So there are at least a few PF bloggers out there who vehemently hate Apple and all of its products, calling them overpriced consumer traps for stupid people who have nothing better to do with their money than burn it on Apple stuff. You know, something along those lines.
I used to be a die-hard PC user.
I remember back in 1998, refusing to even look at a Mac because the squiggly Apple button confused me, you had to drag things into the trash bin to eject them, and I just didn’t get it.
Fast forward to 2010 where I bought 2 laptops that year. One was a Sony Vaio for work, this monstrous hunk of plastic that was superior in operating power and speed and the other, my first Macbook Pro 17″.. alas, they are no longer made.
I paid about $1500 for the Sony Vaio and near to $2500 for the Macbook Pro 17″.
SONY VAIO, NEAR DEATH AFTER 2 YEARS
The Sony Vaio, died after 2 years of light use.
Light use to me, means I turned it on perhaps once a week when I wasn’t at work, and even at work, I am given a client laptop, so I used this laptop only to enter my expenses, keep track of my books and do other office admin stuff for my business.
I think I used it maybe about 5 hours a week at best for 2 years.
After 2 years, it no longer works as well as it used to:
Battery no longer holds a charge.
You have to plug it in to use it. If you were to try and use it without a plug, it would turn on, get to the main screen and then die after 2 minutes. I usually only unplug it when I have to print something at a printer located elsewhere, and I sprint to the printer while frantically trying to plug it in before it dies.
Wifi no longer works.
I would need to buy an card to use this functionality.
Goes black.
Usually goes completely black and shuts of without warning after about 1 – 1.5
hours of use, even if you just have it open, using it for Excel (I’ve been trained to save every 5 seconds now)
Goes super hot.
You can literally use it as a heater in winter in about 5 minutes of use
Takes about 3 minutes to load
Yes, I timed it — and I only have 3 programs installed on it, and absolutely no data, videos or music.
COST: $750 / year and absolutely useless
(I have to buy a new PC laptop for work sometime, but I am now going to buy the cheapest piece of crap out there because they’re ALL pieces of crap no matter how much you pay.)
MACBOK PRO 17″, STILL GOING STRONG
In contrast, my Macbook Pro 17″ that I bought for personal use, is still going strong as the day I bought it.
I use this thing pretty much every single day, for at least 6 hours a day on average, if not longer. It is ALWAYS on and that is no joke.
I do everything on it from watch videos, to blog, to do my expenses, to surf the internet, etc. It is my entire entertainment center, and I am a heavy user.
- Battery continues to charge up and HOLD A CHARGE nicely, and I don’t do stupid things like leave it charged all the time, or let it really run down to 0.
- All functions work perfectly
- No slowness in booting up the laptop at all, and the only reason why I find it a bit slow is because I’m used to my Macbook Air that boots up in less than 10 seconds
- Doesn’t get hot unless I abuse it by using it too long and running too many things at once, or watching videos while working
So you tell me. Are Apple products as a waste of money?
I paid $1500 for a laptop that is now a permanent desktop computer, that I would otherwise find no use for except as an expensive door stop, or having paid that extra $1000 for a laptop that to this very day, still acts like it is brand new with the indication of its age apparent only in the faint scratches on it.
COST: $625 / year and still going strong
By BF’s estimates, a Macbook can last at least 10 years if taken care of properly.
$2500 over 10 years = $250 / year
BUT I CAN JUST BUY ANOTHER LAPTOP ANY TIME I WANT!!
You can always make the argument that spending $1500 or even $1000 on a good laptop and then replacing it every 2 years is the equivalent of a single $3000 laptop lasting 6 years, but let me remind you that…
You have to back up everything
You have to move your documents and items over to the new laptop
You have to re-set up everything to the way you like it (preferences, etc)
You have to re-install all the programs you had before, and heaven forbid those programs no longer work on your new operating system
You have to spend TIME DOING ALL THIS CRAP FOR NOTHING!
FURTHERMORE, IT ISN’T JUST THE LONGEVITY THAT MATTERS
Longevity aside, MacBooks are a pleasure to use (the Airs and Pros, not their lower-end lines which I find very cheap and flimsy with their plastic components).
MacBooks tend to be more elegant which matters to a snob like me, and the Airs in particular are extremely slim and lightweight for the amount of power they pack.
Their aluminum bodies are also able to wear well, with only a few scratches here and there which to me, add character more than anything especially if you don’t cover your laptops in skins.
In contrast, other cheap laptops (PCs), look like crap within a month.
They look shiny and new out of the box, and the plastic looks great, but within a month, it’s dingy, and you realize just how heavy and unwieldy that mofo is compared to its Macbook brother.
Finally, the operating system is a dream to use which is the main reason why I have stayed with Apple and never looked back.
It takes a bit of time to get used to the new operating system, but it is so easy and intuitive, you have to be really stubborn to take longer than half a day to learn how to navigate.
After you use a Macbook for a while, you will use a PC and inwardly groan at how stupid, slow, bloated and Neanderthal-like it is.
