I run 2 Sony Vaio for 3 years now.
Battery in one recently went bad but no other problems. This machine is excellent.

Being a Unix admin, I know what MAC is built with. So why not just unix with a GUI and pay 3X less for the hardware? With a computer science degree, saying Windows is Bloated and thinking that MACOS isnt a bloated version of Unix. You aren't as smart as you think you are. Everyone has good experiences with all kinds of different things. Some people buy Ford cars and love them. Some people buy BMW and would never buy a ford. It does not mean Fords wont last longer then BMWs based on who is taking care of them.

funny thing, when I went to activate iphone in Apple store they had to login to a remote windows server to do so, I asked the guy if Macs are so much superior why do cell phone carries use windows servers, he did not have an answer for that one :) That kandra guy that is saying how to run business you need mac, it's the opposite, most software will run better on Windows because you can get twice as fast windows machine for the same price of your overpriced mac. Macs are for idiots who don't know wtf they are doing, the only thing that is trully usefull is iphone

I use Linux/BSD daily, would never use one as a desktop. I like things to look good. Unfortunately, the Linux geeks don't give a shit about looks. And that's fine. To each it's own. I find the Macs to be a nice blend of functionality and looks.

As for me not being smart, as the saying goes, good thing about being stupid is that you can always learn new things. I'll freely admit to being stupid (especially in a conversation where OS benefits are coming down to attacks on personal intelligence).

No one in real life business uses MACs unless it is for design/architecture/engineering on the desktop side. Every business runs on a Microsoft Active Directory server for user accounts with groups and permissions. They all use MS Exchange for email. And most companies run all of the business applications, such as accounting software etc on windows servers. Very few do it on Unix unless they have special database needs.

It's not the 90's anymore. Many of these companies simply run Windows.

The topic is about laptops, not desktops. I agree many, especially large, companies use the setup you mentioned, but it's 2011 and most IT startups and modern companies use cloud based setups.

Now compare a windows user on the setup you describe above having to login to his work's outlook email on his windows laptop from home. By the time that user is finally ready to write or reply to his first email I already did 10 of them on my MacBook and my company gmail.

For users on this forum, who mainly work just for themselves or for modern it companies, a cloud setup with a MacBook laptop just makes more sense if you care about optimizing your business as much as possible.

As for "mac is for dumb users" that don't know what they are doing. I have worked with windows all my life, I even already used PCs before windows even existed, I have worked with every windows system, including servers. I used to manage our own webservers (worked with freebsd and later slackware). I have always built and hardware upgraded my own computers. I am not some dumb user or newbie teen that doesn't know what he is doing. I was always very sceptic about Macs, until I actually tried one last year, and now I will never go back. Times have changed and remember we are talking about laptops here (even though I use my macbook as desktop replacement as well), there is simply no reason for people to stick with Windows laptops. Of course you can built a system with much better specs for less money and run linux, but for most regular users that's just not realistic.

I am positive if the topic starter would get a MacBook he would be coming back here and post something like "damn, I wish I had known this much sooner". That's what I hear from everyone that finally makes the switch.

Wise move :thumbsup

At this point I don't think it matters fuck all which company you go with. I had 3 Toshibas and they all fucked up after a year or so, not even able to use them, not to mention 'little shit' like buttons permanently broken, but the nail in the coffin is when the screens went out of 2 of them, been using a Gateway now for at LEAST 3 years and I love it. The only thing I can complaing about is the a/w/s/d keys are pressed down from too much gaming but they still work perfectly, just work in a touchpad sort of way lol.