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The $1,799 MacBook Pro 13 vs. the $650 Acer Swift 3

pcworld.com

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Re: The $1,799 MacBook Pro 13 vs. the $650 Acer Swift 3

#81

Post by D13Fd »

mping wrote: post #70
D13Fd wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can get a very macOS-esque experience in Linux. The problem is the “can get.” If you value your time at, say, $200/hr, how long can you spend learning about Linux distros, repos, software, and troubleshooting issues etc before you’ve spent the savings from buying a non-Mac-native laptop?

If you value your time like that you might as well sleep 2h less and earn 400$ every night. This is not a fair comparison because there are a lot of benefits of troubleshooting, most of them intangible. If you don't like it fine, just get a Linux "certified" laptop or a Mac.

I responded to a person saying that he could, with enough time, make Linux like Mac OS. I'm saying it's not worth the time for many people, might as well just buy a Mac OS native laptop.

I don't see how buying a Linux "certified" laptop figures into this - they aren't "mac-like." And I agree with you, just buy a Mac if that's what you're looking for.

Re: The $1,799 MacBook Pro 13 vs. the $650 Acer Swift 3

#82

Post by D13Fd »

root_axis wrote: post #80
D13Fd wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can get a very macOS-esque experience in Linux. The problem is the “can get.” If you value your time at, say, $200/hr, how long can you spend learning about Linux distros, repos, software, and troubleshooting issues etc before you’ve spent the savings from buying a non-Mac-native laptop?

> If you value your time at, say, $200/hr, how long can you spend learning about Linux distros, repos, software, A lot of software people already understand linux; obviously if you have to learn everything from scratch it's not the ideal productivity choice.

I'm no Linux newbie. I've run Debian servers for many years, and I set up my first Linux box circa 1997.

But if my two options are buying a Mac native laptop or spending the time trying to set up a "mac-like" experience on a Linux distro installed on an Acer laptop designed for Windows (the comment I was replying to), I'm going with the Mac native laptop.

Re: The $1,799 MacBook Pro 13 vs. the $650 Acer Swift 3

#83

Post by kyriakos »

tracer4201 wrote: post #65
newhna wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WSL2 is fast, rock-solid and outperforms a Mac with iterm2 by far. I don't know which fluidity you mean on a multi montior setup you lack on Windows. Re short-cuts Windows has more (just think of win+number or built in window management) or autohotkey which owns karabiner. MacOs is good if you need Xcode but other than that? Idk

I was curious if I was using an older version that led to my problems with WSL2, but I just did a search right now for “WSL 2 slow” on Google. I see threads and discussions in the past couple months with people still calling out how slow it is and other issues.

Keep in mind that Wsl2 barely came out of public beta so obviously it will have online comments about performance issues when compared with products that don't have a public beta. And yet if you search for it you can find a lot of hits on macos bad performance. Not saying either is better just that the metric you set is inaccurate.

Re: The $1,799 MacBook Pro 13 vs. the $650 Acer Swift 3

#84

Post by kyriakos »

toast0 wrote: post #59
Ididntdothis wrote: post #30

How do the displays compare? Or the trackpad? How will the Acer hold up after two years of use? Raw speed is only one factor.

If the Acer needs replacing after two years, and the Mac after five, you're still ahead, asuming a similar speced Acer is available for a similar price in the future.

Not only that, you'll probably get even better performance after two years by replacing the cheaper acer.

Re: The $1,799 MacBook Pro 13 vs. the $650 Acer Swift 3

#85

Post by bArray »

D13Fd wrote: post #64
bArray wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not only are they better built In this case, but there are plenty of examples of a sub-par performance from Apple. Broken keyboards, display cable issues, shipping with overheating CPU profiles, removing buttons, useless touch bar display, removal of ports - to name a few. As Rossman says: "the only part on a MacBook that doesn't blow are the fuses". > they also run macOS Again, not been a fan of their recent work.…

> I can get a very macOS-esque experience in Linux. The problem is the “can get.” If you value your time at, say, $200/hr, how long can you spend learning about Linux distros, repos, software, and troubleshooting issues etc before you’ve spent the savings from buying a non-Mac-native laptop?

The learning curve really isn't bad from Unix to Unix OSes and any of the additional stuff is really no different from the undertaking for learning about macOS.

You propose it's costing you $200 per hour, but actually you're also gaining real skills too that you may have otherwise paid for. Once you have a decent setup you really don't spend much time learning anything additional.

If you run into issues, there is a wealth of help out there and if you really get stuck you can simply peek under the hood, even make some changes.

Re: The $1,799 MacBook Pro 13 vs. the $650 Acer Swift 3

#86

Post by bArray »

D13Fd wrote: post #81
mping wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you value your time like that you might as well sleep 2h less and earn 400$ every night. This is not a fair comparison because there are a lot of benefits of troubleshooting, most of them intangible. If you don't like it fine, just get a Linux "certified" laptop or a Mac.

I responded to a person saying that he could, with enough time, make Linux like Mac OS. I'm saying it's not worth the time for many people, might as well just buy a Mac OS native laptop. I don't see how buying a Linux "certified" laptop figures into this - they aren't "mac-like." And I agree with you, just buy a Mac if that's what you're looking for.

> with enough time

I wouldn't want to overstate the effort, we're talking a day at most. The reward is a machine that you have a high amount of control over.

Re: The $1,799 MacBook Pro 13 vs. the $650 Acer Swift 3

#87

Post by foogazi »

hobos_delight wrote: post #79
bArray wrote: post #23

It's not just a case of dividing performance numbers by price - obviously the Apple machine is better built. The real question is: Is it built a $1000 dollars better and built well enough to overcome the fact it's slower (in these tests)? There are some pretty legitimate reasons to come away from Apple products now in my opinion, including some very competitive hardware at lower prices. I've been quite a happy Linux…

I've been using Apple laptops since the G4 Ti Powerbook (in ~2003 I think) - and have generally been on a ~2-4 year upgrade cycle. Last February (~15mo ago) I went from my 2015 13" MBP to a new Macbook Air - they had touch ID, no touchbar, I didn't mind the keyboard and the performance with similar to the old MBP I had. Now I'm not sure if it's Catalina or the hardware itself - but this machine became almost unusably…

> I picked up a dell xps13

How’s the trackpad ?

Re: The $1,799 MacBook Pro 13 vs. the $650 Acer Swift 3

#88

Post by risyachka »

JoeCianflone wrote: post #7

I love these articles because the writers are so earnest and seem to be oblivious to the fact that buyers do not care.

They care, its just perfomance is only one of many factors that people consider when they buy a laptop. Screen quality, customer support, resale value, sad speed and many many others.

Re: The $1,799 MacBook Pro 13 vs. the $650 Acer Swift 3

#89

Post by dvfjsdhgfv »

saagarjha wrote: post #33
bArray wrote: post #23

It's not just a case of dividing performance numbers by price - obviously the Apple machine is better built. The real question is: Is it built a $1000 dollars better and built well enough to overcome the fact it's slower (in these tests)? There are some pretty legitimate reasons to come away from Apple products now in my opinion, including some very competitive hardware at lower prices. I've been quite a happy Linux…

Not only are they better built, they also run macOS.

> Not only are they better built

This could be true about some models some time ago. The unibody design is now common among other brands and is not a particularly good thing - the two components that wear out most on laptops is the battery and the keyboard, and traditionally on non-Apple laptops you could at least replace the former yourself.

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