could you guys please help me out in explaining to my husband how a used macbook

[MrsBrady]

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook

is a better buy than this thing here:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Toshiba-15.6-250-GB-L455D-S5976/12456201#ProductDetail

this would be his laptop.

I've told him he can run windows inside parallels in snow leopard, no problem, no crashes...
use all his

acid 3.0
acid 6.0
vegas 4.0

I know from my switch the last 3 years to my imac...narry a problem. and fast.


I guess he's just balking at the price, which is very respectable...but I just think he would like it better and not have as much problems.
And that it would "last" longer. Plus if there are any problems, we could just take it to the apple store and be done with it. I shudder to think of
dealing with Toshiba or a big box to get help.

What should I say...I'm not a techie, per say, I've just think that the Mac is the way to go.

Any suggestions.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. No need to do virus checks

no need for trojan checks.

And if you should get those on a WIN machine the cleanup cost can be upwards of 150 and days.

Does that help?

(And I have both a macbook and a windows machine. Time spent doing IT on the MAC, five minutes best case. Time spent doing IT on the Win machine 2 hours\week, just to make sure it stays ahem healthy.)

[struggle4progress]

2. It may depend on what he wants to do with the machine

I pretty much walked away from Windows a few years ago in frustration -- but I still have XP and Vista installations (just in case). I haven't tried windows 7, so can't compare it to Snow Leopard

Time Machine is a great thing IMO, and the mac you're looking at ships with Snow Leopard so Time Machine is available. To use it, of course, he'd probably need at least a 500gb external hard drive.

On the other hand, that mac isn't very expandable: it can go up to 4gb ram (which would set you back another $150 DIY). The toshiba will go up to 8gb (which might set you back about $380 DIY). So he could have the toshiba with 8gb RAM for less than the list price of the default 2gb RAM macbook. I'm not saying he SHOULD upgrade either (2gb is plenty for many purposes) -- but if he multitasks a lot with memory-hogging apps, maybe he'd be happier with the toshiba upgraded

Also ask if he wants to use lots of apps written for windows. Often, there will be mac-compatible more-or-less equivalent apps, available cheap or free -- but "more-or-less equivalent" isn't always close enough for some purposes. And what about bundled software?

If the notebook is his primary computer, you might also want to think about whether he will want an monitor for extended time on the machine

Make of list of the issues. The mac will clearly win on some; the toshiba, on others

[MrsBrady]

4. I'm assuming that if he's running

parallels to run windows, then he will need virus software if he's surfing the internet it IE?
I have parallels and windows on my imac, but I don't surf the internet with IE...ever.
(Side question...is there virus software for Macs not running windows?)

He's probably going to run it mostly in windows, but might want to use OS for a few things once he gets the hang of it.

[struggle4progress]

7. If he's running Windows, he should definitely be careful about security -- but

he can get adequate security products for free: see the pinned thread in the Computer Help & Support Forum or the Computer Security thread in the Research Forum

Lots of Mac and Linux users don't bother with anti-virus but free and commercial products are available

[NoQuarter]

10. About the RAM

The MacBook uses DDR3 RAM. The Toshiba is DDR2.

From Wikipedia...

DDR3 SDRAM is an improvement over its predecessor, DDR2 SDRAM, and the two are not compatible. The primary benefit of DDR3 is the ability to transfer at twice the data rate of DDR2 (I/O at 8× the data rate of the memory cells it contains), thus enabling higher bus rates and higher peak rates than earlier memory technologies. In addition, the DDR3 standard allows for chip capacities of 512 megabits to 8 gigabits, effectively enabling a maximum memory module size of 16 gigabytes.

[TicketyBoo]

3. That is NOT a "used" MacBook.

Refurbished bought from Apple is, in my opinion, better than new because it's one that's had some problems, so they really check them out.

Note that it has a new one-year warranty, and you have the same option to buy AppleCare on it (to extend the warranty for two more years) if you buy AppleCare before the one-year anniversary date of your purchase.

I wouldn't want a Windows computer, but that's just me.

[cbayer]

5. I have been unsuccessfully fighting this battle for years.

I grow tired of him fighting with his computer and he complains constantly, but his anti-mac attitude is something that rises above logic and reason.

I tried to get him to use my computer for just a day, and he won't even do that. I think he is afraid he will see the undeniable truth that it is far superior and have to capitulate.

:hi:

[MrsBrady]

6. well, my DH is not that bad...but...

i think it's about cost...

He was fired a couple of weeks ago, and just had knee surgery.
I'm feeling sorry for him, of course. His laptop is about to die.
He's got a desktop at home for his major projects, but has a hobby where he needs a laptop when he does leisure travel related to this hobby. (Have to be vague, sorry.)
But now that he's looking for work, he's going to want to take it everywhere.

I was thinking a new computer would cheer him up, but he needs it anyway.
We can afford it for now.

I'm thinking of buying it for a surprise for him.
I think he'd be happier with the mac, even if he's running his recording software in Windows. And I think over time, it would last longer for him.

The laptop he has now...the florescent bulbs are starting to go out on the screen, it's beginning to overheat, and it's running slower and slower, no matter how much he's "cleaned" it up.

Seems to me a mac would work better for him in the long run.

[cbayer]

8. You make excellent arguments and I think you should go for it.

My MacBook is a warhorse - virtually indestructible, I think. I take it everywhere in a back pack and there is nothing it can't do that my husband's PC can do.

Go for it!

:hi:

[GrantDem]

9. One is from Wal-Mart and the other is not...