To mac or not to mac

judderman62

anewhope wrote: »

If you like them and want one, get one.

Just don't go into it with the illusion that they're somehow magical and are entirely problem free, then you won't get disappointed.

and be aware a big chunk of the stuff folk say is sooo much better on a mac .... it's a myth - had mine about 18 months or so now and am hugely underwhelmed with it.

A lot of the claims - just are not true at all. Just one example - the slow up that you get over time of using a PC doesn't happen with a mac (for e.g. time taken to boot up) ... our computer says XXX not true - my mac , when I first got it, used to take 24 seconds to boot up... within just a few months this had increased to 44 seconds - almost doubled.

Sadly there are many such claims made that just aren't true.

judderman62

timbo58 wrote: »

certainly the mac is more expensive but it's also better made, has far, far superior software AND the majority of the software you will run on a day to day basis is made by apple, hence no conflict problems or poor programming.
I got fed up with pcs crashing due to poorly written software and virus infections, I now have a macbook and an old (but good) emac desktop.
If in doubt: get something a few years old from ebay:
G4 minimum processor with at least 512mb ram (and a slot free or upgradeable), try to aim for an intel cpu if possible as that will allow you to run 'bootcamp' which allows you to run Windows or OSX on it.
It's a learning curve to get used to OSX, but it does make Windows look poor in comparison.
All my opinion only of course.

and my opinion differs a fair bit from the above - owning a mac is a very frustrating undertaking IMO.

so lets give a counter opinion (and again just my opinion) to some of the above.

Build quality - as others have touched on if comparing with a cheapo PC maybe but life for like probably not.

oh and how about the pretty much guarantee that your mouse will stop working (as mine has and been replaced by a logitech one) - see here - some people on their third mouse. As some have said on there - real design flaw - speaks volumes when Apples own site tells you how to sort when (not if) your mouse stops working !!

superior software - subjective and i-photo aside all other software I've used has been no better, and in several cases, far, far inferior to PC equivalents - mail is pathetic as is ical.

Oh and software designed by apple ... hmm I have had one incident , months ago, and to this day still can scarcely believe it - unfortunately I can't remember exact details so can't be specific about which bits of software but I was deleting images in one part of the built in (came with the imac) software and hitting delete did exactly that... but then in a different part of the system hitting delete did nothing at all !!!! one had to hit cmnd+delete - !!!!!! ??? differences in how to achieve stuff in apples own on board programs !!! OMG :eek: :mad:

As for the OS being easier ... not in my opinion ... indeed far from it

diable

judderman62 wrote: »

and be aware a big chunk of the stuff folk say is sooo much better on a mac .... it's a myth - had mine about 18 months or so now and am hugely underwhelmed with it.

A lot of the claims - just are not rue at all. Just one example - the slow up that you get over time of using a PC doesn't happen with a mac (for e.g. time taken to boot up) ... our computer says XXX not true - my mac , when I first got it, used to take 24 seconds to boot up... within just a few months this had increased to 44 seconds - almost doubled.

Sadly there are many such claims made that just aren't true.

But you look younger and are better looking just cause you own a MAC......

judderman62

jeremyshere wrote: »

I have had Mac's for 9 years, at first i thought it would be a good mental challenge for me, but now its a real mental challenge to use a PC.

Oh I sooo have to take issue with several things in this post

jeremyshere wrote: »

Mac's dont crash (you force quit or you just switch them of at the wall)

This would be one of those myths/lies I already mentioned above - mine has indeed crashed and no matter what I tried it would not re-start. I had to google at work if there was anything I could do - I had to pull all power cords out the back, leave them out for xx time and then re plug them in again. it did then restart.

By comparison my sony Vaio (the forerunner before my imac) gave me the BSOD once and all I had to do was switch off, restart and voila it worked. Oh and as regards "just" force quiting - PC's have this with task manager ... like with so much on the MAC - it's just different NOT better.

jeremyshere wrote: »

Reallly nice key board try all the PC ones then try a Mac, its the same with the mouse, just really smooth and responsive.

see my post above re the mice.

jeremyshere wrote: »

Safari is a dream to use

I get far more spinning beachball using safari than I ever did on a PC- sometimes taking ages before anything happens and sometimes requiring a force quit.

jeremyshere wrote: »

The mail box is simple and functional it really does work.

Oh it's simple alright .. but functional ?? noooo - by a massive margin the least functional mail program I have ever encountered .. do you know that when reading an email, once you have finished there is no way to move straight to the next email message !!! you have to come out of that message and then open the next one - that's a first for me -even web based email systems have this functionality.

jeremyshere wrote: »

Photos are a real dream.

Yes they are and i-photo is pretty good too and very easy to use

cooldaz

anewhope wrote: »

What updates are you 'made' to pay for with Windows?

If you were on Windows Vista then Windows 7 would have cost money. Just like going from OSX Leopard to OSX Snow Leopard costs money. Its a new operating system

cooldaz

DatabaseError wrote: »

OS X Leopard Retail £134.99

Windows 7 Home Premium Retail £89.99

Please don't include service pack pricing/upgrades in your comparison (though microsoft service packs are, of course, free)

Obviously the above point is moot, as OS X can ONLY be installed on apple hardware, whereas microsoft don't sell computers so their OS can be installed on any compatible hardware.

I kinda feel bad feeding the trolls, but it's easy

http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC573Z/A?fnode=MTY1NDAzOA&mco=MTc1MTEzNjY

MAC OSX Snow Leopard latest verison £25 from Apple god know what you were looking at but it wasnt the latest version. And you can install OSX onto a PC if you want.

DatabaseError

cooldaz wrote: »

http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC573Z/A?fnode=MTY1NDAzOA&mco=MTc1MTEzNjY

MAC OSX Snow Leopard latest verison £25 from Apple god know what you were looking at but it wasnt the latest version. And you can install OSX onto a PC if you want.

Upgrade from Mac OS X Leopard with Snow Leopard, a simpler, more powerful, and more refined version of Mac OS X

Nope, that's the service pack (free from microsoft), I was comparing retail pricing.

And, secondly, no, I can't install OS X on my PC, apple don't allow it.

cooldaz

DatabaseError wrote: »

Nope, that's the service pack (free from microsoft), I was comparing retail pricing.

And, secondly, no, I can't install OS X on my PC, apple don't allow it.

Its not a service pack ity is a full upgrade.

23n1th

cooldaz wrote: »

Its not a service pack ity is a full upgrade.

You said yourself Win Vista and Win 7 are different operating systems. Snow leopard is an upgrade not for leopard users and therefore can't be counted as being less expensive than windows at full retail.Incidentally my win 7 from vista upgrade cost me nothing.

I still dont get how they get away with charging their customers for firmware and firmware updates. No one else does.

DatabaseError

cooldaz wrote: »

Its not a service pack ity is a full upgrade.

yep from OS X to...erm...OS X <---I see what they did there - genius!

When I upgraded from Vista SP1 to Vista SP2 I had a free download, however when I upgraded to Win 7 it did cost me money for the new OS, which I was willing to pay (I moved the vista licence onto another of my PCs, upgrading from XP on that one)

for all your cries of "it's all new and shiny" I'm still waiting for you to prove, as you suggested, that OS X (full retail, not upgrade) is substantially less expensive than Win 7, so far your protestations have only shown your ignorance of the licensing terms.

(and I still do love apple keyboards......pretty! )