PC or Mac?

[JeffersonChick]

I'm buying a new laptop soon, and I'm not sure which way to go. I've always had PCs, so I have no experience with Mac. I've heard good things about Macs in general, but their prices are pretty hefty - and I'm reluctant to spend a lot of $ without knowing what I'm in for.

Would love to get your opinions. Why do you choose one over the other? What's the thing you like best about PC or Mac?

Thanks!

[struggle4progress]

1. I like OSX and I think Macs are nice machines; I have several. But I probably won't be buying

another in the near future

(1) Apple has a jackass attitude towards connectors: too often, to use non-Apple equipment with an Apple you have to shell out $50 or so for an adaptor for a proprietary connector. And I've had bad experiences with their mice
(2) I still don't much like Windows, but Windows 7 is better than Vista. Meanwhile, Linux has come of age: Ubuntu works very well for many purposes -- and it's free. I'll add that for almost everything I've wanted to do on Linux, hardware worked right out of the box, without configuration headaches. I use OSX for most stuff, and it's user-friendly and usually works very well, but I think Ubuntu is pretty competitive with it
(3) I do have a white macbook; both memory and hd were easily upgradable. I also have an acer aspire one; I took xp off and put ubuntu on; a few features don't work, and I've never bothered to configure the sound correctly, but it's fine for the kind of browsing I usually do -- it was cheap (about $250, compared to $1000 for the macbook) and light (much lighter than the macbook), and it's also easily upgradable (within limits), though the screen is only 10" and the keyboard is a bit small

You don't say what you're planning to do with your machine or why you're replacing it. Is this a recreational machine, for watching videos and playing games, or is it for school or work? Do you want a new one because the old one is battered or just because it's slow? Do you want a laptop instead of a desktop because it's convenient to be able to use it in different rooms of your house or because you will use it while traveling?

[JeffersonChick]

4. Looking for reliability

I'm replacing my current desktop because it's 4 years old and has gotten slow. Also, I got it when Windows Vista first came out, and I've had nothing but problems. Always freezing and crashing. I've done everything I can think of to figure out how to fix it, but I've given up.

I use my computer for the average stuff. I don't do gaming, don't have a lot of media except for music. However, I do use a lot of apps; I like trying out various open source programs, eg. Gimp, OpenOffice, Evernote, etc. I mainly use Firefox as my browser, but I can't use that anymore - it crashes my system. On Firefox, I had about 10 extensions, so maybe one of those was also an issue. I'm pretty good about only downloading only legit software.

I want a laptop this time for portability, but also to use as my main home computer. It doesn't have to be top of the line, but I don't want to have to replace it in a couple of years. So, I'm looking for a really good processor, and want at least 4 GB ram. I've heard that Windows 7 is far better than Vista, so I'm willing to try it. But I want something that's easier to troubleshoot, and reliable.

[struggle4progress]

5. If you're planning to replace the desktop anyway, why not put Linux on it

and see what you think: say, Mint or Ubuntu

Buy a laptop, too, if you really want one. Just don't trash the desktop. Consider upgrading it. Memory, for example, is cheap. One of the best decisions I ever made for some of my old machine was buying flat-screen monitors: I had two desks completely filled by bulky CRTs, but flatscreens can be had in the $100 range now; and with Ubuntu, I didn't even have to install drivers; the flatscreens worked out of the box

Laptops vary in durability. If you're going to cart the thing around a lot, look into matters like the hinges; you might also want to put some money into a solid state drive instead of a hard drive, since the inevitable bumps to the machine may eventually bork the hard drive

Another issue with laptops: how comfortable are you going to be carrying around an expensive piece of equipment? Anytime I go anywhere with my white macbook, I'm thinking This cost me a grand whereas I don't worry at all when I carry my $250 acer aspire one around

[pokerfan]

2. A PC with Linux

Best of both worlds in my opinion. You get the cost-effectiveness of a PC combined with the reliability and security of a unix-derived operating system.

[Warpy]

3. I thought I might like to have a Mac notebook to play with

so I went over to the Mac store and priced them. Then I went to the puter store and priced PCs. I got much more for my money with a PC than with a Mac. I still dislike Win7 and might swap back to Win XP on it if I ever get that much ambition but for the price of a stripped down Mac, I got an HP notebook with all the bells and whistles.

Face it, Jobs was just plain fucking stupid when he refused to allow clones. His goldmine was his OS, not the junk it runs on. Had he allowed clones, the price would be more competitive and he'd be laughing all the way to the bank with most of the market share.

[DaveJ]

6. My GF has a Mac and says she likes Windows 7 better

Ok I know there are tons of varying opinions here, so I guess it's up to you. (If you are still listening)

Apparently I'm the only one here who has never had a problem with Windows 7.