Compaq vs Apple?!?! - Page 2

OZONE I kind of like the way the Compaq looks - not as sexy as the Apple PB, but appealing in an understated way. I still find the PB keyboard to have slightly better tactile feel.

If you like the way the 15 inch PB looks I would suggest a Compaq X1000. The looks, thickness and weight are very close to the PB. Also the keyboard on the X1000 is BETTER than the PB's. Trust me on this. There is also the HP equivalent which I is the zt3000.

If looks are very important (I know they are) and you want something more "exotic" look at the new ASUS W1 which RUSTICAN recommended above. No only will this machine be much faster than a PB it is also EASILY the prettier notebook of the two. It is made of brushed aluminum and has a very sleek look. Its a little expensive though.

Is OSX easier than XP? Yes and no. I'll explain, is playing PACMAN easier than playing Grand Theft Auto, or Halo? Sure. What's the point you say? Well, go look at the options that OSX has for mouse control, then look at the options XP has for mouse control. You will notice that you can't do anything to customize the way the mouse behaves in OSX. There are only about 3 options there and that’s it. You can't even turn off the dam pointer acceleration which I hate so much (called "enhance pointer precision" on XP) So you see OSX has very few options especially when compared to XP so you can't really "tweak" or change things as much on OSX. This makes people think it is easier than XP since they are not overwhelmed by options. The truth if you ask my opinion is that both XP and OSX are EQUALLY simple. MACs where easier before but with XP that changed. Which brings me to the most important point of this post. NEVER, and I mean NEVER listen to people who own MACs. For some strange reason people who have MACs receive some sort of brainwashing and they feel that owning a MAC will get them into heaven and that PCs are evil. You want to get comments from people who owned both, especially people who owned PCs and then tried MACs because that is your exact situation. I still don't know how Steve Jobs does it, but he converts MAC owners into zombies that just don't seem to see anything else as a viable option. I know a couple of these people.

To sum things up, if you want a 15" widescreen similar to a PB go for the X1000 (or one of the equivalents from HP) If you want to go all out go for the W1 or a Sony VAIO A series. If what you wanted was a 17" the HP 17" laptop is an EXELLENT choice, although I think it also run a little hot. As an expensive alternative you can consider a Sony VAIO A190. The A series has a very sleek and nice design.

Hope this helps.

@#$%#$^#@$^ 4000 DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 are you #@$%# crazy, do you have any idea what you can get with 4K, that POS apple is the biggest rip off ive ever seen, for 4 grand you can get a 17" sager with Raid 0+1 HDD configuration or Dual DVDRW w/ 3.4GHz HT P4's with 2GB of ram or something crazy

Just to add in high school(well 2 years ago) all they had were Macs. I liked them and everything even though it was different from my former school that had Windows running. After I got my first PC and used Windows it just became uncomfortable to use the Mac OS. I'm sure it would be different if it were the other way around, but I love Windows and the only problems I have ever had was when I got an out of the ordinary virus.

OZONE

Just thought I should mention, you can get a ZT3000 or X1000 and later upgrade the processor, HD, RAM, ETC. Nothing is soldered so all the internals can be changed. Some more easily than others. The HD is accessible by removing just 2 screws. RAM only 1 screw, wireless card just 1 screw also. You can get a X1000 with a 1.5 pentium M which is just fine right now. Later, in a year or so if you feel you need something faster you can swich the processor for a 2.0 pentium M. Also you can ad 2 gigs of RAM or a 7200 RPM drive very easily. It is a very flexible notebook and the screen is exellent. The newer ones come with a "X-Brite" screen.

A W1 would also be awsome but like you stated, I don't know much about how support works here in US or in Canada. That is why I called it an "exotic" notebook.

Sony memory stick? Yes I hate them too . Also they overprice everything. But still, they are very easy on the eyes. If only Sony would make a decision to competitively price their PCs they would be #1 or #2 in the business. Also cutting back on all the propietary crap would help (memory stick).

This is for you SONY even though I am considering a S170

considering a S170 LMAO, what is the price of that? like 7x that of a notebook with equal or superior specs? Xbrite screens? give me a break those things are way to glossy to see anything in bright light

i'd have to agree with pr50owner on this one. i was at BB and saw a 12.1" sony with specs about equal to that of the Averatec 3220. The differance? nearly 2x on the sticker. (averatec-$699 sony-about $1300) Sure it has teh X-brite but i didnt get it. I just dont see anything special in it. ok, the picture is bright, but it isnt worth $600. The averatec also has a very nice screen for such a lappy. But honestly...i just don't trust Sony. And sony is not my house-hold brand name. In fact, the only Sony products in the house are my brothers cd walkman and my MDR-G52 headphones.

But back on track...
On the software note....during school i used Win2k and WinME at home all the time. In school I used either OS X or 9.2 on either an iBook (X), Powerbook (X), eMac (9), new iMac (X) , G3 iMac (X), G3 iBook (9) and Dual G5 (X) (most commonly used eMac, iBook and G3 iMac). In school it wouldnt do anything advanced usualy...some net...some word, powerpoint? At home i do all my crazy stuff (like emulatation, gaming and everything else). On the macs it was easy to find my wanted option i wanted to tweak, but would be hell to change it. At home on Win it would be a bit hard finding what i wanted, but it is usualy a thing of less than a minute to tweak it. I found myself that work would be done faster on my PC at home. For regular use the macs are fine but i found them limiting, i felt a lot more freedom on windows.

On a hardware note....like stated above...the touchpad on ibooks and powerbooks is total crap, you try to do soemthing and it just skips out on the signal. When it takes nearly 5 or 6 seconds to open MS Office for OS X um...no thanks! When it takes 3 or 4 seconds to open IE for mac...fast my arse. My P3 can execute those tasks faster. Also, maybe its just me but i dont like the keyboard feel and layout of the PB or the iBook, typing on one was hell...I was at least 2x slower than i was on my friends IBM T-series. What a DRAG!

I have been lurking occasionally at the www.x1000forums.com forums, and found out the following about the zt3000, x1000 and nx7010....they ship with several different screens, the best of which is a Samsung, and the worst of which is a Hitachi. Do a search over at those forums for details. There is a Knoppix and another boot CD that you can make that will tell you which screen you have received.

Now, what I would like is "proof positive" that there is zero difference between the business nx7010 and the x1000 and zt3000. Several people there (at the x1000forums) have assured me that they are all 3 identical systems. I can not confirm this with HP. The really funny thing is: the business side knows nothing about the consumer side, and the consumer side knows nothing about the business side. So if you call a business HP rep, and say "as for the nx7010, is it identical to the x1000 or zt3000???" they have no clue whatsoever.



Andrew
Austin, TX

LMAO? I really don't understand why you need to use such a hostile tone. First of all I said I was CONSIDERING the VAIO s170. I didn't said I was BUYING one. Like you state it is very expensive and I agree. As to the comments of there being other laptops with the same specs for less money I would have to ask anyone to point one out to me. The fact is there is NO other laptop out there, AS OF NOW, with the specs of the S170. The S170 is very small and light and includes a Radeon 9700 with 64megs of video RAM. People are actually playing Doom 3 on this small machine. When you find another 12" or 13" notebook with a Radeon 9700 64meg THEN we'll talk. To tell you the truth, even though this laptop is unique (at least for the moment) I do agree that it is a lot of money to pay for a notebook pc and I have had 2nd thoughts about getting it. I am now leaning towards another notebook which will be cheaper, hence the term "considering the s170" Anyway I don't know how old you people are or if you work. But I could easily buy a S170, it's just around $2000 (I say this in the humblest way possible) You see, that is the reason why I work, to buy the stuff I like. I can continue saving and saving money and not treat myself to anything or I can just go ahead and treat myself with the S170. Having said all that I have to admit that there is something always holding me back. That little voice that when you are about to make the decision to buy says "$2100! you are going to spend $2100 on this? Don't support SONY, they overcharge everything"

OZONE
About the ZT3000, nobody that I know has replaced the graphics card yet. But from what I've heard and seen, it is definitely possible if you want to exchange it for the 64meg version. The only problem you will have is actually getting a 64meg version. This will probably not be easy to come by. As for your needs? If you don't play games, or don’t play that much you will have no problem with the 32meg Radeon 9200 that comes in the zt3000. It actually plays most if not all the games out there with the possible exception of the heavy first person shooters like DOOM 3 and Far Cry. I really don't know if you can play those, but I am inclined to believe that if you lower the setting on them they will probably play also.

Hope this answers your question.

PS: Oh, I like the glossy screens (X-brite and others) but would also not pay $600 extra for one. And by the way, everybody has those screens, not just SONY. HP has them, TOSHIBA, COMPAQ, DELL and probably others.

Good point about the X1000 forums. He should definatelly check those out. As to your question on the machines being the same. Yes they are. The basic difference is the paint on the nx7010 which is black instead of silver and the fact that it is a business computer. That means it comes with XP Pro, and probably other software to help ITs etc. Also they have a 3 year warranty included in the price.

That's the really weird thing about the nx7010.
It doesn't have a 3 year warranty.
It is one of the few business models that comes with a 1 year warranty standard. Oh, sure, you can add the 3 year, onsite, and accidental into the price, but it starts out more than $200 higher than the zt3000 equally equipped. (the x1000 is about $70 more than the zt3000 for whatever reason.)

I had also that the nx7010 had better case materials than the x1000/zt3000, but several people have told me that is not true.

Andrew
Austin, TX

Case materials are the same. THe back of the LCD is Aluminum on the three.

man are powerbooks really that bad? i was going to buy one. i was going to use it at college just mostly for instant messanger, watching dvd's, and typing papers and research. i like doing video editing too. but if there so bad.....

for all the stuff you want to do, save your money. If all you want is IM, DVD and school work (and even a little video editing) take a look at the new *skinny* Sager (or the big ones if mobility isn't your main goal). Also look at the Acer Aspire 2012 and 2025, also the Asus M6N and M6Ne, there is the good ol AOpen and the CL56. (btw..all of the above are also capable of gaming to one degree or another and cost WAY below PB's tag). If you want to kill some cash, grab the Acer Ferarri 3200.

Look at the Hypersonic model line (good pain and good service from that store) or DiscountLaptops (good lappys with the best service known to the internet world).

well i really dont care about the money cause i have a scholarship i can use for it. i just thought i would try something new, and i really like the looks of the powerbooks. i really dont like the cl56 or aopen type notebooks. and portability is a big thing. the acer 2025 is just as much as a powerbook... but im not so sure about the powerbook now...

IBMs are known for very high quality systems for a lot of money. They are also known for not using top of the line parts (especialy in the GPU department) so if you think you can live with it, IBMs are good computers, but for the money, you can get more power. How much is an Acer Ferarri 3200 in canada?

Of course not! I am not a regular Apple/Mac user, and have only owned PC systems. I do think some things were a bit overstated in this thread concerning the Apple. First, there is a Mac program that allows the reconfiguration of any type of mouse and adds support to Win mice not specifically made for Mac use. There is a price premium to an Apple, very similar to that of the business line of IBM's, Dell's and HP. All of their "top of the line" machines can be configured at similar or higher prices than the Apple.

Going to MacOS you do lose a lot of normal "Windows" function because it is an different OS. However, I think there are things positive aspects of the Apple that you will not find currently on a PC laptop. Of course it would be cool to have G5 PB out today, but rather it be out and work than problematic.

I think the choice to go to Mac/Apple or Windows/PC should never be an issue with money b/c there are a lot of overpriced (not worth the value) PCs on the market. XP is good but it has its' own share of blemishes and compatibility issues with hardware. The choice comes down to what you want in terms of functionality, comfort, and what your willing to spend on the product.

thats my 2cents!

I've yet to find the all around laptop for me but I think my plans will be to buy a full loaded M200 tablet with an external LCD and later add a DTR (likely a Powerbook). If I like the G4 enough I'll ride it out to the second revision of the G5PB [whenever that occurs]; or alternatively, sell the G4 for something else if I do not like the system. Good that Apple hardware maintains a relatively high resell value.

now I'm done!