Thread

Thanks for relaying all of your experiences. I’ve just “test driven"my friend’s new MacBook Pro, 15” 2.66GHz with 4GB of memory. I can honestly say that it’s the most amazing laptop I’ve ever used: I am completely seduced.

I ran XP Pro on it using VMware, and it was more than fine.

This is one awesome laptop. But I have to admit, the cost is downright painful. Throw in the cost of AppleCare, VMware Fusion, and a legitimate Vista Business license, and you’re right around the $3K mark. Business expense or not, that’s tough to swallow—especially when I use a gorgeous 24” iMac / 4GB RAM as my desktop.

I certainly can understand why PC laptops have their appeal in times like these. But this new MacBook Pro is sure easy to love. So now I’m torn between love and money!  :coolcheese:

I certainly can understand why PC laptops have their appeal in times like these. But this new MacBook Pro is sure easy to love. So now I’m torn between love and money!

The difference may well be that of price vs. cost.

Almost six years ago I bought one of the first 17” aluminum PowerMacs. It came with Jaguar. Through the years the machine ran virtually non-stop; always on, even while traveling. Jaguar was replaced by Panther which was replaced by Tiger which was replaced by Leopard. The only other replacement was the hard drive after three years of non-stop use. $150.

At around the same time, a close relative bought a honkingly huge, heavy, plastic Dell laptop with a really crappy 17” screen but for half the money of my Mac. Then he added hundreds of dollars of extras; spyware removal, anti-virus scanning, etc. Along with that came many, many hours troubleshooting one thing after another. When the Dell finally crapped out he bought another Dell, still at half the price of the PowerBook. Repeat, ad nauseam. Why a Dell? Again? Macs were too expensive.

After 5 1/2 years I sold the PowerBook for about 1/3 of what I paid originally. It was easily the best Mac I’d ever owned, after 20 or so. Microsoft’s new television commercial shows a paid actress trying to buy a 17” laptop for under $1,000. She spends all of 1.5 seconds in “the Mac store” and can’t find one, so she ends up buying an HP or something for $699.

Truly, you get what you pay for. My new MacBook cost about $1,700 loaded. It’s an elegant tank. It’ll last far longer than that poor woman’s $699 luggable. She went for price. I go for cost.

Microsoft’s new television commercial shows a paid actress trying to buy a 17” laptop for under $1,000.

As advertising, I think it’s effective because it hits Apple’s perceived weakness in harsh economic times. Especially funny to me is the part where she says she’s “not cool enough for a Mac.”

If it were reality, that cute redhead would be getting about a half hour of battery life for her behemoth, spend hours on hold waiting for tech support in Bangalore, and bust the cheap hard drive or logic board within two years. And that would be a good scenario. Not to mention all of the pre-installed crapware she’d have to uninstall.

Unlike the cute Jetta-driving redhead, I have very specific laptop needs. Business requires me to run a Windows-only app on a client’s sites. My trusty early 2004 PowerMac 15” cannot do that job because it lacks the Intel processor. It has been good to me for five years, but its time has come.

So here’s the real world comparison I must make:

Contender #1: MacBook (13” 2.4 GHz, 4GB Memory) + AppleCare = around $1,950. Plus VMware Fusion (around $80) + Windows XP Pro or Vista Biz (around $300). Total = around $2,330 plus tax. Pros: I’ll be able to do everything I need on my laptop. It will probably last me at least 5 years. It’s a Mac and I’ll enjoy it. Cons: around double the cost of Contender #2.

Contender #2: Toshiba Satellite U405-S2918 (13.3” Core 2 Duo P7450 w/ 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive + MicroCenter Warranty = around $1,100. Pros: It runs what my client requires me to run for this project. It does a fine job running Outlook, Firefox, Word, and Excel—the only other programs I genuinely need when I’m on the road. Cons: I doubt I’ll get more than three years out of it. And it’s not a Mac.

What to do? BTW, I don’t drive a jetta, but I am definitely “cool enough for a Mac.”

What to do?

Our family and many friends belong to an organization with a very helpful and popular research utility. It’s Windows only. As more people switch to a Mac it’s become common for many to also buy an inexpensive Windows PC notebook, even a netbook, to handle those regrettable and fewer “Windows only” situation. Boot Camp has benefits, but it’s an extra headache and cost. Ditto for VMware Fusion and Parallels.

At $300 to $500, an el cheaporooni PC notebook that only gets booted up on Sundays to run spyware and anti-virus software, seems very pragmatic.

If Mac would only sell their OS separately AND allow install on win-intel boxes…then I could afford one that runs on better hardware then sold…
there is a promo (no affiliation)  by sony to buy out OLD dells….laptop comes to cost of $200.00 IF you have one to trade in…

I certainly can understand why PC laptops have their appeal in times like these. But this new MacBook Pro is sure easy to love. So now I’m torn between love and money!

The difference may well be that of price vs. cost.

Almost six years ago I bought one of the first 17” aluminum PowerMacs. It came with Jaguar. Through the years the machine ran virtually non-stop; always on, even while traveling. Jaguar was replaced by Panther which was replaced by Tiger which was replaced by Leopard. The only other replacement was the hard drive after three years of non-stop use. $150.

At around the same time, a close relative bought a honkingly huge, heavy, plastic Dell laptop with a really crappy 17” screen but for half the money of my Mac. Then he added hundreds of dollars of extras; spyware removal, anti-virus scanning, etc. Along with that came many, many hours troubleshooting one thing after another. When the Dell finally crapped out he bought another Dell, still at half the price of the PowerBook. Repeat, ad nauseam. Why a Dell? Again? Macs were too expensive.

After 5 1/2 years I sold the PowerBook for about 1/3 of what I paid originally. It was easily the best Mac I’d ever owned, after 20 or so. Microsoft’s new television commercial shows a paid actress trying to buy a 17” laptop for under $1,000. She spends all of 1.5 seconds in “the Mac store” and can’t find one, so she ends up buying an HP or something for $699.

Truly, you get what you pay for. My new MacBook cost about $1,700 loaded. It’s an elegant tank. It’ll last far longer than that poor woman’s $699 luggable. She went for price. I go for cost.

Very intelligently put.  I think that’s very true.  The upfront price of a Mac might be greater but the long-term cost is no more than getting a Windows machine.  That is to say that you’re not really saving much in the long-term.

By the way, if the client requires you to have Windows, you should try to get them to cover the cost of Windows + virtualization software.

How about them giving you remote access (RDP or RAdmin) to let’s say inexpensive desktop that client may have as spare?
Does the software really have to run of your laptop?

First of all go here - http://store.apple.com/au/product/FB466?mco=MTg1MTg3NA

Then buy 4gb of RAM for about $80

Then install VMWare and XP

Allocate 1Gb and one processor to XP

Job done 😊

I’m a bit confused now: is this MBP replacing your current desktop mac or is it only an extra machine for this client and to take on the road with you?

If it’s the second case then just get the cheapest laptop that’ll do the job (something like a Dell Vostro 1510 should more than suffice and there’s a good deal on the Vostro 2510 with Vista Business featured on their site right now http://www.dell.com/business/laptops?~ck=mn).

Consider leasing one and ask your client if he’d meet you halfway regarding the cost.

I’m a bit confused now: is this MBP replacing your current desktop mac or is it only an extra machine for this client and to take on the road with you?

The latter. This laptop is not a replacement for my beloved 24"iMac. It is primarily for work at my client’s various sites (physical sites, not web sites).

I appreciate the well meaning suggestions about asking the client to do and pay for various things in order to accommodate my personal desire to use a Mac. But that’s just not an option or appropriate for this situation.

I am leaning toward the inexpensive Wintel laptop option—simply because the expense and time involved in running XP Pro or Vista Biz on a MacBook is too much for my personal tolerance. The MacBook is a beautiful machine and may just be the ultimate combination business/personal laptop for many people. But no tool is right for every job, and that just might be the case here.

Also—I still have a perfectly functional PowerBook G4 for use on other trips/vacations when I cannot bear to be without a Mac. (Proof positive that Macs give at least 5 years of hassle-free operation.) I was hoping this might be the opportunity to justify replacing it with a slick new MB. But the bottom line is beginning to say otherwise.