." At this point in my life cost is not really a factor, and I would rather spend a few extra bucks and have something that looks pretty and works for my needs.

Either way, I love my macbook airs, and would be more than willing to replace either one if something were to happen.
 
OEM said:
Inspiron 1750.

Lasted me the whole flight from LA to Seoul while watching Top Gear.
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That flight is nearly 13 hours, even if you had the 9 cell 85wh battery which is less than twice the stock battery you're only looking at about 7 hours with everything turned down.

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BatteryEater Reader's test, min. display brightness, energy savings profile, WLAN off
 
Chibo said:
That flight is nearly 13 hours, even if you had the 9 cell 85wh battery which is less than twice the stock battery you're only looking at about 7 hours with everything turned down.
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Maybe he flew in a G6? ;)
 
I'm really leaning towards trying out a Mac Book Pro. I'm looking for one that will have great battery life, and will be a good mobile desktop replacement, not so much the display size, but have good clock speed 4gig+ memory, and a decent display adapter.

Any thoughts?

I have been looking around and there seems to be many choices. I could be wrong but I see Mac users defining their MPB by the date they bought it (ie. Early 2008, Late 2009) Is there a simple format I can follow to better understand what the differences are?
 
KENNYB said:
This one?
http://www.handingchao.com/new-dell...n-black-laptop-windows-7-home-premium-review/
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Yes, however I think the one I bought came with a bigger battery. Mine isn't flush with the bottom of the laptop. It did, however, come with it in a sealed box. I did not buy an extended life battery for it.

Also, it is a very fast CPU/GPU to me. I can see how this is a debatable opinion, however.

Chibo said:
That flight is nearly 13 hours, even if you had the 9 cell 85wh battery which is less than twice the stock battery you're only looking at about 7 hours with everything turned down.

bereaders_44.gif

BatteryEater Reader's test, min. display brightness, energy savings profile, WLAN off
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Obviously on the flight I had all my wifi and junk off. Also, I used the power saving profile which by messing around with it now lowers the brightness. The flight was 12 hours but you have to remember for the first part of the flight you can't use electronics. They also served two meals both of which I ate, plus turning the laptop off about an hour before landing.

So I'll admit when I said whole flight that could be misleading, but I didn't have it on from gate to gate, I meant that with taking into account waiting until about 30 to 45 minutes after take off, plus meals, plus landing time. Sorry for the confusion.

Either way, it has an impressive battery life that rivals that of a much more expensive Apple laptop.
 
shawnmramsey said:
I'm really leaning towards trying out a Mac Book Pro. I'm looking for one that will have great battery life, and will be a good mobile desktop replacement, not so much the display size, but have good clock speed 4gig+ memory, and a decent display adapter.

Any thoughts?

I have been looking around and there seems to be many choices. I could be wrong but I see Mac users defining their MPB by the date they bought it (ie. Early 2008, Late 2009) Is there a simple format I can follow to better understand what the differences are?
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MBP owners use the dates as a way to categorize the specs of their laptops. For example, a 2008 MBP has the old Powerbook style whereas 2009 to present MBPs are unibody models. Apple refreshes their MBP line roughly every 12-15 months. 2009 models have the C2D/9600, mine is a mid-2010 with the i5/330M, a 2011 has the Sandy Bridge/6750, etc.
 
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Chibo said:
I've been on the Lenovo x120e for all of 2-3 hours now and whenever I put it to sleep and wake it up it BSODs on me. This is why I buy macs.
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And that's fine but to be fair there aren't any $500 new Mac laptops.
 
Because if Apple were to make a $500 laptop, it'd be absolute shit. Apple doesn't bother making absolute shit, except for their previous mice. And the first-generation Apple TV maybe. And various incarnations of the iPod shuffle. The trouble-prone water-cooled PowerMac G5s. And possibly the eMac, but I could really go either way on that. And probably some other products I'm forgetting. You get the idea.
 
heatlesssun said:
And that's fine but to be fair there aren't any $500 new Mac laptops.
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That's fine, I'm willing to pay the extra to not deal with this shit - I now get to reformat because I tried hibernating instead of sleeping and now I have a system that is stuck in an infinite boot loop.
 
the reason i use apple products is because to me they are the most consistent and more reliable than any other brand i have experianced
 
Apple products is a broad, broad term.

I don't think anyone can argue that they don't make a SOLID laptop (if not a bit on the expensive side). The desktops, displays, PMP, and all accessories are stupidly overpriced for what you get, but I think the laptops are good simply because the resale value is so high. A used MBP will probably go for like 60-75% of what you paid a year or two ago compared to 40-50% for some other machine (numbers pulled out of the arse). So that in itself makes up for the price markup.

So yeah, I don't buy apple products personally, but the laptops are always a good choice for most people*. The rest is a ripoff.

* if you're happy with the default specs or are not afraid to upgrade yourself
 
Chibo said:
That's fine, I'm willing to pay the extra to not deal with this shit - I now get to reformat because I tried hibernating instead of sleeping and now I have a system that is stuck in an infinite boot loop.
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I completely agree, I don't put up with those kinds of problems either with my Windows devices which is why I don't buy $500 Windows laptops. However I know plenty of people who spent even less than $500 for their Windows laptops and have zero issues as well.
 
Focused504 said:
the reason i use apple products is because to me they are the most consistent and more reliable than any other brand i have experianced
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Of course they are the most consistent, they make only a handful of models at a time. That's not a knock, it's obviously helps tremendously with their perception of very high quality. And I say perception because I honestly think it's impossible to objectively measure Apple's quality versus PC's. If we are specifically talking about laptops say the best you could do is compare Apple with a single PC OEM and in many surveys Apple's quality is indeed #1 or near the top. But then larger PC OEMS still offer scores more products and options at many more price points sometimes even beyond Apple's prices. But when you get into those expensive products you tend to get customer quality satisfaction that rivals Apple's.
 
OEM said:
Yes, however I think the one I bought came with a bigger battery. Mine isn't flush with the bottom of the laptop. It did, however, come with it in a sealed box. I did not buy an extended life battery for it.

Also, it is a very fast CPU/GPU to me. I can see how this is a debatable opinion, however.



Obviously on the flight I had all my wifi and junk off. Also, I used the power saving profile which by messing around with it now lowers the brightness. The flight was 12 hours but you have to remember for the first part of the flight you can't use electronics. They also served two meals both of which I ate, plus turning the laptop off about an hour before landing.

So I'll admit when I said whole flight that could be misleading, but I didn't have it on from gate to gate, I meant that with taking into account waiting until about 30 to 45 minutes after take off, plus meals, plus landing time. Sorry for the confusion.

Either way, it has an impressive battery life that rivals that of a much more expensive Apple laptop.
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There's a lot of subjective reasoning that goes into decision making. For you, that's a fast CPU/GPU. For others, it's really slow. You say that it lasted your entire flight, but that really only means the entire flight that you wanted to use it for. I watch a lot of sporting events. I use my laptop for live conversations during them. When I say that it lasts for an "entire basketball game" that actually means like 30 minutes before the game and 30 minutes after the game because of the conversations. Perceived time is often different from real time.

The best option is what works best for you. When I was a broke college student, the best computer was one that I could buy cheap parts for and overclock the crap out of. Now that I have a decent job and more disposable income, I buy what I want more than what I need.
 
heatlesssun said:
Of course they are the most consistent, they make only a handful of models at a time. That's not a knock, it's obviously helps tremendously with their perception of very high quality. And I say perception because I honestly think it's impossible to objectively measure Apple's quality versus PC's.
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It is actually very easy to make a decision if you're not afraid to take a stand.

For example, I feel very confident saying that Macbooks Pros and mid-range Lenovos are better than 99% of laptops out there. Most are garbage, or they make tradeoffs in performance, ergonomics, or battery life that do not make practical sense.

You can also step up to something like a super high-end 8740w Elitebook business laptop, but then you're talking about a $2500-$6000 notebook that is still lacking in the keyboard/trackpad department compared to Macs and Lenovos. The thing that people always harp on Macs for being is expensive, so I don't even know if I can bring those into the conversation without branding the haters as hypocrites (which most are, honestly).
 
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OEM said:
Yes, however I think the one I bought came with a bigger battery. Mine isn't flush with the bottom of the laptop. It did, however, come with it in a sealed box. I did not buy an extended life battery for it.

Also, it is a very fast CPU/GPU to me. I can see how this is a debatable opinion, however.

Obviously on the flight I had all my wifi and junk off. Also, I used the power saving profile which by messing around with it now lowers the brightness. The flight was 12 hours but you have to remember for the first part of the flight you can't use electronics. They also served two meals both of which I ate, plus turning the laptop off about an hour before landing.

So I'll admit when I said whole flight that could be misleading, but I didn't have it on from gate to gate, I meant that with taking into account waiting until about 30 to 45 minutes after take off, plus meals, plus landing time. Sorry for the confusion.

Either way, it has an impressive battery life that rivals that of a much more expensive Apple laptop.
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It is also almost 8lbs and significantly bulkier than any MBP.

What you're paying for with a MBP is fast performance, speed, great keyboard and trackpad, great LCD, very long battery life, the best travel power adapters, all in a very light and thin case. There is very little compromise there. I keep bringing up Lenovo but they seem to be the only other ones that can keep up in their mid and high range models, and those aren't cheap either.

If you want to compromise on any of those things, as that Dell clearly does in the size/weight/performance/LCD/physical interface categories, then you pay less. Get what you can afford, simple, but I don't see the point harping on people who choose to spend their cash on better machines, or if they have priorities elsewhere (ie - buying ultraslims at the expense of raw performance).
 
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He was stating that the PC OEMs' high-end products have ocustomer satisfaction which rivals Apple's. That poll states the opposite.
 
Ah. but then that poll is irrelevant actually since it's not narrowing down the poll to companies high-end products. I apologize, yet it is reasonable to infer that since Apple's rating is so high that other company's high end products would reach satisfaction levels approaching or surpassing Apple's lofty rating. But that's not exactly scientific :)
 
Style. I own two iPhones (3G and 4) and an iPad 2. I am still deciding on whether to get an iMac or build my own. I really like the look of the iMac, and would like something different than a windows box this time around.
 
phide said:
He was stating that the PC OEMs' high-end products have ocustomer satisfaction which rivals Apple's. That poll states the opposite.
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CKMorpheus said:
Where does it say that expensive brands other than Apple rival Apple's customer service?
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This poll is a bit dated, pre-dates Windows 7 and lists Gateway as the leading PC OEM in customer satisfaction. While I don't have any surveys that make the claim that more expensive machines get have higher customer satisfaction I don't think I'm being illogical or a fan boy.

phide said:
Because if Apple were to make a $500 laptop, it'd be absolute shit. Apple doesn't bother making absolute shit, except for their previous mice. And the first-generation Apple TV maybe. And various incarnations of the iPod shuffle. The trouble-prone water-cooled PowerMac G5s. And possibly the eMac, but I could really go either way on that. And probably some other products I'm forgetting. You get the idea.
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So cheap Apple machines would be of inferior quality to more expensive ones, i.e. you get what you pay for; I think this applies to more than just Apple machines wouldn't you think. This was my point and while I don't have a survey to back it up I think I was just stating a common belief.
 
There's also something else to factor in. It's fairly well known that people tend like and defend their purchase of something that had a high price tag despite evidence of it being not as quality as they claim. It comes down to the fact that people don't want to feel stupid for spending so much on something that isn't very good. I'm not at all saying that this is the case for Apple but it does make me wonder if the Apple fanboys have a little of this going on..
 
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