In my honest opinion, I will never buy a windows PC again.

You can't compare Mac and Windows.

For starters, Macbook, iMac etc are machines, Windows is software.

I've my Sager laptop and have had 0 issues with it. I received my MBA on Monday and I already had to send it back because it had malfunctioning sensors in it.

Love Mac, but **** happens. I use both OSes everyday all day and both have pros and cons.

If you want to compare a Mac to a Windows based machine, then yes Mac builds tend to be of better quality, BUT you can find Windows machines that are pretty much unbreakable (I've witnessed an older IBM laptop get thrown off a building and still worked perfectly, it was an industrial laptop).

Anyways glad you like your Apple product.

Compile said:

If you want to compare a Mac to a Windows based machine, then yes Mac builds tend to be of better quality, BUT you can find Windows machines that are pretty much unbreakable (I've witnessed an older IBM laptop get thrown off a building and still worked perfectly, it was an industrial laptop).

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Exactly. Most computer manufacturers build low-cost machines with cheaper components. That means cheap, plastic cases made up of many parts that don't fit together right. The cases creak and the keyboard has tons of flex. Most manufacturers build something that is functional, but not necessarily pretty.

Long time Wintel user here. Last upgrade I was going to stay with Windows, well because am used to it and there is the switching cost. But then those dang ultrabooks were so expensive (major fail), they pushed me to the Mac and now, am with the cult.

Windows laptops are miles ahead of where they were in 2009-2010, but Macs are still so much nicer

Compile said:

You can't compare Mac and Windows.

For starters, Macbook, iMac etc are machines, Windows is software.

I've my Sager

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Sagers are basically custom-level laptops, on the upper cusp of the spectrum. Also, do a poll among regular PC users on Sager, and I'll bet you hardly any have ever heard of them.

What they HAVE heard of are the commodity players: HP, Dell, Toshiba, Acer. I've certainly had lots of experience with them... their failure rates are miles above that of the Apple hardware.

(I've witnessed an older IBM laptop get thrown off a building and still worked perfectly, it was an industrial laptop)

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Before I switched to Macs, my last Windows based laptop was an IBM ThinkPad, and I loved it. Unfortunately, IBM no longer makes laptops, and from what I've seen of the successor company (Lenovo), product quality has gone downhill.

GKDAIR said:

So I've been the proud owner of a 2011 13" Macbook Air for roughly 2 years now.

My baby is starting to show it's age a bit. It's a little slower than it use to be, and the battery doesn't last as long as it use to, but other then that it still runs like a champ.

In the 2 years I've owned it, I've never had a single major error with the machine, ever. I've had a few slight hiccups and some odd bug every now and then, and yeah every now and then it randomly freezes on me, but nothing too bad at all.

Around this time, using a windows machine, it would have been nearly broken. I do the same exact things on this computer that I did with my windows machine, and yet my windows machine literally crapped out in a year.

I also have a buddy who bought a windows machine the same time as me, and he's had to replace his harddrive twice.

My mom also bought a retina display Macbook Pro a few months back, and again just absolutely loves it.

Now I'm not here to say that Mac is better than Windows or that Windows sucks, but I'm just saying for me personally, Macs are worth every penny of the asking price.

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This is more of an argument of PC OEMs vs Apple and the effort they go to manufacture their computer, rather than Windows vs Mac or OS X.

Out of curiosity, how much did you spend on your Air vs what he spent on his laptop? By the sounds of it, you spent much more, as you'll have an SSD and he has a hard drive. If he spent less on his laptop, it's not really a fair comparison.

I don't understand how you people use your computers. I mean, I use OSX now, and probably won't go back to Windows as my personal computer, but how can your Windows computer die after 2 years? I've had my PC for like 10 years and it's still running strong.

I think people who complain about Windows's reliability just don't know how to maintain their computers. Windows takes more babying than OSX, if that's what you mean. OSX is naturally stronger against the wild viruses, but come on. Windows computers are really reliable. I have still yet to have a hard drive fail on me. My computer never has heat issues. Do you buy prebuilt computers (Dell, HP, Lenovo?) or do you build your own? I always custom build mine and mostly leave it running 24/7. I just don't know you break the computer so easily.

I think Macs are equally prone to the same failures. They just don't need babying because they are less susceptible to viruses. I'm going to be completely honest, my MacBook Air has had some hiccups that were really frustrating. With a Windows computer, I can handle it because I've used it for so long, but with a Mac, it's a lot harder for me to diagnose. Luckily the Mac community is stronger than ever and eventually, you can find the answer...

The reason why I, personally, wouldn't go back to a Windows computer as my leisure machine is because I love multitouch gestures and the user interface of current OSX. I just don't find the start bar and the E for Internet Explorer aesthetically pleasing.

Just use the best tool for the job.

If you are 'brand loyal' then you are a sucker.

Again. Use the best tool for the job.

I got my first laptop in 1995 - a Toshiba running Windows 3.1 later upgraded to 95. Then I stuck Linux on it and everyone was so much better because I had a decent OS that multitasked and didn't crash all the time. I stuck with Linux on my laptops for years after that buying a Samsung in late 1999 but that wasn't as well made as the Toshiba had been but then few were by that point in time. After a year of heavy on the road use the Samsung was wrecked so I replaced it with a Compaq. That lasted another year and had to be replaced so I bought a Toshiba again but by this point Tosh was competing on price and the quality wasn't there any more. That machine was also wrecked after a year - specifically the keyboard would lose keys as I typed, the power cable was fraying, the backlight had become intermittent and the battery had died. The plastic case was brittle and cracked from being put in and out of my bag and being carried all over the world so off I went to buy another laptop. This was October 2003 and the iBook G4 had just come out. Since I was a Linux guy and had played about with OS X a little I thought I might give a Mac a chance, especially since this iBook was actually cheaper than the previous Toshiba by 50% and most of my software being on Linux was open source so I wouldn't need to worry about that. The guy in the shop tried to talk me out of it by using the 'incompatible' argument but that didn't matter since I was after a portable UNIX machine since my job required it. Anyway, I bought it and that machine lasted 3 years full time so worked out at a fraction of the cost of any of the other laptops and I was sold. Got one of the new Intel based MacBook Pros and ran that for five years so that was really good value. Now I'm on a MacBook Air 2011 model and loving it.

This is the thing that annoys me when people go on about how much cheaper PCs are. Sure, they're cheap but it works out more expensive if you depend on the machine for your day to day job and the hardware isn't built to last so a better made machine which lasts longer is actually better value for money. Sure, I could have gone with any number of expensive PC laptops but we had IBM ThinkPads at work previously and I didn't like the design one bit. I have to use the computer all the time and you can't beat the Apple trackpad and keyboard. The screens are typically better and the overall build is right up there. The Air is such a good machine I will definitely look at another. I was contemplating a retina Pro but the added weight is a problem and the 13" is no more expandable or powerful than an Air anyway and I don't want to go back to a 15". The retina screen does little for me with my old eyes since I can't see pixels on the Air screen.

Buy what works for you and meets your value for money requirements.

I wont either. Buy a Windows PC again, that is.

GKDAIR said:

So I've been the proud owner of a 2011 13" Macbook Air for roughly 2 years now.

My baby is starting to show it's age a bit. It's a little slower than it use to be, and the battery doesn't last as long as it use to, but other then that it still runs like a champ.

In the 2 years I've owned it, I've never had a single major error with the machine, ever. I've had a few slight hiccups and some odd bug every now and then, and yeah every now and then it randomly freezes on me, but nothing too bad at all.

Around this time, using a windows machine, it would have been nearly broken. I do the same exact things on this computer that I did with my windows machine, and yet my windows machine literally crapped out in a year.

I also have a buddy who bought a windows machine the same time as me, and he's had to replace his harddrive twice.

My mom also bought a retina display Macbook Pro a few months back, and again just absolutely loves it.

Now I'm not here to say that Mac is better than Windows or that Windows sucks, but I'm just saying for me personally, Macs are worth every penny of the asking price.

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totally agree with your title, ever since i got my imac in '09 i never went back.

scaredpoet said:

Sagers are basically custom-level laptops, on the upper cusp of the spectrum. Also, do a poll among regular PC users on Sager, and I'll bet you hardly any have ever heard of them.

What they HAVE heard of are the commodity players: HP, Dell, Toshiba, Acer. I've certainly had lots of experience with them... their failure rates are miles above that of the Apple hardware.



Before I switched to Macs, my last Windows based laptop was an IBM ThinkPad, and I loved it. Unfortunately, IBM no longer makes laptops, and from what I've seen of the successor company (Lenovo), product quality has gone downhill.

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Oh I know what a Sager is compared to the others mentioned. They build desktop replacements. My only 2 issues with my Sager are weight and the keyboard sucks. When I purchased mine they had issues with the AMD 7970M and had high failure rates.

The newer Lenovo's are actually pretty decent. Still nothing compares to a Mac.

Samsung Series 9 is better looking than the Air (opinion) with a superior screen (fact). But I chose MBA for applecare & in-store servicing.

I had a Vaio SB before this and shipping for repairs was a PITA. I liked that laptop more than CMBP as well. One thing that's great about OSX is no stupid Windows registry.

Mod note:
This thread has run its course.
Closed.