Is it worth buying a macbook?

[desiibond]

I saw both tne macbook and mpb side by side yesterday,their display seems to be same.The only downside with the mb is the white plastic body,it looks kind a gayish.Is it really worth paying 10k more?

yes.

I think you should also take a look at Thinkpad T410. Thinkpads are known for rock solid stability and terrific build quality. I am using T61 (office) and it's extremely stable (win7). no crashes and no freezes at all. T410 is a on a whole new level with faster hardware and better build.

Lenovo - Laptop Computers - ThinkPad - Business Laptops - T Series Notebooks - features

Other good models are from Dell (vostro and Latitude). These business laptops are designed with stability in mind. They may not generate fps or benchmarks like Studio or HP DV series but are superb workhorses.

 

[Gannu]

I saw both tne macbook and mpb side by side yesterday,their display seems to be same.The only downside with the mb is the white plastic body,it looks kind a gayish.Is it really worth paying 10k more?

Oh wow! Now that's a first time I'm hearing white looks gay. :lol:

Dude you certainly don't deserve a Mac!

 

[khanvis2009]

is there a big diff in pricing if u pick up a macbookpro 13.3" 2.66 version from here and if u pick one from the US . at both places u get a student discount i think . does anybody know the difference in pricing ?

 

[stalker]

Oh wow! Now that's a first time I'm hearing white looks gay. :lol:

Dude you certainly don't deserve a Mac!

actually, I agree.

Have you personally seen the regular MB? It looks like shit. or even worse actually.

 

[Gannu]

^Just saw one yesterday at Croma alongside the 13" MBP. Glossy white it is and pretty OK. Although it may never match the looks of the unibody Alu build of the MBP but certainly doesn't look gay.

Pink and cyan Zen Estilos look gay to me. Not white, least of all. Oh well, that's me and I can see that the OP is still confused lol.

 

[motorheadinc]

^^^ I said end up as non functional. I am not really confident on Macbook's survival when put to rough use

Correct me if I am wrong.

Did not say MacBook PRO

Very wrong

The Al unibody is brilliantly built. Makes for a great student laptop actually. minus the shitty pricing

Stalky yaar, I am not talking about the MBP's aluminium one. Polycarbonate unibody enclosure on "Standard" Macbook is not as sturdy as the Aluminium one. Right.

Also the OP found it to be Gay as per his taste. So its anyway out of the question now.

^Just saw one yesterday at Croma alongside the 13" MBP. Glossy white it is and pretty OK. Although it may never match the looks of the unibody Alu build of the MBP but certainly doesn't look gay.

Pink and cyan Zen Estilos look gay to me. Not white, least of all. Oh well, that's me and I can see that the OP is still confused lol.

To be honest ANY Zen Estilo looks gay to me. Pink and Cyan more so :tongue:

 

[nitant]

I will answer this in a very simple way based on life experiences.

I just graduated from my MBA college, where everybody had laptops. Over my 5Yrs there (Dual-Degree Program), I have seen many Dells, HP's, Toshibas, Compaqs, Acer's(the worst) die within 1.5Yrs. Very very few laptops managed to run decently(battery, HDD excused as they tend to die faster) after 3 Yrs. Out of these very few laptops were 3 MacBooks (standard plastic body).

At the end of the course, these 3 Macbooks were the only laptops not to be replaced/repaired yet. They ran the same way they ran when they were bought. All 3 were just as fast after 5Yrs as the day they were bought.

My Dell died in 1.5 yrs and was replaced by a MSI Wind. My cost at the end of 5 Yrs 60K-5K (Dell) and 25K (Wind). Total cost 80K and the MSI Wind is slower, crappier and starting to show signs of wear already, unlike the Macbooks which on an average cost 60K to the purchasers.

That is all I have to say. Rest I leave to the OP to decide.

Oh and regarding the Alu vs Plastic Debate. Alu looks much much better, but if you drop it, gets dented and looks far far worse than a bit of chipped plastic. Also the Black Glass on top of the display, will be one of the first things to break if dropped. Plastic ones, as far as I have seen, are tougher and stronger, but dont look great once the shinyness gets scratched.

 

[red dragon]

^^Thanks a lot mate,that is what I really need (my experience is very similar to you,have seen hp,dell,toshiba all died premature death).White,pink,purple or whatever is ok with me,just no more screw ups.

 

[motorheadinc]

Problem Solved. The OP has his answer. Btw I would not say that my experience with Dell Laptops was totally trouble free. In my 3 years +with Latitudes, I have availed the NBD service 3-4 times but mostly because I wasnt satisfied with the thing such as battery not lasting full 2.5 hrs, some overheating and all. My Latitudes have never crashed or died on me. The laptop was fixed next day and my down time was practically nil. My friend's Macbook pro too had battery efficiency problem and it too was replaced quickly. The only difference was that I got service on site while he had to travel from Bath to Bristol twice to get the battery replaced.

Frankly you take more care of Macbooks i.e. most users use it single handedly while other laptops can be used by multiple people. So it all rests up to you.

 

[red dragon]

There is not even remote possibility o`onsite warranty to the places I have to travel these days,small villages in Bihar,UP and north eastern states.

 

[motorheadinc]

^^^ Have you checked on the same with Dell??? Just call them on the toll free number and say that you already own a vostro/latitude and wanted to ask about the on site warranty. Is it really available all over India. If they ask for service tag tell that you dont have the laptop with you right now . Call them on 1800- 425- 4026 (Toll Free) or Call 080-2506-8026 (charged). I would suggest you to enquire before you buy. If you ask it this way then they wont say maybe (which any seller would, in case you say that your buying decision rests on this answer). Ask them to answer in yes/no.

Also dell doesnt keep service engineers located in "all cities" in India. The way NBD warranty works is that they dispatch the parts (if needed) to the engineer in a major city in that area via bluedart and then the guy "travels" to you and fixes your laptop. Dell Doesnt have Service centres so even this way they save on establishment costs

Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Dell apart from as a customer. All that I know is based on my experience and a couple of assignments I did during the course of my studies

 

[khanvis2009]

i have a dell inspiron with 3yrs complete cover .. if i ever get bored with it i will throw it out of the window ... dell claims they will replace it with a new version whichever is available at that time ... now thats the only reason i chose dell . lol ..

dont know if apple would do that . service is alll that matters cause even that macbook could fail on u if ur unlucky .

 

[red dragon]

All o` you got valid points.I do not really know what to do now.Some older people are using Panasonic toughbook,how is it?

 

[agantuk]

Can't comment on the Mac since I have never used, for that matter, even seen ( ) one till date, however from the rest of the lot, I would recommend Toshiba for its sturdiness. They must be made of rock, don't look great, but have a really long life.

 

[motorheadinc]

Its tough. But again you lose on the warranty front if you need to avail the same. Did you try calling on the Toll free number? If its not working today then give it a try tomoro in office hours. I am quite hopeful that they will entertain warranty in remote places as well given their business model.

 

[nitant]

See Dell is amazing in warranty. I mean brilliant. Nothing even comes close, but the decision you have to make is

1) How long do I want to keep the laptop for - 1yr - Netbook --or-- 1-3Yrs - Dell with complete cover --or-- 3Yrs+ - MacBook

2) How roughly is my laptop going to be used - Decently - Macbook --or-- Rough - Dell with 3 year complete cover with accident insurance.

3) What is my priority - Looks, Battery Life, Long Life - MacBook --or-- Price, Accident Proof - Dell

In the end, I have always had awesome experiences with Apple Machines, but that is not a 100% guarantee that you will have a trouble free life. 99% yes it will be awesome, but 1% risk is there with everything. Dell as I mentioned before if you do want to buy, ensure you get the 3Yr Complete Cover. This will proof your laptop(not battery) for 3 Full years, but after that who knows.

MacBooks generally tend to last longer and perform better. I know sooo many people who have yet to restart their Macbooks. They just close the lid and forget about it. Thats what Macs are like generally. Hassle-Free computing, with great life spans.

For proof check eBay.com. There are soooo many people selling working G3 iMacs, which came out 10 Years back, but still will run Tiger.

 

[Gannu]

All o` you got valid points.I do not really know what to do now.Some older people are using Panasonic toughbook,how is it?

Toughbooks are pretty good. I think Panasonic demonstrated one by immersing it on water or something IIRC. But is your laptop intended to be treated so badly during your grad course? I'd still suggest you the Mac or the basic MB. It can easily take some amount of abuse and by abuse I don't mean some drop testing or testing for compressive strength. And most of us do take good care of our belongings particularly something as delicate as a laptop. So this should be a least worry for you.

nitant has perfectly summed up his experience. Dell + 3 yr CC makes it a sweet experience as well so choose your gear wisely.

Just curious but are you aware what the Dell CC (aka the Complete Cover) is capable of?

 

[agantuk]

Just curious but are you aware what the Dell CC (aka the Complete Cover) is capable of?

In simple terms, it is like a Nitro boost for your outdated laptop, which allows you to inflict total irreversible damage on your laptop, to get a more capable replacement

 

[red dragon]

Toughbooks are pretty good. I think Panasonic demonstrated one by immersing it on water or something IIRC. But is your laptop intended to be treated so badly during your grad course? I'd still suggest you the Mac or the basic MB. It can easily take some amount of abuse and by abuse I don't mean some drop testing or testing for compressive strength. And most of us do take good care of our belongings particularly something as delicate as a laptop. So this should be a least worry for you.

nitant has perfectly summed up his experience. Dell + 3 yr CC makes it a sweet experience as well so choose your gear wisely.

Just curious but are you aware what the Dell CC (aka the Complete Cover) is capable of?

No,i am not aware o`the dell CC`s capability,but I dont doubt it either.I had a vostro prior to this shitty HP and it served me throughout my grad and post grad years in medical school(eventually the hard drive died and I did not bother to change it).

 

[Gannu]

^Well, with a CC package, you can get almost every other component (except the battery of course - the battery has a 1 year standard warranty which cannot be extended with the CC) of your Dell laptop replaced if it goes kaput within the 3 year of the CC agreement.