Can't decide PC or MAC

[Eric-PTEK]

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?

When I say Dell 'support' I'm talking hardware wise, not software. When something breaks you don't have to travel far to get it fixed. Convenience, not necessarily quality was my point.

I've found Apple's support beyond being overly gracious, to be mostly useless. Anything beyond the simple requests get no where. Although there bottom level support is all English speaking and US based, they are little more than operators answering the phone.

If MS were to include syncing of SharePoint Lists and Document libraries to Outlook 2011 then they would cover 90 percent of users needs. The lack of syncing, as you say may be an 'advanced' feature. 2 years ago none of my customers were running SharePoint, now 100 percent do and its part of every installation we do.

Infopath would be nice but it'll never happen but I'd guess there must be some kind of XML form service that'll connect to SharePoint.

I can honestly say I've never had a Win7 BSOD on countless machines, then again I've never had a kernel panic on anything except my Hack Pro.

Both OS's are equal in robustness.

One area where osX is far superior is in battery management. There is something to be said for controlling the entire ecosystem. It is completely seamless the way it manages the battery.

 

[palmerc2]

Go to an apple store and check them out to see if you like it. Don't feel shy about asking a floor rep a few questions, they are ridiculously friendly

If you feel you didn't get used to the OS after 20-30 mins, still get one. The OS is super easy to get used to. I was used to it after 5 days

I got my Mac about 3 years ago, and havent even thought about touching a PC again. It is just unsurpassed, never having to worry about a virus, or any maintenance. Ease of use is uncanny, deleting a program is just a simple drag and drop onto the trash, or to view a photo / PDF / Word file just hit the space bar, for instance. I had to replace the hard drive because it went out but that is understandable. That is the only "maintenance" I have had to do to it.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Go to an apple store and check them out to see if you like it. Don't feel shy about asking a floor rep a few questions, they are ridiculously friendly

If you feel you didn't get used to the OS after 20-30 mins, still get one. The OS is super easy to get used to. I was used to it after 5 days.

You might aswell tell him to go and buy one without even trying it and to stick by his decision. Why recommend someone a computer that after 20-30 minutes they can't even start to understand. Thats poor advice, unless you are totally new to computers then after 20-30 minutes of playing on whatever OS it runs you should be able to atleast grasp the basics. It's like telling someone to test drive a car, them not being able to find the controls and then telling them to buy it because in time it will come to them, hopefully.

Thats the one thing I don't like about this forum, too many people think everyone needs, or should have a Mac.

 

[aCondor]

I'll give you my honest opinion. My flame-retardant suit is on and should take the brunt of the angry replies aimed at a Condor.

It sounds like you are a poor, miserable little man-boy. You have no job and thus, no salary. Dollars flow out of your hands faster than you ever thought possible because you cannot hope to restrain yourself from purchasing the limited-edition Yo-Gi-Oh! anime DVD and poster package. The only console (note: this word does not refer to video-game console, you inbreds. I should slice your neck for such insolence. If I didn't have such trouble maintaining concentration I would t-...) you have is a small kitten, named Bubbles, that is neither a bubble nor all that round. Really, the kitten should be named Cat, for the simple fact that it is one. I am named "aCondor" because I am a bird. Yes, 3G data service does work at 9,000 feet. Watch-out. I excrement-ed on your car. This is what birds do.

Now is about the time that you should be scratching your head. Not because this post does not make any sense, but because you continue to read it even though you know it makes no sense. The logical mind of 3 (update: currently 9) macrumors readers have already exploded. If you know your mind to be illogical or questionably sane, please, do read on.

So you are considering both a PC and Mac, you say? Your first priority should be you cat, Cat. Cat will be using your new computer while you sleep, so make sure Cat will enjoy it. This can be done by putting Cat into any modern dishwasher or tumble-dryer. After turning these devices on, wait for approximately 10 minutes. If Cat can be heard, repeat the first step. This should continue until you realize what a horrible mistake you have made. Slap yourself.

Continuing on, Cat should have scratched you. This is Cat's only way to communicate and you should feel grateful. Unfortunately nobody knows the secrets to deciphering cat-scratching. You should be feeling quite humble by now. Look down at your feet. Good. Cat:1. You:0.

Look at yourself. Now back to the screen. Now back to yourself. You look at these words, but feel guilty because you have no idea how to read. No to your left. Back to the screen. The man standing to your left is me. I found you. Look back to your left. I am gone. Look around. There I am. Watch out! I should have warned you earlier. Your ear may grow back. Now look back at yourself. You have one less ear. I have jumped out your window. I have your ear.

Get a Mac. I typed this on a Windows-based PC. I have gone crazy.

 

[Looon]

Mac connects just as easily to your TV as a peecee would. Why are you comparing a Macbook Pro to a "cheap pc"? That's sort of an odd comparison to make. Macbook Pro is comparable to a more expensive high-end pc. Dollars-wise the pricing isn't much different, maybe a few hundred.

That said, even a high-end peecee laptop feels cheap and plasticy. A MBP just feels like a high-end product when you hold it. The user experience of the MBP is leagues above any peecee.

um not if he's considering specs. You can get a way more powerful Dell, ASUS, HP for the same amount of money and a few hundred is a pretty big different for a lot of people

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Do what you want. If you're going to spend over a grand on a laptop, any computer - Apple, Dell, HP, etc, are all going to be just as good as another.

A lot of people like to complain about how bad a PC is compared to a mac, but I'd be willing to bet that 99% of those people are comparing their Macbook Pro to a $400 Windows PC. Maybe, they'll compare it to an $800 PC. Spend $1600 on a Macbook Pro, and all of a sudden it's not much different from any other computer, except it's missing blu-ray and HDMI.

Also, check out the business computers from the major manufacturers, they tend to be better built, and include less crapware. The downside is they are roughly $100-$200 more than their consumer counterparts, but still much less than an Apple.

Windows 7 is a pleasure to use - as much as OS X - and after 7 came out, I actually got a new Dell Vostro, and even though it's less powerful than my 2006 era Macbook Pro, I find I prefer using it, and have ended up replacing my MBP with it.

 

[zodqyv]

Windows

Buys a Windows machine. The more people move over to our platform the sooner the virus writers will follow.

Just kidding, of course. Personally, I cannot imagine buying a Windows machine on purpose. Even if you have a must use app that only runs on Windows you can always load the Microsoft OS on a separate partition. At least that way you are installing a clean version of Windows not pre-configured and pre-loaded with crapware, and you will actually have a real install disc should you need to reinstall it at some point (rather than a lousy recovery disc). Good luck with that when buying a Windows machine from a major PC manufacturer.

 

[SDub90]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Get what you need and what you can afford. It seems a PC is what you should go for.

 

[zodqyv]

A lot of people like to complain about how bad a PC is compared to a mac, but I'd be willing to bet that 99% of those people are comparing their Macbook Pro to a $400 Windows PC. Maybe, they'll compare it to an $800 PC.

We have a fancy shop in the local mall called "The On Store." They carry every Mac in the lineup as well as Sony notebooks and the like, including the infamous z-series. The thing is sitting right next to a MacBook Pro and it feels like garbage by comparison. In fact, every notebook I have put my hands on feels like garbage by comparison. Then again, maybe it's just me.

 

[Rob.G]

I've been a Windows (and Linux) user for fifteen years. This past January, I gave up and got a Mac because I was fed up with Windows' instability (especially Windows 7, the supposed savior), and Linux' inability to ever run properly due to the need for 10,000 different drivers.

I'll admit that even for me, a Super-Techie, took a little getting used to. Windows definitely has the UI down in terms of being able to do things many different ways. To this date, I HATE that I can't get a List of files where folders are at the TOP of the list. But I digress...

Having used a Mac for months, I ended up in a warranty dispute with Apple, with Apple telling me to get bent. I went out and bought a new Windows 7 laptop, ready to auction off all of my Apple stuff. That lasted fifteen minutes, literally. The thing was back in the box and returned the next day. I felt insulted even booting Windows, and of course, Linux wouldn't install on the thing.

So in celebration, I bought an 11" MacBook Air, and have since realized that what I thought were hardware problems on my MBP were in fact software problems, since the Air does it too. Now I know there's hope.

But for me, Windows is an unstable, barely-usable, un-Godly piece of CRAP. The ONLY good thing I can say about it is that it has encouraged competition so that we have OSX. Until Microsoft gets it through their thick skull that they can't allow programs to scatter themselves across the filesystem with all kinds of shared files, any of which could conflict with other shared files, there's gonna be trouble. And on top of that, to this day still allowing the system to run in Kernel mode is a BAD idea and a huge part of why Windows has so many viruses.

Anybody remember the recent news story about that super-worm that got into and disabled the entire Iranian nuclear facility? Guess how it got in? Holes in Windows 7!!! Yep.

I could go on, but at this point I have no idea if anybody will even read this.

Rob

 

[Blu101]

um not if he's considering specs. You can get a way more powerful Dell, ASUS, HP for the same amount of money and a few hundred is a pretty big different for a lot of people

Specs on paper are about as useless as Sarah palin as President.

Do what you want. If you're going to spend over a grand on a laptop, any computer - Apple, Dell, HP, etc, are all going to be just as good as another.

Far from it.

A lot of people like to complain about how bad a PC is compared to a mac, but I'd be willing to bet that 99% of those people are comparing their Macbook Pro to a $400 Windows PC. Maybe, they'll compare it to an $800 PC. Spend $1600 on a Macbook Pro, and all of a sudden it's not much different from any other computer, except it's missing blu-ray and HDMI.

It's called a mini display port to HDMI adapter and if you look hard enough, there are options out there for blu-ray.

I compared mine to an HP Envy15 and Sony Z Signature Series. The HP was close, couple of hundred cheaper, but heavier and only ~3 1/2 - 4 hour battery (real world figures, I get ~2x that with my MBP). Sony Z was ridiculously priced between same as MBP to 2x the MBP, depending on what model I looked at (closest one was only a 13" Z vs the 15" MBP). The problem with both the HP and Sony was that they came with Windows (ugh - not again!). They are built better than $400 PCs, but still not as good as Apple in general.

Also, check out the business computers from the major manufacturers, they tend to be better built, and include less crapware. The downside is they are roughly $100-$200 more than their consumer counterparts, but still much less than an Apple.

They're still crap. They're also ugly as hell.

Windows 7 is a pleasure to use - as much as OS X - and after 7 came out, I actually got a new Dell Vostro, and even though it's less powerful than my 2006 era Macbook Pro, I find I prefer using it, and have ended up replacing my MBP with it.

Windows 7 works better than Vista, i.e. doesn't crash as often, but it's still the same old Windows...and feels just like it. OS X is a breath of fresh air and together with iLife provides a much, much better user experience than Windows.

 

[Timur]

Try turning off one of your multiple displays with that breath of fresh air. Try getting more than 130 mbit/s out of your supposed n-standard 300 mbit Wlan connection with that breath of fresh air(port). Try to run 90% of business software on that breath of fresh air.

And then try to be objective and get yourself informed properly before stating things.