I was trying to decide which one to get. I have used Apple laptops and they are very reliable, but too expensive. I heard linux laptop has problems with battery life. What are your experiences? Linux or Mac for laptops? thanks...

It's not (just) the operating system that makes the battery run out quickly..if there are hardware parts that consume a lot of power, then the battery drains quickly. Long-lasting (as in battery life) laptops are those that have a good battery and hardware that is optimized to use as little power as needed and operating system (/software) that can take advantage of powersaving methods, such as turning display off or scaling CPU frequency down when it can be done (i.e. when there is no activity).

Macs are designed by Apple both hardware- and software-wise (as in OS, at least - and most apps too), so they can more easily make them "last longer". "Regular" PC laptops have all sorts of hardware part combinations, and some of them consume the battery more quickly than others -- others are more "powerful" combinations than others, and so on. It depends on what you need. There are "regular" PC laptops that last very long with battery power, but typically they're expensive too - not any cheaper than Macs, anyway. Cheap laptops are usually either slow, consume battery very quickly or both.

If it's not about money, buy Mac or Mac _and_ a "regular" laptop onto which you install Linux. If it is about money, you don't even ask - you can't spend on Mac then

It all goes down to how much you are willing to give to get something - how much power you want to have under the hood, while still being able to type your email before battery runs out (of course it depends a lot on what you actually do - play games, play DVD or just command 'ls' occasionally).

why linux has not created something like Apple? Or do something similar as b0uncer pointed out above:

thanks

Because Linus Torvalds nor GNU nor any other FOSS folks have the money to start competing and building hardware specifically for Linux. They're just two completely different concepts.

And a "regular" laptop can achieve same battery life as a Mac, with or without Linux, if you just get the right parts and tune the system to consume less power. All I'm saying is that it's not up to the battery to decide between Mac and "regular" PC - it's more about ideology or something. About being cool Mac owner, or cool Linux user.

I know its not about the battery. that was not my point. I just wanted to know opinions about MAC vs Linux on a laptop in general NOT in battery power. thanks!

The Mac will work out of the box. It will just work because Apple did the whole job and sold you a finished product.

You will have to fiddle with the Linux system because you'll be doing your own install probably, and you'll have to tweak all the little annoyances that you always have to deal with when you install any OS on an arbitrary piece of hardware.

Once you have the Linux installation running, it will work smoothly (if you have the right wireless card, anyway) and you'll be able to do just about anything you want with it.

If you are into IM using webcams, you'll have problems because there presently are no good IM clients for Linux that work with webcams. Webcams and flash clients work OK though. At the present time, that is about the only major shortcoming in Linux that I am aware of.

One thing that has sort of been swept under the rug in this discussion was your original mention of cost. If you want to choose between a "standard" laptop or a MacBook and base it on cost, then the choice is quite obvious.

You can buy a MacBook for over $1000 and get some convenience, or you can buy a "regular" laptop ( I just picked up a reconditioned Acer laptopfor $300) for way cheaper. Linux itself is free, and there are people all over the world ready and willing (mostly) to help you through the growing pains that you experience with Linux.

So what it really comes down to, is one question: Is a bit of convenience worth $700 to you?

One thing I and some folks at the job had noticed is that here in Japan, Mac computers are sometimes cheaper than regular laptops. Although there are Celeron laptops costing 65.000 yens, some good ones costs 250.000 yens. I saw MacBookPro in the shop being sold for 180.000 yens. A regular MacBook costs 130.0000 yens. Well anyway, people here is still buying PCs.

You may have read it elsewhere, but Asus sells EEE laptop PC systems that run Linux, are small in space, electrical consumption, and price. Dell has a couple of laptop and desktop models in its product line.

As far as what will work, quite a bit actually. I own an older Dell Latitude D600, which is a Pentium M 1.6 GHz system, which was equipped with 1 GB RAM and any issues it may have had were fixed up. I bought it from a friend for $265, which I considered a very good deal. It has the Intel Pro Wireless 2200 wireless network card, which works very well with a number of systems.

I just bought a new laptop, a Lenovo 3000 Model Y410, which has a newer Intel Pro Wireless (3945?) wireless network card, 2 GB memory, came with Windows Vista, and I had no problem at all installing Linux on it after resizing the Windows disk partitions. That unit was around $800 but it had a nice rebate, so I got it for less than that.

Apple systems, with both the hardware and software carefully constructed by Apple, may give you a few less problems and a better media experience, but it will cost you. If instead you opt for a commodity system, if it's made by Dell, HP, or Lenovo, there is a good chance it will work now, and if not, there is an even better chance that it will work six months to a year from now. If you buy a model that has been on the market a while or is a follow on in an existing product line, you may have immediate success, as I did with the Lenovo 3000 Y410.

When you have your eyes set on a certain system, ask around and see what people say. Chances are someone is either looking at it, too, or they have already worked with it. Best thing to do is to ask and find out.

It depends what you want to do.

For "basic" computer needs (i.e. Internet,Office Applications,Email); you're better off with Linux since the price is really good (as mentioned above you can buy a laptop for $400 and install Ubuntu...which is free). Linux is more than capable for this purpose.

On the other hand...if you are going to be working with Adobe CS (like photoshop,illustrator,etc); or video editing or things like that, go for the Apple.

I think that it all depends on what you need it for. There is NO operating system that can do EVERYTHING. It's up to you

Good Luck!

-C