After reading "I hate myself" and reading your harsh comments, I felt particuarly compelled to share my "less than best" Mac experience. My argument is simple: if you are not a tech-savy person, a Mac may not be superior in all cases. I don't understand why is everyone being so hard on her. I can't comment on whether or not a Mac is better than a PC when you get into gaming, etc, I don't do any of that.
I admit, I am not very tech-savy. I use my computer as a word processor, and I do engage in light web surfing. I can honestly say that for low-end users (meaning people who aren't doing all the tech-heavy things to which you people have alluded), I believe PC's are better. I am a case in point. I LOVED the way Mac's look (powerbooks, not real keen on the white line, it looks kind of plasticy). I had a Dell Inspiron 2650, there was nothing ostensibly wrong with it, I just had the Mac itch. My husband is a life-long Mac user. He has had every single laptop and he currently has the 15 inch powerbook. Anyway, I used some technical fonts for my writing and I know these are readily available on Macs. I was kinda bored with my Dell (okay I will admit it) and yes, aesthetcis are important to me, so I went out and bought the powerbook 12in. The whole 2 weeks were basically just an exercise in sophistry (trying to convince myself it was better than a PC).
Now, before you flame, I should stress, better for *me* not necessarily people who do tech-heavy stuff. I would always find an excuse to keep it! When the word processing wasn't going right (there was the spinning beach ball every two seconds, delay while typing) I quickly downloaded the upgrades which helped a bit, but the problem wasn't completely solved. I word process quite a bit, so it was more than a slight "inconvenience." Another MAJOR problem for me (which was the problem that sent me running back) was the fact that Mac does not have a double mouse (I don't know the technical term) . This was a really big minus for me. I cut and put so much while writing. My husband, who refuses to see any flaws in Mac would tell me that I needed to learn how to use cntrl P and cntrol X what have you. I don't find this as convenient, you have to highlight with the mouse and then come back and use the keys to do your cut and paste?? It is counter intuitive as far as I am concerned.
I also like to flip back and forth from MS word to my window on the bottom where my online thesauras is accessible right away (again MS word is not comprehensive enough for me, I need more word choices). I didn't like on Mac having to go down to the dock, search for the little pic of my thesauras, etc.
Still, despite this, I convinced myself that the Mac was better and tried to accept its faults. I also found it pretty slow, comparatively speaking. I was writing my thesis at the time and the word processing problems just began to take their toll. Finally I said "Cathy admit it, this computer IS NOT for you." After I admitted that to myself, I felt much better, and yes I did switch back to a Dell. It wasn't as "pretty" by far, but I can't tell you, I was so glad to go back, I felt like a fish out of water during those two weeks. I even took a 10 percent restocking fee. I used my Dell for a few weeks, but I really wanted something different, so I bought a new Sony Vaio yesterday which I like (and its silver).
Anyway, my bottom-line is, I really think when you use the computer for 'very basic' tasks such as word processing and light surfing that the PC may have an edge. It is cheaper and I would argue just as reliable. For me, however, I found the PC to be far more conducive to my needs.
Any thoughts or arguments?
I admit, I am not very tech-savy. I use my computer as a word processor, and I do engage in light web surfing. I can honestly say that for low-end users (meaning people who aren't doing all the tech-heavy things to which you people have alluded), I believe PC's are better. I am a case in point. I LOVED the way Mac's look (powerbooks, not real keen on the white line, it looks kind of plasticy). I had a Dell Inspiron 2650, there was nothing ostensibly wrong with it, I just had the Mac itch. My husband is a life-long Mac user. He has had every single laptop and he currently has the 15 inch powerbook. Anyway, I used some technical fonts for my writing and I know these are readily available on Macs. I was kinda bored with my Dell (okay I will admit it) and yes, aesthetcis are important to me, so I went out and bought the powerbook 12in. The whole 2 weeks were basically just an exercise in sophistry (trying to convince myself it was better than a PC).
Now, before you flame, I should stress, better for *me* not necessarily people who do tech-heavy stuff. I would always find an excuse to keep it! When the word processing wasn't going right (there was the spinning beach ball every two seconds, delay while typing) I quickly downloaded the upgrades which helped a bit, but the problem wasn't completely solved. I word process quite a bit, so it was more than a slight "inconvenience." Another MAJOR problem for me (which was the problem that sent me running back) was the fact that Mac does not have a double mouse (I don't know the technical term) . This was a really big minus for me. I cut and put so much while writing. My husband, who refuses to see any flaws in Mac would tell me that I needed to learn how to use cntrl P and cntrol X what have you. I don't find this as convenient, you have to highlight with the mouse and then come back and use the keys to do your cut and paste?? It is counter intuitive as far as I am concerned.
I also like to flip back and forth from MS word to my window on the bottom where my online thesauras is accessible right away (again MS word is not comprehensive enough for me, I need more word choices). I didn't like on Mac having to go down to the dock, search for the little pic of my thesauras, etc.
Still, despite this, I convinced myself that the Mac was better and tried to accept its faults. I also found it pretty slow, comparatively speaking. I was writing my thesis at the time and the word processing problems just began to take their toll. Finally I said "Cathy admit it, this computer IS NOT for you." After I admitted that to myself, I felt much better, and yes I did switch back to a Dell. It wasn't as "pretty" by far, but I can't tell you, I was so glad to go back, I felt like a fish out of water during those two weeks. I even took a 10 percent restocking fee. I used my Dell for a few weeks, but I really wanted something different, so I bought a new Sony Vaio yesterday which I like (and its silver).
Anyway, my bottom-line is, I really think when you use the computer for 'very basic' tasks such as word processing and light surfing that the PC may have an edge. It is cheaper and I would argue just as reliable. For me, however, I found the PC to be far more conducive to my needs.
Any thoughts or arguments?
