It was actual time until it turned off. And yes it was light word processing / adium chatting, with bluetooth off, wifi on. Mainly the tasks I am doing when I am running from battery (ie. in college / café etc.)
So, somehow your MacBook lasts about an hour longer than the average MacBook in the same situation and more than 2 hours longer than Apple's own estimates. Right.
I've had 3 different MacBook batteries (gotta love that Apple build quality!) so far and none of them have been able to last that long in real world use.
The current battery has 3 cycles on it. The capacity is currently at 5404 and in a real world situation with reasonable settings (screen below 50% is unusable), no bluetooth, wifi, chatting, and light browsing I'll get 4 hours max. If I drop the screen down to the lowest I can get 4.5 hours.
Yes and as repair guy of supposedly superior notebook brands Dell and IBM I have lost any illusions about those brands and their build quality. Mechanical hatches were one of the common faults. So were faulty optical drives.
Considering that the trend among Windows PC manufacturers in the last couple of years has been to not use a latch, it's somewhat difficult to believe you. On the one PC I did have that had a latch, it was a very simple device. It would be next to impossible to break that latch. It would have taken real physical abuse to break it.
Where my MacBook has received no physical abuse and very little physical movement and both have essentially fallen apart.
Oh, and you realize that the Matsushita (Panasonic) drives in the MacBooks are even worse quality than the LG and TSSTCorp drives used in HPs and others, right?
I am aware of that. And despite that I still prefer the comfort of slot-in optical drive. If my optical drive gets faulty, I'll have it repaired under warranty (planning to buy AppleCare anyway). And from my experience most of the optical drives fails within first year.
Actually, most optical drives can last for thousands of hours of use.
But you want to know what its like to have your optical drive replaced by Apple? I'll tell you, because my first MacBook's "SuperDrive" died.
The drive couldn't write DVD media (regardless of manufacturer) above 2x reliably. It also had small problems mounting discs. Also, the case was discoloring and the plastic on the hinge was starting to bubble and come apart due to heat (great build quality again!). So I sent it in for repair. What happened? Optical drive was ignored. Entire outer case was scratched to all hell and back. The "top case" that was discoloring was replaced, but the mouse button no longer functioned properly. System was sent BACK out to Apple. Optical drive had a "re-alignment" performed on it that rendered it unable to both read and burn discs. The outer casing was replaced and scratched even worse than the original case was. The mouse button still didn't work. Apple replaced the system.
The optical drive in my HP was bad out of the box. What did HP do? Have me send it back? Send it in for repair? Both of those options would have left me without a computer for a week or so. What did they do? The day after I called, I had a new drive at my door step. It literally took less than a minute to swap the drive out, then another 2 to schedule the FedEx pickup to send the prepaid package back to them containing the dead drive.
The MacBook that Apple replaced my old one with also had build quality issues. The battery started to warp and the case became unsealed around the edges. So I sent it out for repair. It came back with a new "top case" that was also not sealed, the system was scratched up to all hell again, it was weak (being able to be pushed into breaking points at several points) and it was dirty! So it went back out for repair. I was informed that the case had to be replaced twice to get it done right, the person at Apple dealing with my case had to inform them how to properly reseal and put the case on so it wouldn't get scratched. The current case is not "perfect" but at least its finally sealed and its not so soft that I could break it by putting it in a case with any kind of pressure.
Not only does Apple sell you a poorly built computer, but their repair depots will beat the living crap out of it while "repairing" it and then deny they did anything, so you have to hope you had the sense to take pictures and film it before it was shipped out!
And I am using iMovie and iPhoto and iDVD regularly. Added value for me means the things mentioned in my post + the Mac philosophy.
iMovie and iDVD can easily be substituted by many other pieces of software in Windows, and iPhoto is easily equaled by Picassa.
What "Mac philosophy" is that? "It just works"? Funny how I've had OS X crash more times (Tiger and Leopard, two different systems) than Windows in 17 years. Windows hasn't even crashed ONCE on either Mac.
I don't want to care about drivers any more (I have had that enough from win 3.11 to vista)
You act as if drivers are a bad thing. Drivers are a good thing, especially when it comes to videocards. People even remotely interested in PC gaming can tell you what kinds of performance enhancements and features you get from upgrading drivers. Yet with OS X you have to cross your fingers every time there is a point revision and hope Apple updated that drivers.
For example Creative Live External, for XP there are working drivers, for Vista there are half working drivers (only stereo), in Leopard I just connect it and it works. So does my camera and videocamera, printer and other periferals I am using on regular basis.
You can blame Creative for that. They're known for terrible support.
Anyway, drivers in Windows add all kinds of features. Let's look at my HP Photosmart printer as an example. In OS X I connect it and it "works", but none of the special features of it work. Unless I download and install a couple hundred megabytes worth of drivers. In Windows, the standard install brings all of its functionality. Automatic transferring of images back and forth from the printer's internal drive, the special buttons on it that have different features, the built-in editing software, etc. In OS X, none of that works unless I (gasp) install drivers. Same goes for my all-in-one. OS X can't even access the scanner on it unless I download drivers for it, despite having gigabytes worth of pre-installed printer drivers.
Your post may be a controversial one even more on this forum community. But in my opinion a sensible post. Worth reading it.
Thank you. I'm not an Apple hater. I do believe that my faith in Apple during the PowerPC days, before the iPod reached mass popularity it has now, was well placed. Systems then were generally well built (well, except some known iBook motherboard issues) and Apple took care of their customers. Now is not the case. They overcharge, their build quality has dropped dramatically, their customer support is no longer 24/7 and their repair depots do not properly repair or even handle systems with respect.
I just want people to be able to make an informed decision, free of the wool that some Apple fans try to pull over peoples eyes.
While I do agree with some of your argument especially in terms of the lower end Macbook not having a Superdrive but for the love of pete name one notebook that cost less and has more features than the Macbook that has better build quality. Name just one.
My HP dv6500t (now 6700t) has better build quality and it is cheaper. Much cheaper. The plastic along the bottom that covers the components is stronger and thicker than the plastic on the MacBook. It has a proper cooling system! The plastic lid/LCD is actually far less "bendy" than the MacBook is, and the plastic feels strong (yes I am feeling it right now). The "top case" with the palm rests is made out of a soft, but NOT flexible, plastic. It will NOT discolor.
There are no seems that can simply fall apart like the MacBook. The lid does not have a magnetic connector that puts pressure on the case, casing cracking and falling apart. The system has a proper cooling system with many open vents, so it's not possible for it to crack due to heating issues like the MacBook. Theres also not a single spot on it that can discolor.
If I hold both with one hand each, the MacBook's lid has a noticeable flex under my grip. The HP has no flex and feels completely sturdy. I can pick it up from any angle and not worry about any kind of pressure points. With the Mac, I fear picking it up from the front, because I don't want to two "feet" to push down on the case even more and wear down the "top case" and cause it to crack and come apart like it has for far too many people.
As for features.. well, my system was about $1,000. Core 2 Duo 2GHz (Santa Rosa), 2GB of RAM, 160GB HDD, GeForce 8400M GS, finger print reader, HDMI output, a LightScribe capable DVD writer (with the option to buy an HP blu-ray or HD DVD drive later on), a full size ExpressCard slot, a memory card reader, Media Center remote control that fits in the ExpressCard slot, and a 1.3MP camera. For under $1,000 you can get basically the same thing, but you'll need to up the RAM to 2GB yourself. Thats with a design that actually LOOKS better than the MacBook and has a bigger screen. Oh, it has S-Video and VGA outputs too! No expensive adapters needed. I also get 3.5 hours of real world battery life. Thats with the screen set to the lowest setting, but thats equal to the MacBook screen at about 50%.
If you go with the AMD system, you can get the same specs for about $850. Or you can go to $960 or so and get the same build quality, but a faster AMD processor, 3GB of RAM, 250GB HDD, GeForce, etc.
Your proposed PC could be free, but it still wouldn't run OS X. And if running OS X is a purchase requirement, then price difference is secondary. You seem unwilling to understand that some people have different buying priorities than you.
Put another way, if you can sell us your cheaper computer running OS X, then you'll have a lot of interest. People love getting what they want for less. How about it?
I don't see why running OS X would be a requirement.
OS X can be considered "nicer", but Windows gives you more flexibility in both software choices and hardware choices AND hardware capabilities. When was the last time an Apple computer came with a memory card reader, HDMI output, finger print reader, user replaceable drives, etc?
You can easily go into a Best Buy, Fry's or an Apple store and touch and feel Apple's machines and I beg to differ that anyone would say that Apple's notebooks have poor fit and finish.
Apple's computers are designed to give a great first impression. Their flaws do not show up until well after you have purchased and can no longer return them. Look at the MacBook's issues with case cracking (both from heat and other issues, like the magnetic "latch") and discoloration. The MacBook Pro has issues with warping from heat and becoming unsealed, as well as being extremely easy to dent and scratch.
In my personal experience, Macs have been better laptops for my needs, OSX is a perfect laptop environment, and when **** hits the fan, it's nice to know you have AppleCare since laptops go through hell.
Until your system comes back from Flextronics in worse shape then it went out, and you have to provide proof to Apple (such as videos and pictures like me) that your system was NOT beat up and falling apart when you shipped it out to them. Oh, and you have to send it in multiple times for them to finally fix the problem too, along with all of the issues they cause themselves.
You're just here to wreak havoc on a Mac forum because Windows forums never have anything interesting to talk about.
button in top menu-> click About This Mac -> click More Info... -> select Power in left hand side list -> scroll to bottom of right frame to cycles