PC or Apple Mac

[snodog]

I'm off to the US in the autumn for 7 months (6 months if the Dept of Homeland Security are reading this).

One of the things that I'l be buying to make home life easier over there is a computer of some description.

I've fallen heir to my current PC which is fine, it works most of the time and only freezes when I really need it to do something important.

I'm a non techie - I want it to switch on and work and do normal computer things - email, Word, spreadsheets, my website, some photo stuff, general surfing and the odd game or two.

Any strong feelings towards either Apple or "regular"

 

[richie]

You are going to get a lot of people going with this one...

Bottom dollar is PC are as good if not better than MAC these days in that our friend Bill has sown the market up good and proper. Any device you buy will be compatible PC but not neceserily MAc. So if you currently are already using a pC buy another PC. If you have already a Mac get a mac.

Why, coz even asa non techie you already know how to use what you've got, so stick with it.

Garmin and Polar for example make stuff which is 100% compatible with PC and not really with MAC. Why coz they don't care about 2% of the computer market thats why.

Macs are great I hear. But if you have not heard so are PC...

 

[cookie]

and the odd game or two.

PC it is then.

unless you want to play some odd games

 

[paul thompson]

I love my g4 mac, but, as richie says, uncle bill has sown the market up good and proper, and it is frutrating not being able to buy a mac compatable gps. Hopefully the long rumoured tie up between sony and apple will break that 2% of the market. Or not, if microsoft have any thing to do with it.

 

[Andy80F]

Buy a PC, they are more interesting and provide more to talk about when in the company of other computer users.

Having just ordered a G4 12" Powerboko I'll be the billy-no-mates in the corner again

If I had started with PC's I'd stick with them and though Mac OSX may well be a little easier at first there is little to choose between systems once the initial learning curve is passed. However owning a Mac tends to get under your skin, you feel different in a world of blandness and there is a sort of pride of ownership that the PC does not seem to give. The "Think Different" ethos of Apple is probably only advertising hype but it suits my personality.

 

[paul thompson]

Andy, You have a mac and a bmw. we are a strange breed...

 

[Heston Service]

I love my mac, it looks cool, does what I need in a beutifully elegant way and seems to think the way I do.

On the rare occasions that I need to touch a pc they seem clunky and ugly.

Maybe looks, design and elegance matter more to me than most people?

Anyway ... myths debunked here with propoganda http://www.apple.com/switch/

 

[ncoutts]

I use PCs, and they work well enough these days, but I have a relationship with my Mac. It understands me better.

Maybe its a bit like GS or Honda Varado (or what ever its called). Sure they are both motorbikes but.... Its the character thing.

But the GPS thing is a real downer. The interface to the Streetpilot MUST be the worst in the world of computing. If only MAC made a GPS.

Norman

 

[DavidHolmes]

My wife bought me a lovely Sony Vaio PC for my birthday last December - luckily it broke within weeks, and I got to exchange it for an iMac.

Two days ago her firm sent her a new laptop (she had requested a new battery for her 4 year old Dell).
She rang them up and told them to take it back, she wanted a PowerBook...

Not as good as my old Acorns were mind....

 

[Beemer Bob]

My next comp will be a mac G5.

 

[snodog]

not that much further forward - even the MAC guys seem to be saying buy a PC.......

 

[Andy80F]

Buying a Mac is a personal choice, I would be loathed to buy anything else, computing would be less fun. However advising someone else to buy what is my choice is difficult. For me Apple make better, faster and more desirable computers that also have an individualistic edge. You may care not a jot about those qualities and have other criteria and might well be someone happier following the crowd.

If money is your only consideration then the PC is the computer of choice, they are cheaper. If you value quality, pride of ownership (Apple users can be a bit of a smug bunch) and view style as an important part of computer ownership the buy an Apple.

 

[Alte Wolf]

Hi Snodog,

Being a confirmed and somewhat qualified PC user but having '1' friend who 'does the Apple Mac thingy!' I have to concede.
Apple Macs are NOT under anything like the same attack from worms and viruses as PCs.
It seems every worm/trojan/virus writer on planet earth has decided he wants to give uncle Bill/Microsoft a bloody nose.

Hope this doesn't confuse, also Macs are preferred by most professionals for graphics work.

Regards, Alte.

But hey you own a GS Adv, why not be different!

 

[DavidHolmes]

not that much further forward - even the MAC guys seem to be saying buy a PC.......

Its kinda like 'if you have to ask, you dont want one'.....

 

[Roger]

Mac Vs. PC

I've been using Macs for 18 years now and have few crashes or other operating system problems with OSX; however, I also have a PC laptop which I take with me on my travels, not a bad machine and Windoze XP was a vast improvement; it still took me over an hour to set up my PC for broadband use Vs. 2 minutes for the Mac. Personally, I much prefer using the Mac to a PC but if I had only used a PC I would buy PC. The iPod has fewer problems communicating with iTunes on a PC than it does with a Mac! I have encountered other Mac problems, i.e. accessing some online banks and posting Photos onto this site; Any Mac owners out there got similar problems or tips please e-mail me.

 

[Andy80F]

New Powerbook arrived on Wednesday, with a little bit of extra RAM from Crucial and a film scanner from Ace Cameras in Bath (excellent service). The set-up has been flawless. Yesterday I went to the local Mac User Group meet (Wessex Apple Mac User Group or WAG's) and was able to confidantly show the system working complete with film taken on Saturday at the Wimborne Folk Festival, the film having been home processed, and also see what others do with thier machines. I don't know if PC users have this sort of friendly community but it is reminiscant of the GS community and adds to the ownership experience. It also shows that I have too many expensive hobbies competing for my time, and money.