O T Lap Top

[Dave5Cs]

LVRB:

$300.00 is a pretty good price for the changeover, unless you can get a copy of XP PRO from a friend that is generic and can still be loaded with their code key. Some machines once they came wit Vista you could not go back to previous versions. But if you buy an Apple you will pay a lot more than trying to change it back to a good system.

Again it all depends on what you do with it.

Dave

[PADoug]

Mex,

I've tried the Ubuntu on my Acer Aspire mini like you have. I love it. It is quick and very user friendly. Right now, I have it installed on an 8 gig thumbdrive.  Unfortunately, between me and the future Mrs., we have Lexmark all in one printer/scanners. Lexmark is not too keen on drivers for Linux. So until another set of printers comes along, I'm pretty much stuck. The Acer does pretty much all I need, including office programs as well as Internet. I'm going to be on the lookout for used printer/scanner combos from offices that go out of business. A lot of corporations and mall businesses have used Linux based software, so it makes sense that drivers are available for the hardware.

-Doug

[Mex-Busnut]

We have Lexmark all in one printer/scanners. Lexmark is not too keen on drivers for Linux. -Doug

Doug:

With Linux, there is always a way. The program you need is called Turboprint. it will allow Linux to use just about any printer designed for Windows. You can download it free and see if it works for you. http://www.turboprint.info/ 

Now, about the future Mrs.: be forewarned, they are VERY expensive... but well worth it!

[Len Silva]

They surely cost a lot more than a Mac

[PADoug]

Len,

She already has a Mac, (Which I like). Now she want's a "Mr.".

As for the other angle of this discussion:

I travel. My advice: Durability of computer first, as in abuse from vibration and occasional hits. Operating system was my second priority. (Hence no movable hard drive on mine, but that is extreme.)

I haven't looked at the current crop of PC's and netbooks lately. But if you like Mac, and can find one that is geared toward school children and the abuse it would take, I would travel with it. My Acer seems to have held up pretty well, as did my Toshiba. Toshiba's support was outstanding too, but that was 10 years ago. Now I don't trust anyone's customer support. Those brands (Mac, Acer, Toshiba, and possibly Asus) will be the first to consider should a "big screen" or home based system become necessary.

I'll just keep Linux as a back-up operating system then. I no longer trust "factory warranties" on software or hardware of any type. Heck, mine cost $300.00. Will last me about as long as some of the more expensive machines billed with "customer service" as a marketing tool.

-Doug

[Tim Strommen]

I've been in computers since I fixed my first one in sixth grade, now I work in the industry (one of the major graphics manufacturers).  I just wanted to put this idea out there...

...You need to figure out what you use a computer for.  email and web browsing will work on either Apple or a PC.  specific map and gps programs won't.  adobe pdf's can be read in either type.  both have options for reading books, storing files, writing letters.  Apple does not have the business type software at reasonable prices, but you probably don't care about business anything.  Both will talk on the Internet and have great programs for music, pictures and so on.  apple support is good, if you can find it in a smaller town.  there is almost always a pc expert in every town, usually less expensive than the apple expert...

There are some camps that believe that the traditional PC is coming to an end (take Google for example).  You can do viewing and basic manipulation of all of the above bold items on smart phones now, and in the future it should get even easier.

Think about it: You need email access, voice comminication, text messages, the ability to view web-apges, open documents for viewing (editing word, excel, powerpoint is not readily available... yet), play music, get navigation and points of interest...  you can do all of this with just about any smartphone (iPhone, Android, Blackberry) now.  Do you, and if so "why", need a full PC to do what you want to do?  and if the argument is that you want a bigger screen, look at the iPad or tablet devices coming out - and it you want a keyboard, they make wireless keyboards...

They are tough, low energy, and getting wicked fast (some high-end smart devices are surpassing low-end PCs for about the same cost).

Just my two cents...

-Tim

[luvrbus]

Thanks guys I ordered the Mac/pro 13 inch,2.66GHz,4gm,500gb hard drive, I went with the 13 inch for the 10 hours of battery time will let you know how I like it.


good luck

[Depewtee]

LVB,

Welcome to the dark side!  You are going to really enjoy Mac once you learn our way around it.

Brian S.

[Dreamscape]

I for one will be waiting for a report on how he likes it!

Maybe it'll be like the Verizon ATT thing! (inside joke)

[John316]

Whew, Clifford.

Your mind was made up . You know what? I think you will love that thing. Get Apple care on it, and your worries are down the drain. I love the MacBook pros. I think you will to. Just give yourself time to learn it. Call support whenever you need to. Don't worry about asking them, or anybody, questions that you think are dumb. They have heard everything.

I think you will learn it quickly, and I doubt you will ever consider turning back.

Allow me to be the first one to officially say CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

Welcome to the free world. LOL And btw, Mac's never die....they just get a little soft after about ten years.

God bless,

John

[cody]

I guess I'm lucky, I've got a laptop with vista that I bought at walmarts black friday sale for peanuts a while back, it's still running great, I do the regular maintenace on it like normal, and it just keeps ticking away, dallas tipped me off on GPS cause my speedometer needs a doctor on the bus, it's very unreliable, it not only reads off but now and then the needle takes a ride around the dial just cause it knows it pisses me off, so the laptop with the GPS on it shows me what my actual speed is,  only time anyone questioned me was when I got pulled over for a tail light being burnt out and the officer commented on he hopes I'm not chatting on it while driving cause the laptop was sitting on the dash and the GPS was running, I reassured him that no chatting goes on while I drive, that I use the laptop only for porn, he laughed and left lol.

[loosenut]

I second John's, Apple Care recommendation.  It gives you telephone help for 3 years and, IMO, a higher level of customer service.  If you have easy access to an Apple store sign up for their one-to-one classes they are very helpful to get your head wrapped around the Apple way.

Enjoy your Apple.

Mike

[Stolaas]

I've been an Apple man since the SE days (20 years ago) but have worked on PCs when I have to and hate it.

Apple is by far the easiest computer you will ever own.  MS has tried to imitate it for 17 years and will never get it right...

But the foremost thing you have to understand is that you cannot run everything you want (unless you use boot camp which is just booting up in Windows then you can run anything you want but it comes at the cost of having to run MS 

[john9861]

Clifford,
    I'm sure you're going to enjoy the new toy. In the mean time if you will PM me I will give you my mailing address & be glad to dispose of that old machine for you. And no i won't charge anything!
John

[Christyhicks]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the computer manufacturer posts updates on their website that often can make a huge difference when it comes to operating problems.  ALWAYS start at the support section for your computer model & see if there Re any updates that might apply.  I bought a touch screen HP (my last HP purchase I promise you), that suffered the "blue screen of death" repeatedly from the time I purchased it.  The longer I used it, the worse it got, necessitating me to constantly save every file to another computer or USB drive as a backup.  Numerous calls to HP to talk to their foreign, barely fluent tech support got me nowhere as they blamed the programs I had installed and Windows, while I tried to explain that Quickbooks, Office, except are common programs installed on MANY pc's, yada yada. 

Finally, I searched the Internet, finding numerous similar complaints and a suggested solution that this brand new, out of the box laptop, was basically unusable until the HP updates were installed.  Now, when you register a brand new computer, could they not inform you that there are very important updates you need immediately (or better yet, have the computer automatically go & find them & install them)?  How about, AT THE VERY LEAST, tell the support staff about them?  Why should I have had to research it online, find a computer forum and learn about it that way?     

Otoh, I use a laptop, a netbook, an Ipad AND have a smartphone, and I really would not be able to use any of these as my "only" device.  None does it all well, probably I could dump the net book, but it sure is handy for carrying with me, but too small for work....it will do all I need, but just too small of a screen for a lot of tasks...primarily I use it when I travel...the Ipad is absolutely awesome but won't BEGIN to do all that I need...and the inability to run flash is a bigger handicap than some would have you believe, trust me.  The smartphones are awesome...I was able to access my father-in-law's medication list, the POA, (important for allowing them to talk to me about his condition and me to make decisions), check my e-mail & stay in constant contact by text w/one of the daughters who was out of town during this last crisis, all from my phone.  Cloud computing is most certainly the future, have no doubt.  But laptops are going to be around for a long time too, IMHO,  Christy Hicks