Russian computer for USA?

[visaveteran1 33]

My wife asked me if she should bring her laptop computer when she comes to the USA. All I know is it's a lower end Russian HP version computer. I think it's fairly new but not sure. She really does not know much about computers and relies on her son to help her with email, etc. In fact, she has a desktop computer that she has some knowledge about but little about the laptop.

And, of course, the manuals are in Russian so i won't be able to read up on it and I'm a Mac guy, so I know nothing about PCs anyway. I'm "Windows illiterate."

I have a Macintosh desktop computer, so having a laptop could be useful I suppose, like watching movies on a trip or whatever...but I wonder about it's value if it's set-up for Russians to use.

I tend to think it's not worth the trouble. What do you guys think? Is it worth her lugging the extra weight from Russia to get this laptop to the USA?

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

I say leave the "Windows" trash in Russia and get another Mac!

My wife asked me if she should bring her laptop computer when she comes to the USA. All I know is it's a lower end Russian HP version computer. I think it's fairly new but not sure. She really does not know much about computers and relies on her son to help her with email, etc. In fact, she has a desktop computer that she has some knowledge about but little about the laptop.

And, of course, the manuals are in Russian so i won't be able to read up on it and I'm a Mac guy, so I know nothing about PCs anyway. I'm "Windows illiterate."

I have a Macintosh desktop computer, so having a laptop could be useful I suppose, like watching movies on a trip or whatever...but I wonder about it's value if it's set-up for Russians to use.

I tend to think it's not worth the trouble. What do you guys think? Is it worth her lugging the extra weight from Russia to get this laptop to the USA?

[eekee 182]

It's the same computer as an hp you'd get here, just with the default language set to russian. I actually have russian windows on my mac. I am pretty sure that if you created your own profile, you could set the language to english, but i never bothered as i like the language practice.

Why would it be of less value if it's set up for Russians? I don't really understand.

I would say bring it! It can't be *that* heavy. She can bring it in her carryon and then it won't count in her luggage as extra weight. Laptop bags are usually allowed on airplanes as a second carryon anyway. plus, households are much more peaceful when people have their own computers. Maybe that's just my house though--right now i'm on my blackberry and my guy is on his internett tablet... Even on vacation we're frantically searching for hotspots.

Also consider that most computer stuff is often twice or three times as expensive in russia as in the us. I always have to carry random computer parts in my bag for my guy... This time i had to bring the parts neccessary for building a linux server. Anyway, it probably cost her a lot to buy this computer.

My wife asked me if she should bring her laptop computer when she comes to the USA. All I know is it's a lower end Russian HP version computer. I think it's fairly new but not sure. She really does not know much about computers and relies on her son to help her with email, etc. In fact, she has a desktop computer that she has some knowledge about but little about the laptop.

And, of course, the manuals are in Russian so i won't be able to read up on it and I'm a Mac guy, so I know nothing about PCs anyway. I'm "Windows illiterate."

I have a Macintosh desktop computer, so having a laptop could be useful I suppose, like watching movies on a trip or whatever...but I wonder about it's value if it's set-up for Russians to use.

I tend to think it's not worth the trouble. What do you guys think? Is it worth her lugging the extra weight from Russia to get this laptop to the USA?

[mox 298]

Does she have family that might be able to use it to communicate with her? It might be more useful to one of her family members than it is for her in the US.

[eekee 182]

I am growing increasingly disillusioned with macs. Mine crashes to the point of having to wipe my harddrive with increasing regularity. And they're so much more expensive than other computers out there. If I could find a windows laptop that satisfied all my requirements, i'd switch in a heartbeat. I hate the cheap shiny screens all the windows laptops i've seen have. Vista blows, but xp is perfectly adequate.

Mox, you bring up a good point, but if the family doesn't already know how, teaching them would probably be too hard. I've been trying to teach both my mom and my stepmom how to use computers for about six years now. Plus you could always just bring them some eee pcs if all they're going to use it for is chatting/emailing.

I say leave the "Windows" trash in Russia and get another Mac!

[mox 298]

I am growing increasingly disillusioned with macs. Mine crashes to the point of having to wipe my harddrive with increasing regularity. And they're so much more expensive than other computers out there. If I could find a windows laptop that satisfied all my requirements, i'd switch in a heartbeat. I hate the cheap shiny screens all the windows laptops i've seen have. Vista blows, but xp is perfectly adequate.

Actually Macs are pretty competitively priced with PC's nowadays. They're still a little more expensive up front, but they also come with more features and usable software. Macs are always going to be pricier than the bargain basement PC's that will probably die on you within 6 months, but the days are gone when you paid a heavy premium for a Mac. Do some comparison shopping with Dell, HP, or IBM, and it's a much more level playing field now.

If yours is crashing regularly, it sounds like there's a problem. Maybe you have a bad hard drive. You might want to have it looked at. I've had an iMac, Powerbook G4, a Macbook Pro, and a Mac Pro, and all of them just work. The iMac is going on about 4 years old now, and the kids still use it. My mom has one of the original "flavored" iMacs, and it still works fine for her.

In a couple months you won't be able to buy XP anymore. Microsoft are going to stop selling it. I imagine it won't be much longer until they stop supporting it too. And believe me, a couple hours with Visa will leave you wanting to slit your wrists. (I have to use it at work.)

Mox, you bring up a good point, but if the family doesn't already know how, teaching them would probably be too hard. I've been trying to teach both my mom and my stepmom how to use computers for about six years now. Plus you could always just bring them some eee pcs if all they're going to use it for is chatting/emailing.

True. Might be good for a more tech savvy sibling though. It really depends on his wife's situation.

[visaveteran1 33]

Thanks for the replies.

I think I'll probably take Kazan's advice and buy her a Mac laptop. I can teach her on a computer I know about, and we'll be computer compatible.

I may also take Mox's advice and see if her brother or one of her close girlfriends might want it to stay in touch.

Eekee...I never have crashes on my Mac. What Mac do you have? My son had to go with a PC laptop for college and he's had to reinstall his system like a dozen times. Lots of issue with good old Microsoft so he's gone with Linux rather than Windows and he really prefers it now.

[eekee 182]

"Buy" xp? What does this mean? When you are dating a Russian video game developer, you do not use this verb in connection with software.

There is nothing wrong with my computer internally. I think it has to do with firefox, which has been incredibly unstable in the last few releases. I've resorted to using safari, which i loathe. We'll see how it goes. My friend has been testing the software he's developing on it while i've been on vacation, so i'll see what he thinks when i get back.

I'm sorry, but I don't think macs are competitively priced for what you get. The consensus among all my programmer friends (both my boyfriend AND my best friend are programmers) is that macs are the equivalent of designer clothes. You pay for a name, and a look, but the "guts" aren't really better.

I had a long, philosophical conversation with the dude working at best buy, and he also has a mac laptop because there are just windows pcs at the moment which can compare. If i didn't have to have a laptop, i would just have my guy build me the computer of my dreams. Maybe i'd go with a dual-boot Hackintosh.

Also, my guy claims used to be the biggest fan of apple in spb and has fond memories of seeing them at a computer expo in '93... But now every time something goes wrong with my computer he goes, "of course, it's apple. It's just a toy!"

I also hate applecare. Once i was having a problem with an ibook so i called them and described my problem, and they were all, "your computer's totally dead! You better just buy a new one right now! Here, i'll connect you to the apple store!" I then took it to tekserve in nyc, and they immediately realized that my computer was set to boot off the network instead of the hd and fixed it for free on the spot.

My desktop imac (the lamp-like one) has never had a problem, but desktops are generally more stable than laptops anyway, i guess because you have to make less concessions due to space.

I am growing increasingly disillusioned with macs. Mine crashes to the point of having to wipe my harddrive with increasing regularity. And they're so much more expensive than other computers out there. If I could find a windows laptop that satisfied all my requirements, i'd switch in a heartbeat. I hate the cheap shiny screens all the windows laptops i've seen have. Vista blows, but xp is perfectly adequate.

Actually Macs are pretty competitively priced with PC's nowadays. They're still a little more expensive up front, but they also come with more features and usable software. Macs are always going to be pricier than the bargain basement PC's that will probably die on you within 6 months, but the days are gone when you paid a heavy premium for a Mac. Do some comparison shopping with Dell, HP, or IBM, and it's a much more level playing field now.

If yours is crashing regularly, it sounds like there's a problem. Maybe you have a bad hard drive. You might want to have it looked at. I've had an iMac, Powerbook G4, a Macbook Pro, and a Mac Pro, and all of them just work. The iMac is going on about 4 years old now, and the kids still use it. My mom has one of the original "flavored" iMacs, and it still works fine for her.

In a couple months you won't be able to buy XP anymore. Microsoft are going to stop selling it. I imagine it won't be much longer until they stop supporting it too. And believe me, a couple hours with Visa will leave you wanting to slit your wrists. (I have to use it at work.)

Mox, you bring up a good point, but if the family doesn't already know how, teaching them would probably be too hard. I've been trying to teach both my mom and my stepmom how to use computers for about six years now. Plus you could always just bring them some eee pcs if all they're going to use it for is chatting/emailing.

True. Might be good for a more tech savvy sibling though. It really depends on his wife's situation.

[visaveteran1 33]

I agree with Mox...Macs are very competitive when you weigh what you get for the money, like built-in web cameras and all the "I" family of software...and Macs are still plug and play out of the box. Ever since Steve Jobs came back, Apple has been rocking and rolling with neat stuff, leading edge innovations and good quality.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

I agree with Mox...Macs are very competitive when you weigh what you get for the money, like built-in web cameras and all the "I" family of software...and Macs are still plug and play out of the box. Ever since Steve Jobs came back, Apple has been rocking and rolling with neat stuff, leading edge innovations and good quality.

[mox 298]

Eekee, compare prices to Dell, HP, IBM. Macs are still slightly more pricey, but they are definitely in the ballpark these days. I'm a computer programmer too, and I do agree that there's some "designer clothes" aspect to Apple products all around, but Apple also delivers a very, very good product. Of my two Mac laptops, neither one has ever had the weird problems I've had with the Dell laptops that my work used to make me carry.

I think Applecare depends a lot on the local place you bring it in to. Here's my Applecare story: My friend had a 17" Powerbook G4. He took it to France with him and it was damaged by some jerk who grabbed the screen and yanked hard. Since then the Mac would only display if it was about 1/3 open. Otherwise the screen was black. He took it in to a shop when he got back, they couldn't fix it, and sent it off to Apple. Apple determined it wasn't worth fixing, and gave him a new 17" Mac Book Pro. He didn't have to pay for shipping, or anything.

Anyway, I don't work for Apple, so I have no incentive to sell you on Mac. For some people the PC is a better choice, and maybe that is the case for you. But a lot of the reasons you mention just aren't true.

Edited March 27, 2008 by mox

[eekee 182]

Most of the pc laptops i saw also came with built-in cameras. Also, the entire ilife suite is basically programs you can download for free with less-crippled functionality. All i use of the software that came with my mac is itunes, because i have an ipod and i like getting shows from the apple store. But it's awfully buggy. It plays very few file types, which is frustrating. Apple dvd player? Vlc media player. Iphoto? i don't even understand the point of this program. Plus it doesn't come with a word processor. Etc.

In addition, i've had a lot of problems with updates. There have been two times where os x updates have rendered me unable to mount disk images and i had to do some crazy disk utility #### to fix it. They seem to not check for bugs at all before they offer updates.

As far as out of the box functionality, i always have to spend an hour changing things around to get my computer to work the way i need it to.

Mox, when i looked at pc laptops my impression was that the macbook pro was comparable, but that the regular macbook is overpriced. And the macbook air is just plain silly. There's also a lot of quality issues with the macbook with cracking of the case, discoloration, etc.

And jobs? He very well might have to leave apple again for backdating stock options, which was why he had to leave the first time.

I agree with Mox...Macs are very competitive when you weigh what you get for the money, like built-in web cameras and all the "I" family of software...and Macs are still plug and play out of the box. Ever since Steve Jobs came back, Apple has been rocking and rolling with neat stuff, leading edge innovations and good quality.

Most of the pc laptops i saw also came with built-in cameras. Also, the entire ilife suite is basically programs you can download for free with less-crippled functionality. All i use of the software that came with my mac is itunes, because i have an ipod and i like getting shows from the apple store. But it's awfully buggy. It plays very few file types, which is frustrating. Apple dvd player? Vlc media player. Iphoto? i don't even understand the point of this program. Plus it doesn't come with a word processor. Etc.

In addition, i've had a lot of problems with updates. There have been two times where os x updates have rendered me unable to mount disk images and i had to do some crazy disk utility #### to fix it. They seem to not check for bugs at all before they offer updates.

As far as out of the box functionality, i always have to spend an hour changing things around to get my computer to work the way i need it to.

Mox, when i looked at pc laptops my impression was that the macbook pro was comparable, but that the regular macbook is overpriced. And the macbook air is just plain silly. There's also a lot of quality issues with the macbook with cracking of the case, discoloration, etc.

And jobs? He very well might have to leave apple again for backdating stock options, which was why he had to leave the first time.

I agree with Mox...Macs are very competitive when you weigh what you get for the money, like built-in web cameras and all the "I" family of software...and Macs are still plug and play out of the box. Ever since Steve Jobs came back, Apple has been rocking and rolling with neat stuff, leading edge innovations and good quality.

[eekee 182]

Ugh my post got messed up... Stupid network. Sorry about that.

[visaveteran1 33]

Most of the pc laptops i saw also came with built-in cameras. Also, the entire ilife suite is basically programs you can download for free with less-crippled functionality. All i use of the software that came with my mac is itunes, because i have an ipod and i like getting shows from the apple store. But it's awfully buggy. It plays very few file types, which is frustrating. Apple dvd player? Vlc media player. Iphoto? i don't even understand the point of this program. Plus it doesn't come with a word processor. Etc.

In addition, i've had a lot of problems with updates. There have been two times where os x updates have rendered me unable to mount disk images and i had to do some crazy disk utility #### to fix it. They seem to not check for bugs at all before they offer updates.

As far as out of the box functionality, i always have to spend an hour changing things around to get my computer to work the way i need it to.

Mox, when i looked at pc laptops my impression was that the macbook pro was comparable, but that the regular macbook is overpriced. And the macbook air is just plain silly. There's also a lot of quality issues with the macbook with cracking of the case, discoloration, etc.

And jobs? He very well might have to leave apple again for backdating stock options, which was why he had to leave the first time.

I agree with Mox...Macs are very competitive when you weigh what you get for the money, like built-in web cameras and all the "I" family of software...and Macs are still plug and play out of the box. Ever since Steve Jobs came back, Apple has been rocking and rolling with neat stuff, leading edge innovations and good quality.

Most of the pc laptops i saw also came with built-in cameras. Also, the entire ilife suite is basically programs you can download for free with less-crippled functionality. All i use of the software that came with my mac is itunes, because i have an ipod and i like getting shows from the apple store. But it's awfully buggy. It plays very few file types, which is frustrating. Apple dvd player? Vlc media player. Iphoto? i don't even understand the point of this program. Plus it doesn't come with a word processor. Etc.

In addition, i've had a lot of problems with updates. There have been two times where os x updates have rendered me unable to mount disk images and i had to do some crazy disk utility #### to fix it. They seem to not check for bugs at all before they offer updates.

As far as out of the box functionality, i always have to spend an hour changing things around to get my computer to work the way i need it to.

Mox, when i looked at pc laptops my impression was that the macbook pro was comparable, but that the regular macbook is overpriced. And the macbook air is just plain silly. There's also a lot of quality issues with the macbook with cracking of the case, discoloration, etc.

And jobs? He very well might have to leave apple again for backdating stock options, which was why he had to leave the first time.

I agree with Mox...Macs are very competitive when you weigh what you get for the money, like built-in web cameras and all the "I" family of software...and Macs are still plug and play out of the box. Ever since Steve Jobs came back, Apple has been rocking and rolling with neat stuff, leading edge innovations and good quality.

No...Steve Jobs was betrayed by the man he brought into the company in the first place and forced out. His name was John Sculley and he's infamous in the history of Apple. Nothing to do with stock options. Where'd you get that one? If Steve gets in trouble, and that remains to be seen, he's still a genius and a founding father of personal computers. He's always two steps ahead of the PC guys and they end of copycatting Apple innovations. Multi-colors for computers, the IPOD, the IPHONE, etc. etc. etc.

And now that Macs use Intel chips they run Vista faster than any PCs. Beating them at their own game.

You sound like a certified mac hater so I recommend you go and find yourself a PC and maybe consider running Linux. I have owned a Mac since 1989 and love them. No added windows layer to rob power. No cheesy feeling mouse. No chronic crashes. No long delayed updates. No 3-hour set-ups for new hardware add-ons.

[Bobalouie 0]

I disagree with you mox on the competitivness of the Mac vs the PC. I can pick up an awsome Dell or HP on ebay with all the bells and whistles (integral web cam w/mic, fingerprint id, 2.0ghz processor, 250 gig HD, DVD R/W, and 3 gig ram, 17" monitor) for $1250. A similar Macbook Pro with 2.16ghz processor, 17" screen, 120gig HD, DVD R/W, 2 gig ram, is $1600. If I dump some features off the HP like HD size and a gig of RAM I can easily get that same computer for $1000. That is a difference of 60%. They just dont seem competitve to me, I looked at them after reading yours and Kazans conversation a while back about them, but I couldnt justify the price. New prices are similar.