PC to Apple

March 7, 2008 6:06 PM

When should I switch from Dell to an Apple Macbook? (Details Included)

I am a long time PC user thinking of switching to Apple. I am becoming bored / frustrated with windows and Linux HATES my laptop. I spend a good 10-14 hours a day on the computer doing research so it is important to have something enjoyable to use. Everyone raves about their Macbooks, so I figure I should try it.

Currently I have a 1.5 year old Dell Laptop (D620) with another 1.5 years subscription to Dell’s Premium Customer Service.

In November 2009 I am leaving to do fieldwork in Africa for a year and need to purchase a computer before then, but I do not know when I should buy.

I have three options:

1. Buy a Macbook today and enjoy it for the next two years in the US (covered by Applecare) and then a third year in Africa. The downside to this is that the Macbooks do not seem significantly better than my current Dell laptop (at least on paper) and I am assuming an upgraded Macbook will be coming out at MacWorld (big assumption).

2. Buy a Macbook after MacWorld and enjoy it for one year in the US and one year in Africa. The downside to this is that Applecare does not cover computers in Africa, so would be less useful to me.

3. Buy a Macbook in May 2009 after I finish my classwork (as a reward to myself). The downside to this is that fieldwork tends destroy laptops and I am worried about bringing a relatively new laptop there, especially because getting Apple customer support in much of Africa is very difficult.

My question: When should I buy a MacBook / MacBook Pro?

-My schedule:

* October 2008: Take Comprehensive Exams
* January 2009: MacWorld
* May 2009: Finish All Class work and Become ABD (All But Dissertation)
* November 2009: Leave to do fieldwork in Africa for a year.

posted by chrisalbon to technology (16 comments total)

1 && 3.

But it today, enjoy computing bliss. Then sell it and buy a new Macbook as a gift to yourself! If money allows, try and fit #2 in as well.
posted by SirStan at 6:09 PM on March 7, 2008

I'd buy a (relatively cheap) Macbook now, and by spring 2009 they'll have something a lot cooler and faster you'll probably want, or a Macbook Pro (maybe by then it will fit the dimensions of near todays Macbook Air).
posted by floam at 6:14 PM on March 7, 2008

Buy a refurb with applecare now if you really want to get in to it, or if your budget can swing it, the new Macbooks are very shiny. Evaluate your options down the road when you come to the fieldwork, you may not be enchanted with MacOS and may want to go with a Toughbook or equivalent then, or you may have insurance options to lean on when you head to Africa.
posted by iamabot at 6:21 PM on March 7, 2008

Here's my philosophy: Buy it when you need it. There will always be something better, cooler, faster, etc... on the horizon. Fact is though, it really is a mute point unless you work with high-end graphics, audio and video. There is NO WAY you will tax out any of the current line of Macbooks just by doing average everyday work. Point being, there is no "perfect" time to buy a computer. If you need it, or think it'll make your life easier, just take the plunge.
posted by ISeemToBeAVerb at 6:42 PM on March 7, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

If you're going to buy now, buy a refurb. They just gently bumped the MacBook line, but it's not a big bump (certainly not worth the few hundred bucks you'd save buying a refurb), and the major revision is expected to come this summer or fall, after Intel releases Montevina. Montevina's coming out in June, and the earliest reasonable guess for a MacBook or MBP bump is August. Not many people think Apple is going to wait until next year to release the Montevina notebooks.

Likely the next gen will run cooler, have longer battery life, and possibly a new, smaller case. If you need a new laptop now, buy a refurbed MacBook. If you don't, I'd say wait a few months and see.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:46 PM on March 7, 2008

To build on what middlecasstool said: they did *just* bump the MacBooks, so you're probably looking at 6-9 months to the next rev, which may not be a substantial one either. There's no oncoming Macworld event to sway you away from buying in the near future.

I say now's a pretty good time. And my personal research indicated that the higher end white MacBook was the best deal.
posted by Remy at 7:19 PM on March 7, 2008

Ah, unless you are one of those people who need to have the latest and greatest, go ahead and get it (I confess to being one of these people from time to time, but usually cooler heads prevail), or, hey, wait a few months for the bump.

I also heartily recommend going the refurb route. They are at least as good as the stuff on the retail shelves.
posted by lackutrol at 7:24 PM on March 7, 2008

the only better time than now to buy a computer is six months from now.

buy it, you won't regret it. trade up in a year (or two, or six months).

if you wait, you'll always be waiting. plus, you won't have it.
posted by KenManiac at 7:46 PM on March 7, 2008

Buy a refurb MacBook now, as I just did.

The days when CPU, memory and HD size were real factors is long past. I have a 1999 iBook that I prefer to any Windows laptop because it runs OS X (10.4.11). Who gives a crap that its processor is only 600 MHz? It works fine.

The killer app is OS X. Switch now.
posted by ikkyu2 at 8:40 PM on March 7, 2008

Just wait until your Dell warranty runs out. Why not save money until you absolutely must spend it? Get your money's worth out of your Dell then make the switch.
posted by HotPatatta at 10:55 PM on March 7, 2008

Would Linux not hating your laptop any more affect your decision-making? What distro(s) have you tried, and what doesn't work?
posted by flabdablet at 12:18 AM on March 8, 2008

Linux should not hate your laptop . Have you tried ubuntu on your laptop? I would seriously wait until your warranty is up atleast . I also would wait till after you come back from africa to get a mac. BRing your d620 with you so that if it gets stolen you havent lost your new laptop.
posted by majortom1981 at 5:55 AM on March 8, 2008

Nth'ing the refurb (with AppleCare) route, whether you do that now or delay. These days, very few people need bleeding edge hardware. Some of the money you save can go into an extra battery or two. I'd be tempted to wait until after MacWorld to do that.
posted by dws at 9:06 AM on March 8, 2008

I use all three (windows, Linux, macbook) for work and play so I feel I can comment with some degree of objectivity.

I do love my macbook (amateur edition), purchased last August because: it is white, I like the keyboard, it looks nice (it's white), it's less susceptible to viruses than a PC but things like streaming video work better than on a Linux laptop, the fonts are nice, I can open a BSD terminal and kill processes when it hangs (which happens a lot - I have learned not to try to do too many things at once on a macbook), the size is nice, and I like the way it looks (I like a small white laptop).

Things I don't like: there's no right mouse click button on the laptop, so you really need to use an external mouse. Everything works better with a right mouse-click. I also don't really care for the Mac user-interface in general ("mac" style means that when you open firefox, you have to explicitly open another window of firefox, not just another copy of the executable) - but I'm getting used to it. It's a LOT easier to use with an external mouse because of the missing right mouse button problem. Mac zealots will claim you can do anything without a right-mouse button but I don't think that's actually true (try playing Second Life without a right mouse button)- there are four separate buttons to the left of the space bar ("fn" "ctrl" "option" "apple symbol") that seem to do different things depending on the application. Also, a lot of built-in application software is pretty useless (the stuff for making DVDs for example) - lots of better Windows applications out there.

But on the whole, I love my macbook, because it's white and I can run BSD unix in a terminal to kill processes when the computer hangs.

I would just get a Macbook amateur without "applecare" (whatever that is). I would just buy one soon (who cares what is coming out in the near future). I say "I would do this" because that is what I did. I would be somewhat worried about taking one to Africa, but what can you do. Just hope for the best.

If there were a nice, smallish, white laptop running Windows, I would probably prefer that, maybe. Not sure. I just like the way my macbook looks.
posted by thomas144 at 11:06 AM on March 8, 2008

there is a nice, smallish, white laptop running Windows. it's your macbook.

look into Parallels or VMWare Fusion, or Apple's own BootCamp.

there is probably a hack to get the multitouch features on your trackpad (not the most current pinch ones, but 2-finger scroll and right-click).

pick up 'The Missing Manual" by David Pogue (he writes the tech column for the NY Times). it's a great book, chock full of good, useful info on all aspects of the current crop of Macs.
posted by KenManiac at 8:32 PM on March 8, 2008

I switched to a macbook last october after a lifetime of PC use. Unlike thomas144, I've rarely experienced application hangs, and it's never been anything so serious that I couldn't force-quit and open again. I am actually amazed at the number of processes I can run simultaneously on my macbook. It's the base model so it can be slow on occasion, but that's really my only complaint.

To answer your question, timing your purchase is a little bit like timing the stock market: it's hard to predict and you're paying the opportunity cost while you wait. Get one whenever you're ready and don't worry about the upgrade cycle.
posted by Chris4d at 4:19 PM on March 10, 2008