The MacBook is $999 at academic pricing -- not to be confused with the MB Air
Yeah, it was the Air I was looking at and going, "OMG, not paying $2000+ for my web-and-Word machine!"
Giles, if you would like to get by in American society, then you are going to have to follow our traditions. You're the patriarch. You have to host the festivities, or it's all meaningless.
Buffy ,'Sleeper'
Buffistechnology 3: "Press Some Buttons, See What Happens."
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Susan W. - Jul 24, 2008 2:00:30 pm PDT #7188 of 25512
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
Pix - Jul 24, 2008 2:01:09 pm PDT #7189 of 25512
The status is NOT quo.
Susan, the regular Macbook starts at $1099 brand new, and there's a refurb on the site for $949 right now.
I'm more than a little biased myself, granted, but I just don't think you can beat Mac for reliability and ease of use. It weighs about 5 lbs., so no MacBook Air, but it's pretty great.
Susan W. - Jul 24, 2008 2:04:28 pm PDT #7190 of 25512
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
Hmm...is there much of a learning curve for someone who hasn't used a Mac since 1995?
NoiseDesign - Jul 24, 2008 2:04:51 pm PDT #7191 of 25512
Our wings are not tired
I've had miserable luck with Dells and Gateways. Good luck Toshiba and Apple, moderate luck with eMachines.
Pix - Jul 24, 2008 2:05:28 pm PDT #7192 of 25512
The status is NOT quo.
A very quick one. When I switched back from PC to Mac three years ago, it took me about a week to get used to the new OS. I haven't looked back since.
NoiseDesign - Jul 24, 2008 2:07:11 pm PDT #7193 of 25512
Our wings are not tired
And if you need/want all current Macs can now run windows. I have both OSes installed on all of my machines. I need to upgrade at least one of them to Vista.
sarameg - Jul 24, 2008 2:08:06 pm PDT #7194 of 25512
I think if you find yourself wedded to a mac, the refurbs are a deal when available. This 15 inch macbook pro came in at $1500. They currently have the 13 inch macbooks under $1K.
That said, were I not, I'd probably could have gotten a comparable pc new for less. (Just guessing, because I didn't even look because I'm really not as comfortable on that platform.)
amych - Jul 24, 2008 2:11:56 pm PDT #7195 of 25512
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
The conventional wisdom on pricing is that Macs have a higher initial cost, but lower cost of ownership over time -- you can do more with what comes in the box, fewer repairs, longer life overall, etc. and so on. Mileage (and actual use patterns) may vary, of course.
(But I should also note that I really don't know PC pricing -- I do either Mac laptops or build-your-own-Frankenboxes with lots of baling twine and duct tape and Linux.)
Susan W. - Jul 24, 2008 2:16:58 pm PDT #7196 of 25512
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
The magsafe does appeal...I've been snarling at our current laptop on a daily basis over the stupid plug thing. This is the third time it's gone bad, and now it's not under warranty anymore.
Sounds like a visit to the UW Bookstore is in order. It looks like they're offering a rebate if you purchase a MacBook and an iPod together...
NoiseDesign - Jul 24, 2008 2:17:01 pm PDT #7197 of 25512
Our wings are not tired
When I'm buying if I actual purchase truly comparable machines, I usually end up within about $200. Sometimes this favors the PC, sometimes it favors the Mac. While I have a couple of pretty old Toshibas this are still running great, typically I get about 2 years more use out of my long term macs.