PC or MAC?

[dullwitch]

Has this been discussed before? If so, sorry, but I couldn't find anything in the search.

I have a PC at the moment that is about 8 years old, crashes all the time and is mind numbingly slow at times. So I'm looking for something new.

My question is, do I buy a MAC, or stick to the devil I know and get another PC?

I have heard so many conflicting views that I really cannot make up my mind what to do. I love the idea of having a shiny new MAC, but am worried that I won't be able to access half my old files and will find the whole change too confusing (as you may have guessed I am not much of a whizz with a computer :-$)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Pearson]

Much like you, similar situation few years ago.

I made the break for MAC and never looked back :)

They are just so simple and intuitive to use and of course most files these days are compatible across both if you save correctly. And don't forget that you probably won't 'bin' your old computer straight away, so you'll have plenty of time to switch over safely.

MAC for the win.

Just my opinion of course. Good luck.

[Keef]

I think if you just want it for simple everyday computer use, go for a PC, as it'll probably be cheaper.

If you want to do stuff, especially around media, go MAC.

[Marmora Man]

MAC - just to avoid Microsoft based virus's.

[louisiana]

I moved from PC to Mac 3 years ago. I now avoid PC if I can. PCs just drive me mad now with all the hanging around waiting.

I have not found problems with document files: Word, PowerPoint, Excel all fine, for example. Only one tiny niggle in a complex Excel s/sheet where someone decided to build a naff macro that didn't transfer correctly, three yeas ago.

You can use the same external drive on both a Mac and a PC.

I have Parallels installed to be able to run Windows stuff (there are other similar products out there) but I've found I've never needed to use it.

If you need any specialist applications, check they are available for Mac (they often are these days). Sometimes Mac users get a better deal e.g. SnagIt (which I use a lot) is paid for on PC but free for Mac version; Camtasia is much cheaper on Mac than PC.

A Mac will be more expensive. But it's a great machine that you will probably become quite attached to. And if anything does go wrong (which happened once), the Apple Store people can be amazing on turnaround (e.g. drop off machine Friday night, pick it up fixed Saturday lunchtime.)

I've kept my PCs as back-up, but that's all they are.

[nozchik]

MAC- and you will never look back, promise :)

[louisiana]

Viruses? What are they? :)

[????]

Can't play most poker sites with Mac :(...big minus for me

[GinaG3]

MAC - Cannot be dealing with all the slowness of Windows & viruses. I'm using a 10 year old mac (old I know, anyone feel free to buy me one.. thought not!) and it quite literally takes 20 seconds to boot up compared to the 4 year old PC I was using a few months ago (what a nightmare) taking about 10 minutes! Then again I'm gonna stick to mac as thats all I know and has always been the same, it drove me to nearly lobbing a PC out the windows trying to use one for 2 months. Few things you cant do on mac for sure, but thats where the iPhone comes in!

[Ramble66]

MAC - will take a couple of days to get over PC way of thinking, then you'll never look back!!

[Loz]

95% of things you can do on a PC you can do on a Mac. It's how much that other 5% may or may not annoy the hell out of you.

[louisiana]

What's the other 5%? Watching paint dry? :)

[tog_in_sox]

Hi DW.

Main question is how much do you want to spend? As mentioned above software options may be pricey for the MAC. The hardware itself is also not cheap. It is considered sexy looking by many but then there are many new PCs starting to look just as good.

The whole MAC OS vs Windows thing is getting real tired. "Ooh it's so much easier to use", "ooh it's so safe because you won't get viruses", "oooh it's so easy to maintain", "aaah it's so much quicker". Granted when compared to anything older than Windows Vista you could make a decent argument about speed or perhaps maintenance but with Windows 7 on the playing field there's not much in it now. Your decision will be down to how comfortable you feel with your existing computer skills in Windows vs taking some time to learn how to do it on a MAC.

I have a PC with processor that's perhaps 4 years out of date but it takes under 30 seconds to start Windows 7

I've been using PCs for 20+ years and only ever had to deal a serious virus perhaps 3 or 4 times, provided you use a reputable Anti-virus package and you are sensible about your behaviour when wandering the Web you will probably never have to worry. Everyone who bitches about viruses and catches them regularly is like a drunk driver on a school run - a menace to everyone else particularly the naive.

A friend of mine bought a MAC for his wife as she wasn't to keen on a PC. He got rid of it 6 months later because it wasn't as trouble free, intuitive, speedy or low maintenance as he'd been led to believe by all the fanboys/girls out there. (He builds PCs so not a novice).

As mentioned above, do you have any specialist software requirements to do work or support an interest you have. You'll need to check that you can get a decent MAC equivalent at a good price.

MACs are prestige items so if you have the money and you're into bling then by all means indulge. IF you need to get value for money then PC is still the way to go, whether Windows or Linux. Talk to the right people you could even get a MAC for it's looks and then put Windows on it or run a Windows emulator so you can continue to use your existing Windows applications (check compatibility).

More than happy to talk more about this with you.

Good luck with your purchase whichever way you decide.

[Pearson]

^so you're kind of saying a PC=Vaxhall Nova, MAC=Aston Martin

(it's only a few hundred quid more=a few bottles of wine more?)

Aston Martin wins!

[tog_in_sox]

Actually it's more like:

Anything from Vauxhall VRX - Jag vs Aston in most cases, although you can easily go up to the premier PC (sub)brands in which case it may well be Maserati vs Aston

Heck if you choose right you might get Atom vs Aston.

For the less petrol-headed: You can spend on looks for your PC too if you're monied up and likely make a MAC look like Breville toaster.

[Huguenot]

Never heard a better layman's review that tog_in_sox (who is clearly not a layman).

Apple's currently winning the market in the same way as Google did - by pretending to be a niche clever product whilst taking huge market share.

I was Apple from the off - an LC630 before it became a Performa in '94. I turned to PC out of practical issues in around 2000.

Apple's are largely flash marketing, in the same way that a Stella is reassuringly expensive. Most PCs were corporate, and FDs don't spend extra cash to look trendy. However, lots of suppliers are making the consumer adjustment.

I use Sony Vaios. Very good looking but flip out at the slightest tickle. Much like my various Powerbooks - the predecessor to iBooks - and various MacBooks.

I use them because all my clients give me admiring looks ;-)

[karter]

Both tog_in_sox and Huguenot's posts are great and made me chuckle. I use both PC and MAC on a daily basis. Look after your PC and your PC will look after you, what i mean is fill it with crap and have no decent anti-virus software then you will ask for trouble. Yes MAC is better on security but so far for me PC comes out on top depending on spec, treatment etc. Like Keef says too MAC is better for media if that is what you need it for. Hope that helps too.

[louisiana]

I have two top-end Vaios sitting in the back of the locket filing cabinets. They come out about as often as my annual company tax return. Or less. Which is why they're located there. Nice machines, but Sony's built-in software can be a real annoyance (added to all the PC/Windoze annoyances).

Unless they are in the design or comms or development departments, clients tend to be on old and grotty low-spec PCs (HP or Dell more often than not) and often make eyes at anything that is not what they have. That's the corporate world for you.

[Huguenot]

My latest Vaio's made out of carbon fibre and it's lighter than a butterfly. Sometimes it just doesn't fancy doing any work. Never had a problem with the proprietary software though, never noticed.

I tend to find other people using Macs a bit like seeing someone wearing a Chanel neckscarf. Their move into the mainstream has left them just on the cusp of turning naff.

I love my iPad though, even though nothing that is 'standard' works easily on it. Trying to put a pdf on it is like pulling teeth. Neither is it small and handy once you've put a protective case on it.

[louisiana]

Huguenot Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> My latest Vaio's made out of carbon fibre and it's

> lighter than a butterfly. Sometimes it just

> doesn't fancy doing any work. Never had a problem

> with the proprietary software though, never

> noticed.

You've never noticed the proprietary software? There's quite a bit of it on there! (plus Club Vaio and all that jazz).

>

> I tend to find other people using Macs a bit like

> seeing someone wearing a Chanel neckscarf. Their

> move into the mainstream has left them just on the

> cusp of turning naff.

Sweet.

>

> I love my iPad though, even though nothing that is

> 'standard' works easily on it. Trying to put a pdf

> on it is like pulling teeth. Neither is it small

> and handy once you've put a protective case on it.

I use neither iPhone nor iPad. For me it's all down to the most productive tool for the job. I don't see the iPad adding anything to the tech mix.

[mockney piers]

I've an iPad. Hugeunots correct that it has many pitfalls, but it's convenient when I'm postin one handed while feeding the munchkin with the other hand.

For me MACs are like BMWs. They're solid, pretty, very good, great warranty and expensive, plus other than forward stop and steer you don't have to worry about anything.

A good PC is like a TVR, it's excellent but prone to breakdown and needs interest in how it works under the covers to keep it running smoothly, but it's more powerful and potentially not a bank breaker.

Of course the other thing with PCs is that you can end with an overpriced rusty Micra if you dont know what youre doing or put together a bugatti Veyron yourself at cheaper than a MAC if you do.

[Huguenot]

The iPad's an incredibly pleasant (and portable) reading experience.

Being in the business as you know, I used to say that the printed word isn't under threat until tech media could deliver on the three 'B's - Bed, Bog & Bath.

With a laptop that's utterly unworkable.

However, apps like Vanity Fair are, incredible as it may seem, a better experience on an iPad than the magazine itself. I find the magazine too dense and cluttered.

I have hundreds of books on it, that I can now read in taxis, or in bed without keeping Bumbalina awake.

The technological achievement of the screen means that t'interweb is as close to an inspiring medium as possible on the iPad in a way that it isn't on a laptop.

Finally, the infrastructure means that finally, thank the heavens, there is a plausible and practical way of paying for quality journalism online. If this hadn't been resolved it would be the end of quality journalism.

So for me, the iPad is the ultimate technological achievement.

It's just a shame that Apple are such difficult chaps that they block every quality piece of software that competititors bring out - like flash for example.

[woofmarkthedog]

???? Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Can't play most poker sites with Mac :(...big

> minus for me

_____________________________________________

More reason to get a Mac then

;-)

[Jeremy]

I own both, the Mac OS is without doubt the more stable platform (although it is still far from bulletproof). But Macs cost literally twice as much as an equivalent PC. And any platform is only as good as the software available, so think long and hard about what you want to run on it.

If you just want it for very standard functionality (web, email, office apps), and are lucky enough not to have to worry about money, then the Mac is the way to go.

[dullwitch]

Thank you everyone for your helpful replies.

What I will be needing it for is mainly standard stuff to be honest, but I do want to build a new website soon too, as my current one has been built on Microsoft Frontpage, which is now very out of date.

I think logically and financially it makes more sense to get another PC.

Now all I have to do is work out which one to get and what specs I need.... :-S Any more words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated! :))