Mac vs PC's - Not a poll

[Mr Pantomime]

I bought a PC because I like to customise

However, I can see the appeal of Macs. A friend of mine has a two year old macbook. He was running a WIndows XP emulator in the background, with some sort of converter running on it, and was using the mac os at the same time without any slowdown.

ALso, iMAC had bugdom. that game was awesome

 

[strum4h]

Eh... Macs are overpriced because of quality? No, they're just overpriced, end of story.

Actually the hardware used in macs is very good. I mostly use Windows or Linux. Honestly I would get a macbook and put a windows partition on it. Macbooks have a decent speed with an extremely long battery life.

 

[Gralian]

I have an iPad and a very expensive custom made PC. The iPad is used generally when i just want to browse the web for something specific, check email, stuff like that. Apps are there for my amusement when i am out and i use it to play music.

My PC on the other hand is used for far more intensive tasks, for working, and also to play games on. I could not for example play Starcraft 2 on a mac. As i am a gamer, playing games is important to me and that's why i generally value the PC a bit more. But for overall use my iPad is very handy to have around when i just want to flick it on, look up something, and flick it off again instead of having to turn on the computer, enter the password, wait thirty seconds for it to boot up all its programs before i can open chrome - that sort of thing. I view macs to be like candy bars. They're sweet, short, and great for a single quick fix. But not something you'd have for breakfast lunch and dinner every day.

 

[Jodah]

That basically sums up the debate. They both have their uses it depends what you need.

Edit : Credit to Mr. Pantomime for the improved picture!

 

[Mr Pantomime]

This won't end well.

But anyway, From what (little) i know, Windows is more for gameing, Macs/linux is for computer work/art.

The problem I have with Macs is no right click, makes Photoshop and word so much harder to use

That basically sums up the debate. They both have their uses it depends what you need.

Dude, u missed out the best part. That originally had linux in there too

 

[Rhys Sibley]

i can see why you might get a mac for say editing video's, or pictures anything like that. but for general use like Internet I'm on the Linux and for any gaming and socializing Ive got windows.
i don't hate mac's i hate people who have them because they think for say documents or web or general use its better. and i don't use a mac because i find its too simplified, i find altho more complicated you can do more things on your PC, Ive been on my sisters mac and it seems to me that it is developed to be simple for simple use.

 

[Jodah]

snipity snip

I have not seen that, seems like something to look for while bored in Business Law!

Found it and edited the original post in question. Thank you good sir!

 

[Dys]

Until I have huge amounts of money to burn (or Apple changes substancially) I will never own a mac os based computer. They are hugely expensive for what they are, I can see the appeal of having a pretty laptop, but the small eepcs (or comparable) running Linux Ubuntu are just as fast and aesthetically pleasing as a macbook, and are hundreds (in some cases thousands) of dollars cheaper. Sure, if you were particularly naive you could get ripped off worse with a PC, but it's a lot easier not too. I can't comprehend why macbooks need so much power to run such a simple[footnote]I can't think of a better way of putting it, I mean low resource.[/footnote] system, and I also hate that, despite the massive price hikes, the quality and customer service are way below par.

Like every non-steam rabid computer gamer, I use windows (currently windows 7) for gaming, it is, without doubt, the most powerful gaming platform. It has the best support for the most cutting edge software (new tech always makes it's far to Windows well before Mac OS, and while it's usually available on linux as well, there isn't much demand for high end, cutting edge hardware on linux systems). So yeah, I have a gaming laptop running windows 7.

I've recently gone to ubuntu for miscellaneous computer tasks (largely because of how segregated windows has become, I need to install seperate browser, office pack, media players etc) and it just suits my nerdy habits of constantly reformatting and re-allocating systems on my desktop better. Outside of specific things that need windows OS[footnote]the same applies to mac OS, however there are differen't specific tasks.[/footnote] (gaming, solidworks etc), I don't understand why people ever bother(ed) with it. Current builds of Ubuntu are far better suited to email/office work (they don't create new version of software that aren't backwards compatible, they aren't good for gaming[footnote]read distracting for workers.[/footnote], it's less susceptible to viruses[footnote]as the OP said, you have to be somewhat uninformed to get many anyway.[/footnote] and most importantly, it's free![footnote]there's a very real chance I'm overusing these things.[/footnote]

 

[viranimus]

Hrm.

Ok trying to stuff my general hatred for apples motif of "all your paying for is marketing" or the "irony of what apple became since their 1984 commercial" in a box to give honest and fair comparisons here, and thats no easy task personally.

At the end of the day you sit down to two equally built machines sure there will be differences such as price, and thematic stylization differences between the OS (third wheel anyone?) In essence your going to get similar exps out of both machines.

For me, it is PC. the file architecture is more logical and capable of manipulations. Another factor is pervasiveness. The sheer number of PCs vs macs makes sticking with PCs more logical for me. For example I have a PC, everywhere I have worked has had PCs, My school has PCs, Librarys have PCs, so it makes things like moving data via flashdrives and other things easier. For example a nice thing is being able to install a game onto a flash drive, then being able to play that game basically anywhere there is a PC capable of meeting the system specs.

Another issue related to pervasiveness on the software side is like for example school. When submitting work to a class online, professors generally want it in a MS office compatible file. Its not to say it cant be converted to a compatible file, but thats just one less task that has to be completed.

I do conceed that Macs have some advantages too, like having so much support. There are aggravating times trying to track down obscure drivers, that from what I have seen in using Mac you simply dont have to deal with. Along with thing like security updates, fixes, ect it definitely has the potential to make the day to day usage a more streamlined process. Also, Macs do have the potential to actually be very good for gaming simply because of standardization of hardware. Has to be easier for the player to look and see if you can play a game just by checking the series of Mac, which in turn makes it more like a console platform. Opposed to the murky gray area that is PCs in having infinite possibility in infinite variation.

But between the money factor, the less restrictive and overprotective nature of the PC, its accessibility due to unbelievable prevalence I personally would have to go with a PC every time over a Mac. Not to say its bad, but for me its all about freedom to do with the box exactly what you want. In my eyes, freedom is good.

 

[mjc0961]

I use Windows for two reasons:
1. It does everything I've ever needed and hasn't made me want to switch to Mac OS, and Mac OS hasn't made me want to switch either by having some uber awesome thing that Windows doesn't do.
2. http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac?mco=OTY2ODQxNg Seriously, Apple needs to get over their "our logo on the device means we can charge way more than its worth" phase. Sure it works on people who love Apple to death and will buy anything with that logo on it, but it's not so good for getting new customers.

Also, Apple's advertising campaigns generally just piss me off because they spend more time bashing on Windows than they do actually telling us about their product, and when a company pisses you off you really don't feel like giving them money.

 

[Daveman]

I got a PC. It does everything I ever want it to do and plays all games I put on it. If I had bought a Mac as good as it, it would have cost probably twice as much. In fact what I wanted was a Laptop with a big screen. 17" is about as big as you'll get. I got a Laptop for about £500. The nearest thing I found for a Mac was a 17" Macbook pro. According to apple it starts at $2299 which is about £1500 so in this case it's actually abut 3 times as much. Regardless what people say about Macs (that they're great, virus free, fast, reliable and even getting some games to play on them) they are always too expensive.

 

[erztez]

PCs for me, be it *NIX or Windows, Macs are WAY overpriced. Seriously, I just went on the online Apple store and build the most expensive rig I could...comes to about 17k(software not included) and my current 3k PC gaming rig would rip it to shreds in just about any test imaginable ('cept maybe straight-up CPU power, its 2 6-core CPUs vs. my 1 6-core, but let's face it, I could get a xeon compatible board and the two processors and STILL come off way cheaper then a Mac). Also, my case looks WAY better then a Mac

Other than ease of use, I see no reason why anyone should ever buy a Mac, and even that can be avoided by using a decent Linux distro - like Ubuntu.
Also, ease of use is overrated, any time something actually craps out with a Mac, you're pretty much screwed, whether you are just seeing a computer for the first time or an absolute pro. I prefer my computers not just user-friendly, but also professional-friendly

Edit: Also, what the HELL is up with Apples selection of Gfx cards? You get a choice between a 5770 and a 5870? REALLY? Either of my 5970s, which I got for about the same price as the 5870 they're offering, would like a word with Apple in that corner over there.

Just to temper the blow a bit, iPods are great, not iPhones, iPods. Remember the distinction.
iPod touch: Great music player/book reader
iPhone: same as above, only bigger, more expensive and with a phone function that doesn't work right most of the time. For double the price.

 

[Edorf]

I'm looking forward to be able to participate more activly in this discussion next week, when I've got my damn mac (ordered it from the school and they're constantly delaying it).

I gotta say though, I'm a PC fan and I always dispised Mac before!

To all you people saying "mac is too expensive" - Well, I agree with you, but that is the point... It's called marketing. Apple wants their products to cost you more money, they want their products to be exclusive. They dont want all the scums to run around with one. Apple products have become a status symbol.

 

[RockyH]

macs r gay lololol

Ha! The only thing better than a troll is someone who is sarcasticly being a troll!

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Pcs ahve a wider range of games and they are like the xbox 360 of computers for me.
As it stands why not buy an acer aspire 1?

 

[erztez]

Apple products have become a status symbol.

So was owning slaves, back in the day...
Not a good idea then or now.
Just saying.
Also, only people who own Macs will look at you as anything other then a tool, thus defeating the whole point of a status symbol
And, owning a Mac doesn't get you laid any more than owning a PC.
Buy a PC and spend the rest of the cash on women of ill repute and illegal substances. You'll be much happier overall

 

[Tim_Buoy]

i actually use both but i mostly stick to pc and the differences are starting to not matter anymore as for macs i like them because they have good editing software