While the Macs have cool looks, they are only overpriced kids toys and are also incompatible for most things you will need to do. Plus you can hardly do any gaming on a Mac...
macbook air is the best value laptop in its class, please find me another 10"-12" ultraportable with comparable specs and in the same price range
kid's toys? mac osx is the industry standard in creative arts fields e.g. graphic design, video editing, music etc.
incompatible? what can you do on a windows pc that you can't on osx? pretty much all popular professional programs are available on osx (ms office, sony vegas, adobe creative suite etc.)
gaming on osx is developing, steam has recently launched on osx so that's a good start
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on top of that, bootcamp allows windoze to be installed on a mac making your arguments invalid
Get a PC Laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium. Here's what to look for when buying one:
The brand (HP, Toshiba, Dell, Sony, etc) does not matter all that much, it's what's inside that matters most. They are all Made in China anyways...
Get an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 CPU (Processor). DO NOT GET AMD OR PENTIUM processors.
no, upcoming amd mobile cpus are better than intel's offerings
amd llano is faster, draws less power and has MUCH better integrated graphics
^^ amd a8 vs i7 sandy bridge
amd is already ahead in the subnotebook market (netbooks etc.), with last year's amd c50 destroying the intel atom n550 in all those aspects listed above
there have also been rumours about apple switching to amd platforms
Get at least 4GB of RAM Memory (DDR3 preferred, DDR2 is also OK). 8GB RAM is best but will cost extra.
no ddr2 is not okay, buying outdated tech is a stupid idea, what happens when in 6 months time you want to upgrade? looking for old parts at a reasonable price is a nightmare
ddr3 ONLY if you're buying a new computer
lol 8gb ram is not much more, adding an extra 4gb stick will only cost ~$25
Make sure it has dedicated graphics (a Graphics Card or GPU) of at least 512MB. GPU of 1GB or more is better, but more expensive. It should say either nVidia or Radeon (ATI) on the graphics.
DO NOT GET Integrated Graphics (on board or from processor) - if it says Intel Graphics or Intel HD Graphics is Integrated.
you buy dedicated graphics if you need it (gaming, hardware accelerated processing etc.), otherwise it's stupid and unneccessary, it will only drain your battery quicker (there is nvidia optimus but that doesn't work with linux) and make your wallet lighter
just because it says "nvidia" or "ati" doesn't mean it has discrete graphics you tard, both of them make integrated graphics too (majority of their sales probably)
While SSD hard drives are best and fastest, they are way too expensive and small in size (64GB to 256GB), thus not recommended for a laptop, where you only have a single hard drive installed.
Get a normal, spin hard drive of at least 500GB (1TB or more is better, but will cost more). Seagate hard drives are the best, the WD Caviar are also OK.
no ssds are fine because laptops aren't meant to be your primary computer, they are to supplement a desktop computer at home
laptops are meant to be portable, ssd makes them more durable and uses less power so makes for longer battery life
plus you can get an external hdd
regular laptop 2.5" drives are too slow, they only spin at 5400rpm
no seagate isn't the best, i'm not sure about laptops but in the 3.5" market samsung offers the best drives (price vs. performance)
It should have incorporated Webcam and Microphone on top of the screen (most laptops have them nowadays).
this is standard, even the cheapest netbook will have them
Make sure you have at least 4 USB ports (if one or more are USB 3.0 all the best, but USB 2.0 are OK).
at least 4? lol m8 most laptops have only 3
you don't even need 3
i've hardly used the usb ports on my macbook at all, everything is done wirelessly
also, thunderbolt > usb 3
The Firewire (IEEE 1394) and the e-Sata ports are good to have, but not mandatory.
lol even the inventors of firewire (apple) have ditched it, it's dead technology
e-sata is good but a waste, it is a port which serves only one purpose (storage), usb3 and thunderbolt can both serve this role effectively while also being useful for many other things
At least a DVD/CD writer drive. A BD (Blue Ray drive) is more expensive and not necessary.
fucking lol, it's 2011, if you are still using optical media then you are doing it wrong
Of course you want WiFi (wireless) and ethernet connection.
as above, it's 2011 why are you still using wired internet?
Make sure it has at least an 8 cell battery (10 cell is better but cost more). This will ensure better battery life, both between charges use and overall battery life.
more cells is not for everyone, more cells = more weight
and it depends on the laptop, netbooks can get away with a 6 cell and still last 10 hours etc.
Get the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. Do not get Windows 7 Starter or Home Basic.
this isn't for everyone, some (most) people will only ever require the features already present in the lesser versions
You might wanna print this and give to the store tech guy when you go shopping for a laptop.
i'd recommend against this, your advice was pretty shit, you don't seem to know much about computers, your experience seems to be fabricated from hearsay
lol
