The Glade 4.0

So I'm thinking of buying a laptop soon and deciding how much it might cost and what to get. Any recommendations? I want a laptop that has decent power, but it doesn't have to be a gaming laptop. I would prefer to be under 6-7 pounds too. I don't want to carry around a pile of bricks all the time. Obviously I've looked at the big brands, but I'm curious as to what others think is best.

I was thinking of going to the dark side and getting a Macbook Pro because I'm getting sick of Windows and the bugs with it. How's Windows 7 compare thus far?

Thanks all.

I like the MacBookPro I have at work. Just loaded Snow Leopard on it but haven't had a chance to play with it...waiting for the incompatibility with Symantec to be fixed as well.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

The Macbook Pro's only downside is the price. If that doesn't bother you, I say go for it. The multitouch trackpad is really nice once you get used to it and is miles ahead of any PC equivalents you'll find.

That said, I would definitely dual boot Win7 and OSX. They're both great.

<3 <3 <3 my MacBook Pro. The office bought a brand-new one for me to work on, and a couple of months later just gave it to me, along with a 1.5 TB external HDD, as a bonus. So much <3.

Eventually I'll get around to clearing it out and putting Windows 7 on it (I've got a copy of Vista that I dual-boot my iMac to, but...no). I'm going to see about getting a friend who's still in college to pick it up for me for $30.

I haven't had many problems with my Dell Inspiron 1525- it was affordable in pricing, nice screen, has worn well, and seems overall quite stable. All of my Dell Laptops have done well.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

If someone gave me a macbook pro?

I'd sell it on Ebay, buy a PC, and go to Cabo on the proceeds.

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Holy shitsnacks!

You would be a fool to give away a piece of hardware with the amount of polish a MBP has, as well as downgrading from the ability to run 3 OS's to two.

I've been computer for around 15 years; 12 of those have been exclusively PC. I have never, ever had any problems with my Macs (mini Mac, iMac, Macbook Pro, Mac Pro) that the PCs gave me.

They're expensive, but they're damn well worth the money.

Plus the added bonus Lenas mentioned, of have many more options open to you with a Mac.

I can't in good conscience recommend any Sony machine, particularly their laptops. I have a great dislike for Dell. The sturdiest pre-built boxes I've had are Compaq, HP, and, oddly enough, eMachines (that laptop was a damn workhorse). The user-built boxes have been far more problematic. I've had many hardware problems with my various PCs, and none with my Macs. And to boot...going from Windows to OS X? Priceless. Nary an issue.

It's easy for naysayers to delude themselves into thinking that Macs are "all about the name brand," but they're a reason they're so highly regarded. They're the best hardware (and, to a more opinionated extent, software) around.

I've tried both and never felt that Macs were worth the added expense.

I'm sure their software options have improved with time, but their add campaigns alone are enough to make me not want to touch another one. To each his (or her) own.

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Gorse

You guys are certainly doing an excellent job of convincing me on the Macbook Pro. Ever since I got my iPhone, I've thought about buying one. I love my iPhone. It's expensive, but it'll just take a little longer to save up for it then. I was also thinking of getting a time capsule with it for backup hard-drive purposes as well as up-to-date wi-fi. My other router is a bit on the old side.

Phe's laptop (Sony Vaio) died (twice, in fact; her dad and I pulled it back from the brink of death once, but twice was just too much), and we got her a used, bartered Dell Latitude D610. It was OK, I guess...at least until its power supply went tits-up. Between that, seeing the performance of my desktop and laptop, and the constant problems with her Zune, Phe (who was once die-hard anti-Apple) has agreed that her money will be best spent on an iPod and a MacBook as soon as we save up enough.

If you have other Apple products, they definitely all play nicely together and "just work."