Anyone buy Apple machines just for the build quality?

[mthomas08]

I buy kit because it does what I need it to do ... and choose the best I can afford. The result may or may not be Apple. Frquently it isn't because it's not what I need.

 

Same, it's also what I recommend to other people. I've had two members of staff this year alone asking shall I buy an Apple, I instantly ask "what do you want to use it for". Both have said word/internet.

 

I respond with that's expensive device just to use word and the internet. I give them products e.g. tablets, laptops, PCs and let them choose. As long as they get accurate information it's down to them what device they get but both times the person who is a Apple fan has told them to simply buy Apple without even asking them what they intend to use it for.

 

Have to remember there is such a thing as expensive machines that come with Windows that are the same high quality build as an Apple device. The only thing that really is different is the OS.

 

I know some one that spent the money on the Alienware laptop, very expensive, very impressive and he's had no trouble with it after 2 Years.

 

At the end of the day if you shop around you can find other machines that just look as pretty, same components inside and as mentioned above it's only the OS that's any different. We have 5 Year old all in ones here and the only difference is they are black compared to White. The keyboard are cheap but again Lenovo do nice flat keyboards (have one at home) which cost a little more. It looks the same as the apple ones but black instead of white (don't cost as much as a Apple keyboard either).

So yes, if you shop around you can find something that is very similar in quality but the OS will be different.

Edited April 9, 2014 by mthomas08

[APMerry]

both times the person who is a Apple fan has told them to simply buy Apple without even asking them what they intend to use it for.

 

This drives me mad! I know a few people that are like that, it's like a cult.

[jb2201]

Mac Mini's I can understand, they are impressive little machines for sure. But I have found that iMac's and Macbook's are no more robust than other hardware, in a school environment the costs can ramp up (chipped glass on the new iMac's for example will set you back a few hundred pounds to get resolved), not to mention the keyboards can be pretty short-lasting (build quality of the keyboard 'part' of the keyboard is fine, its the cable quality / strain relief they seem to sacrifice to achieve the most appealing design), the same goes with the mice really. As for Macbook's, they can get just as dented / scratched as any other laptop if people aren't careful with them.

[Quackers]

For a Laptop i would go Apple for build quality and at home i would buy nothing else. If i was after a desktop currently the only reason i would get a desktop Mac would be to run Mac OS. I've had the Acer's, the HP's and the Sony laptops and they work, but they just do not come close to the current MacBooks. Just little things like the Magsafe connector for the power so if you trip over the cable your laptop does not go flying, the gesture trackpad with no buttons. The Macbook Air is my favourite of all the laptops i own, i think its a bargain at the price you get an i5, solid state hard drive, backlit keyboard, bluetooth, magsafe power connector, wireless A,B,G,N,AC , webcam, upto 13 hour battery, gesture mouse and its just so thin and light. Add to this they actually hold some value unlike other brands which just nose dive £891 for the entry model with edu discount is a great price, plus you get to run Mac OS which is great.

[Oaktech]

I want to have babies with the new Mac Pro.

 

I don't get all inappropriate over hardware very often, but I want that system BAD! You know, I'd even put up with OSX.

[abillybob]

I want to have babies with the new Mac Pro.

 

I don't get all inappropriate over hardware very often, but I want that system BAD! You know, I'd even put up with OSX.

 

It looks like s souped up bin...

[Oaktech]

It looks like s souped up bin...

 

Lalalalala. I'm not listening to you.

[abillybob]

Haha Its true...

[Quackers]

I want to have babies with the new Mac Pro.

 

I don't get all inappropriate over hardware very often, but I want that system BAD! You know, I'd even put up with OSX.

 

Get one ordered now its down to only 6 weeks waiting time in the UK from order to delivery. Or wait until everyone else copies the form factor which I'm sure Samsung is more than likely doing right now...

[abillybob]

Get one ordered now its down to only 6 weeks waiting time in the UK from order to delivery. Or wait until everyone else copies the form factor which I'm sure Samsung is more than likely doing right now...

 

OOOOOOOO that was a bit below the belt

[AMLinington]

'Build quality' or 'teh pretteh shineh'?

 

IME Apple components are not top notch and are overpriced for what you're getting. Graphics cards are a perfect case in point and are the easiest to compare. If you build a basket of components on somewhere like Scan or Overclockers or even Ebuyer that matches the overpriced 'upgrade' options on an Apple machine you'll find that price wise you're not getting good value for money.

 

But they LOOK nice. That's the important thing right?

Edited April 9, 2014 by AMLinington

[abillybob]

But they LOOK nice.

 

 

Really...... they look nice

[AMLinington]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]23833[/ATTACH]

 

Really...... they look nice

 

Sorry, my bad, I didn't make my Oozing sarcasm clear enough....

[ICTDirect_Dave]

They really do. The new Mac Pros are beautiful! and Tiny! And very powerful! And TOOO Expensive for me.

 

 

They are both pretty and clever though

[abillybob]

Haha I love all you guys!

[Quackers]

'Build quality' or 'teh pretteh shineh'?

 

IME Apple components are not top notch and are overpriced for what you're getting. Graphics cards are a perfect case in point and are the easiest to compare. If you build a basket of components on somewhere like Scan or Overclockers or even Ebuyer that matches the overpriced 'upgrade' options on an Apple machine you'll find that price wise you're not getting good value for money.

 

But they LOOK nice. That's the important thing right?

 

But how else will you run Mac OS? I don't want to run riddled Windows anymore at home. Malware on that OS is getting silly now.

[abillybob]

But how else will you run Mac OS? I don't want to run riddled Windows anymore at home. Malware on that OS is getting silly now.

I have Mavericks running on my Alienware as a VM.... But shhhhh, It has 8GB Ram, 1GB Graphics and dual core i7

[LosOjos]

But how else will you run Mac OS? I don't want to run riddled Windows anymore at home. Malware on that OS is getting silly now.

 

I'll accept that malware exists (though if you have decent protection you'd have to be pretty damn unlucky to get infected by a day-0) on Windows and keep gaming

Edited April 9, 2014 by LosOjos

[SimoninEaston]

I luuuurrrrvvv my MBP, but am under no illusions that the high build-quality is all part of the image...

Having said that, in all my years of Apple ownership, which began with the original Power Cube, and has passed thru the first Ives iMac, MacBooks (Pro & plain vanilla) & mac Mini, none have ever let me down other than a coupl of optical drives.

[LosOjos]

To answer the OP, I have never yet found a use for an Apple product (with the exception of the old iPod, which I still have) that I have been able to justify the cost of. I don't buy laptops for personal use and I build my own PCs. I think the Apple "build quality" is nothing more than clever marketing - not saying they aren't well built, but you pay for that quality. More often than not, people don't compare like for like.

 

For instance, the 13" Macbook Pro costs £1,000.

The HP ProBook 430 G1, which is identical in spec apart from an ever so slightly larger screen, costs £635 on eBuyer at the moment (HP ProBook 430 G1 Laptop - Laptops | Ebuyer.com)

For an extra £365, the Macbook had better have impeccable build quality!

Edited April 9, 2014 by LosOjos

[featured_spectre]

More often than not, people don't compare like for like.

 

For instance, the 13" Macbook Pro costs £1,000.

The HP ProBook 430 G1, which is identical in spec apart from an ever so slightly larger screen, costs £635 on eBuyer at the moment (HP ProBook 430 G1 Laptop - Laptops | Ebuyer.com)

For an extra £365, the Macbook had better have impeccable build quality!

 

QFT. My old boss purchased a mac pro, which admittedly looked nice and was built well. An identical spec (even down to the graphics chip etc) machine built by dell, cost less than 1/3 of the mac pro's price. It also lasted longer, not through any every day usage, in terms of the fact that it got knocked by kids, and at once point even somehow managed to fall of his desk (at which point the casing got a massive crack and a fan stopped working). I subjected the dell to the same punishment, (and kept it on almost every day) and it survived longer.

 

Mac have marketed well, and the build quality is nothing more than the OS is built around the components so yes they do just work with each other, and they cost a fortune for "shiny shiny"

[abillybob]

For instance, the 13" Macbook Pro costs £1,000.

 

I'm stunned that at that price you don't get a dedicated GPU and instead you have an integrated HD 4400, in My Alienware which is £300 more than the MacBook Pro I Have an Integrated HD 4600 so that's already outperformed the MacBook, 32GB Ram, SSD, Nvidia 780m Dedicated GPU 4GB GDDR5, i7 Processor.... and it's amazing quality. I'm sorry but if what @LosOjos says is true Apple are daylight robbers and I thought my Alienware was over priced

[LosOjos]

if what @LosOjos says is true

 

It's no secret: MacBook Pro - Buy MacBook Pro Notebook Computers with Free Shipping - Apple Store (UK)

 

EDIT: to be fair, I have just noticed the HP is only a 1.6GHz i5 whereas the Macbook Pro is 2.6GHz, let me find a better comparison...

 

EDIT2: Dell Inspiron 14 £650: http://www.dell.com/uk/p/inspiron-14-7437/pd?oc=cn74306&model_id=inspiron-14-7437

Still not really a fair comparison, the Dell screen is 1" bigger, it has 2GB extra RAM plus a SSD boot drive, but the processor is identical (I know which I'd buy!)

 

The point is, you pay a premium for Apple and I'm not sure the extra cost equates to a significant enough increase in build quality.

Edited April 9, 2014 by LosOjos

[mthomas08]

I'll accept that malware exists (though if you have decent protection you'd have to be pretty damn unlucky to get infected by a day-0) on Windows and keep gaming

 

Yeah, I don't have nay malware issues. Our students do though because they insist on trying to download games and they see "Click here/Download" and they do - they also accept/install anything they see including a ton of toolbars. All this is on their netbooks which have limitations setup.

 

Had my machine at home going 2 years nearly with zero issues, accept the large amount of Windows updates.

[LosOjos]

Yeah, I don't have nay malware issues. Our students do though because they insist on trying to download games and they see "Click here/Download" and they do - they also accept/install anything they see including a ton of toolbars. All this is on their netbooks which have limitations setup.

 

Had my machine at home going 2 years nearly with zero issues, accept the large amount of Windows updates.

 

One of the biggest problems facing Windows is down to a bad habit that Windows has encouraged for years: logging on as admin. So many problems can be either totally avoided or made incredibly simple to fix if you simply log in under a restricted account. My memory's not so great so this may have been working as far back as XP but certainly since Windows 7, you never need to login as an administrator, you simply provide the admin password when needed to perform admin tasks, just like you would on any *nix machine.

 

IMO, Microsoft need to break this habit by having the Windows installation guide users through creating an admin account and password, then setting them up a limited account, rather than defaulting the first user to admin as it has done for far too long (forever?)