[ibanez_dude]

i have to buy a laptop in like 6-9 months, and i would love a solid logical fact-based anaylsis of why (according to some people) i really should choose a Mac, cause everyone i know is telling me, "mac's are so much better." even just pointing me to a link somewhere would be great.

james

[Ryan Freeland]

Originally Posted by ibanez_dude

i have to buy a laptop in like 6-9 months, and i would love a solid logical fact-based anaylsis of why (according to some people) i really should choose a Mac, cause everyone i know is telling me, "mac's are so much better." even just pointing me to a link somewhere would be great.

james

Let's start off with this page.

[bobthecockroach]

Yeah, no chance Apple would exaggerate the reliability...

[JerryLove]

Reasons to buy a MAC laptop:
1. The laptop itself was so cool you needed it (apple does have some nice designs)
2. You wanted to run OSX or an application that only runs under OSX.

Reasons to by a non-Mac laptop:
1. The laptop itself was so cool you needed it (or some feature of it was).
2. It was cheaper

I'm not sure if you can point to the OS as a reason to buy a non-Mac laptop unless the OS in question would not run under bootcamp.

[ApparentlyNothing]

Originally Posted by ibanez_dude

i have to buy a laptop in like 6-9 months, and i would love a solid logical fact-based anaylsis of why (according to some people) i really should choose a Mac, cause everyone i know is telling me, "mac's are so much better." even just pointing me to a link somewhere would be great.

james

Macs are all about ease of use and bettering the general user experience. If you want to customize out the wazoo, a PC with Linux is what you want, as a PC will be easier to replace or upgrade pieces of hardware*, and Linux is the most customizable OS if you know what you're doing. If you want stylish hardware and aren't looking too much for being able to replace or add hardware, a Mac would be great, plus you get OS X to mess with, and if you've never experienced OS X, you should. Then just use Boot Camp to load Windows or install Linux if you'd like, or decide you really don't need any other OS besides OS X. What I love about Macs with OS X is how integrated the software is with the hardware. I've had problems with my Dell Laptop and had to reinstall Windows, installed several different distros of Linux, and every time I have to worry about drivers. Right out of the box, or even if you ever have to reinstall OS X (though the general user never will), the Mac works with OS X without any additional drivers needed to load again. Like it's been said, it just works, hassle free. Sure, no OS is perfect, and a PC with Windows may fit what you want to do more (which, by the way, you should probably explain what you want to do with this laptop). There's nothing wrong with them. You should really just go down to an Apple store and test drive a Mac to see how you like it. Get an employee to show you all the cool features. If you don't like it, then go with a PC.

* The new Mac Pros are surprisingly customizable, but it's a pro level desktop computer, and you're interested in a laptop. To Apple's credit, their new MacBooks have easily replaceable hard drives and RAM, where most Macs usually only give you easy access to RAM.

[nbfan]

Originally Posted by ibanez_dude

i have to buy a laptop in like 6-9 months, and i would love a solid logical fact-based anaylsis of why (according to some people) i really should choose a Mac, cause everyone i know is telling me, "mac's are so much better." even just pointing me to a link somewhere would be great.

james

Mac: Very user-friendly, comes with every program you could possibly need and then some. On the expensive side.

PC. Not as user-friendly as Macs, doesn't come with all the programs you could ever want like Mac. Not as expensive.


My preference: PC.

As a side note, if you have seen the new Mac ads that do more to make fun of PC's than promote Macs, that should be enough make you lose your respect for Apple, as it did me. If you find yourself liking Mac laptops better you can always run Windows or Linux on it.

[Ryan Freeland]

Originally Posted by nbfan

Mac: Very user-friendly, comes with every program you could possibly need and then some. On the expensive side.

PC. Not as user-friendly as Macs, doesn't come with all the programs you could ever want like Mac. Not as expensive.


My preference: PC.

As a side note, if you have seen the new Mac ads that do more to make fun of PC's than promote Macs, that should be enough make you lose your respect for Apple, as it did me. If you find yourself liking Mac laptops better you can always run Windows or Linux on it.

You can add to PC: crashes, can be slow at times, software is outdated.

[tht00]

I'm not huge into Macs, mainly because I got into Linux. Otherwise, I probably would have just ordered a Macbook... instead I ordered a Dell e1505 (with the intent on putting Ubuntu Linux on it).

If you are technically inclined at all, like to tweak computers, and don't mind learning some stuff, Linux would probably be a good OS for you to try. It's the most customizable OS by far (appearance and inner workings).

With Linux, it can be fairly simple to dual-boot (or tri-boot) several OSes. I plan on (eventually) reinstalling Windows and dual booting XP and Ubuntu. I really haven't had the need to use Windows at all this summer (though, it's coming back simply for game compatability).

Windows - susceptable to malware (viruses/spyware/etc). Can become slow, unstable with time. Has mainstream (but non-free) software written for it. Only 'good' computer gaming platform at the moment.

Mac - cool hardware. OS is stable, reliable, and user-friendly (and looks great). Some commercial games being ported to it.

Linux - free (not sold and open source). Tons of free software to go with it -- some compatability issues, but can be easilly worked around with some knowledge. Customizable. Addictive. Few commercial games have been ported to it (ie Doom3). Some decent open source gaming. Some games can be run sucessfully through an emulation layer (Wine/Cedega).

[nbfan]

Originally Posted by Building429_Boy

You can add to PC: crashes, can be slow at times, software is outdated.

Sorry, but you can't say that Macs don't crash. I didn't put that on either because I thought it was a known fact that ALL computers crash once in a while. And, yes, PC's have their slow moments. Just be glad that for once I made a somewhat biased statement on this issue.

[SoapbarII]

I have owned an iBook G4 and I now have a PowerBook G4, 1.5 GHz PowerPC. You have my recommendation for the iBook...or more recently, if you really want the camera, the MacBook.

www.gainsaver.com for older models, iBook is still #1 in my book.

Getting a PC and a Mac standard the only difference is the interface of the OS... They run about the same speed...the mac may be noticeably faster in some areas but not by much.

Upgrading the RAM is will turn your mac into a speed monster. I have not experienced anything as good as a mac with 768 MB of ram or more. Mine has 512...i bought it used...I'll be upgrading to 1GB soon.

Good luck.


P.S. If you ever want a desktop, the mac mini is nice...but the Mac Pro....holy crap...theres no delay except for the click.

[Reuben]

Originally Posted by nbfan

Sorry, but you can't say that Macs don't crash.

My Mac hasn't crashed.

oops, I said it.

~Reuben

[nbfan]

Originally Posted by Reuben

My Mac hasn't crashed.

oops, I said it.

~Reuben

I have run a Mac that crashed while using Safari.

[PatrickStar4491]

I don't know about you, but my Windows XP installation hasn't totally crashed in a while. Sure, I've had to terminate programs manually, but never hard-reboot. I've had just as many problems with software on Macs. It really depends on what software you use. Pagemaker and AppleWorks are two apps I've had a lot of trouble with on Macs.

On a pro-mac side, Macs do have a big advantage of hardware compatibility. Drivers are something you don't have to worry about. The OS and hardware are designed together and work seamlessly.

[RipVanWinkle]

Originally Posted by nbfan

Sorry, but you can't say that Macs don't crash. I didn't put that on either because I thought it was a known fact that ALL computers crash once in a while. And, yes, PC's have their slow moments. Just be glad that for once I made a somewhat biased statement on this issue.

This is true.

I know Ive said this before, but I work for a BIG school district. We have LOTS of macs...as a matter of fact, our district is the 2nd largest purchaser of apple computers in the nation, and our tech "office" is the largest non-apple owned repair site (for apple's) in the world.

Whlie it has been rare, I have seen apples crash, and even give the equivilant to the Blue Screen Of Death. I used to be a PC snob, but here latley, I have had my eyes opened...not enough to actually buy an apple of my own...but to definently consider it sometime.

I tend to think about this argument in terms of cost. Let me say, first of all, that any laptop is pretty set (hardware wise)...so my words arent really taking laptops into consideration.

A good mac will run you a good 1300 or more. You can get a complete PC for much less. Now, this is more in the business world, and our district buys in bulk, so to speak...but we have companies basically bid on the opportunity to sell us computers. The cheapest we ever get macs is around $1100. But, the lowest we get a complete PC is around $600-700....so right off the bat, they cost more.

If you are going the route of a diy computer, forget a mac. Some things are upgradeable, but for the most part, you get what you get (moreso in the all-in-one styles...certain iMacs and all *discontinued* eMacs)...but with a PC...especially one you build yourself, you can always upgrade it. Now, I spend around $100 a year upgrading my computer, and I have a computer that while not cutting edge, would have been a year and a half ago.

Erm...Ive typed too long, and kind of forgot where I was going so....[/end thought

[nbfan]

Another side note: If you plan on running MSN Messenger on OS X, skip it. That's all I'll say.