I believe the thing about MacBooks is that OSX can more or less only run apple software, or software made specially for OSX. So that way you know that your software will actually work, pretty much no matter what, but it has nothing to do with the specs, since they're still overpriced, for what you get.
They are overpriced, but not by as much as people often state. I spec'd out a few different laptops, and while I could find cheaper alternatives, there was always "something" about the quality of the machine, or some other issue that would give me reason to pause. The MBP I ended up getting is definitely more expensive than a similarly outfitted Windows machine, but that Macbook is solid and has not let me down yet. I used Bootcamp to install Windows 8, and it's like having the best of both worlds.
Yin, you should check out bootcamp running windows, or custom linux configurations if you're up to it. Benchmarks run a little higher, with a little more reliability keeping it sandboxed. I've seen longer reliability out of the couple of MacBooks I've had than any other mobile platform I've worked with. If you get into desktop setups, and customized UI's and hardware configurations are your gig, then a PC might be better bang for your buck. But, for the average user, who mostly is looking at reliability and service/support, Apple isn't necessarily the worst way to go. Different strokes for different folks. :)
I believe the thing about MacBooks is that OSX can more or less only run apple software, or software made specially for OSX. So that way you know that your software will actually work, pretty much no matter what, but it has nothing to do with the specs, since they're still overpriced, for what you get.
They are overpriced, but not by as much as people often state. I spec'd out a few different laptops, and while I could find cheaper alternatives, there was always "something" about the quality of the machine, or some other issue that would give me reason to pause. The MBP I ended up getting is definitely more expensive than a similarly outfitted Windows machine, but that Macbook is solid and has not let me down yet. I used Bootcamp to install Windows 8, and it's like having the best of both worlds.
Yin, you should check out bootcamp running windows, or custom linux configurations if you're up to it. Benchmarks run a little higher, with a little more reliability keeping it sandboxed. I've seen longer reliability out of the couple of MacBooks I've had than any other mobile platform I've worked with. If you get into desktop setups, and customized UI's and hardware configurations are your gig, then a PC might be better bang for your buck. But, for the average user, who mostly is looking at reliability and service/support, Apple isn't necessarily the worst way to go. Different strokes for different folks. :)