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Are Mac laptops worth the extra money compared to a HP?

I can get a HP laptop thats pretty good for about $700, but for a Macbook or Macbook Pro i'd be spending over $1000. Is Mac worth all that money? Ive heard you dont get computer viruses and theyre better computers. Is it true? Is it worth spending $1600 to get a Macbook Pro?? Also, is it ok to get a refurbished one? Theyre ALOT cheaper.

Public Comments

1. I would highly recommend a macbook! They will last you at least twice as long as the HP would and will preform 100 times better and more reliable than the HP. If you do not do graphic heavy work than you will be fine with just a macbook, and students get a discount where they are only $999. I would spend the extra $300 if you can. Jordan
2. Now you are going to be getting a lot of Apple fanboys telling you that MACs are the greatest. And yes in someways they are better such as the LOW (not no) viruses, but think to yourself if you want to spend $500 more dollars for a laptop when the virus issue can be solve with some simple FREE anti-virus software? Also you could get an AMAZING PC laptop for $1,200 (starting price of a Macbook) or just an OK MAC. Just think......any questions ask me at Baseballplyer40@yahoo.com
3. Never take the answers from an Apple fanboy or a PC lover. Try to play around with both or ask someone with great experience with computers that isn't a fan of the two.
4. Yeah they're worth it. Mac is plain better than windows, and has many great features. The virus thing is true, because Mac doesn't allow programming for them. Everything about them is good. They even look really sleek, not only in the design of the computer itself but the software too!. I would definitely recommend one. Hope this helps!
5. The reasons for preferring the Mac that I've heard so far are: * Better stability -- I believe this is true, but in a week with the Powerbook I've had two crashes requiring me to remove the battery, and at least one force quit per day. No unexplained chronic problems like I got from time to time with Windows, but again, it has only been a week. * fewer viruses -- Definitely true. On the other hand, I used a firewall and virus checker on my Windows machine, and didn't use Microsoft's email or Web browser apps. So I never spent any time dealing with viruses on my Thinkpad. * Better networking -- So far, this has been the biggest surprise. My Powerbook doesn't recognize the Linksys WiFi access point right next to it, and it often fails to recognize USB hard drives and keychain drives. Since I use USB drives all the time for backup and file transfer, the latter is a royal pain. I also couldn't get the Powerbook to print over the Internet to a laser printer that worked right away on my Thinkpad. So, how is the Mac actually better in this department? * Print to PDF -- Useful, but that's just bundling a feature I already had with Acrobat. * Dashboard -- Doesn't do it for me. If I'm going to use widgets, I want them always available on the desktop, rather than requiring a mode switch. I know I can get that with Konfabulator, but I had that on Windows. * Spotlight -- A nice feature. But the biggest thing I search through is email, and I can already do that with much more powerful features within Eudora. * Instant on from sleep -- Better, but trivial. I just found this one while going through what you asked for..why dont you check the site given below and try solving the question yourself??
6. THe base level macbook is a good price and a better laptop than a $700 HP one, faster better battery life springs to mind As for the virus thing , macs (especially in laptop form) are getting moe popular and as capable of getting viruses as windows pcs its just there are not many out there at the moment but they will come, the fact that you have to provide a password to install programs is a good secrity measure but won't stop user stupidity As for reliability my macbook is 7 months old , the keyboard never worked properly from new the top case cracked at both sides near the track pad (the keyboard and topcase have been changed now) and my magsafe connector had to be replaced also Oh and don't think about using a lot of flash applications on the mac without it becoming a space heater I love my macbook but my vista desktop is as good if not better
7. they better have better software on it and last longer if u want a refurbished one i would get it from apple cuz they will not sell u something that is broken or has problems
8. Mac vs. PC picture http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/8260/macvspcho8.jpg That about sums it up.
9. Yes it is. Macs come with about $750 of free software for photo editing, video and DVD creation, website making, and music composition. So in reality, you are buying a $850 laptop. And yes, you can get a refurbished one as long as you order it from Apple's website. Apple checks over them and makes sure they run flawlessly.