Hmm, good question - will you have specific requirements that mandate use of a Wintel/WinAMD box or can you get away with use of a Mac?
You should also look at them at the store and see which one might be better for you to use. I find certain keyboard layouts positively annoying and in fact part of my laptop purchase was motivated by the keyboard design as well as the weight.
none first of all, the only reason for possiibly buying one of those is because of the "slimness". I put down 1500 for a macbook and i totally regret it, because i could have gotten a highend HP laptop with better components for a cheaper price than that. but if u really want a slim laptop, wait for the new samsung one to come out.... http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10029239-1.html?tag=mncol;title Is the acer aspire another slim one?
MacBook Air is sexy, slim and light weight. The only downside is that it doesn't come with a lock so you can't tie it to a table in the library when you go to the washroom (although I guess this can be a solution)
Acers are durable, I can't speak for the eye-candy though.
I say go with Air if you've got the budget for it. :shade:
Yeah, Macs are expensive... that's one downside my cousin found when he was pricing out replacements. $1000 for a new Macbook pro? Fucking insane. My Compaq was $399 before tax.
Yeah, Macs are expensive... that's one downside my cousin found when he was pricing out replacements. $1000 for a new Macbook pro? Fucking insane. My Compaq was $399 before tax.
macbook pros start off at at like ~1700 now. Macbooks start at 1000. The only upside of the air is its size and the SSD (which is available in regular laptops too), otherwise its shit.
if you plan on getting the macbook pro, beware, it gets very hot. mine idles around 50 and at full output can hit 70-90 degrees celsius. other then that its a pretty sweet laptop (sans the price tag).
the acer aspire one is more like a toy then an actual laptop, actually it fits in the "netbook" category. if you plan on using it for school and note taking i suggest you pick up an external keyboard, whether it be a folding one or a roll up. the stock keyboard on the Acer aspire one is stupidly small with a dual language setup and multiple fn keys on it. the tab key is tiny and the enter and delete keys aren't much bigger. for surfing the net or some quick chatting its fine but not much useful in any other way.
personally i wouldnt get the macbook air, simply cause it has no cd drive and the fact that it doesnt have an ethernet jack.
i'm guessing you want this laptop for school but what other things do you want to do with it? do you game? do multimedia editing? etc? or is this laptop solely for the purpose of school and in between class breaks?
For an economy laptop that's lightweight, you could look at something like the Compaq Presario C700 I got. It's very light, but has a 15.4" screen and usually comes with minimum 1 gig of RAM. You'll probably want to rip out the stupid 60-day Norton Internet Security trial (like, wtf... why would you use a "Security suite" with a 60-day trial only. Boggles the mind) and go with the Vista native firewall and google how to lock down Vista to protect against the usual suspects.
Definitely check weight specifications on laptops. Another one I used was a Compaq Presario R3200 and it was like 8 pounds. Ugh. This one is 6. Believe me, it makes a difference.
I have a macbook and i regret buying it as well. This is what happened to mine:
[youtube]VjLVetS1S9w[/youtube]
I wish I had gotten a vaio or something else. I even met someone else at school who had the exact same thing, so its a defect.
OMG i had the same thing....TWICE!!! Im getting it repaired for the second time right now and my warranty ends in like 4 days so i had to drop 230 bucks on a "applecare" warranty.......wtf???? over 200 for 2 added years of warranty and phone support??? bullshit Apple overprices there products even more than sony and half of there products are crap. btw it is a manufacturing defect so I would call apple even if your warranty is up and try on getting it fixed
my one year is up in a few weeks and ill be bringing it in...i thought it would be fine how it is but its starting to come off more now
piece of crap...i knew i should have stayed with windows, i know you can have windows on mac, but that involves me shelling out 400 more dollars unless i can find anyone with it
my one year is up in a few weeks and ill be bringing it in...i thought it would be fine how it is but its starting to come off more now
piece of crap...i knew i should have stayed with windows, i know you can have windows on mac, but that involves me shelling out 400 more dollars unless i can find anyone with it
lol find some1 in comp sci that can hook u up with a copy of xp/vista business they get it for free im still debating if i should get vista over xp cuz ive heard bad things
Vista is fine, except for some compatability issues, the annoying permission things, and the docx format.
Just turn off the security settings, and most of peoples gripes with Vista are done...everyone is so concerned about getting hacked and shit, and I've been on computers since i was fifteen, without firewalls or routine virus checkers, and never once has anyone done anything to my computer, remotely.
The only time any stuff happened to me was when i downloaded stuff with trojans, which was my own fault.
Is there even a way to run windows on Tiger? I know Leopard comes with bootcamp, and you just need a windows installation disk.
well i just got the leopard disc from the sfu store...70 bucks isnt a bad price, whereas vista is a good 2-3 hundred. I know they used to have a bootcamp beta for tiger b4 leopard was released but dunno if they have it anymore
Just bought my 120GB HDD/1GB RAM/XP/6-cell Aspire One from NCIX yesterday for ~$480 after tax, and I'm loving it so far. I don't intend on doing much other than surfing the net, MSN, taking notes, Photoshop, and music/movies -- all of which it's handling great right now. Of course, I had to format it and put my own nLite'd copy of Windows XP on there, just couldnt' stand the bloatware. Battery life on the 6-cell is about 6-7 hours which is great. Keyboard doesn't take very long to get used if you're quick at that kind of thing, I've had it for a day and am pretty much accustomed to it already (and I have big hands). Some say the 8.9" is too small but I think it's great, especially to carry around. With the 6-cell battery, it weighs about 2.5lbs; with the 3-cell, about 2.2lbs.
Overall I think it was a great buy for me, but it all depends on what you want to do with your laptop. If it's just for basic, portable student use, I say go with a netbook (Aspire One, if you want more functionality go with the MSI Wind or Asus EEE 1000H). Go into FS/BB/Staples/TSCC/NCIX and try out the keyboards first if you predict the size will be a concern. Rumours are they can handle light gaming too if you're into that kind of thing.
But meh, if you have the money, I'd say go Macbook or Macbook Pro, but never Macbook Air. Don't get me wrong, I'm also an Apple fan, but to me, the Air just seems like an overpriced bad idea.
The Vista you buy in a store for retail, or an OEM version at say NCIX, doesn't come with any version of Office. I've successfully put Office 2K3 on a Vista Ultimate install on my Core 2 Quad box, for example.
You may be thinking of how laptops often get preloaded with Office 2K7 as a free trial these days. I have one such, and I'm giving it a go though I will probably ax it and go back to 2003 myself.
The Vista you buy in a store for retail, or an OEM version at say NCIX, doesn't come with any version of Office. I've successfully put Office 2K3 on a Vista Ultimate install on my Core 2 Quad box, for example.
You may be thinking of how laptops often get preloaded with Office 2K7 as a free trial these days. I have one such, and I'm giving it a go though I will probably ax it and go back to 2003 myself.
how much did u buy the vista ultimate for? Can u get me one for free? lol
I'm using it mainly for school. Yeah I agree that the macbook air is sexy as hell. The only thing is the price. I mean, yeah I'm using it for school, but if I buy an aspire one it'll save me so much more (It's $399) at Best Buy right now.
the MacBook Air is good only if you want to pay a premium for portability. It's pretty under-featured compared to the other Macs.
For the Vista comments... http://www.mojaveexperiment.com/ not a proper study of course, but the only point I like about it is to demonstrate that a lot of crap about vista is just nonsense hearsay.
If you're getting the Aspire One, I would highly recommend you get the 6-cell version: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=31428 Though more expensive, the 6-cell will last you about 5-7 hours as opposed to the pathetic 2.5-3 hours on the 3-cell. You don't want your computer dying on you halfway through the day when you still need it. Granted, it makes it a little more bulky but on the upside, it's a great handle for carrying with one hand.
hmmm...I JUST BOUGHT THE Aspire One last week. I've used it for a week. However, I originally wanted to get the macbook air, but my mom was like "You HAVE to get the macbook air! and give your old laptop to me!!" so i was like SCREW YOU mom, and i got the Aspire One and kept my old lap top too. But right now, i'm regretting it.... I"m thinking of returning the Aspire One and go for the Macbook air deal at the microstore!
(I bought my aspire one @ futureshop...) any suggestions, any at all, over refund policies, and what I should do???
hmmm...I JUST BOUGHT THE Aspire One last week. I've used it for a week. However, I originally wanted to get the macbook air, but my mom was like "You HAVE to get the macbook air! and give your old laptop to me!!" so i was like SCREW YOU mom, and i got the Aspire One and kept my old lap top too. But right now, i'm regretting it.... I"m thinking of returning the Aspire One and go for the Macbook air deal at the microstore!
(I bought my aspire one @ futureshop...) any suggestions, any at all, over refund policies, and what I should do???
Thanks!!
the policy is 14 day return or exchange. must be accompanied by a receipt as well as all original accessories and packaging which came with the unit.
i have the acer aspire one and i also have a macbook pro. my mbp is out for repair so im stuck with the acer aspire one for now. the things a bitch to type on for long periods of time, so i bought an external folding keyboard to go with it for when i need to type for more then 5 minutes.
btw the macbook air seems a bit limiting in the fact that its missing an ethernet port as well as the fact that it has no optical drive. the x300 lenovo might be a nicer unit considering the fact that it has everything and is almost as slim as the macbook air.
the policy is 14 day return or exchange. must be accompanied by a receipt as well as all original accessories and packaging which came with the unit.
i have the acer aspire one and i also have a macbook pro. my mbp is out for repair so im stuck with the acer aspire one for now. the things a bitch to type on for long periods of time, so i bought an external folding keyboard to go with it for when i need to type for more then 5 minutes.
whats wrong with giving your mom your old laptop if she plans on buying you a brand new macbook air? it seems nice of her to want to buy YOU a new laptop and get a used one for herself rather then buy herself a new one and leave you to save up for your own laptop.
btw the macbook air seems a bit limiting in the fact that its missing an ethernet port as well as the fact that it has no optical drive. the x300 lenovo might be a nicer unit considering the fact that it has everything and is almost as slim as the macbook air.
so yeah, just got the MACBOOK AIR from the microstore up @ sfu yesterday!!! soo happy!!! ahahah. also got the iPod touch for free (w/ mail in rebate) which is awesome. (seeing as how i thought the iPod classic was better). Did anyone else get this deal?
Comments
You should also look at them at the store and see which one might be better for you to use. I find certain keyboard layouts positively annoying and in fact part of my laptop purchase was motivated by the keyboard design as well as the weight.
first of all, the only reason for possiibly buying one of those is because of the "slimness".
I put down 1500 for a macbook and i totally regret it, because i could have gotten a highend HP laptop with better components for a cheaper price than that.
but if u really want a slim laptop, wait for the new samsung one to come out.... http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10029239-1.html?tag=mncol;title
Is the acer aspire another slim one?
Acers are durable, I can't speak for the eye-candy though.
I say go with Air if you've got the budget for it. :shade:
if you plan on getting the macbook pro, beware, it gets very hot. mine idles around 50 and at full output can hit 70-90 degrees celsius. other then that its a pretty sweet laptop (sans the price tag).
the acer aspire one is more like a toy then an actual laptop, actually it fits in the "netbook" category. if you plan on using it for school and note taking i suggest you pick up an external keyboard, whether it be a folding one or a roll up. the stock keyboard on the Acer aspire one is stupidly small with a dual language setup and multiple fn keys on it. the tab key is tiny and the enter and delete keys aren't much bigger. for surfing the net or some quick chatting its fine but not much useful in any other way.
personally i wouldnt get the macbook air, simply cause it has no cd drive and the fact that it doesnt have an ethernet jack.
i'm guessing you want this laptop for school but what other things do you want to do with it? do you game? do multimedia editing? etc? or is this laptop solely for the purpose of school and in between class breaks?
Definitely check weight specifications on laptops. Another one I used was a Compaq Presario R3200 and it was like 8 pounds. Ugh. This one is 6. Believe me, it makes a difference.
[youtube]VjLVetS1S9w[/youtube]
I wish I had gotten a vaio or something else. I even met someone else at school who had the exact same thing, so its a defect.
Apple overprices there products even more than sony and half of there products are crap.
btw it is a manufacturing defect so I would call apple even if your warranty is up and try on getting it fixed
piece of crap...i knew i should have stayed with windows, i know you can have windows on mac, but that involves me shelling out 400 more dollars unless i can find anyone with it
they get it for free
im still debating if i should get vista over xp cuz ive heard bad things
Just turn off the security settings, and most of peoples gripes with Vista are done...everyone is so concerned about getting hacked and shit, and I've been on computers since i was fifteen, without firewalls or routine virus checkers, and never once has anyone done anything to my computer, remotely.
The only time any stuff happened to me was when i downloaded stuff with trojans, which was my own fault.
Is there even a way to run windows on Tiger? I know Leopard comes with bootcamp, and you just need a windows installation disk.
Overall I think it was a great buy for me, but it all depends on what you want to do with your laptop. If it's just for basic, portable student use, I say go with a netbook (Aspire One, if you want more functionality go with the MSI Wind or Asus EEE 1000H). Go into FS/BB/Staples/TSCC/NCIX and try out the keyboards first if you predict the size will be a concern. Rumours are they can handle light gaming too if you're into that kind of thing.
But meh, if you have the money, I'd say go Macbook or Macbook Pro, but never Macbook Air. Don't get me wrong, I'm also an Apple fan, but to me, the Air just seems like an overpriced bad idea.
You may be thinking of how laptops often get preloaded with Office 2K7 as a free trial these days. I have one such, and I'm giving it a go though I will probably ax it and go back to 2003 myself.
For the Vista comments... http://www.mojaveexperiment.com/
not a proper study of course, but the only point I like about it is to demonstrate that a lot of crap about vista is just nonsense hearsay.
(I bought my aspire one @ futureshop...) any suggestions, any at all, over refund policies, and what I should do???
Thanks!!
i have the acer aspire one and i also have a macbook pro. my mbp is out for repair so im stuck with the acer aspire one for now. the things a bitch to type on for long periods of time, so i bought an external folding keyboard to go with it for when i need to type for more then 5 minutes.
btw the macbook air seems a bit limiting in the fact that its missing an ethernet port as well as the fact that it has no optical drive. the x300 lenovo might be a nicer unit considering the fact that it has everything and is almost as slim as the macbook air.