To buy or not to buy?
Is it a good time to buy a MacBook?
My concerns:
1. http://www.greenmyapple.org/
2. Problems reported earlier with some MacBooks requiring mobo replacement.
3. Integrated GPU.
4. Upcoming OS upgrade (?)
Thanks for your help!
My concerns:
1. http://www.greenmyapple.org/
2. Problems reported earlier with some MacBooks requiring mobo replacement.
3. Integrated GPU.
4. Upcoming OS upgrade (?)
Thanks for your help!
Comments
2. If you need a replacement, it's replaced under warranty. Unlikely you will have a problem.
3. If you're planning to want to play the latest PC games on it, then you need an expensive PC laptop with dedicated graphics or a separate desktop PC or iMac. If you are not playing the latest PC or Mac games, and not doing pro Video/Photo/3D/Compositing work with it, then integrated GPU is fine. Don't be fooled by cheaper PC laptops with "dedicated GPUs" -- those cheaper ones have pretty much useless GPUs, even if dedicated.
4. Upcoming OS upgrade is just AFAIK $129 USD. It is still about three months away. You can wait 6 months to upgrade the OS anyway, to let it mature. So buying your MacBook now, you can have solid Tiger usage for 6 months, then decide if 10.5.x is worthwhile for you. You may decide to skip upgrading to 10.5 until maybe 12 months of MacBook use...
Is it a good time to buy a MacBook?
My concerns:
1. http://www.greenmyapple.org/
2. Problems reported earlier with some MacBooks requiring mobo replacement.
3. Integrated GPU.
4. Upcoming OS upgrade (?)
Thanks for your help!
To point 1: Read also http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Hom...665EE235C.html
If only half of what the author says is true, that says a lot about that specific Greenpeace report...
2. Those problems have been solved and will most probably not show up again on newer models.
3. The integrated GPU will suffice for most task a lot of people will ever do. It can play DVDs, do graphics, etc. but it is not great for games, but that's about the only thing you can't run well on a MacBook.
4. I second sunilraman's post.
... I'm not sure why Greenpeace International in Amsterdam [AFAIK] targeted Apple specifically with this new campaign, considering so much more wasted rubbish Windows beige boxes chucked to the gutter every year...The iWaste campaign is also kind of outside its regular scope of Nuclear, GeneticallyModified food, Oceans, Climate Change, Forests... Also the number of iPods sold is nothing compared to the number of mobile phones used and dumped by people buying Nokia, Motorola, Benq/Siemens, Sony/Ericsson...
Did you see The Guide to Greener Electronics?
2. If you need a replacement, it's replaced under warranty. Unlikely you will have a problem.
Sure, but it would be very disappointing for the first time Apple buyer.
3. If you're planning to want to play the latest PC games on it, then you need an expensive PC laptop with dedicated graphics or a separate desktop PC or iMac. If you are not playing the latest PC or Mac games, and not doing pro Video/Photo/3D/Compositing work with it, then integrated GPU is fine. Don't be fooled by cheaper PC laptops with "dedicated GPUs" -- those cheaper ones have pretty much useless GPUs, even if dedicated.
4. Upcoming OS upgrade is just AFAIK $129 USD. It is still about three months away. You can wait 6 months to upgrade the OS anyway, to let it mature. So buying your MacBook now, you can have solid Tiger usage for 6 months, then decide if 10.5.x is worthwhile for you. You may decide to skip upgrading to 10.5 until maybe 12 months of MacBook use...
Agree, but if the next revision of MacBook will get a dedicated GPU and new OS it's probably worth waiting
Thanks again!
Thank you ALL for your posts!
P.S. Too bad there only two colors to choose from. I would feel much better if Apple was ranked #1 by Green Peace, and came in green.
1. With your MacBook you're more likely to use it for longer, rather than a PC laptop. So maybe in that way, you're saving energy and materials and landfill space. I used to work for Greenpeace. I'm not sure why Greenpeace International in Amsterdam [AFAIK] targeted Apple specifically with this new campaign, considering so much more wasted rubbish Windows beige boxes chucked to the gutter every year...The iWaste campaign is also kind of outside its regular scope of Nuclear, GeneticallyModified food, Oceans, Climate Change, Forests... Also the number of iPods sold is nothing compared to the number of mobile phones used and dumped by people buying Nokia, Motorola, Benq/Siemens, Sony/Ericsson...
Ok. Besides Nuclear, GMFood, Oceans, ClimateChange, Forests, "Toxic Chemicals" is the 6th main area of Greenpeace campaigning.
Thanks a lot for your feedback Sunilraman!
You're welcome. 8)
Did you see The Guide to Greener Electronics?
OK. Things are starting to make more sense for me and I'm slowly remembering the one year I spent working with Greenpeace Australia Pacific a few years ago.
At the end of the day, there are a variety of things we buy, lifestyles we live, and one has to take responsibility for what we do. We can't be perfect and do everything right by the environment, but where you can, if it feels right, then that's cool.
My statement is this. I strongly sense that you will *overall* be happier with your Apple Mac than a PC. If you are happier, and have a Mac, then you can go on to further various causes - think about energy, water in your house, recycling, write a letter to Steve Jobs, check your carbon emissions and so on. Boycotting products is one means of protest. Buying a product that helps you have a better computing and life experience that then helps you feel better and take positive environmental steps, is also a means of "protest". A bit of a dodgy argument, but maybe that will help seal the deal. Give the MacBook a try. Write lots of letters saying how you love your Mac but you wish it was greener. Tell Steve, reducing the packaging on iPods is great, keep on improving, and ask around your Apple resellers how and where they take in old Macs and iPods.
I know relativism is normally a "bad" technique used by many politicians and companies to justify all sorts of things. But we as educated people try and weigh things up. Ok, I got an iPod and I buy tunes of iTunes Store. So I'm saving a lot of wasted plastic that's CDs right? But maybe I got BitTorrent also running all night, so my computer is eating up energy.
The challenge I find, is, how do we weigh up all that we do, what we're passionate about, and how to factor in the environment.
As I move through different phases of my life, and explore more spiritual areas, my "maturity" when it comes to the environment, changes over time. That's one of the reasons I decided to leave Greenpeace. It was a very interesting experience, nonetheless, and good for that "rebellion" stage in one's life.
Okay, enough rambling from me.
OK, I am in.
Thank you ALL for your posts!
P.S. Too bad there only two colors to choose from. I would feel much better if Apple was ranked #1 by Green Peace, and came in green.
The Sierra Club, a far more credible group than Green Peace, named Apple a “Forward Green Leader.”
Green Peace specifically targeted Apple because (a) Apple is the most influential player in the industry, and (b) Apple fans tend to be more inclined to make a stink about things.
It turns out that Green Peace later actually tested various computers, which turned its list upside down: what Green Peace had ranked number one, HP, turned out to be the worst, while Apple was pretty high up. Apple was also able to meet European RoHS far before HP, with the exception of a few products (like Airport) that had already been essentially replaced.
It's also important to note that the remaining "toxic" chemicals are mainly flame retardants, which, of course, save hundreds of lives every year. (Also, important to note, is that many government agencies don't define these chemicals as toxic, but rather, that they "present no risk to human health")
So basically: Green Peace is a disreputable organization trolling for donations and attention (This wouldn't be the first time they have done this). Computer products are so much less toxic than they were even a few years ago that it's not really worth worrying about it. Apple has had a really good recycling policy in place for the past few years.
So basically: Green Peace is a disreputable organization trolling for donations and attention....
Are you calling me a troll?
Calling Green Peace out on unethical practices does not trolling make.
... So basically: Green Peace is a disreputable organization trolling for donations and attention (This wouldn't be the first time they have done this). ...
Gregmightdothat, thanks for your reply.
I respect Green Peace very much, and think that they deserve every penny they get. I also trust them much more than most of the organizations, and definitely more than any publicly traded corporation.
Read more about it: http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM...5A506A016.html
Are you calling me a troll?...Calling Green Peace out on unethical practices does not trolling make.
Just having a poke at you because you mentioned "Green Peace is a disreputable organization trolling for donations and attention...." ...A play of words in my post w.r.t. "trolling"...
I shan't pursue the matter further, don't take my jabs too seriously. We all make up our minds about organisations in different ways. My call is Greenpeace has generally, done good stuff, and there's a lot of lower-profile work that they do that is important and appeals to the sensible common man/woman/child.
It looks like in this case the computer chemicals/ iWaste thing may be a bit of a messy issue, and depending on the research or campaign team, it is possible Greenpeace made some mistakes here. On a related note, using Apple due to its iPod high-profile, "coolness", is an interesting strategy, but if they're talking about laptops and desktops, it's a bit off centre IMO because while they may have been "marked in the red" their marketshare is much lower. Let's assume the http://www.greenpeace.org/internatio...e-ewaste250806 was completely accurate (just for argument's sake), I would have targeted Lenovo, Acer, Motorola, Toshiba, Panasonic, Sony (from Deep Red to Red-Orange on the scale). A specialised campaign against Apple has too narrow a target market. Lenovo makes ThinkPads! Acer with a lot of influence in Asia Pacific, and Motorola globally -- these could be valuable "boycott targets" given the volume of computers and mobile phones these companies churn out.
There is Toxicities in almost everything, even apples themselves, so why bother?
Apple got a lower score on their scale then they should have because Apple has no "announced" plans to try and eliminate Toxcities while HP has plans to improve in 2009. Since when does Apple announce anything years in advance?
Sebastian
If your number one reason is Greenpeace's opinion about Apple then just stay away from every form of electronics altogether, don't drive, don't even take a Bus unless it uses an Electrical line instead of Gas, and make sure you only buy Organic stuff.
There is Toxicities in almost everything, even apples themselves, so why bother?
Apple got a lower score on their scale then they should have because Apple has no "announced" plans to try and eliminate Toxcities while HP has plans to improve in 2009. Since when does Apple announce anything years in advance?
Sebastian
All organic would be nice, but unfortunately it’s not available in NC.
Driving G35, but planning to swap to Prius (since EV1 is no longer available, and inexpensive Smart is not even planed for US of A yet).
I am simply trying to do my best to preserve whatever we have, whenever I can. Just common sense, no extremes… well, at least not by European standards.
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Getting back to Green Peace: They do worth every penny - check this out.
These guys are know-nothing fanatics. There very little, if any, technical merit to any of their arguments.
Driving G35, but planning to swap to Prius (since EV1 is no longer available, and inexpensive Smart is not even planed for US of A yet).
Unfortunately I am ignorant on the subject of Motor Vehicles, but I assume you get a quite a bit of mileage out of it per gallon. I think these kinds of cars are called Hybrids? Like I said, I'm ignorant on the subject of Motor Vehicles so I'll just run with it.
Take a Dell or an HP and those will be the big gas guzzling SUVs. Take a Mac and it will be the Hybrid that uses less gas. I've read a few reports on Greenpeace, and as I said above, their opinion is largely based on the simple fact that Apple doesn't have anything announced into 2009 like HP does to reduce these substances. What they overlook is Apple does not announce ANYTHING until it is ready, the one rare exception being the iTV.
Apple is doing their Part, they more then meet any and all regulations, have a recycling program going right now, and use Minimal Packaging (the OS X Install Discs Box has less material then the Windows XP Install Disc Boxes) so Greenpeace's opinion is quite flawed, though I see according to that link they are not entirely obsessed with Apple which is good.
P.S. I've been to SF … very nice city. Weird stop signs uphill … hard to get used to.
Ah glad you like it here, Flatlands would be as weird to me as Hills are to you just so ya know
No need to own a Car in the city though, Parking here sucks (when I went to get my Mac I had a 30 minute limit due to traffic around the Apple store and lack of parking) because Muni is more then enough. I actually have every single Muni Train in the city except the new one that they are building within a block of my Apartment, with 2 of them just outside the Window right outside the Main tunnel, so maybe it doesn't matter as much to me...
Sebastian
...
Ah glad you like it here, Flatlands would be as weird to me as Hills are to you just so ya know
No need to own a Car in the city though, Parking here sucks (when I went to get my Mac I had a 30 minute limit due to traffic around the Apple store and lack of parking) because Muni is more then enough. I actually have every single Muni Train in the city except the new one that they are building within a block of my Apartment, with 2 of them just outside the Window right outside the Main tunnel, so maybe it doesn't matter as much to me...
Sebastian
Yeah, it's very nice were you are. The Golden Gate, valleys, Lombard, parks, beaches, flower gardens … really cool.
In contrast, here people build 'wide'.
(Everybody except Skatman, I guess … Sorry dude.)
I'll wait a week or so, and place my order for a MackBook.