Laptop buying help

Home ▸ Archive ▸ Serious Business ▸ Laptop buying help
Automatik's avatar

Automatik

Senior Member

14,632 posts
May 3, 2013 9:21 AM
OP got a nice price.

128 is fine if you don't mind having an external. I'm waiting for the day when 500-750 SSDs can be had for a reasonable price.
May 3, 2013 9:21am
wes_mantooth's avatar

wes_mantooth

Tomfoolery & shenanigans

17,977 posts
May 3, 2013 10:11 AM
Automatik;1437782 wrote:OP got a nice price.

128 is fine if you don't mind having an external. I'm waiting for the day when 500-750 SSDs can be had for a reasonable price.

Yeah...I am waiting on ssd to hit 50 cents a gb
May 3, 2013 10:11am
Heretic's avatar

Heretic

Son of the Sun

18,820 posts
May 3, 2013 11:07 AM
dlazz;1437572 wrote:Emulators for the SNES/NES have been virtually unchanged since 2002. They're only updated to keep up with the latest operating systems
Thing was, I needed a better operating system. My computer was ancient. Like mid/late 90s iMac that was on OS 12.8. And, as is, wouldn't have been able to go higher than 13, as from 14 on, Mac went to DVD install discs over CD-ROM, so I'd have to have bought a standalone DVD player to install that.

And when you're dealing with that era, you're also dealing with 8 gb hard drives, so what's the point of working with that, when even weak computers of today have a couple hundred gigs.
May 3, 2013 11:07am
M

MontyBrunswick

May 3, 2013 12:09 PM
Heretic;1437847 wrote:Thing was, I needed a better operating system. My computer was ancient. Like mid/late 90s iMac that was on OS 12.8. And, as is, wouldn't have been able to go higher than 13, as from 14 on, Mac went to DVD install discs over CD-ROM, so I'd have to have bought a standalone DVD player to install that.

And when you're dealing with that era, you're also dealing with 8 gb hard drives, so what's the point of working with that, when even weak computers of today have a couple hundred gigs.

I applaud you for having a Mac before it was the hipster/douche thing to do.
May 3, 2013 12:09pm
Heretic's avatar

Heretic

Son of the Sun

18,820 posts
May 3, 2013 12:30 PM
dlazz;1437888 wrote:I applaud you for having a Mac before it was the hipster/douche thing to do.
I've been with Mac since the ancient Mac Classic. Probably because my mom worked with Apple II-c products while teaching, so she's always preferred Apple stuff.

Yeah, using the big-ass floppy discs as a kid. Like a boss.
May 3, 2013 12:30pm
R

rydawg5

Senior Member

2,639 posts
May 4, 2013 8:45 PM
I actually just bought the 13.3'' Mac Air tonight. SO now I've bought two laptops. I want to see after using if its worth the slight upgrade in price for the Mac Air. If not, it will find itself on ebay. It's got basically the same specs. 13'' - i5 1.7ghz - Paid $760 for mac and $615 for asus (after all taxes and shipping)
May 4, 2013 8:45pm
M

MontyBrunswick

May 4, 2013 8:47 PM
The Mac likely doesn't have an SSD in it, and I'm willing to bet the i5 in the Asus is probably better than the one in the Mac.

Edit: Especially at that price....where did you get a Macbook for $760
May 4, 2013 8:47pm
G

gut

Senior Member

15,058 posts
May 4, 2013 8:51 PM
SSD's are definitely nice, and give a noticeable performance boost. Best part is they are more immune to drops from klutzes like me. That said, I can't justify the price for the storage I'd need/want. I figure when I bust this when in a year or two I'll have more affordable SSD options.
May 4, 2013 8:51pm
M

MontyBrunswick

May 4, 2013 8:54 PM
gut;1438368 wrote:SSD's are definitely nice, and give a noticeable performance boost. Best part is they are more immune to drops from klutzes like me. That said, I can't justify the price for the storage I'd need/want. I figure when I bust this when in a year or two I'll have more affordable SSD options.
SSD's vs HDD's are night and day. They don't make sense for people who have huge collections of music, though
May 4, 2013 8:54pm
R

rydawg5

Senior Member

2,639 posts
May 4, 2013 9:06 PM
dlazz;1438367 wrote:The Mac likely doesn't have an SSD in it, and I'm willing to bet the i5 in the Asus is probably better than the one in the Mac.

Edit: Especially at that price....where did you get a Macbook for $760
MacBook Air 13" 1.7GHz Intel Core I5 128GB SSD 4GB RAM

Purchased pre-owned.
May 4, 2013 9:06pm
G

gut

Senior Member

15,058 posts
May 4, 2013 9:17 PM
dlazz;1438370 wrote:SSD's vs HDD's are night and day. They don't make sense for people who have huge collections of music, though
Precisely. 128 gigs is plenty for work-related stuff, but I want space for all my personal stuff, including music.

My current one is actually a hybrid with 32gigs of SSD...Great for booting, but I haven't even found how to access it where I could put a working file on it to take advantage of the speed.
May 4, 2013 9:17pm
M

MontyBrunswick

May 4, 2013 10:58 PM
Processors in those two machines are pretty identical. The Asus one is slightly newer/better, but the real-world difference is probably negligible.
May 4, 2013 10:58pm
Classyposter58's avatar

Classyposter58

Senior Member

6,321 posts
May 6, 2013 6:09 PM
Yeah I bought my Mac preowned as well. It's a 2012, and it has a new battery, the thing rocks way more than a stupid PC. Plus I don't have to explain to old people how to use it
May 6, 2013 6:09pm
TedSheckler's avatar

TedSheckler

Emporium Entrepreneur

3,974 posts
May 7, 2013 9:44 AM
Classyposter58;1438970 wrote:Yeah I bought my Mac preowned as well. It's a 2012, and it has a new battery, the thing rocks way more than a stupid PC. Plus I don't have to explain to old people how to use it
May 7, 2013 9:44am