the age old debate. My laptop's motherboard blew today so I am in the market. Is Mac quality better? I am getting tired of buying a new pc every other year. Is windows 7 the be all end all of OS? Any help is appreciated. Thanks
Mac vs. PC
- Thread starter Storer50
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I was really tired of virus' and spending money on them so when my pc blew up to mac I went. Havent ever used a better machine. I am not worried about virus' anymore and the speed is great. For the price my mac was the pc's were not as good imho. A few weeks ago I used my aunts pc and well I hated it. For christmas my mom got a brand new laptop with windows 7 It froze the first time she turned it on. If she leaves it on for 2 days its very slow. My mac has been on for 2 months and no slow downs. Never again will I pc. Never. Ymmv
I recently purchased a new laptop PC with Windows 7. I really wanted a Mac for the aesthetics and promise of problem-free computing, but could not justify double the price ($6-700 for a PC versus $1-1.5k for comparable Mac). Furthermore, I really didn't have too many problems with my old Windows XP machine although it did get bogged down with extraneous software including anti-spy/virus. A clean install solved that problem although it is a hassle.
I have been perfectly happy with Windows 7 and do not regret my choice. If I owned my own business and used it for work and could do whatever I want, I would probably go with Mac. But I use it only occasionally at home to manage pictures and music and surf the web; plus I use PCs at work, so I am familiar etc.
I have been perfectly happy with Windows 7 and do not regret my choice. If I owned my own business and used it for work and could do whatever I want, I would probably go with Mac. But I use it only occasionally at home to manage pictures and music and surf the web; plus I use PCs at work, so I am familiar etc.
buy a windows based laptop and put linux on it!!!
currently using ubuntu 9.10 "karmic koala"
currently using ubuntu 9.10 "karmic koala"
I have 2 macs, a Mac Pro desk top and a MacBook laptop. I've had both for about 2 years, and I had an Ibook for a few years before. I will never go back to PC, I like it when things are easy and just work. I also like how they are set up to work with image editing and the "life style" fetures factor in for me as well. (like streaming airtunes from my macpro all over my studio, mobile me syncing to my iphone).
I've never had a virus, I've had maybe 3 problems that I didn't know how to fix just by useing search or thinking: "i would put the button that does this right here". I think I've actuly called tec support once in 6 years, and that was to get a DVD drive replaced, which they did for free (appel care).
I've never had a virus, I've had maybe 3 problems that I didn't know how to fix just by useing search or thinking: "i would put the button that does this right here". I think I've actuly called tec support once in 6 years, and that was to get a DVD drive replaced, which they did for free (appel care).
The computer equivalent of YMMV.
Is Mac quality better? Better than what or who would be my answer to that. They have high quality. I can do everythingon my Mac that I could on a PC. It's a different experience for me. I like the interface of OS X. I think the networking options in OS X are easier to use. Really depends on what you are doing. I am not going to say it's just for the art/graphics users. I can do CAD, engineering problems, simulations, whatever it is just as well on a Mac as I could a PC. The components in Macs are Intel based, so it's similar to their PC counter parts. Will you have less problems? I am not sure how to answer that for you without knowing what you do.
I have blown out mac laptops just as well as a windows based laptop. So depending on how your laptop's motherboard blew out and knowing the manufacturer of that laptop it's hard to say. But I wouldn't buy a Mac if you think are going to have less problems without first thinking about what you use the computer for. To do so would be buying into an idea while being misinformed. Throw the Mac marketing into the trash and look at specs.
Personally I enjoy using my mac laptop. I haven't had any problems with it. The ones I support at work have taken their knocks from travelling and such, but we have an authorized apple repair shop in town so getting service work done has been easy and painless. Buying a Mac may not necessarily keep you from buying a PC ever other year. Kind of like saying you are tired of buying shaving products heh. Upgrades will happen. OS requirements will change. Like shaving, use it until the soap bowl is empty or the tube is all rolled up.
Is Windows 7 the be all end all of OS? it's not bad They can do better. But it is head and shoulder above anything that abomination they called Vista to be. 7 is a reasonably clean interface. Responds better than Vista ever dreamed it could. Hardware support for it is good and out of the box the experience is pretty friendly. Depending on the manufacturer of the laptop or whatever you choose to get that experience maybe better or worse with the crap they will put on it.
that is probably more than you wanted to hear from me heh. I don't know your experience with computers or hardware, so this is sort of general and I hope I didn't offend with any inferences I made.
Is Mac quality better? Better than what or who would be my answer to that. They have high quality. I can do everythingon my Mac that I could on a PC. It's a different experience for me. I like the interface of OS X. I think the networking options in OS X are easier to use. Really depends on what you are doing. I am not going to say it's just for the art/graphics users. I can do CAD, engineering problems, simulations, whatever it is just as well on a Mac as I could a PC. The components in Macs are Intel based, so it's similar to their PC counter parts. Will you have less problems? I am not sure how to answer that for you without knowing what you do.
I have blown out mac laptops just as well as a windows based laptop. So depending on how your laptop's motherboard blew out and knowing the manufacturer of that laptop it's hard to say. But I wouldn't buy a Mac if you think are going to have less problems without first thinking about what you use the computer for. To do so would be buying into an idea while being misinformed. Throw the Mac marketing into the trash and look at specs.
Personally I enjoy using my mac laptop. I haven't had any problems with it. The ones I support at work have taken their knocks from travelling and such, but we have an authorized apple repair shop in town so getting service work done has been easy and painless. Buying a Mac may not necessarily keep you from buying a PC ever other year. Kind of like saying you are tired of buying shaving products heh. Upgrades will happen. OS requirements will change. Like shaving, use it until the soap bowl is empty or the tube is all rolled up.
Is Windows 7 the be all end all of OS? it's not bad They can do better. But it is head and shoulder above anything that abomination they called Vista to be. 7 is a reasonably clean interface. Responds better than Vista ever dreamed it could. Hardware support for it is good and out of the box the experience is pretty friendly. Depending on the manufacturer of the laptop or whatever you choose to get that experience maybe better or worse with the crap they will put on it.
that is probably more than you wanted to hear from me heh. I don't know your experience with computers or hardware, so this is sort of general and I hope I didn't offend with any inferences I made.
I made the switch to a Macbook from a desktop PC in December. The initial switch was a little frustrating but now being familiar with both Windows and OS X I prefer using my Macbook.
The mac also runs smoother and faster then my PC even though based on hardware my PC should be faster.
If you're interested in playing video games stay away from Macs.
If you're buying online, check out apple.com's refurbished computers. My mac is refurbished and my girlfriend has owned a refurbished mac for 3 years with out any problems. So if your a poor university student like me the savings on a refurbished computer may be worth it.
The mac also runs smoother and faster then my PC even though based on hardware my PC should be faster.
If you're interested in playing video games stay away from Macs.
If you're buying online, check out apple.com's refurbished computers. My mac is refurbished and my girlfriend has owned a refurbished mac for 3 years with out any problems. So if your a poor university student like me the savings on a refurbished computer may be worth it.
Plenty of good games for Mac. Steam is going to be released for it along with their game library in April. I wouldn't let lack of games be too much of a factor. Using Crossover for Mac also alleviates some of that hassle as well. Runs reasonably well: http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxgames/
I am still running a 5 year old mac laptop at home and have a mac mini at work. I am a firm believer that the slight increase in cost is more than worth it for the significantly better operating system. I also think that apple tends to use higher quality components than most of the major PC manufacturers. Home builders certainly can go better and macs are by no means immune to hardware failures, but I think most of the time if you compare a dell or an HP to a mac with comparable specs the internal components on the mac will be slightly better quality.
I've installed Windows 7 on about a dozen computers ranging from 7 years old to brand new, desktops and laptops and haven't had any troubles with it ever. I'd say it's Microsoft's best effort to date.
Macs have great build quality, but also if you spend the same on a PC you'll get the build quality and more performance per $.
OSX is a nice operating system, I'd recommend it to people who didn't want (or can't handle) the hassles of Windows, or someone who wanted the power of Unix in a nice pretty wrapper.
If you ever want to play any new games, go for a Windows pc.
If you can't protect yourself from viruses buy a mac.
If you like to tinker and/or value openness give Linux a shot, it runs on both macs and pcs.
I'm a Linux guy myself, but more or less OS agnostic, I use as many foss and cross platform programs as possible so that no matter what OS I'm using I can use my favorite programs.
Macs have great build quality, but also if you spend the same on a PC you'll get the build quality and more performance per $.
OSX is a nice operating system, I'd recommend it to people who didn't want (or can't handle) the hassles of Windows, or someone who wanted the power of Unix in a nice pretty wrapper.
If you ever want to play any new games, go for a Windows pc.
If you can't protect yourself from viruses buy a mac.
If you like to tinker and/or value openness give Linux a shot, it runs on both macs and pcs.
I'm a Linux guy myself, but more or less OS agnostic, I use as many foss and cross platform programs as possible so that no matter what OS I'm using I can use my favorite programs.
I have an iMac at home that's about five years old and running fine. My wife is using my older Powerbook--maybe 7 years old--and it works great. We have a ten year old iMac that my daughter keeps alive in her room as a DVD/CD player and uses it to check her email. In my closet is a Mac laptop that I bought in 1995. Still works, but it doesn't really communicate with anything--I guess I could write my secret memoirs with it. We have two other newish MacBooks (under two years) that are our go-to computers. I've had very few problems with them, and nothing that wasn't taken care of under Mac's AppleCare service plan. We travel with them and I sometimes use mine in difficult places and they are always reliable. I wish they made a Netbook type Mac (maybe I'll buy a Hackintosh), but otherwise I'm a loyal customer.
Either way, with memory being so cheap, you can install virtual machines and run whatever operating system you want on whatever box.
Go to the store and fondle. When you have some models that interest you, I recommend searching online with the model number to see if it's got any consistent problems like insufficient cooling resulting in 1 year lifespan.
Here's a site for reviews.
http://www.notebookreview.com/
I have Thinkpad T61p and I love it. Good Luck!
Go to the store and fondle. When you have some models that interest you, I recommend searching online with the model number to see if it's got any consistent problems like insufficient cooling resulting in 1 year lifespan.
Here's a site for reviews.
http://www.notebookreview.com/
I have Thinkpad T61p and I love it. Good Luck!
Dedicated Mac user here. Had one hard drive go in six years which isn't too bad. Getting a new Macbook pro in the next month or so (whenever they decide to release the next model). Never once had a problem with the operating system, and in terms of styling, Mac seems light years ahead of anybody else. My G4 PowerBook from 2004 still looks more modern than all my coworkers' new PC laptops! 
I use both Mac and PC. I have a Macbook Pro with Snow Leopard, OSX, and Windows 7 Ultimate, installed in a Boot Camp partition. Hardware wise is has a Core 2 Duo, uses DDR2, and has an Nvidia GPU, basically the same config as one can purchase from any PC laptop vendor. Now as far as build quality of the case and materials used. I would have to say go with Mac, I have never owned a laptop as well built as my Mac.
As for desktops, I do the opposite. I built the best PC I could for the money, Core i7, 12GB ddr3, Ati 4850 GPU. I installed Windows 7 on this machine, but I do have OSX installed on a second drive. So, I can use either OS on each machine. As far as programs, I use pretty much the same programs on each platform. But if there is something I can't get on one I can always boot to the other OS if I have to.
Also, if you are considering a Macbook Pro wait a bit. The Core i7, i5 CPU based machines should be out really soon.
As for desktops, I do the opposite. I built the best PC I could for the money, Core i7, 12GB ddr3, Ati 4850 GPU. I installed Windows 7 on this machine, but I do have OSX installed on a second drive. So, I can use either OS on each machine. As far as programs, I use pretty much the same programs on each platform. But if there is something I can't get on one I can always boot to the other OS if I have to.
Also, if you are considering a Macbook Pro wait a bit. The Core i7, i5 CPU based machines should be out really soon.
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Just built a new machine for the first time in 5+ years (was weening myself off of software dev the last few years), and I'm amazed at the hardware advances since my absence (especially with the new SSDs). On the software side, I have a dual boot setup with Ubuntu (primary computing) and Win7 (for some contract work). Generally, I'm not a fan of dual booting since it demarcates my disk space rather permanently (NTFS and ext4 partitions). Since I have the horsepower, I may switch to using Ubuntu with VMs for other OSes...
This is the best advice I've ever seen on the Mac Vs. PC debate.
In the end, what you want to maximize is bang/$, but for that you have to do some thinking and define what "bang" actually means.
For example, Macs are more expensive, and with that extra cost you get some extra build quality (although for the past several years they've been using roughly the same components from the same source as most PCs, so in the end what matters is their warranty coverage, and how they own up to that warranty contract), and a very stable operating system which translates to your user experience.
On the other hand, Macs are susceptible to virii and security problems, so be sure not to take that "don't have to worry about getting a virus with a mac" philosophy whole-heartedly. No security is perfect, and anybody who claims his is is a liar (I'm looking at you, Apple
).With a PC, you could either get a much cheaper machine with roughly comparable specifications, and the build quality and manufacturers` owning up to their warranties are much more of a hit-and-miss than with macs.
Alternatively, for a higher price you could get a higher end PC from one of the more honourable* manufacturers (e.g. not HP or Sony), with stronger hardware than in a Mac, and potentially just as good a build quality. This will, however, involve either running Windows (and I think Win 7 is very good in terms of stability, user interface and resource management), or Linux, and having to deal with some setup that is normally eliminated in a Mac, because Macs have a very uniform hardware among models that allows simpler operating system design and hardware support.
Personally I usually go with the higher-end PC option, because I like having the better specs, enjoy the tweaking, use multiple operating systems anyway, and in the end the only thing that matters to me is that (1) the machine perform as well as I need it to and (2) in case something happens, the manufacturer actually own up to the problem and their warranty contract and not force me to take them to court to replace a motherboard or something stupid like that (and that, by the way, is why I gave HP and Sony as examples of manufacturers to avoid. Their products aren't the worst, but they never own up to expensive problems unless they're getting sued, on the presumption that most people will just give up and buy a new machine).
I'm also not a fan of OSX, so paying more for just the Mac hardware so I could put a different operating system on it would be kind of silly in my case.
In the end you have to look at your needs, your wants, and your available resources.
A computer is just like a car in that regard. They all have 4 wheels, an engine and a steering wheel, and most of them will get you from point A to B very reliably. The differences are in the comfort, the seating, the extra (and extra special) features, and the luxury or novelty of owning one type or another.
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* The point about honourable manufacturers is not the number of problems that arise with their products, nor their sources, but rather how they deal with these problems and how they own up to errors in marketing, design, repair, and even unpredictable hardware flaws and incompatibilities that arise in their products. The bottom line is, do their service and behaviour reflect the fact that you are not a one-time customer, but rather a valued long-term consumer of their products and services, and well-worth keeping happy and content?
My first Mac was a Mac SE, First PC was 286. I've had a few problems with both over the past 25 years, but then I build my own PCs. I think you get more bang for your buck with a PC, but Macs are a touch simpler to use. There are a couple of things that drive me crazy about Win 7, but there are a couple of things that drive me nuts with Snow Leopard as well. Win7 is just as stable as OSX. Mac has way better marketing hype, tho.
Flip a coin, you can't go wrong.
I do think an argument can be made for going with a Mac if you are looking for a laptop, tho.
Flip a coin, you can't go wrong.
I do think an argument can be made for going with a Mac if you are looking for a laptop, tho.
Disclaimer: I work for Microsoft.
That said, YMMV. Two years ago, when I bought my Macbook Pro, I still believe that it was the best machine out there to run Vista (May 08 time frame). Today, I'm not so solidly sold. PC manufacturers have had to step up their game to compete with Apple. MS has as well.
I'm still torn on what I want to buy when I upgrade soon. On one hand, there are things like the i7 Macbook series that seem interesting. On the other hand, something like a Lenovo with i7, multitouch and better Windows driver support is really tempting too.
I believe that a base Mac is honestly equivalent to a equally built PC, but you have to take into account things like the backlit keyboard, optical audio, and multitouch trackpads. Most places out there that try to compare the two only pay attention to things like Hard drive, processor, etc. If you don't care about some of the extra features, PC's are cheaper, and Windows 7 is a great system. But if you want all of the mixings that Mac gives (iLife and such), or if you want a UNIX system, or if you want fewer choices (not meant in a bad way), Mac is probably better.
faster_for_u: What kind of system did your aunt get? My guess is it was one of the pre-configured or "optimized" systems that give all PCs a bad name. I've had just as many hangs as my wife's Macbook has since release, and I go for weeks without reboot.
That said, YMMV. Two years ago, when I bought my Macbook Pro, I still believe that it was the best machine out there to run Vista (May 08 time frame). Today, I'm not so solidly sold. PC manufacturers have had to step up their game to compete with Apple. MS has as well.
I'm still torn on what I want to buy when I upgrade soon. On one hand, there are things like the i7 Macbook series that seem interesting. On the other hand, something like a Lenovo with i7, multitouch and better Windows driver support is really tempting too.
I believe that a base Mac is honestly equivalent to a equally built PC, but you have to take into account things like the backlit keyboard, optical audio, and multitouch trackpads. Most places out there that try to compare the two only pay attention to things like Hard drive, processor, etc. If you don't care about some of the extra features, PC's are cheaper, and Windows 7 is a great system. But if you want all of the mixings that Mac gives (iLife and such), or if you want a UNIX system, or if you want fewer choices (not meant in a bad way), Mac is probably better.
faster_for_u: What kind of system did your aunt get? My guess is it was one of the pre-configured or "optimized" systems that give all PCs a bad name. I've had just as many hangs as my wife's Macbook has since release, and I go for weeks without reboot.
You know the saying Mac fanboys will sometimes tell you? "Once you go Mac, you will not go back". I used to think that was just a load of hoopla, but after making the switch I will never go back.
I have had terrible luck with Windows. Mac has given me no problems. The only reason I still have a PC is because I need Excel for school and I cannot stand the version for Mac.
EDIT: About Windows...Check the new features that MS always puts out. Maybe it is just me, but it always seems like MS is trying to play catchup to Apple.
I have had terrible luck with Windows. Mac has given me no problems. The only reason I still have a PC is because I need Excel for school and I cannot stand the version for Mac.
EDIT: About Windows...Check the new features that MS always puts out. Maybe it is just me, but it always seems like MS is trying to play catchup to Apple.
