Windows 11....thoughts?

I do think winders is actually getting a little better. Edge is built on chromium. If they actually start using a Linux/Unix kernel, they may actually have something. As a software developer, most vendors I deal with are exclusively Mac.

 

Yeah, that kept us busy for, oh, 20 minutes at work. (15 minutes to write up a quick PowerShell script to poll our servers - not counting print servers lol - for the Print Spooler, and stop/disable it if running; and 5 minutes to run it, if that.)

 

Yep; TPM 2.0 w/Secure Boot on a Lenovo Thinkpad T480s.

 

Ok gentleman and the few ladies that are on this site, I am really hoping for some educated suggestions. Please know that I am not interested in getting into the Mac vs everything else debate, I have already made up my mind in that department. I am the casual/intermediate user and by no means an expert. I use a computer everyday at work, and am familiar w/windows as are most people. I am hoping to hear from some Mac users or others who can help me choose the best MacBook/MacBook Pro for my needs. I have been slowly putting money aside each week and so far have about $3400.00 in my safe, which I plan on continuing. What I want is basically something to surf the web, make purchases, store some photos, bill pay, watch YouTube and listen to some music. This will be something I plan to take w/me when I travel in my RV hence the laptop. I tend to buy more than needed, but that's because I don't want to have to upgrade later. I don't mind spending a little more to get exactly what I want, and I like the phrase "more than you'll ever need". Also, I really like the MacBook Pro because of it's 16 in screen, these tired eyes prefer the bigger screen. Can anyone give me suggestions re: RAM, Processor, Memory, Storage, etc... You know all that tech stuff that I am clueless on. Also, should I by direct from the Apple website or go to the Apple store or Best Buy or somewhere like that?

 

A Mac is mad overkill for what you're looking to do. Looks like you'll need to go Macbook Pro if you want the larger screen, so just grab the a basic-ish config for that. Unless "surf the web" means you'll have MANY tabs open, the amount of processing power and memory wouldn't really matter. As far as storage, I'm not sure how you want to handle the media storage. If you're going to be using iCloud (I would suggest that), then the amount of storage locally wouldn't really be too much of an issue. Regardless, I'd personally do a 1TB SSD. It's pretty much the standard right now and will allow you to keep a ton of music and some movies locally so you won't need an internet connection for that media. I'm not a Mac person as I work in SMB and Enterprise spaces and Macs don't like to play nice there, so I'm not 100% sure on the available hardware for them.

 

Buy a Chromebook for $300 or an ipad. Or a used computer from the last decade unless you're gaming, CAD, mad spreadsheets, or doing graphic/video stuff then you can get the cheapest laptop and it'll last forever. A $3000+ laptop is crazy overkill imo, but I get your notion of buy once cry once. Spend a grand and you'll have a good computer that will last a long time and be more than plenty capable.

 

https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished

I buy all my stuff refurbished directly from Apple. One year warranty and AppleCare eligible.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...941fe8de21258285b4651c278afe6d6c9af4934d4692b

 

Everything after XP sooks…. MacOS is

 

We bought a refurb iMac late last year and have had nothing but issues with it - been in for random reboots/crashes, wiped and reinstalled the OS countless times, power supply replaced and finally had a logic board replacement. And now we're seeing the reboots come back, looking like it's the hybrid drive this time. I wish I would have spend the extra $150-200 or whatever we saved to get a new one. The thing about Macs is that they're pretty rock solid - if they have to go in for refurb, there is more than likely a ghost in the machine that will be difficult to track down, if it wasn't something obvious that was repaired the first time around. I'm sure not all Apple refurb experiences go this way, but I'm soured on them.

 

Sorry you had issues.... How has Apple responded? Since it is still under warranty are they not helping?

 

They've been okay, it's just been a shitshow since this all started in the middle of covid closures and what-not. Instead of being able to take it to an Apple store, we had to go through the phone support system, then take it to an authorized Apple repair shop. The repair shop was decent about it, the only issue there with the first repair was that the power supply got stuck in Snowmageddon in Nashville, so the part took an extra week to show up. On the most recent repair, we were told that we were already at 3 qualified repairs and the next would be a replacement, but then when we finally got it into the store, they pushed back on that and said there were only 2 qualified repairs so far. This next one SHOULD result in a replacement, but we'll see. I haven't had time to talk to support or take it in yet.

 

I hope everything gets resolved to your satisfaction... I guess I have been fortunate with all the units I have purchased. Good luck

 

Ya, I am not a fan of buying refurbished anything...You never know how other people treat there stuff.

 

Thank you everyone for all the responses. I figured many would say overkill, but as I said before I don't want to do any upgrades, etc. later. It's really just mad money I have been saving for this toy anyway, so I am ok with the overkill..hehe

 

While I have heard dozens of individual stories about how great Macs are, I know they're not bulletproof. A friend of mine uses Macs in his stores (he owns about 6 recycled car parts stores, what used to be called salvage yards). While he likes the usability much more than PC's (he used to have PC's), he is the first to acknowledge that Apple has its fair share of issues, more with hardware than with software.

As far as recommendations go, I would also recommend a good Chromebook and the cloud. If you're not comfortable storing your files on the cloud you can get a good NAS to store your files at home.

 

Thank you for the response, I take all info to heart..

 

Most of my hardware engineering development work is done on Linux nowadays and I’m constantly battling with corporate to maintain the environment. We are mandated to upgrade our environment even though the newer versions of tools don’t support the older hardware. This is much less of an issue in Linux. Unfortunately since corporate will only support updates and security patches to the Windows network, each program has to pay a “maintenance fee” to have it do the Linux updates manually. A very hard sell to our customer since the cost is passed along.

 

For 17 years I absolutely suffered with Windows based PC's at our house. From the constant updating of virus protections, firewalls, defragging and all that BS...I grew to hate them Hate them violently. In 2011 I bought an iMac for myself and a MacBook pro for my wife. We have never looked back. They are a delight to use and all that maintenance BS is a thing of the past. All I ever do is clear out the cache and browser history every once in a while. Both of those are just a two click operation. Simple simple simple. All they do is work. You don't have to be an IT expert to keep them up and running. So yeah I am a Apple homer...and big time Apple shareholder..so Apple Apple Apple.

Now to your question. IMO if you really want to by more than you need, and HAVE to have the 16" screen, then yeah MacBook Pro. Get the base model for $2399. If you think you need more than 512GB storage, you can pay to upgrade to 1 or 2 TB. IIRC a base model upgraded to more than you will ever need to 2TB storage would come in right at $3k. But if 13.3" works for you, then a MacBook Air would be the way to go..$1800 for the 2TB option. Frankly I don't think you can go wrong with either.

As for price. Yeah expensive. As for Value...off the charts if you value your free time and realize these will last you 8-9 years. Any windows PC will become so bogged down with bloatware inside of 3 years it will make you chuck it in the river and buy another one. So for fair comparison, compare the price of 3 PCs vs the 1 Mac. Now put in all the time you save not having to do all that BS PC maintenance and bloatware issues. Yeah..Apple is a tremendous value. And 9 years later you could still sell it for a couple hundred dollars. A PC..you would have to pay someone to take a 9 year old unit.

I had a PC at work. Once it was about 2.5 years old, it was in the IT office for repairs and updating more than it was on my desk (laptop with docking station). If that is the best a pro IT person can do...what chance do you or I have? The bright side was on those days I basically surfed the web on my iPhone all day as I could not work.

MacBook...the Tundra of Laptops.

 

Thank you for a real world opinion. I am at my wits end w/windows, and it's not like I haven't been around them my whole adult life. I just get soooo tired of the day to day inconvenient crap that you mentioned above. While yes I have always been an iPhone user from day 1, I think it's time to delve into the simplistic world of MacBook use as well.

 

I joined the "DARK SIDE" few months ago, Imac pro and Iphone 12 promax coming from Samsung, windows 10 and all their bullshit. Love it! No reason to say anymore.

 

Thank you for confirming what I should already know.

 

I've had the opposite experience, honestly - *literally* everything I've ever bought refurbished (to include iPhones, Macs and PCs/laptops) has been fantastic. In my experience, if I buy a current generation item that has been refurbished, it means either that

- it had one part broke, so they sent out a different thing to the user, repaired the part, and are now selling/offering it refurbished
- OR some little old lady bought it, said "I don't like the color" and returned it. LOL

 

Thanks, I would imagine they give the same warranty..

 

They usually do. The last one I bought (Lenovo ThinkPad T480s) was normally $1300; got it for $780 or so with a 3 year warranty. Not that it really matters....they're built like a freakin' tank.

 

The most important thing for me is design. One of the features of Windows 11 was an updated design with a redesigned Start menu, which is now located in the middle of the screen. However, the "Start" button itself does not have a fixed position, shifting to the left as new programs are opened, and the interface provides the ability to forcibly return it to its usual position for Windows 10. You can pick up a huge number of keys for your programs using windows 10 pro key. Believe me, this will definitely help you work comfortably.

 

Why do they have to mess with what works?