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General discussion

please help me choose which one to buy

by legitperil Nov 22, 2009 5:25AM PST

hey there!
I'm having an extremely difficult time deciding between the two, I would really appreciate any advise or options given.

1) Sony Vaio VGN-SR590 CTO
-4GB RAM
-2.66 GHz
-large capacity battery (attached)
-320 GB SATA HDD (7200 rpm)

2) mac book pro 13'
-2.53 GHz
-4GB mem
-250 GB HD (5400 rpm)
-7 hour built in battery

I'll be using it for school work& projects, heavy downloading & misc entertainment. This laptop will be traveling so it has to be tough, but chic.

Here is where I am conflicted, I can get the vaio for a cheaper price, well i guess in this case both aren't cheap, but for a lower price. w/o tax the vaio would be $1111 & the mac would be $1349.
But I hear from people & my sister that Macs last way longer than their counterparts & that I would have to buy another laptop before her mac would even die out. now that worries me, i don't want to shell out 1111 on a laptop if its just gunna die out within a year or 2.
But I can get a lot more vaio than mac. Then I read that macs don't really get viruses because of the os & that its more stable because all the components of a mac are made for a mac.

If you have any other preferences than these two, please keep in mind my limit is $1300 (only really because of the mac)
So as you can read, I'm just really conflicted & I need some guidance.
Thank you so much for helping

Discussion is locked

6 Posts
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Tough?
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Nov 22, 2009 6:15AM PST

Sorry but for tough we look at the Panasonic Toughbooks. Or given the premium you pay for Apple, cheap out with the Sony and since it will break in a few years take the savings to replace it every other year.

Laptops that you find in stores are not "tough."
Bob

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tough
by legitperil Nov 23, 2009 8:16AM PST

sorry maybe tough was the wrong word, but thanks

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really
by legitperil Nov 23, 2009 8:16AM PST

replace it every other year?
Sad

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With the low low prices.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Nov 23, 2009 10:57AM PST

We don't tell the employees we plan for 2 year cycles and hope for 3 to 4. The consumer models are not tough. The Apple fairs a bit better but again is not tough. At least the battery in the Apple is not some 300 cycle one year wonder.
Bob

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life
by legitperil Nov 23, 2009 11:28AM PST

but the battery can always be replaced right?
sorry for such a question, i'm not so great with laptops.
thnx

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You can look at each machine to tell that.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Nov 24, 2009 12:46AM PST

But many laptops never get a new battery. Batteries are one of the high value parts of the laptop so the owner gets stuck is a vicious cycle of "I thing I need a battery." "Ouch, the battery costs bucks." "Is it the battery?" "Will a new battery fix it?" and endless cycles of such questions.

Sadly they are often stuck in that loop since no shop today has a "trial battery" to try out. Years ago we tried that but learned a bitter lesson. Eventually some customer claimed the good battery was theirs and we were bad people trying to bilk them out of their good battery. That was the end of trying to keep a few good test batteries around.
Bob

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