Re: NFC - What Mac to get?
From: Adam Green (FlatCrankgmail.com)
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2015 16:21:31 -0800 (PST)
I'd trust a word in Forbes about as far as I can comfortably spit a dead rat, but by "no viruses," I assume most people mean "compared to the perception of PCs."
While there is an issue with risky behavior and there's risks on OS X or Windows or even on Linux, etc., the reports about hacking, virus threats, and stolen information from retailers is all greatly exaggerated.  The actual statistics and the final analysis facts of retailers losing millions and billions of credit cards are all orders of magnitude exaggerated.  That's not to advise cavalier disregard or swiping a credit card at a bagel stand on the streets of New York City.

For the most part, run AVG Anti Virus Free for Mac (http://www.avg.com/us-en/for-mac) or Windows and Android (http://free.avg.com/us-en/free-downloads) and yes, it will quietly offer to sell you their premium version from time to time, but otherwise, it will quite reliably keep you clear of the worst of the browserborne or emailborne troubles.  
Staying about a month or two behind the update curve also helps avoid being part of early compromised security vulnerabilities and so-called "exploits" except when, of course, the given update actually addresses a known exploit that's run amok.

Here's my two cent's on Macs (which boils down ... down coins boil down? ... to me liking MacBooks but having also a home-brew machine to do the really heavy lifting.)

I have Macs and I think they're overpriced, too.
As others have noted, the requirements will guide you to a particular type of Mac or PC.
It will take considerable self-education to get the right PC laptop, but there are some great machines there that rival or even exceed Mac.  If you want a 4K touch screen laptop f'rinstance, you'll be looking at things Mac's don't offer.  Be wary of all-in-ones with laptop internals -- all the expense and slowness with a higher price and limited portability.
As others noted, if you don't need CPU grunt, you can get a lot done with a 10 inch tablet (Google or Apple) plus what I like is built in 4G xLTE in the Air 2 (though battery life is a bit weak and size is a bit small, but there's a larger Air Plus coming, and I think there's a larger Macbook Air coming, too.)
Check "when to buy" sites before you make a final decision.  eg. http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/
I've had Macs since the dawn of time.  I'm "technical" (Unix engineer, erstwhile DBA and tools developer for secure and transaction enterprise apps) but I use a Mac for 90%+ of my day.  I use W8 or W7 (obsolete) "in a box" (I use Parallels with only relatively minor issues) or Chrome Remote Desktop as needed to work on one machine or another.
I especially like the built-in hardware video zoom of the Mac and I use this MacBook Pro Retina 15" for almost everything.  I have a newer iMac 5K Retina 27" all-in-one desktop and it's great, but a tad spendy and eventually it too runs out of grunt, then I go to a 3+ year old home-brew which only turns about the same geekbench numbers, but somehow does the heavy lifting (with three big gaming video cards that are also great for driving real time transaction software) that makes the video in the Macs get too hot.
Reliability has been very good though you should definitely budget on AppleCare as part of the price of the Mac and important to the experience of having a reliable machine with no horror costs or lengthy downtime.  I had a major failure in an older MacBook Pro and it was out of service for only a couple of days and back to me the same week.  I use time machine and encryption and generally avoid putting any "stuff" on my work machines, so I tend not to have trouble.
Still, they can and do run hot, the fans come on for even simple video streams, so the "silent" is limited to typing right now or maybe a little youtube of democracynow at 240p in the mornings.  Once I run tradestation in parallels, and thinkorswim in native OS X, any Mac roasts, but still, this little MBP Retina 15 does fine all day and so long as I limit external displays (I sometimes hang as much as three 2048x1152 displays using thunderbolt and hdmi) it's happy so long as I don't then also try to use the zoomed video too much.  If I run Ubuntu in Parallels, it's much cooler, but that's not my usual MO these days (pity.)
For most intents and purposes, I'd go with an Acer or Asus or maybe even Samsung (?) "MacBook Air" killer of some recent spec, and dial in the build according to preferences (buying off the shelf at Best Buy is old hat ... BBY now is only a showroom for the Internet, then you buy from Amazon.)  
You could peruse CES 2015 laptop on youtube as a search and see what you like.  I think Lenovo has been improving.  Most also-rans aren't even running or can't be treated seriously these days, so you're limited.  Maybe read tomshardware for a little update on what's useful about current CPUs.  I have numerous friends selling this stuff and they can't compete with the prices you'll get from vendors off pricewatch or pricegrabber, but caveat emptor and be sure you're not buying from a NY camera store that sells just about any junk and thrives on one-time purchases with hideous customer service (this is not just one store, it's a business model these days.)  Of course eBay is out of bounds for this kind of purchase, it's just a nightmare of time wasting.
If you want something "no brainer" you really can't go too far wrong with a base spec MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, or equally well, something decent and current technology from Asus, Acer, or maybe Dell or Lenovo, if you find something you think has compelling features.
 
Other than that, I think the meaning of it all is to be nice to one another, go outside and get some fresh air as often as you can, eat healthy food, avoid excess and let moderation guide you in all things except, to use a dated phrase, "the opposite sex" ... and cars.

Adam

On Tue, Feb 10, 2015 at 2:45 PM, Rick Moseley <ramosel [at] pacbell.net> wrote:
While that statement was true for a long time... just not so anymore.  We were fighting this before I retired at the corp level.




From: Brian E. Buxton <BrianBuxton [at] BuxtonMotorsports.com>
To: Rick Moseley <ramosel [at] pacbell.net>
Cc: The FerrariList <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 2:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] NFC - What Mac to get?


Macs are the best computers for personal use - will functionally last twice as long as any PC with no viruses, etc.  Perfect for anyone doing webs surfing, music production, website, photos, etc.


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