Windows 8

[twentysix by twentyfive]

A quick google would find that out quickly enough.

I assumed from your question that we're talking out of the box simplicity.

That was my next move

And yes - I don't want to be forever Googling for the windows fixes. I just need to be sure I can retain compatiblity

 

[green1]

People can debate Mac Vs Windows*, personally I feel there's no contest.

Indeed there isn't if you want to to use engineering programs or anything that seriously crunches numbers... It isn't compatible with ios.

 

[Scruffmonster]

Depends what you want it for, a mac is about as useful as a chocolate fire guard for me, unless I install windows.

That and I have never owned an apple product and intend to keep it that way.

Fair play, if someone is reliant on Windows systems then that's cool.

I do find it odd that people have an aversion to Apple products though. As if Apple products are actually a thing. The Mac fanatics... they're a funny bunch, and the hysteria surrounding product launches makes them very silly people... But the products are great. Yes, you pay a premium for the fact that they look beautiful... but they look beautiful, and they work, and they rarely, if ever, go wrong, and their support is mostly exceptional (even if they do insist on that stupid 'Genius' tag).

Quick stat pulled out of my bum using collected thoughts... 99% of people that get a Mac/iPod/iPhone/iPad, don't go elsewhere when they upgrade that device, they also upgrade their devices less often.

 

[green1]

I do find it odd that people have an aversion to Apple products though

It's not the products I have a problem with (although I do think they suffer from style over substance), its Apple's policies with regard to DRM. It's the reason why I boycott plenty of PC based platforms, like Steam and EA's origin etc. At least with pc's I can use them without having to accept using stuff like iTunes to manage my device.

 

[Scruffmonster]

It's not the products I have a problem with (although I do thing they suffer from style over substance), its Apple's policies with regard to DRM. It's the reason why I boycott plenty of PC based platforms, like Steam and EA's origin etc. At least with pc's I can use them without having to accept using stuff like iTunes to manage my device.

We certainly agree on that. I'm fortunate in that I never have to break through those walls. Yet simply as devices of consumption and creation, they are fabulous machines.

iTunes is probably the single most bloated piece of software across any system. (Excluding any MS Office package for the iOS but that's hardly fair)

 

[phil_hg_uk]

Fair play, if someone is reliant on Windows systems then that's cool.

I do find it odd that people have an aversion to Apple products though. As if Apple products are actually a thing. The Mac fanatics... they're a funny bunch, and the hysteria surrounding product launches makes them very silly people... But the products are great. Yes, you pay a premium for the fact that they look beautiful... but they look beautiful, and they work, and they rarely, if ever, go wrong, and their support is mostly exceptional (even if they do insist on that stupid 'Genius' tag).

Quick stat pulled out of my bum using collected thoughts... 99% of people that get a Mac/iPod/iPhone/iPad, don't go elsewhere when they upgrade that device, they also upgrade their devices less often.

I find it odd that people will pay twice as much for an Apple when since they moved to intel in the mid noughties it is essentailly just a pc in a fancy box running a version of unix, yes they do look nice but it is only a piece of shiny plastic that is probably worth £20 at the most that makes it look that way.

I have had occasion to repair macs in my time and the problem I find is the cost of replacement parts, for instance if a PC PSU goes wrong it will cost between say £15 and £30 to get a replacement unless it is a very high end machine, I have a 4 - 5 year old imac in my loft that blew the psu and the cheapest I could get any kind of replacement psu for is £85 + and the fault it has means it may also need all the caps replacing on the motherboard because evidently they fitted cheap caps to that production run that cause problems so just not worth repairing.

I dont necessarily agree with people upgrading less often either, this year I am getting a lot of customers upgrading the PC's I either sold them or built for them 7 years ago. they still work ok but they just want better screens and more memory etc and it isnt cost effective to uprade them anymore, I have a macbook which is 5 years old and the case is falling apart and the battery has packed up and it is on its second power supply because the first one had the fault where the lead melts and had to be replaced under recall. Next time I will get a samsung laptop that costs less than half the price and is more or less the samething in a less shiny box.

 

[Scruffmonster]

I have a macbook which is 5 years old and the case is falling apart and the battery has packed up and it is on its second power supply because the first one had the fault where the lead melts and had to be replaced under recall. Next time I will get a samsung laptop that costs less than half the price and is more or less the samething in a less shiny box.

We've clearly got different views here...

But as an honest question... Are you just as happy working on a windows pc as you are a Mac?

 

[jonny jeez]

that's exactly what I did. Still running XP on the AutoCad machine.

Ditto.

 

[phil_hg_uk]

We've clearly got different views here...

But as an honest question... Are you just as happy working on a windows pc as you are a Mac?

I prefer windows, all I find myself doing with macs is trying to find a program to do what I could do in windows with any number of freely available programs.

 

[Scruffmonster]

I prefer windows, all I find myself doing with macs is trying to find a program to do what I could do in windows with any number of freely available programs.

Fair play

 

[phil_hg_uk]

Fair play

But I should point out that I am not your average customer though as I work in the computer industry and have done most of my adult life repairing and selling them, so I have probably stronger opinions about them than most people would as I see a lot more things than most people do.

But just incase anyone is thinking I am just totally anti-apple I will point out that I still have an Apple ][ in my loft that I used to use in the early 80's sadly it doesnt work anymore ..................... but I have another one that does, complete with Apple swivel screen monitor, floppy drives, color card and a masive hard drive ( when I say massive I mean it's physical size not it's storage capacity ) I picked it up at a computer fair a few years ago for £5

 

[Crankarm]

I have an old Evesham PC 1.6GHz Athlon with max 4GB RAM (maxed out the card slots originally 500MB) and 80GB hard drive. I have several much larger portable drives to add more storage. I run Windows 2000 and XP. It all works fine. I was looking at a MBP with the fastest processor and highest RAM but NOT retina screen however simply cannot justify the huge cost. So maybe I get a 13" Toshiba or Samsung in the new year sales. I have no knoweledge of Windows 8 or 7 or even Vista for that matter, they have passed me by.

 

[redcard]

I find it odd that people will pay twice as much for an Apple when since they moved to intel in the mid noughties it is essentailly just a pc in a fancy box running a version of unix, yes they do look nice but it is only a piece of shiny plastic that is probably worth £20 at the most that makes it look that way.

I have had occasion to repair macs in my time and the problem I find is the cost of replacement parts, for instance if a PC PSU goes wrong it will cost between say £15 and £30 to get a replacement unless it is a very high end machine, I have a 4 - 5 year old imac in my loft that blew the psu and the cheapest I could get any kind of replacement psu for is £85 + and the fault it has means it may also need all the caps replacing on the motherboard because evidently they fitted cheap caps to that production run that cause problems so just not worth repairing.

I dont necessarily agree with people upgrading less often either, this year I am getting a lot of customers upgrading the PC's I either sold them or built for them 7 years ago. they still work ok but they just want better screens and more memory etc and it isnt cost effective to uprade them anymore, I have a macbook which is 5 years old and the case is falling apart and the battery has packed up and it is on its second power supply because the first one had the fault where the lead melts and had to be replaced under recall. Next time I will get a samsung laptop that costs less than half the price and is more or less the samething in a less shiny box.

I can buy a new bike for the same cost as an Ultegra drivetrain.

Aren't £400 windows laptops the PC equivalent of a BSO?

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Well my trawling through machines has thrown this up

http://www.medion.com/gb/prod/MEDION® AKOYA® P5363 E (MD8318)/310016298

Apparently max RAM is 8GB. What limits RAM size? Is this machine any good for the price?

Well, the good news is I made a decision . I went with the Medion. It has windows 7 on it and arrives next day or two. In the end Compatibilty (and cost) was the decider.

I shall repent at leisure

 

[phil_hg_uk]

Aren't £400 windows laptops the PC equivalent of a BSO?

No for £400 you can get a nice laptop with i3 CPU, 6GB Ram, 500 - 750 GB Hard Drive, 15.6in LED Screen etc hardly a BSO and more than good enough got most peoples needs.