Dat MacBook Pro Thread

[vyshane]

Macos has linux... but you can also.. you know.. just dual boot REAL-linux and windowz on regular laptop

The mac has a n00b friendly UI, which is completely useless to a seasoned Computer-guy, after the first 10 minutes of novelty..

so... what do you get for $2000..

You get to impress low income people who think macs is some sort of social status symbol.

You get to look like a tool in front of other seasoned (geeks)

All middle income people remain unimpressed..

All high income people think u probably could've gotten more returns for your cash elsewhere. (not necessarily a computer)

All Super Rich people still see you as an Ant who now happens to own an aluminum block, to which you're doing work on , FOR THEM... hahahahahah

Those are the external perspectives... 

NOW...  You must determine if your individual Conviction is significantly Greater than the less than favorable externality.

Macs aren't status symbols. They aren't rare and they aren't even that expensive. Sure, they aren't the cheapest computers that you can get, but if you make your living by creating stuff on a computer, a Mac isn't expensive. You'd spend the same amount of money on a PC if you preferred PCs.

As for OS X being a noob OS, well the people who think so tend to believe that being able to tweak the Windows settings or being able to edit configuration text files is what makes them pros. Meanwhile, OS X has a disproportionately large market share among the people who actually write software. It's been that way for quite a while now. OS X was already the most popular OS among GitHub visitors back in 2008.

[skcheng]

JD, I'm both a Windows and an Apple fan.   It's still amazing to me that after all of these years, people still want to bash Apple for so many reasons.   Bottom line, the Apple products play well with each other.   Not always so well with others.   But if you have a family with 3 iPhones, and 5 iPads, it just makes sense to have a few Apple computers are well.   I currently have 3 iMacs and 2 MacBook Pros and I upgrade my Apple products every 2 yrs. 

My suggestion is simply buy what you need.   And buy from here if you possibly have one local to you?   Discounts especially on open box items and only 3% tax. 

http://www.microcenter.com/category/4294967288,4294966363/Apple-Laptops

And this is a great bag to tote your MacPro/Air and an iPad:

http://www.tombihn.com/laptop-bags/TB0223.html

I do suggest one of the Retina display models.   The screen is very nice even though others are now offering similar high quality screens.   The MacBook is quite heavy though, but not so heavy that I mind carrying it around with me.   My model has an HDMI, a few USBs and a SUPER fast Thunderbolt connection.   Data transfer is really quick to my 4TB G-RAID Thunderdrives, which I have two of.   

http://store.apple.com/us/product/H8248VC/A/g-technology-4tb-g-raid-with-thunderbolt-hard-drive?afid=p219|GOUS&cid=AOS-US-KWG-PLA

FWIW, my son games on a custom built Windows PC, and I have plenty of Windows PCs and Laptops as well.    Asus Zenbooks are great but you have similar setups. 

Also FWIW, the Apple keyboard is what drove me to Geekhack many years ago LOL.   Now I somewhat appreciate the Apple keyboard, but I still avoid using it whenever possible.   

And ...... I've never had an issue with any of my Apple computers.   Maybe I'm just lucky??   And I've never purchased Applecare.   I figure in 1-2 yrs, I'll just get new computers anyway.   

My 2c,

skc

[tp4tissue]

Macos has linux... but you can also.. you know.. just dual boot REAL-linux and windowz on regular laptop

The mac has a n00b friendly UI, which is completely useless to a seasoned Computer-guy, after the first 10 minutes of novelty..

so... what do you get for $2000..

You get to impress low income people who think macs is some sort of social status symbol.

You get to look like a tool in front of other seasoned (geeks)

All middle income people remain unimpressed..

All high income people think u probably could've gotten more returns for your cash elsewhere. (not necessarily a computer)

All Super Rich people still see you as an Ant who now happens to own an aluminum block, to which you're doing work on , FOR THEM... hahahahahah

Those are the external perspectives... 

NOW...  You must determine if your individual Conviction is significantly Greater than the less than favorable externality.

Macs aren't status symbols. They aren't rare and they aren't even that expensive. Sure, they aren't the cheapest computers that you can get, but if you make your living by creating stuff on a computer, a Mac isn't expensive. You'd spend the same amount of money on a PC if you preferred PCs.

As for OS X being a noob OS, well the people who think so tend to believe that being able to tweak the Windows settings or being able to edit configuration text files is what makes them pros. Meanwhile, OS X has a disproportionately large market share among the people who actually write software. It's been that way for quite a while now. OS X was already the most popular OS among GitHub visitors back in 2008.

I agree it's not a status symbol  to medium income +

but to Low income (which accounts for more % of the population),  moderately expensive things are still  somewhat a status symbol..


There is a specific reason why macos has been somewhat popular among developers..

Also,  JUST because you can (CODE), doesn't automatically mean whatever you buy/use is of optimal configuration..

[skcheng]

Well.....this is a keyboard forum.   And the majority of the world is happy with their freebie rubber dome keyboard 

But here on GH, we have fun discussing $600 Korean Customs and $200 Clacks 

[tp4tissue]

Well.....this is a keyboard forum.   And the majority of the world is happy with their freebie rubber dome keyboard 

But here on GH, we have fun discussing $600 Korean Customs and $200 Clacks 

no we're not...   SOME people are..  from the utility-perspective.. $600 korean bricks are stupid waste of money...   but the people who buy them are collectors.. they buy it for a vain reason, but that's their thing, and it gets them off.. to indulge in "elite ownership"..



Tp4, non-collector, advanced user, only discuss $200 Ergodox...  Which is Purely function... aesthetics be damned..

[skcheng]

Well.....this is a keyboard forum.   And the majority of the world is happy with their freebie rubber dome keyboard 

But here on GH, we have fun discussing $600 Korean Customs and $200 Clacks 

no we're not...   SOME people are..  from the utility-perspective.. $600 korean bricks are stupid waste of money...   but the people who buy them are collectors.. they buy it for a vain reason, but that's their thing, and it gets them off.. to indulge in "elite ownership"..



Tp4, non-collector, advanced user, only discuss $200 Ergodox...  Which is Purely function... aesthetics be damned..

Well .... we can just happily agree to disagree.   I love my KMAC 2 to death from a functional and aesthetic perspective, whereas I can't seem to get along with my ErgoDox no matter how hard I try.  I literally need to move my hand off the board in order to hit anything other than the large space bar on the thumb cluster 

But I'm truly happy that you love your ErgoDox!!  Maybe I just need some more practice and to allow more learning curve time? 

[vyshane]

I agree it's not a status symbol  to medium income +

but to Low income (which accounts for more % of the population), moderately expensive things are still  somewhat a status symbol..

There is a specific reason why macos has been somewhat popular among developers..

Also,  JUST because you can (CODE), doesn't automatically mean whatever you buy/use is of optimal configuration..

You dismiss OS X as useless for "seasoned computer-guys".

I tell you that OS X is in fact very popular among coders.

You then say that these alpha seasoned computer-guys may not know what's good for them.

The hubris.

[jmchargue]

The only LEGIT reason to get a macbook.. is for the fashion

Yes, or if you're a programmer that wants an out-of-the-box well supported package managed unix environment but that's whatever

I mean come on guys whichever is better, Linux or OSx, it's so much easier to use the one that the most other people use, and there's no reason to fight that, or you'll spend more time tweakin your system files than doing actual work.

I mean really, the guys who invented plan9 are using OXs now

[jdcarpe]

Oh, I forgot one other piece of information. I also have a late-2008 MacBook Air (which I'm actually using to type this post). I bought it from mistakemistake a while back, and I'm using it to introduce myself to OS X. I upgraded the OS to the latest Mavericks release on it. The reason I want a MacBook Pro is that the Air is just a little underpowered by today's standards, and when I run QCAD on it, it lags a bit, which is annoying. Also, the hinge is cracked, so the lid won't stay where it should when open. So I use it tethered on my desk, with an external display, rather than being able to use it when I'm away from my desk.

I like Linux very much. In fact, my ThinkPad T41 is running Ubuntu 14.04. I may switch to the Kubuntu DE, just to give that a try again.

I also use Windows quite a bit. At work, my PC is a Windows 7 machine, and my Acer is also running Windows 7.

Ironically, my work phone is an iPhone 4S. And my personal phone is a Nexus 4, soon to be a OnePlus One. I have an iPad for work, which I never use. And at home I have a Samsung Galaxy 2 7.0 tablet, and an iPod Touch (5th gen). So I have a mix of devices and environments I use.

I would just like something that works, out of the box, without a lot of tweaking and fixing all the time. That's why I'm looking at Apple.

[tp4tissue]

Contrary to popular belief, macbooks are NOT perfect Outta-the-Box..

The last macbook I worked with  Macbook retina Ivy Generation,   High idle temperatures, even after they released a patch for it..

And it took several months before someone modded a custom fan control program so that the macbook would idle at a reasonable temperature.


At launch it idled at 50-65 C   Loaded all the way up to 90-92C  and throttled @ 95+... 


So... that whole Macbook just works mystic is perpetuated by N00b and N00b programmers.. 


NO MACHINE just works...   quriks all around...  it comes down to whether or not you notice or even know that something is wrong...

[microsoft windows]

Contrary to popular belief, macbooks are NOT perfect Outta-the-Box..

And you know why? Because they're pieces of crap! Windows laptops are infinitely superior.

[maatmouse]

I prefer my Macbook Air. Its fast and light on the lap. That said, Macbook Pros are great.

[Novus]

Contrary to popular belief, macbooks are NOT perfect Outta-the-Box..

And you know why? Because they're pieces of crap! Windows laptops are infinitely superior.

And you can molest them too and leave your smudges all over em!