PC or Mac?

[vtrdaz]

My PC is currently at deaths door - so it's time for a new one.

 

Has anybody on here gone from PC to Mac? - just wondering what the plus/negatives are (apart from macs being more expensive!) - it'll be used for general stuff - music , photoshop, internet - no gaming.

 

Are macs as good as others say?

 

Cheers

 

Darren

[twchambers]

I would suggest you try and find one to have a go on for a while. I used a mac for a while on a research trip and didn't get on with it, though I am able to appreciate how good they are for those who do like them. Personally have been using Linux for a couple of years now. I know for sure its not for everyone, but not entirely the dark art people believe it is.

[GaRRy]

Done just that

 

So far enjoying the mac book experience although no denying its different

 

Did for a number of reasons

 

A worked with windows for 18+ years ( and still do) and fancied a change just for hel of it

 

B have iphone and ipad and like the cloud integration (auto synching of stuff across all 3

 

C wanted a decent size screen laptop but as small and light as possible due to commute and 13 inch mac book air fits bill and with those criteria the mac was as cheap if not cheaper than alternatives ( altough expensive for what it is)

 

Never been a windows/mac/unix is best fan boy have used and work with them all and they all have their pros and cons so suggest you go to nearest apple store and have a good play to see if you like the mac way

[Dragnfly]

Why not just buy one online from apple store, use it a few weeks to see if you like it, and return it quibble free if you don't.

[mkratty]

i made the leap a couple of years ago and haven't looked back . the only problems is that at first you think what have i done ! you do find things operate different . but after a few months things clicked into place and i now prefer using my mac than a windows machine .

 

for : everything works really easy and is easy to set up

 

against : learning that software sometimes does things because you still think like a windows user

[The Geoff]

Yeah, there's a learning curve involved, so expect the first few weeks to be frustrating at times. In the end though, things are simpler with Macs. They're more secure, so you don't have to get bogged down with malware applications and the like, and the fact that the hardware and software are designed to work together makes them generally quicker and much more stable.

 

Is it worth the extra money? That's the big question - you do get a pretty powerful machine, but they are pricey compared to a "bog standard" PC World type machine. For what you want a Mac Mini would do the job, unless you do a lot of Photoshop stuff, in which case you probably want an iMac or one of the very swish ["pro" laptop things - I'm getting a little tired of commercial links being inserted into my posts].

 

The middle ground is Linux - a very similar OS to Apple's, but you can install it on just about any machine. Try Ubuntu on the old and knackered machine and you might be very surprised at what it can still do.

Edited November 11, 2011 by The Geoff

[BlownAway]

Mac! Simples!

[zimmer]

Mac! Simples!

 

Excellent. I shall run along and buy one now

[Hillside]

Been a Mac convertee for 2 1/2 years. Got fed up with the constant updating and unreliablity of Windows. So after much soul searching took the plunge and bought a Mac Pro. Got it fitted with 32GB RAM and have 12 TB hd space as RAID 5 and a 30" Mac Cinema display.

Yes, there is a learning curve associated with any OS, but it won't take long to get into Mac mode.

Macs are dear, but there is a difference between cost and price.

[Dragnfly]

32gb ram and 13tb hard drive!! Do you work for NASA or something?

[vtrdaz]

thanks for the feedback chaps - do macs tend to last longer before they need replacing? - in that i mean do they slow down as much as pc's after 4 or 5 years or is performance pretty constant?

 

Cheers

 

Darren

[sp4rky-m4rky]

I seem to be the only one that doesnt like apple? I have used macs a fair amount and still do not see the appeal. I will admit that in some cases they are better but they are not the magical thing that everyone makes them out to be. To me they are more of a status symbol and the people that buy them are just kidding themselves, trying to justify the money they have spent. They do slow up and have problems and they are not so much faster than pcs. Yes you will learn to use macs OS but in my opinion its more learning to put up with it. At least windows actually lets you do what you want instead of just making everything look pretty. All the people that say windows copied apple, they may have but they only copied the good bits. And now with the increasing popularity of macs it wont be long until they fall victim to the same fate as PCs, when more and more virus's and malware are developed for apple operating systems.

 

I would say save your money, get a PC. Easy to upgrade it and add hard drives or whatever (because they actually let you in) and just format it if things start to slow up.

[rtz]

I used and built my own PC's since the DOS 486 DX 33mhz days. Ran all MS OS's from DOS to Win7. Even used Linux some during the mega hype days around 2000 or 2001 when it was finally supposedly "good enough".

 

My current and last PC was dying(hardware issue).

 

The operating system though. Any of them. Pure bullocks. Awful and atrocious. What a piece of crap. XP/Vista/7. So bad I had to leave the platform.

 

Picked up a Mac Mini for ~$500. Never looked back.

 

In my MS days; I either couldn't afford a Mac or it wouldn't run what I needed it too. Back then, I played all the FPS games. Had to have a PC for it.

 

I don't play games now. So the Mac meets all my needs. Silent little box; runs perfect. Had this thing for a few years now.

 

Unless you have some app that you have to have; that will keep you on the PC platform. If you hate the OS; abandon it.

[Dragnfly]

Windows7 seems pretty nice to me.

[The Geoff]

At least windows actually lets you do what you want instead of just making everything look pretty.

 

Oh, you've got a fight on your hands with that one

 

In my experience Windows does nothing but get in your way and use up all the system resources in a vain attempt to cover up its own shortcomings. But that's just me.

 

Proper malware for Macs (and any *nix based system for that matter) is still virtually non-existent. It relies on you downloading a virus or whatever, intentionally running it, and then intentionally giving it the root password. You can't "just get" a virus in the same way you can with Windows.

[Disco_Bison]

I switched to an iMac in July and haven't looked back. It's been a revelation to the point of ditching my wife's Vista based laptop for a Macbook Air as well. With the release of iOS 5 and iCloud everything links together. I can stick something on my iPhone calendar at work and it will pop up on the iPad, her iPhone and both computers. Likewise, any photos I take will show up on the iMac as soon as my iPhone gets onto a wireless connection.

 

I'm happy with it and I'm happy with the cost as well, for me the convenience of having everything integrated and "just working" is worth it

[Trikbitz]

My trout got the Mac book pro wish I had one for sure but takes a while to get into it

[Hillside]

thanks for the feedback chaps - do macs tend to last longer before they need replacing? - in that i mean do they slow down as much as pc's after 4 or 5 years or is performance pretty constant?

 

Cheers

 

Darren

 

Macs do tend to last longer than Windows machines. Yes, of course they slow down after a period of time (all computers do) none you start putting software on them. I have found though that since going over to a mac I tend to be more critical / aware of what software I install. Whereas on Windows I tended to install oodles of so-called utilities, which often enough caused more problems than their worth. There is no registry on a mac to clog up either. If you don't want a program anymore, drag it to the Trash.

A few weeks ago I upgraded to Lion. I made a full system backup using SuperDupa. Did a clean / fresh install of Lion and then restored my data - did it all in less than a morning. Dead easy.

 

Hope this helps.

[Blademeat]

Fwiw, I have always built my own pc,s for audio work and still have one now (lots of dust on it) but I never managed to do any video stuff reliably on a pc. In fact I had a high spec Sony viao laptop running vista, sadly that met its death when I jumped on it in frustration with the constant problems.

 

I had always liked the idea of a mac but was afraid of the price and potentially high learning curve. However I bit the bullet and got a duo core iMac . Having never used a mac before I had created a video and downloaded it to the tube ( had never used you tube before either) within four hours of getting it out the box and setting it up. Ok may have been with I movie but I did it and it worked first time and every tine after that..just so stress free.

 

Now running a 12 core mac pro with adobe premiere and after effects and I don't sit there biting my nails wondering if it will crash before it finishes a render. I actually trust it do do what it says it will do.

 

That said..the pc market tends to have a lot more resources available and support, even with my adobe software, I am getting some minor problems with losing some render previews at the moment but that I believe is an adobe bug.

 

You can get windows software on a mac , even windows itself using boot camp so best of both worlds. So it's not that more expensive if you think of it as getting two computers in one. I for one won't be going back to pc for the foreseeable future.

 

On a last note, computers don't slow down with age, it's just that newer software gets more demanding, so you could find a solution that works for you now and never have to change it. That's the best way to get your money's worth..just wish I could follow my own advice on that lol.

 

Hope that helps.

[redherring]

i feel the urge to throw my laptop with vista and the wifes newish notepad with windows 7 out of the window almost daily. dont get me started on the pc.

 

id love to try a mac and ditch windows.

[vtrdaz]

Hello chaps ,

Well i think we've pretty much decided to go mac - we had a play with one at the weekend for an hour and loved it! - smooth , uncluttered and quite intuitive really - now to decide which one to go for!!

 

Cheers

 

Darren

[BlownAway]

Like my first post....

Mac! Simples!

 

lol....

[Blademeat]

Hello chaps ,

Well i think we've pretty much decided to go mac - we had a play with one at the weekend for an hour and loved it! - smooth , uncluttered and quite intuitive really - now to decide which one to go for!!

 

Cheers

 

Darren

You won't regret it, go for an iMac as a first timer with the best CPU you can afford and load it with memory (though you don't have to do the memory straight away but you will be stuck with the cpu as it can be done very easily at a later date )

 

Plug it in, wait 30 seconds and go. Lots of fairly high end guys n girls use a iMac. A little limited on upgrades maybe but some can be done, googles your mate on that one. If you want more disk space then go FireWire or thunderbolt, you will get hooked they work. Not wanting to slag off pc,s this is purely my opinion, hey the pc market had me for long enough.

 

Dave.

[The Geoff]

Macs are PCs...

 

Remember that a Mac will also run Windows, Linux, Solaris and just about anything else, so even if you don't like OSX you can run something else. I once had a Mac running OSX with a virtual box running Linux with a virtual box running Windows which was emulating an Atari ST. Why? Hell, why not.

[vtrdaz]

Thanks for all your veiws chaps! - much appreciated.

 

Darren