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Mac or PC?

Which do you use?

  • PC

    Votes: 86 67.2%
  • Mac

    Votes: 40 31.3%
  • Other

    Votes: 2 1.6%

I really like the Mac's 'ease of use' factor, but until a Mac can give me the versatility of a PC with regard to hardware customization, I'll never own one.

Actually since the switch to the intel platform, you can build your own mac.

InsanelyMac Forum -> Buying Thoughts, Reviews, and Recommendations

You can't do it with the full range of PC hardware and it can involve a lot of work to make it work, but if you really like to pick your own components you can do it and I have done it.

I use a PC because I enjoy gaming and the occasional multi-button mouse.

You do realize macs have been shipping with multi button mice for several years now and you could always use multi-button mice with macs.
 

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Reveille, I don't know what exactly you plan to do with that computer, but I would seriously reconsider that choice or at least make dead sure that this has exactly what you want/need before putting down that much money (ok it also includes a TV, but still ;)).

Bye
Thanee
 

Reveille, I don't know what exactly you plan to do with that computer, but I would seriously reconsider that choice or at least make dead sure that this has exactly what you want/need before putting down that much money (ok it also includes a TV, but still ;)).

Bye
Thanee

Basically I want a computer that I can use to capture/edit video, burn bd-hd discs and basically have a system tha'll last me at least another 5-6 years.

Why, is there something I should know about it?
 

Basically I want a computer that I can use to capture/edit video, burn bd-hd discs and basically have a system tha'll last me at least another 5-6 years.

Why, is there something I should know about it?

Well, I don't know how much money you have lying around, it's just that this computer is fairly expensive. ;)

For video editing, I can understand some of the choices (i.e. the expensive CPU and lots of DDR3 RAM)... it just seems a bit weird to have such an expensive computer with only a moderate video card, for example (I'm not sure what video card is specifically useful for video editing, or if there is such a thing, though), or only a single hard disk (no RAID; isn't HDD access speed also an issue with video editing? And if you are writing/deleting a lot on the HDD, which I would expect, I would want to have a seperate one for that, and not use the same HDD that has the OS on it or your valuable personal files).

And I would generally question the use of 64bit Vista, though the advantage of having more RAM is surely tempting and probably useful for the video editing at least, since there might still be some incompatibility/driver issues with 64bit Vista, that might become quite a PITA, while currently it offers only a marginal advantage (only the bigger address space, so more RAM can be used; but for most applications 3-4GB are more than enough), since pretty much all software is still 32bit. BTW, is the OS the full price one or the way cheaper System Builder / OEM version? And why "only" Home Premium and not Ultimate? ;)

Also, is the motherboard you get in that computer specified? For that price it should better be among the best available on the market.

Then, McAffee isn't considered one of the best anti-malware solutions, AFAIK (it's no Norton, which should be considerd Malware by itself, but still). I don't know the price tags on some of the other extra services you selected, so it's hard to say anything specific... for example the 1 year online data storage sounds a bit weird to me (unless it's really cheap, like $10 or so)... can't you just get your own webspace and .htacess it for (way more) protected storage space and tons of other possibilities?

All in all, I wouldn't be surprised, if you could get a computer for half the price, that does everything you need, leaving you with another computer in three years for the remaining money, that is about twice as powerful as this one. ;)

Anyways, mostly I'm saying that, before you buy a computer with that price tag, you should really have considered your options and choices and thoroughly thought it through (which you could very well have done already, I cannot say that and am not implying that you did not :)).

Bye
Thanee
 

Actually since the switch to the intel platform, you can build your own mac.

If you are ever going to go Mac this would be the only way I would recommend it. OSX is not a bad OS but the hardware is disproportionately bad in comparison to a standard PC build.

In the IT group I am helping run now we have just over a 1000 systems with about a quarter Apples and the rest Dells (with a few off brand PCs as well). About 150 of them are laptops with the same distribution between Dells and Apples. In the end of the year report we are compiling right now 52% of all hardware repairs were for the Apples. Most were from overheated systems or flaky screens, 43% of the Apple laptops have been sent back to Apple for repairs at least once in the last 3 years. Roughly 13% of the Dell laptops were repaired (on site) by Dell in the last 3 years. None of that covers and battery recalls.

I don’t know what the hell they do when they put those things together but the quality control at Apple is miserable, and certainly not worth the 25% premium we have to pay for them.

Oh and the software issues we dealt with followed the breakdown of the systems almost perfectly 23% OSX, 51% XP/Vista and the rest Linux.

One thing that really gets my goat with Mac people is they seem to not blame Apple for a hardware defect. They just throw it away and happily march off to buy another one. If you are going to buy one at least pay for the warranty… you will use it.
 

I started on a PC. I switched to a Linux box after Windows Me. I got a Mac two computers ago, and I have never regretted it. No problems ever. They just work.

As for the previous comment, my med school class has 200 people in it. It runs just over 50% Mac (we require laptops in the classroom). The only problems that I have heard of have been with IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads. Every one that started in our class has died with no possibility of resurection. This was about 30 PCs. Every one has been replaced with a Mac, and I have not heard any complaints from anyone about them.

That being said, the Macs do seem to get hot, but I haven't heard of any malfunctioning because of it.
 

4 pcs

I've got four computers, all of them PCs.

One laptop for business use, one PC to be my firewall computer, one PC for online gaming and one PC as part of my entertainment center.
 

PC. I've never actually seen OSX. That's how far removed from Macs I am -- I don't even know anyone who knows someone who owns one. Okay, I know one friend-of-a-friend who's a Mac enthusiast, but he lives halfway across the state. I've heard good things about OSX, and would like to get a look at it, but I haven't been able to.

It's unlikely that I'd switch, given that I found the old (mid-1990s) Mac OS to be somewhat less fun to use than DOS and I can't believe they didn't retain anything, but you never know.
 

PC here. It's what I grew up on, and I enjoy computer games so I never really considered switching.

Plus I work for a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner company (partner of the year at least once), and if I were to be caught with any sort of Mac at work they'd lynch me. I have to hide my iPod. Heck, when I eat a Macintosh apple I get looked at funny. (Okay, I'm exaggerating a little, but seriously the company I work for is very Microsoft-centric and I'd probably get made fun of at the least for owning a Mac. My boss really did see me listening to my iPod on my way out of the office a few months ago and he not-so-subtly suggested that I try a Zune instead. :confused:)

My sister switched to Mac a while ago and loves it. Like TheLe said, I think that different types of computers work well for different people. Macs and PCs are each superior at different things. (Don't tell my employer I said that! :angel:)
 

Into the Woods

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