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New PC for my Daughter (VANITY)
11/4/2009 | Self

Posted on 11/04/2009 7:32:27 AM PST by American_Centurion

My daughter a HS Junior is doing really well in school. I am planning to buy her a new laptop for school. She currently has a Dell 13" XPS that has been ok, but the battery has been replaced twice, the CD/DVD will currently only play CDs and it is getting slower to start up.

So I start looking and I know she wants a Mac because they are cool, I however am not a Mac fan. Not that there is anything wrong with Mac, I have a slowly dying PowerMac G5 Dual that has a nice monitor I use for Aperture, but it is on its last legs. I also look for Windows 7 PCs, I use Lenovo Thinkpads for work and know they are rock solid, sturdy, and long lasting. My old T40 is 5 years old and still runs like it did when I first got it. I now work on a T400 and it is a great machine.

Here is what I found:

Lenovo

Apple


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Computers/Internet; Education; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: apple; ilovebillgates; iwanthim; iwanthimbad; lenovo; mac; microsoftfanboys; pc
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To: tje
Win7 Home Premium 64

That's what I have on this brand new HP PC.....I'm struggling to find a Win 7 compatible printer tho; I want one that will install completely from the install CD, and not have to bother with downloading some driver adjuster.

41 posted on 11/04/2009 8:51:20 AM PST by ErnBatavia (Obama is a DIC....... Ditherer-in-Chief)
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To: Kid Shelleen

That is a good buy. I’ll look at it.


42 posted on 11/04/2009 8:52:02 AM PST by American_Centurion (No, I don't trust the government to automatically do the right thing.)
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To: American_Centurion
Why does a Mac require this? I thought they just worked? That's what I was told when I got it. No worries mate! Guess not. If it's so important why doesn't it schedule them? Windows schedules maintenance. I don't get that.

All computer systems require periodic maintenance.

Particularly disk systems.

That is the dirty little secret no one tells you about.

Anything that windows does is all eyewash i.e. Bull Scat

I'm retired now but spent fifty years in IT datacenters
managing IBM op/syss; Bell Labs Unix© op/syss.
and 5000 windows server network systems.

They all need periodic maintenance


43 posted on 11/04/2009 8:55:37 AM PST by Uri’el-2012 (Psalm 119:174 I long for Your salvation, YHvH, Your law is my delight.)
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To: American_Centurion

The Mac is worth much more than $700 extra. Especially if she is away at college.

I can give you any number of reasons, but here are just a few.

1. You do not need anti-virus software. On my PCs, this is $50 per year because I always look for the bargain-basement price. If she is away at college, she may get suckered into just getting the “update” when her subscription runs out — at least $80 on your credit card right there. The first year is free with a PC, but the remaining 4 years of life will cost you $200-400.

2. On the rare occasions when something goes wrong with my Mac, I call them up and they either answer the question right there on the phone, or they tell me to take it to a Mac store, where they fix it. Period. Every time I have tried to call for tech support with a PC, the computer maker tells me it is a software problem with Windows and the Windows guys want a credit card number just to talk to me, then they tell me it is a hardware problem. I have never been able to get the hardware guys and the software guys on the same line at the same time. Do you really want your daughter to go through this at college?

Apple makes both the hardware and the software and can’t pass the buck. Go ahead, put a price on that. Think about tuition, living expenses, etc. and then figure out the cost of 2 or 3 days down time chasing a computer problem.


44 posted on 11/04/2009 8:57:18 AM PST by CurlyDave
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To: American_Centurion

Bookmark


45 posted on 11/04/2009 9:14:48 AM PST by LucyJo
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To: American_Centurion

Just make sure your daughter does not want to use the labtop for gaming. I think the T6600 is powerful enough for most applications but you may want to double check that..


46 posted on 11/04/2009 9:22:29 AM PST by Kid Shelleen (Keep your socialized health care off my body !!)
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To: CurlyDave

1. Free Anti-virus. Avast, AVG, and Comodo right off the top of my head. These work and are not $50/year.

2. Problems/support. The Lenovo comes with 2 years in-home warranty. Two years from now, I’ll take a wild guess that $700 will pay for a whole lot of tech-support and out-of-warranty repair. Something I’ve never needed with the other Lenovos I’ve used for the last 5 years.

Not convinced by your argument the Mac is really worth $700 more. Don’t see it.


47 posted on 11/04/2009 9:27:23 AM PST by American_Centurion (No, I don't trust the government to automatically do the right thing.)
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To: Kid Shelleen

I’ll check on the gaming. She’s a console kid, PS2 and PS3, but that’s when she can get it away from the little brothers. Who knows what ultra-cool-must-play game her friends at college will get her into.


48 posted on 11/04/2009 9:29:03 AM PST by American_Centurion (No, I don't trust the government to automatically do the right thing.)
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To: UriÂ’el-2012

Periodic maintenance makes sense. I still don’t get why Mac doesn’t schedule the maintenance or even tell you that it might be needed. Especially considering the Ads tout “just works” perpetually.


49 posted on 11/04/2009 9:31:01 AM PST by American_Centurion (No, I don't trust the government to automatically do the right thing.)
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To: American_Centurion
Periodic maintenance makes sense. I still don’t get why Mac doesn’t schedule the maintenance or even tell you that it might be needed. Especially considering the Ads tout “just works” perpetually.

The fact that you have not done any maintenance
on a five year old machine is a testament to the op/sys.

Most windows users have thrown away
more than two machines in five years
or a geek loaded it with Linux.

If you want make the G5 new again
disk utility=> repair permissions.
This is no cost as disk utility is part of the op/sys.

Disk Warrior will cost money but is the best.

Re-building the disk iNodes is best done standalone via DVD.

I have a Mac Pro w/ Aperture and LightZone
and Photomatix for photography.
libertynetworkDesign
It has been just upgraded to Snow Leopard.

In addition I have a five year old 17" PowerBook
running Leopard for presentations.
This is being typed on a 17" iMac with Leopard.

The wife loves her 20" Intel iMac.

The only working windows in the house
is a Acer One XP 10" netbook
cost $299 plus $75 for a new battery


50 posted on 11/04/2009 10:09:17 AM PST by Uri’el-2012 (Psalm 119:174 I long for Your salvation, YHvH, Your law is my delight.)
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To: American_Centurion; ~Kim4VRWC's~; 1234; 50mm; 6SJ7; Abundy; Action-America; acoulterfan; ...
American_Centurion wants help on making a decision between a PC and a Mac for his daughter . . . PING!


Mac v. Windows Ping!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

51 posted on 11/04/2009 10:20:10 AM PST by Swordmaker (Remember, the proper pronunciation of IE is "AAAAIIIIIEEEEEEE!)
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To: UriÂ’el-2012

Is Disk warrior for sale at the Apple Store? The way the G5 has been freezing up I don’t want to risk a download.


52 posted on 11/04/2009 10:21:19 AM PST by American_Centurion (No, I don't trust the government to automatically do the right thing.)
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To: American_Centurion
I have a slowly dying PowerMac G5

How is it dying?

53 posted on 11/04/2009 10:25:04 AM PST by Tribune7 (I am Joe Wilson!)
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To: Tribune7
I have a slowly dying PowerMac G5

How is it dying?

Greedy corporate types are denying it health care!!!

54 posted on 11/04/2009 10:27:09 AM PST by SlowBoat407 (Achtung. preparen zie fur die obamahopenchangen.)
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To: American_Centurion
I used Tiger Direct. You get great deals and what I saved I bought my daughter a 18" laptop PC and a 8.5" laptop PC she carries around with her.
55 posted on 11/04/2009 10:29:10 AM PST by bmwcyle (We need more Joe Wilson's. OBAMA is ACORN ACORN is OBAMA)
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To: Tribune7

More and more frequently the machine freezes on the pinwheel of death. It will not recover from it, you can not force quit the application and you can not restart the computer without a hard shut off.

It used to work for a couple of hours before it would start this, now you might get 20 mins of work before that #@!$%^@$# pinwheel shows up.

Recently, maybe two weeks ago, I got what must be Apples version of the Blue Screen of Death. Said something to the effect of this computer must be restarted, an unrecoverable error has occurred. I’ve only seen that once.


56 posted on 11/04/2009 10:29:18 AM PST by American_Centurion (No, I don't trust the government to automatically do the right thing.)
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To: American_Centurion
Is Disk warrior for sale at the Apple Store? The way the G5 has been freezing up I don’t want to risk a download.

Alsoft DiskWarrior 4 @ Apple Store

57 posted on 11/04/2009 10:31:15 AM PST by Uri’el-2012 (Psalm 119:174 I long for Your salvation, YHvH, Your law is my delight.)
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To: UriÂ’el-2012

Thanks. The photos I have in Aperture are easily worth $100 bucks to get it working.


58 posted on 11/04/2009 10:40:16 AM PST by American_Centurion (No, I don't trust the government to automatically do the right thing.)
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To: American_Centurion

The new Macbooks also come with the new battery that is supposed to last 5 years I believe. More importantly in the short term, it lasts around 6 hours on a charge (or so).

I agree that everything that can be done on a Mac can be done on Windows, however, on a Mac it is almost always easier. How much not being frustrated is worth I don’t know, but it seems worth a lot to me.


59 posted on 11/04/2009 10:44:10 AM PST by Mr. Blonde (You ever thought about being weird for a living?)
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To: American_Centurion

Lenovos have a solid reputation, good systems. I’ve helped a family member buy one and she’s still happy.

I didn’t get the pics. Can you give me the models and specs you chose? I’m pretty familiar with both sides.


60 posted on 11/04/2009 10:45:32 AM PST by antiRepublicrat
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