Everything Apple (the Mac heads thread)

I bet Ive could do a better job of Jaeger LeCouture's Atmo Clock. Jus sayin'.

I have for a while really wanted someone to come along and do a really nice, clean, well machined black PC laptop. No guff, a pleasure to touch and use... Google are doing that one, that's close.

David, you're spot on ... the appification can fuck off. I don't need all that shit. The less icons on my desktop the better.

Lenovo T420, how much does that set one back? Maybe time to get something before I piss off to Oz and can still get VAT discount ...

When do you go back to Oz?

The T420 price is dependant on options, but slightly less than a MBP for similar spec.

If you go nuts on RAM, SSD, and accessories then of course you could end up paying more. Swings and roundabouts, depends on options and whether your eyes are bigger than your stomach, etc.

Available for shipping end of March apparently.

I have for a while really wanted someone to come along and do a really nice, clean, well machined black PC laptop. No guff, a pleasure to touch and use... Google are doing that one, that's close.

I really like the look of Google's Chrome laptop. But would want to rip out Chromium immediately and put in a full Linux. I'd also want to up the RAM and stick a larger SSD in. But... for looks it's pretty much the ideal stealth laptop, it could be totally perfect if it was a matt aluminium casing and actually available.

ETA for us in Oz is December. Will have to wind down the company etc. Let's see if I can justify the expense. and if there's an international warranty.

Yeah, long battery life, SSD, loads of RAM ... if it is something that lasts me at least 3 years or so, one might go all the way ...

Lenovo do international warranties, that's not a problem. My ex (a few back) got one with a Swedish keyboard whilst in Spain, and it was still covered in the UK (and rest of world). It was like she was trying to fuck with their system. Always made me smile.

I truly think Apple retail coupled with their global warranties is one of their biggest selling points. That and the range simplification by removing the products that would confuse consumers... it turns out less is more works really well there too.

I find it pretty shocking that you have to pay for applecare. That should just be included. I refuse doing that. Got all my machines from John Lewis, who give you two years on all electrical items.

1+

always been using John Lewis to get the 2 years warranty.

who cares? if you want to use osx you need a mac or a hackintosh. lifes too short to fuck about with firmware and terminal so a mac it is.
i don't care what your reasoned argument is about cost etc. pc's look shit, they don't run the software i use, don't run osx. end of.
need a roomful of pc's for geeks to do spreadsheets? sure get pc's it's cost effective and one spotty geek you pay peanuts can look after them.

Hactually, as part of my slightly changed job role, I am now spending loads of time making spreadsheets. And i can safely say that numbers kicks the shit out of excel. Its so much easier and more intuitive.

Yes, you can't do macros with numbers, but i don't even have a fucking clue what they are so I don't care.

So basically, mac (in my view) does typically windows-oriented tasks better than PCs do. So there!! Nyer.

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always been using John Lewis to get the 2 years warranty.

You know how the john lewis warranty works?

year 1 is the same applecare plan you get for free with all macs

year 2: you take your computer to john lewis (or post it to them), they then post it to apple, who repair it, and post it back. It can take 6+ weeks.

I'd happily pay £200 to get my machine fixed in-house, often while you wait, and for 3 years instead of 2. £200 after 3 years is cheaper than £1200 after 2.

I do know how it work, yet it's still cheaper, I don't mind the long wait time as long theyr'e able to fix it from next to nothing.

um, i doubt you'll be saying that if you ever do have to go 6 weeks without a computer, ed..

Hactually, as part of my slightly changed job role, I am now spending loads of time making spreadsheets. And i can safely say that numbers kicks the shit out of excel. Its so much easier and more intuitive.

Yes, you can't do macros with numbers, but i don't even have a fucking clue what they are so I don't care.

So basically, mac (in my view) does typically windows-oriented tasks better than PCs do. So there!! Nyer.

I do a tiny amount of simple spreadsheetin and was totally baffled by excel to the point of frustration. Now a happy user of numbers and pages which were cheaper than Microsoft when purchased from the app store individually. Very easy for a simpleton like me to use.

Fair point qckpckt.

Although, the average life of a machine is just about 3 years ... that's how my accountant sees it.
If my machine dies after 2 and some months I buy a new one, write the old one off, and am rewarded with a new machine. If I have to cope with JL warranty, I take my back up machine to work and after 6 weeks have the fixed one back ...

Right now, I know more people who own a MacBook Pro and want a Lenovo T420 (with Ubuntu or FreeBSD) when that comes out at the end of March, than who own a MBP and want a new version of it.

What I find crazy is that these people are using Ubuntu or FreeBSD with probably use Gnome/KDE or XFCE which are both poor knockoff's of Windows 95-Vista UI (If you move stuff around in Gnome you can make it work exactly like Windows but no global task bar lock) .... Why not just use Windows 7 which has the nice Mac Dock esque task bar with all the benefits of the better battery life, better hardware support and better applications ... Is there that much of an anti Windows sentiment?

Just seems nuts to me.

I do a tiny amount of simple spreadsheetin and was totally baffled by excel to the point of frustration.

I learnt how to use Excel when I was 16 ... at 15 I didn't know what a computer mouse was (no jokes, before then I had a BBC Micro) ... seriously I doubt you could have been that baffled.

when i was doing my computer studies o-level microsoft excel didn't even exist.

What has that got to do with anything? When I was doing my A-levels I didn't have the internet doesn't mean I now find a internet browser confusing.

nothing and everything.

** sigh **

He just gave you a reason why he find Excel baffle, does that baffled you?

It wasn't really a reason ... which was my point about the browser ed ... Excel is a piece of piss unless you are doing some sort of VBA macro crap.

i guess it's not a piece of piss if you have never used a spreadsheet or any microsoft application before and have no idea what 'cell' or 'sum' is. i still don't know what a 'macro' is but i'm happy to remain ignorant as to what they entail, they can't be that exciting.

i too was/am baffled by Excel. a dark art.

i made the jump from Word to Pages, and haven't looked back. i hadn't really heard of Numbers.. good is it?

It wasn't really a reason ... which was my point about the browser ed ... Excel is a piece of piss unless you are doing some sort of VBA macro crap.

It's not really a piece of piss. It's database functions are nuts. It has weird matrix functions like sumproduct that are very useful but totally unintuitive. I never use macros but I could show you formulae that could make your hair stand on end.