Hi, I'm a PC. And I might want to try out a Mac.

[Sgt. Heracross]

Hey, everybody. It's Sean here. I have a bit of a predicament. See, I've been a PC user for as long as I can remember. However, with all of the Apple news out there and such, I've been pressured in to either keeping my PC thing going or caving in and buying a Mac. Now, I don't think I have enough money right now (what with me trying to preorder a 3DS and games) for something that's over a thousand dollars. Before I go on, I just want to say that I like my PC. It has a lot of my stuff on it, and I can use it without being too irritated even with my okay knowledge of computers. Although, with Macs, I've only had about a year or even less experience mostly from computer classes at school that have Macs. See, I'm becoming a writer as well as a bit of a musician and director. I have a lot of things I can do with it on my PC, but I'm a little curious about using a Mac. So, if you have an answer or any kind of other things that could be of use, help me out and post below.

Peace and love,
Sean.

 

[Captain Fabio]

Well, I have a Mac, but it is because I do a lot of graphical work, so it is good for what I use.
Macs are expensive and, personally, should just be bought if you don't really need them.

My advice is, you should just see if you REALLY need to get one, depending on what you are going to be using it for.

Anyway, Macs are easy to use. After a few times of using it, you will easily get use to it.​

​

 

[Nick]

My advice is to go to the Apple store (or a reseller) and test out a Mac on your own. We can sing praises - or toss them under the bus - with our opinions all we'd like, but the only opinion that matters is yours in this decision. Don't bother speaking to a Specialist about why you should get one, rather than asking them to help guide you through the common tasks you'd do on a normal computing session. You need to know you're buying it and like it before you buy it, so there's no better way to learn about that than testing it out firsthand.

 

[twocows]

Macs are PCs. PC stands for "personal computer." I hate that horribly misleading ad campaign. Yet another thing about Apple I find extremely irritating (in addition to their ludicrous prices, fake originality, lack of hardware choices, and inability to do hardware upgrades). I personally recommend you stay far, far away from any Apple product.

Contrary to popular belief, a lot of people in the entertainment industry (musicians, artists, etc.) use Windows. Adobe and Sony software are popular choices for many professionals in these industries, but there's a wide variety of other software available as well. On OS X, you are generally limited to one or two choices.

I think this is a valid analogy between Windows and OS X (unfortunately, they do that asinine Mac/PC thing, though).

 

[Mr. X]

From what i've experienced Macs have very stable software. And it looks nice.

Thats about it though.

If you really want to try a mac, just buy a copy of the mac os and make yourself a hackintosh. There are numerous guides on this.

And because twocows posted a comparison picture, i will also.

http://www.ratemyeverything.net/ImageDatabase/PostImages/1801/Large/PC_vs_Mac_Cartoon.jpg

 

[Gerri Shin]

Quite honestly, Using Mac over Windows is all down to personal preference. I use both, granted I do use them both on an Apple branded computer, because that's my personal preference. for general writing and other School/office related tasks, it wouldn't make any difference whether you do them via Mac or Windows. If you like using Windows and Apple is above your budget limit, then by all means check out Windows computers.

 

[Archer]

twocows, you're getting more and more bitter towards Apple over time. You're getting old :cer_laugh:

Jokes aside, as the others have said, it's up to personal preference. Some things are easier/nicer, some are more complicated. If you're going for a laptop, then a lot of the "limited platform/little upgradability" issues are shared by both PCs and Macs. Sorry twocows, but the naming convention makes more sense, given that's what we're comparing. You're looking at things from a hardware-only perspective, in which case you'd be totally right. The OS difference is what we're really looking at here. That's what the OP's ability to use it hinges on. So Mac vs Windows might be a better naming scheme.

Contrary to what I've just said, there's no doubt that Apple's hardware is a lot nicer than most, but the problem lies in what is sold in retailers. You will find that most business models of computers are of similar quality to Apple's, but these models aren't sold in normal retailers. All you see there is the tacky budget-minded models.

If you are prepared to look into buying business models directly though the company, I would recommend Dell, then HP, then Toshiba. In the retail line, I wouldn't even consider HP. That should give you an idea of the the difference between the two industries. Failure to sell the quality/premium products in retailers by other brands is doing wonders for Apple's public opinion, which isn't exactly fair.

If you're looking at them because you feel pressured into it as you implied on your OP, then you're looking for the wrong reason.

tl;dr - They can be nice, but make sure you look into better quality PCs and try out the OS first. It's a preference thing.

 

[Sara Yamamoto]

If you want to make music, games, or do writing, then a Mac is better for you.

 

[Sgt. Heracross]

Thanks for all of the input, everybody. I think I might as well try out a few Apple products out at an Apple store, mostly because I finally found one that's near me that I don't have to beg my parents to drive me to. In all honesty, I like my Windows laptop (all too well, apparently, I only have like...40 gigs out of 200 left on here) but I should be open to other softwares and such. After all, Final Cut Pro seems really tempting (especially compared next to my old Vegas 8 which I can almost barely use anymore) as well as a few minor technical likings (i.e. the built in iSight, which makes my webcam look like a children's play-camera to be honest). But hey, if the worst comes, I can then say that I will want to stick with Windows.

 

[Shining Arcanine]

Hey, everybody. It's Sean here. I have a bit of a predicament. See, I've been a PC user for as long as I can remember. However, with all of the Apple news out there and such, I've been pressured in to either keeping my PC thing going or caving in and buying a Mac. Now, I don't think I have enough money right now (what with me trying to preorder a 3DS and games) for something that's over a thousand dollars. Before I go on, I just want to say that I like my PC. It has a lot of my stuff on it, and I can use it without being too irritated even with my okay knowledge of computers. Although, with Macs, I've only had about a year or even less experience mostly from computer classes at school that have Macs. See, I'm becoming a writer as well as a bit of a musician and director. I have a lot of things I can do with it on my PC, but I'm a little curious about using a Mac. So, if you have an answer or any kind of other things that could be of use, help me out and post below.

Peace and love,
Sean.

While you are trying out alternative operating systems, you might want to try out Linux and FreeBSD. Here are two distributions you can use for that:

http://www.sabayon.org/
http://www.pcbsd.org/

Just download the iso files, burn then to a CD and boot your computer off them. My recommendation is to try out the KDE edition of Sabayon, but you could also try out the GNOME edition as well. There are a few flavors and you could try all of them by burning them to CDs and booting off them.

Macs are PCs. PC stands for "personal computer." I hate that horribly misleading ad campaign. Yet another thing about Apple I find extremely irritating (in addition to their ludicrous prices, fake originality, lack of hardware choices, and inability to do hardware upgrades). I personally recommend you stay far, far away from any Apple product.

Contrary to popular belief, a lot of people in the entertainment industry (musicians, artists, etc.) use Windows. Adobe and Sony software are popular choices for many professionals in these industries, but there's a wide variety of other software available as well. On OS X, you are generally limited to one or two choices.

I think this is a valid analogy between Windows and OS X (unfortunately, they do that asinine Mac/PC thing, though).

Thankyou! Finally, someone else who understands what a PC is.

By the way, the movie industry uses Linux, not Windows:

http://www.linux.com/archive/feed/27821

In specific, they use KDE on some Linux distribution:

http://dot.kde.org/2003/11/29/lord-rings-wields-our-precious

 

[twocows]

twocows, you're getting more and more bitter towards Apple over time. You're getting old :cer_laugh:

Jokes aside, as the others have said, it's up to personal preference. Some things are easier/nicer, some are more complicated. If you're going for a laptop, then a lot of the "limited platform/little upgradability" issues are shared by both PCs and Macs. Sorry twocows, but the naming convention makes more sense, given that's what we're comparing. You're looking at things from a hardware-only perspective, in which case you'd be totally right. The OS difference is what we're really looking at here. That's what the OP's ability to use it hinges on. So Mac vs Windows might be a better naming scheme.

Contrary to what I've just said, there's no doubt that Apple's hardware is a lot nicer than most, but the problem lies in what is sold in retailers. You will find that most business models of computers are of similar quality to Apple's, but these models aren't sold in normal retailers. All you see there is the tacky budget-minded models.

If you are prepared to look into buying business models directly though the company, I would recommend Dell, then HP, then Toshiba. In the retail line, I wouldn't even consider HP. That should give you an idea of the the difference between the two industries. Failure to sell the quality/premium products in retailers by other brands is doing wonders for Apple's public opinion, which isn't exactly fair.

If you're looking at them because you feel pressured into it as you implied on your OP, then you're looking for the wrong reason.

tl;dr - They can be nice, but make sure you look into better quality PCs and try out the OS first. It's a preference thing.

A PC is hardware by definition. It stands for Personal Computer. If you're discussing operating systems, the terms are OS X and Windows (and UNIX-likes, such as GNU/Linux, *BSD, Solaris, etc.). That's why the Apple marketing campaign bothers me so much (besides the general air of elitism): it's confounding OSes with hardware, which is confusing the general public about an important distinction.

I'm not sure why you recommended Dell or HP. They are the two brands I have had more problems with than any other, and their support is absolutely terrible. If you're looking to buy a laptop, I always recommend ASUS, Lenovo, or Toshiba; if you're looking to buy a desktop, I generally recommend configuring your own at http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ or (if you're willing to spend a bit more time) building your own.

As a side note, ASUS support is stellar. Twice I've called them up regarding problems (one minor and one major) with my laptop and had the representatives offer to look up if the laptop was still under warranty (both times it was, but I wasn't sure). They then fixed it both times for no charge and no hassle. I've called up Dell and HP with similar issues and gotten the runaround to fifteen different departments before being told they'll get back to me after the warranty's expired (or something equally infuriating).

Regarding the OS, I prefer Windows for so many reasons. If you really want OS X, your best bet is to put it on VirtualBox or make a Hackintosh, but I don't know why anyone would use OS X over GNU/Linux or a similar UNIX-like (or Windows if they're computer-illiterate).

 

[Archer]

A PC is hardware by definition. It stands for Personal Computer. If you're discussing operating systems, the terms are OS X and Windows (and UNIX-likes, such as GNU/Linux, *BSD, Solaris, etc.). That's why the Apple marketing campaign bothers me so much (besides the general air of elitism): it's confounding OSes with hardware, which is confusing the general public about an important distinction.

I understand exactly where you're coming from. But the alternative term would be Non-Apple PC, which isn't nice to say. Windows laptop is just as incorrect. The elitism annoys me more than anyone, but that doesn't stop me liking the way they do things (form a product perspective, the marketing side of things is as you say.)

I'm not sure why you recommended Dell or HP. They are the two brands I have had more problems with than any other, and their support is absolutely terrible. If you're looking to buy a laptop, I always recommend ASUS, Lenovo, or Toshiba; if you're looking to buy a desktop, I generally recommend configuring your own at http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ or (if you're willing to spend a bit more time) building your own.

I wouldn't touch HP's retail market with a ten-foot pole, but the business market is a completely different thing. Dell's current offerings, including retail and business market are great value for money and the current range is well-built. What sort of problems have you been getting with them?[/quote]

I support the recommendation for Asus (although build quality on certain models isn't always great), Lenovo (I simply forgot them, because they're no longer common the in the consumer market) and Toshiba (again, build quality is falling, but still a lot better than most).

Avoid: Acer, MSI (potentially the worst brand there is), Compaq, HP's non-business, NEC.

As a side note, ASUS support is stellar. Twice I've called them up regarding problems (one minor and one major) with my laptop and had the representatives offer to look up if the laptop was still under warranty (both times it was, but I wasn't sure). They then fixed it both times for no charge and no hassle. I've called up Dell and HP with similar issues and gotten the runaround to fifteen different departments before being told they'll get back to me after the warranty's expired (or something equally infuriating).

Yeah, Dell support, assuming you don't pay for the better support, is rubbish. If you the extra, you get next-day onsite service.

Regarding the OS, I prefer Windows for so many reasons. If you really want OS X, your best bet is to put it on VirtualBox or make a Hackintosh, but I don't know why anyone would use OS X over GNU/Linux or a similar UNIX-like (or Windows if they're computer-illiterate).

Some people prefer OSX, because it's much more polished/easy than the other Unix-OSes. and the only proper way to use it is on a Mac. Hackintosh can work for desktops, but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who isn't tech-savvy.

 

[Zet]

If you want to make music, games, or do writing, then a Mac is better for you.

Macs make games? I didn't even know that was possible, seeing as how they can't use a 6+ core. hur hur.

If you play video games on Windows you should check if they can still work under OS X/bootcamp since Mac builds aren't that gaming orientated. But if it's just writing, graphical work, musical work, and you want the software to not run into any problems most of the time then get a Mac. Otherwise just stick with Windows since it's more customizable and can do everything OS X can do but more.


But if you want to save money, just install OS X on your Windows machine.

 

[Anthraxinsoup]

A mac is about as useful as a apple 2. Use windows, it can do everything mac can do and for half the price. Apple is a company that was good, but has been turned into the devil.