Apple MacBook Pro 13.3 "Retina, i5-4278U, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD @ £879.00 Amazon Sold by

Effects · 11-03-2015 10:18am

Paul_Hacket wrote: »

The trackapd is the single element that makes macbooks so desirable.

Sorry, I think you just lost your argument from the start.

There are things about both operating systems that bother me.

Like a lack of basic cut and paste on a mac? It took them long enough to embrace a two button mouse as well though.

Effects · 11-03-2015 10:23am

zarquon wrote: »

about €150 dearer than the laptop in the OP with much superior specs across the board especially the new broadwell CPU and rated 15 hours battery life and far superior screen. I would certainly rather buy the XPS than the macbook in the OP for the extra few quid.

A Dell XPS is always going to be better specced than a Mac at similar price.
It's the build quality that people say is the difference.
I've heard of a lot of disasters with macs though compared to windows machines.
Most recently a friend of mine whose mac shuts down after giving him a warning to get his battery serviced as it's over heating. Brought it to the mac store where he's told diagnostics say the battery doesn't need to be replaced so they won't do anything. This is despite the obvious problems and the mac still under warranty for another six months.

alastair · 11-03-2015 10:31am

Effects wrote: »

Like a lack of basic cut and paste on a mac? It took them long enough to embrace a two button mouse as well though.

The Mac OS has had universal keyboard controlled cut and paste since 2011, and application level cut and paste since the 80's. It also had/has a finder/desktop mouse-controlled 'move' (the same outcome as cut and paste) for years prior to 2011.

You were able to buy a third party two button mouse (or indeed a four button mouse) for the Mac for years before Apple decided to start shipping their own multi-touch/multi-click take on things.

Doodah7 · 11-03-2015 10:35am

So in the space of four pages we've gone from saying that you can get a better specced machine for half the price to a machine of rough equivalency for €150 more than the Macbook Pro quoted in the original bargain alert.

Brilliant!!

zarquon · 11-03-2015 10:41am

tallpaul wrote: »

So in the space of four pages we've gone from saying that you can get a better specced machine for half the price to a machine of rough equivalency for €150 more than the Macbook Pro quoted in the original bargain alert.

Brilliant!!

You won't get a better specced machine for half the price however the €150 more laptop is a FAR superior specced system. Massive stretch to say to say rough equivalency. I guess you think a ford fiesta is a rough equivalency of an Audi a4 or BMW 530d

I guess QHD screen, extra ssd, broadwell i7 versus haswell i5 and 50% more battery are equivalent :rolleyes:

Doodah7 · 11-03-2015 10:47am

No, the point I was trying to make was that there werepeople on here saying "pah!! Apple!! ripoff merchants!! 'sure I can get just as good for half the money!"

Of course there are better machines than a MBP but you have to pay an equally serious amount of money to but them. Therefore Apple machines are not overpriced for what you get.

zarquon · 11-03-2015 10:54am

tallpaul wrote: »

No, the point I was trying to make was that there werepeople on here saying "pah!! Apple!! ripoff merchants!! 'sure I can get just as good for half the money!"

Of course there are better machines than a MBP but you have to pay an equally serious amount of money to but them. Therefore Apple machines are not overpriced for what you get.

There are extremists in every debate but a balanced viewpoint is the only one that should be given any credence. You are pretty much nearly always guaranteed to get better windows hardware than apple hardware for the same price point therefore apples are overpriced if you need a general use machine. I would gladly buy a macbook if i was in the market for a laptop and found one that offered better or the same value for money over a windows system however everytime i bought a laptop i could never price a macbook in the same range with similar hardware, not even close. There was a 1k gap in the price the last time i bought a laptop. A top of the range specced macbook was 3k compared to the same specced windows machine i payed 2k for. In that case i could clearly say that the apple machine was ridiculously overpriced as it was 50% more expensive for similiar spec.

I have no specific mac software requirements therefore there is no way i will ever buy a macbook until the pricing starts to be on a parity with windows equivalents. Apple make huge margins on their macbooks, much more so than windows OEMS. The reason is simple, people are willing to pay more just for the brand

alastair · 11-03-2015 11:04am

zarquon wrote: »

I guess QHD screen, extra ssd, broadwell i7 versus haswell i5 and 50% more battery are equivalent :rolleyes:

Just to be clear - you're comparing an older model MBP with a newer model Dell XPS 13. If you take the previous model MBP (not the new one - which Dell clearly haven't had a chance to respond to) - so contemporaneous models, the MBP has the same processor options (i7 and i5), and the MBP has better battery life than the Dell. The Dell has a higher resolution panel, but an inferior graphics card.

zarquon · 11-03-2015 11:07am

alastair wrote: »

Just to be clear - you're comparing an older model MBP with a newer model Dell XPS 13. If you take the previous model MBP (not the new one - which Dell clearly haven't had a chance to respond to) - so contemporaneous models, the MBP has the same processor options (i7 and i5), and the MBP has better battery life than the Dell. The Dell has a higher resolution panel, but an inferior graphics card.

Exactly, older model macbook, but the key point is that it is at a similiar price. A current season macbook will be way more expensive than the new XPS 13 which is the real point in the debate.

alastair · 11-03-2015 11:10am

zarquon wrote: »

There are extremists in every debate but a balanced viewpoint is the only one that should be given any credence. You are pretty much nearly always guaranteed to get better windows hardware than apple hardware for the same price point therefore apples are overpriced if you need a general use machine. I would gladly buy a macbook if i was in the market for a laptop and found one that offered better or the same value for money over a windows system however everytime i bought a laptop i could never price a macbook in the same range with similar hardware, not even close. There was a 1k gap in the price the last time i bought a laptop. A top of the range specced macbook was 3k compared to the same specced windows machine i payed 2k for. In that case i could clearly say that the apple machine was ridiculously overpriced as it was 50% more expensive for similiar spec.

I have no specific mac software requirements therefore there is no way i will ever buy a macbook until the pricing starts to be on a parity with windows equivalents. Apple make huge margins on their macbooks, much more so than windows OEMS. The reason is simple, people are willing to pay more just for the brand

Apple certainly charge a premium, but much of that premium is wrapped up in ram and storage prices. Anyone savvy buying a top end Apple laptop will opt to spec them at the lowest level for both and just buy third party memory/drives and install themselves. This sadly isn't an option on the lower end of the Apple range.

alastair · 11-03-2015 11:13am

zarquon wrote: »

Exactly, older model macbook, but the key point is that it is at a similiar price. A current season macbook will be way more expensive than the new XPS 13 which is the real point in the debate.

If I was to compare an older Dell with a newer MBP, would you consider that fair? As I say, equivilent year models don't back up your claims of serious gaps in speed or battery life. And the cost differential between equivilent year models isn't as dramatic as you claim: http://www.windowscentral.com/quick-comparison-dell-xps-13-versus-macbook-pro-retina-display

Effects · 11-03-2015 11:35am

alastair wrote: »

The Mac OS has had universal keyboard controlled cut and paste since 2011, and application level cut and paste since the 80's.

You can't cut and paste a file in finder in 2015. Maybe you just haven't realised it. I find cutting and pasting files between folders to be a pretty basic function. Hard to see why they don't have it. The best excuse people seem to come up with is 'that's just how Apple do it'.

You were able to buy a third party two button mouse for the Mac for years before Apple decided to start shipping their own multi-touch/multi-click take on things.

I'm just pointing out how slow they can be to take on basic ideas.

alastair · 11-03-2015 11:42am

Effects wrote: »

You can't cut and paste a file in finder in 2015. Maybe you just haven't realised it. I find cutting and pasting files between folders to be a pretty basic function. Hard to see why they don't have it. The best excuse people seem to come up with is 'that's just how Apple do it'.

I'm just pointing out how slow they can be to take on basic ideas.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but you can cut and paste a file in the finder. It's basic for sure, and was always do-able in Mac OS, albeit differently to Windows, but since 2011 you've had the option of either mouse or keyboard command routes to achieve the same basic task.

http://www.guidingtech.com/11065/keyboard-shortcut-for-cut-paste-in-mac-os-x-lion/

With regards to multi-button mice: Apple certainly supported them, but never believed that multi-buttons were the best interaction solution, which is why they waited until there was a decent 'no button' alternative when it came to an Apple branded mouse. So that's not anything to do with 'slowness', but rather a decision to not utilise an approach they felt to be compromised.

Sad Professor · 11-03-2015 11:44am

Effects wrote: »

You can't cut and paste a file in finder in 2015. Maybe you just haven't realised it. I find cutting and pasting files between folders to be a pretty basic function. Hard to see why they don't have it. The best excuse people seem to come up with is 'that's just how Apple do it'.

Cut and paste has been in the Finder since 10.7. It’s called copy and move but works the same way. Better in my view as the user is less likely to delete a file by accident.

blue_blue · 11-03-2015 11:46am

Effects wrote: »

You can't cut and paste a file in finder in 2015. Maybe you just haven't realised it. I find cutting and pasting files between folders to be a pretty basic function. Hard to see why they don't have it. The best excuse people seem to come up with is 'that's just how Apple do it'.

It could be the case that you're not technically adept. Cut and pasting files has existed since 10.7.

COMMAND + C to copy the file, COMMAND + OPTION + V to paste (move) the file.

Effects · 11-03-2015 11:59am

alastair wrote: »

Sorry to burst your bubble, but you can cut and paste a file in the finder.
http://www.guidingtech.com/11065/keyboard-shortcut-for-cut-paste-in-mac-os-x-lion/

You might have solved that for me alright. Nice one

Sad Professor · 11-03-2015 12:07pm

Effects wrote: »

Well the others guys seem to be right but you certainly aren't. You are discussing copy and paste and saying it's cut and paste. Which isn't the case.

It’s exactly the same thing. But as I said, it’s not called cut and paste, it’s called copy and move. You copy and then press alt-V to move. It works the same as cut and paste and has been in the Finder since 10.7.

Read alastair’s link.

PrettyBoy · 11-03-2015 6:59pm

Sam Mac wrote: »

Or... buy a same or better spec Windows for less than half the price. Just sayin'.

Really wish people like yourself would give it a f*cking rest..

Why get a Macbook when a Windows laptop is better and cheaper?

Why get an iPhone when a Samsung is better and cheaper?

Why get an iPad when an Android is better and cheaper?

Some people prefer Apple products. Apple products are superior in some ways and inferior in others. It's down to personal preference so stop bitching trying to justify your Windows laptop purchase.

Have my Macbook Air a few months now and couldn't be happier with it. Would never consider going back to a Windows laptop.

tinodz · 11-03-2015 7:17pm

I thought something important happened to make this thread five pages... but no.

B Rabbit · 11-03-2015 10:47pm

Most people that complain about Macs have never used one for an extensive period!

ronan.h · 12-03-2015 12:16am

It's possibly lost in 7 pages of to Apple or not - however that's not my worry

So I'm looking to but a MacBook - is this a good price? I'm buying one in the next few days and this could cut down a lot of price checking...

robertowjr · 12-03-2015 2:16am

ronan.h wrote: »

It's possibly lost in 7 pages of to Apple or not - however that's not my worry

So I'm looking to but a MacBook - is this a good price? I'm buying one in the next few days and this could cut down a lot of price checking...

I would not buy at this price, I am typing this from my 13" MBP Retina, which I got from apple.ie, under their refurbished section for €1319, it was almost a year ago, and the specs are better than the one OP is linking.

Last time I checked they had the i5/256/8 for €1219 (Or something similar), which is what you are paying on Amazon for the 128gb version.

If you are worried about the 'refurbished' don't, they are new and have the 1 year warranty just like any other Macbook you buy from apple.ie, and you can always buy the extended warranty if you wish.

Keep an eye open, they don't always have loads of refurbished in stock, and they tend to go quick, I bought three times their refurbished products and they are all running perfectly.