MAC or PC

[Tiollib]

I'm looking for a new laptop for school. Need help with deciding. Getting one for christmas. Starting research early

 

[Chance]

If you want cheap and good for school... get a dell.

If you want something extremely expensive that doesn't have anything practically but design software but hardly doesn't crash that much unless you punch it constantly and run several system taxing applications at once and give commands at breakneck speed, get a mac.

(typed via a intel powered macbook that just recently had osx reinstalled due to the above description of what causes it to crash)

I'm extremely hard on computers and have been using macs for the past 5 years and am very happy with them... and I like the OS better.

Haven't played much around with vista but it seems pretty cool.

I'd get a pc unless you are planning on running it hard with design programs... otherwise mac's aren't worth it. Hardly any games for them and they are rather expensive.

In reality they are about equal depending on what you have for hardware, but macs don't have a nice cheap base model.

 

[Tiollib]

In school for a degree in geomatics. Theres going to be a lot a computer design going on in my courses. And i'm tired of fixing my windows based computers everytime they break. Im in the process of repairing it now.

 

[Capt Jay]

Mac is better. It's a lot easier to work with and more user friendly. For any type of design or writing it is hands down better. It also has the benefit of not locking up every few minuets. Vista sucks. It is an inferior operating system. That being said, this is being written on a Dell. It was cheaper and we are working in a PC world. I like Mac but you can't use any software out there and most web sites don't support Mac. My work website only allow about half the applications available on Mac.

In short Mac is better.
The world is PC.
PC is cheaper.
Mac works all the time.

That being said.............flip a coin.

 

[Chance]

In school for a degree in geomatics. Theres going to be a lot a computer design going on in my courses. And i'm tired of fixing my windows based computers everytime they break. Im in the process of repairing it now.

I'm a mac and I think you should be too in this case

I actually usually run both for website/design preview and testing. Or I just run both on the mac via bootcamp... but I don't like rebooting everytime I wanna check if something is windows compatible, but I punched my dell one too many times so I'm down to just the mac which I "baby"

 

[Ranger#1]

The world is PC.

there is a reason for that user friendly x1000000000000 mac has its strnghts in visual arts tho

 

[mud390]

Why not get a Mac and dual boot it with Windows? I agree that Mac's are far more stable and they are better for design related tasks. My PC with Vista is a pig compared to my PC running OSX (which actually has worse specs). But, dual booting you can get the best of both worlds.

Kris

 

[Jay FX4]

Are you going to need a lot of processing power? If not, let me be the first to suggest a netbook. Very small, easy to carry around school., and they're CHEAP! They come with XP and a lot of them aren't bogged down with crap. Mine runs pretty quick, even running Photoshop.

 

[Tiollib]

I use iMacs in my English class right now, but i really cant see what they can do because they are the schools. They are strictly for english use, but they have word, powerpoint, and excel. I also love the UI.

 

[Chance]

there is a reason for that user friendly x1000000000000 mac has its strnghts in visual arts tho

You haven't used many macs have ya?

It comes down to personal preference, but I really hate when people say that mac's aren't user friendly... they're about the same if not more user friendly.

 

[Psychopete]

I hate trying to compute with fruit.

It definitely would take some getting used to for me. This is how I feel when I try to use a Mac, but I've been a PC user since the late 80s:

If I were to consider dual booting a Windows OS, I would just get a PC. I have tried dual boots before and it came down to only booting into the OS that had most of my apps installed. The other just wasted space and never got used.

Pete

 

[mjonesjr]

If I were to consider dual booting a Windows OS, I would just get a PC. I have tried dual boots before and it came down to only booting into the OS that had most of my apps installed. The other just wasted space and never got used.

Pete

Exactly.

The only Apple product that I use daily is my iPhone. It seems to be more user friendly than the OSX operating system. I guess it would take some getting used to, but I don't have time nor the need (graphics, videos, etc) to learn the Mac interface.

 

[Nhaz]

Its a age old question.

If you feel like spending lots of money for nothing special except for the feeling of feeling superior to a PC user. Get a mac.

If you have a thing called a budget a brain and self respect. get a PC =>


man that sounds lots of liberals and conservatives doesn't it?

 

[Legend]

Either one is just a tool and will do pretty much the same things. To me the big factors are:

Service and support are important;
for Macs is limited and Apple will have you by the throat
for PCs wide support (some bad, some good), Dell for instance has very good support, HP has very bad support, but these things change and next year it might be the other way around - still PC service is much more available and cheaper

Price;
PCs are much cheaper - but beware because some of the really cheap ones are junk. Get a good one from a reputable dealer such as Newegg, WalMart, etc. Talk to friends about their experiences as well as this forum to pick the exact model. The particular model and options are probably more important than the brand.

Ethics;
Apple has established a well-earned reputation for screwing their customers, dealers and anyone else they can, at every opportunity.
Of course some PC manufacturers like Gateway, Compaq(HP), e-Machines, etc., have also.

Every experienced computer user/service tech/designer/vendor/buyer/ can sing the praises of some and provide horror stories about the others

 

[Chance]

Dell for instance has very good support,

Really? Dell is known for their customer support?

My old inspiron has a broken screen, knife marks, and a few bullet holes in it for a reason.

Every experienced computer user/service tech/designer/vendor/buyer/ can sing the praises of some and provide horror stories about the others

Exactly. It's basically a Ford vs Chevy argument.

You got a few idiots screaming one is better just because and how the opposite thinks it's so high and mighty, there are some who actually post useful comparisons, everyone has a personal experience story and someone always has a counter story to them. Then there are the people who have realized that each of them have their uses (most of these people use/have both) and they are basically on par with each other.

So, like jay said, flip a coin.