Mac or PC?

[Beefbowl]

I'm thinking about upgrading my computer and I was leaning toward a mac. I know there's a few people in this forum that owns a mac and I wanted to get their opinions. I was also debating on getting a desktop or a laptop. Any thoughts?

[Lord_Phan]

What do you want if for? All gamers use PC's. It's better tech. But if you just want to view the web and play a song or two or do spreadsheets etc. then get the cheapest thing you can get.

[Spankey]

Originally Posted by Lord_Phan

What do you want if for? All gamers use PC's. It's better tech. But if you just want to view the web and play a song or two or do spreadsheets etc. then get the cheapest thing you can get.

And disregard EVERYTHING in that statement. Since switching to the Mac my computing experience has been more pleasurable than ever. OS X is just a more stable, quicker OS than either XP or Vista. Every program I could need on Windows is available for Mac. Whether its Adobe, MS Office, etc. they are there for me. I still need Windows for work and I can either run Windows natively by dual booting, or run Windows seamlessly through a VM. I use Fusion which has been a pleasure to use.

Now what is better for you? I love my 24" iMac, but the graphics card is superior in the new Macbook Pros. I don't find gaming to be an issue at all on a Mac. Again, you can dual boot into Windows if a game will only run on that OS. Personally, I would go for an iMac unless you need portability and don't have a great widescreen monitor.

[BStecke]

My wife (a PC tech) and I both switched to Macs and we both love them. No hassles, great support (if needed . . . neither of us have had any issues outside of a few questions), and generally a pleasure to deal with.

[desmond]

mac (get the laptop). great quality, very few bugs.

[Sean4000]

I used Vista as my cue to jump ship to another OS. I landed in the ubuntu territory and canot be happier. It's a very technical nuts and bolts OS that suits me fine. But it is not for everyone.

I would tell newcomers to switch to Apple. There are no viruses, no spyware. Mac's darwin Kernel is rock solid and stable. And if you need to use XP/Vista, yes, you can dual boot.

VISTA:

Virus
Inside
Switch
To
Apple

As far as applications go, out of the box you have iTunes, Iphoto, iWeb, Garage Band, iMovie, iDVD. Right there is your audio jukebox, photo organization, web making, music recording, movie editing, and DVD authoring. Now, these are relatively easy programs an are geared to entry-level users. But the pro features might surprise you.

Let's see what else is out there, CAD, Quickbooks, M$ Office, Photoshop, AVID, Final Cut Pro, iChat, VLC player, Mac the Ripper, iWork suite, Turbo Tax, etc.......That about nullified every "there is no software for Mac" arguement I've ever had.

[Elandyll]

I have worked with macs for ever, and generally love em (I am a video prod. specialist).

But let's be honest, if your main thing is gaming, go PC. Dual booting is just ridiculous if gaming is what you intend to mostly do.
Not only will the rig be less expensive and customizable, but right now Vista is in my experience (I have a laptop with it) just as stable as OS X (and yes I have had my dose of crashes even in OS X, but again my applications makes it more demanding than games for my Macs).

I know it's good policy to demonize anything MS on this board, and I dislike their actions just as much as the next chap, but Vista isn't the POS some try to make it pass for, and you can get some very powerful PCs for the money.

This being said, if you are at all interested in movie editing and/or DVD authoring, don't even think twice, Go Mac. Just love the combo FCP + DVD SP.

[Zvi]

Go for PC. Cheaper, much better upgradeability(If you're a builder it'll cost you a lot less too), a lot better software choice, including free soft. At least your mouse will have two buttons

As for the statement that all the soft you need is available for macs I highly doubt it. I never used Mac really, except for some work projects, but if you just look at sourceforge and other sites like that Mac soft is 5-10% of what's available for windows. I guess in the end it all depends on what you need.

Originally Posted by Spankey

I love my 24" iMac, but the graphics card is superior in the new Macbook Pros. I don't find gaming to be an issue at all on a Mac.

Anyway, which mac would you recommend for gaming? And can you tell us why? I just went to apple store to check out what's up there. For one, imacs are pretty much useless for modern games. The best imac has ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with OMG, whole 256mb ram. Customization is limited to just ram and HD, plus of course more accessories and soft from Apple. In other words you're not upgrading video card or cpu ever. And that costs 2250$ for basic package.
Compare that to Dell XPS gaming pc. Basic package costs 1500$ and comes with quad core CPU vs dual core on imac, much beter video card NVdia 8800gt 512mb, 3gb ram vs 2 gb on apple, and better ram too. Optical media is twice as fast on dells. The only advantage apple has it 500gb HD vs. 250gb in dell. But that upgrade is real cheap with HDD prices 40cents per GB. And I'm comparing top imac to basic gaming XPS. True, imcs were not meant for gaming, but that's what the recommendation was. Of course if all you play is tetris and 3 year old games imacs will do.

As for the Mac Pro. 2 xeon processors in it. Impressive, but again, for gaming and 99% of home/office applications xeons give nothing but extra expenses. Default config comes with 2.8ghz xeons, and upgrade that to 3.2 ghz and you add 1600$. Base price 2,799.00$. Do I want 2 server CPUs in my home rig? It's not like they're giving it for low price either.
I can't find right now comparable system because dual socket lga 775 mobos aren't available for PCs except server arena.

In the end it's typical apple - very limited choice. Dunno if apple has other comps for general public, couldn't find it apple store

[PVJAG]

I would without a doubt go with a Mac. I recently switched form PC about a year ago and haven't looked back. I would also recommend going with a laptop, the Macbook Pro. They are just about to do a slight upgrade/revision so wait for that to happen and then go for it. Trust me, you won't regret it..

[Spankey]

I didn't see where the OP mentioned gaming. You can game on the mac. If you want more power for gaming, get a macbook pro or a mac pro.

If you use your computer for more than just games, then an imac will do just fine. I've gone the upgrade path of PC for more than a decade now. Gamers end up spending hundreds for new video cards year after year. Next months game requires a new video card, and more and more memory. Personally, the PC gaming market has stagnated for me. If I want a graphics intensive game, I would go the console route.

In the end, you are still running Windows. The biggest bottle neck on a PC. A Mac will not depreciate as fast as a PC and if you really need to upgrade in a few years, you will probably fetch a reasonable return on your investment.

[Spankey]

Originally Posted by PVJAG

I would without a doubt go with a Mac. I recently switched form PC about a year ago and haven't looked back. I would also recommend going with a laptop, the Macbook Pro. They are just about to do a slight upgrade/revision so wait for that to happen and then go for it. Trust me, you won't regret it..

Already Happened..

[dadkins]

Want Blu-ray? Get PC!

[Bigdog]

Really asking people here who own macs if you should choose a mac or a pc is like going to a microsoft xbox fan site and asking if you should buy a ps3 over a xbox.

If you want to spend more for less then get a mac, if you want to get the most bang for your buck then nothing beats a pc. I have been using xp now for over 5 + years and not once have i had a virus or any related problems with the o/s, i cant comment on vista as i have never used it but i know a pc tech on another site who is using vista with service pack 1 and is very happy with it now.

[Zvi]

Originally Posted by Spankey

I didn't see where the OP mentioned gaming. You can game on the mac. If you want more power for gaming, get a macbook pro or a mac pro.

You did. And I asked why do you think macs have no issues with gaming. Your answer pretty much is that you don't game on macs. IMHO that doesnt' mean no issues.

Originally Posted by Spankey

If you use your computer for more than just games, then an imac will do just fine.

I do. And more powerful cpu wouldn't hurt at all. If all you do is email/web and small stuff then imac is fine, except the price.

Originally Posted by Spankey

I've gone the upgrade path of PC for more than a decade now. Gamers end up spending hundreds for new video cards year after year. Next months game requires a new video card, and more and more memory. Personally, the PC gaming market has stagnated for me.

So, how is Mac or imac solving that problem? You simply quit gaming and that's it. Or pretty much nonexistent Mac gaming market is the solution?

Originally Posted by Spankey

If I want a graphics intensive game, I would go the console route.

Current pcs do much better graphics that consoles. and that will always be like that.

Originally Posted by Spankey

In the end, you are still running Windows. The biggest bottle neck on a PC.

And you say that based on what?
xp vs osx test 1, xp wins
xp vs osx test 2, xp wins
xp vs osx on forums, mainly complaints about osx being slow
I can go on for a while. Just do a google search ok? Doesn't look very good for Apple OS.

Originally Posted by Spankey

A Mac will not depreciate as fast as a PC and if you really need to upgrade in a few years, you will probably fetch a reasonable return on your investment.

Why is that? Because Apple upgrades their comps slower than PCs? Or numbers have different meaning for macs? 2ghz cpu macs perform similar to 4ghz macs later on?

[Beefbowl]

Thanks for everybody's post. I don't plan on using my computer for gaming, the last game I played on the PC was the orginal Diablo. I have game consoles for all my gaming.

My two main reasons for wanting to switch was viruses (had a roommate that was surfing certain sites) and compatability. It seemed like all the Mac software work together well where the PC does not. (let me know if this is true or false). Also, Do Mac get those annoying pop-up s from websites?

[warhawk21114]

As a Mac user I could not be happier. The applications work well together i.e. your film you made in imovie is easily exported over to idvd where you can put in a nice menu and make a decent family film of vacation or whatever event, iphoto can handle basic photo editing, Apples own office suite is good for lowscale work and can convert to its office if needed or you can buy the mac version of office. OSX is a very stable enviroment and I have no complaints and there is only one version of it no basic, ultimate, premium or what not with varying features. For a stable enviroment and good customer support go with Mac. You will not be dissapointed. In regards to the pop ups, you will get them, it just depends on what browser you are using and what settings pop ups are set on. go to apple.com and to support then discussions and search about them and you should be able to find that bit of info from mac users. happy hunting!!!

[Uxi]

I use Macs and Linux professionally (Sys Admin and programming). I prefer Windows and Linux for home. In general, I find the Mac Pros vastly overkill and overpriced (who needs dual Xeons really, if you're not in graphics, etc?).

I've used a Mini, iMac, and iBook as part of my job (work paid for the iBook and I use a mini as a workstation now). My purchased computers are a Sony VAIO and a homebuild gaming rig.

I just bought a new MacBook Pro (2.5, 2GB of RAM, 7200rpm SATA drive). Should arrive by Tuesday to replace the iBook. I'm stoked and will be dual booting XP Pro and OS X.

[Zvi]

Originally Posted by Beefbowl

My two main reasons for wanting to switch was viruses (had a roommate that was surfing certain sites) and compatability. It seemed like all the Mac software work together well where the PC does not. (let me know if this is true or false). Also, Do Mac get those annoying pop-up s from websites?

1) In terms of compatibility and software availability windows is clearly better. You still can run most of the dos programs on xp or vista. I don't think it's necessarily good, but MS spends a lot of time and effort to ensure backwards compatibility.
2) Not sure what do you mean "all the Mac software work together well where the PC does not"? If interoperability or data exchange between various programs windows is very good on that, which is partly the reason why viruses can spread so easily, data from one prog can be infection for another, etc. Can't comment on Macs though.
3) Popups from websites depend on browser mainly, and if you get infected by spyware. In modern browsers you can disable popups and javascript/java all together. As for spyware you're more of a target if you run windows, but it depends on you too. I've never had a virus or worm infecting my comps and I've been using PCs since 89. I have 5 pcs at home, 2 of them are up 24/7 and run multiple programs including torrents, p2p, encoders, web/ftp servers and other stuff. All of them XP. the only time I have to boot those is when avast antivirus updates its code or I get next batch of windows updates and asks for reboot.

[Elandyll]

Originally Posted by Beefbowl

Thanks for everybody's post. I don't plan on using my computer for gaming, the last game I played on the PC was the orginal Diablo. I have game consoles for all my gaming.

My two main reasons for wanting to switch was viruses (had a roommate that was surfing certain sites) and compatability. It seemed like all the Mac software work together well where the PC does not. (let me know if this is true or false). Also, Do Mac get those annoying pop-up s from websites?

If you plan to buy a Mac just for Browsing and burning files .. err, that'll be a lot of money for not much more than a PC frankly.
And I do admit that when Mac users, when confronted with the lesser choice in sofware library, respond "dual boot Windows", it does make me laugh.

In essence, both OS work with pretty much the same stability at this point (to tell the truth, I have had more crashes with my macs in the past 5 years than with my PCs). Applications vary somewhat, but for Internet / Media playback, it's pretty much the same.
Interoperability is identical, both systems play the same kind of files.

In the end, "Mac" is more stylish (and more pricey), and PCs are more customizable/ evolutive.
The true choice will be with how much you like the interface.

Personally, even though I use it every day at work, OS X is too "Nintendo" ish (as in it removes a lot of transparency from the user). Some people prefer it, some don't. XP and then Vista went that road, but at least you can customize it "back" to your favorite settings of transparency (user side).

Security is the same (you gotta protect your system in both cases), with the caveat that PCs being 90%+ of the world's home computers, there are far more people out there making trojans and viruses for it than for Macs. The positive side of this, is that you will have a ton more of share/freewares avail. on PC when compared to Mac. This being said, Mac OS is also Unix (kindof).

Last but not least, the "annoying pop ups" depend on your browser.
IE (or Firefox or Opera) have a ton of options to remove those. Same on the Mac side.

[Slackr89]

if ur a gamer/computer enthusiast go for a pc.