microsoft vs mac

[arkienurse]

I am daydreaming of a new computer. I am intrigued by the macintosh ads. I know they make the ipods and iphones that everyone is getting. So I wonder, do any of you have a mac computer. If you do do you like it better than the microsoft based computers?

And that is what I will be spending the"rebate" on if we get it. If not, I guess I will be saving for it and might have one by Christmas.

[kl030505]

we had a MAC and my husband LOVES it. It took me a while to get used to it because I have been on a PC for a really long time, but eventually I did enjoy it. It's sometimes harder to find programs for MACs, but that is really the only drawback. The fact that they don't get viruses and whatnot is a HUGE bonus. Our laptop died (hardware problems), and we couldn't afford a new computer, so we got a hand me down from a friend which was a PC and my husband can not wait till this one dies and we can afford another one so we can go back to MAC.

[kl030505]

also, if you go through apple.com they have an education discount, so if anyone is a student or teacher in your family you can get a slight discount.

[cbass1017]

PC to Mac

I was also considering purchasing a Mac. I've had a PC for a long time and I think I'm ready for a change. Does anyone know if all of my hardware(digital camera, printer, mp3 player) will work with the mac as well?

[robivi3]

I have always wanted a MAC, it is a money issue, one day I'll have a PC and a MAC.

[coma]

Mac...much more user friendly and pretty to look at I love my Mac and wouldn't buy another PC for anything. My husband was against it, because of the game issue, but we have the software that runs windows alongside leopard, so he can still play games.

[HHM]

This is a big debate that cannot be solved here, but the answer as to which is best for you , depends on how you use your computer.

If you mainly browse the web, use e-mail, and basic stuff like that, a PC is more cost effective (Mac's, after all, are fairly expensive relative to PC's).

Also, you can't really upgrade Mac's short of buying a new one. Of course, whether that matters to you or not, depends on how hardware savvy you are.

If you are gamer, again, PC's are the better choice (some game titles do support MAC, but the games tend to be a little more expensive and there are not as many titles for MAC as their is for PC). But as the previous poster said, there is an application that will run a window's PC environment on a MAC.

[Cali]

I agree with HHM, it depends on what you like and are looking for.

I have Apple everything but my laptop. I love my Sony Vaio and can't see giving it up for a Mac.

My sister loves her mac and hasn't had any problems with it.

[arkienurse]

Thanks for the advice. I don't play a lot of games, But I do lots of email, newsgroups, and internet browsing. I balance my checkbook by my computer(MSMoney- ohh, bet that won't work on a Mac huh). I also do a fair number of spreadsheet type things for work, and letter writing, flyers, etc.

So maybe for what I need it for, a Mac may be overpriced.

[robivi3]

That is my issiue, I typically do afew upgrades and have built several systems. Right now I am running Compaqs, mine is AMD 64 (my preferance is AMD). 2GB Ram and an
X300SE 256 meg ATI card. I mainly use it for Music, photos and running FP2003. And of course surfing. The kids have upgraded Celeron's, all are about one year old. I have always had excellent service from my HP/Compaqs since the first two in 1999. Some people don't like Compaq, I do. Not gonna debate that, HP and Compaq have been great for me. Also, Scanner/Printers are all Epson and have internal and external DVD Burners, both Samsung, thiose things are all by preference. 200 GB HD is Western Digital (prefer Maxtor).

But a MAC would be "the MAC"!

[DebtorDan]

Well, I am a long time Mac user, who just bought my first windows Pc in over 22 years of computing. I did it because I needed a laptop and needed to run a few Windows only programs, and the price of a copy of xp or vista on top of the "premium" for the mac, came to a 400-600 price difference. Even though I prefer the mac, I just couldn't justify the price difference on "preference" alone, not with my new all-cash orientation. It's become harder to just rationalize away blowing extra money.

Our other computer is a mac and it has a copy of xp on it, which runs beautifully with vm fusionware, a program that lets you have the mac os and the pc os up and running at the same time. I liked the vm much better than parallels that also lets you do pretty much the same thing. the vm just worked better for me.

I think the apple build quality is much better and more solid than the windows machines. at least the ones in the 700-900 range.
but processing power and memory, hard drive size, etc. the pcs were just less expensive.

I am pretty happy with the sony vaio that i got. it has a chiclet keyboard much like the macbooks/macbook air. it is white like the apple products, so it "looks" similar. and i've been able to do pretty much everything i want to do. but the mac "just works" whereas I've had to fiddle with settings and there's been much more of a learning curve with my new machine.

anyway, just wanted to share my experience. macs are nice. if you have the extra $$ to afford one, i would go for it. if, not,
you'll get by. just not quite as "beautifully."

[southernbelle]

I am a die hard Mac user. I have a Mac story that makes me a Mac fan forever. I switched over to using Mac's about 5 years ago and love it!!! My first laptop was purchased for $800 off eBay. Pulled it out of the box and it was up and running!!! I accidently placed to much weight on the top of the closed computer and messed up the monitor. Since I was not the original owner and didn't have receipts, etc. I was concerned about he cost of repairs.

I took it to a local Mac repair shop and they pulled up the serial number for the machine and told me that Mac would repair that particular laptop's monitor for free. Yippie I thought so I had them to send it off to Apple. Apple received and repaired it, but on it's way to the DHL shipping office, it disappeared into thin air. Apple could prove they shipped it, but DHL dropped the ball (or in my opinion the driver now has a free computer). Even though it wasn't Apple's fault, they waited until the new model of laptop came out and shipped me a brand new one in the box.

Customer Service like that means I will never switch back to PC's. Not to mention the fact that I never turn it off and run multiple programs at once with no glitches/freezes or anything. I love my Mac and will never use anything else.