[Jmmmmm]

Sorry for the double post, but I gotta help my falling post per day count..

About the difference between the 1.83 and the 2.0, I would almost recommend the 1.83 over the 2.0. I think either will be plenty fast enough, and once you start getting into the higher clock ranges, you start getting more heat produced and more power consumption (and thus, shorter battery life). I have the pentium M 2.0ghz, but I'm sure 1.83 would have been fine. I'm sure you can find benchmarks somewhere, but I don't know how that translates into real life.

I really like macs, but I think it's more for the novelty than for actual use. I was originally excited about this macbook pro, but I would not get one right now. They get really hot, will probably be more prone to viruses now that they're using intel processors, and they still have just one mouse button. I might be able to forget about the first two problems if they had a regular mouse, but for some reason they won't fix that.

 

[MD1032]

OK, well, you have me convinced. But I'm still having second thoughts about getting a fancy laptop due to the comment Venio made. Really, I'm starting to wonder whether it would be better to wait this one out. What do you guys think about that? I could probably find an el cheapo laptop to use in the meantime.

 

[vagarach]

Venio is very much correct. Luckily it will be a speed increase in addition to some rather technical advances (such as virtualisation & 64bit registers).

Virtualisation is useful for example in running OS's inside of OS's. I doubt you'll need this. 64 bit, however is the future of processors. If the Conroe desktop chip is any indication then waiting will gain maybe 20% in speed increases.

The technology waiting game is never an easy one. Manufacturers say September and things get delayed and so on. I remember waiting as late as possible in summer 2004 to buy a motherboard with this new-fangled pci express thing. Of course, that plan failed horribly, and I had (going off to uni) to buy a completely legacy based pc. It was very cheap and very fast, but was based entirely on old tech.

The major bus change, the move to pci express, has already occurred. The move to dual core is coming along very nicely. The last area I consider significant is 64 bit addressing, but not for now, rather for when programs/OS's/games get large enough to require more than 4GB of RAM. Tom's Hardware reckons that microsoft will be shipping the 64 bit Office in 2007. So its a future-proofing thing. When AMD first released 64 bit chips, its major play was future-proofing, and well its seems it still is from a consumer (not gamer) point of view. Having 64bit will be important when all your programs and OS are built for 64 bit, but right now it isn't.

So, I apologise for my rambling, but looking at where the industry is in comparison to the long term is frustrating. The darn companies never deliver on time.

If you can, wait till its pci express, dual core, has 64 bits, and comes with a kitchen sink. Then buy.

 

[MD1032]

I just figured I'd post back here to let you know I ended up buying one through the college, and trust me, it's a way better deal than I could have gotten offline:

http://www.bookstore.vt.edu/ePOS?thi...html&design=vt

That price includes the 3-year complete protection like it lists. Quite a good deal, and if I ever have any problems, I can go to VT tech support to get a replacement, no dealing with the company directly.

 

[dwin902]

I'll throw my hat in the ring for a Mac as well (MacBook or MacBook Pro). They're at least as well-built as the Thinkpads, and you have the stability and user-friendliness of OS X, all the iLife apps, and a much more aesthetically pleasing construction (I think); they aren't any more expensive than the Thinkpads either.

 

[Oistrakh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwin902 they aren't any more expensive than the Thinkpads either.

Macs are A LOT more expensive than thinkpads... The cheapest thinkpad costs 600 bucks, the cheapest macs cost around a thousand... Also the higher end macs are more expensive than higher end thinkpads

but the original poster is already leaning towards thinkpads

Also thinkpads have a GREAT keyboard, have used one myself...

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oistrakh Macs are A LOT more expensive than thinkpads... The cheapest thinkpad costs 600 bucks, the cheapest macs cost around a thousand... Also the higher end macs are more expensive than higher end thinkpads

That's not really true. When people talk about ThinkPad quality, they're usually talking about the X series and T series. The X and T series are pretty expensive as far as laptops go. Both are more expensive than the MacBook series, and the T series is comparable in price with the MacBook Pro, depending on options. Remember that only the higher-end T series configurations come with a dedicated GPU. (The most expensive T series used to be a lot more than the MacBook Pro, but from what I can tell, Lenovo has discontinued the ICT dual-transistor display as an option.)

Also, the $600 R-series ThinkPad is pretty old with an outdated graphics chipset. You have to move up the the R60 to get even the Intel 950 graphics chipset, and that machine is also more expensive than the MacBook.

ThinkPads are expensive, but you pay for quality.

Quote:

Also thinkpads have a GREAT keyboard, have used one myself...

ThinkPads do have the best keyboards. If a person doesn't want a Mac, ThinkPads are by far the best choice.

 

[MD1032]

I might've considered the mac if it had more than one mouse button. What's the point in being able to wipe it and install Windows if it's only going to have one button anyway?

Anyway, I'll be getting my laptop on Thursday or Friday when I'm down for orientation. Should be nice, now I just need to find a bag for it, which should be easy also.

 

[Oistrakh]

Also, another question....

Nearly all of my PCs have like crashed and gotten an awful lot of spyware, adware, viruses etc which destroyed my hard drive (I had a thread on this)... Since I like used norton and ad-aware occasionally but that didn't help

Do macs have less spyware, adware, worms, viruses than macs or are they harder to get on your computer on macs?

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oistrakh Also, another question.... Nearly all of my PCs have like crashed and gotten an awful lot of spyware, adware, viruses etc which destroyed my hard drive (I had a thread on this)... Since I like used norton and ad-aware occasionally but that didn't help

As long as you're running XP Service Pack 2 with Norton and using Firefox to browse the web, you shouldn't have that much trouble keeping a PC clean of spyware and viruses. Everyone has different experiences, but the SP2+Firefox combo is generally fairly solid.

If you're not using XP SP2 for some reason, you need a good firewall or life on Windows tends to be unpleasant.

Quote:

Do macs have less spyware, adware, worms, viruses than macs or are they harder to get on your computer on macs?

There are no known spyware/malware/viruses circulating in the wild for Macs. None. Shipley's $500 bounty for finding evidence of malware went unclaimed, the 2006 Hack My Mac contest passed with no exploits, the current $2,500 bounty for finding evidence of circulating malware is still unclaimed, etc. There are a couple trojan horse proof of concepts that people have made, but none are circulating in the wild. Most Mac users do not run virus checkers, because all they do is scan files for Windows viruses. Obviously this situation will not persist forever, but the spyware/malware/etc. phenomenon is clearly several orders of magnitude less of a threat for Mac users.

 

[nabwong]

I just saw the Z and V series Lenovo-ibm. They're widescreen and comes with Dual Core processors. It's really cheap too.

Z60T, Z60M or V100. They all look gorgeous.

 

[MD1032]

Regardless, it's easy to protect windows. I'm still running WinXP Home with SP1 and no problems to speak of. All I do is keep windows updated security-wise, and then run AVG and ZoneAlarm. Then from there, as long as you're not stupid (stay off **** websites), your computer is as safe as it's going to get, basically.

 

[crazyfrenchman27]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wodgy There are no known spyware/malware/viruses circulating in the wild for Macs. None. Shipley's $500 bounty for finding evidence of malware went unclaimed, the 2006 Hack My Mac contest passed with no exploits, the current $2,500 bounty for finding evidence of circulating malware is still unclaimed, etc. There are a couple trojan horse proof of concepts that people have made, but none are circulating in the wild. Most Mac users do not run virus checkers, because all they do is scan files for Windows viruses. Obviously this situation will not persist forever, but the spyware/malware/etc. phenomenon is clearly several orders of magnitude less of a threat for Mac users.

This is not quite up to date.

There have been several mac virus sightings earlier this year.

-Matt

 

[johnmatrix]

I just bought my mom a Vaio SZ series and the screen is amazing. I recommend the premium models with carbon fiber casing and an led backlit screen. The screen is brighter than the standard model and thinner to boot. The premium model also only weighs 3.7 lbs. In order to fit you budget, I would recommend that you pick up the VGN-SZ150P model for about $2100. The only upgrade I would recommend is buying 1 gig of DDR2667 ram and installing it.

Some general advice, DO NOT BUY AN EXTENDED WARRARANTY FROM A B&M STORE. They are a huge ripoff. Instead call you credit card companies and inquire about an extended warranty. We are getting a four year warranty from Visa that covers accidents, battery wear down, and equipment breaking for $250. At Circuit City, the same warranty costs $500

.

 

[crazyfrenchman27]

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnmatrix I just bought my mom a Vaio SZ series and the screen is amazing. I recommend the premium models with carbon fiber casing and an led backlit screen. The screen is brighter than the standard model and thinner to boot. The premium model also only weighs 3.7 lbs. In order to fit you budget, I would recommend that you pick up the VGN-SZ150P model for about $2100. The only upgrade I would recommend is buying 1 gig of DDR2667 ram and installing it. Some general advice, DO NOT BUY AN EXTENDED WARRARANTY FROM A B&M STORE. They are a huge ripoff. Instead call you credit card companies and inquire about an extended warranty. We are getting a four year warranty from Visa that covers accidents, battery wear down, and equipment breaking for $250. At Circuit City, the same warranty costs $500 .

I've heard so many of my friends complain about reliability with the VAIO laptops that I am hesitant to recommend them. I do like their screens, however.

-Matt