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This is why some people can't buy a PC...

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0x000000

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 26, 2011
283
5
I work as a web designer, mainly for advertising agencies. My MacBook broke down a month ago and I've been using my girlfriend's Dell laptop while waiting for the 13" Retina. I don't hate PCs. It's a fine computer, everything works well and as expected. I can't complain.

Yesterday I went to an agency - long partners - sat down, pulled the PC out of my bag and everyone was like:

"Oh my god, what's happened?" "How're you holding up" "Is there anything we can do for you?" "Should I call the IT department?" "If you need anything, please tell us".

It was seriously as if I came in crippled, like a war veteran or someone with a terminal disease.

Today I learned: Even if you ever wanted to buy a PC, in some lines of business you just can't :p
 
...

I bought a PC to run windows...had to return it and bought a mac to run windows instead lol. Its not as if I went cheap I bought the Samsung series 9 but to me they need 3 things right, keyboard, trackpad, display...the things I interact with. The trackpad was horrible and that is something that all windows laptops suffer from after using a mac. I guess I just can't go back
 
Trackpads of Windows-PC's are fine, the problem "was" that Windows 7 was poorly optimized for trackpads, Windows 8 on the other side has a drastically improved trackpad behaviour.

Macbook's nowadays (aside from the retina version) are inferior to the newly released Windows Laptops, as they offer a better display resolution and IPS technology aswell as a good trackpad and keyboard. Devices like the "Asus Taichi" will combine the Tablet and Laptop in a single device and this will cause the Ipad to be worthless.

Ipad + Macbook Air = 1800$
Asus Taichi (11inch) = 1200$ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C16iAOZyW-A

...sad thing is, the Asus Taichi is better than the Air in every aspect. If Apple does not change their portfolio to face the competition they will be out of the market soon, they are already niche on the computer market (around 10-15% market share)... but Windows 8 devices have the potential to kick Apple of of the market completely. This will turn Apple in a mobile phone company which they already are, in my opinion.
 
0x000000 said:
Today I learned: Even if you ever wanted to buy a PC, in some lines of business you just can't :p
Click to expand...
Sorry but that response is just odd. I work in a company that is mixed - both PCs and Macs. Most everyone recognizes the Macs and PCs for what they are - a tool to get their job done.
 
stuaz said:
Those people sound a bit weird tbh....
Click to expand...

That's the way many agencies are, though certainly not all. People there have grown up with Macs, believing they (the Macs) are superior. They don't know anything else, so if you appear with a Windows PC, they naturally assume something is wrong with you :rolleyes:

Sahee said:
...sad thing is, the Asus Taichi is better than the Air in every aspect. If Apple does not change their portfolio to face the competition they will be out of the market soon, they are already niche on the computer market (around 10-15% market share)... but Windows 8 devices have the potential to kick Apple of of the market completely. This will turn Apple in a mobile phone company which they already are, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I doubt that. Ten years ago Apple had a market share of about 2%, they just recently rose like this. And other PCs have always been stronger, other MP3 players always stuffed with more space and function and except for a very short time, other phones have been better as well. And despite many people saying they're in a niche and will get blasted out of the world by the next something, it just never happened.
 
Sahee said:
Trackpads of Windows-PC's are fine, the problem "was" that Windows 7 was poorly optimized for trackpads, Windows 8 on the other side has a drastically improved trackpad behaviour.
Click to expand...
I disagree. Over the years Ive used numerous Windows notebooks and for me the Windows trackpads suck in comparison to Apple's. So I've finally come to the realization that "The best Windows notebook is a Mac".

Since my Windows usage is pretty limited then the one thing holding me back from getting a Surface is the trackpad review. If they manage to do it right then I'll gladly get a WinRT Surface and delete my Windows partition on the Mac so I'm rooting for MS to get this right.
 
stuaz said:
Those people sound a bit weird tbh....
Click to expand...


+1. That's a passe attitude.

I would MILK it, if they want to bring you coffee, massage your feet, why not, LET THEM. Enjoy.


I do notice after I got my Mac, it's like taking a puppy or an infant out to the park, complete strangers just come up to u and go, "oh you got a Mac!" :)
 
Sahee said:
Trackpads of Windows-PC's are fine, the problem "was" that Windows 7 was poorly optimized for trackpads, Windows 8 on the other side has a drastically improved trackpad behaviour.
Click to expand...

Poor trackpad (by comparison) and lack of muti-touch is the biggest deal-breaker for me in interaction. Even with better drivers glass trackpads just respond better.
I thought these were Mac only because the glass trackpad patent was owned by apple. But Samsung have very nice responsive conducting glass screens on their phones/ tablets. Surely they could start putting them in windows laptops. It would certainly help level the playing field.
 
whitedragon101 said:
Poor trackpad (by comparison) and lack of muti-touch is the biggest deal-breaker for me in interaction. Even with better drivers glass trackpads just respond better.
I thought these were Mac only because the glass trackpad patent was owned by apple. But Samsung have very nice responsive conducting glass screens on their phones/ tablets. Surely they could start putting them in windows laptops. It would certainly help level the playing field.
Click to expand...

Well... do you suspect a 400$ Windows Laptop to have a glass trackpad and multitouch? If you look into the price region of mac computers you will find lots of windows machines who share the same specs (multitouch + good quality trackpad). http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/18/the-windows-pc-clickpad-finally-improved-synaptics-clickpad-is/

I personally prefer to have right click as a seperate button and not as two finger double tap... but thats personal preference.
 
Last edited:
0x000000 said:
They don't know anything else, so if you appear with a Windows PC, they naturally assume something is wrong with you :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

They sound like snobs. To consider 9 out of 10 people who use PC's to have an inferior machine is quite arrogant. And since there are so many PC's in use, I suspect your story to be "embellished" just a tad. Can't picture people being this "snobbish". (I'd be embarrassed to be around them actually).

urkel said:
I disagree. Over the years Ive used numerous Windows notebooks and for me the Windows trackpads suck in comparison to Apple's.
Click to expand...

That has changed with Win8. The OS now has basic gesturing baked in. (Which I suspect MS has licensed from Apple). Previous versions of Windows just considers the trackpad a mouse.

So I've finally come to the realization that "The best Windows notebook is a Mac".
Click to expand...

Not really. You've always been (and always will be) at the mercy of Apple to keep updating the boot camp drivers. Right now, If you use Win8 on a mac it pretty much sucks. 2 finger scrolling is choppy and not fluid because Win8 thinks you're moving a mouse wheel.
 
Sahee said:
Trackpads of Windows-PC's are fine, the problem "was" that Windows 7 was poorly optimized for trackpads, Windows 8 on the other side has a drastically improved trackpad behaviour.

Macbook's nowadays (aside from the retina version) are inferior to the newly released Windows Laptops, as they offer a better display resolution and IPS technology aswell as a good trackpad and keyboard. Devices like the "Asus Taichi" will combine the Tablet and Laptop in a single device and this will cause the Ipad to be worthless.

Ipad + Macbook Air = 1800$
Asus Taichi (11inch) = 1200$ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C16iAOZyW-A

...sad thing is, the Asus Taichi is better than the Air in every aspect. If Apple does not change their portfolio to face the competition they will be out of the market soon, they are already niche on the computer market (around 10-15% market share)... but Windows 8 devices have the potential to kick Apple of of the market completely. This will turn Apple in a mobile phone company which they already are, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Put the Kool-aid down, step away, it is affecting your brain. You are aware they have tried the whole convertible laptop thing before right? Shoot I have one collecting dust.
 
newdeal said:
I bought a PC to run windows...had to return it and bought a mac to run windows instead lol. Its not as if I went cheap I bought the Samsung series 9 but to me they need 3 things right, keyboard, trackpad, display...the things I interact with. The trackpad was horrible and that is something that all windows laptops suffer from after using a mac. I guess I just can't go back
Click to expand...

Sahee said:
Trackpads of Windows-PC's are fine, the problem "was" that Windows 7 was poorly optimized for trackpads, Windows 8 on the other side has a drastically improved trackpad behaviour.

Macbook's nowadays (aside from the retina version) are inferior to the newly released Windows Laptops, as they offer a better display resolution and IPS technology aswell as a good trackpad and keyboard. Devices like the "Asus Taichi" will combine the Tablet and Laptop in a single device and this will cause the Ipad to be worthless.

Ipad + Macbook Air = 1800$
Asus Taichi (11inch) = 1200$ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C16iAOZyW-A

...sad thing is, the Asus Taichi is better than the Air in every aspect. If Apple does not change their portfolio to face the competition they will be out of the market soon, they are already niche on the computer market (around 10-15% market share)... but Windows 8 devices have the potential to kick Apple of of the market completely. This will turn Apple in a mobile phone company which they already are, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

aha ha ... good joke there Sahee ... Then you go to notebookreview and read about the shiny new Lenovo X1C, Dell's, Sony's, Asus ... whatever and you realize what you've written is so very wrong!

For the reasons 'newdeal' stated, screen, trackpad and keyboard but let's not forget build quality.

It's a fact, Windows laptop manufacturers make many flawed notebooks and consumers are getting fed up with it ... the X1C is the best current example, just go read about people's disappointments in screen, trackpad and build quality with this celebratory 20th Anniversary laptop they touted for months, it's a JOKE.

Apple is going the right direction with their notebooks and have been for years, it's only going to get better while pc manufacturers are wrapped up in the race to the bottom ... low price / low quality.

OP - weird post, I don't think many care what laptop you do or don't use.
 
A Dell is an inferior computer in my eyes and yes designers are snobs generally. The Apple/ Design relationship is perfect like that. But really it is you that is thinking different. I'd probably rock a beat up PC too just to piss on them a little:) "PC's are good at graphics too" I'd yell. :p
In the end the only thing that matters is quality of work and deadlines.
 
Sahee said:
Well... do you suspect a 400$ Windows Laptop to have a glass trackpad and multitouch? If you look into the price region of mac computers you will find lots of windows machines who share the same specs (multitouch + good quality trackpad). http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/18/the-windows-pc-clickpad-finally-improved-synaptics-clickpad-is/

I personally prefer to have right click as a seperate button and not as two finger double tap... but thats personal preference.
Click to expand...

You can change the two finger right click into the same functionality like a windows computer in the bottom right corner too. I do that as I found two finger right click a bit annoying.
 
PC's are worse....

I'm sorry, but they are. I've used both Mac's, PC's and various UNIX workstations for a long time now, and, especially now, PC's from the major vendors are just junk.

Almost every system Apple sells now is extremely well built and designed. I can't think of a PC vendor who comes anywhere close in any market segment. Apple has had some losers in the past, but they have a heck of a line up now.

Ironically, if a PC vendor went the Apple route and really designed something comparable to a Macbook Pro, as soon as you stick a character mode BIOS on it and load Windows with all of its design failures...why bother?
 
Krazy Bill said:
They sound like snobs.
Click to expand...

I cannot deny that :p

Sital said:
True, but there are more businesses where you just can't buy a Mac.
Click to expand...

Oh, that is also true. Didn't think of it, but of course: If you appeared in some businesses with a Mac, people would think you're ... dunno, not working properly? "He has a Mac, isn't that for hipsters?" "Ok it's nice that you have a Mac but we're here for work".

derbothaus said:
In the end the only thing that matters is quality of work and deadlines.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I think too. That's what matters. But people are generally way too often close minded and elitist...

katorga said:
I'm sorry, but they are. I've used both Mac's, PC's and various UNIX workstations for a long time now, and, especially now, PC's from the major vendors are just junk.

Almost every system Apple sells now is extremely well built and designed. I can't think of a PC vendor who comes anywhere close in any market segment. Apple has had some losers in the past, but they have a heck of a line up now.
Click to expand...

And this is true as well. The aluminium unibody stuff is really well built, with a lot of attention to detail and highly polished. Plastic just doesn't compare. Apple benefits from having only few lines and from continuously improving these, instead of announcing radically different stuff every 6 months.
 
Sahee said:
If Apple does not change their portfolio to face the competition they will be out of the market soon, they are already niche on the computer market (around 10-15% market share)... but Windows 8 devices have the potential to kick Apple of of the market completely.
Click to expand...

lol
 
Sahee said:
Well... do you suspect a 400$ Windows Laptop to have a glass trackpad and multitouch? If you look into the price region of mac computers you will find lots of windows machines who share the same specs (multitouch + good quality trackpad). http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/18/the-windows-pc-clickpad-finally-improved-synaptics-clickpad-is/

I personally prefer to have right click as a seperate button and not as two finger double tap... but thats personal preference.
Click to expand...

No I don't expect a $400 laptop to have a glass trackpad.

Here is the test I apply. Over here (UK) most retail shops stock laptops between £300 ($480) £1,200 ($1,921). I regularly walk down the lines of laptops and have a go on the keyboards, look at the screens and use the trackpads to see whats what. The trackpads are fine, in a i guess it works but i'll need a mouse kind of way. PC makers still compete on low price, even high end is about low price. You feel that as soon as you touch them.

I actually had a discussion about this before on another thread. "Why don't PC manufacturers go head to head with apple?" i.e High quality display,trackpad,enclosure etc The answer seemed to be that positioning a notebook to compete with apple was financially dangerous and that staying in the pile it high sell it cheap area kept out of its target market. I still hope someone steps up to the plate, not to copy but to up the ante on apple. The HP Envy is the closest so far but it is still a Macbook Pro for those on a budget not a direct competitor.
 
0x000000 said:
That's the way many agencies are, though certainly not all. People there have grown up with Macs, believing they (the Macs) are superior. They don't know anything else, so if you appear with a Windows PC, they naturally assume something is wrong with you :rolleyes:



I doubt that. Ten years ago Apple had a market share of about 2%, they just recently rose like this. And other PCs have always been stronger, other MP3 players always stuffed with more space and function and except for a very short time, other phones have been better as well. And despite many people saying they're in a niche and will get blasted out of the world by the next something, it just never happened.
Click to expand...

So have I - But I don't believe them superior to Windows based computers or think that there is something wrong with someone for turning up with a Windows laptop. It is pretty weird that they freaked out about that in my opinion ;)
 
100% agree with this.

Was in a sales pitch, guy making a technical presentation about some hardware and software his company was selling.

Was talking to the guy afterwards, and he pulled out his phone to check a message, blackberry. Asked him why blackberry, said it was company policy.

As soon as he was out the door, their literature went into the trash.
 
Sahee said:
Trackpads of Windows-PC's are fine, the problem "was" that Windows 7 was poorly optimized for trackpads, Windows 8 on the other side has a drastically improved trackpad behaviour.

Macbook's nowadays (aside from the retina version) are inferior to the newly released Windows Laptops, as they offer a better display resolution and IPS technology aswell as a good trackpad and keyboard. Devices like the "Asus Taichi" will combine the Tablet and Laptop in a single device and this will cause the Ipad to be worthless.

Ipad + Macbook Air = 1800$
Asus Taichi (11inch) = 1200$ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C16iAOZyW-A

...sad thing is, the Asus Taichi is better than the Air in every aspect. If Apple does not change their portfolio to face the competition they will be out of the market soon, they are already niche on the computer market (around 10-15% market share)... but Windows 8 devices have the potential to kick Apple of of the market completely. This will turn Apple in a mobile phone company which they already are, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

We don't know how well will those things perform as tablets...
I mean I've tried some android tablets that have double the ipad's specs and yet are slower, buggier, less comfortable, less usable...
 
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