pc-or mac?

clivejohnson

Firstly, thanks to everyone who took their time to share thier knowledge in order to help me choose!:D I redress: I dont inted to to to gaming, I have no interest in it, and nor will i likely to have any LOL:D

Im not too worried about using windows on a mac, should i choose to get one, after all, if that was the case, I may as will go for another PC, right?:-)

I realise how to "maximise the browser window,as I tried it in the store. what i couldnt seem to achieve however is getting the text to maximise as well.

Once again, many thaks for the posts-its much appreciated:D
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clivejohnson

Ah! Now wer'e getting somewhere- Ill save this, and have a play this weekend:o) thanks brenda!

preable

I like my pc never liked macs to be honest

candtalan

clivejohnson wrote: »

What are your thoughts/opinions on the mac compared to the pc?

I would second other opinion that along with this choice you pose, that you at least have a look at Ubuntu. You can almost certainly try a Live CD out on your existing PC, even install it inside Windows, from the same CD, if you wanted a better feel. Windows and Mac have a lot of marketing.
alan c. (Ubuntu user for 5 years)

clivejohnson

candtalan wrote: »

I would second other opinion that along with this choice you pose, that you at least have a look at Ubuntu. You can almost certainly try a Live CD out on your existing PC, even install it inside Windows, from the same CD, if you wanted a better feel. Windows and Mac have a lot of marketing.
alan c. (Ubuntu user for 5 years)

Much appreciated, but the use of something i know absoloutley nothing about its over-complicating the issue i feel. All i really need is an A\B comparison between mac Os x and windows, and i think we can take it from there Thanks anyway thouh

jack_spratt_2

I found this thread very interesting as I have considered going down the same Mac route as I do not use the computer for gaming .
The point I would like to make is that I have looked at the Sony all in one which is between £1000 and £1400 so this puts it in the Mac price range I also understand that the One to One care which costs about £80 for the year is very useful for PC users switching to the Mac operating system as this provides one to one training with a Apple Genius in there apple stores for a year .
There customer service is reported to be very good
Each system has its good and bad points but most computer shops praise the Apple Mac !!

RobertoMoir

clivejohnson wrote: »

We're going to be in the market for a new computer within the next few months, and we're seriously considering going for the mac for the first time.

What are your thoughts/opinions on the mac compared to the pc? Is it better? is it more difficult to use? Perhaps some of you use both? What are the main differences? Is it more secure against malware/viruses? Is the mac faster than the PC?

I realise that musicans and graphic designers use them, so they will be biased to some degree, but I want it for home use i.e the usual things web, email, photos etc...

I went into the apple store in salisbury and noticed that the 21.5 IMac didnt maximise webpages to fullscreen and there was a white border to the left and right. is this normal??

Any opinions, please feel free to post them here, and help me choose! :-)

Clive

I use both both at home and professionally.

I like aspects of both systems - assuming for comparison a "new" windows 7 install on a decent machine vs. an equally new Mac. So I think "better" is a very subjective term... better for what?

If it's games then I'd stick with a gaming PC to be honest.

If it's simple home use for someone who wants the web, photos, email, etc. and doesn't have a lot of time, energy or money to spend fiddling then the Mac starts to look pretty good. The one thing it does well is that it tends to "just work" with things like cameras and printers - sorting out support for these in the background with a lot less griping and requests for help from the user than Windows does (though to be fair Windows 7 has done a lot to improve this side of things too). Applications like iphoto and itunes all work very well on the Mac to provide a very good experience.

If you're used to Windows XP then a new Mac will take some getting used to. However, this is also true if you're upgrading from XP to Windows 7... so is perhaps less of a barrier than some might think.

Apple tend to offer less choice than the whole windows "market". In fact they offer less choice than, say, HP or Dell. Some might see this as a disadvantage, and it probably can be... if you want a very specialised customised computer.

Instead, Apple's choices tend to be around fitting several different scenarios... and here they do very well. The relative lack of choice works well in a way because it makes it easier to work out what you are looking at and how well it will meet your needs. I think 4 or 5 well thought out well defined options are much better to cope with than 384 confusing combinations of options that you can't tell apart most of the time.

I own a Mac Mini and a MacBook Pro at home and both of those are very very reliable, very good at what they do and absolutely rock-solid reliable. I also own a "home built" Windows 7 desktop machine at home, and I can say the same about that, too. It does take more work to maintain the Windows 7 box in that condition than the Macs, though.

I use the Mac Mini as a "media centre" permanently plugged into my TV and it does very well at this. It also makes a nice home desktop computer. It's a (relatively) cheap way of getting into Mac use, if you have a decent keyboard, mouse and screen you want to re-use.

The MacBook Pro is quite high-end and expensive, but again it's good at what it does. Glorious screen, equally reliable for use. The big trackpad looks and sounds like an odd idea but now I'm used to it I find myself wondering why every other laptop doesn't work that way.

As for things like antivirus/security/etc. There is nothing magical about a Mac that will prevent it from being trashed/infected/whatever under the right(wrong?) circumstances. Anyone who claims otherwise is a fool.

HOWEVER it has a lot less malware out there to worry about than the PC by several factors. For a variety of reasons, while I say it's not magically immune to malware, it is a lot less susceptible to infection than the PC. I don't have AV on either of my home Macs and I don't miss it.

As for speed - all things being equal, if you benchmark a mac and a PC side by side you'll find... that the winner depends on the benchmarks being used and this has no reflection on how fast they both feel to you as a "real world" user. For the uses you describe, both a windows machine and a mac will be more than fast enough in the sense that they will spend more time waiting for the user than the user will spend waiting for them. Speed won't be an issue with a Mac, nor would it be with a well built/specified windows 7 machine.

RobertoMoir

gonzo127 wrote: »

now in a lot of the Mac vs PC threads accross the internet you come accross so many people who have a simular statement about having a windows system as well as a Mac and then go down the line of prefering the Mac. which is fine and i have no problem with this at all

my question comes from the fact that why do so many people who own Macs also own a windows PC?

In my case, they're doing slightly different jobs. I have a Mac Mini media centre (which runs cool and quiet and looks the part in my living room), my portable is a macbook pro (I find they work well for mobile computing) and my desktop machine is a windows 7 tower of my own making (I need the customisation of a tower, I also use this for working from home). I have them all doing slightly different jobs... I could ditch any one of those above machines and move the functions over to the other two (with the possible exception of PC games, not sure the latest games would run so well on even the MBP) but I don't have to compromise so I'm not...

marcusrapid

I am in the same position as the OP so found this thread very usefull indeed. Just one question = do apple have a control on all prices as there seems to be nowhere to buy the Imacs at reduced rates? If anyone can advise on the best places to buy please advise?

Thanks marcus

jennikitten

gonzo127 wrote: »

due to the hardware inside Mac's being less powerful, software optimisation inside the Mac OS makes up for the lower powered hardware

What do you mean by 'less powerful hardware'? All the important components are made by the same companies for Mac and PC...Intel, nVIDIA, etc.

clivejohnson wrote: »

Im not too worried about using windows on a mac, should i choose to get one, after all, if that was the case, I may as will go for another PC, right?:-)

Well no, because in three years' time your Mac will still fetch a nice price (particularly if you're lucky and Apple discontinues a feature that people like e.g. the black MacBook still sells really well) - whereas your PC will be worthless, and most likely not even recyclable!!

Macs are built to last, and yes it's more money up front, but you save money (and the environment) by replacing them much less frequently.

Plus you need to bear in mind that if you go for a Mac you can run Windows legally later on if you want, but if you buy a PC you can't legally run Mac OS X.

marcusrapid wrote: »

I am in the same position as the OP so found this thread very usefull indeed. Just one question = do apple have a control on all prices as there seems to be nowhere to buy the Imacs at reduced rates? If anyone can advise on the best places to buy please advise?

Thanks marcus

Yes they do. All their resellers make very little on their computers, which is why the prices vary so much. Don't buy from ebay if you don't know exactly what you're buying - and even the experienced should be wary as to condition and 'hidden' problems. If you buy from an authorised reseller then you'll get the full warranty and 90 days of free telephone support. Plus buy AppleCare if you're getting something expensive - it's definitely worth the money.

The only time you can get a deal on a Mac is just before the new ones are released (and I mean like the day before or the same day as the resellers don't really get told about new releases in advance). Then all the resellers try to get rid of 'old' stock (although the computers in question are usually very powerful and have the advantage that Apple's fixed all the bugs/problems with them unlike new machines).

Google 'apple mac reseller uk' or similar, and instead of looking at the online price, call up the reseller about the model you're interested in (don't say 'I need a Mac', refer to the product code or they might try to upsell) and ask what the best deal they can do is. Many places will negotiate over the phone. If you have any friends, relatives etc. who are students or work in education establishments you'll be able to get discounts from big resellers and Apple, although generally the resellers will still be better value. Remember they have to compete, offer a great service, next day delivery etc.

I don't want to mention any specific reseller names on here as I work for one of the biggest and cheapest, so I'm biased - sorry!