Advice please. New laptop needed. What is best Apple Macbook or Apple MacBook Air, or a new Microsoft Laptop?

[DavidatLWH]

it took me a while to get used of IOS and OS because at work it was all Microsoft...but once I converted...well there is simply no going back...

Exactly. I've never come across a Mac user who wished he/she had stayed with Microsoft.

The new Windows Creator update is another good example of why MS drives me mad (at present my main laptop is a MacBook Air, whereas at another location, I'm using a Windows 10 machine, soon to be jettisoned....). I wasn't asked if I wanted to upgrade to Windows Creator. No choice is given. No sooner than the upgrade had taken place, I had to repair Outlook. You just don't get that sort of irritating problem with Macs. Ever.

[Jimgward]

The same 'expensive' criticisms Pete makes of Apple could equally be made of Mercedes or BMW or any other premium brand, but as always, you get what you pay for...and Apple's quality is superb.

At no time have I denigrated Apple's quality. I simply am disgusted by the deliberate, clever and calculated overpricing. The last figures I saw said that Apple have 26% of the phone market and over 50% of the profits. Great marketing and overpricing all in one. The recent film about Steve Jobs showed Apple's entry into the phone market. The Chinese production line appeared with the admittance that the phones cost $10 to make. They were selling for over £200 at the time. Great marketing and overpricing again.

You are quite correct that similar criticisms could be made of Mercedes and BMW who both raise their retail prices in the UK to create a brand mystique. I first realised this years ago when a friend bought a BMW 325i for around £25,000 and I went to Frankfurt on business for the first time and saw the 325 series everywhere where it was considered equivalent to a Ford Escort. The other brand I detest for the same reason is Dyson whose products are absurdly overpriced. He however gave some amusement when his ill conceived and extraordinarily ugly washing machine totally failed in it's bid to be the most overpriced on the market and his prosecution for patent infringement on his disgustingly overpriced fan.

Pete

Pete. You are wrong. 15 years ago, cars were cheaper outside the UK, now they are the same.

When the original iPhone launched, it was not even close to a build cost of $10 - more like $150... they still made great margin, but they also spend more on R&D than any other tech company....

They work to higher margins than most, but their shareholders not expect that. Their service is second to none.

You seem to get upset when a successful company charges a lot for it’s products...

A Sony TV is twice the price of a poorer brand name....
A 5* holiday is much more expensive than 2*...
First class flights are 10 x or more than standard class....
Steak costs more than roast....

I wouldn’t purchase first-class seats, but who am I to question someone who does?

[Jimgward]

. I love the way that all my devices seemlessly talk to each other..hardly any setting up, it just happens!

Hardly an Apple feature. I could say the same in my home: 2 laptops, NAS, Tablet, 2 smartphones, Android TV box, Smart TV, printer. Our Wii is no longer connected.

Pete

Again, you are wrong...., the Apple products use your ID to exchange so much, whereas doing it on PCs is a pain.... it can be done, using bits n bobs, but nowhere near as seamless as the MAC.

One of the reasons Google envies the hardware and software control of Apple.

[PeteandSylvi]

Pete, have you had any Apple products?

No, nor BMW, Mercedes or Dyson.

But before you tell me not to knock Apple's products without using them let me remind you that I have not knocked their products only their corporate greed, overpricing and lack of corporate philanthropy.

Pete

[DavidatLWH]

One of the recurring comments on here is that Apple products are overpriced.

If I think that something (anything) - other than a staple of life - is overpriced, I don't buy it.

To me, a Windows machine will get a job done, but my, is it a lot of hassle doing it at times.

[PeteandSylvi]

. I love the way that all my devices seemlessly talk to each other..hardly any setting up, it just happens!

Hardly an Apple feature. I could say the same in my home: 2 laptops, NAS, Tablet, 2 smartphones, Android TV box, Smart TV, printer. Our Wii is no longer connected.

Pete

Again, you are wrong...., the Apple products use your ID to exchange so much, whereas doing it on PCs is a pain.... it can be done, using bits n bobs, but nowhere near as seamless as the MAC.

One of the reasons Google envies the hardware and software control of Apple.

OK I'm wrong. Clearly my setup as described isn't working and wasn't simple to setup mixing Androids of different generations, Windows and Linux.

Quite amazing the illusion I live under.

Pete

[Jimgward]

Hardly an Apple feature. I could say the same in my home: 2 laptops, NAS, Tablet, 2 smartphones, Android TV box, Smart TV, printer. Our Wii is no longer connected.

Pete

Again, you are wrong...., the Apple products use your ID to exchange so much, whereas doing it on PCs is a pain.... it can be done, using bits n bobs, but nowhere near as seamless as the MAC.

One of the reasons Google envies the hardware and software control of Apple.

OK I'm wrong. Clearly my setup as described isn't working and wasn't simple to setup mixing Androids of different generations, Windows and Linux.

Quite amazing the illusion I live under.

Pete

I’m not disputing it can be done.... but it isn’t seamless - an important word - like it is when they are all Apple.... That’s why Google has played with building phones and PCs.... as they can’t offer that type of seamless integration when they cant control all aspects. Well done, if you have it working as you want...

the average person cant do that.... Unless on Apple. Yes, at a premium. I am prepared to pay a premium as;

A) I can afford to
B) My time is money and it saves me time
C) Reliability costs me money
D) I pay premiums for brand, look, design et al.... I appreciate others don’t - their choice...

Mainly, I’m an Apple Fanboy

[PhotoLady]

In case anybody is curious, this is how people have been accessing Paphos Life over the past week.

1. Windows 43%
2. IOS (iPad etc) 35%
3. Android 15%
4. Mac 3.5%

I check the system user data every few days on our online stamp shop and my stats are similar:
Win 7 52.8%
Win 10 37.6%
iOS (iPad) 3.6%
Mobile 2.4% (59% Android vs 41% iOS Apple iPhone)

It's something that regularly gets brought up in the forum which belongs with the hosting company our shop is held on. They keep bringing out all these new all singing, all dancing bits and bobs aimed at being mobile friendly when the majority of users are constantly telling them that the "real" sales / checkout process still come through pcs and laptops.

[Oxfordboy]

I'm honestly intrigued by what you "Apple fanboys" are seamlessly integrating. I thought I'd integrated all my various electronics pretty seamlessly and simply, so (seriously) tell me what I'm missing out on.....

[LouiseCastricum]

Just realized that I bought some stamps from your stamps shop then Michelle. Win 10 by the way

[PhotoLady]

Yes, Louise - you have, on more than one occasion I believe
Thank you very much!

We're still continuing our business from UK as you can see.....

[J B]

Me too...unless you have tried it...and I think most have tried Microsoft, android etc...but then you see the light...yes the products are expensive but that reflects the sheer Weight of effort R&D that goes into the product...lets face it Apple leads, others follow...

I tried it - yes

Used to have an iPhone but I'm all-right now; in fact I'm fully recovered!

I still have it in the bottom drawer somewhere and get it out occasionally just to say to it ... 'what a stupid waste of money you were'
Hey ho!

[PhotoLady]

A friend of mine was given an iPhone 4 - she dropped it down the toilet and it never worked again

[Dominic]

Me too...unless you have tried it...and I think most have tried Microsoft, android etc...but then you see the light...yes the products are expensive but that reflects the sheer Weight of effort R&D that goes into the product...lets face it Apple leads, others follow...

If Apple lead, why did they ditch their own Operating System in favour of the already well established Unix family?

This is a very good summary of where we are now:

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-ma ... er-2016-12

[Dominic]

In case anybody is curious, this is how people have been accessing Paphos Life over the past week.

1. Windows 43%
2. IOS (iPad etc) 35%
3. Android 15%
4. Mac 3.5%

I check the system user data every few days on our online stamp shop and my stats are similar:
Win 7 52.8%
Win 10 37.6%
iOS (iPad) 3.6%
Mobile 2.4% (59% Android vs 41% iOS Apple iPhone)

It's something that regularly gets brought up in the forum which belongs with the hosting company our shop is held on. They keep bringing out all these new all singing, all dancing bits and bobs aimed at being mobile friendly when the majority of users are constantly telling them that the "real" sales / checkout process still come through pcs and laptops.

Actually, the stats are quite different. Half of Paphos Life's audience use tablets and mobiles (mainly tablets). Possibly the reason we have so many tablet users is that both the forum and main site are responsive sites which cater for mobiles, tablets and PCs.

If the "real" sales come from PCs and laptops, it might be because tablet users are unable to check out!

[Kili01]

Thanks all if you who have contributed. Very interesting reading.
One thing that nobody has mentioned is the apparent fact that due to the various problems that many users of MS encounter with their computers, a whole army of computer technicians exist whose main job is to help fix them....
How many dedicated 'Apple IOS' technicians are there in the Paphos area who spend their time trouble shooting problems with iMac, iPad and other Apple devices?

Dee

[Royal]

Once upon a time, we used a BBC B Computer which could only interact with us via a command prompt and string code. Along came Apple in 1984 (yes - 1984) and the Mackintosh was born. It changed computing forever with its user friendly Graphical User Interface which made our documents look like sheets of paper and files look like..well, files! The Market was changed forever and Windows was quickly produced as a competitor to the Mac OS.

Once upon a time all computers and peripherals were either battleship grey or boring beige. Along came Apple in 1998 and the iMac was born - a futuristic looking, aesthetically pleasing console in a translucent ‘Bondi Blue’ colour. The Market took a long time to catch up and make their equipment look anywhere near as good.

Once upon a time, there were MP3 players. I had one. It held 12 tracks - a full CDs worth! Along came Apple in 2001 and the iPod was born. It revolutionised the Market. Not only could it store 1,000 songs, but unlike any other MP3 player at the time, it was easy to search and play individual tracks immediately. Furthermore, it developed to play videos, read books and much much more. The Market followed suit in due course.

Once upon a time, we all accessed music by buying CDs - so much better than those bulky music cassettes! Those clever enough to know how to ‘rip’ were able to digitise each individual track onto our computers. Along came Apple, and in 2000 iTunes was born which revolutionised the Market by introducing a method to buy digitised music online and store it in a user friendly app on your device. ITunes also allowed us to purchase TV programmes, films books and audiobooks online and store them all on our devices. The Market soon followed where Apple led.

Once upon a time, laptops were large, heavy and cumbersome. Nowadays the Market calls these ‘Desktop Replacements’ but prior to 2008 they were just…cumbersome and heavy. Then Apple came along and Steve Jobs walked on stage with a Manila envelope containing the MacBook Air. The worlds lightest and thinnest ever laptop. With constant upgrades, the Market has yet to catch up with the elegance and simple practicality of the MacBook Air.

Once upon a time there were tablets. Remember the DynaPad? The GRiDPAD? The Tandy Zoomer? The Newton Message Pad? The Microsoft Tablet PC? No? Why not? Because in 2010, Apple revolutionised the Market with the first iPad. Some 7 years later with 360 million iPads sold worldwide, it is still a market leader.

I could tell you about how iChat, instant messaging and video conferencing on the Mac OS revolutionised the Market, or how the Apple App Store has 1.5 million apps to choose from and has had a staggering 50 billion downloads, but I get the feeling I'm boring you now. So I'll shut up.

Apple.

Cutting edge.

[PaphosAL]

Pete, have you had any Apple products?

No, nor BMW, Mercedes or Dyson.

But before you tell me not to knock Apple's products without using them let me remind you that I have not knocked their products only their corporate greed, overpricing and lack of corporate philanthropy.

Pete

Well said, Pete! Now I'm going to try and quote you as a kindred spirit, without getting my arse bitten off, LOL!

I was proud of the BMW and Mercedes cars I've owned over the years (all s/h). Until I drove from UK to Hungary and back many times in the 70's through to 90's. Once, I even went to Pafos and back in my 88 BMW 520i, back in 1992...

Other posters are spot on here! Most of the lower end Mercs in Germany and Hungary are TAXIS. Most of the lower end BMWs in Germany are the equivalent of a Ford Escort or Vauxhall Astra, in other words- they wouldn't turn an eye in the street over there...

The only show-stopper motor we ever drove to Hungary in was a 1986 Renault Espace. Everywhere we stopped, peeps would gather and want to examine it's every little detail- underneath, under the bonnet, inside (swivelling seats) and so on... Great fun!

As for Dyson vacuum cleaners, yes, I bought one donkeys years ago for an extortionate (at that time) £200. After a couple of years, one of the wheels fell off... I could see that it was a design problem, there being no flat washer between the wheel and the 6mm circlip holding it in place on the axle...

Dyson wanted £24 for a new wheel kit at our local vacuum cleaner outlet. I thought, sod that! I bought half a dozen 6mm circlips and flat washers from a local motor accessories shop and fixed it myself for 80p, with ongoing spares!

Not long after, something else major went bust on the the Dyson Vac. Planned obsolence? No problem, into the black wheely bin went this pile of Dyson vacuum cleaner shite...

TRUE STORY

Someone driving down the A4 near Swindon at 2am one morning was fascinated to see all the lights lit up in the Dyson showroom. It was the the cleaners, using HENRY vacuum cleaners, LOL!

That's what I went out and bought, £100 new. Used these hundreds of times on various fire alarm jobs in the past. Served us very well for 10 years now at home. Long reach hose and stainless steel quality tubes - a class act! Plus filters still easily available and cheap!

Cheers- AL

[Dominic]

I did a quick google on Apple repairs in Paphos, and thought this nugget worth sharing.

I don't like to be a debby downer but my macbook pro has been at the repair shop in Limassol for 5 weeks now. The owner of the computer shop just called me to say that his UK supplier has sent him the wrong cable and it will likely be over a month before the correct cable arrives and STILL then he won't know if its the cable that is causing the issue. By the way this shop was recommended to me for being "mac friendly" just a little heads up about owning a mac here. Good luck thats all I will say!

I apologise for posting a quote with the phrase "debby downer" in it, but I thought it best to post the quote in full.

[J B]

I apologise for posting a quote with the phrase "debby downer" in it, but I thought it best to post the quote in full.

Never heard the phrase before sorry - is is offensive???