Comments on: The Apple notebook guessing game

Will the company make the price drop plunge on Tuesday when it rolls out its new notebook lineup?

[Orion5487]

Wow, why does it not surprise me that this turned into a Mac vs PC war? Anyone who says either side sucks is ignorant and a moron. Both the Mac and the PC great in their own way, and it all depends on the user's needs to decide which one is better. As an owner of a MacBook Pro and a custom built Vista x64 PC, I feel I can give a fair assessment. For a PC, you get much more power for your money, but a less stable operating systems. I cannot tell you how many headaches that troubleshooting PC's has caused me. Also other big advantages PC has over Mac are gaming and customization. I can alter the visual style to look however I want and choose exactly what I want in my PC. Macs have a much more stable OS that offers a richer and easy to use experience. And the quality of the products are just much higher and last longer. Although they come at a heftier price. I do think, though, that they are still a little too pricey, especially the Mac Pro and their cinema displays. It all comes down to what you need as a user. If you are a big gamer and/or like to upgrade your system a lot, then the PC is right for you. But if you're only using it for basic functions or professional uses, and money is not a major issue, then Mac is the better choice.

[random truth]

Your right, Its so pathetic that everything about apple or macs turn into a mac vs. PC war. I usually just read the comments to help people. I would like to correct some things for you.
You can over clock a mac.
You can customize a mac using lite icon, superdocker and shape shifter.
The Mac Pro is for people who need one of the fastest and strongest computers in the business. They're mostly used for video production, movie effects, special effects, major photo editing, and 3d modeling. Really though find me a PC with a 2 Quad core processors or nearly as much expandability. (8 cores, can accommodate 4 graphic cards, 8 ram slots).
Cinema Displays are overpriced. But they are average for the market its in. It has more pixels than your 1080p hdtv. (most displays are 1280x800 or 1280x720, while the cinema displays are 1680 x 1050, 1920 x 1200, and 2560 x 1600).
But, your completely right. It depends on your uses for which one is better or even cheaper. Adding all the extra software and hardware that come standard that I use often It would have costed an extra $400 to get the PC.
****, so this is what it feels like to be an apple fanboi.
P.S. Vista x64 I feel bad for you. I used to use it and it was the biggest pain.

[tipoo_]

the 800 dollar macbook will be an overpriced netbook, apple wouldnt have it any other way.

[sudcm]

I would hope that those of you who choose to bash Apple have actually used both products. I have been a Mac user for some time now and have also been a PC user in the past and am Microsoft certified. I can tell you that I can do anything on a Mac that can be done on a PC. I just do it with more stability and far less crashing. If you use your PC for gaming only, then maybe you've got an argument regarding what cannot be done on a Mac. I choose to do a lot more than just play games on something I've spent a good amount of money on.

"...rich **** will buy expensive junk and look at it and say wooooow is so coooool." Not really sure what that means but it was written by a PC user. Is there something wrong with having a great OS in an aesthetically pleasing (look it up if you don't know what it means) machine? I think not. If I choose to spend my hard earned money on something (no matter what the amount), I want it to look great as well as perform the way I expect it to perform. My Mac does just just that.

Just my two cents.

[Seaspray0]

Just as I expect my PC to perform... which has only given me 1 blue screen in 5 years of continuous service. I find that the most unreliable part of the operating system is the user behind the keyboard.

[ERB1212]

I had a question regarding this keynote presentation. I am ecstatic about the new macbooks though unfortunately I purchased one last year so I probably won't get another for 2 years or so. But, I was wondering whether the entire event would focus on computers. I bought an ipod touch 2G the week it came out and sold my old one because I wanted to use the microphone capabilities. Unfortunately they haven't released the headphones o developers aren't making apps for the ipod touch mic. Will apple release the headphones with the mic for the ipod touch tomorrow because Jobs said they would in october and another event this month seems unlikely? Just a question...

And one more thing...When will Apple release Snow Leopard? I am sure it will not be tomorrow but is it soon?

[anilsudh]

Well they are not going to have another event just for releasing the new in-ear headphone. It will probably just get highlighted/updated on the store and ipod pages of apple.com.

[ERB1212]

I had a question regarding this keynote presentation. I am ecstatic about the new macbooks though unfortunately I purchased one last year so I probably won't get another for 2 years or so. But, I was wondering whether the entire event would focus on computers. I bought an ipod touch 2G the week it came out and sold my old one because I wanted to use the microphone capabilities. Unfortunately they haven't released the headphones o developers aren't making apps for the ipod touch mic. Will apple release the headphones with the mic for the ipod touch tomorrow because Jobs said they would in october and another event this month seems unlikely? Just a question...

And one more thing...When will Apple release Snow Leopard? I am sure it will not be tomorrow but is it soon?

[sammydolla]

Apple makes beautiful products. Absolutely gorgeous. OS X 10 is very attractive...much more attractive than Vista. Beauty and usability are Apple's forte. Compatibility and reliability (I know i'm going to get yelled at for that last one, but it is true) are windows specialty. Therefore Macs are perfect for consumer use and windows is superior in the office. I predict Apple will become much more successful in years to come, but will never gain traction in the business world. I think we can all agree that Vista was a mistake (let me just say that I prefer windows), but Windows 7 is right around the corner, and from what the developers blog is saying I am so excited. Apple has its work cut out for it on OS X 11

[RenoDavid]

To get back to the original topic: I believe the $800 notebook will simply be a machine as capable and powerful as the present MacBook. The MacBook is a mature design (which still works well) and I don't think they'll have to leave anything out to be able to sell it at $800 and still make a profit. With this maneuver Apple gets into the sub-$1000 market so they can lure in more price-conscious buyers. The MacBook and MacBook Pro will be made more powerful, with who-knows-what innovative features, but stay about the same price. This is how Apple works--they keep improving the product so they can charge the same price. I'm expecting the MacBook to get a metal case, with maybe the $800 machine staying plastic. I also think an LED screen (which I saw mentioned somewhere else) is a possibility for the MacBook line-up too. Maybe the Pro will stay on top by going totally to a solid state hard drive (with around 250 GB?). It's about time for someone to do that. Apple probably has some other features ready to go that no one has come close to guessing. That's what makes their product announcements fun! We'll see what happens tomorrow.

[myles taylor]

Make a post that mentions Apple (or sometimes even just their competitors) and you'll see idiots from both sides making stupid comments. It's always amusing to read. :)

[Azzuro10]

Apple is likely to launch a sub $1,000 lap top for sure. Netbooks are becoming quite popular as most personal users tend to only want to use the internet. Apple probably recognizes this and will sell a model below $1000. Don't forget the current base Macbook sells for $1,100 and comes with 1GB of Ram and a DVD drive. I don't know if you have noticed but DRAM prices have fallen off the cliff recently and so have other components. It is highly likely that they will sell a redesigned Macbook without the DVD drive for below $1000 - and they are working on a new manufacturing process which is likely to drastically reduce their costs. My guess is they will sell 1GB RAM 2.1Gz laptop without the DVD drive for $899. Don't forget that Apple hasn't really reduced the price of their laptops for a while so it is highly likely that they will. My guess is that this laptop will be thinner and lighter than the superseeded Macbook.

I don't expect to see a huge design shift in the Macbook pro

[solitare_pax]

Maybe we should wait and see what Apple has to offer on October 14 before speculating.

[Undune]

I believe that the 15" Macbook Pros also use LEDs since '06 or '07, but I may be mistaken.

[FalcoNraideNIII]

Apple is only good for the iPod. macs are truly overpriced and in todays economy, cannot survive and should not survive.

People work hard for their money and most of the world is starving.... for apple to charge so much more for their products and upgrades is insanity.

Nowadays, Windows XP/Vista are pretty reliable and most users know what they're doing. not to mention that Macs crash too so the reliabilty argue point is thrown out the window.

In order to survive you have to sell the best products at the lowest price or make some innovative. thats why the iPhone did well. however the pc/laptop market is completely not for apple unless it reduces the price significantly.

To the user about grammar : this aint english class... its much easier to type in a care-free instant messenger style than to be tedious about grammar. after all, we get the point

[ef0411]

Most of the world is starving? Political and cultural awareness aside, when we're talking computers (or any electronics), poverty cannot be an issue because we're talking about accommodating the portion of the world with most of the purchasing power.

I know it is extremely closeminded and ignorant to disregard the parts of the world that can barely survive, but let's face it: just being on CNET is voluntarily isolating ourselves in our little developed-world bubble.

To be clear, you implied that the starving people can afford Windows but not Macs because they are a couple hundred dollars more expensive. Do the couple hundred dollars matter when the poor cannot even manage $10 a day for food?

[Seaspray0]

The mainstream market in laptop sales has been below the $1000 price range for years. This is well documented. Unless apple releases a laptop in this range, then yes, they will be considered a niche product. An $800 laptop from apple? It's way overdue in my book. They could have done this years ago.

[w2ica]

I think apple should polish up it's support of it's current notebooks more then anything. For the price I would expect them to stand behind a known problem such as the Seagate Hard Drives that fail. I can understand and would expect HP and Dell to say too bad for the price.. but I would expect better customer service from Apple. If they do not stand behind the product better, you won't catch me running out to buy a potential failure item for that price.

I cannot understand why Apple has not brought touchscreens to their entire line of products, not just the hand helds. Touchscreens solve the problem of separate track pads and keyboards, the former I am loathe to use, and the latter, indispensable for fast typists. Give me a 10" iPod/iPhone, with instant connectivity, and I'll be one happy jet-setter.