MacBook Pro: are they really worth it?

rymd
Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:32:35 +0000

nick&lt;em&gt;scheu:

MacBook Pros are premium products. I’d argue that Mac Pros, Apple’s high-end desktop, is for most people a luxury product, though for some professionals it may legitimately be a premium product.

ksarmand:

Apple’s customer service makes it a desirable alternative to some of the PC equivalents of a MacBook, like the ASUS U35/45JCs. While the latter laptops do have good - or better - specs for a significantly lower price, it must be noted that ASUS customer service sucks.
Well, I suppose this depends on the buyer’s income. Though I come from a relatively comfortable background, I consider MacBook Pros to be luxury products, for you can get something just as good (and long-lasting) for cheaper; getting a Mac seems to be - for some, this is - the result of a desire for a particular brand, not necessarily a certain product.

Premium and luxury definitions will depend on the consumer for other factors than wealth. In the “war” between Macs and PCs, there is no winner. There’s no loser either. Macs and PCs aren’t even fighting the same war. Macs vs PCs is exactly like apples vs oranges. They’re both niche products. Macs are so expensive compared to PCs because it made a unix based system that’s nearly idiot-proof to use (whereas linux… ehehehe), fairly stable, and comes bundled with many idiot-proof programs that the people targeted for buying macs (mostly artists) would likely use, where “idiot” means not-so-computer savvy… AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, it’s the only producer of Mac computers! Apple controls ALL production on its computers which use its own proprietary software, and therefore has total control on a market which consists only of them… and of course they would jack up prices as much as they can before people start throwing tantrums. I would say MacBook Pros specifically are neither premium nor luxury, though I do think they have ridiculously high prices ><

PCs, on the other hand, are cheap mostly because of competition. How many PC producing companies do you see vs how many Mac producing companies? PCs are also made in a very DIY fashion. it’s as easy as getting a case, and shoving in whatever parts you like, and easily being able to take them out. PC Laptops are a lot less able to do this, of course, but are still a lot more flexible compared to a Mac laptop. PCs with windows are also a lot more plagued with security issues, but can do infinitely more. I lol every time someone says something about playing games on a mac. The security issues are nothing though, if only you just don’t do stupid things. PCs are a lot more tailored to the tech savvy crowd, the industrial crowd, the DIYers, the progamers and the programmers… i don’t think you’d really see macs purchased in bulk for corporate offices either, because of how damn expensive they are for what corporations need them for (basic work)
For a student with basic computing needs, however, I would definitely steer them away from a Mac

Different machines for different people, it all depends what you need