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Can't decide PC or MAC
- Thread starter wingfaith
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You could guess what the general consent in a Forum like this will be about such a question.
I got a 15" HR AG about half a year ago. I can tell you what my experience was.
Windows vs OSX
OSX does somethings better, simpler and it is unix for progamming stuff that is sometimes really useful. For Speed and Stability I would personally rank Windows 7 higher. The reason for this is that Programs for Windows are aside from the graphic, Adobe, Photo, Video stuff in Windows generally in better quality available. They have better features, less stability problems, more speed. E.g. Windows gives you much less trouble with external drives and much better tool support for almost anything. OSX trys to stay simple and makes things that are easy (in Windows) an ordeal.
The battery life is actually not much better either. It is good if you are almost idle but when you have a few things running as in are actually working it is no better than my friend's Acer TimelineX. Windows is worse on Idle and the bootcamp drivers cannot match Timeline's drivers but battery life isn't reduced as much when you only do minor stuff like it is in OSX.
OSX also feeds on RAM like there is no tomorrow. I got 4GB and it is enough but Windows 7 does more with much less. For standard school work I should mention that if you are a fan of Office 2007 or 2010 you might be a bit unhappy. 2011 comes very close visually but I had quite a lot of trouble with it. It is just not the same thing.
If you don't like office 2007 anyway and prefer 2003 or open office you will not miss anything.
Still I am working almost entirely on OSX and very very rarely start Windows. I would get the MBP again simply because it is a really nice hardware and OSX has its good points. I wouldn't put spaces as a + because in XP I already hat something that was better but never found one for Win7 that was on par. Expose is well nice gimmick but fairly inefficient with to many windows. I prefer the Win Taskbar, but it works too. Dock is stupid but I can live with it.
The best thing by far though is the touchpad. There is just nothing like it in Windows and you can do unbelievable things with BetterTouchTool. Mouse speed and Accuracy truly suck in OSX but on the go and also at home the touchpad is something I would easily pay 200€ more on any given Laptop to have it.
I also got the MBP in the first place because, while there are some good Windows Notebooks, I wanted 15" and there are very little choice, well none actually, that offer good batterylife and a good display. Unfortunately almost all "PC"s have crap displays and I think it is worth some money considering how often you look at it. 15" HR AG is one of the best you can have. The only good screens are in notebooks like the XPS16 oder 15 that have 2-3 h effective battery life. The good battery life you get with Lenovo, Acer Timeline, Asus UL all of which offer crappy displays.
I have learned the hardware of Apple is great and there are many myths to OSX. It is good but it has as many flaws as windows only different ones.
I got a 15" HR AG about half a year ago. I can tell you what my experience was.
Windows vs OSX
OSX does somethings better, simpler and it is unix for progamming stuff that is sometimes really useful. For Speed and Stability I would personally rank Windows 7 higher. The reason for this is that Programs for Windows are aside from the graphic, Adobe, Photo, Video stuff in Windows generally in better quality available. They have better features, less stability problems, more speed. E.g. Windows gives you much less trouble with external drives and much better tool support for almost anything. OSX trys to stay simple and makes things that are easy (in Windows) an ordeal.
The battery life is actually not much better either. It is good if you are almost idle but when you have a few things running as in are actually working it is no better than my friend's Acer TimelineX. Windows is worse on Idle and the bootcamp drivers cannot match Timeline's drivers but battery life isn't reduced as much when you only do minor stuff like it is in OSX.
OSX also feeds on RAM like there is no tomorrow. I got 4GB and it is enough but Windows 7 does more with much less. For standard school work I should mention that if you are a fan of Office 2007 or 2010 you might be a bit unhappy. 2011 comes very close visually but I had quite a lot of trouble with it. It is just not the same thing.
If you don't like office 2007 anyway and prefer 2003 or open office you will not miss anything.
Still I am working almost entirely on OSX and very very rarely start Windows. I would get the MBP again simply because it is a really nice hardware and OSX has its good points. I wouldn't put spaces as a + because in XP I already hat something that was better but never found one for Win7 that was on par. Expose is well nice gimmick but fairly inefficient with to many windows. I prefer the Win Taskbar, but it works too. Dock is stupid but I can live with it.
The best thing by far though is the touchpad. There is just nothing like it in Windows and you can do unbelievable things with BetterTouchTool. Mouse speed and Accuracy truly suck in OSX but on the go and also at home the touchpad is something I would easily pay 200€ more on any given Laptop to have it.
I also got the MBP in the first place because, while there are some good Windows Notebooks, I wanted 15" and there are very little choice, well none actually, that offer good batterylife and a good display. Unfortunately almost all "PC"s have crap displays and I think it is worth some money considering how often you look at it. 15" HR AG is one of the best you can have. The only good screens are in notebooks like the XPS16 oder 15 that have 2-3 h effective battery life. The good battery life you get with Lenovo, Acer Timeline, Asus UL all of which offer crappy displays.
I have learned the hardware of Apple is great and there are many myths to OSX. It is good but it has as many flaws as windows only different ones.
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For the most part but some people do give unbiased opinions so its worth asking.
Here is an unbiased opinion from someone who makes all their money off of Windows boxes and then spends it mostly on Mac equipment 
If you are a business user, which you are not, then the value of a PC in business is greater than anything the Mac will do or won't do. Connectivity and integration of Office, Exchange, SharePoint, etc is so much better.
If your a college student then there are other things to consider. One obviously is cost. 1K for a MB Pro(Microcenter) versus a less expensive PC based laptop.
The MB Pro has better build quality all the way around. I've had 16 Dell laptops over the past 18 years. They went from horribly cheap, but then again they all were back then, to excellent, and now are back to cheap. Over the past 3 years I've watched the same $650 buy a crappier machine with every model revision.
We've stopped selling Dell and now sell Lenovo, much more expensive but a fantastic build quality. Equal to the Mac, just different, its more tough than elegant.
So if you compare Lenovo to the Mac price difference reduces and the X201, their 12.1 inch full powered notebook is awesome, but in most configs more expensive than a 13.1" MB Pro.
OS...it depends...I go back and forth between Windows and osX all day long. Although I can't quantify it I get around faster in osX doing my normal day to day stuff. Finding files on a network blows though compared to Windows. Lack of AD integration does too but you don't need to worry about that. They are both just as capable as far as getting work done. Word and Excel 2011 are both great, as is PowerPoint, but PowerPoint 2011 you run into font issues between Mac and PC.
If your going for software dev then the PC will be the way to go, .net and everything else they teach you is Windows only.
I like my MB Pro for the fact I charge it over night. I goto a customer, open it, its up, close it, goto the next customer and its up, battery lasts forever. It has Remote Desktop which I spend 90 percent of my day in anyways.
Last thing to consider is, and this goes back to Dell. Dell has repair services usually at major universities. They are sometimes open 24 hours and you get a discount buying through the school. Depending on where you are access to an Apple store might be difficult.
If you are a business user, which you are not, then the value of a PC in business is greater than anything the Mac will do or won't do. Connectivity and integration of Office, Exchange, SharePoint, etc is so much better.
If your a college student then there are other things to consider. One obviously is cost. 1K for a MB Pro(Microcenter) versus a less expensive PC based laptop.
The MB Pro has better build quality all the way around. I've had 16 Dell laptops over the past 18 years. They went from horribly cheap, but then again they all were back then, to excellent, and now are back to cheap. Over the past 3 years I've watched the same $650 buy a crappier machine with every model revision.
We've stopped selling Dell and now sell Lenovo, much more expensive but a fantastic build quality. Equal to the Mac, just different, its more tough than elegant.
So if you compare Lenovo to the Mac price difference reduces and the X201, their 12.1 inch full powered notebook is awesome, but in most configs more expensive than a 13.1" MB Pro.
OS...it depends...I go back and forth between Windows and osX all day long. Although I can't quantify it I get around faster in osX doing my normal day to day stuff. Finding files on a network blows though compared to Windows. Lack of AD integration does too but you don't need to worry about that. They are both just as capable as far as getting work done. Word and Excel 2011 are both great, as is PowerPoint, but PowerPoint 2011 you run into font issues between Mac and PC.
If your going for software dev then the PC will be the way to go, .net and everything else they teach you is Windows only.
I like my MB Pro for the fact I charge it over night. I goto a customer, open it, its up, close it, goto the next customer and its up, battery lasts forever. It has Remote Desktop which I spend 90 percent of my day in anyways.
Last thing to consider is, and this goes back to Dell. Dell has repair services usually at major universities. They are sometimes open 24 hours and you get a discount buying through the school. Depending on where you are access to an Apple store might be difficult.
+1
I used PCs for 21 years, got a mac 2 months ago - no regrets, shoulda done it a looooong time ago.
Here's a clue to what your experience will be like with a Dell...
Hi, i'm planning on getting a laptop soon and this is going to be my first laptop, so its pretty special to me. I'm stuck between a macbook pro or a cheap pc laptop. My main usage for the laptop will be for school work. However, at certain times i'd really like to connect my laptop to my HUGE HD tv in the living room. I heard most people uses Pc laptop's HDMI for that. Also the program that i'm using only has a pc version its call "PPS" chinese program for streaming videoes online. I'm really heading towards the mac direction, but despite not ever owning a laptop, i've been a pc desktop owner for as long as i can remember.
and budget wise, i'm really not liking the macbook pro for its price. I guess thats another reasons for the uncertainty
Hope you can guys can give me some advice,
thank you
Oh.. the decision is dead easy. Buy a MacBook Pro, use OSX for a while, if you later decide it's not for you; install windows on the thing (or any other OS for that matter)
Good luck making the choice.
If the above is true, one could always stick something over it
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Lenovo equal to mac? I just bought a dozen T410's for my company. The plastic build quality is utter crap. It looks (and behaves) just like a Dell except for the silly-assed glossy finish. The cheap ENTER key popped off on one of them after 10 minutes.
That being said, if I hadn't switched to a mac notebook 2 years ago I wouldn't have noticed. Go figure.
I know it's a PC world for us business folks but if they want me back they'll have to drag me kicking and screaming. Besides, I've yet to find any windows task I can't do on a mac. A lowly 2008 one at that.
OP, let me tell you dude, visit an Apple Store and see for yourself.
The MacBook Pro is such a great computer to be honest. It is worth every dollar. The design, performance and battery life just flat out beat every PC laptop out there. The powerful and simple OS X is like no other. With the Mac Store coming out very soon and Lion, any Mac computer is totally worth it.
Also, since you mentioned school work, you may be eligible for a student discount.
Go for the MBP, I was in the same situation and I went with the MBP, it is simply a great computer.
My dad has this crappy sony vaio laptop and the screen resolution, keyboard, and battery life just doesn't come close to the MBP.
You want something special?
Get the MBP, you wont regret it.
The MacBook Pro is such a great computer to be honest. It is worth every dollar. The design, performance and battery life just flat out beat every PC laptop out there. The powerful and simple OS X is like no other. With the Mac Store coming out very soon and Lion, any Mac computer is totally worth it.
Also, since you mentioned school work, you may be eligible for a student discount.
Go for the MBP, I was in the same situation and I went with the MBP, it is simply a great computer.
My dad has this crappy sony vaio laptop and the screen resolution, keyboard, and battery life just doesn't come close to the MBP.
You want something special?
Get the MBP, you wont regret it.
You get exactly what you pay for.
So you can choose between a (in the UK anyway) £300 cheap laptop PC, or a MacBook Pro at between 3 and 5 times the price. Both offer probably the same value for money.
If you look after it, the MBP will last for about 5 years, the cheap laptop may last a year (before the screen deteriorates or the keys start falling off the keyboard. Five years down the line, you'll still be able to sell your MBP on eBay for enough to buy a brand new PC laptop with Windows 9.
I don't have a MBP, but I did have 3 PowerBook G4's (still have one), the current MBP's offer excellent value for money, all my PowerBooks cost nearly twice the current pricing.
And then you get educational discount. The best life-lesson you could learn at an early age, never pay full price. A good deal should be good for both parties, the seller has to make their profit and he knows you have to feel like you've come away with a bargain. I've always used the same Apple Premium Reseller for Macs and accessories, in-store, for over 20 years, now I only have to smile when he mentions the price and he reduces it by at least 20%.
So you can choose between a (in the UK anyway) £300 cheap laptop PC, or a MacBook Pro at between 3 and 5 times the price. Both offer probably the same value for money.
If you look after it, the MBP will last for about 5 years, the cheap laptop may last a year (before the screen deteriorates or the keys start falling off the keyboard. Five years down the line, you'll still be able to sell your MBP on eBay for enough to buy a brand new PC laptop with Windows 9.
I don't have a MBP, but I did have 3 PowerBook G4's (still have one), the current MBP's offer excellent value for money, all my PowerBooks cost nearly twice the current pricing.
And then you get educational discount. The best life-lesson you could learn at an early age, never pay full price. A good deal should be good for both parties, the seller has to make their profit and he knows you have to feel like you've come away with a bargain. I've always used the same Apple Premium Reseller for Macs and accessories, in-store, for over 20 years, now I only have to smile when he mentions the price and he reduces it by at least 20%.
Just set "desktop" to be one of the options for your hot corners and you are just one small swipe away from seeing you desktop anytime you want.
Need OS X? Buy a Mac.
Need the trackpad *regulary* (instead of a mouse)? Buy a Mac.
Need keyboard backlight? Buy a computer with keyboard backlight.
Need Windows in combination with the above? Buy a Mac.
Need Windows without the above? Buy a PC and get your lady something nice for the money saved.
Need the trackpad *regulary* (instead of a mouse)? Buy a Mac.
Need keyboard backlight? Buy a computer with keyboard backlight.
Need Windows in combination with the above? Buy a Mac.
Need Windows without the above? Buy a PC and get your lady something nice for the money saved.
Here is an unbiased opinion from someone who makes all their money off of Windows boxes and then spends it mostly on Mac equipment
If you are a business user, which you are not, then the value of a PC in business is greater than anything the Mac will do or won't do. Connectivity and integration of Office, Exchange, SharePoint, etc is so much better.
While I generally agree with this statement (and would add "..has Visio" to your comment); unless you use many of the advanced features of Office/Sharepoint the Mac versions are quite capable of letting you integrate a Mac into a PC environment. I've done it and never had any issues with not being able to do what I needed, including connecting with our Exchange server.
Bonjour was a real gem - I could be at a client site, on their network and print when many of my PC based colleagues couldn't find a printer. Never could get the PC version of Bonjour to work right.
I also like how easy it is to attach external displays and show one thing on screen and another on the projected display. A PC can do that as well; I just OSX a more elegant solution. Win7 may be as good, I just haven't tried it.
In the end, a business computer needs to satisfy the business needs - for me, a Mac does the trick. YMMV
Dell support hell. My XPS has great support - but I paid for it. My other Dell boxes were a nightmare - CD Rom not working - reinstall Windows. Can't power up - reinstall Windows. Key fell off keyboard - reinstall Windows. Dell cut costs bu using outsourced script kiddy techs; most of whom were useless.
I really don't blame Dell - everyone wants the cheapest price and you get what you pay for. I wonder what percentage pay for a higher tier of support? Or will pay a premium like I did for an XPS to get better support?
im a PC desktop user, and im getting a MBP 13" so im try hard not to bias this up.
it all depends on your budget. i as well as others are confused on how much you want to put in.. which model mac you want to buy..
go t this:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/academy/
sign up
then go to this (logging in)
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...ries_name=ENVY14be_series&a1=Category&v1=ENVY
and this should be an optional choice
better graphics, processor, bigger HDD...
compared to the MBP, you are getting the bang for your buck (that is if comparing to the base 13" model)
check it out, see if they have it in stores near you, play around and get the one you like the most
the con of the HP ENVY is the battery life (only 6 hours ) and the weight is 5.69 lbs, which is more on the level of the MBP 15" ~ but then again this is 14" ...
it all depends on your budget. i as well as others are confused on how much you want to put in.. which model mac you want to buy..
go t this:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/academy/
sign up
then go to this (logging in)
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...ries_name=ENVY14be_series&a1=Category&v1=ENVY
and this should be an optional choice
better graphics, processor, bigger HDD...
compared to the MBP, you are getting the bang for your buck (that is if comparing to the base 13" model)
check it out, see if they have it in stores near you, play around and get the one you like the most
the con of the HP ENVY is the battery life (only 6 hours
) and the weight is 5.69 lbs, which is more on the level of the MBP 15" ~ but then again this is 14" ...
all rumors are pointing to an april-ish release, so if you need one for jan/feb i guess you should go ahead and buy one now
You are asking on a Mac forum, so all of the answers will be biased towards Macs.
You should try them out yourself in store to see what you like better.
You should try them out yourself in store to see what you like better.
To be honest i bought a mbp i7 and i regret paying 3000$ for something that has as many or more problems compared to my hp laptop which had similar specs for half the price. The battery life however, has kept me on the mac side, windows really has a better OS despite what the fanboys will admit. It has much more of a "home" feeling, OS x feels too robotic and impersonal. try and find a pc with the best battery life.
I must agree all those that say a kernel panic is less frequent than a BSOD basically out themselves as fanboys who have no clue.
I have had Kernel Panics on my i5 MBP and Zero BSOD or anything similar as BSOD is thing of the past. And experiencing a Kernel Panic on the one hardware that OSX runs on compared to what Windows works on just makes OSX look worse.
OSX does have its strong pros but some that it might have had in the past are only repeated over and over by fanboys which doesn't make them true.
I have had Kernel Panics on my i5 MBP and Zero BSOD or anything similar as BSOD is thing of the past. And experiencing a Kernel Panic on the one hardware that OSX runs on compared to what Windows works on just makes OSX look worse.
OSX does have its strong pros but some that it might have had in the past are only repeated over and over by fanboys which doesn't make them true.