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Why shouldn't you buy a Mac?

V

vniow

macrumors G4
Original poster
I've seen a lot of threads here recently about why you should buy a Mac.

Are there any good reasons why someone shouldn't?
 
hmm. the only reason i can think of is gaming. although its getting better with game compatibility, i think there are some games not available. and the price, even though they're worth every penny. other than that i don't think there's any logical reason not to buy a mac🙂
 
There is a large group of people into BSDM, just seems like it's well over 50% of the new computer market.

There must be some perverse thrill people have to being whipped by the richest man in the world, but I cannot see it.

Bow before your master, slave...
 
otherwise the only setback is the games. but most pc games that dont go to mac usssually suck. mac graphics kick ass😛
 
You shouldn't buy a mac if you don't have the money too. For all intents and purposes a large majority of computer users just need a computer for internet and to use a word processor. Since the internet is geared towards pc's and a decent word processor (word or wordperfect) usually comes preloaded on a pc. That, along with the fact that an entry level pc is under half the price of an entry level mac i think that the pc is definitely the way to go for most people.
 
The almighty $$$. If I had it now, I would, but alas, I must wait. At least I can get something cool when the time comes. In the meantime I have a PC I built for about $500.

Of course, the CPU died, so I have to use an old 400 Celeron HP until AMD sends me a new one (glad I sprang for the extra $6 for the Retail version).

You want to play games, buy a PS2 or an xBox.
 
Re: Why shouldn't you buy a Mac?

Originally posted by edvniow
I've seen a lot of threads here recently about why you should buy a Mac.

Are there any good reasons why someone shouldn't?
Click to expand...

with my money, the mac is the best buy for me...but i will play devil's advocate for one second

i will pretend i was never a pc techie and i will forget all the things that could go wrong with a pc

so here it goes... he he

first, pcs are cheaper

second, everybody uses them so if i get in a jam, they can help me

software for pc is more available and usually cheaper

a pc is easy enough to use for most people

lots of good software titles are only found in the pc format, or it seems that way on the shelves at the local computer store

a pc is a machine that is a coalition of thousands of computer makers around the world while apple is just one company with 7,000 employees

there is a much wider selection of pcs in both desktop and laptop models

in networking to a novell, cisco, or microsoft network, the pc usually has fewer problems, and there is always more documentation on pc networking

my company and/or boss uses a pc

pcs are the business standard

though i mentioned software above, the pc world has more games for the children and the children at heart
 
If you have 4 years of Quicken data and if you read the knowledge base on Quicken's site that tells you that most of your data won't convert from PC to Mac, that might be a hindrance to switching. I switched before knowing that, though 🙁
I love my iBook, but I hate that a fairly large company like Intuit can't get its act together on something as important as financial information.
 
this may be a little off the subject, but in terms of mac inferiority in the games category, i've been wondering what the bottleneck is in terms of game speed. is it the fact that most pc ports were converted improperly, the fact that graphics card companies make crappy drivers, or some other thing i've forgotten to mention? you'll be hard pressed to convince anyone that a 350mhz pIII with a 4meg integrated graphics card is faster than a 600mhz G3 with an agp rage128 16meg, but why does game performance suffer?
 
maybe some people actually LIKE working on windows......
muahahahahahahahahahBAAHHhahahahahahahahahah.
yeah right, I really don't know why anyone shouldn't buy a mac other than money, but it's really the best deal for your money I think. The reason people don't buy macs though is probably all of the negative mojo the pcweenies spread about macs and most people just dont know enough to look into it themselves.
 
3D design ?

well, the main reason I have not bought a new mac in ages, is that for 3D work the PC seems to offer far more/cheaper options. The hardware is lagging on the mac and the software choice not quite there yet. Only the base package of Maya is available and there is no sign of 3DSmax or Softimage on the horizon. Lightwave is cool, though, but not my tool of choice.

So for me, the mac is still not the best tool for 3D, but I am sure we are getting there. At least I hope. Oh man, I wish so badly I could get rid of my PeeC...
 
Several reasons that I can think of:

1) Price: As stated already, most people just want to surf the net, write a few e-mails, and edit their Word documents. For that, a $500 PC will fit the bill. Some people care more about up front costs, but that's their business. 🙄

2) Games: More games are available for PCs. Some people have repeated the complaint: "If you want to play games, get a GameCube/PS2/XBox." I disagree. There's no way you can play something like StarCraft, WarCraft, SimCity, etc. on a console without losing the complexity of the game. Also, games on computers allow players greater flexability and customization.

3) Businesses: Most business software run only on the PC. The real estate finance and consulting company I work for is a PC-only shop, but I can get away with using a TiBook at home since I have Office X. We have a few PC-only programs (SAS, Ibbotson's), but I don't need to use them at home.

4) Development: OS X will probably change this, but if you do any .Net development, you will need to use a PC. However, I code in Java, Perl, PHP, and C just fine on my Mac. 😀

5) Proprietary Hardware: I have friends who are real PC diehards who build their own computers. Their computers still crash, but they definitely know what they're doing and they know how to fix the problem. They tend to upgrade in increments, buying a new video card here, a new motherboard and processor there, etc. They save a lot of money and extend the life cycles of their computers significantly. They don't want to deal with Macs, although they do like OS X.

All in all, there are several legitimate reasons for not owning a Mac. Unless you have one or more of these reasons as an excuse, however, you're better off with a Mac. 😀
 
I have never meet ANYONE who likes using windows. Most people would actually love to run Mac OS X, just not on Apple hardware. They stick with MS because PCs faster than Macs at the same price point.
 
Performance

reason 1: The current Mac line has crappy performance COMPARED to the current PC line. HARDWARE!!!!

reason 2: Linux, Microsoft OS's, and BSD can all run on intel.

My feelings: Dont believe the Apple BS about a 700 mhz iMac competing with a 2GIG PV. This is not true, and if I didnt love osx, my 22" display, iPod, and iApps I may switch, but for now I am here as an Apple user. The 933 in my PowerMac is just not fast enough. I use a 1.6GIG athlon at school, and I am amazed how fast it is. Now the question is was the 2200 spent on the 933 worth it, when the performance of the 1.6 could be had for about 1000 less? Sure the software is different, and the user experience is better, but its beginning to become harder to justify an upgrade. I for one know I will NOT be upgrading to a 1.25DP or anything else while performance is around the current level. I have used a 1.25DP and the IU performance is not there. Atleast not where it shoulsd be when Apple is trying to sell this as a TOP machine.
 
Originally posted by hvfsl
I have never meet ANYONE who likes using windows. Most people would actually love to run Mac OS X, just not on Apple hardware. They stick with MS because PCs faster than Macs at the same price point.
Click to expand...

my sister and i both bought computers on the same day. she wanted to get a pc because she thought that it would be more "compatable" than our 6100 (she did not realize that apple had actualy made faster computers in the 6 years since we bought it). she bought a 1ghz P3 compaq, i bought my 500hmz imac. about an hour after we brought them home, i was listening to my gig of free music with itunes, playing a little cro-mag rally, and enjoying all of the niceties of osx, my sister walked in and said, "can i do that on my computer?". ever since, she's said that she should have bought a mac (i cant blame her, 2 weeks later her cpu burnt itself up, the printerdrivers would never install, the cdburning software was corrupted from the factory and of course windows is a byzantine nightmare).
 
Originally posted by FattyMembrane


my sister and i both bought computers on the same day. she wanted to get a pc because she thought that it would be more "compatable" than our 6100 (she did not realize that apple had actualy made faster computers in the 6 years since we bought it). she bought a 1ghz P3 compaq, i bought my 500hmz imac. about an hour after we brought them home, i was listening to my gig of free music with itunes, playing a little cro-mag rally, and enjoying all of the niceties of osx, my sister walked in and said, "can i do that on my computer?". ever since, she's said that she should have bought a mac (i cant blame her, 2 weeks later her cpu burnt itself up, the printerdrivers would never install, the cdburning software was corrupted from the factory and of course windows is a byzantine nightmare).
Click to expand...

Hey, common, focus ! We are supposed to bash the mac, here 😀
 
Originally posted by hvfsl
I have never meet ANYONE who likes using windows. Most people would actually love to run Mac OS X, just not on Apple hardware. They stick with MS because PCs faster than Macs at the same price point.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Nobody likes Windows, read any computer magazine. Everyone just sort of tolerates it. Most of the people who don't like Apple, don't know why or haven't used OS X. Some people you just can't convince.

Now lets get some faster and cheaper hardware.
 
There are a great many reasons:

* Lack of software
* Lack of games
* Not as many people use them, so less people to talk to about them etc.
* Slower
* A lot more expensive.
* Older technologies hardware wise
There are more reasons, but I am about to get another computer, and I don't want to convince myself to buy a PC.
 
because my XP box works just as well 😀
just my experience I guess, but I've had about equal # of problems on my g4 and PC and I've been able to get about the same amount of stuff done on either computer (a little more on the pc since it does photoshop batches so quickly)... they're both perfectly functional machines. I'd rather have both than have just one....it's too convenient 😀
 
this is why macs suck

my father knows/thinks that macs are better designed than pcs, and so he used to have one for his work 5 or so years ago. now i dont know about any of you with incomes, but back then i was in 5th grade or so, and there is NOTHING more horrible than the feeling i had searching the web on my 56k modem looking at rainbow 6 and all the other PC games that i could'nt play because I had a mac. the only PC game I ever got for my Mac was starcraft, and that was more than a year after it came out for the PC (maybe longer, i dont remember). In fact, I ended up paying 50$ for the "enhanced for macintoshes" version, when it was the same exact thing as the 20$ version next to it.

point is, that period of my life was reduced to watching my friends have fun with their pc games while I was stuck looking at pictures of those games and imagining what it would be like if I had a PC. so don't give me any of that bs about how macs are better.
 
A couple of reasons:
Affordability
Lack of software
Lack of support
Lack of hardware
You can’t alter or modify them as much

The primary reason I switch to Apple…. is because of OSX!!! (it’s the bomb)
But I’m still pissed because I can’t use my mapping software (I love to travel), that I have been using for years!!!

Another thing is once you buy a Mac, you are pretty much stuck with what you have unless a faster model come out…. but with custom P.C.’s, you can just simply snatch out the logicboard and semiconductor and throw a new one in and…….. Taaaaa Daaaaaa!!! You have a new computer, without the new computer price. 😀 😎 😛
 
Originally posted by xrhajj
A couple of reasons:
Affordability
Lack of software
Lack of support
Lack of hardware
You can’t alter or modify them as much

The primary reason I switch to Apple…. is because of OSX!!! (it’s the bomb)
But I’m still pissed because I can’t use my mapping software (I love to travel), that I have been using for years!!!

Another thing is once you buy a Mac, you are pretty much stuck with what you have unless a faster model come out…. but with custom P.C.’s, you can just simply snatch out the logicboard and semiconductor and throw a new one in and…….. Taaaaa Daaaaaa!!! You have a new computer, without the new computer price. 😀 😎 😛
Click to expand...

being a pc tech and a former computer salesman, it is almost as cheap to go to a computer superstore and buy a new, better computer that has that new logic board or video card for the same price as that logic board and video card...plus tax

when i wanted to possibly get a faster processor and more ram for my pentium 1, and new video card and make it a new machine...i found that the sales aisle had a pentium II for $299 us...i couldn't buy the upgraded pentium I components for that

we are getting to a time where the pc box will be a throwaway computer...of course i saw the brand new pentium II tower in san jose, the heart of silicon valley, and i know not everywhere in the world is going to be selling a six hundred dollar computer for $299...but that's san jose for you and the experience of Fry's Superstores

so why expand when for twice the price of a new video card, one can get a new computer with faster processor, faster ram, faster system bus, larger and faster l1, l2, and l3 cache, as well as newer, more, and updated ports...not to mention lots of new software and freeware...and sometimes other stuff thrown in for free

i wish the mac world slashed prices on three month old macs "new in the box" but the macs just don't move that fast...not even in cupertino, ca

as a salesman at office depot in a fairly large store, i did not once sell a video card by nvidia or ati...mommy and daddy walked in and bought their kid a new computer with the works...and for dirt cheap

and if you didn't mind driving an extra 53 miles, you might save 100-150 extra dollars and get other perks thrown in at Fry's Superstores

you can get a 1.4 ghz celeron from compaq for $549 with pc 133 RAM, decent video card, cd rom, floppy, usb and legacy ports, and one year warranty...how can you beat that on the pc side! it's amazing

that's why we need to get the lowest price crt imac and bring it on down to $699, or even $599, and when technology pushes further in the pc domain...shove a 800 mhz G3fx chip in it, 256 MB RAM in it, and sell the puppy for $499 us to compete with those rather decent entry level PCs for the same price

we have to up our market share on the low end, too as much as the medium end and the high end😉
 
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