iPad or Laptop

kevinmarkwhite said:
TitanTim said:
I was looking on Apples site as well today at the 15" MacBook Pro Retina, but will have to see if PC world have one in to have a play, its just the small screen that puts me off as using a 17" Dell at the mo. All I know is I just want to get rid of Windows :cry: Wont know until I try the Apple.

Tim.
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Beware PCWorld and old models. Should be ok, but sometimes it takes a while for my local PCWorld to get the "new" models in, and they still flog the "old" model.
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Thanks Kevin, it was just to have a play and look at screen size, I would be buying from Apple if I go for one, I got burnt recently what I thought was a new HTC One from Amazon and wasn't so went direct to HTC in the end. I don't use a Desktop PC for home use so screen size is an issue.

Tim.
 
Beware PC World full stop.

Yoga = Lenovo Yoga. It's a convertible form factor Ultrabook. Core i7, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD and bright Orange!

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I like Lenovo machines - aren't they part of IBM? And the ThinkPad if I am right is regarded as the dog's bollox of laptops?

Tim : Sure, check them out in PCWorld. Screen size is a tough one. I've tried taking my 17" laptop on travels and (apart from the weight issues), if you are on a train, or plane, sometimes there isn't much room to fully open the display. Admittedly, that might be my stomach getting in the way, but it is a consideration. For just using at home, then thats not an issue.
 
Lenovo bought the client business from IBM a few years ago. I have a Thinkpad Carbon X1 as a work machine, it's lovely.

I'll be getting the business version of the Yoga as soon as it comes out.
 
Im used to using small laptops. I type on them a lot I find the iPad/tablets much more difficult to type on. The 11 and 13 have full sized keyboards with more than adequate space to rest your hands. Fits me perfectly would say I have med - large sized hands and mine completely fit onto the area provided by the 11", the 13" has quite a big chin which looks a bit awkward but gives you more space.

The Lenovos are nice too. Its just Windows wouldn't want anything to do with it ever again. Macs just work apart from me waring my last one out with complete abuse ive never had an issue with them ever in the 8 years using them, they work and my experience with windows is you need to keep on top of it for it to run optimally which just bores me and its a hassle. I need a machine that will work and perform for me to make money and the mac fulfills that.

Tim not really sure why your obsessed with the 17" the res is so high reading anything is hard anyway even for people with good eye site. The 15" retina will have the same resolution with its retina display again same problem which again I reiterate my point is why they discontinued it. The 11 and 13 MBA have high resolution displays and have a high PPI count for its size before the retina the 11" had a larger PPI than all the other laptops in the apple lineup apart from the higher res option on the 15 and 17. Its not 1080 but like I said many people use them professionally including myself with no issues. The resolution is nice but the reason why its not in the MBA is for size and battery life. The Retina eats battery life and will make the laptop bigger and in day to day will you notice a difference? Maybe. I was torn, but was fed up with the weight of my unibody 13" macbook but the size and portability mated with the speed of the MBA is incredible its is 3 times faster than my old laptop in 4 years. I dont see them bringing retina to the air for another generation maybe 2015. The 13" retina is twice as heavy and half as portable. But when they introduce the new architecture to the retina it may be an attractive package. Depends how mobile you are? Is a few pounds going to make a difference around the house? No, but I take mine on location with 10+kg of gear so it is to me.

Dont get too hung up, if you do you will always be waiting, best advice is to buy what you like and what you think you need right now. The MBA has just been updated so youll have to wait another 6-8 months to see if they will introduce the retina. The MBP hasn't been updated yet but I would guess it will be in september.

Depends what your using it for, like I said i use mine as a work tool and it get hammered and I cant give it enough praise. But I dont use it as a main machine, its used on the go, showing clients work, traveling, on location and for my personal use, in bed, Facebook, sofa etc A desktop is better in every way you look at it for proper work, bigger screens faster processors, faster memory, similar SSD speed etc but you have to sit at a desk which I do all day at work so I love the air, having two IMO is optimal but for 99% of people a notebook will be more than enough.

But the air is a compromise but a very good compromise, its specs currently bests 2008/2009 high end iMacs and Mac pros geekbench at 9000 is insane! My mac pro with base spec gets about 8500 with two quad core processors, which is astonishing with its size. The iPad doesn't quite fill the gap. Until it supports fully fledged programmes it will always be a leisure device not a serious tool.
 
tomscott said:
Im used to using small laptops. I type on them a lot I find the iPad/tablets much more difficult to type on. The 11 and 13 have full sized keyboards with more than adequate space to rest your hands. Fits me perfectly would say I have med - large sized hands.

The Lenovos are nice too. Its just Windows wouldn't want anything to do with it ever again. Macs just work apart from me waring my last one out with complete abuse ive never had an issue with them ever in the 8 years using them, they work and my experience with windows is you need to keep on top of it for it to run optimally which just bores me and its a hassle. I need a machine that will work and perform for me to make money and the mac fulfills that.

Tim not really sure why your obsessed with the 17" the res is so high reading anything is hard anyway even for people with good eye site. The 15" retina will have the same resolution with its retina display again same problem which again I reiterate my point is why they discontinued it. The 11 and 13 MBA have high resolution displays and have a high PPI count its not 1080 but like I said many people use them professionally including myself with no issues. Depends what your using it for, like I said i use mine as a work tool and it get hammered and I cant give it enough praise. But I dont use it as a main machine, its used on the go, showing clients work, traveling and on location. A desktop is better in every way you look at it for proper work, bigger screens faster processors, faster memory, similar SSD speed etc having two IMO is optimal but for 99% of people a notebook will be more than enough.

But the air is a compromise but a very good compromise, its specs currently best 2008/2009 high end iMacs and Mac pros, which is astonishing in its size. The iPad doesn't quite fill the gap. Until it supports fully fledged programmes it will always be a leisure device not a serious tool.
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Thanks Tom, I guess I'm just used to a larger laptop screen, understand what your saying, before the DELL I had a HP Pavillion laptop which had a larger screen again but I didn't notice the screen reduction with changing to the DELL so the Apple realistically would probably be fine. Downside with the larger screen laptops is the sheer weight especially if its on your lap for any length of time. I do some graphics work using Corel Draw 11 and use publisher a little but nothing major. Have to say I love the DELL, build is top notch etc but I know the Apple will be good.

Tim.
 
Well what I would say is have a look at them all. If you need to do heavy work on one attach it to a big screen most integrated graphics support 30"+ screens although they won't offer the best performance, a dedicated graphics is always better but again it's a compromise having higher end parts creates more processing power but decreases battery. The 15" MBPs are powerhouses and bench extremely high but are less portable, heavier and the battery won't last long but a good compromise between having a laptop with as much power as a desktop that you can take anywhere. They are lovely machines.

Most of my other graphic designer friends use them because they are about the same price as a high end iMac perform the same and you can daisy chain as many 27+" displays through thunderbolt.

But my needs are slightly different with being a graphic designer and photographer I needed something with both. I don't do really any graphics work at all on the 11" MBA it's far too small. But I have a 27" iMac at work I do all my graphics on with a second display. MBA I use for freelance photography, on location (tethered or off loading images) and on the go editing via Lightroom, for travel, pleasure and it's great. But obviously not for everyone and the Mac Pro is like a hub, everything is stored on it and I do all my freelance work on it photography and graphics because it's so powerful it churns through all the work no probs and has large screens for detailed work which is better than squinting at small screens.
 
OP: for what you've said you'll be using it for, my advice is go for the iPad. Laptop will be massive overkill.

Remember Apple usually release a bag of stuff 2-3 months out from Xmas so if you hold out you'll have more choice or pick up a minter on eBay as people trip over themselves to upgrade.

Happy shopping :)
 
The screen size isn't an issue as I can connect to other hardware when I need to.
I'll be keeping my desktop as it's got a great monitor, sound system etc and is already hooked up by wife. I will take some stuff off and roll it back a year or 2. I may even experiment with a different OS like Linux and just wipe the thing and start again. All my critical files are stored safely so I can't bugger anything up. The processors etc are all good and I have card readers and CD and DVD writers etc installed on it too. I might even just wipe it and roll it back 7 years!
I'm aiming to use the MBA on the run, around the house and when I'm away. It'll most prob take pride of place on day to day use.
If I get a chance will go look today..... I will get it online from Apple though having read the above comments.

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inkey$ said:
OP: for what you've said you'll be using it for, my advice is go for the iPad. Laptop will be massive overkill.

Remember Apple usually release a bag of stuff 2-3 months out from Xmas so if you hold out you'll have more choice or pick up a minter on eBay as people trip over themselves to upgrade.

Happy shopping :)
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Thanks but am sure the iPad won't cut it. We're changing from BB to iPhones and there isn't much an iPad can do that an iPhone can't.
Plus I need to be able to connect hardware to it wherever I happen to be.
I need a serious tool that will sit between the iPhone and the desktop and the MBA looks perfect for that.

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if you have something to trade in then £150 cashback atm
 
If you're buying a new system with a 4th gen core i5 or i7 then the graphics on the CPU will outperform a mid range discreet graphics card.

Where discreet comes into its own is if it has support in the app you're using for additional acceleration. Photoshop does this with nVidia and AMD/ATi graphics cards.
 
Just been to local PC world.
Wow isn't an iMac nice?

They are offering £100 cashback which would be useful but I can't spec it up. It'd be a 13 with 256 flah (OK) but can't increase RAM or processor, both of which I'm inclined to do to future proof it a bit....

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They are lovely!

Ye unfortunately the airs cant be upgraded by the user at all so they could keep the size down, no battery changes, ram soldiered to the logic board, neither SSD. Although because its PCIX it is actually a port so it should be but its designed not to be. If they do bring out updates through OWC the cost won't be worth it PCIX is very expensive. So it has to be specced up built to order, mine took about 2 weeks because I ordered it a few days after announcement.

I wouldn't bother with the processor, the bench difference isn't huge for day to day, i5s are very quick and it turbos to 2.6ghz which is great :thumbsup: I would get the 8gb of ram tho that is necessary.
 
tomscott said:
They are lovely!

Ye unfortunately the airs cant be upgraded by the user at all so they could keep the size down, no battery changes, ram soldiered to the logic board, neither SSD. Although because its PCIX it is actually a port so it should be but its designed not to be. If they do bring out updates through OWC the cost won't be worth it PCIX is very expensive. So it has to be specced up mine took about 2 weeks because I ordered it a few days after announcement.

I wouldn't bother with the processor, the bench difference isn't huge for day to day, i5s are very quick and it turbos to 2.6ghz which is great :thumbsup: I would get the 8gb of ram tho that is necessary.
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+1 as much ram as you can get.
 
Well it arrived yesterday.
I'm already wondering why I'm keeping the desktop....
Only one thing. Can't get the email to allow me set up a filing system for different interests and activities under the inbox. Any ideas?

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GregZ4 said:
Well it arrived yesterday.
I'm already wondering why I'm keeping the desktop....
Only one thing. Can't get the email to allow me set up a filing system for different interests and activities under the inbox. Any ideas?

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What did you end up getting ?
Sorry I did read the whole thread but still not sure
 
shotbybothsides said:
What did you end up getting ?
Sorry I did read the whole thread but still not sure
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I went with Tom's advice and got a 13' Macbook Air. Went with the 256 and only specced the RAM up to 8GB.
Its easily as portable as the iPad (well almost) and does a bunch of stuff all at the same time with ease. Trackpad easy to use and the whole thing just works.

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Welcome to the MBA club. I love mine. I've got the 11" with 256GB SSD and 8MB RAM. It's very fast and very well made too. I just need to learn more about OS X now! Still a bit of a newb on that front.
 
original guvnor said:
Welcome to the MBA club. I love mine. I've got the 11" with 256GB SSD and 8MB RAM. It's very fast and very well made too. I just need to learn more about OS X now! Still a bit of a newb on that front.
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Identical to me! I still try to use it like windows!

The MBA is the perfect solution.


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