This will shock the Mac Users

MadGamer · 13-09-2009, 12:46

Ok, I have decided its finally time to go over to the other side and purchase a Mac Book. Now im not made of money and I do have a visual impairment, having said that is the difference between the 15" and 17" Macbook Pro considerably different? Explain all the Pro's and cons please. I do play games but only really the Sims 3 which is Mac compatible but would it run?

**Chris** · 13-09-2009, 12:56

Sims will run on any Macbook. The difference between the two models you mentioned is 2 inches. The screen resolution improves with each step up the range but the price goes up too.

Compare the specs here:

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/hom...mco=Nzk2MDc0Mw

MadGamer · 13-09-2009, 12:58

Thanks for that Chris, anything else I should know regarding Mac OSX?

**Chris** · 13-09-2009, 13:19

You don't need to know anything about it ... it just works.

dilli-theclaw · 13-09-2009, 13:24

Macs crash like any other pc.

The accesibility options on the mac are very good the screen magnifier and screen reader are /almost/ as good as the zoomtext I use.

**Chris** · 13-09-2009, 13:34

Well ... apps crash sometimes, but the core OS is protected against that sort of thing. I'm sure I've had to press and hold the power button for a hard reset on this machine in front of me at some time or other, but I really can't remember when that last happened. And when it does it's because some application or other has gone haywire and has eaten up all the processors and memory, meaning I get bored waiting for the 'Force Quit' dialogue box to appear.

I've never had a kernel panic under OSX and I never saw the 'bomb' message under OS9. I know they can and do happen, but I don't think statistics would bear out any claim that OSX is equally as crash-prone as Windows in its various incarnations.

Lew · 13-09-2009, 13:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

â€¦I never saw the 'bomb' message under OS9

I guess you never tried running Internet Explorer and Outlook Express at the same time, then. That was pretty much always guaranteed to make OS 9 bomb.

**Chris** · 13-09-2009, 13:38

Incidentally, this is what the Mac's version of a BSOD looks like. Take a good look, it's rare as hen's teeth in the wild.

---------- Post added at 13:38 ---------- Previous post was at 13:37 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lew

I guess you never tried running Internet Explorer and Outlook Express at the same time, then. That was pretty much always guaranteed to make OS 9 bomb.

Nope, I was a right zealot in my early Mac days. First thing I did when I got my original iMac was install Nutscrape. I used it for browsing and email.

dilli-theclaw · 13-09-2009, 13:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

Well ... apps crash sometimes, but the core OS is protected against that sort of thing. I'm sure I've had to press and hold the power button for a hard reset on this machine in front of me at some time or other, but I really can't remember when that last happened. And when it does it's because some application or other has gone haywire and has eaten up all the processors and memory, meaning I get bored waiting for the 'Force Quit' dialogue box to appear.

I've never had a kernel panic under OSX and I never saw the 'bomb' message under OS9. I know they can and do happen, but I don't think statistics would bear out any claim that OSX is equally as crash-prone as Windows in its various incarnations.

Interestingly I never said it was. But equally a claim that it 'just works' is also false

Perhaps it just works 'most of the time' may be more accurate.

**Chris** · 13-09-2009, 13:39

Interestingly, I worded that very phrase you bolded deliberately so as not to aim it at you.

dilli-theclaw · 13-09-2009, 13:44

I have a fair few crashed on my 'mac' but I assumed they were due to the way it was being run. My friends mac has fewer but he still has them and his has a proper one and only a couple of months old.

Personally I think that getting a mac can work out cheaper if you have a visual impairment as you don't need to buy the specialist software you do for windows. (Well, unless you have windows 7

but that's a whole other story).

Halcyon · 13-09-2009, 14:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thomas T

Personally I think that getting a mac can work out cheaper if you have a visual impairment as you don't need to buy the specialist software you do for windows. (Well, unless you have windows 7

but that's a whole other story).

Debatable as the hardware spec you get for a mac can be got as a PC of the equivilant spec far cheaper.
On the software side, Yes, the OS is clearly better.

dilli-theclaw · 13-09-2009, 14:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halcyon

Debatable as the hardware spec you get for a mac can be got as a PC of the equivilant spec far cheaper.
On the software side, Yes, the OS is clearly better.

HHHmmm a laptop that's going to run Sims 3 well and also have a Â£500 program on it and still be cheaper than a macbook. I guess it could be done, but I'd still prefer the macbook.

As for a clearly better OS, I don't think so. I use mac os and I find it just as good as windows, just as prone to problems. It's different not better in my opinion. I can only speak from the experience I have in using it though.

Having said taht I wouldn't say no to a 'proper' mac and I never said I wouldn't either

MadGamer · 13-09-2009, 15:18

Just thought about Wireless, I have a wireless Linksys Router, and I know the MacBook has built in Wireless, but do I require an Apple Airport as well?

Lew · 13-09-2009, 15:43

Nope. It'll work with your Linksys router.