How good are you at using a touch pad?

[NS]

[Jamie (K)]

The machines don't all have the same innards, so you can't really compare them that way. All you can do is compare them for performance, what is included in the price, etc.

Apple computers don't have the same operating system. They have a UNIX-based system that is more stable (almost never crashes), does not get computer viruses and is not affected by spyware, so they are very low-maintenance, and you don't have to spend time on virus scans and a lot of other maintenance a Windows PC requires. I used to have a Mac desktop computer and a Windows laptop, and I intended to get another Windows laptop. However, Apple computers became more and more compatible with PCs, and after I had to waste half a day cleaning viruses out of a friend's Windows PC (which I had recommended she buy), I decided not to buy Windows computers anymore. The computer support techs at a company where I used to work said that, despite the higher purchase price, Apple computers are $250 per year cheaper for them to run than Windows machines, just because the PCs require more maintenance and more user support and "hand-holding".

Apple computers have a higher purchase price than PCs, but they come with software and other peripherals included that you have to buy separately with Windows computers. There are also some nice design features that you don't find in Windows laptops, such as that an Apple laptop's power cord is held in magnetically, so that if you trip over it or something, the computer doesn't go crashing to the floor.

Apple computers are almost 100% compatible with Windows machines, but if you have a program or two that only runs with Windows, you can run Windows as a separate operating system on a Macintosh, and it runs as fast or faster than it would native on a PC. In my computer I can run both the Macintosh operating system and Windows at the same time, which I've found has some advantages I didn't expect when I first tried it.

If you want to compare Apple computers to the other ones, you have to actually TRY one, because the different operating system makes it a much different computer to use.

The other computers you listed all run either Windows or Linux, and all you need to do with them is compare performance statistics.

[Torsten]

Hi everyone,

Thanks to your advice and support I've already become much quicker at using my touchpad. Ralf gave me an important piece of advice yesterday pointing out that I can make several quick movements with my thumb to move the cursor across the screen instead of trying to do that in one go. I was aware of that function but didn't really use it consciously. Another thing I stumbled upon today is that in addition to the two buttons at the bottom my touchpad also has two thin stripes along the edges (one vertical and one one horizontal) which I can use to quickly scroll a screen. As the saying goes, you live you learn...
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[NinaZara]

Great to hear that, Torsten.

And Jamie is right. When choosing a laptop, it depends on what you want in it. I personally am crazy of huge screens, be it plasma TVs or laptop's monitor. So when I choose a laptop I may put its monitor above mobility. And Toshiba is great for laptops built for desktop use.
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[NS]