I second what a lot of these people are saying.

I have a really good friend who has always used PC's. After 6 years of harassing him, he finally got a Mac. Two days later he called me and said, "Why the hell didn't I do this sooner. I just plug my still and video cameras in and the damn thing just works."

You really cant go wrong since you can always run Windows if you need to but you probably wont need to or want to.

 

I'm running a Dell laptop

We have MACS at work and they are VERY problematic. So much so that I bought a laptop to use at work while I wait for the spinny beachball to figure out what I want it to do.

I never knew how to use a computer before I started working there, so I guess you could say that I learned on MACS. Since getting my laptop, I could never see myself switching from it. I know it inside and out and have zero desire to try and figure anything else out right now. I'm sure MACS have come a long way, however I'm happy with my PC

 

lets see. . .I just built a Dell laptop not long ago. . .this thing is a beast for being a laptop. . .and everything I plug into it works. . .I also snagged a runt of the mill Acer for backup, came with 512megs ram so it was a 15 minute boot running vista, upgraded to 1.5gb ram and how it hauls butt.

I guess I'm just partial to PC's and haveint used many macs.

 

You know the proven fact that you get what you pay for. Although, if you want a laptop that is dollar for dollar the same as a PC, don't go with the "Pro" versions. You pay for the extra's of a "Pro" series machine. Just like if you buy a truck with a better "Options Package" instead of the base mode. You will pay more. The Macbook laptop is $1099. For that you get a 64 bit 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 1GB memory, a80GB hard drive and a "Combo" CD drive (read and write CDs, read DVDs).

That's not bad at all. Add in the OS and the included programs and you are ahead of the game. Plus Apple doesn't whack you for different versions of the operating system. It's not like you go to do something, and boom - "Sorry, you need the Vista Pro version to do that..." or whatever. Ya know?

Remember - don't buy yet. Wait until after the 15th to see what they release for new shtuff.

 

If those Macs are not running OS X 10.3 or later - yeah. They suck. I'll admit that, I'm not an Apple-cult freak. Apple hasn't always been on the right track. That's why I am (or I was, I should say) "Cross-Platform" in regards to operating systems. I was jumping from a sinking ship. Now, however, they are firing on all 8 Cylinders, or in my case, all Turbo-charged 6! hehehe...

You can have the best of both worlds with a new Mac.

 

well greg you are right for that particular laptop not a bad deal. but i bought the following pc for 1200 bucks brand new

AMD Athlon X264 5600. 2.8 ghz dual core processor
4 gigs of 800 mhz pc6700 ram
700 watt thermaltake SLI ready power supply
Asus M2N SLI deluxe Mobo
320 mb Nvidia 8800 GTS
DVD reader writer drive
Thermaltake max orb cooling system
Vista ultimate 64-bit

scores a 10k on 3dmark on a good day. 8500 on a bad one. not too shabby.

 

Well if you do buy a PC make sure you get one that has Windoze XP and not the new poorly made Vista. My self my next one I build will run open sorce OS as I don't like having to pay the Bill Gates tax or him snoping in to my PC any time he wants to.

 

I just don't understand the Gates hate at all. I wishI had invented, stole, or WHATEVER you want to call it somthing that the whole world wanted.

I don't follow the underworld of the happenings in computerland, so maybe I don't know everything. I'm fine with that. All I know is that the kid from Pretty in Pink did a movie starring as Bill Gates and it was VERY informative !!

 

Typical Mac fanboys.....everything is better on the other side.....

Look, the Apple brand of computer is a quality machine. Good hardware, great operating system, and decent technical support. However, your also going to pay twice as much for the average machine compared to a PC and you will also be severely limited by Apple on what you can actually use.....since 90% of the modern world doesnt support Mac or Apple...

You want to run Windows on your Mac? Boot Camp works great....but you still have to a copy of Windows to install on it....so there's an additional expense.

Macs dont play 98% of the video games made, let alone support a ton of very popular and well liked software. They have native support for anything Adobe, and a few other programs.

Apple doesnt have the security issues that Windows does because they only have about 20% of the marketshare that Microsoft does. To put it in perspective.....Apple only supports about 1 in 100 people....while Windows supports about 75 in 100 people.....who do you think has the harder issue? More to the point, Apple has virtually zero 3rd party support. 3rd party support is like the companies that make aftermarket goodies for your vehicle. Windows has so many aftermarket vendors that these force the company to make holes in its security. Vista was one of the very first true attempts to make the Windows operating system more secure like the Mac OS, but still maintain that 3rd party support.

Oh, and anytimeyou do use 3rd party software for the Apple, your at risk of security issues. Same applies for BootCamp....as you would be using a Windows Operating system, not your Apple operating system.

Why should I go buy ADDITIONAL crap when I can game right on my PC??? I dont need to, and neither should anyone else. I have a PS3 and a computer. I game on both. It's great.

I also happen to be a computer tech, and I'll tell you that Macs havejust as manyissuesas PC's...although these are in different areas.. Go down to any computer store.....now try to buy something that will work on your Mac....OOPS...forgot....there probably wont be many....Sure, the Apple operating system supports alot of stuff....but it uses generic drivers and generic software to make it work. You dont get the same type of support you get with a PC driver.

Furthermore, most of the issues I have to support have more to do with stupid people and dumb mistakes then drivers or software issues. Sure, I have to deal with software updates and what not, but every software does...

My advice, buy the computer that you can get the best deal on with the most goodies for the amount of money your willing to spend.

 

Go for the Mac. I have no clue why anyone puts up with the crapload of bloatware, insecurity and sadomasochism that is Windows, whether XP or Vista. It's ridiculous. The Mac is not perfect by any stretch, but compared to Windows... well, there is no comparison for anyone even remotely objective.

If in fact you must have Windows to run some irreplaceable piece of software (few and far between these days), get Parallels. I run XP Pro in a window within Mac OS X on my Mac Pro box, so I have the Windows world when I occasionally need it for website development (testing on Internet Explorer, etc). Any modern Mac w/Intel processor will run both operating systems easily.