<p>My aunt is buying me a computer for graduation, and I don't know if I should get a MAC or a PC. Please don't just say one or the other is good, or sucks with out reason, I need to know why they are good or bad so I can make my choice. Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>Macs are good because PC’s suck. Is that what you’re looking for?</p>
<p>Well, what are you planning on in college? </p>
<p>Macs are way better for media and art. There are less viruses liable to infect Macs. </p>
<p>PC’s have a habit of getting more viruses and having more problems. </p>
<p>But PC’s are cheaper. Really? You get what you pay for. </p>
<p>Macs are more expensive because they’re made better. PC’s are cheaper because they’re made that way.</p>
<p>If you just want a laptop to use MS Word and the internet for four years of college, get a PC. </p>
<p>If you want a computer that’s really good for media/art/etc and will last a while longer, (and generally works better) get a Mac.</p>
<p>For a real answer? It depends. Macs are more intuitively easier to navigate, so if you’re just planning on getting a computer for “everyday” things: word processing, movies, mp3’s, internet, etc, a mac is a good choice. PC’s have the edge if this is more business oriented: are you a Mech Engineer, using a lot of spread sheets and want the most hard drive space for the money? Probably a PC. Depending on your major, engineering for example, some software only works via pc. Mac’s can connect into servers easier, they already have a terminal, and PC’s can be a pain for that.</p>
<p>I’ve done the comparisons (at least for laptops), and if you match a PC laptop with a mac specification-wise (RAM, basic software, CPU speed) the macs cost about $200 extra (except for hard drive space, which PC’s always give you more of, but more often than not you don’t need 320 GB of space). So you’re paying $200 for the mac style (admittedly nice), and the fact that Mac is a smaller business, so you’ll always pay a bit more. </p>
<p>GL</p>
<p>The only reason you would need a PC is if you’re a gamer. Other than that you should get a Mac. The fact that you can run windows from a Mac using a program called BootCamp is all the more reason that you should get a Mac.</p>
<p>Macs are good if you only need a relatively simple laptop. Not too much gaming, and definitely no engineering software.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you want to build an awesome supercomputer out of after-market parts, PCs would be your best bet.</p>
<p>It also boils down to which OS you like more. Windows 7 is coming out soon, but Mac OS X is historically more reliable.</p>
<p>Macs randomly crash; PCs, although they crash more, at least have a reason for crashing. I prefer Macs, but make sure you always have a backup because you never know when it will suddenly die.</p>
<p>i disagree with the whole ‘macs are superior’ consensus</p>
<p>many campuses have software that only runs on windows that you need to have…in fact windows has a software library 100’s of times bigger than what macs have</p>
<p>also, macs are not suited for business use. some networks can’t link with macs and vice versa</p>
<p>if you are going to be a compsci or engineering major (or any science major for that matter), you will find windows or linux to be more workable than mac os x</p>
<p>that said, if you’re paranoid about security or if you work in multimedia, you should get a mac</p>
<p>^ I agree that if you’re an engineering major or compsci, a PC is the way to go (in Berkeley at least). But it’s not true that all science majors do better with windows.</p>
<p>As an astrophysics major we’re constantly connecting to berkeley servers, telescope computers, etc etc. In Astronomy and the general physics(quantum, optics, em, etc) most mainframes run on UNIX, so connecting with a mac is as easy as it gets. Macs can also bring up documents in certain programming units (LaTex, IDL, Emacs, etc) that a PC cannot. </p>
<p>So again, one isn’t intrinsically “better” then another, it just depends what your uses/needs are.</p>
<p>You can always dual boot the Mac to run windows. There are slews of programs out there that allow you to run PC-only programs on Macs.</p>
<p>As a longtime PC user who doesn’t ‘game’…Macs are superior. End of story.</p>
<p>I think there should be a huge sticky on Mac vs. PC topics. It will be at the top of the list of featured threads forever. Using its vast human resources, CC can pool together the best of all computer engineers and experts to have the best debate on the web. All other Mac vs. PC threads will be promptly deleted.</p>
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<p>MACs are more “stable” because Apple controls all the software and hardware. Thus, the software can be fine tuned to the specific hardware.</p>
<p>PC’s are open architecture. There are general standards, and anyone can manufacture products to the general standard. Unfortunately, that does not guarantee 100% compatibility. Thus, they are more prone to crashing.</p>
<p>MAC’s have historically been good at graphics, and audio/video editing.</p>
<p>Because there are more PC’s, PC’s generally has more software available.</p>
<p>For the same capability, the MAC will cost more.</p>
<p>That’s the “why”, but it really doesn’t help you to make a choice.</p>
<p>For a specific application, there might be one reason to select one over the other. But, you didn’t give that information.</p>
<p>If I buy a Macbook Pro (one of the new ones), I’ll definitely have to get Bootcamp, but I only want to do it with Windows 7, but I also don’t want to spend the hundreds of dollars to get Windows 7 as a DVD, rather getting it with a PC. Like you guys said, there is a ton of software that makes a PC worth it, one of the worst parts being you’ll have to buy another version of Microsoft 2007 (even though there are alternatives like openoffice) if you already had it with Windows to begin with.</p>
<p>I just did a laptop PC vs Mac comparison. As best I could, I tried to match the PC (HP) laptop with the new Macbook Pro 13.3 inch. Matching everything, the macbook came out to $1250 and the HP came to $960, including tax (I pre-loaded the pc with Student office 07 and the mac with Iworks 09). So the mac is about $300 more, but that’s pretty good considering that the mac comes pretty packed with other software: ILife for pics and movies and music being the most obvious. And again, Mac’s look nicer (something they always charge you for, PC or Mac), so I think it’s about even in cost, though it doesn’t seem it at first glance.</p>
<p>But that really doesn’t matter if you want to play games that run on PC, or major in Art and Film, etc.</p>
<p>I work at a pharmaceutical company, and almost everyone - from the highest level senior directors to the research associates to me, an intern - has a Mac. some have PC’s for some PC-only programs, but I’d say a very small %age if any are PC-only</p>
<p>definitely get a mac. my whole family transitioned to them a few years back. even though we kept all of our pcs in good condition, they kept crashing. we would have to spend more money to “treat” them than it would cost to get macs. the small difference in cost pays off because of the anti-virus programs (that work!). and then there’s the aesthetics, the programs… :)</p>
<p>Get a Mac. They’re not that much more expensive than most PCs, and they will last a lot longer. I’ve had mine for around two years and it is in nearly the same condition as when I bought it.</p>
<p>I think which you get depends on the level of knowledge you hold about the intricacies of managing the computer…
If you’re extremely computer literate, and know how to get around any kind of problem, I would go with a PC. You need to know how to deal with and prevent viruses, spyware, adware, etc; and, you’ve got to periodically clean your registry, defragment, et cetera et cetera. And, of course, keep an eye on the task manager to know when there are background processes you don’t need (and then clean them out). All those kinds of things. The only reason PCs have a reputation for slowness and crashing is because so many people fail to take proper care of them… Which is understandable; it requires a high degree of knowledge that doesn’t present itself to be known. You just have to know it or find it without being prompted.
Additionally, it will be much, much cheaper than Macs in almost any case. If you assemble the parts yourself, even better. Buy a case, a motherboard, a video card, a processor, RAM, etc, and put it together yourself, and you’ll have saved more money than you could ask for. I’m not even talking VS. Macs, this is in the PC market itself. Buying a pre-assembled computer will get you the same parts for hundreds of $$$ more.</p>
<p>If you’re willing to pay the extra for a pretty interface and design, that’s fine too. Macs are really only superior for the ease-of-use, in my opinion. And they are definitely very nice, especially considering the newer ones can run Windows anyway.
Though, actually, if my memory serves me right, you can also create a partition within a PC hard drive to run Mac OS as well. That’s far from a user-friendly process, however.</p>
<p>As for my perspective… I own a Powerbook G4 laptop (Mac) and also have a desktop PC (though haven’t used it in a year or two.)
Though I’m very computer oriented, and do software and hardware repair/management/installation for work, I’m actually a digital artist who does tons of illustration work. And, in fact, I really have no idea why Macs have a reputation of being artist-friendly, other than the fact that they’re outwardly stylish.
I don’t know of a single good, major art program used professionally that is exclusive to Macs. Adobe Suite and Corel Painter are available for both platforms, but the majority of good programs are either completely incompatible or very unstable on Macs. PaintTool SAI, openCanvas come to mind for the former. For the latter, well, I’ve never been able to well use an Oekaki program for an extended amount of time without it crashing or blanking out and sputtering… and completely losing work. Also, there is no tablet pen pressure compatibility driver for Oekaki work on Macs, and… Heck, drivers for just about anything are hard to find. And software, for that matter- even outside of art.
More importantly, only a very small amount of my illustrator and designer friends use Macs. Just about everyone uses a PC. In fact, even beyond my own network, I’ve rarely spotted Mac usage in the artists I look up to, either.
There does seem to be a bit more correlation between vector art and Macs, as opposed to raster, but I think that’s more preferential than anything… But hey, I know very few vector artists.
I have one because my father loves Macs, and he gave me his old laptop when he bought himself a new one. I adore my Mac, even if I would prefer a PC. It’s got it’s problems, especially since it’s got an ol’ PowerPC processor instead of Intel… But Macs are very nice, if you don’t intend to do anything eclectic. Chances are that if you ever want programs for something specialized, you’ll have a tough time getting anything good for a Mac. On a general scale, most things you buy at the store which come with software to operate only have PC drivers or PC-compatible programs… You’ll have to do digging to get a Mac solution.
Thinking of an example, I got a free… eh… what’s it called… I don’t know, some Verizon/Samsung phone that’s tiny and flips open and can play MP3s if you put them on. However, there’s the catch- the software to communicate with the phone is PC-only.
To use my Mac with it, I had to dig around Google until I found you could do some partitioning and cleaning and manually communicate with its hard drive. No software, and required risky (as in, potentially wipe-out-the-phone-irreversibly-if-you-misstep) poking around in its hardware.
Case in point:
PCs are compatible with everything, cheaper, much more powerful and customizable, but need deeper geek-know-how to make use of full potential. Software library: limitless!
Macs are nice, pretty, sleek, and user-friendly for just about anyone. Geek-know-how can pry a bit of extra usage, but one can only go so far. Software library: big corporation made only, very tiny, keeps the little, independent, focused software makers out (which are often the best, contrary to what some think). However, so long as you’re doing very standard kinds of tasks (word processing, etc) and don’t need specialized software, there’s nothing wrong with going for the Mac.
Also, Macs with Intel processors can run Windows. However, it will not run as efficiently (i.e. slower, some hardware compatibilities are indeed lost) on a Mac as it would on a PC. This is because it runs it non-natively; Windows can’t communicate directly with the hardware, but has to have a “relaying” sort of program which hovers over the hardware and tells Windows “this resource is available, this port has this number, there’s a USB port over there, the processor is X, there’s X amount of RAM, X amount of memory,” etc. Boot Camp is the mainly used one, I think. What this means is that with certain kinds of hardware, even with Boot Camp, you still won’t have compatibility… I’ve read about it, but honestly, I don’t (can’t, PowerPC here) use it myself, so I’ve never actively looked into it.</p>
<p>So yeah.</p>
<p>Note to Self: Need to learn how to not write essays in every thread I visit.</p>
<p>But anyway, if you have any specific questions about Macs or PCs, I’d be glad to answer… I do have a lot of general knowledge on the different uses and software. If you’re in a specific field, I may be able to point you in the right direction.</p>
<p>Get a PC.</p>
<p>My PC never crashes. This is a fact.
It is easy to maintain and “take care” of a PC if you have any computer knowledge at all.</p>