Need advice from past converts...

[waterman460000]

Hey guys, I'm going to be starting college in the fall and I am in a bit of a dilemma while trying to find the laptop I want. I've been looking into getting a PC pretty heavily, but with all of this Lion OS stuff going around, I have become... Macurious. I've used a Mac before, but now for the first time I have been actually contemplating on buying one after bashing them for so many years... I have my mind set on a 15" Macbook Pro, but there is a small part of me that is worried that I will not be able to adjust because I will miss the power a similarly priced PC will cost. So here is my question to those of you who have switched from PC to Mac, did you ever miss the "power" a PC bought with it specifications wise? Also, I am going into an engineering program and would the Mac be able to be used with the engineering programs I will be using? I'm torn between this sleek machine or a 17" top of the line behemoth, and the Mac is looking pretty good right now. I just do not want to regret my decision afterwards.

TL;DR: Will I miss the power a PC offers?

 

[Dalton63841]

I switched to a Mac 2 years ago, and I can tell you, specs are not everything. My 2009 Macbook Pro runs circles around my desktop, which has a Phenom Quad Core in it. With Mac the OS is optimized to the hardware, while Windows has to cater to the greatest common denominator.

Not to mention, with the new Core iX CPU's, you won't be missing much. I can honestly say, regardless of my love for Windows, I won't be buying another Windows laptop, ever. I will run Windows on my Macbook Pro when I need to, but I will always own a Macbook Pro.

 

[Ladybug]

I can't answer the engineering question, but I did make the switch about 5 yrs. ago. One thing to keep in the back of your mind is, you can always run Windows on your MBP if you find yourself hating OS X for some reason. If you buy another PC you will be stuck with Windows most likely unless you opt for Linux. I made the switch because I was tired of Windows, and wanted something new, and something I didn't have to worry about maintaining all the time, although Windows has gotten better. In the back of my mind, I knew I could always run Windows if I hated OSX. Now I rarely run Windows and its not even installed on my MBP.

As for power, I find that OSX requires less power than my PC. Everything is snappy, especially since I upgraded to an SSD drive...everything is pretty much instant now. I still have an i7 quad core PC in the house, that I use for games once in awhile. Mostly it just sits there now taking up space.

MBP + OSX + Windows Bootcamp + Parallels will pretty much cover all of your needs. I can almost guarantee you'll fall in love with Apple. Go ahead, take a bite.

 

[palpatine]

Hey guys, I'm going to be starting college in the fall and I am in a bit of a dilemma while trying to find the laptop I want. I've been looking into getting a PC pretty heavily, but with all of this Lion OS stuff going around, I have become... Macurious. I've used a Mac before, but now for the first time I have been actually contemplating on buying one after bashing them for so many years... I have my mind set on a 15" Macbook Pro, but there is a small part of me that is worried that I will not be able to adjust because I will miss the power a similarly priced PC will cost. So here is my question to those of you who have switched from PC to Mac, did you ever miss the "power" a PC bought with it specifications wise? Also, I am going into an engineering program and would the Mac be able to be used with the engineering programs I will be using? I'm torn between this sleek machine or a 17" top of the line behemoth, and the Mac is looking pretty good right now. I just do not want to regret my decision afterwards.

TL;DR: Will I miss the power a PC offers?

hey wm,

pcs are going to be a better deal for a lot of things, dollar for dollar they offer a better roi (return on investment), and and they generally play more friendly with others in terms of compatibility and software accessibility. at least, that has been my experience (i am sure someone will come on here and rail against my heresy shortly).

but, i chose mac recently for a lot of reasons that carry more weight with me than a simple spec to spec comparison would. among these are features in mac that are far more user friendly for some of the specific tasks i do in my research, the beautiful design (i am a sucker for pretty things), the customer support, the great compatibility with other apple products, and the relatively small "apple tax" for base models.

1.
i think the first step for you ought to be contacting fellow students (your department can put you in touch with some, or perhaps even offer advice directly from an undergraduate advisor appointed to answer questions from incoming students). see what they are using. if they tell you professor x, y, and z all require work on the pc and they strongly recommend against getting a mac, then you can take that into consideration. i assume they won't, but you may get some valuable advice for your situation.

2.
think about your workflow. will you really be using your computer that much? i got through my ba program through a combination of roommates' computers (architecture and math majors) and computer labs. i am getting through graduate school primarily with pen/paper in class for notes, ipad in between for reading (digitized everything), and scanning notes into pdfs (uploading to evernote) in the evening. i don't bring my computer to campus all that much. my time on campus is for reading, thinking, and perhaps writing some drafts (pair bluetooth keyboard with ipod/ipad). my computer is for the heavy work after i get home.

 

[riptideMBP]

I haven't had any issues using a MBP (rising sophomore), and come to think of it, I've only needed my free MSDN copy of W7 for gaming That being said, I have done CAD work in both OSX and in windows through Parallels (kinda slow for 3d) & Bootcamp.

I don't think you'd miss anything (except money) by switching from a "PC" as the somewhat superior specs would be negligible