As anticipated, several good comments were generated by the item on “The Best Laptop…”
https://brigada.org/2015/07/12_16826
At the end of the day, not unsurprisingly, it was a split decision between Mac units and Windows. But one thing’s for sure: We’re a lot better off than we were in 1986. : )
PC or a Mac machine seems to be a big question. Setting the stage, my brother-in-law bought a computer kit from the back of a Popular Electronics magazine back I the early 80’s. From this I learned the basics about computers and how they functioned by writing small programs. It was then I realized the potential of home computers and it would only be a matter of time before they went full blown popular. Since programming didn’t appeal to me, I decided to wait for the technology evolved. I then jumped into computers when the 286 proved to be of good use with the DOS operating system. I progressed to the 386, 486, 586, Pentiums and so on. DOS 3.0, Windows 95, NT, 98, ME, 2000, XP, so on. PC’s are a great, versatile tool. There are many programs available both free and costly. Here is what I noticed. The more the computer was improved, the more software maintenance was needed. It was frustrating to build a super quick computer, only to have to make a choice of either running a virus program and spyware filter with continuous updates and have them consume a generation worth of resources to run or keep on top of digging out and avoiding other network computers that have a high probability of infecting my machine. I spent a1/5 of my computer time fixing/maintaining it instead of using it.
One day in about the year 2000, I picked up an Apple computer someone put on the curb. It was from the late 80’s as I recall. I plugged it in and even though it was way outdated, everything worked just like it was designed to. I was impressed. Then in 2001 my wife got a new teaching job where this elite school used only Apple computers. It made an impression on her and even though I was a PC fanatic at the time, I was impressed as well. In 2006 it was time to buy a new laptop. We decided to try a Mac. It was pricey and it had few programs with it. I had to buy several and they were costly as well. Choices are about 15 programs for Windows PC’s (and some are free) to about 1 Mac program. Very few are free for Mac. It took some getting use to but after a couple of months I vowed never to buy another PC UNLESS it was going to be isolated from the internet. In that case you get much more bang for the buck with PC’s.
We are on our 4th Mac. No regrets. Maintenance down to about 2%. In the 9 years of using a Mac I have never had virus or malware issues. I don’t run a consuming virus program. I’d guess 7 out of 10 missionaries I have been exposed to use a Mac. Backing up is always advisable for ANY machine you can’t afford to lose info from. Locking up has happened a handful of times when I tried to get to much going on to fast. A reboot gets me back operating. Backward compatibility with software and hardware is better on a Mac but it is getting worse.
Here is the problem: If your Mac needs some physical repairs or parts, they are much more difficult to find and usually pricey. To add to this, Mac technicians are far and few between, especially outside the USA.
Some hints I would recommend – Never buy the latest, greatest item. Wait a season for the bugs to be exposed. The hot technology one step back that is proven is a better place to start IMHO. Massive hard-drives make one want to store much info. Even the fastest computers get bogged down with large, full hard-drives. It’s better to get something like a 500GB – 750GB and keep your unused music, photos and videos on external storage (no bigger than 500GB. (Losing a Terabyte of info can be twice as painful. Ask Mark Broberg). Keep a cover on it. It will make it more sellable as you should replace it after 3-4 years.
About solid state drives, they make me nervous. They are fast. They run hot. Loosing info on them would require a short, quick static spark in the wrong place at the wrong time. It may never happen. I feel a bit more comfortable with mechanical drives as if the mechanical parts quit working, chances are you can get a company to recover the data, at least more easily than with a solid state drive. It can be very costly though. I’ll have to do more research on their reliability before I’d get one.
We use MacBook Pro’s with 13 inch screens (get a bigger screen if eyesite is a big issue). They are fully functional, somewhat compact, with lots of RAM and get the fastest processor available if possible, especially if you do lots of video/photo work.
That is where we are at. Hope this is of value to someone!
Don Minikel -MA with Andy Raatz Moldova/Russia