Mac Hardware - 5k Supremacy - The Something Awful Forums

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Mac Hardware - 5k Supremacy

Lexicon: Jul 29, 2003; I had a beer with Stephen Harper once and now I like him.

BobHoward posted:

The whole thing is a goofy argument, yes, but it isn't true that Apple has never done some of these things. They pioneered modular bays and sleep-swappable batteries 15+ years ago.

True - what I really meant is "if you need this grab bag of technologies you should be asking a different vendor".

Also, 15 years ago? Come on, grandpa, we're sick of hearing about The War

# ? May 2, 2014 21:02

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 25, 2024 23:21

shrughes: Oct 11, 2008; (call/cc call/cc)

The real reason Apple products aren't enterprise-ready, aside from the fact that they come with OS X, is that they have terrible low key travel keyboards, it's like typing on granite and your fingers will hurt if you do it all day.

# ? May 2, 2014 21:02

Mr. Smile Face Hat: Sep 15, 2003; Praise be to China's Covid-Zero Policy

Sonic Dude posted:

I manage Macs professionally for companies anywhere from 25-30 people up to one client with 120,000+ employees.

Aye, but actual, true enterprises are Windows-only, so as far as I'm concerned, you're managing mom and pop operations. :smuggo:

vty posted:

For some reason asking for these things offends the Apple crowd

It doesn't offend me, it entertains me. I like those angry and condescending justifications for lovely monstrous hardware that generally have their roots in the inflexibility of some IT department or some timid management that only knows Windows, Dell an Lenovo. Please tell me more.

vty posted:

"Enterprise-ready" infers a capability to be passed on to anybody for any role.

And you passed on addressing the point I made in the part you quoted: That defining "actual, true" enterprise as Windows-only makes any rational discussion with a person who does that impossible.

I'm thinking that these are the kinds of resistances every newcomer hits with deeply entrenched and ultimately insecure people that are horrified by any change. I remember "Linux? Only Sun OS is an actual, true Unix!" and all kinds of similar things.

I'm not using Macs for everything, but for what I'm using them for, they're about perfect, and if I'm supposed to be productive in any professional situation, the IT department better allow me to use them.

# ? May 2, 2014 21:05

Lexicon: Jul 29, 2003; I had a beer with Stephen Harper once and now I like him.

shrughes posted:

The real reason Apple products aren't enterprise-ready, aside from the fact that they come with OS X, is that they have terrible low key travel keyboards, it's like typing on granite and your fingers will hurt if you do it all day.

are you serious? Do you know how many software engineers there are using nothing but MBPs, and typing furiously on them all day?

# ? May 2, 2014 21:42

shrughes: Oct 11, 2008; (call/cc call/cc)

Lexicon posted:

are you serious? Do you know how many software engineers there are using nothing but MBPs, and typing furiously on them all day?

Not many? Most software engineers use external keyboards and monitors all day.

# ? May 2, 2014 21:48

Ninja Rope: Oct 22, 2005; Wee.

shrughes posted:

Not many? Most software engineers use external keyboards and monitors all day.

I use an external apple keyboard :wink:

# ? May 2, 2014 21:51

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

shrughes posted:

The real reason Apple products aren't enterprise-ready, aside from the fact that they come with OS X, is that they have terrible low key travel keyboards, it's like typing on granite and your fingers will hurt if you do it all day.

Here you go.

http://www.amazon.com/Keytronic-E03600U-Keyboard-beige-cable/dp/B001150KDK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399064925

# ? May 2, 2014 22:09

Sonic Dude: May 6, 2009

Doctor Zero posted:

Here you go.

http://www.amazon.com/Keytronic-E03600U-Keyboard-beige-cable/dp/B001150KDK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399064925

That keyboard isn't enterprise-ready because it doesn't have a docking station.

# ? May 2, 2014 22:12

Canned Sunshine: Nov 20, 2005; Can't post for 31 minutes!

flavor posted:

It doesn't offend me, it entertains me. I like those angry and condescending justifications for lovely monstrous hardware that generally have their roots in the inflexibility of some IT department or some timid management that only knows Windows, Dell an Lenovo. Please tell me more.

But you're being just as bad, except from the opposite context: you're so entrenched in Apple superiority, that you can't even see that sometimes, in some environments, Windows really is the best solution. It's largely driven by the software being utilized, but that's the way it is, and yes while you can install a Windows VM or Boot Camp on a Mac, it just adds another layer of support that a lot of IT departments don't want to or can't support. When you're often understaffed, underfunded, etc., it's easy to see why...

(I'd also argue that you are not too familiar with Lenovo and Dell's relatively recent corporate offerings. They're not to MBP-levels of polish and the adapters still suck to lug around, but much of the equipment is far from being a "lovely monstrous" hardware. I do recognize though that you also once referred to the non-retina 15" MBPs as being "tons heavier" (1.2 lbs), 1/8th the battery life (actually about 1-2 hrs less at most), etc. of a rMBP, so hyperbole is clearly a discussion tactic).

quote:

And you passed on addressing the point I made in the part you quoted: That defining "actual, true" enterprise as Windows-only makes any rational discussion with a person who does that impossible.

But the same is true in reverse - it's only a rational discussion if both sides are open to understanding and discussing that situations exist where both scenarios are true. You can't just plug your fingers in your ears at the word "Windows" and say "lah lah lah Apple hardware can always be used lah lah lah", because that's makes for no more of a rational discussion either.

quote:

I'm thinking that these are the kinds of resistances every newcomer hits with deeply entrenched and ultimately insecure people that are horrified by any change. I remember "Linux? Only Sun OS is an actual, true Unix!" and all kinds of similar things.

Ah yes, if one isn't open to Apple in every scenario, clearly they're an insecure individual horrified by change!

quote:

I'm not using Macs for everything, but for what I'm using them for, they're about perfect, and if I'm supposed to be productive in any professional situation, the IT department better allow me to use them.

That's great... for you. But part of having a mature, rational discussion is understanding that you as the precious snowflake do not represent the greater professional or enterprise environment at large. And I can also guarantee that there are a lot of industries where if you tried to pull that "Well I see you're a Windows-only environment, but I *can't* work unless I have a retina MacBook Pro!", they'd laugh you out of the interview and not give a second thought.

Would I like to use a rMBP in place of my M3700 workstation? Possibly, but I also recognize that given the software I need to use and what I need to do, it likely wouldn't be as efficient overall from a support/usability standpoint. That's my situation, and probably the situation for a lot of others, but see why we'd get a bit testy when someone goes "Apple all the time, all situations, forever!"?

TL; DR - Everything has its situational purpose, and use what's best for you but in a professional environment you may be limited by what you need to do and what they can support. Don't be pompous about having it your way.

# ? May 2, 2014 22:24

Mr. Smile Face Hat: Sep 15, 2003; Praise be to China's Covid-Zero Policy

Sonic Dude posted:

That keyboard isn't enterprise-ready because it doesn't have a docking station.

I'd say it's a mixed bag when it comes to enterprise-readiness.

Good:

- Three Windows keys
- Average to low reviews
- Bulky, looks like 25 years old when bought new

Bad:

- Not made by Dell or Lenovo
- USB port allows connection to some non-Windows machines. DIN is the only truly enterprise keyboard connector.
- Lack of exchangeable batteries makes it not weigh enough

So yeah, I've seen better.

# ? May 2, 2014 22:29

Mr. Smile Face Hat: Sep 15, 2003; Praise be to China's Covid-Zero Policy

SourKraut posted:

Apple all the time, all situations, forever!

Right. I'll be sure to think of that when I play TF2 on my Windows PC tonight, while I'm running some heavy scientific tasks on Ubuntu in the background. (This is not made up BTW.)

You can't argue your way out of the fact that you defined "actual, true" enterprises as Windows-only while I never said what you're putting in my mouth there.

# ? May 2, 2014 22:35

Bob Morales: Aug 18, 2006; ~~Just wear the fucking mask, Bob~~

I don't care how many people I probably infected with COVID-19 while refusing to wear a mask, my comfort is far more important than the health and safety of everyone around me!

Mac hardware thread: arguing with PC users for the last 30 years

# ? May 2, 2014 23:28

Sonic Dude: May 6, 2009

Mac Hardware megathread: extra battery not included

# ? May 2, 2014 23:34

shrughes: Oct 11, 2008; (call/cc call/cc)

Ninja Rope posted:

I use an external apple keyboard

And that would be fine. It's much better than the rMBP and MBA keyboards.

Doctor Zero posted:

Here you go.

http://www.amazon.com/Keytronic-E03600U-Keyboard-beige-cable/dp/B001150KDK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399064925

You mean http://www.amazon.com/Topre-Realforce-104UW-Keyboard-White/dp/B00H957DPY

# ? May 3, 2014 00:06

Binary Badger: Oct 11, 2005; Trolling Link for a decade

Since what you guys are talking about isn't Mac hardware, maybe you ought to take this to YOSPOS?

Seems it might fit better there

# ? May 3, 2014 00:13

Mr. Smile Face Hat: Sep 15, 2003; Praise be to China's Covid-Zero Policy

Agreed: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3630935

# ? May 3, 2014 01:14

Evis: Feb 28, 2007; Flying Spaghetti Monster

Just got my rMBP back and it turned out the MagSafe 2 board needed to be replaced. They did point out that if it had been the logic board it would have been over 500 without a warranty. I assume the point of that was to show me that buying AppleCare before my 1 year expires might be a good idea. I still think I'll risk it.

# ? May 3, 2014 01:46

vty: Nov 8, 2007; oh dott, oh dott!

Evis posted:

Just got my rMBP back and it turned out the MagSafe 2 board needed to be replaced. They did point out that if it had been the logic board it would have been over 500 without a warranty. I assume the point of that was to show me that buying AppleCare before my 1 year expires might be a good idea. I still think I'll risk it.

I've owned 3-5 recent Macbooks of different varities and the logic board has failed on .. at least half of them. So, yeah.. at least get it prior to your warranty ending.

There's some scheme to get it cheaper. I forget. Maybe it's buying it off of amazon. Or maybe they send you a coupon for 10% off or something before your warranty expires. It may not be around any longer, but I do recall something like that.

# ? May 3, 2014 02:20

Binary Badger: Oct 11, 2005; Trolling Link for a decade

vty posted:

There's some scheme to get it cheaper. I forget. Maybe it's buying it off of amazon. Or maybe they send you a coupon for 10% off or something before your warranty expires. It may not be around any longer, but I do recall something like that.

As it says in the OP avoid eBay or "schemes" too good to be true. What most goons agree on is to purchase AppleCare at an educational discount or buy it from B&H Photo & Video whose pricing comes close to the educational discount.

# ? May 3, 2014 07:16

Ratjaculation: Aug 3, 2007

Does anyone have any experience with waterproof laptop covers? I've been offered a research placement in the tropics and will largely be using a laptop outdoors, where it will be humid and pissing it down, doing in-situ analysis.

They have offered to provide me with a Windows netbook, but I'd rather take my MBP (for flights, Civ 5, etc). Is there a waterproof cover reliable enough, or should I not risk it?

# ? May 3, 2014 09:01

shrughes: Oct 11, 2008; (call/cc call/cc)

Ratjaculation posted:

Does anyone have any experience with waterproof laptop covers? I've been offered a research placement in the tropics and will largely be using a laptop outdoors, where it will be humid and pissing it down, doing in-situ analysis.

They have offered to provide me with a Windows netbook, but I'd rather take my MBP (for flights, Civ 5, etc). Is there a waterproof cover reliable enough, or should I not risk it?

My advice is unless you mind the MBP failing, stick with the Windows netbook. The humidity alone will kill your MBP -- not just rain.

Source: People from northern Australia and people bringing Toughbooks deep into Venezuela complaining about humidity.

# ? May 3, 2014 09:53

Ratjaculation: Aug 3, 2007

shrughes posted:

My advice is unless you mind the MBP failing, stick with the Windows netbook. The humidity alone will kill your MBP -- not just rain.

Source: People from northern Australia and people bringing Toughbooks deep into Venezuela complaining about humidity.

Okay thanks, I thought that would be the case. Better safe than sorry!

At least Windows has minesweeper

# ? May 3, 2014 12:08

Bob Morales: Aug 18, 2006; ~~Just wear the fucking mask, Bob~~

I don't care how many people I probably infected with COVID-19 while refusing to wear a mask, my comfort is far more important than the health and safety of everyone around me!

Looks like you'll be playing the SSD lottery with the 2014 Airs, or Apple switched to a lower-cost drive this time around

- 2013 13-inch with 128GB SSD: 445/725
- 2013 11-inch with 256GB SSD: 687/725
- 2014 13-inch with 256GB SSD: 520/676
- 2014 11-inch with 128GB SSD: 306/620

The 2014 Airs are still slightly faster than the models they replaced in other benchmarks:

http://www.macworld.com/article/2150841/lab-tested-new-2014-macbook-air-benchmarks.html?page=2

Bob Morales fucked around with this message at 16:33 on May 3, 2014

# ? May 3, 2014 16:29

vty: Nov 8, 2007; oh dott, oh dott!

Binary Badger posted:

As it says in the OP avoid eBay or "schemes" too good to be true. What most goons agree on is to purchase AppleCare at an educational discount or buy it from B&H Photo & Video whose pricing comes close to the educational discount.

I was definitely not referring to any Ebay schemes! BH photo most likely.

# ? May 3, 2014 17:41

Thanks Ants: May 21, 2004; #essereFerrari

To the guy who spends all day in a conference room that doesn't have the ability to connect a laptop to the mains so it's necessary to have three external batteries ready to swap in, jesus gently caress just get some sockets put in the table.

# ? May 3, 2014 19:47

yoyomama: Dec 28, 2008

FCKGW posted:

Best Buy is doing their Apple Promos again. $150 off any Macbook or iMac with a valid .edu email address, including new and 2013 Macbook Airs.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/global/...JZwPmntzbPuJhzw

This bring the current 13" MBA down to $850 and the previous gen 11" down to $650.

Just an FYI to anyone wanting to take up this deal: the 2013 base Air models are sold out. The other ones are still a good deal, but anyone trying to save a few $$$ may want to look at Apple refurbs for if they wanted those models.

# ? May 3, 2014 21:19

rufius: Feb 27, 2011; Clear alcohols are for rich women on diets.

Bonobos posted:

I'm thinking of picking up an air at this price. Anyone have experience with the 11inch? Is it as cramped as it looks? Looking for something for a main everything computer (have an i5 tower for gaming).

Edit: is the bezels actually bigger on the 11 vs the 13? Looks like it...?

I had a 13 and wouldn't get another. If I went that size, id get a rMBP. I love my 11 inch since I travel a lot. The reduced foot print is fine by me and I have large-ish hands.

I play video games on it comfortably (D3, Civ5, Football Manager) as well as do a lot of coding. It's a pretty perfect setup for me.

# ? May 4, 2014 00:34

awesome-express: Dec 30, 2008

Got myself a 16GB/512SSD rMBP. Holy.poo poo. I'm a UI/UX designer who previously worked on a late 2011 MBA, and for poo poo like iPhone mockups and wireframes the Air was ok, since I usually did one thing a time. This thing though :stare:

Got half of the Adobe suite running simultaneously, got a VM doing VM things and a local server trudging away with no noticeable slow downs. Best �2k+ I've ever spent.

# ? May 4, 2014 10:21

Pivo: Aug 20, 2004

Yeah powerful Macs are pretty badass. I complained to my new boss about the anaemic Mac Mini and he's like "well why don't we look into buying a new one"

YES SIR PLEASE SIR THANKS SIR

# ? May 4, 2014 10:26

japtor: Oct 28, 2005

Pivo posted:

Yeah powerful Macs are pretty badass. I complained to my new boss about the anaemic Mac Mini and he's like "well why don't we look into buying a new one"

Cause the new ones were last updated in 2012 :cry:

Get a Mac Pro!

# ? May 4, 2014 11:10

Pivo: Aug 20, 2004

japtor posted:

Get a Mac Pro!

I wish... FNG with a $3k computer? Stranger things have happened I suppose.

# ? May 4, 2014 11:28

shrughes: Oct 11, 2008; (call/cc call/cc)

My company got a Mac Pro for some reason, I still haven't figured out what it was. We don't need the GPU's. We don't need the 6-core CPU inside of it either. A 4-core Mac Mini would have sufficed. It's pretty much sitting there unused.

# ? May 4, 2014 11:31

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Pivo posted:

I wish... FNG with a $3k computer? Stranger things have happened I suppose.

Depending on where you work, $3k for a development machine is pocket change.

# ? May 4, 2014 12:06

Pivo: Aug 20, 2004

shrughes posted:

My company got a Mac Pro for some reason, I still haven't figured out what it was. We don't need the GPU's. We don't need the 6-core CPU inside of it either. A 4-core Mac Mini would have sufficed. It's pretty much sitting there unused.

Send it here boss

Doctor Zero posted:

Depending on where you work, $3k for a development machine is pocket change.

Mature startup. Content marketing. Last place I worked we had a lot of enterprise clients (with big three-letter names you may have heard of) and they tossed a $3k Dell desktop replacement at me like it was nothing. But in this case the Mac is only used for part of my work, the majority of what we do isn't iOS dev, and my actual workstation is actually quite beefy... I just *prefer* to use OS X...

Hehe regardless I'm derailing the thread. Sunday Fun Day right.

# ? May 4, 2014 12:11

teagone: Jun 10, 2003; That was pretty intense, huh?

Weird question, but is there a way to turn on the Apple logo light on a MacBook when it's closed and connected to an external monitor?

# ? May 4, 2014 15:11

eddiewalker: Apr 28, 2004; Arrrr ye landlubber

teagone posted:

Weird question, but is there a way to turn on the Apple logo light on a MacBook when it's closed and connected to an external monitor?

That logo is lit by the screen backlight, which is turned off.

Gut it with a dremel and add LEDs.

# ? May 4, 2014 15:15

Pryor on Fire: May 14, 2013; they don't know all alien abduction experiences can be explained by people thinking saving private ryan was a documentary

Every new employee where I work gets ~$4.5K dropped on a new MBP & software & display, even the community managers who just dick around on forums and twitter all day and leave that 16GB of RAM cold and unused. When people leave hardware gets sold instead of repurposed since people like to have new shiny things that are all theirs when they start a job. This is one of the most important things in how happy new employees are and their initial impressions of how good a work environment it is. It's really not that much money, like 2 weeks of average compensation costs so who cares, keeping talented people happy and retaining them is worth 10 or 100 times that easily.

# ? May 4, 2014 17:17

benisntfunny: Dec 2, 2004; I'm Perfect.

Pryor on Fire posted:

Every new employee where I work gets ~$4.5K dropped on a new MBP & software & display, even the community managers who just dick around on forums and twitter all day and leave that 16GB of RAM cold and unused. When people leave hardware gets sold instead of repurposed since people like to have new shiny things that are all theirs when they start a job. This is one of the most important things in how happy new employees are and their initial impressions of how good a work environment it is. It's really not that much money, like 2 weeks of average compensation costs so who cares, keeping talented people happy and retaining them is worth 10 or 100 times that easily.

Struggling to figure out why you've posted this.

# ? May 4, 2014 21:53

Mr. Smile Face Hat: Sep 15, 2003; Praise be to China's Covid-Zero Policy

benisntfunny posted:

Struggling to figure out why you've posted this.

Context of the thread...

It's because this other guy can't stop talking about how his company has him working on an ancient 2 GB Mac Mini.

# ? May 4, 2014 22:29

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 25, 2024 23:21

benisntfunny: Dec 2, 2004; I'm Perfect.

Wow I've got really good at zoning out people's constant whining. I remember the original post but just scrolled up to see he was still talking about it.

I thought that last guy's post was just bragging.

Look, it's my birthday so let it slide. I'm old and stupid.

# ? May 4, 2014 22:44

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Mac Hardware - 5k Supremacy

«‹›1730 »