need some computer advice

[griever]

It turns out that the hard drive on my current laptop is dying, as it is eternally slow and clicks like it's speaking a foreign language.  I can't say I'm surprised, but it is kind of sad.  However, I have two options, which I need to discuss with my parents.  I can either replace the hard drive in this computer, or buy a new computer.  Economically, the answer is obvious, but this laptop also does not have USB 2.0, no wireless card, a small amount of RAM, and weighs 9 pounds total.  It's never been very portable and I keep getting error messages with some USB devices.

I'm leaning towards buying a new computer, especially after my parents hinted that they'd foot the bill.  The 3 pound ones are around 2k, but I figure that after this guy, a 4-5 pound laptop around 1k will seem like a perfect vacation.  Additionally, it would be up to date and hopefully last me through this 2 year job stint and grad school.  The decision falls down to whether to buy another PC, or get a Mac.

Right now, I'm leaning towards a Mac, because based on price and features, it seems to be the best deal.  Is it?  Or is it just a marketing lie by Apple?

[Munerift]

...depends... would you like to play games at ALL? (If yes, then go with a PC.)

[Xepher]

I don't hate Macs, however, I don't think I'd ever call one "best value." Though at the low end, they're still respectable values. The thing is that a mac is gonna coast pretty much the same no matter where you buy it. The cheapest macbook is $1099 I think. You can get a good PC laptop from about $800. I've got an Averatec 3270... http://www.averatec.com/notebooks/3200series.htm (the ee1 model) that I bought, brand new a year ago, for $770 on ebay. It's pretty close to the cheap macbook in performance, though it's lacking a camera, and the screen is a tad smaller. It is several hundred cheaper though. Of course, if your parents are footing the bill and you want a really fun PC, go grab a tablet PC from toshiba. :-) http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/ebtext.to?page=tabletpcfam

[griever]

I've never gotten into the whole computer gaming thing...the only games I purchase for the PC are the Sims/Sims 2 games.

The tablet PCs look really cool, but I don't know if I need a tablet PC.  I'll keep the averatec notebooks in mind, because those are much nicer, price-wise.

[Chow]

to be honest, I like macs, especially their notebooks, but the cheapest viable one is the $1300 Intel Core Duo, and you can get those specs on a PC laptop for about $400-$500 less. They just plain cost more. It's a decent machine, and I definitly agree you should replace your old one, but I say no on the mac if you're thinking moneywise. This is especially true if you're using this for web browsing/updating your site, word processing, media viewing. Unless you're planning on doing a whole bunch of media creation, I would skip the mac.

[Gwyn]

It irks me when people say "get a mac if you want to do graphic design/ anything to do with media". That may have been true years ago, but all those programs, they're avalible for PC now.

I'm sick of everyone assuming Macs are for creative people and PCs are for gamers. You can get a PC for cheaper that out performs a Mac, now why can't I do media creation on that PC?

I do all sorts of media creation on my PC. I don't need a Mac to do it, why anyone would think otherwise baffles me.

[Munerift]

Exactly... my laptop was created for me (by my father) to run the biggest and the best games... and you know what I primarily do with it?

Surf the web
Download s  o  n   g  s
Create webpages
Graphics Design


Ahhhh... the sweet feeling of a fast computer.... ^_^

[griever]

I don't do a lot of media creation or gaming, so I guess I could do either system. ^_^  I pretty much use my computer to write papers (although I get a nice little break from that now), Photoshop, Dreamweaver, play Sims 2, and surf the internet.  I don't even watch too many flash videos and stuff.  I bought this laptop with the intention of doing computer programming and at the time, it was great.

I found out from my mom that her college only has deals through Dell or Apple, so I guess it has to be either one of those.

[Munerift]

Go with the Dell Inspiron 8600, with full upgrades! (or a mid-level XPS)

[Databits]

Also recall that it really doesn't matter anymore. Mac OSX is more or less a Unix operating system. So you could get a PC and put OSX on it if you _really_ want to (I have a friend that did this with a PC he got). Since mac's are going with Intel chips now days, it shouldn't be that difficult.. assuming you can get the drivers for certain hardware, which on a laptop, is usually the hardest part.

[Xepher]

Yeah, my friend dual-boots WinXP and OSX on his new iMac. If you're getting one with the coreduo (intel) cpu, it's a piece of cake. Apple even makes BootCamp (a free download/burn cd thing) to help you do it.

[Databits]

Considering Gates owns 1/2 of Apple now, it's no surprise.

[griever]

The dual boot sounds kind of nice.  I still have all my Windows XP installation discs and registration code so I could use them?

[Xepher]

Right. Just make sure you hit up the requirements here. http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/ and note the bit where they talk about running windows on a mac is just like running it on a PC. You get all the same viruses and such, whereas OSX doesn't get so many. The good news is that if the windows partition gets infected, it doesn't readily jump to the OSX one, though I'm sure some clever virus writer out there is working on it. :-)

[griever]

I figured as much. x.x  I've still got Norton though and my subscription's about to expire.  I might as well renew it with the software on my new machine then.  I'm rather rabid about making sure my computer's clean anyway.