Thinking of making the switch

Hi all,

Been reading, researching and looking at the macbook and am on the verge of getting one but need convincing as I'm a mac virgin.

I guess the first question is reliability and longjevity. I know macs are supposed to be renowed for their reliability but the volume of posts on here seems to suggest otherwise - the last laptop I had corrupted in spectacular fashion twice so that's why I've not really been into laptops for a while. Secondly, if I get the base macbook model (2ghz 1gb ram version) will it last for three+ years? I am a teacher/student so would be using it mostly for office, a program called smartboard (if anyone has heard of it) and then general web stuff. I might also do some basic photo/video/audio editing and use quark for some newpaper designing. It's unlikely I will do anything with high-end graphics use and I won't be using it for games at all (well, maybe Championship Manager but no fps or anything like that).

Next, I would still like the safety net of windows so will likely have it on the macbook and use a couple of programs (for example, there are some poker sites and programs I use that I'm not sure work on the mac). How does windows perform in general and how does it impare the overall performance?

So I guess the general questions are is it relatively futureproof for three years and can I do what I'm saying I'll do with it?

As a point of comparison I currently have a:
3800+ Athlon 64 (I think it's 2.4 or 2.1 ghz)
1gb ram (cossair)
72gb raptor drive (7200rpm - so it's quite quick)

It's two years old but still quick on general usage (not played any games on it for a while).

I've alternatively consider g4 ibooks and powerbooks because I read that some programs do run too well with the intel processors (but I'm not sure). The real issue for me is that I don't know how well macs age. Do ibooks still have a lot of life in them.

Thanks for advice in advance and note I have read a lot of stuff on the forum but, of course, everyone's needs and situations are unique and I'm after specific answers.

p.s. my budget is no more than £700 so MBP are out of the question.

Regards,

Felix

If you're a teacher, go into an apple store in the uk with proof. I just bought the entry level one (im a student in the UK) and honestly believe i have never made a better decision.

With education discount it only cost me £608 in store, as opposed to the 650 on the education website!

i cant answer all the questions about reliability because i just bought my first mac about 3 months ago. i have not regreted the switch.

as far as running windows i run it using bootcamp. Through bootcamp i have had no problems running windows. the main reason why i run it using boot camp is i didnt want to spend the extra money on parrells or fusion. i only use windows once a week for about an hour.

I am a relatively recent switcher myself (also the Macbook as my first Mac ever) and up until now it has been just great...there have been a few times when I would get frustrated but that wasn't Apple's fault but rather the fault of hardware companies that consider supporting the Mac is unneccessary.
I do recommend getting the Macbook for sure...it is a very nice piece of hardware indeed and the best: installing windows on it via bootcamp is easier than installing windows on a regular PC!!!
Why you ask? Well, all the drivers you need are on one CD (burned by boot camp) and all the drivers just work...no conflicts whatsoever.
I would definately say that Macs are the better PCs also...so if you dont like OS X you still have a great windows laptop that looks slick

kuchiki

I've been a mac user my whole life and have seen a few laptops in my days. I've had an iBook, Powerbook, and now a brand new Macbook. I'd have to say that the older macs had reliability issues, especially the old laptops. I wouldn't suggest buying an iBook or Powerbook simply because #1 it is out of warranty by now, and #2 there are a lot of issues with them (especially the dreaded logic board problem with the iBooks). I would highly recommend the Macbook for what you are planning on using it for, and I would suggest getting the extended warranty if at all possible. This insures you atleast 3 years for your laptop's use and any repairs will be covered under the plan.

Good luck and welcome!

iBook G4: 2 Years old. There weren't any problems until the HDD crashed due to it falling on the ground. Apple replaced it with no complaints.

iMac Intel: This one is my baby. I sometimes sit down and talk to her (wouldn't want a guy to sleep in the same room as me). Ask her if she needs anything. And it is smoking fast even though its the first Core duo model.

As for reliability, there can sometimes be issues (10.4.10 was one) but you never really lose data unless the HDD crashes. there's the target disk mode where the mac turns into a firewire drive and you can just about retrive everything. And the support is awesome. Leaving aside applecare, which is amazing, Macboys will try their level best not to let a switcher down .

And windows on a Mac is just as it is on a PC(+hardware works without conflicts). I've uninstalled it after trying it.

Good luck with your macbook, it certainly is an amazing machine (better than the iBook)