Why do you have a Mac and not a PC, and why do you love it?

[Dferreira87]

I just received my very first mac a couple days ago, and i love it. I just wanna shout to the pople how great it is. So i figured we could start a thread to let people know why we love our macs and why we didn't stay with PC. Every time i see that start button i want to cry.

for me:
-very reliable
-snappy, even after years of abuse
-silent
-beautiful (that aluminum body is art)
-super fast and doesnt lag when switching between apps
-itunes no longre takes 10 days to start up on my machine
-The UI is perfect ( i hate the windoes clutter)
-icons look fantastic, even the boring apps make me want to open them and play!
-backlit keyboard=fantastic
-Everything just look very clean to me, which i love. I hate clutter and extra holes and grooves.
- Oh yeah, not to mention Customer Service. I actually get to speak with an american right here in the US of A with virtually no hold time!!!
THANKS APPLE....

 

[rgarjr]

I mainly like the aluminum bodies on the Apple machines.

 

[DKatri]

More than anything, simplicity.
Mac OS is much nicer than Win7.

Other than that, it is just a better overall experience, apple makes really nice hardware.

And at the end of the day if you like OSX but need Windows you can run windows much easier on a mac than OSX on a random windows laptop.

 

[Hellhammer]

OS X and design are the most important features for me. I have nothing against Windows, I build PCs for living and especially now with W7, I really enjoy Windows too. One reason I switched was Vista which just NEVER worked for me, too slow and buggy

 

[j.andr]

The biggest selling points for me were the glass trackpad and the OS. All the easy shortcuts like the tricks you can do with the trackpad just make life a lot easier. It is the only laptop where I find myself not wanting to hook up a fullsize mouse.

Also the build quality of the hardware, it is more than a computer, it is designed to be functional and beautiful. I appreciate things like that, whether it is a Mercedes car or an Apple laptop.

 

[lordofuo]

I like the Macintosh when it comes to piddling around on the internet, or recording music. (VERY good for recording, engineering, producing, etc.)

When it comes to anything 3D related, such as animation, modeling, rendering (CPU), and gaming, a PC wins.

I wish it weren't so, since I love the quality of my Macs, but they just aren't made for hardcore processing on the CPU and GPU side.

Animation and digital sculpting with ZBrush is the only reason I use my i7 Vista machine.

A Mac really couldn't perform well (unless you sell your car and buy a top-of-the-line Mac Pro) with ZBrush and Maya.

But overall, I like the Mac better. Much better build, and tons more thought in the design, etc.

Alex

 

[PinkLuxe]

The biggest selling points for me were the glass trackpad and the OS. All the easy shortcuts like the tricks you can do with the trackpad just make life a lot easier. It is the only laptop where I find myself not wanting to hook up a fullsize mouse.

I agree. I had no idea how useful the trackpad would be until becoming a Mac owner. It was torture using the trackpad on my old Lenovo and I would rarely ever use it without the mouse. But the MBP trackpad has in many situations become easier for me to use than my mouse. Scrolling while browsing webpages is so smooth and easy, I love it.

Also, I find that I'm 10x more productive using OSX than I ever was with Windows. I know a lot of people love Windows 7, but to me it still is so far behind OSX (at least as far as convenience and features) that I wasn't impressed. Its the way OSX makes simple tasks (ie: taking screen captures) so simple and easy that makes me love it. So many little tricks and tips out there for it that I'm sure so many people aren't even aware of.

 

[Sneakz]

Its the way OSX makes simple tasks (ie: taking screen captures) so simple and easy that makes me love it. So many little tricks and tips out there for it that I'm sure so many people aren't even aware of.

You picked the absolute worst task as an example. With no print screen key, screen caps are a b***h unless you remember the awkward 3/4 key combos.

 

[sushi]

You picked the absolute worst task as an example. With no print screen key, screen caps are a b***h unless you remember the awkward 3/4 key combos.

Or use Grab.

 

[Hellhammer]

You picked the absolute worst task as an example. With no print screen key, screen caps are a b***h unless you remember the awkward 3/4 key combos.

They aren't awkward... shift + cmd + 3 to take pic of whole screen and replace the 3 with 4 to decide what to capture. Oh, and yes, I didn't look from KB shortcut guide. Sure this wasn't the best example but I have no issues remembering those and dozens of other combos.

 

[quantum003]

You picked the absolute worst task as an example. With no print screen key, screen caps are a b***h unless you remember the awkward 3/4 key combos.

The key combos save your screen grab to the desktop when you're finished though, not just copy them to the clipboard... so the print screen button doesn't even get you halfway there on a PC

 

[bunit]

I purchased a 1st generation iPod Nano first and loved how simple it was to use. My boss at work had a Powerbook and raived about it. One day I was sitting in my apartment and decided to go to Comp USA, and bought a 1st generation Macbook Pro and have never looked back. I'm on my second Macbook Pro, I've also had an iMac. Like the ad says, "they just work"! There simple to use, they don't crash and there super quick compared to a PC. My father just purchased an Alienware laptop, and I played around with it, figring if I was gonna like any PC, this would be it cause it's top of the line! Nope, the operating system is still the same. So, "Go Apple or Go Home"! lol

 

[HLdan]

When it comes to anything 3D related, such as animation, modeling, rendering (CPU), and gaming, a PC wins.

I wish it weren't so, since I love the quality of my Macs, but they just aren't made for hardcore processing on the CPU and GPU side.

Animation and digital sculpting with ZBrush is the only reason I use my i7 Vista machine.

A Mac really couldn't perform well (unless you sell your car and buy a top-of-the-line Mac Pro) with ZBrush and Maya.

But overall, I like the Mac better. Much better build, and tons more thought in the design, etc.

Alex

That just doesn't make sense to me or anyone in the field of work that you are doing in terms of these tasks. Macs are legendary for 3D modeling and and animation. They are just as capable today. Your post is saying that ANY PC would be capable but not any Mac. That's ridiculous. A PC would also have to have specs just as capable in order to do what you are doing. You don't need a Mac Pro, the iMac is more than capable in terms of GPU and CPU.

I use my Macs precisely for creation, I wouldn't trust a PC anymore as the experience is just too frustrating.

 

[fehhkk]

OS X is the main reason. If the Macbook Pros run Windows only (haha), I wouldn't have gotten it.

 

[Dferreira87]

The biggest selling points for me were the glass trackpad and the OS. All the easy shortcuts like the tricks you can do with the trackpad just make life a lot easier. It is the only laptop where I find myself not wanting to hook up a fullsize mouse.

Also the build quality of the hardware, it is more than a computer, it is designed to be functional and beautiful. I appreciate things like that, whether it is a Mercedes car or an Apple laptop.

I agree with you on that. I ahtede having to use a mouse, or click to scroll. The gl;ass trackpad just makes it soooo simple to browse webpages, etc. I love the multi touch, i dont even need a mouse anymore. The next thing will be putting the multi touch to test in Illustrator/photoshop

 

[jajohns8]

I actually do not have much use for OSX. That could always change, but most of my dev work takes place in a Windows environment.

However, I really do love the design sense and the customer service that goes with Apple products.

I have a new MBP i7 running Win 7 64 bit at the moment.

I like how my MBP looks and feels. It feels solid.

As far as service goes, Apple, IMO cant be beat.

A few weeks ago I stripped some screws on the back of my new 15" i7 MBP while changing out the stock hard drive for an intel SSD.

I could have fixed this myself, but it was faster to stop by the apple store.
So, I made a genius appointment and they took care of it. They extracted the stripped screws and ordered extra for me. They also removed the Torx t6 screws from the old drive and placed them on my new SSD. (I don't own a Torx T6 screwdriver.)
All of this and the coolest conversation while the tech was doing it.

So, in brief, I dig their hardware. Wish I had more use for OSX. Maybe for some of my personal video editing/encoding, etc. I'll use it more.

I might not agree with all of the strategic decisions that Apple makes as a business, but I will still buy their products.

 

[nefan65]

I could NEVER imagine buying ANY Mac [iMac, Mac Mini, or Macbook/Pro] and install just Windows on it, and not use OSX. Like buying a new Lexus, and then taking out the engine and replacing it with something you took out of a 1972 Pinto.

I loathe having to use any version of Windows now. I've been Mac only the last 2 years, and it's been the best decision ever. Computing is actually enjoyable now!

If I wasn't so cheap, I'd buy a copy of OmniGraffle, and then I'd could ditch Visio and not need Windows for ANYTHING. Since it's all company provided, I just RDP to a Win box and do what I need there. It's not often [thank GOD!], but I'd rather not even have to do that...

 

[PinkLuxe]

You picked the absolute worst task as an example. With no print screen key, screen caps are a b***h unless you remember the awkward 3/4 key combos.

Um, if its really that hard for you to remember something that simple I think that's your issue. I'm not sure how its that much more tedious to press 2 extra buttons, and not even have to worry about copy/pasting or cropping your image with an image editor. Even with the Windows 7 screen capture sucks because of all the extra steps.

The key combos save your screen grab to the desktop when you're finished though, not just copy them to the clipboard... so the print screen button doesn't even get you halfway there on a PC

Exactly.

 

[jajohns8]

I could NEVER imagine buying ANY Mac [iMac, Mac Mini, or Macbook/Pro] and install just Windows on it, and not use OSX. Like buying a new Lexus, and then taking out the engine and replacing it with something you took out of a 1972 Pinto.

I loathe having to use any version of Windows now. I've been Mac only the last 2 years, and it's been the best decision ever. Computing is actually enjoyable now!

If I wasn't so cheap, I'd buy a copy of OmniGraffle, and then I'd could ditch Visio and not need Windows for ANYTHING. Since it's all company provided, I just RDP to a Win box and do what I need there. It's not often [thank GOD!], but I'd rather not even have to do that...

I guess the reason that the 72 pinto (to use your analogy) is used by enterprise is that it's cheaper?

Hey, if they switch to the Lexus's, I'd be just fine with that too. 8^)

 

[DesmoPilot]

I have and use both daily; personally I've grown to like Windows 7 just a tad more - I find multi-tasking to be more fluid and to come easier on it, and it's solid as a rock (No BSDOS's since launch in October; and only had two BSOD's during beta, and that was due to my unstable overclock I was working on at the time).

With that said I enjoy using OS X - it's a great OS, and so is W7; there isn't anything to say that hasn't already been said over the last few years about OS X.

 

[Pojo458]

I wanted a macbook because I was tired of seeing windows pc/labtops turning into snails on the first year due to malware and virus' (I used norton, then moved to avast for AV) they are bought. Windows labtops are huge,thick,loud, battery sucking machines.

The Macbook i bought needs no AV, is smooth,light, and fast with the option of using bootcamp to get XP/7 if i ever need windows.

 

[lordofuo]

That just doesn't make sense to me or anyone in the field of work that you are doing in terms of these tasks. Macs are legendary for 3D modeling and and animation. They are just as capable today. Your post is saying that ANY PC would be capable but not any Mac. That's ridiculous. A PC would also have to have specs just as capable in order to do what you are doing. You don't need a Mac Pro, the iMac is more than capable in terms of GPU and CPU.

I use my Macs precisely for creation, I wouldn't trust a PC anymore as the experience is just too frustrating.

I'm not saying that a Mac is incapable, I'm saying that it is more plausible to work on a PC than on a Mac due to cost.

I spent $1400 on a PC for my 3D work @ home and college.

If I were to buy a Mac with the same specs, it would cost a heck of a lot more.

I spent 1300 bucks on a MBP that has no where near the specs of my PC.

And trust me, I've tested it on some other Macs, there is absolutely no difference between working in Maya on a Mac or PC... no difference in usability, etc.

I think I might have worded my original post a little strangely, but I was just trying to get across the fact that a PC can do just as much hardcore processing work in 3D apps as a Mac, but at a fraction of the price. (more value in that respect.)

But the quality is not there in most PC's. Thats why I prefer the Mac overall.

Alex

 

[Mr. McMac]

I have both macs and PC's. They both have their pluses and minuses. Actually had more hardware problems with macs than I've had with pc's

 

[Dane D.]

...
I loathe having to use any version of Windows now. I've been Mac only the last 2 years, and it's been the best decision ever. Computing is actually enjoyable now!...

Totally agree, why use a OS that fights you at every turn. I've used both for 20 years, Mac OS is still a better experience. Windows is like General Motors was through the 70's till now, a giant corporation that thinks whatever they do is the final word. They build crap then, they had no imagination in design, no excitement in product releases and tended to be about 3-4 years behind everybody else.

 

[Tanegashima]

I'm not saying that a Mac is incapable, I'm saying that it is more plausible to work on a PC than on a Mac due to cost.

I spent $1400 on a PC for my 3D work @ home and college.

If I were to buy a Mac with the same specs, it would cost a heck of a lot more.

I spent 1300 bucks on a MBP that has no where near the specs of my PC.

And trust me, I've tested it on some other Macs, there is absolutely no difference between working in Maya on a Mac or PC... no difference in usability, etc.

I think I might have worded my original post a little strangely, but I was just trying to get across the fact that a PC can do just as much hardcore processing work in 3D apps as a Mac, but at a fraction of the price. (more value in that respect.)

But the quality is not there in most PC's. Thats why I prefer the Mac overall.

Alex

But in day-to-day tasks Mac's with their superior OS and software libararies, will be faster. Especially considering you don't have to be fixing things here and there... it just works...

Also, I have built myself a 1500 Euro (> 1500 USD) PC and it sucks, it's the second time the motherboard (Asus) brokes and I have replaced countless expensive cpu fans...