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Is buying a Mac over a PC a good choice?
- Thread starter MacBookBroLax
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Usually, as most would know from reading my posts, I'm fair in my evaluations that PC's and Mac's are fairly equal and have their ups and downs.
BUT HOLY CRAP. A company just made me work with some quad core pc's and Premiere CS5 to edit some footage for them (Shot in 1080p 59.94i) AND IT WAS AWFUL.
Windows crashed 9 times. Premiere crashed 32 times, froze 46 times (couldn't even play through an unrendered cross-dissolve). And I tried 14 different workstations at the studio. The results of above were a combined total on EVERY computer.
If you are doing HD video editing EVER, GET THE MAC.
That feels unusual me being so biased...but when you save every 10 minutes and premiere crashes and your entire project just vanishes with no possible recovery...you'd come to my conclusion as well.
*If you're just using it for home use: office, notes, internet, etc. than I would say it was not a good purchase at all. Get a $249 Compaq laptop from walmart. It handles itunes, internet, and microsoft office plenty well. But video editing, since I'm being biased right now, your purchase was the correct move. Though I will agree with the one post that said the 13" is the worst value of the macbooks. 15" pro would be my personal choice - though I have a 13".
BUT HOLY CRAP. A company just made me work with some quad core pc's and Premiere CS5 to edit some footage for them (Shot in 1080p 59.94i) AND IT WAS AWFUL.
Windows crashed 9 times. Premiere crashed 32 times, froze 46 times (couldn't even play through an unrendered cross-dissolve). And I tried 14 different workstations at the studio. The results of above were a combined total on EVERY computer.
If you are doing HD video editing EVER, GET THE MAC.
That feels unusual me being so biased...but when you save every 10 minutes and premiere crashes and your entire project just vanishes with no possible recovery...you'd come to my conclusion as well.
*If you're just using it for home use: office, notes, internet, etc. than I would say it was not a good purchase at all. Get a $249 Compaq laptop from walmart. It handles itunes, internet, and microsoft office plenty well. But video editing, since I'm being biased right now, your purchase was the correct move. Though I will agree with the one post that said the 13" is the worst value of the macbooks. 15" pro would be my personal choice - though I have a 13".
Being curious, I actually checked the Walmart website and searched for Compaq laptops. There is only one that isn't refurbished, for $368. My old MacBook is now 5 1/2 years old and working just fine (if you ignore the battery, but new MacBooks have better batteries). I expect my MacBook Pro to last longer; better battery and stronger case. I very much doubt the Compaq will live anywhere near that long. Maybe some Compaq owner can tell us how hard it is to extend the useful life with a bigger hard drive and more RAM, on a MBP it's childs play. So if you take cost per year, the MBP starts looking a lot better. I'd say $150 vs. $200 per year.
The hardware specs for the Compaq on the website are not remotely close to the cheapest MBP, and that ignores all the little things like trackpad, backlit keyboard, long living battery, weight, a much much nicer case, and so on. Now you may not _need_ this, but it is all very nice to have. We reached the point now where the MBP is definitely not a bad purchase. More money for a device that lasts longer, and a bit more money for a device that is objectively a lot better. Now if right now the $368 is all you have, that is tough, but if you can find $999 for a MBP and look at it as a long term investment, it is at least an equal good buy.
Now we come to enjoyment. For a computer that is used at home, I count enjoyment as a major factor. I know people spending £200 to visit a football match and get drunk on the way home. While this is rather idiotic, just like I consider paying for Jimmy Choos to be idiotic, investing some money in a more enjoyable computer experience is definitely a good investment. That MBP is something that the thread starter will enjoy for many years, instead of the regret of the Compaq.
The only thing in common with all those computers crashing was you I'm afraid.
Using logic and my BS detector I conclude this as a PEBKAC.
