Tag Archives: MacBook

Apples (Mac) vs. Oranges (PC) – 5 Years Later

Leave a reply

It amazes me to think it’s been almost 5 years since I wrote a 3 part series of Apples (Mac) vs. Oranges (PC). It was in July 2006 that I finally ended the debate and bought my current Macbook Pro with a 15″ screen.

Well, it pains me to say towards the end of March I started having trouble with the computer. That’s probably an understatement, it just didn’t work. It all started with an innocent iTunes update and resulted in a trip to the Genius Bar at the local Santa Monica Apple Store. That’s where I was told the hard drive had broken down and it needed to be replaced. At that point I had a few options:

  1. Replace the hard drive at the Apple Store for approximately $150, which would have increases the hard drive to 150 GB.
  2. Replace the hard drive at MacMall for approximately $240, which would have increases the hard drive to 500 GB.
  3. Buy a new MacBook Pro!

You can probably imagine I preferred the third option, but at over $2,000, I couldn’t yet rationalize a new computer. So instead, I chose option #4, replace the hard drive myself at a cost of approximately $120, increasing the size of the hard drive to 500 GB.

This turned out to be easier than I would have expected. I bought a Seagate Momentus 500 GB 7200 RPM hard drive at Best Buy. Then, I bought a mini tool set at Radio Shack. And, with a little help from ifixit.com – a great source for step-by-step technology repair manuals – I was able to install the new hard drive. A fresh install of Mac OS/X Snow Leopard, a Time Machine restore, and things were good to go. There were a few hiccups along the way when restoring from backup, but overall they were minor.  And now my Macbook Pro is running like new. Who would have thought I would not only own a computer for 5 years without replacing it, but not even need to as it’s running as smooth as can be. Something I can’t say for previous Windows based computers I’ve owned. And with the iPad acting as a great secondary computer, I wonder how long it will be before I decide to actually buy a new computer.

Fanboys and Zealots

Leave a reply

This has become an annoying part of my web surfing experience for the past few years and it only seems to be getting worse. Why is it that a person can’t comment on a blog or article without being called names? On that same note, why is it that people can’t post basic opinions without having to go over the top with their comments? Case in point is my recent surfing related to the iPhone.

No surprise here, I love gadgets. As such, I like to read about them and test them out whenever possible. This attitude is probably going to put me in the poorhouse one day. But that’s a story for another day. During the past 2 weeks I’ve been reading zdnet.com, which is a website that provides news, reviews, and blogs related to all sorts of technology. There have been countless articles and blogs related to the iPhone, both positive and negative. In some cases, the writer of the article or blog makes good points and others are just way off base. But that’s not the worst part. It’s the people commenting on the article that prove how obnoxious people really are. If you say something good or bad about the iPhone you are instantly labeled a Microsoft or Apple Fanboy or Zealot. What is a Fanboy or Zealot you ask? Well, I had to go to one of my internet sources to find out (thanks Matt 1.0). In basic terms, it’s someone that will always promote a product by a certain company no matter how good or bad it is and will trash the other company at the same time. And that definition is being nice. Some of these people are just over the top in their opinions to the point it’s ridiculous.

Why is it that I can’t like or dislike a product without be called names like Fanboy and Zealot. How childish are we here?! Give me a break. I’m not going to shy away from the fact that I own an iPod Nano and a MacBook Pro and actually like both of them. It was after buying the Nano and getting to see first hand how smooth a user interface it has that I started thinking about buying a MacBook Pro. Are either of these products perfect? No. Do I think they are the best products to suit my needs? Yes. That is why I bought them. Does the mean I hate Microsoft and every product they make? No. News to the world. It is possible to like both Microsoft and Apple products! It’s also ok to say both positive and negative things about either one of them or to, dare I say, like one better than the other. So, to everyone that uses terms like Fanboy and Zealot for people like me that actually test products out and chooses the one they like best, get over yourself. You’re just making yourself look bad by calling people that you don’t know names.

Don’t get me into the sticks and stones speech. But, I’ll admit, these people really frustrate me.

P.S. – Sorry for asking and answering my own questions.

Flip4Mac

Leave a reply

Today I found yet another tool in my quest to use my MacBook Pro in the same manner I use my PC. Flip4Mac is a tool that allows QuickTime player to play Windows Media files, both audio and video. For the most part, this hasn’t been much of a problem as it’s not everyday I need to play audio/video files on the internet. But it didn’t take long to figure out that most web sites use the wmv format. Two specific sites that I go to consistantly are mlb.com and e-radio.gr. mlb.com has a service to listen to all baseball games on the internet for $15 per year, which I signed up for. e-radio.gr is an online music link to various Greek radio stations. So far, Flip4Mac has provided limited help. First of all, it doesn’t work on mlb.com, which causes me to use my other computer to listen to games. As for e-radio.gr, it works on some of stations, but not all. I’ll take it for now until I find a better option. Hopefully a better solution will surface soon since Microsoft recently decided to no longer support Windows Media Player for Macs. Until then, I’ll continue to switch between PC and Mac.

Firefox for Mac

1 Reply

I’ve had my Apple MacBook Pro for about 3 weeks now and still have no regrets. Actually, I’ve enjoyed working through the many “kinks” that come with owning a new computer and, in this case, a new operating system. Some of you might remember some of the positives and negatives I wrote about 2 weeks ago. One item I didn’t write about and didn’t know the extent of was Safari, which is the Mac web browser that comes with OS X. Safari is known for being compliant with all web standards and is a pleasure to use. Internet Explorer isn’t compliant with all web standards. However, with IE having a stranglehold on the internet most web sites are developed to support IE. In most cases, this isn’t a problem. However, I did notice the tool bar which includes bold, italics, bullets, etc which are located in the Write page of my blog wasn’t there. Research on the WordPress web site helped me determine that this is a known glitch. Today I did some additional research and found that there is a FireFox for Mac. I downloaded the application, installed it (which is extremely easy on a Mac), and went to the Write page on my blog. Wouldn’t you know it, there’s the tool bar.

This isn’t the first time I’ve used FireFox. A little over a year ago I installed FireFox on my other computer running on Windows XP. From what I remember, a lot of the functionality included in FireFox is similar to Safari, including tabbed browsing. If you’re not familiar with tabbed browsing, this is a function that allows you to open new web pages in the same window, called a tab. I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with IE opening window after window every time a link requested a new window to open. Tabbed browsing allows for a cleaner desktop experience. This is something I hear Windows Vista is going to include when it is sold sometime next year. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Microsoft is behind the times. Well, maybe I am.

Apples (Mac) vs. Oranges (PC) Part III

1 Reply

Well, about a week ago I received my new Apple MacBook Pro in the mail. And, after a week, all I can say is WOW! The specs for my new computer include 2.16 Ghz. Intel Core Duo processor, 1 Gb. RAM, 120 Gb. hard drive, and the glossy widescreen display. Apple has made purchasing a computer as easy as possible. Once you select the computer you want there are 3 options for upgrade which include RAM, hard drive space, and the display. Some of the positives include:
1. Good looks. Well, it has me beat there. At 1″ think, it’s much thinner than my brothers new 15″ Dell E1505.
2. Quick startup and shutdown time. The system is up and running within seconds (less then 15 seconds), putting it to sleep and waking it up takes less time (less than 5 seconds), and shutting down takes less time than system start up. These are all better times than my previous PC.
3. Calendar, Mail, Address Book are smooth. They are easily comparable to, if not better than, Outlook. This is a big plus as Outlook would cost extra for a Windows computer. Add the fact that earlier today I was able to sync my Motorola cell phone within a minute using the bluetooth functionality. Of note, getting address book info from Outlook to Apple Address Book isn’t easy. By that, I mean, I had to enter them all in again. That wasn’t fun.
4. iPhoto. This tool has been great. Nothing that comes with Microsoft comes even close. I used Macromedia Fireworks on my previous computer and think iPhoto is much more user friendly for someone like me. It should be noted that Fireworks is tailored more for web design. Either way, I’m happy with iPhoto.
5. Dashboard. The Dashboard includes a group of mini applications called Widgets that sit on the desktop. Applications include a Calendar, Clock, Weather Stations, Stock Tracker, and Language Translater (which translates Greek flawlessly). The Apple website includes other Widgets for download.

Now, there are a few glitches that I’m trying to work through.
1. iChat. As good a tool as iChat is, it doesn’t work with MSN Messenger or Yahoo Messenger Id’s. After doing some research I found a version of Yahoo Messenger for Apple OS X and it works great. It also works with the iSight camera.
2. iWeb. This is a great tool for non-techies to create and manage a web site including photo albums, blogs, and podcasts on the .Mac site. However, for someone that owns their own domain name, a lot of the functionality doesn’t transfer over making it useless for me.
3. Office / Quicken. I haven’t started using Office for Mac (trial version) or purchased Quicken for Mac, so I have no basis for comparing them to the PC versions. Lucky for me I still have a working PC that I’ve used about once per week to catch up on my finances. I haven’t really need Word or Excel. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Overall, I have no regrets purchasing an Apple MacBook. It’s a great computer that I would recommend to anyone looking for a top of the line laptop with great features not found in their Windows counterparts.

Apples (Mac) vs. Oranges (PC) Part II

Leave a reply

During the past week I’ve spent a lot of time researching Apple computers and what they have to offer. It’s amazing how some Windows PC users will trash Apple computers in any way possible. Most of the time I don’t think these people have ever had one. The one comment you’ll always see is the price factor, which I showed last week is true, but not to the extent people make it out to be. During my research I found these cool little tools called widgets, which are small applications that sit on your Dashboard (desktop). These small applications come in all forms including weather stations, language translater (including Greek), and stock tracker. Check out this link to see what types of widgets are out there –> http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/dashboard/.

Below is a comparison of 17″ laptops from Apple, Dell, and Sony. The idea of getting a 17″ laptop is still there, but the fact is 17″ laptops are harder to carry arround when travelling.

Computer Specs 17

Interesting note on the Dell laptop. This past Monday I priced out a 17″ Dell E1705 for $2532. Less than a week later the cost dropped considerably. Paying over $800 for an Apple compared to a Dell is too much for my blood. I’ll stick to the 15″ MacBook Pro.

Apples (Mac) vs. Oranges (PC)

4 Replies

During the past year or so my laptop has been acting up. I bought the laptop about 3 years ago. It’s a Toshiba Satellite 15″ with Windows XP Pro. and has worked without too many complaints other than the fan, which is very loud. You only need to use the laptop for 5-10 minutes to figure out how annoying a loud fan is. With this in mind, I’ve been debating on buying a new laptop… maybe even an Apple! I’m very intrigued by Apple and their “ease of use” claim, especially since I bought an iPod which was much slicker to use than the previous iRiver MP3 player I had. The one glitch is all the people out there that claim Apple computers are extraordinarily expensive compared to a PC. Rather than listening to everyone else, I’ve decided to compare the cost of 2 Windows based laptops and one Tiger (that’s the Apple OS for those of you that don’t know).

To start, there has to be a baseline to compare against. I decided to take the components of an Apple MacBook Pro 15″ and price out a similar computer with Dell and Sony, two well known computer manufactures.

Note 1 — A remote control is not an option with Windows XP Professional. However, I did add $29 to the total cost of the Dell in order to get the best comparision. The $29 cost is equal to what is available with a Dell with Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Note 2 — Upgraded memory on the Apple to 1 GB to equal the Dell, however, the Apple memory components run at a higher megahertz.

Note 3 — Upgraded hard drive space on the Apple to equal the Dell.

After analyzing the information, there are a few things that stick out to me. First of all, the Apple has faster memory, a better graphics card, an iSight camera built in, and is half a pound lighter than the Dell and Sony computers. The Dell has a faster DVD Burner and 5-in-1 card reader. Cost is where there is a big difference. The Dell laptop costs $477 less than the Apple.

Those of you that have met me know I’m horrible at making decisions. Lucky for me I don’t have to make a decision today, which I won’t. If I were only interested in cost, I would obviously go for the Dell. But the Apple has a few components that would otherwise close the gap considerably between the Apple and Dell/Sony.

Since I’m not stuck on getting a 15″ laptop, during the next few weeks I’ll take some time to compare 17″ laptops.