Switching To Mac?

[Zerodynamic]

Yeah... I'm a traitor. I've been thinking about going over to a Mac for a while. The simplicity is very appealing.... also the viruses... (or lack thereof on macs.)

For those that own a Mac, can you tell me what you like about it over a pc?

For those the own a mac and a pc, what are the major differences? Which do you prefer?

And for you hardcore PC people, tell me why I should buy a new PC over a Mac.


TIA, smoke well. Edited April 10, 2007 by Zerodynamic

[joetuo]

It really depends on what you want to do with your computer. Also you have to think about the limitations of software that you will run into. Most large name software will be able to run on a Mac but not all, also there are way less games, so if your a gamer that might be a big turn off.

If you really want a mac go for it, you can always get boot camp and use it as a win XP box, if you find that you don't like OS X and whatever else mac has to offer.

[The King]

Yeah, depends what you are doing. Big time games should run on it, but a lot of software won't, if you do any sort of scripting it won't be the same.

If you just do basic things then all you have to think about is price.. pc's are a lot cheaper for the same stats, just MAC OS is better

[OPR234]

I use a mac because I grew up with it and I'm way more familiar with it. Some things I like about it over PCs are that its a lot less finicky about drivers for peripherals, it just feels smoother to use it (organization and stuff makes more sense to me, and overall it looks more pleasing), it rarely freezes up (i've had 3-4 lockups on this mac in about 7-8 years of use), I don't need to mess with a bunch of antivirus software, and it seems to me like it does a better job of multitasking. Windows probably isn't as bad in these areas as I think it is, but there you have it.


I'm actually looking into buying a new mac myself. My computer is beginning to go down the shitter, but its gotten through the years with minimal upgrades better than any PC I've seen or heard about. Right now I'm just waiting for the end of summer when Apple starts offering deals to college students I can take advantage of, as well as OSX 10.5 to be out.

[The King]

God damn macs are expensive. Now i did get a great deal on my pc, but mine was 350 i believe, no more than 400. For a mac with almost equal hardware specs, a little under, its 2000. But that does come with a built in moniter... I mean i always hear great things about them, so if you have the money sure, but otherwise I'd go with pc

[frontmanpb101]

I don't know what you'll be using it for, but I'll be at MSU's college for engineering in the fall and i know that they suggest PC for that type of thing, so...if you're using higher math programs for some reason go PC. At least that's what i've gathered from the website.

[Zerodynamic]

I'm just looking for something stylish and fuctional. I have heard that you can run a dual-boot on a Mac if its a PC specific application, but most of the big stuff can be run on both without it.

I'm not an avid gamer... I just like to type on HF, watch the occasional DVD, and have a fat ass music collection.

[Dudeman]

mac for basic computing is great, also the OS is amazing. I myself use macs,windows,and linux. ive been using macs since os 8, and i love them for their stability and userfriendliness. if you have any questions lemme know.

[Oggie505]

If all you need it for is as a basic computer, like you said, a Mac is an excellent choice, the OS is the most stable in the world. Windows is basically a mac ripoff, nothing against windows, but thats how it is. Just remember that mac are expensive, but are usually 2 times faster than their equivelant pc counterparts. Do nto worry about not running some software, you can get Virtual PC for mac, and it basically is a program that runs windows on your mac.

Really its all about choice, I love macs, but they are so expensive, I would get a mac laptop, have portability and they are great computers, I still have an iBook 7oo Mhz G3 and I love it. I am not trying to persuade you in a mac direction, I have been useing mac since the first macintosh came out and my dad bought one, my family has had a mac everytime a new one has come out, I remember the 604e mac processors..lol.. But I love my windows computers, not for windows but fo r the game and other software they run, SQL, VB, things like that

[ASUSEAN1]

so today i was with my friends and we were walking back from class, anyways there was a huge microsoft truck and they were interviewing students well my friend decided to go up and told the people he used to use a window based computer and every time he looked at porn he would get a virus and since changing to mac he never had a problem. I wonder if they will put that in their show lol.

I like my mac better becuase i dont have to wait one tech support for 45 minutes to talk to someone to get it fixed, i can undertsand the person i am talking to when i call apple, it is a lot faster than most window based computers, more memory, (i can run like 30 windows at once), i never really have problems but when you do and apple doesnt fix it for free you can always jus blackmail apple.. another story for another thread haha. \


MAC!

[Zerodynamic]

thanks for all the opinions guys.

I'm really looking at a Macbook, but they are just so goddamn expensive. But, like hookah, I'm willing to pay for quality. If I get a good 3-5 years out of my macbook, then it would be a good investment.

As of right now, I'll pretty much be price shopping pc and mac laptops, and when I find something I like, I'll go for it.

[ghostofdavid]

PC! FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Macs break, too... and when you do, you can rarely fix it yourself.

Beware the frowning Mac face.

[OPR234]

Fixing a broken mac is just as easy as it is to fix a broken pc. When a laptop breaks... you can rarely fix it yourself regardless of what its running. Also when you buy a new mac, you get a lot of decent software that isn't the kind of shit you uninstall the moment you start it up, you'll use it at one time or another, so that justifies a portion of the overpricedness.


I'm going for a macbook myself later in the year, but I am kind of disappointed with the video 'card' they use. Not only is it a mediocre chip at best, in the macbooks they actually underclock them for some reason (battery life, heat management, whatever). I'm kinda hoping for an affordable 15 inch model by then for that reason.

[ghostofdavid]

Just don't get a Sony laptop. DRM uninstallable software, exploding batteries, and forced upgrades through their own service centers. These are all things Sony did in the past... don't get me started on Sony Memory Sticks.

[oriteku]

Isn't a mac certification required to fix Mac's because they refuse to sell the pieces for their computers? And yes lap tops are fairly easy to fix most parts are readily available over the internet such as those damned power jacks that always break off or screen and inverters and the like. Like all things availability is based on brand and age of the lappy. Only bad thing about fixing lappy's is the price and all those tiny little screws

[Dudeman]

shoot ive been fixing macs for years and theyre hardware wise just as easy to work on as pcs. the software is a little more challenging but there are loop holes, ill just tell you guys get an os9 disk and keep it as itll be able to fix alot of problems easily trust me.

[Scheetz]

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant

that should help.


I hate macs. Also hate the fact that Ipods suck ass. They were good in the beginning now they are just crap products.

[imagelessdude]

I'm a lifetime mac user.

When a mac glitches, it shows a little screen that you click out of and your ready to go again. And thats rare.
The OS is beautiful, fluid, and the same on almost all applications.
You cant fuck up the registry and stuff, and everything maintains and scans itself.
Everything filewise is easy to find.
Hackers don't target me. I have never had spyware/viruses/trojans.
It comes ready to roll out of the box with awesome software.
The operating system is updated more than once every 6 years *cough* vista *cough*
And its a $130 upgrade, not a $400 one. And its VERY WELL worth it.
Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash etc apps were made to run on mac.
Key shortcuts actually make sense on a mac [apple key+Q=quit]
As opposed to microsoft [alt+F4=quit... wtf?]

Any questions? Ask me, Ill fill you in.

My Mac: iMac 17''widescreen, 1gb ram, 120gb hard drive, 512mb graphics card, superdrive [cd-r, cd-rw, dvd-r, dvd-rw], Mac OS X 10.4.1

I use Firefox [duh] and Acquisition [Limewire but without the crap]
I also use Adobe CS2 Suite Professional Edition, and Finale 2007 Music Notation Software. Oh and Sibelius lol.

My computer can do it all, so why not?

[OPR234]

Isn't a mac certification required to fix Mac's because they refuse to sell the pieces for their computers? And yes lap tops are fairly easy to fix most parts are readily available over the internet such as those damned power jacks that always break off or screen and inverters and the like. Like all things availability is based on brand and age of the lappy. Only bad thing about fixing lappy's is the price and all those tiny little screws

I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to say there, but if any hardware in a mac breaks, any computer support person that actually knows anything about computers should be able to at least diagnose the problem. On top of that, you can get any parts for a mac from a 3rd party source. On top of that, with the switch from PPC to Intel chips, parts are even easier to get.

Scheetz, is that the best anti-mac crap you can find? I know theres better out there
If I chose to use mac instead of windows for any reason than my own I'd probably get all butthurt and start spewing anti windows shit, but I kinda agree with that site. Most mac users need to shut their pie holes and let people use windows all they want. If people want to know why I like mac over windows, I'll give them my reasons, but I wont tell them something like "dude you really should get a new mac, they're so awesome, bill gates is the devil, windows is crap, macs do everything pcs can do and more, etc" like many mac users will. Besides, if everyone switched to mac, it just wouldn't be the same, and windows would start to look more appealing to all of those people who were already in your face about macs.

Although I've never had a problem with itunes, I know other people who have, apparently it doesnt "just work" on windows. And for your ipod statement, I don't have any experience with them so I can't really say if they suck, but I'm confused as to how they caught on, since the battery isnt removable and they're overpriced for what they are.

On a separate note, mac osx10.5 is now delayed until october, which leaves me pissed because I'm going to be stuck with the decision to wait for it to get a new computer, get a new mac anyways and stick with 10.4, or buy a new one anyways and spring extra money later for it. why do things have to get so retarded?

[oriteku]

I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to say there, but if any hardware in a mac breaks, any computer support person that actually knows anything about computers should be able to at least diagnose the problem. On top of that, you can get any parts for a mac from a 3rd party source. On top of that, with the switch from PPC to Intel chips, parts are even easier to get.

Sure diagnosis is easy I agree there because all the basic pieces are the same just different manufacturers, I guess the internet is always there for the third party pieces my problem is there probably are only so many mac motherboards available, and youre definitely right about the switch to intel chips.

Either way I'm an overclocker myself and thats not exactly easy on a mac =)~

[Altron]

I love OSX and I always thought by making a mac purchase would be foolish.

The only major problem with osx that I have gotten a few times is errors for not booting down properly even after fixing the power management. Also, there is no spyware remover for osx and its annoying when you get directed to a pointless page for mistyping something. Other then that, safari is pretty good because it's almost identical to firefox.

OSX is perfect for many things that windows would never allow. First, you can delete anything you want and completely remove it from your harddrive. Second, you don't have to desperately look around for files and such, you know exactly where they go and if you don't you just use spotlight and it will find it within seconds. Third, pictures and graphic designing is much better on macs flat out. I cannot tell you in words how much better it is... if you are heavily into graphics and art, macs and OSX is the way to go. I also enjoy how much better itunes is on mac especially with the remote that comes with it. Fourth, OSX is unique in the toolbar, which takes a while to get used to because its not by a window basis persay, whatever window is open it goes up top.

Also, BTW new window's vista is essentially like OSX, they copied the spotlight and other features that is almost identical to OSX.

Overall I would def invest in a Mac if I was considering it, however, a few things I would have done differently when I bought it. Also consider these things prior to buying one.

1. Bought a Macbook Pro instead of a Macbook with upgrades (Macbook doesnt come with any graphic card upgrades) Also macbook pro has a very nice quiet keyboard, soft to touch and is illuminated. Macbooks aren't bad, just somewhat loud and sometimes hard at times. Also with Macbook Pros you can upgrade the processor speed, macbooks are only available in 2.

2. Mac upgrades and parts are a shitload. 512 more ram will cost a $100. WTF??? Harddrive upgrades are also very expensive....

3. BUY THE APPLE PLAN. Apple Fucks You Over If You Don't! It's also a very to invest because of the various stores around the U.S. and you can just stop in. Apple cuts off most of the support after a few months... and BTW Macbooks are very faulty sometimes, so it's def a plus to get it.

4. Use the student discount or get someone to buy it for you that can use it. It saves you a great deal. Edited April 14, 2007 by Altron

[Zerodynamic]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Altron, I appreciate the heads up, but the macbook pro is a little out of my price range at this time, so I think I'll be sticking to a regular macbook.

I decided that the 2.0ghz with a 1gb ram and 80gb harddrive is what I am looking for... now its time to find the best price!

[misterbeetz]

What? No linux option on the poll? Jeez man!


lol, seriously though... you might want to look into Ubuntu (Linux) if you are fed up with windows on that PC. No viruses. No spyware. No defragmenting of hard drives. It, in addition to the programs you use with it are free.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

- misterbeetz

[Zerodynamic]

hahah, well I have used red hat before.. I didn't like it too much. This new software seems pretty interesting however. My main concern is user friendlyness and compatibility.

[misterbeetz]

hahah, well I have used red hat before.. I didn't like it too much. This new software seems pretty interesting however. My main concern is user friendlyness and compatibility.

Dang, its a whole new ball game since Red Hat got popular. I highly suggest you download a live cd of Ubuntu and try it out. You can test it out without even installing anything. You just boot off of the cd and give it a shot. You can install it later if you happen to like what you see.

- misterbeetz