Mac or PC?

[gentlemanly]

I am going to be getting a new laptop for school in the next month or two, but I can't decide what to get. A Mac, or a PC. I know that there are users of both in this forum, so help me out here. I would like to know more about the pros and cons of each.

And can we please try and not make this a PC vs. Mac bashing thread.

[Zero]

woohoo! Mac one, Windows nuthin' :lol:

Been a mac user for over twenty years now and still own most of my old machines - probably enough to make a museum :shock: I did buy my first PC this year, mind you - a second hand tower that I picked up for £50 to watch Korean TV with. Apparently Microsoft pwns South Korea and nobody even knows what a Mac is there... accordingly, all of their net-TV broadcasts need a proprietary media player that only works in Windows Other than that, I'm pretty much a dyed-in-the-wool mac user. At work I use Linux in the office.

Agreed about the no mac/pc fanboy flamewar thread - that mouldy old debate makes me want to pull my hair out. :!:

Right, so as for pros and cons, I guess it's really just a matter of taste. Unless you work in something really specialised with industry-specific software or something obscure or really niche that only runs on Windows or only on Mac, you really just have to decide what you like.

I'm a beast of a user, my machine is on 24h a day, I like to have all sorts of services running like web/ftp server, postfix mail server, etc, and all that works like a charm on a Mac (thanks to FreeBSD, really). I also use a lot of PDF files and I really like how MacOS handles them - lots of tools and functions built right in. I could go on - for every thing one does there are a host of reasons why one platform may have an edge over the other.

Really, I'd say that Windows is probably easiest for people who aren't demanding a lot from their machine - office, email, web, etc. All of that stuff doesn't matter one bit if you're on a mac or windows - it works just as well on both. It's actually only in really focused areas that one platform really wins over the other. If you're a gamer, it's easy - you need Windows. If you're a web designer, then a mac might be the ideal solution since you can have macos, windows, and linux all on one machine and you can swap between them as easy a click or a keystroke - no rebooting, no hauling around two laptops on business trips, etc.

So, I could really go on - the more appropriate question may not be "which is better?" but "which better for me". Maybe give us some ideas of what sort of things you will be using your machine for?

[eli]

I think it really depends on what you plan to do with your computer. Macs are easy to use, and have some real options under the hood for power users, when it comes to media manipulation Macs are hard to beat (Music, Movies, Pics, etc...).

Scientific applications and gaming are where PCs excel. Of course if you get a PC you've also got the linux option as well.

I don't own a Mac for two reasons. The first is price, I can get a lot more bang for my buck from a PC and being the kind of guy I am I like being able to rip parts out and put better ones back in. The second are the video games... I like playing strategy games that just don't translate well to console gaming.

[Zero]

^ Well, to counter that, I'm a scientist and I use Mac/Linux. With a PC you've got the option of linux, but with a Mac *nix already built in and running. The only real scientific software which is Windows-only is stuff like LabView, Origin, AutoCAD - a few others. LabView is nothing you would ever put on a home computer as it's meant for process automation. Origin is a great analysis package and a good reason to get a Windows machine, as is AutoCAD, if you need them.

As for being the kind of guy to rip parts out and change them, I'm that guy too, and there's no problem doing that with a Mac. Every one of my Macs since the early nineties has been heavily upgraded from its original form. On older machines it was add-on L2 cache simms, clock chips (to boost the cpu frequency), NuBus cards, packing up vram slots, swapping HDDs, etc. On new machines I've swapped up CPUs, graphics cards, capture cards; I've hardware and software overclocked a few macs - added, swapped, removed internal serial and modem ports - there's almost nothing you can't change on a mac that you can on a PC, iMacs and laptops notwithstanding. It's an argument I hear a lot, but it's really more of a myth than anything else.

I wouldn't even say that macs are "easy to use" and good for people who want a computer that's "easy to use". For anyone who is already used to windows and nervous about computers - looking for something easy - then a Mac can almost be as much of a curse as a blessing. Something goes wrong in Windows and you can ask any of ten geeks within earshot how to fix it and you'll get an answer. On a mac you're stuck fending for yourself a lot. You have to find and rely on the community a bit more if you end up needing help.

And don't get me started on strategy games... too many nights with no sleep, lots of nicotine, and too much Starcraft. I just picked up Rise of Nations the other day - my god, I want my life back :shock:

[Zeno]

If you can afford it, go for the Mac. The design is simply unbeatable amazing and as they are now using Intel processors as well, you still have the option to install Windows on it. BTW, I'm a Windows PC expert for about 20 years (I do it for a living) but I have to admit that I adore the Macs (please don't tell my coworkers...)
However, I think with a PC you are little bit more flexible as there are plenty of people around, which are able to help you with a problem or where you can get a 'decentral backup copy' of a software (for testing only, of course). Both systems are somehow equal, so the most important thing is: Let you inner child decide and have fun with it... :lol:

[Xobeloot]

I have really only ever used PC. I used mac a bit back in my college years for some image editing, but it was never enouth for me to make a decision. Someday I'll jump in head-first and buy a mac and see how I feel about it. I primarily use my system for gaming, and every time I see a game patch, it seems to have some sorta hot-fix for mac users which is why I think I have never bought one.

[lxskllr]

PC only for me. I would suggest a low end PC laptop, and a relatively high end desktop to accompany it. Most people don't really /need/ a laptop, they just want one due to the cool form factor. The problem is once you get to the really capable machines, the price goes through the roof. They aren't easy(impossible) to upgrade, and when something breaks it's cost prohibitive to get it fixed(repair cost is a significant portion of just buying a new one).

Depending on your laptop needs, I really like the Asus EeePC. It has some significant limitations, but it's super portable, and fun to play with. It runs a modified Xandros Linux O/S, though other Linux and XP will run on it also. The biggest limitations are HD space, and the small keyboard. I got one for my daughter on her birthday, and now I want one myself LoL. That and a nice desktop would be a winning combination assuming you can live with the restrictions.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=eeepc&x=0&y=0

[gentlemanly]

The reason why I am going with a laptop is that I like to take online classes, and with this being my first term at a university, I am planning on spending upwards of 1000 bucks (thank you student loan). I need a laptop to take with me if I travel on the weekends I can do my homework/online class study from wherever I am, as well as use it in class for note taking. I am not a gamer (I have a wii for that), so I don't need it too powerful, but if I am going to dish out the dollars, I want to get something that will last a few years. So I am planning on spending the money whether it be a PC or a Mac.

[lxskllr]

A laptop's a laptop as far as durability goes. What you pay for is performance which increases cost exponentially as you go higher. I consider laptops disposable. They get stolen, dropped, spilled on... I personally wouldn't spend more than $700 on a laptop, and $400-$600 is actually closer to my target price. All it takes is 1 trip to the shop to make your $1,000 laptop a $1,500 laptop :^/

It looks to me like the tasks you need a computer for are fairly pedestrian. I'd get the cheapest machine you could, and put aside the rest of your money in case you need to buy another one. If you keep your eye out for sales, you should be able to pick up a nice machine for about $500 after rebate. That'll give you something that isn't frustratingly slow to use, but also won't be a tragedy if something bad happens to it.

This is assuming a PC of course. There's no such thing as a bargain Mac ;^) As for practical reasons to go PC... You'll be compatible with 95% of the population, and your school may have some proprietary applications that could be a pita to run with Apple.

[Shrewd]

Wow, I guess I'm kind of the odd man out (maybe excepting Zero). I'm a Linux man all the way (for over a decade now), and since OS X, Mac's are BSDish enough to give me what I want.

I've always bought PC's solely for a pricetag reason. I can't say I liked mac's at all OS9 and back, but the newer ones really are essentially PCs with a BSD interface (I know I'm going to catch hell over that comment - no offense intended, but it's an Intel architecture running BSD, I guess it depends on your definitions).

I'll give Mac's points for a clean polished interface that really is unmatched (although linux with compiz and other addons gets awful close). That said though I haven't tried Vista and nor do I care to, but it is supposed to have a nice interface (if you have the memory for it) - although I've heard a lot of complaints as well. My only windows environment is my work laptop, but really it just runs Outlook and I have a VNC session to do everything else for my job (connecting to the work's Redhat farm).

I'd have to agree with lxskllr - a PC laptop is probably the right way to go. I haven't priced a mac laptop in a long time, but historically they were quite spendy (not in a bad way, usually they were well built). I did have proprietary software for some of my CSci classes in colleges that required Winblows and yes, it was a pita for me using Linux (I just ended up buy a POS laptop for $100 to run the one or two programs I needed).

At the end of the day, no matter how much I make (I'm no longer a poor college student living off of loans, but I'm by no means rich ) I'm still a cheapskate at heart and will probably always choose the cheapest computer I can get my hands on - and whatever video game system is out to do my gaming on.

[scratchybadger]

PC was my vote. Linux server/firewall/gateway for running, web, mail and oracle. Desktop running Linux (Kubuntu) which I use 8 hours a day for work since I'm a software developer. The wife's computer is primarily Linux but she dual boots into windows because some of her Open University stuff requires it, and the same goes for the laptop. The munchkins computer is a ClickStart running Dora the Explorer, although I would think you are above this

I love my Linux machines but am increasingly drawn to the new Macs. They have clean styling, a great development environment for creating all things Mac, I just spend most of my budget on snus instead of saving for one

I would say windows is great for new users as you don't need a deep understanding of the concepts and although there is a lot of controversy with Vista it is still quite nice to use. If you're planning on playing games and like to buy them as soon as they come out go for a Windows PC or console. Ubuntu has made great strides if you want to go the desktop linux route but it will take a little getting used to if you're used to Windows and the games support is pathetic at best. You can quite easily set up a dual booting environment or use a LiveCD if you would like to experiement. There are quite a few articles around with stories from people making the move.

All platforms have their pro's and cons and I'd say it all comes down to what you like to use, what you could use most productively and the priorities of the uses you have for using it.