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I am in the market for a new laptop. I've always had PC's. Well, my laptop is just about shot. Its only a few years old and has had some issues for a while now. A few friends of mine are really into the Mac's and say how much they love them. Just wondering what your thoughts on either and why or why not would you buy one. Thanks!
If you wanna do movies and photos, mac's are better. They are roughly equivalent to PC's in word documents although there have been issues in my experience getting Mac documents to read on PC's. PC's are better if doing anything else be it gaming, programming, etc. Half the time It wont work for some of the programs.
I would definitely get a MAC. Despite what the other user said, they can do _anything_ you do on a Windows PC. What, you need to run something that will only run on Windows.. well oh, you can install Windows on a portion of the MAC hard drive, OR run Windows IN a window on a Mac.
In the past they were a bit costly compared to what you got on a Windows machine, but part for part Macs are for the most part, more cost effective.
Find an Apple store and go talk to the reps.. they will are very very helpful, and if you need they offer a program called One on One, in which they will teach you how to use your Mac.
I have worked with and used both. Unless you're willing to spend a lot of time relearning how the computer works, Macs are a pain to deal with. You can't just jump and and know what you're doing - it is a different format that takes time. Someone I know and have worked with purchased a Mac laptop because everyone he spoke with told him he couldn't go wrong... well, 9 months later he was ready to switch back to a PC. He didn't have the patience to sit down and relearn. And for the record, Macs DO crash.
Personally... if it was just a computer I was using for internet and word processing (typical use), I would stick with the PC. Cheaper purchase price, cheaper upgrades, cheaper repair, etc.
If you want to be entertained, get a PC. If you want to create, get a mac. It's easy to get caught up with performance specifications and ignore the software package that comes with OSX. Taking the software into account, you're surely getting what you pay for, even though mac laptops are a bit pricey. For me, battery life is HUGE when considering a laptop. The battery on my powerbook still lasts for hours after owning it for over a year. Compatibility is still somewhat of a headache with macs, but it has come a long way in the last decade. I personally find it better to come home from work and school, and fire up a different operating system. It's a breath of fresh air, and has a more personal feel. OSX uses a lot of hotkeys, and you will find these to be particularly useful on a laptop. So, in a sense, I feel kind of "bilingual" when it comes to operating systems. But I enjoy that. I would like to tackle linux next. You're never hurting yourself to learn something new about computers.
You can be entertained and creative with a Mac too. I have both PCs and Mac. I haven't turned on my PC in about 7 months. I only really used my PC to play video games, and I built my own PC precisely for that reason, for gaming only.
I have a MacMini (PPC) and MacBook (Intel). On my Macbook, I also have Windows running (thanks to Parallels). So, think of it this way. If you get a Mac, that has an Intel processor, then you will also be able to run Windows on it. Hence you will save money, because you'll have both a Mac and PC running on just one machine.
For a personal laptop I would say go Mac all the way.
I have been using a Mac for 6 years, I use a Mac powerbook everyday. I also have owned iMacs, G-5 Towers...rarely ever an issue. When I do have an issue, I take it into the local Apple Store and have it fixed.
I leave my Macs on 24/7, I reboot probably once a month...I would never even think about doing that on a Windows machine, you have to reboot daily.
The applications: iWeb, iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband, Safari and iTunes all run smooth.
Printers, Cameras, Video Cameras, Music equipment just plug in and work. NO DRIVERS.
The only reason I would ever buy a PC is to play games on it, you can do this on a Mac too, just load up Windows. Macs do everything else much better.
My wife and I made the "switch" to mac about four years ago. I have a lot of experience with PCs, including building my own desktop systems and setting up networks.
When we made the initial switch, I kept my pc just in case I didn't like the mac and wanted to switch back. After just three months on the mac we realized we were just not using the pc any more. On the rare occasion I did go back and use the PC I found myself exceptionally irritated by the problems I would encounter. Networking problems, driver incompatibilities, etc.
To give you an example, I have an HP LaserJet printer with a built-in Ethernet card so I can just wire it into my network and share it. Even though I assigned the printer a static IP address, I had to load the HP printer driver software from the HP install disk on my pc before Windows would find and use the printer. On my mac, as soon as I connected to my home network, the printer appeared in my printer list. That is just one example, but I have many more I can provide as well. Like Steve Jobs loves to say, "it just works".
We are now on our second mac notebooks, 15" MacBook Pros, and no longer have a Windows PC. As Randki said, if you find that you absolutely need Windows for something, you can just install and run Windows on your mac.
I have Windows XP loaded via Parallels software for the sole purpose of installing firmware updates to my GPS unit. Other than that, I never find myself using Windows for any other reason.
I can honestly say that in the four years I have been a mac user, I have never, NEVER had my mac crash. I purchased MS Office 2004 for Mac when I originally purchased our notebooks and I had absolutely zero compatibility issues with MS Office docs between the mac and pc platforms.
As for bubbagirl's friend I can't understand what the problem was unless she was using a mac when it was still on OS 9. OS X is extremely easy to learn, regardless of the version you are using. Within about a week of receiving our first mac notebooks, my wife and I both were proficient in using all of the applications on our macs. Our first notebooks were running OS X Panther (10.3) and our latest notebooks run OS X Tiger (10.4).
Consumer Reports has also listed Apple computers as "recommended" the last three years in a row.
I would recommend that you go to www.apple.com/retail and see if there is an Apple retail store near you. If so, go in and play with the computers to see what you think. The Apple retail stores have at least one of every mac model available for you to play with and ask questions if you have them.
When I was getting ready to make my switch I heard from many people who had either never used a mac or "had friends that had used a mac". While I appreciated their input, once I played with one of the notebooks in the Apple store I was sold and I can honestly say I have never regretted my decision.
Good luck and I hope you are happy with whatever computer you decide to purchase.
Thanks everyone for all of the feedback! I do have an Apple store near me so I plan to go check it out in the near future. We are keeping our PC laptop which my husband plans to use. I mainly use the computer now for school and for surfing the net, etc. I also hope to get into digital scrapbooking in the near future (already have all the PC software, just no time). Thanks again for the suggestions. I plan to shop around before I go and get one. My inlaws have PC's and they have the HP's which seem really nice and they really like them. But for some reason I'm being drawn to the MAC. I remember back in the day when no one wanted to own one and now everyone seems to be getting one, or almost everyone. They have come along way. Still not sure I'm 100% sold but I'm close! Plus, I get a company discount through Apple and through other PC sellers...so its a tough decision.
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Macs
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Once you go Mac, you'll never go back!
