TheHunter360

I've owned a PC for years but I've always wanted to try out a Mac. So what are the pros/cons of owning a Mac opposed to a PC and vice versa, and overall which would you prefer?

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R0YAL FITZ

Also like the PS3/360 topics. its mainly preference. i would def choose a mac to do my banking and such mac=no viruses known yet. (99% sure about that)

Ive always have had a pc but ive used a mac plenty of times. i would choose PC for gaming. i dont like vista but i have it. i want xp back but no viruses ...ya right.

my next computer might be a mac. debating this as well

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I have quit my job with Microsoft, and now working for Sony

ItsARandomNinja

I am a PC guy, since I've always wanted to be a PC gamer. Customization is endless. Mac is a nice friendly interface. I also here Macs are better for editing. (someone confirm?)

If I may make my opinion of Apple, I think they should be more focused on computers more, and iStuff less.

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pantstofry

I had a PC and I always thought I didn't really like it. I got a MacBook Pro, fun interface to use, great for editing and runs great, without viruses etc. Looking back though, there are lots of things you can do on Windows. Then again you can run Windows on Mac, if you want to keep your programs that will run with the specs of a Mac.

Macs are just kinda pricey, thats a main deterrent. Worth it, and worth getting AppleCare, because sometimes stuff will go wrong and you can get it replaced for free.

iMac Girl

I've owned Mac's for years. I presently have a an iMac 27", Quad Core i7 2.8 GHz, and 2 MacBook Pro's. Yep they are pricey but you get what you pay for - Quality, and they just work. Mine have never crashed, no virus worries at all, in fact I don't even have virus protection.

I have Parallels Desktop installed which allows me to run Windows if I need to. The only need I've had so far is to run my Splitfish Firmware updater.

No worries about searching for, or installing driver's, no need to defrag, wireless networking is a breeze, and on and on and on and on.

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Pyro

I personally prefer PCs. My sister owns a mac, and I find it incredibly annoying to use in comparison to using my Windows PC. Macs cost more, and can't run as many things. It is true that it is much harder to get a virus on a mac, but it isn't hard to avoid vira on a PC. I've had my current PC for over 5 years, and haven't even needed virus protection. The only reason it ever runs slow now is that programs are starting to require more resources that my computer doesn't have, but I can avoid this by just being smart with what programs I am running.

In summary: Macs are not worth it. Just be smart when using a PC.

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pantstofry

In short, I think a PC is more if you want to do business, and play games. Macs are more for fun, ease of use, safety, and reliability. Plus, everything's integrated, so there's no problems with software or incompatibility.

Just all depends on what your priorities and budget are.

Nibbles

It depends on what Mac you are after Hunter, but I personally do not see any major downside to owning one over a PC. It is basically just a PC on the inside and can run Windows either through virtualisation or you can boot into it natively if you really want to use Windows.

PCs are generally cheaper, but if you compare a like for like of system specs, you will find the cost to be pretty much the same as a PC (when comparing with popular brand PCs prebuilt to the same spec as a Mac). Macs generally have also held a higher resale value over time.

TheHunter360

Right now I have a Dell Inspiron 1525 running on Windows Vista Home Basic. I really don't like the computer and I hate Vista even more. All I want is a fast reliable laptop with a good OS.

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blub212212

And about what people said with Mac & parallels: You can get viruses
My mac has gotten a virus before, but it was because I had windows. Something about the Mac OS prevents it from getting viruses, but Windows opens up the possibility to get viruses.
I would say PC for Gaming, Mac for school-work and other things

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TheHunter360

I don't plan on ever taking up PC gaming so I'm guessing the Mac would be better for me.

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Nibbles

Check Mac Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy Your Mac, iPod or iPhone for product cycle info. The low end Macbooks are all due for a refresh but there have recently been model updates for the high end Macbook Pros.

While it is true that there have historically been fewer attack vectors on a Mac in OS X when compared to Windows (though I have no idea how Windows 7 holds up), it can theoretically get viruses and some have been written and released in controlled environments. But because a virus is designed to spread, it is not in the virus authors interests to release a virus for the less popular platform.

If you are really paranoid you can get antivirus apps for the mac but I honestly wouldn't worry about it.

Olaf Vikingsson

If I was a virus programmer, I'd make a Mac-compatible one simply to fuck with you guys.

EDIT: Stop making shit threads, Hunter.

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TheHunter360

Never!

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HBK

People using PC will say it's better and vice-versa for Mac but anyway, I prefer PC because it's a gaming platform alternative to consoles and my platform of choice, it's more compatible to accessories and most programs, I find it easier to use but that's just because I've used it for longer, there's a broader variety of choices in brands and models and performance. As for security I'm fine with a free AV program, and getting your PC infested with malware is really your fault not the system's.

How do we know ViS isn't one ?

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Pyro

I guess another thing to add is that I don't like Apple, and what they did to other products. They sort of moved backwords from free development, to approved development. For example, I know that when I got my first smartphone (a Palm Treo 650) people across the internet programmed things for it, and lots of them were free. However, with Apple, they have made so many things "Apple only". I really don't want to support them doing that.

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MoleMania

Maybe he IS a virus?

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I Appreciate the Otter

Platy

I've had more problems with Mac's than I have with PC's for uni work.

Also, hate Apple fanboys/girls. They're worse than 360/PS3/PC fanboys.

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Dante

I'd always run a Windows desktop, just because I always intend to be a PC gamer. But i'll shortly be buying a laptop for university and after playing with a friend's MacBook Pro for a while i'm certainly considering getting one, it's jsut nicer to use than the Windows laptops i've used.

I didn't do anything "computer-y" on it, like drivers etc. just normal use, web browsing etc. but I found it fun to use, this may just be down to the novelty factor of playing with a new OS though.

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abc

PC pros vs mac:

Cheaper.
Gaming works very well.
More software.
Windows is familiar (if you go from a PC to a mac you just spend forever moaning that you can't find something that exists in windows but not on a mac [right mouse button for example - lol])

Pros of a mac vs PC:

Looks/sounds cooler.
Can be worked and maintained by dummies.


Other thoughts:

The "mac is better for editting" is an absolutely ridiculous statement. People are comparing a basic mac (which costs £1500) with a basic PC (which costs £350) The basic mac has a 1050/1080p screen. This is better than the 768/900p screen you get with a cheap PC. A basic PC has a slow CPU with a cumbersome OS. A basic mac has a slow/medium CPU with a not-so-cumbersome OS. Any GOOD spec'd windows machine will be faster at editting than a mac. Any PC with a 1050/1080p screen will be as convinient as a mac. A PC with a 1200p screen will be more convinient than a mac with a 1080p screen. You get the point.

So what if you put the sleek & slender mac OS with really fast hardware like you get in a computer? answer = mac pro = £30,000 when a far HIGHER spec pc would cost you £5000 max.

PC gets technology first. At the moment you can get 6 core proccessors in a PC but not a mac. Therefore for editting a top spec PC would have 50% more cores than a top spec mac. This will probably make a difference lol...

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This is getting repetitive.

iMac Girl

Wow! Hate, such emotion! You wouldn't hate me if you knew me

Let's face it, for the most part, PC users love their PC's for what they do with them, and like wise us Mac users like our Macs for what we do with them. The same can be said about the folks who use the XBox or the PS3.

It's no big deal really, I've used PC's since the Commodore Vic20, then a number of years ago I switched to Mac's. Simply put I'm glad I made the change.

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Platy

I mean the extreme fanboys. I have several friends who are, and use every single opportunity to put down Windows. It's just tiresome. Just because you've spent £1500 as much on a machine that operates the same as one you could have bought for half doesn't mean you have the right to go around talking crap. (Not you personally)

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chaR

Thank you Abc for somebody finally pointing out in depth that this whole "mac is better for editing" is complete bullshit.

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Nibbles

You are definitely a hardware guy aren't you?

Songwriting and Movie making on the Mac isn't necessarily any better than on PC these days but not for the reasons you mention. It's all about the software. The Mac has had a history of better software for doing these things. Now days it's pretty much like for like on both platforms now that digital media has hit the mainstream, though through familiarity most professional digital film editors will still either be using the proprietory AVID system or Final Cut Pro on the Mac.
This does not of course make Macs better for editing by default, but you cannot factor in hardware specs alone - software (and the operating system) counts for a great deal.

Having used both PC and Mac systems for quite some time, the only advantages that I can see to having a PC are gaming (though you can boot up windows natively and play any windows game on a mac at full speed) and tinkering with hardware if you like to do that kind of thing. Plus PC's can be super cheap for low end activities - not a market that Apple competes in, but none the less, it is still a useful option to have with PC's.

The difference in price is a bit of a myth these days too. Plus the resale value is always higher than that of a PC. Macs don't depreciate in value nearly as fast.
Yes, if you over-spec a Mac Pro (as per your example) you will probably have to talk to your bank manager about extending your mortgage, but keeping with the mid to high end consumer machines (read iMac or Macbook / Macbook Pro), I dont believe the cost is significantly different (though I admit, I am ignorant of PC costs in the past year or so and would welcome insight if someone can prove this wrong).

In saying that, for a general purpose comparison, it would obviously be silly to make a purchasing decision around hardware capability alone. The notion that faster = better is not always a useful one, usually only relevant to gaming or other high end computational tasks in which case you are better off with a PC for the former or some grunty server hardware for the latter.

There are also the differences in Operating System of course, and the "free" bundled software (Mac definitely wins here) but if you want to get deeper than the asthetics (which is arguably subjective), and into the nitty gritty of Operating Systems, that's possibly a different topic... but I'm game for it

pantstofry

Really, mac is more user-friendly, PC is more power. This is my first Mac. The last PC i had had millions of problems. Some were my fault, many were not. So I got a Mac. I realize many people don't have problems with PCs, and I probably got a bad one. Either way, it's kinda like getting a car and having it be a lemon. more often than not you're gonna get another brand.