Strange Photon's picture
Strange Photon from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyrics August 20, 2013 - 7:46am

Looking to get a new laptop.

I currently have a 15.6" Samsung Series 3, with and i3 processor and 4gb of RAM and 500gb hard drive. I write, surf the net, stream LOTS of shows and movies, play a lot of music, and occasionally play games (but am looking to play more). I take it to school with me most every day I have classes, so portability and wireless connectivity are vital.

What do you use, how do you feel about it, how much did it cost, would you buy it again and if not, what would you have rather purchased?

Sofia's picture
Sofia from London, UK is reading everything August 20, 2013 - 10:15am

Surface RT. Not that happy with it--the fuzzy keyboard is horrible (I bought a wirelrss fullsize keyboard and that's better). Sound system: not good. I don't play games, but with bad sound, it can't be great. Wireless connectivity: pretty good. It's very portable, and comes with Office installed, which was an added value. I don't think I could go back to a non-touch screen. If I had to do it again, I'd spend more and get one of those machines that switch between tablet and PC by rotating or foipping the screen, even if I had to buy Office separately.

Strange Photon's picture
Strange Photon from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyrics August 20, 2013 - 10:35am

Sofia, you're the first person I've heard from who has ever said they prefer the touch screen to traditional format. What makes it such a positive factor for you?

Tim Johnson's picture
Tim Johnson from Rockville, MD is reading Notes From a Necrophobe by T.C. Armstrong August 20, 2013 - 11:59am

I have a 15-in. Macbook Pro. It was very expensive, but I got about 25% off through education discounts and rebates. I've developed a lot of love for iMacs and Macbooks over the past few years. Would I buy it again? Yes, probably. They are expensive, but the cost differential isn't as great as most people think. The rest is worth it because I really enjoy using it, and for the time I spend in front of it, I want something that I'm going to enjoy using.

Strange Photon's picture
Strange Photon from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyrics August 20, 2013 - 6:06pm

I've always wanted a Mac, mainly for the cool factor. My entire family have Macs, except me. I'm a PC loser. When you say the price differential isn't as big as one might think, just how not big do you mean?

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updated August 21, 2013 - 5:12am

My main computer is my desktop, but I'm currently using an older Dell (1.1 GHz processor, 1.5 gig ram, 60 gig hard drive) for travel. I like it, but I just watch some Netflix and check my email on it. I bought it (and a few nice computers for work) at Laptop Xchange. If you are shopping online, or if you are going some place with one I strongly suggest taking a look.

http://www.laptopxchange.com/ 

Tim Johnson's picture
Tim Johnson from Rockville, MD is reading Notes From a Necrophobe by T.C. Armstrong August 21, 2013 - 7:12am

@Strange, depending on what you're looking at, the actual cost-to-own differential is somewhere around a couple hundred bucks. If you're looking to play games on it, though, PC is the way to go for sure. Although, you can install Windows on a Mac. The only reason you'd do that, though, is to play Windows-based games, as most consumer software these days run on both platforms. And that would be silly.

There are a lot of awesome PC products out there at much more affordable up-front costs. The "cool factor" of owning a Mac is nothing. There's a lot of PC tech that is awesome. It all really depends on your needs and what's important to you.

Andrea Guldin's picture
Andrea Guldin from Northern British Columbia, Canada is reading Blood, Bones & Butter August 23, 2013 - 7:16pm

My brother and his wife each just bought a new computer.  My brother, a mac, his wife, a Samsung.  When they have work to do, they will often start up their computers side by side, and my brother will have started his, gone in, opened the programs he needed to, edited the work, closed the program and emailed the file to his wife, all while her Microsoft still had the blue loading screen on it.  For me, that alone is worth the price difference between the mac and the other guys.  Also, they can plug in the macbook pro into any printer and don't need to download a driver before being able to print.

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updated August 23, 2013 - 10:11pm

I've literally never had an Apple product work, at all in anyway for me.

Linda's picture
Linda from Sweden is reading Fearful Symmetries August 24, 2013 - 3:14am

I have a Macbook Pro and no complaints. Suspect a non-Pro would have been enough if I didn't use a lot of editing software. If you're interested in gaming though, get a PC. Granted, and like Tim said, you can install CrossOver or dig around for native mac games, but even though my computer was pretty badass when it was new, few games would run smoothly. I realize now that that might've come off as a complaint, but I had been warned.  

Strange Photon's picture
Strange Photon from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyrics August 24, 2013 - 4:46am

I actually just bought an Asus PC laptop with incredibly specs, so I'm pretty happy that I took the time to really look around. I still want a high-end Mac one day, but as far as I'm concerned, they're overpriced even though if I could afford one I'd get it. 

Really wish I had gone into the tech field. I had to teach myself what specs mean and what a good computer has, but beyond that, I am a tech idiot.

Tim Johnson's picture
Tim Johnson from Rockville, MD is reading Notes From a Necrophobe by T.C. Armstrong August 26, 2013 - 6:39pm

I've literally never had an Apple product work, at all in anyway for me.

Despite Apple marketing claims, they're not actually magic, Dwayne.

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updated August 27, 2013 - 5:50am

Yes, I get that. But with even most unreliable things they tend to work most of the time, but don't work right often enough I don't want to bother with them. With Apple I mean I've never had one work for me, once, ever. When I try nothing I intended or expected happens. When one is already one it won't work.The iPod wouldn't turn on, the Macbook wouldn't get on the web, the iWhatevertheycallthedesktops would only display a large gray screen or turn off, the iPad acted sluggish (apps didn't wouldn't load or didn't work once they did), one iPhone wouldn't come on, and the other two iPhones wouldn't make calls. And they don't seem to have a great record with people using them when I'm around. I'm assuming that other have had a somewhat better run of luck with them, but you'll never convince me to buy one.

Tim Johnson's picture
Tim Johnson from Rockville, MD is reading Notes From a Necrophobe by T.C. Armstrong August 27, 2013 - 6:26am

And they don't seem to have a great record with people using them when I'm around.

You should check if your body is emitting an electromagnetic field or something. All that is super weird. Do you have problems with non-Apple devices?

I don't like to taut Apple devices online because people tend to take that to an extreme and label me an Apple fanatic (which I'm not), but I've never had any hardware or software problems with any Apple device I've owned. I'm not saying they're the greatest or perfect at all, but I do find your experiences super strange. Generally, they work, just like any other device.

One thing is for sure: You're not invited to my house. :-P

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updated August 27, 2013 - 3:20pm

No more than anyone else, just Apple.