Switched back to a mac. Why? Tips Included.

First off a little about me. I have had tons of notebooks. Primarily a windows guy and I was looking for a new notebook and was doing some research. The dell m4400 precision workstation looks like a great option but many users are reporting problems. I was going to go bankrupt decking it out with a quad code proc and the upgraded nvidia quadro (better than a 9600GT, its a 1700m or something) 770m = 9600gt. Anyhow no point in spending that kinda cash on a Dell that may not perform the way you expect it to.

So why did I switch? again.
1) My second LCD is being used elsewhere so having the laptop as a second lcd is ok. I don't need the laptop to be able to drive 2 ext lcds atm.

2) I bought an Iphone, maybe I just have apple on the brain.

3) vmware fusion can finally do what I want. I have a boot camp partition running windows and vmware can also hook into the SAME partition and run windows. So when I'm in OS x I use windows, and if I need to boot into windows it's the same exact windows. No having one windows boot camp and a different windows virtual machine.

IMPORTANT- if you are going to use vmware fusion the way I do. Save yourself a TON of trouble and get yourself a corporate version of XP pro.

I also plan to run ubuntu in vmware.

4) I got a newer mbp. The old gen had problems...but which one did I buy exactly?

Which MBP and why...

I bought the previous gen (penryn 2.5ghz) the 5400 rpm hard drive is a lil slow but I will be updating to an SSD in a few months. Why didn't you buy the amazing new mbp? (which I have seen and used).

Simple...
1) cheaper, I got this one new for a lot less
2) I like the matte screen
3) engadget.com has a great review on the new one and the penryn scored HIGHER in a lot of benchmarks including graphics. Why do you ask ? well the nvidia chipset is pretty new and my guess is the intel chipset is still faster.

Don't get me wrong, the new MBP is stunning. The seamless build is awesome and the fit and finish is great. Man it felt sturdy. I will probably buy one in the future if Apple gets their act together. It felt easier to lug around and I felt more confident that it would be ok. With my MBP I am very careful with it.

Lessons Learned...
1) get steer mouse. Apple mouse functionality is horrid. So is the logitech mac software. I plugged my MX revolution in and with steer mouse my mouse does everything I want it to. Ok it costs 20 bux. Well worth it considering the software is better than anything out there. Not to mention in my case I would quit using OSX all together with its crappy unadjustable acceleration curve.

Seems like Mac hides/doesn't provide as much functionality as windows/linux. In my mind. Provide as much as you can. Let your users decide what they do with it. Browsing forums and such it seems a lot of apple users feel the operating should be simple and easy to use... Well if all I did was browse pictures, use itunes and safari then ok... I do believe apple appeals to a younger crowd. Especially since their marketing is bar none the best.

Ultimately I chose MBP because of the hardware. I like metallic things. I am also using mac os x for fun. Maybe code a few things here and there.

If the sony Z was avail in a 15.4" model with better graphics I would have that.

 

amen

(10 chars)

 

Congrats for switching back, thanks for the review, thanks for YOUR opinions, BUT....... I think you are discrediting Mac OS X and it's user base. It's NOT a toy, it's NOT tailored to appeal mostly to the younger crowd (as many legendary Mac OS users are NOT of the younger crowd, go to Macworld one day and you will see that) and it's not a toy just for kicks and fun.
I am an insurance agent and our entire office is run on Macs and the OS X operating system. It's all about business for us. Also I do professional music on the side and the preferred system by recording artists and studios is Mac OS X.
Based on your post it sounds like you just play games on the Windows side which is insignificant to anyone doing any real work on their computer. At this point either Mac OS X or Windows can perform most the same tasks but with less headache on the Mac OS.
IMO most people that need that flexibility to tinker with their OS are kids. Most people that use their computers for any real work are not inclined to get all underneath the hood of their computer.
BTW, the Mac is more customizable than you think, if you learn how to use the Terminal you can control your entire system. I've been using Macs since Mac OS 8.5 and I have a degree in electronics/computer science and I still like the simplicity of the Mac OS system. I've already wasted time tinkering with Windows and for what????

IMO you've wasted your money buying a Mac mainly for it's looks and you don't have much interest in it's own operating system.

 

Thanks for your insight and thoughts! I definitely agree about the Apple Mighty Mouse, I never liked it...its aesthetically pleasing I guess, but not my style. My favourite by far is the Logitech VX Revolution.

 

Just wondering what specifically are you talking about? Cause me or other users might have some solutions to your problems if you let us know.

 

I have had so many problems with the VX Revolution I don't know where to start. I got one from TigerDirect and it worked "OK" for the first day, as in the cursor moved but there were times when the signal was dropped, but then it refused to work anymore - only one one surface, a textbook, and nothing else. Just that one textbook. TigerDirect had a no returns policy for that product (I don't know how they are in general) and they told me to contact Logitech. I had it RMA'd after a very long process with Logitech via email - their phone support is NOT toll free, and I don't have long distance service. They shipped me another one, and I finally received it after 2 weeks - time that was spent using my old wired ball mouse. This one worked for more than a day, but the tracking was extremely choppy both on my table and on a mouse pad. I had to send it back using my own money via UPS (around $10) to Arizona and they sent me a refund check SIX WEEKS after they received it. My $10 "Microsoft Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000" works better than it.

 

This is my third revolution mx if that's any consolation... At least Logitech keeps replacing it even though I bought my first one over two years ago. I haven't had the vx so I can't speak specifically to that model.

For the record I am not knocking apple users or the user base. Keep in mind I haven't been using OSX for a very long time. I am very familiar with terminals and fyi I have an engineering degree and I currently do lead devel work. If I had something against apple I wouldn't be typing this in OS X =)

imho you always have to spend some time setting up your environment. However from the reading I have been doing it seems like a lot of mac users, not me, have been unhappy with getting their environment set up. Some just say it's great the way it is, don't mess with it, others keep hoping for a hack. I personally think because apple is a smaller company with a smaller user base, it affects their software.

For example you can't tap to click while booting into xp...Apple has it's quirks. People have posted it as bugs and feature requests but who knows, it may not be a high priority.

I also use X alot (one of my reasons for choosing mac). In X Focus follows mouse. So far on mac this isn't possible. Maybe once I have used OS X more I will prefer not having it.. who knows... I did enable it in terminal though.

And yes actually. Aesthetics played a factor in my choice, and lets be real, that's a BIG part of what apple sells. The new mbp is all about the chassis. Interestingly many have dubbed the new MBP as prosummer and not professional.

For example, my dell 24" is height adjustable and what not. The apple displays are not...why? no idea, I would think it's about looks/cost. They do have a vesa mounting adapter (yet another adapter) for an additional cost.

Why does a 2k+ Professional laptop...not have support for dual lcds? beyond me.

 

Btw there is a program that lets you do focus follows mouse, however it auto raises the window you get focus on =\. The software is written using some api calls into the accessibility features of osx from what I read.

Windows has a registry key you can change to do the above. It does ok .. but there is a great app called true x mouse for windows which I use.

 

One of the reasons I've stuck with Razer mice over the years. Free, fast, and good tech support. If I've had to rma stuff, they usually send me a replacement first, and then I send off the bad one. I think that tech support in a company is worth paying more for it. One of the reasons I got an apple was because of that.

 

+1 wish more companies were like that.

 

Please check the forum rules for discussing pirated software.

About everything else you said... I love the build quality of macs, and could only imagine how much better it is with the new aluminum ones. I'm a windows user myself, but knowing I can run windows in either a virtual machine (like fusion) or natively really attracts me.
I can't wait to get one!