Do we have any computer / electronics / photography fans in the house?
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Can’t provide photos as the hardware is spread around the house. Between us we have:
Four iPhones
Three iPads, including an iPad Pro
One iMac, which I’ve partitioned to run Windows as well and which son runs two screens off
One MacBook Pro
One MacBook Air
One Alienware desktop
One Alienware laptop
One Asus laptop
Its too difficult to photograph, but I have:
Windows Desktop
2x Windows laptops
Windows tablet
Mac mini
Android tablet
Sailfish tablet (which Im using to write this post)
iPad
Windows phone
Sony Android phone
Sailfish phone
Just had a quick count. 2 x Windows laptops, 1 iPhad, 2 x Fire 7 tablets, 1 x Google Nexus 7 and two desk tops and a Smart TV with a CoWatch on order. Can I be in the geek squad?
I can’t compete with any of those set ups. I do have a question though…
I’m leaving my current job in a couple of weeks (where I’ve been since I started work) and have always used my work laptop and phone for personal use. I’m therefore going to have to buy a personal laptop and phone for the first time in almost ten years(!). I’m going to stick with the iphone as I have so many photos shared with friends/family on photostream, but am after some advice as to what laptop people would recommend. I’m thinking about Microsoft Surface, Google Chrome or an Apple of some sort, but am open to other suggestions. I would only need it for browsing the internet, the occasional film (perhaps once a month) and looking at photos. I get music through the Amazon Music app so don’t use iTunes and I don’t do any online gaming. I would need to be able to run Excel though.
Any thoughts would be incredibly gratefully received.
I would always recommend Apple laptops based on the build quality, components, support, operating system, lack of malware, quality of third party software and compatibility with iDevices.
There’s a good summary in here as to why, given the choice, most professional developers choose Macs:
If you were to buy a MacBook Pro I would hold out until June when it’s expected to be radically refreshed:
Having said all that, Apple tend to make high-end machines and I don’t know if the cost is really justified for your use cases. I haven’t bought a PC laptop in 13 years but some of the cheaper ultra books look like great value for money.
Thanks Chris, that’s really helpful. My only reservation about Apple laptops (other than the price!) is that I’ve never found a touchpad that I find easy to use, I’ve always preferred a mouse. I guess Apple’s touchpad is probably a lot better than most others though
I’ve never found a PC touchpad that I liked. The glass pads on Macs are a joy, and the realistic haptic response (there’s no mechanical movement) on the new 2015 MacBook is very clever. Feels just like a real click. For me, it’s the little things like precise and immediate two-finger scrolling that make Mac touchpads a good user experience
@anon5422159 without wanting to speak for all professional developers - I think that is a bit of a sweeping generalisation. I have been a developer for 20 years and I’ve never worked in a place with more than only a few Macs - even then the development people did on them was done using the windows emulator. In my considerable experience apple produce nice looking expensive things which tend to go out of date faster than most and break just as often as anything else. Also that link isn’t really proof, just some opinions.
I do tend to get a bit evangelical when talking about Macs - just the way I am. You’re right in that a lot of pro developers use PCs in their day-to-day work. Here in Morgan Stanley, we all use PCs. But only because that’s what we’re given. If I had the choice it would be a Mac. When developers bring in their own laptops they are almost exclusively Mac.
I assume whatever laptop you get with have a touchpad, whether Apple or PC. I use a mouse with my MacBook Pro when I have it on the desk, but the track pad is pretty easy.
If you swap from a PC to Mac you may find it takes a while to get used to the reverse scrolling! It mimics the scrolling direction of touch screen devices but isn’t as intuitive at first.
I know there are lots of pros and cons both ways, but for me the Mac wins because of the reliability and customer support. If you’ve not had to deal with any of that stuff for yourself in a long time, that might make a difference. Macs do go wrong, of course, but when they do, popping it into your local Applec store is MUCH easier than dealing with almost any other manufacturer. My daughter’s ASUS laptop had to be sent back to their factory for warranty repair. It was gone for six weeks. Apple do almost all their repairs in store and I’ve usually had mine back the same day.
Thanks Rachel, the customer support point hadn’t occurred to me. Together with less of a virus/malware risk I guess Apple’s tend to be a bit lower maintenance to own
Ive had the opposite in my house. In fact Ive had to replace the dvd and the hard drive of the mac mini after the hdd crashed and the dvd failed (separate events). Looking around the insides demonstrated to me that there are no expensive components in there - what you read is all marketing hype, its the same cheap stuff as in most PCs. Of course with apple kit, you do pay twice as much for it.
Many PC laptops these days have the backwards scroll for the touchpad too, I struggle with it - but Ive got a mouse I can use in small spaces so not too much hassle
I have laptop called iPad I use for all my home computer use. I can’t remember what I need the computer in the study for.
Last year my mum’s computer packed up and I got her a tablet. She is perfectly happy with it too.
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