Mac or PC

[Noob334]

My brother is starting college in May and needs a new computer so he started looking already but prolly wont buy anything until the end of march. The school sent him the specs recomended for a computer and also said that they can have a Mac or a PC. He wants to get a Macbook Pro and asked for my advice on what to get. I know a little about PCs but I know nothing about Macs. One of my housemates swears by his Mac and never says anything bad about it. Does anyone have any thoughts? Im curious what the people on this forum think. Thanks for any comments you have

[TurcoLoco]

Ok, just to get the ball rolling I am going to post a reply but I initially did not want to because I could not fairly say PC or MAC. I have not used MAC long enough and recently to say anything good or bad on it but I am sure some of the other users will chime in as they see this thread.

I prefer PCs because of their customizability and also there are a lot more hardware and software available for PC than for MAC but that still wouldn't mean it is hands down better than MAC.

The first time I found out MAC mouse was using a single button, I walked away but on the serious note, both have strong points and weak. There are a lot less MACs in use (hence M$' market dominancy) but MAC users seem to be diehard fans and quite happy with their machines (desktop or laptop).

Anyhow, I am going to cut the BS with this suggestion to everyone with the same question/concern: do not listen to anyone, simply walk into a store and test drive both long enough to get a feeling for either one then make your choice! Try to get a machine that will handle most if not all the tasks that it'll be used for.

Either way, happy shopping!

[Noob334]

Thanks TL, I played with my housemates apple today and I liked it. it took me about 10min to get used to the whole one button thing but u can always just hit ctrl when clicking to get a right click. Also the photo program, iphoto, seemed easy to use and the spotlight feature on the mac, that lets you search everything, is sweet. plus all the programs that the computer will need to run are made for macs and PCs so thats not really a factor, and speed is comparable as well.
I just dont know, i feel like PCs must be doing something right to have so much of the market.
anyone who has any comments please post cuz my brother and i are open to any thoughts either way. also if the computer does get a spyware/malware problem, will anyone on this forum be able to help?

[jholland1964]

also if the computer does get a spyware/malware problem, will anyone on this forum be able to help?

Hey, that's why most of us are here!

[Noob334]

I know thats why you are here Judy, but I did not know if you were able to help with macs or not. I hope you had fun with that blizzard

[jholland1964]

I know thats why you are here Judy, but I did not know if you were able to help with macs or not. I hope you had fun with that blizzard

Macs I know nothing about, except I "believe" they are less prone to attacks from nasties, not immune, since their sales have gone up there are always jerks who want to cause havoc whether a pc or a mac and there have been more nasty items aimed at macs in recent years.

[TurcoLoco]

Hey, that's why most of us are here!

Speak for yourself young lady, some of the spyware threads I looked at made me feel like Ethan Suplee looking at that painting in the movie Mall Rats!

lol


Noob, you and your brother are always welcome for any help or comments I can spare...good luck.

[Gizmokid2005]

Ok, I'll chime in since I'be been avidly researching and using macs lately. Personally I'd say go for a Mac. If you can't do something on the mac you can always use Parallels and run windows. That's one of the LARGE advantages to the Mac, as it will run both Mac OSX and Windows. The program is about $70 retail, and depending on where you go you can usually get a discount if you purchase a computer.

An apple is MUCH less prone to virii and malware. I've checked quite a few security websites and there aren't any known issues for a mac except for the macros that are used in M$ products, specifically Office. So they are MUCH safer than a PC, and if you run windows in a Virtual Machine using Parallels you can always blow away the changes that you made.

Definitely for portability I'd say go with a Mac. Their batteries are EXTRAORDINARY (at least for the Macbooks) as they last an average of 4.5-5.5 hours on a full charge. The middle line Macbook is the best deal for the laptops, that I've found, unless you need the powerful graphics card or the extra screen space.

I found out today that you CAN right-click with the mouse on a new mac, but only on the external mice. It's a simple option you can select in the mouse properties.

Overall I'd say go for a Mac as it's a better deal, and the quality (even though the expansion of the hardware is almost non-existant) is much higher, and if you are getting a laptop, it doesn't matter what brand you get, you only get limited upgradibility with hardware, such as RAM and HDD.

That's my professional opinion, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[traderonline]

if you intend to do any gaming go for a pc. i heard that mac is not compatible with most games available.

[Noob334]

My good friend just got a MacBook pro and with the parrallel (I know i cant spell) desktop all he has to do is restart the computer and hit a couple of keys and it loads XP and he can play whatever game he wants so right now im not seeing a downside to a mac. plus the new operating system looks sweet and is due out at the end of the month so i think a macbook is in the future