Need help buying a laptop

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by bialio

I just went through the same kind of excersize with my wife - ended up getting a refurb Macbook from Apple - was $850, but you can't beat the battery life (10 hours? what?) and the fit and finish of the unibody.

I promptly installed Win 7 on it when it got here

btl.

What's the point of buying a Mac if all you're going to do is run Windows on it?

[bialio]

I'm paying for the hardware. There isn't a laptop that matches the fit / finish / performance of the Macbook line. In my opinion at least.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by bialio

I'm paying for the hardware. There isn't a laptop that matches the fit / finish / performance of the Macbook line. In my opinion at least.

But is that really worth the quirky incompatibilities with the hardware like what was mentioned about the touchpad?

Then maybe I am a bit biased toward MacOS. I would absolutely love a 13" MBP but finances just won't support that. As it stands I have to make due with a 15" PowerBook G4 that I got for free from a friend. It's no speed demon but quite a bit faster than the P2 333 that it replaced as my only laptop.

[stanger89]

OK, so here's a noob question Is bootcamp simply a workaround for the fact that Macs don't have a BIOS, that they use EFI? Can't Windows 7 be installed directly on an EFI machine?

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by stanger89

OK, so here's a noob question Is bootcamp simply a workaround for the fact that Macs don't have a BIOS, that they use EFI? Can't Windows 7 be installed directly on an EFI machine?

Only 64-bit Windows 7. Not sure about installing on an Intel Mac though. I don't know that Apple's EFI is compatible with Windows 7.

[stanger89]

Yeah, I was just curious because I know my Intel DX58SO board in my desktop has an option to boot UEFI, haven't tried it though.

[bcjenkins]

Although I haven't tried it, you could likely boot straight from a DVD of Win7 but I think there is value in keeping a small OS X partition as you will want to be able to apply firmware updates at a minimum. I currently have a Boot Camp Win7 64 bit and OS X. I very rarely access the Win7 from a straight boot though and use Fusion instead.

B

[Fuzzy]

If the options are looking like either the Macbook air, or the Dell Vostro V13, with them being only .5 lbs different, I think I'd definately go for the vostro. Yes, the build quality on the air is VERY nice. However, It just seems entirely too limited. Pretty much the only expansion capability you have would be the single USB jack, and a DisplayPort. The Vostro gives you not only 2 USB ports, VGA, but also a memory card reader, eSATA port, ExpressCard, and internal miniPCIe. Oh.. and the trackpad has real buttons...

did I mention the Air costs more than twice the dell? Talk her down from the Air and you could buy youself a new laptop as well.

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

did I mention the Air costs more than twice the dell? Talk her down from the Air and you could buy youself a new laptop as well.

Air I thought he was looking at the macbook pro not the air....I would take the pro over the air even though it is bigger.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by PLUCKYHD

Air I thought he was looking at the macbook pro not the air....I would take the pro over the air even though it is bigger.

No, his wife liked the MacBook Air the best of all she looked at, which of course, makes it the standard for comparison... And yes, I too, if I had to chosoe between them, would take the pro over the air.. of course, depending on fittings, I think you could get 3 dells for the price of the pro.. or upgrade your dell to the new thing every year and a half...

[bcjenkins]

Whatever you do, don't show her this.

B

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

I would go with that Vostro V13 for the wife and girlfriend, ....

Make sure you get a different laptop for each so you don't confuse the two. You probably want to give the lighter one to the wife so when she finds out about the girlfriend and throws it at you it won't hurt so much.

[valnar]

I like my Thinkpad X201 that I have for work. I tend to like smaller laptops because I have a desktop there too.

That being said, smaller laptops heighten my pet peeve about screen AR. I have a huge aversion to 16:9 screens. If you can, get her something with 16:10, especially if it's a smaller laptop. Everything these days has toolbars, ribbons, etc taking up all that vertical space.

[evilpenguin]

I've had my eye on the Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 which just went on sale for $999

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/218168

[ybrew]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

Whatever you do, don't show her this.

B

$410 to pain an ipad?

I'll go buy a can of spray paint instead.

[bcjenkins]

You'd be surprised what people buy. I know someone who bought a MacBook Air but had it painted purple. She was very delighted with it.

To each his/her own.

B

[Fuzzy]

Ive got nothing against someone painting their laptop... its the $400+ that is a little rediculous... im in the wrong business...

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by stanger89

OK, so here's a noob question Is bootcamp simply a workaround for the fact that Macs don't have a BIOS, that they use EFI? Can't Windows 7 be installed directly on an EFI machine?

Here's some testing info for anyone who is interested:

1) Ubuntu 10.4 installs great and boots without issue. There are some drivers which need to be updated/added for certain functions to work. These are well documented on the Ubuntu wiki site. Re: Usage the track pad and external mouse was too sensitive. Additionally, the magic mouse required a kernel upgrade past 2.6.33 (10.4 ships with 2.6.32) to be included.

2) OpenSUSE 11.3 - Seemingly installed correctly, however the machine did not boot on the first boot. No further troubleshooting attempted.

3) Windows7 64-bit - During the installation I deleted all hard drive partitions and allowed Windows to repartition the drive. Everything installed correctly, drivers installed via 10.6 bootcamp driver disc then updated via Apple Software Update in Windows. There is no longer a Mac OS X partition on the laptop. My only "complaint" is that the machine seems to boot slowly. I am assuming it is timing out looking for the OS X partition then boots "Windows"

For me, I am interested in moving away from OS X / Mac hardware to get something smaller (17" MBP) and with blu-ray which runs Linux well. I figured I would try Linux on the laptop, but the mouse movement issues were too problematic.

HIH

B

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

For me, I am interested in moving away from OS X / Mac hardware to get something smaller (17" MBP) and with blu-ray which runs Linux well. I figured I would try Linux on the laptop, but the mouse movement issues were too problematic.

HIH

B

Making a plug for System76 here. I have a buddy who just got one and it is a very nice piece of hardware. Only complaint is that Linux seems to not be as friendly to batteries as OS X and Windows 7.

[vexhold]

If she wants a purse laptop, there is this too.

http://laptops.toshiba.com/laptops/libretto/W100

Its an odd duck but a possibility.