to apple or not to apple, that is the question...

[Berti66]

Ok ..... I'd like to switch computers next year.
Have been working on laptops last few years, with all the microsoft stuff you need for it to work.
This because my ex-hubby picked and was an ICT worker, so he knew his stuff regarding microsoft and laptops/ computers/ whatnots.

I'd like another computer next year (now working a compaq evo N800c) and I am considering an apple.
I was told, these are easier to work, even with no computer experience, compatible with almost everything, nice to look at (definitely) and rarely have problems.
I recently discussed this with my ex, (one of my best friends so nothing negative to say about him ) and he tried to discourage me doing it, using arguments as : price, out of date, hard to fix ONCE you encounter problems, not comptaible and you name it......
He has never owned an apple, only worked two once....of his customers.

There seem to be two camps and I'd like to hear positive and negative input if you have any, and recommendations what to get.
The race is between the Imac and Macbook air....
I don't need it to do particular work on it but who knows what future will bring and what weird ideas will spark into my brain....
I am no computer nerd but would like to learn how things work (and pray they aren't too complicated for me to pick up lol....)

There you go
Berti

[emmline]

I most recently chose a MacBook Pro over the Air, because of the lack of cd/dvd drive in the Air. One can purchase a plug-in disk drive for times when cd/dvds are needed, but the size was not sufficiently different to make me want to bother.

[Berti66]

Ok then the Air is off........ should be another Macbook WITH a cd/ dvd drive.....thanks emmline.
Berti

[izzarina]

I think, in the end, much of it depends on what you are going to use it for. If you do a lot of work with graphics, or publishing, etc., the Mac is the way to go. But if you do a lot of business type work, you might want a PC. The thing about price....you have to remember you don't have to get all the extra stuff with a Mac that you do a PC. When you purchase a PC, you have to get all the anti-virus stuff, which can cost quite a bit. You don't need this with a Mac. Also, PCs tend to need to be "upgraded" almost yearly...meaning you have to get an entire new system (from what I have seen with PC friends....they seem to ALWAYS be buying a new computer system because their old one is too outdated). I've had mine for about 6 years now, and it was used before that. It runs more slowly than I'd like, but it's totally useable. I can run the newest OS on it, too, although I don't have to (and don't at this point). To ME, all of this means a cheaper price, in the end. If you don't have to switch out your system every year, that's a huge plus in my book. And Macs just are easier. For someone like me, who is basically computer illiterate, all I have to do is turn the darn thing on, and everything else is pretty straightforward. I've used PC's many times, and come away very frustrated and confused by them. There seem to be so many steps to do even the simplest of tasks. That's not something I need...I'd rather it be quick and easy.

Of course, my opinions above are very biased. I've been a "Mac Person" since the early '90s. I've never had anything but Macs. And I do know that since the world tends to be PC, having a PC is a bit easier in the end. There are things that are not "Mac Compatible" (although it's not nearly as bad as it used to be....the things that aren't are few and far between now), and sometimes those things are important programs. So, really, you have to figure out what is important for YOU in terms of features, price, and general use. My PC friends are VERY happy with their systems, for the most part.

I do agree with Emm about the Air. The lack of cd/dvd drive is annoying in a way. And it's just a hassle to have to lug around a portable one (although they work really well...my daughter has one for her Net Book and loves it). I'd much rather a MacBook Pro.

[BillChin]

There is no right or wrong answer. If you buy a Mac, odds are you will be very happy after a short period of adjustment after years of using a PC.

If a person doesn't have specific software needs, odds are very high that they can find what they need on the Mac. Macs do cost a bit more up front and Apple does keep you in a little box as far as upgrades, and peripherals.

For example I have a TV USB device, that is for PCs only (WinTV). An equivalent Mac device would have cost triple what I paid. For a person with more basic computer needs, that won't matter. They are happy doing without or paying the Apple premium. Another example is on the Mac Book Air the battery is sealed in. That means when the battery goes (and it will if a person uses it off power every day), a person has to bring it back in or mail it in, and pay a hefty fee to replace the battery. With my Dell notebook, a person can buy another Dell battery, replace it themselves, or buy a third-party battery for low cost and slide it in themselves.

There is an Apple premium, it is not a myth. Recenty another Apple fan talked about how happy they were with their computer and asked me to try one. I pointed out that I am just as happy with my Dell notebook, which I have had for five years now. That my Dell cost about 1/3 as much as the then equivalent Apple, and that I have had close to zero problems and it gets heavy use both as a computer and as a TV. That because I chose the Dell, I have already paid for my next two computers vs. choosing the Apple. So I think I would be an idiot to have bought the triple cost computer, but that is just me.

Depending on what a person buys, the cost analysis will be different, but back then triple the money was then about accurate for I what wanted. Today the prices are different, and it may be worth the time to research instead of taking someone else's word for it. For me, another factor is that there was one piece of specific critical software that is not available on Mac and there are no plans for a port.

With all that, I'm sure you'll be very happy going the Mac route. If you are thinking about it, and checked out your needs, it will likely be a smooth and happy road. Likely smoother and happier than most PC users experience (satisfaction rate for Macs tends to be higher).

[drbald1]

In my opinion as a member of a dual computer household (wife = Mac, I = PC) the major differences for the typical user are price and upgrade options.

By typical user I mean someone who's not doing massive video or audio rendering, CAD design, or other whatnotery.

Apples to apples (get it!) Mac's are more expensive and less upgradeable.

So it seems to me that if you're a typical user who's not going to fiddle around with your machine's guts or overhaul the OS all the time, it comes down to what you want to spend and whether design is important.

As for PC brands, if you ask 3 people you'll likely get 4 differing opinions. I've had three Dell's over the years, with miserable results. One monitor went wonky early on and Dell couldn't fix it three times...not with drivers or hardware. One motherboard crashed the day after my warranty ended, and the last one caught fire.

So, if you go PC, I'd steer clear of Dells. Now, someone here is likely to have had a wonderful experience with Dell, and will give a glowing report. So, ultimately you take your chances.

Finally, I've found that CNET's reviews are usually pretty solid.

Happy shopping!

[Doc Jones]

My home and office have about 15 computers total. Two of them are Macs. They are so vastly superior in every way that I can't begin to enumerate.

PC's live to to be snarled up by spyware, viruses and other nonsense. You spend your whole life doing prevention and damage control. Macs seem to have none of those problems...ever. There is no choice here. Unless you have software that you must use that must be run on a PC, get a Mac. You'll never look back.

If my vet office management software would run on a Mac I would discard the PCs so fast it'd make everyone's head spin.

Doc

[emmline]

PC's live to to be snarled up by spyware, viruses and other nonsense. You spend your whole life doing prevention and damage control.

We have a desktop PC. It's the one the kid uses. I pretty much have had to reinstall the entire system periodically due to massive spyware, malware infestations. I will say though, that a while back I installed Kaspersky (Cork's suggestion, iirc,) and I have not had a problem since.
That doesn't make me want one instead of my MacBook however.

[rhulsey]

I've been using a Mac since 1988 when my business partner at the time and I bought a Mac SE. We got all carried away and got the huge 40MB hard drive, and a laser printer. I've used a Mac ever since, and so does the former business partner.

I've had at least half-dozen friends in the past 2 years whose PCs have slowed to a crawl, decided to get a new computer instead of reloading Windows and all that comes with that task. I told them I'd be glad to help them with support if they bought a Mac, but my days of supporting Windows for friends is over. They all switched and have never looked back, and have asked very few questions. My sister's PC was such a pain that I bought her a Mac to replace it. She's thrilled!

IF, as Doc says, you have a program that the developer hasn't written for the Mac, then maybe that's the direction you should go. Or, you can load Windows on your Mac and boot into it when need be, or run Windows in a virtual machine along side the Mac OS, which is an easy option.

But the Mac doesn't suffer from all the spyware, adware, virii, registry structure issues and other burdens of all things microsoft. I've used the current Mac OS since it was in public beta, both at work and at home, and have never had a situation that warranted reloading the operating system.

All in all, it's not a bad choice, me thinks.

Reg

[Sweetbriar]

I grew up using PCs, but am a Mac convert, I would NEVER ever go back to a PC.

I run a small business, am an author and artist, conference organizer and do lots of other organization type stuff and I find my mac more than meets my needs. I just upgraded to a MacBook UniBody and couldn't be happier. Fast, easy, no virus problems, lots of open-source software available. In fact, all of the computer's here at our herbal school/retreat center are macs, even my nine year old daughter's.

I've been through many generations of Mac laptops and the only problem I've ever run into is that the CD/DVD drives seem to have a tendency to die after about a year, I'm hoping the new unibody model has corrected that though.

I can't emphasize how much simpler and more intuitive macs are than pcs....

[Doc Jones]

All computers are, by nature, ego-maniacs.

The difference is that the PC says:

"You're an idiot. "You can't make me do that!"

The Mac says : "You're an idiot. Here, let me do that for you."

Doc

[s1m0n]

This appears to be a frankenthread, but I'll point out that the price difference between Mac and PC, which was always a factor, is now becoming spectacular. The new system I bought a few months back cost me $300. You can't even get in the door of a Mac store for that price.

[Doc Jones]

I'll also say, that if you don't ever hook a PC to the internet they don't have too many problems. The PCs in my Vet clinic aren't online and only give me grief about twice a week with network nonsense but never have the spyware gorking that plagues all the house PCs.

It's true about the money though. Macs ain't cheap. The little PC laptops I have all over the clinic only ran me about $400 each. I couldn't have afforded Macs in every room.

The parts are expensive too. I just spent about $150 to replace 2 power cords that the dog chewed up over the weekend. If he'd chewed up the PC cords I'd have been out less than $20.

That said, if your time is worth more than about $1.50 and hour you'll be money ahead after about a year with a Mac. I just spent a 1/2 hour convincing one of my PCs to talk to the printer he's been working with for over 6 months. Apparently the two had some sort of spat.

These are funny regardless of which system you choose.

http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/

Doc

[Denny]

y'all keeps saying PC & Mac

but youse talking about operating systems....

[dwinterfield]

I faced the same situation a year ago. I bought a mac book pro after 15 yrs of pc. (and still using windows at work) The learning curve as steeper than I expected. I am still struggling with the mac file storage system. On a pc, you have a file. The file can have files. This makes for easy storage of photos and music. For example - photos -> holidays -> Xmas 2006 - > Bills party etc. The next year it's photos -> holidays -> Xmas 2007 - > Bills party etc. Apple works differently and no Apple "genius" has been able to show me how to do this is as simple and linear way as a pc. With thousands of photos and hundreds of categories, I still haven't found a way to organize them for quick, easy access. I have the same sort of issues organizing music that I've recorded and storing it on I-tunes. I'm sure if I'd started on Apple 15 yrs ago, I wouldn't have these issues, but the transition is still a challenge. There's a lot to like about mac books, but the transition from a pc hasn't been fun.