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Computer for Accordance


Brian K. Mitchell

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I need to have my notebook pc replaced soon and I am looking for personal advice, tips, and or stories about what type of mobile computer would be best to run Accordance and some photo/video editing. I tend to favour Notebooks with backlight keyboards, quad cores, and SSD/FlashDrives. Also, I am a long time PC user thinking of switching to Mac...What are my current opinions in the Mac world?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I have a Macbook Pro 15" that is a late 2012 model. It has 16 megs of memory and a 256 SSD. Runs Accordance and other software great. I know you have other bible software, so you may want to check their forums as well. Accordance is the least demanding of the various software products I use.

 

My wife has a MB Air, but I find the screen too small.

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I have a 13" MacBook Air with the i7 processor, 512GB SSD and 8GB of ram. It's certainly more than you need to run Accordance, but it also does quite well editing video in Adobe Premier. I normally use it connected to a 27" monitor, so the smallish screen size is not usually an issue.

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Like john, i have an old mbp 15" which i use for lightroom and adobe creative suite and use an external colour corrected monitor for serious editing. Still using one eye for calibration and external keyboard with number pad when using the big screen. would seriously put retina display in your requirements if you are serious on editing images.

 

You currently use a small screen, Work out how much time you will work on a small monitor and how much on a big and think about your current work flows and preferences and what works and what annoys you or you want to change.

 

I certainly dont regret the switch to mac from windows and we got a windows 7 laptop as a back up for my wife but she always used the mbp so the windows one has now been passed on to our daughter.

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I have switched to Mac because of Accordance and what I have to say about this topic is written in my Signature.

 

 

Edit: Wait till the Intel Skylake is included, this must be happen in November.

 

Greetings

 

Fabian

Edited by Fabian
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I, like Mark Allison, run Accordance on a 13" MacBook Air (mid-2013).  It is, more often than not, connected to a 27" monitor (Dell U2713HM with one upstream USB3 port and four downstream USB3 ports).  My Signature will show you that I maxed out everything – processor, memory, and storage.  I have been completely satisfied with it.  It is very portable.  It gets used a lot without the external monitor, too.  If it were to be "terminally" damaged or stolen, I'd buy the latest version of the MBA in a heartbeat.

 

I agree with Mark, that it's way more than I need for Accordance.  But it is also my main machine.  I typically have lots of applications open at once.  As pretty as the beach ball is, I don't like to watch it spin on my screen.  This machine does everything I need it to do.

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Far be it from me to suggest an inferior machine  ;)  but I also think that you might be happy with a windows tablet like a surface pro. Accordance on the Surface 3,  Review of the Toshiba Encore 2 Write 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are ones Rick Mansfield have looked at. If i was in the market for a new laptop I would not hesitate to look at either the Air or the new MacBook (I am told even though the MB seems to have lower specs it;s performance is really quite impressive, I am not sure how I feel about only a USBc though).

 

 

 

-Dan

PS: make sure you get all the memory and HD you want on the MB or Air models since you are more or less stuck with what you buy.

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I started out on a Commodore VIC-20 and ended up with a home full of Apple products.  Windows 2.1 was interesting, but the seemingly eons of Microsoft operating system fussiness, blue screens, and whatnot got me dinkying around with Linux and Unix.  I love that, but it was all cobbled together, seemingly, although that has improved vastly.  I decided to get a Mac because I had an 8 year spin in the IT world and it made me almost physically ill to use a PC at home.  My latest PC is a ThinkPad T61p, which, I might add, runs Accordance for Windows rather well. My disdain for Windows was coupled with an infuriatingly frustrating foray with another Bible software, which I shall not mention, but it's name rhymes with Logos.  Windows eh mixed with Logos bah left me wanting something better, MUCH better.

 

I picked up a brand new special order late 2011 17" Matte screen MacBook Pro with all the bells and whistles. SSD (now has two), and have it connected to a real nice large monitor at my spiffy desk.  Most of my work takes place on my backup La-Z-Boy in the living room (the La-Z-Boy in the den has the heat and vibration) on a few month old MacBook Air that was purchased fit with all the latest whiz-bang goodness.  I had purchased a BestBuy MacBook Air for my better half earlier on (she just does the banking and an occasional online purchase) and i was impressed with the size and lightness of it.  I was concerned about the screen size, as I have been saddled with old school glass trifocals for years, but it turned out to be quite a good thing.  It's as light as a feather, and best of all, it runs OS X.  I've done the Amiga, 10Mz Turbo XT clones; you name it.  The pointy-click interface is second to none.  It has yet to hit the wall even once here on 3 machines, and if you are a power user like me, you can terminal up and command line interface it to your heart's content.

 

Accordance dances on this operating system.  I love my Accordance and I love my Macs.  You just might as well.

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I have used Macs for many years (since 97) both personally and in a corporate workplace. I had first started off using Windows 3.11 and then Win95 but because my church was fully staffed with Macs, eventually I changed and was happy with the change to Apple machines.

 

I switched back to Windows for compatibility reasons with others on the mission field in 2001, but hated what was then the Windows operating system (Millennium and Win2000). Moved to Mac again a few years later but in recent times (the last 4+ years) have not been quite as happy with Apple as I was in the past.

 

I'm one (of perhaps a rare bunch, not sure) that has had my share of hardware problems and other software glitches with Macs. Just because they are Macs doesn't mean they are bulletproof. Every Mac I ever owned, from MBP to iMac to MB Air, have had OS glitches, screens of death, occasional bugs and more importantly, a lot of hardware failures and inconsistencies, including failed modems, bad WiFI cards, poor batteries, failed hard drives, fried motherboards, power supply problems and most recently buggy behavior with iOS and even OSX.

 

My dear friend has unfortunately had a bad run with Mac like me also. I got to the point where I gave up and decided I was not going to convince myself that my next Mac would be flawless and worth the 50-100% price jump over a decent Windows machine. So, I went with a mid-level 2-in-1 Windows 10 laptop at a 3rd of the price (open box) of my last MBP and have been very happy with it.

 

Personally, I like where Microsoft is going right now and I'm happy to have switched. We still have a Mac in the house (I gave my wife my MB Air) and I have a company-provided iMac at my office. I still like Macs but wont be buying one any time soon. I'm quite pleased with my new Windows laptop which has been performing very well. I also was very happy with my Surface Pro that gave me a lot of good use but was a little too small. 

 

Get what you like, but just know that Macs do fail too.

Edited by Mark Nigro
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I've generally been very happy with my Mac laptops—and I've owned one since the original PowerBook 100. They seem to be more reliable and last longer than their equivalents in the PC world. My only real complaint is that I keep having to replace my power cords. Apple can't seem to make one that doesn't fray and crack. Otherwise, I can count on my laptops to be reliable for about three years. I spend 8-10 hours a day on them, which is pretty heavy use, so I am well-satisfied with the value I get from them. I ALWAYS buy AppleCare, though, so I am completely covered for my intended three years of service.

 

Drops and heat seem to be the biggest culprits to length of service. The laptops aren't as fragile as they once were, but do take care not to drop them. As to heat, buying an SSD not only makes them faster, but they run much cooler.

 

I am writing this post on an early 2011 17" MBP. I have upgraded the HD several times since then. Currently I am running a 480 GB OWC Mercury EXTREME Pro 6G SSD in the HD bay and have replaced the optical drive with a DataDoubler and a 1.5 TB HGST HD. However, this laptop is starting to show its age and I expect it to fail in the next year or so. When it does, I'll miss the 17" display, which is no longer available.

 

I have recently decided to change my workflow. I bought a 27" 5k iMac for my podcast work. When this laptop dies, I expect I'll replace it with something much smaller, lighter, and more portable.

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Hey Tim,

 

  That's interesting. What happens when it hits 3 years, normally ? What's the normal failure mode ?

  I don't (and never have) own a Mac laptop so I'm curious.

 

Thx

D

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Like Tim, I always purchase AppleCare as well. When my laptop is about 2.5 years old, I usually sell it on Ebay and purchase a new one. Apple laptops always retain much of their value, and buyers are willing to pay more when they know it's still under warranty. 

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My husband and I both have Mac laptops and desktops – we're kinda into tech.  We've owned an Apple computer since the 80s.  Our first was purchased used.  We bought a new IIe in '85.  It's in the basement and still boots.  We've yet to have an Apple computer, iPod, iPhone, or iPad fail.  We do take care of our stuff.  And I never unplug the power cord from my laptop by pulling the cord.

 

These things are machines.  Any machine can fail.  But our experience has been so positive that we never buy AppleCare on a computer or iPad.  We always buy it on iPhones in case of damage.  And we bought it for our watches.  In all our years of owning Apple products, the only hardware failure was a HD on a Wallstreet PowerBook that we had purchased used off eBay.  Easily fixed at home.

 

Our personal experience with hardware reliability is one of the reasons why we continue to buy Macs.  We also like the OS.  Not perfect.  Glitches are to be expected with computers and OSes.  And I like the Apple ecosystem.  All my stuff gets along very nicely.  

 

I absolutely hated the PCs we owned.  My husband bought two while he was still working at Eastman to make it easier for him to bring work home.  I felt like we needed to call in an exorcist.  Every time he asked me to go in there and find something he needed and email it to him at work I felt like I had been dropped behind enemy lines in a country whose inhabitants spoke some obscure language.  Our PC experience was not positive.  It was mostly the OS, not the hardware.  Maybe our brains are just wired wrong. I'd like to save the money, but I just don't want the grief.  Perhaps it's better now.  If I were unhappy with my Macs, I'd consider it, but I'm happy with my Macs.

 

I know that there are a bunch of you who love your PCs and don't have any problems with the MS OS.  That's great.  If a person is happy with the machine and OS he has, there is no reason to switch from one platform to another.  If dissatisfied, maybe it's time to look at a competitor.  Unless one is really strapped for cash, if you decide you don't like what you have, there's always eBay.  We have sold used Macs successfully on eBay for a decent price.  But we usually don't upgrade until the machine is 4-6 years old.  

 

 

 

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Actually, I tend to wear out laptops pretty consistently. Usually, the HD goes first. Then it goes again. Current backups are a must, the reason I have two HDs in my current laptop. I am hopeful I will see more durability in the new SSDs.

 

I've already mentioned the issue with the power adapters and their cords.

 

Finally, there is the video board (which is going on this laptop) and the motherboard. Basically, if the latter goes and one doesn't have AppleCare, one might as well buy a new computer. I'm not sure about the video board, but I suspect I am going to find out soon.

 

Still, this has been a faithful machine, day in and day out, for the past four years. I've pushed it hard, but it has served me well.

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In nottingham we have a brilliant independant apple repairer set up by some ex university students and called 'illpod'.

 

;o)

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Firstly, I'd like to apologize for my delay in replying back to this thread.

 

Secondly, I'd would like to thank everyone for their adivce and anecdotes; I found them to be very helpful! :D

 

Thank you John Fidel for being the first to reply and it's good to see you again. Thank you Mark Allison, ukfraser, Fabian, Micheal Miles,  

and Julie Falling. Thank you Timothy Jenney for you sharing you experiance with working with Macs.

 

Thank you Dan Francis, Mark Nigro for you advice, too. I think you are right in that IBM clones/Windows Pc's tend to be be much cheaper than Macs with the same specs, this is one reason why I have usually continued to buy Window's Machines and why they are still very tempting 

 

I liked Windows Xp and 7 a lot, but Windows 8 and 8.1 have not been very pleasent experiances. I know Windows 10 is out, but I am a little afraid to try it because of WIndows 8. Here is an example of one issue I had: the notebook computer I have been using had a special GPU and it's driver work okay with windows 7, but no driver for it has ever released for  windows 8/8.1 with caused my computer to run both GPU at the same time and over heat all of the time. I hope windows 10 is better, but because apple make both the hardware and the software for their computers I think they might be safer. The only issue is that there aren't any Apple repair or stores in the city I live in.

 

I am also very curious about Daniel Semler's question, too.

(If I have omited anyone it is by acciendent/oversight only.)

 

Thridly, I know that with MBP one can switch out their harddrive/SSD drive in case of hardware failure, but I wonder about the longevity of the Macbook Air's on board flash storage. I would imagine that having flash storage on the mother board would make for faster seek and write times, but I happen to run into troubles with flash storage on an MBA would I be able to use apple care replace or change out the flash storage? 

 

 

 

Edited by bkMitchell
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Applecare guarantees all the hardware on your computer, including the flash storage for the duration of the applecare coverage (1yr default, 3yrs optional).

 

Tim, I'm impressed that you wear out your mbp's so quickly. My first mbp had some failures during the my applecare coverage and they ended up replacing the HDD within a year and the motherboard during the third year. After the repairs, I continued to use the computer full time (for seminary, working full-time from home, and most lately in a PhD program). At one point I put in a 512 SSD and continued to use it until last December when I finally replaced it. This mbp was a mid-2009... it was 5.5yrs old when I stopped using it. I have since removed the DVD drive like you and put in an old HDD, installed OS X Server on it and it is now functioning as a file server, wireless backup for my wife's mbp, as well as a media hub for my music and movies. I replaced it in Dec because it became too slow for my daily work (entirely because of upgrading to Yosemite, btw). It's now 6 years old and I'm REALLY curious to see how long it will last in its new role. I guess I don't do anything nearly as intensive as you do!

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Actually, I tend to wear out laptops pretty consistently. Usually, the HD goes first. Then it goes again. Current backups are a must, the reason I have two HDs in my current laptop. I am hopeful I will see more durability in the new SSDs.

 

I've already mentioned the issue with the power adapters and their cords.

 

Finally, there is the video board (which is going on this laptop) and the motherboard. Basically, if the latter goes and one doesn't have AppleCare, one might as well buy a new computer. I'm not sure about the video board, but I suspect I am going to find out soon.

 

Still, this has been a faithful machine, day in and day out, for the past four years. I've pushed it hard, but it has served me well.

 

Wild ! If you ever want a break from bible s/w there's probably a job in QA at Apple :)

 

I normally find that machines just get overwhelmed by increasing software demands, ultimately incompatibility with the latest OS. I'm still running an old Dell Optiplex with Ubuntu on it. Windows 7 just wasn't gonna fly so I re-purposed it and built a new Windows box.

 

Thx

D

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Well, everyone, remember that drops and heat are the two factors that wear on motherboards. I try hard not to do the first. The second is harder to eliminate.

 

When I record or process video, the HD spins like crazy, generating a lot of heat. That's particularly true of those that spin at 7200 RPM, which used to be the recommended speed for video. The new SSDs are even faster than the 7200s—and they generate almost no heat (and no noise!). I'm really curious if this will mean a longer life for my motherboard.

 

Unfortunately, I seem to have one of the bad video boards Apple had trouble with in early 2011. It fails intermittently, so I keep working on this laptop. I'd get it repaired, but my serial number doesn't qualify—and I use it too much to let it go easily.

 

I did buy a 5k iMac recently for video. Unfortunately, I was not able to afford the SSD version, so wound up with the fusion drive. We'll see how it works.

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Dr J - I've got a fusion drive in a Mac mini.  My mini is high-end for a mini, but it's low-end compared to desktops in general and certainly a lot less machine than your new iMac.  

 

I've been very satisfied with the fusion drive.  The fan does come on occasionally, but there doesn't seem to be a heat problem.  The fan is not loud.  (Of course, it's predecessor was a G5.  It doubled as a space heater.  And noisy?  When there was the occasional kernel panic, it sounded like a jet engine.  So compared to that, the mini whispers.)

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  • 2 months later...

Well, everyone, remember that drops and heat are the two factors that wear on motherboards. I try hard not to do the first. The second is harder to eliminate.

 

When I record or process video, the HD spins like crazy, generating a lot of heat. That's particularly true of those that spin at 7200 RPM, which used to be the recommended speed for video. The new SSDs are even faster than the 7200s—and they generate almost no heat (and no noise!). I'm really curious if this will mean a longer life for my motherboard.

 

Unfortunately, I seem to have one of the bad video boards Apple had trouble with in early 2011. It fails intermittently, so I keep working on this laptop. I'd get it repaired, but my serial number doesn't qualify—and I use it too much to let it go easily.

 

I did buy a 5k iMac recently for video. Unfortunately, I was not able to afford the SSD version, so wound up with the fusion drive. We'll see how it works.

I hope that nobody is bothered that I grabbed this thread to pose some questions.  My apologies if I'm stepping on anyone's feet.

 

Yesterday my wife indicated that I should look at a PC laptop to run another high-quality Bible study software that is geared to Windows.  That software is BibleWorks.  After some discussion, we both decided that a purchase of hardware that was limited to running Windows (not my favorite, as I prefer UNIXy stuff) was probably a bad move since I can't fall back to OS X in case Windows 10 is not the neat-o thing that folks are making it out to be.  We are looking at either the current 15" MBP or an iMac.  We have a very nice large desk with an awesome leather chair that we could park the iMac on, but about 25 feet behind this desk we have a large window with shutters and I'm a bit concerned that the screen on the iMac might prove to be somewhat irritating with the backlighting.  What has been your experience with your iMac?  I am planning on obtaining a Windows 10 license and using Bootcamp for BibleWorks (Accordance for Windows and MS Office 2016 too), as well as maintaining my OS X partition.

 

For the MBP, I was looking at the 512GB SSD and partitioning it in half for each OS.  Not sure about what I'd do with an iMac yet, but something similar.  I'm pretty curious about your opinion of your iMac vs the MBP that I'm looking at.  I have a nice matte screen large display that I can easily use with the MBP that works in landscape or portrait mode.

 

Thank you,

Michael

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We are looking at either the current 15" MBP or an iMac.  We have a very nice large desk with an awesome leather chair that we could park the iMac on, but about 25 feet behind this desk we have a large window with shutters and I'm a bit concerned that the screen on the iMac might prove to be somewhat irritating with the backlighting.  What has been your experience with your iMac?  I am planning on obtaining a Windows 10 license and using Bootcamp for BibleWorks (Accordance for Windows and MS Office 2016 too), as well as maintaining my OS X partition.

 

For the MBP, I was looking at the 512GB SSD and partitioning it in half for each OS.  Not sure about what I'd do with an iMac yet, but something similar.  I'm pretty curious about your opinion of your iMac vs the MBP that I'm looking at. 

I would also get an other Mac rather than an Windows machine.

 

I can't speak about backlighting much, although I'm often in a room using my 2011 MBP. If the sun is coming in directly, I have to shut the curtains. But that's to be expected.

 

What I would offer as a suggestion is using www.virtualbox.org's free software + a Windows 7 or 10 license rather than using the Bootcamp partition. I don't think you can have the Mac side running and Bootcamp at the same time. I run Windows in VirtualBox almost 24/7 on my MBP. It's got 16GB of RAM and now I have a 960GB SSD. I switch between worlds with ease and copy paste between one side and the other all the time. 

 

Just my thoughts.

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We are looking at either the current 15" MBP or an iMac.  We have a very nice large desk with an awesome leather chair that we could park the iMac on, but about 25 feet behind this desk we have a large window with shutters and I'm a bit concerned that the screen on the iMac might prove to be somewhat irritating with the backlighting.  What has been your experience with your iMac?  I am planning on obtaining a Windows 10 license and using Bootcamp for BibleWorks (Accordance for Windows and MS Office 2016 too), as well as maintaining my OS X partition.

 

For the MBP, I was looking at the 512GB SSD and partitioning it in half for each OS.  Not sure about what I'd do with an iMac yet, but something similar.  I'm pretty curious about your opinion of your iMac vs the MBP that I'm looking at. 

I would also get an other Mac rather than an Windows machine.

 

I can't speak about backlighting much, although I'm often in a room using my 2011 MBP. If the sun is coming in directly, I have to shut the curtains. But that's to be expected.

 

What I would offer as a suggestion is using www.virtualbox.org's free software + a Windows 7 or 10 license rather than using the Bootcamp partition. I don't think you can have the Mac side running and Bootcamp at the same time. I run Windows in VirtualBox almost 24/7 on my MBP. It's got 16GB of RAM and now I have a 960GB SSD. I switch between worlds with ease and copy paste between one side and the other all the time. 

 

Just my thoughts.

I was setting up VirtualBox on the 2011 17" MBP here when my wife indicated that she would rather that I just get a new computer and dual boot it.  I have a Windows 7 license tied to VB already that I could upgrade for free to Win 10.  Your thoughts parallel mine, but she does a great job of keeping our ducks in a row and I respect her thoughts.  If she wants me to get a new computer...  :)

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Well, seeing as all other platforms are "beleaguered" and on "death watch" you should just buy a Mac.

 

(For the uninitiated, that's what people were saying about Apple for years)

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Well, seeing as all other platforms are "beleaguered" and on "death watch" you should just buy a Mac.

 

(For the uninitiated, that's what people were saying about Apple for years)

I thought that this was the year of the Linux Desktop.  Wait, that was last year, wasn't it?   :)

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