Laptop Suggestions

[Pastor Keith]

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

Accept you'll never be able to walk into you average store and actually buy software for it. And the software available for downloading is literally 100 times greater on the PC side (or more).

And while you have owned more laptops then me, I also have owned a couple including a CURRENT MacBook -and built my last 5 desktop PC's. I've started with DOS and moved to Windows 3.1 and 3.11 (learning ALL about the autoexec.bat and config.sys as well as the original win.ini and boot.ini files), then went to Windows 95, 98, 98SE, XP Pro (skipped over Windows ME), and Vista. Oh yes, also have used Linux.
ALL the current OS's are stable, but whenever I use OS X I get the feeling that I am chained to whatever Steve Jobs thinks is best for me. And the price for software in a typical Apple store is horrible!

I used to feel the same, but the stuff that i need is available for OS X. I still have a PC but I feel Mac is a better deal right now.

[Praxeas]

If I were to take the same amount of money spent on a MAC I can get a pretty fast PC. The main difference is the OS.

And now more than ever since Macs are based on Intels...that might be one reason for them being less expensive than before

[Twisp]

I bought an Acer Aspire One about 4 months ago. It has been a great little machine for me. It comes down to your needs and what you will be doing with it. I wanted a robust laptop that I could take anywhere with me, and the Acer meets that. It does not have an optical drive, however, I have not missed it. It does have two flash memory readers to make up for it. Everyone that sees it thinks it is a toy until they use it. Then they want it.
CNET Review
As for Mac versus Windows, I built my PC and have a Mac Mini sitting next to it. The Mac OS is not inherently more stable than XP. Neither of mine have crashed in months. I have had crashed on both, just not frequently. If you know what kind of software you are putting on Windows, and if you know what you are doing, it will remain just as stable as the Mac OS. That being said, I am currently using Ubuntu 8.04 on my PC (2 weeks going strong), and it is far better than either XP or the Mac. You can add all of the pretty features that the Mac has, yet keep all of the openness that the PC has. For me, it is the best of both worlds.

[Timmy]

[mfblume]

MAKE SURE YOU GET EXTENDED WARRANTY ON ANY LAPTOP.

I bought one about 6 -7 years ago (and STILL USE IT!) and bought the extended warranty, and replaced the screen TWICE for free! The SCREENS alone cost the bulk of the laptop (my screen was $1200)! Laptops can be very delicate, unless you get the TOUGHBOOK.