6 ms·

I Love My MacBook But $750 is $750

17 points by buckpost 18y ago

watmough 18y ago
My wife replaced a HP Amada with a MacBook. The MacBook had some early troubles but has been stable ever since. Two years or so. The HP lasted about a year before the power cord connector came away from the main board and had to be resoldered. This happened a couple of times before we gave up on the machine. I bet the landfills are full of these things. The MacBook has worked out vastly cheaper than the HP over the actual ownership experience, even if the upfront cost was a bit more.
- rsheridan6 18y ago
  I've never owned one, but I hear that thinkpads are also reliable, and they're still significantly cheaper than Macs.
  - watmough 18y ago
    Yes, actually I'd concur with the reliability. My TP 600X probably holds the record for being the longest continuously useful portable I've ever owned.
  - albertcardona 18y ago
    Thinkpads sell at about the same price as macs, if you choose the proper "options" to really make the choice comparable -- the base macs are a mid/upper thinkpad. I own both, I know first-hand. And both are very reliable, as far as I can tell. The macs lasted 4 years each; the thinkpad is 2 years old and kicking very well. We'll see what happens.
    - silencio 18y ago
      I noticed that too when I was in the market for a new laptop. I ended up getting the MacBook because I was fond of OS X (legally...and hackintoshes are a pain) and because the thing just looked better. Maybe it's just me, but if I were spending any significant amount of time with something I would like it if it looked good. Thinkpads were merely functional and no more.
    - rsheridan6 18y ago
      Maybe at some price/performance points, but in April I compared a low-end MacBook Pro with a similarlly spec'd 15" Thinkpad, and found that the Thinkpad was something like $500 cheaper. If you want a 15" screen, you have to buy a MBP, which starts around $2000. I ended up getting the Mac, and I'm happy with it, but not sure if it was worth the extra money. I still prefer Linux after working with a Mac for a few months.
- gtani 18y ago
  HP's gone downmarket in a big way, pushing lots of $700 notebooks into Costco, Target, Office Max, etc. They're the only laptops you see in Costco anymore, I strenuously avoid them. I'll stick with thinkpads and Toshiba for XP/Ubuntu dual booters. i commented on teh Mark Evans blog that macbooks have one feature no other laptop under about $1700 has, the DVI out. That, Time Machine, textmate, iphoto, firewire, a listenable sound card, and a few other features are easily worth $750 canadian. I will say that i've had 4 mac laptops, 2 worked great (G4 powerbook and Macbook), 2 are problematic. Another powerbook had its logic board replaced 3 x (twice in last 5 months), and i've experienced spontaneous freezes on Leopard a few times when quitting Firefox or textmate. This i consider a serious issue.
ericwaller 18y ago
I'm still not sure why people are so fascinated by this. I don't know of any blog articles complaining about the porsche boxster: "but look! it's jussstt like the pontiac solstice!" It's just the way it is. Of course "the way it is" happens to embody a significant amount of contemporary economic theory.
- axod 18y ago
  I agree. It's a weird phenomenon. People just don't question high performance sports cars. They seem to understand why someone would want to pay a lot of money for a porche, but they don't seem to understand why people would want to pay slightly more for a mac :/ A mac isn't even in the same league though. A luxury sports car could be 10x the price of a comparable 'standard' car. Mac's are only slightly more expensive than other some cheapy laptops. I'll just stick with my Macs though :) edit: That 'advert' is completely bizarre.
  - elai 18y ago
    I totally question why someone would purchase a high performance sport car. 10 to 100 times the price of an already very expensive thing for performance you can't legally use and a nicer looking design. They're nice, but they're not $200'000 nice for a marginal increase in power, ability, & a nice body panel design. Plus you can get motorbikes that would beat any ferrari for the same price as a prius.
    - eugenejen 18y ago
      You forget that exotic cars arouse female interests in owners of the cars. That's what the owner pays for the price difference. At the other hand, an exotic laptop doesn't arouse female interest in their owner. Probably they know it is just $700 difference.
    - jodrellblank 18y ago
      If you can and would pay 10 to 100 times the price, then you wouldn't describe the original thing as "very expensive". (A prius doesn't cost an arm and a leg. boom boom.)
axod 18y ago
For something you use every day, and on which you may work, $750 is really not very much at all. Laptops are all really cheap these days. When they're all cheap, you may as well get the best IMHO.
sanj 18y ago
How much do you value your time? My laptop is my primary tool. Day in day out. Even at $75/h it pays off in 10 hours.
- josefresco 18y ago
  You must have no expenses, amazing. Do tell.
  - sanj 18y ago
    I'm confused. My laptop is my source of earnings. Every hour I spend fiddling with it is an hour I don't get paid for. What am I missing?
    - notauser 18y ago
      That I like fiddling with my laptop, and so hours spent on it are leisure time (valued at $0) rather than work (valued at $lots). For most people your point is valid, but this is a hacker site, no? (I was a actually a bit disapointed with I installed Ubuntu 8.04 - previously it had been great fun as I had to mess with all sorts of thigns to get it to work perfectly. This time it was all a bit too easy, even wireless and 3D were no-configuration installs. One opportunity to learn new things gone.)
      - hassy 18y ago
        > This time it was all a bit too easy, even wireless and 3D were no-configuration installs. One opportunity to learn new things gone I for one have plenty of other opportunities to learn new things, all a lot more appealing than an "opportunity" like this, which I have no choice but to pursue (if I want to use my wifi network that is). Learning the intricacies of how wifi works/is configured under Linux is of little interest to me -- I'd rather spend my time getting through the stack of books on my desk. Or writing code. Or a hundred other things. I presume this is true for most of us here.
- JeremyChase 18y ago
chaostheory 18y ago
speaking as a former windows user, macs are worth the money given the frustation it saves you and the tech support you no longer have to do for your family. (I tried using linux as a desktop but it was just too unfamiliar from windows comparatively) I think the guy is missing the big picture
jodrellblank 18y ago
Summary: "several products exist with different specifications and prices" ...
- kyro 18y ago
  Can we please stop doing this? These simplistic one sentence summaries can be applied to almost any piece. Summary of the Constitution: "We are entitled to various rights, and there are a bunch of laws that help us protect them."
  - jodrellblank 18y ago
    Summary: stop doing things I don't like. :p More seriously, his post states the cost and some specifications of a macbook, and a low-cost windows laptop and that people might consider price and "mac aura" before buying. He doesn't make any useful, interesting or funny observations, conclusions, assertions or explanations. That's his entire post. Not, "here's why I think the mac is more expensive" or "what will happen to the mac as cheap windows laptops get more powerful" or "if the mac aura is the main reason for the cost then it means XYZ", or "in previous economic downturns, mac prices changed like XYZ" or "Based on this, I predict the next device from apple will be an XYZ" or "I've built a mac price predictor" or anything. Not even as simple as "The mac is $750 more and I think that's too much". "makes you wonder." - makes him wonder what? "at first glance it seems like a great deal" - what about at second and further glances? "I know it's apples and oranges, they're different" - how about discussing the differences in detail? "saving $750 at a time of economic uncertainly could resonate with many consumers." - discuss. Explain. Reveal insight. Predict. No, none of that. Just "two products exist with different specifications and prices". It's a simplistic one sentence summary for a simplistic too-many-sentence blog post. Where's the hacking? the news? the opinion? Where's the content? You love your macbook? fine, make it a four word blog post. That would be better. A passionate outburst for a product so unusually, distinctively good that you can't resist being happy that it simply exists!
vlam 18y ago
He forgot to mention the Acer Extreme has an AMD Sempron Processor and the Macbook has an Intel Core 2 Duo, which probably reduces the price of the Acer by a lot.
jgamman 18y ago
do i have to be the only one to say that i like my MBP because it looks good? jeez, i have to look at this thing sitting in my lounge every single day, as well as the hours i spend on it. seriously, i go to my friends houses and they pull out these ugly chunks of plastic - i don't care what it runs, whatever floats your boat, but why choose something ugly? begone with your specs bean counter - i yearn for style.
kajecounterhack 18y ago
Why people insist on macs is beyond me...get a kickass laptop for $1000, load up ubuntu or fedora or mint or openSUSE, and call it a day. Oh well, install wireless drivers and graphics drivers, and THEN call it a day. Still, as far as I care, beats buying into the Mac rich-boy fandom. News for you: LINUX ISNT THAT HARD
- kajecounterhack 18y ago
  In self-reflection, why did I comment negatively about Mac on YC News, where everyone is an Apple fanboy...? Oh well.
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]

17 points by buckpost 18y ago

My wife replaced a HP Amada with a MacBook. The MacBook had some early troubles but has been stable ever since. Two years or so. The HP lasted about a year before the power cord connector came away from the main board and had to be resoldered. This happened a couple of times before we gave up on the machine. I bet the landfills are full of these things. The MacBook has worked out vastly cheaper than the HP over the actual ownership experience, even if the upfront cost was a bit more.

rsheridan6 18y ago
I've never owned one, but I hear that thinkpads are also reliable, and they're still significantly cheaper than Macs.
- watmough 18y ago
  Yes, actually I'd concur with the reliability. My TP 600X probably holds the record for being the longest continuously useful portable I've ever owned.
- albertcardona 18y ago
  Thinkpads sell at about the same price as macs, if you choose the proper "options" to really make the choice comparable -- the base macs are a mid/upper thinkpad. I own both, I know first-hand. And both are very reliable, as far as I can tell. The macs lasted 4 years each; the thinkpad is 2 years old and kicking very well. We'll see what happens.
  - silencio 18y ago
    I noticed that too when I was in the market for a new laptop. I ended up getting the MacBook because I was fond of OS X (legally...and hackintoshes are a pain) and because the thing just looked better. Maybe it's just me, but if I were spending any significant amount of time with something I would like it if it looked good. Thinkpads were merely functional and no more.
  - rsheridan6 18y ago
    Maybe at some price/performance points, but in April I compared a low-end MacBook Pro with a similarlly spec'd 15" Thinkpad, and found that the Thinkpad was something like $500 cheaper. If you want a 15" screen, you have to buy a MBP, which starts around $2000. I ended up getting the Mac, and I'm happy with it, but not sure if it was worth the extra money. I still prefer Linux after working with a Mac for a few months.
gtani 18y ago
HP's gone downmarket in a big way, pushing lots of $700 notebooks into Costco, Target, Office Max, etc. They're the only laptops you see in Costco anymore, I strenuously avoid them. I'll stick with thinkpads and Toshiba for XP/Ubuntu dual booters. i commented on teh Mark Evans blog that macbooks have one feature no other laptop under about $1700 has, the DVI out. That, Time Machine, textmate, iphoto, firewire, a listenable sound card, and a few other features are easily worth $750 canadian. I will say that i've had 4 mac laptops, 2 worked great (G4 powerbook and Macbook), 2 are problematic. Another powerbook had its logic board replaced 3 x (twice in last 5 months), and i've experienced spontaneous freezes on Leopard a few times when quitting Firefox or textmate. This i consider a serious issue.

ericwaller 18y ago

I'm still not sure why people are so fascinated by this. I don't know of any blog articles complaining about the porsche boxster: "but look! it's jussstt like the pontiac solstice!" It's just the way it is. Of course "the way it is" happens to embody a significant amount of contemporary economic theory.

axod 18y ago
I agree. It's a weird phenomenon. People just don't question high performance sports cars. They seem to understand why someone would want to pay a lot of money for a porche, but they don't seem to understand why people would want to pay slightly more for a mac :/ A mac isn't even in the same league though. A luxury sports car could be 10x the price of a comparable 'standard' car. Mac's are only slightly more expensive than other some cheapy laptops. I'll just stick with my Macs though :) edit: That 'advert' is completely bizarre.
- elai 18y ago
  I totally question why someone would purchase a high performance sport car. 10 to 100 times the price of an already very expensive thing for performance you can't legally use and a nicer looking design. They're nice, but they're not $200'000 nice for a marginal increase in power, ability, & a nice body panel design. Plus you can get motorbikes that would beat any ferrari for the same price as a prius.
  - eugenejen 18y ago
    You forget that exotic cars arouse female interests in owners of the cars. That's what the owner pays for the price difference. At the other hand, an exotic laptop doesn't arouse female interest in their owner. Probably they know it is just $700 difference.
  - jodrellblank 18y ago
    If you can and would pay 10 to 100 times the price, then you wouldn't describe the original thing as "very expensive". (A prius doesn't cost an arm and a leg. boom boom.)

axod 18y ago

For something you use every day, and on which you may work, $750 is really not very much at all. Laptops are all really cheap these days. When they're all cheap, you may as well get the best IMHO.

sanj 18y ago

How much do you value your time? My laptop is my primary tool. Day in day out. Even at $75/h it pays off in 10 hours.

josefresco 18y ago
You must have no expenses, amazing. Do tell.
- sanj 18y ago
  I'm confused. My laptop is my source of earnings. Every hour I spend fiddling with it is an hour I don't get paid for. What am I missing?
  - notauser 18y ago
    That I like fiddling with my laptop, and so hours spent on it are leisure time (valued at $0) rather than work (valued at $lots). For most people your point is valid, but this is a hacker site, no? (I was a actually a bit disapointed with I installed Ubuntu 8.04 - previously it had been great fun as I had to mess with all sorts of thigns to get it to work perfectly. This time it was all a bit too easy, even wireless and 3D were no-configuration installs. One opportunity to learn new things gone.)
    - hassy 18y ago
      > This time it was all a bit too easy, even wireless and 3D were no-configuration installs. One opportunity to learn new things gone I for one have plenty of other opportunities to learn new things, all a lot more appealing than an "opportunity" like this, which I have no choice but to pursue (if I want to use my wifi network that is). Learning the intricacies of how wifi works/is configured under Linux is of little interest to me -- I'd rather spend my time getting through the stack of books on my desk. Or writing code. Or a hundred other things. I presume this is true for most of us here.
JeremyChase 18y ago

chaostheory 18y ago

speaking as a former windows user, macs are worth the money given the frustation it saves you and the tech support you no longer have to do for your family. (I tried using linux as a desktop but it was just too unfamiliar from windows comparatively) I think the guy is missing the big picture

jodrellblank 18y ago

Summary: "several products exist with different specifications and prices" ...

kyro 18y ago
Can we please stop doing this? These simplistic one sentence summaries can be applied to almost any piece. Summary of the Constitution: "We are entitled to various rights, and there are a bunch of laws that help us protect them."
- jodrellblank 18y ago
  Summary: stop doing things I don't like. :p More seriously, his post states the cost and some specifications of a macbook, and a low-cost windows laptop and that people might consider price and "mac aura" before buying. He doesn't make any useful, interesting or funny observations, conclusions, assertions or explanations. That's his entire post. Not, "here's why I think the mac is more expensive" or "what will happen to the mac as cheap windows laptops get more powerful" or "if the mac aura is the main reason for the cost then it means XYZ", or "in previous economic downturns, mac prices changed like XYZ" or "Based on this, I predict the next device from apple will be an XYZ" or "I've built a mac price predictor" or anything. Not even as simple as "The mac is $750 more and I think that's too much". "makes you wonder." - makes him wonder what? "at first glance it seems like a great deal" - what about at second and further glances? "I know it's apples and oranges, they're different" - how about discussing the differences in detail? "saving $750 at a time of economic uncertainly could resonate with many consumers." - discuss. Explain. Reveal insight. Predict. No, none of that. Just "two products exist with different specifications and prices". It's a simplistic one sentence summary for a simplistic too-many-sentence blog post. Where's the hacking? the news? the opinion? Where's the content? You love your macbook? fine, make it a four word blog post. That would be better. A passionate outburst for a product so unusually, distinctively good that you can't resist being happy that it simply exists!

vlam 18y ago

He forgot to mention the Acer Extreme has an AMD Sempron Processor and the Macbook has an Intel Core 2 Duo, which probably reduces the price of the Acer by a lot.

jgamman 18y ago

do i have to be the only one to say that i like my MBP because it looks good? jeez, i have to look at this thing sitting in my lounge every single day, as well as the hours i spend on it. seriously, i go to my friends houses and they pull out these ugly chunks of plastic - i don't care what it runs, whatever floats your boat, but why choose something ugly? begone with your specs bean counter - i yearn for style.

kajecounterhack 18y ago

Why people insist on macs is beyond me...get a kickass laptop for $1000, load up ubuntu or fedora or mint or openSUSE, and call it a day. Oh well, install wireless drivers and graphics drivers, and THEN call it a day. Still, as far as I care, beats buying into the Mac rich-boy fandom. News for you: LINUX ISNT THAT HARD

kajecounterhack 18y ago
In self-reflection, why did I comment negatively about Mac on YC News, where everyone is an Apple fanboy...? Oh well.

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]