I've got Windows 7 on my laptop and the "R" key has fallen off, would this have happened with a Mac?
i have had an imac for 3 months now, great decision, far surpasses my standards!
I love these Mac vs Pc threads, find them very amusing 😀
Yes, especially when you know half the posters are wrong.
tbh if you're having problems with Windows 7 you're doing something wrong. I've not had a blue screen yet since October
Yet my Mac has NEVER bailed. Since October 2 yrs ago when i got it - never failed.
The fact that something hasn't 'blue screened' for a while is a bad thing. Buy something stable.
Ive got a 3 year old HP laptop running Vista, never missed a beat. Not once. No crashes. Nothing. Installed all sorts of crap as well.
Therefore I can conclude that Windows Vista is the greatest operating system in the history of computing. All of you are just dumb fanbois following your own chosen clique. windows 7 users, apple munchers even the poor people who build their own PCs and run linux. Fanbois! 😉
Anything can breakdown.
My SO is on her 2nd iMac and bought the best one they make.
It broke down and she had to argue for a replacement rather a replacement part.
Only a week old... so far so good but I love my pc for flexibilty.
skiboy - Memberi have just started making my third garageband techno/electronic/dance track, amazing bit of free software,
Garageband isn't free, the i**** software suite is part of the reason Macs cost that little bit more.
Mac Vs PC - Audi Vs Vauxhall
I have a macbookpro and an iphone4, as well as an acer aspire & sony vaio.
I prefer using the apples tbh but when they go tits up EXPECT to have a long and tedious fight with Apple who will blindly deny any problem until you persist till the point of spontaneous combustion, then they'll push you that bit farther and then replace it.
with a windows pc I'd just drop it in the bin, they're cheap see 😀
i am a bit biased, as a designer - mac's are in my blood, however i am open minded and did actually persuade my folks to buy a pc a few years ago, after 4 months of problems and arming it to the teeth with anti-virus and security software - i gave up. i am using a 2001 imac - the one that looks like half a football with a screen on an arm! runs great, never a fault in 9 years and i still use photoshop, illustrator, indesign with no probs.
in 9 years my brother has went through 1 desktop pc and 2 laptops.
they say macs are pricey, but basic imac has better graphics and performance than most pcs and will last much longer.
maybe with the old o/s the mac had bother and limited software, but not since the unix based stuff came out... bit like slagging off a skoda, they are a bit different now! buy one
and did actually persuade my folks to buy a pc [b]a few years ago[/b],
bit like slagging off a skoda, they are a bit different now! buy one
Can you not see the problem with these comments?
My iMac hasn't crashed since I've owned it 🙂 Hasn't needed any maintainance since I bought it a couple of years ago 🙂 🙂
Resale value is good too.
Windows 7 here, completely rock solid, can't see why I'd spend more money to get the choice of less software, for more money. If you buy off the shelf PCs and have issues build your own, it's like Lego, honestly. Don't stick anything cheap in there and you'll have just as solid a system, for less money, which runs faster etc.
To be honest iMacs nowadays are just PC components, in attractive cases, running a different operating system and charging double the price.
I've had an iMac for about 4 years (first 20" C2D models). It's worked very well, since getting it I've swapped the hard disk for a bigger 1TB model and maxed up the ram.
The main reason to get one IMO is the operating system and the form factor. Most people will argue you can get a far more powerful pc for cheaper and they are right - but you won't find anything that looks as good and is as functional. Top this with the fact that they are extremely silent and it is a good package.
I'm waiting for the next models before upgrading this one. The current ones (apart from the biggest models) still come with a C2D processor which is very slow compared to i5's and i7's.
Counter to what most people with macs claim, I don't think they are more stable then windows machines. The hardware is decent (we have half our employees in a 300 personel company on macs and the return rate is far less then with Acer / HP / Dell), but the OS does crash occasionally if you want to install the newest one before a few updates have come out.
For me OSX is just great to use. I get gray hair when I have to use Windows (and I do use it quite a bit).
I run Ubuntu on my workstation, OSX on my work laptop and iMac at home, Windows 7 and minimal Ubuntu (with xbmc) on my HTPC. I've also worked in tech support for about 6 years from late 90's, and almost 10 years maintaining mission critical Windows / Linux / Solaris / Aix servers. Currently work in security, but I think I have a fair amount of experience from all the common operating systems, and find the choice easy. Osx if it's a machine that is used for a lot of different things, Linux if it's used mainly for a very specific purpose, and Windows only if I really need to (mainly for my 6 year old kid to play games with the HTPC so the iMac is free for other uses).
Have to agree with Toasty there. My CAD rendering PC under Windows 7 is rock solid and entirely custom built. A comparable performance mac would be massively more expensive.
And there's an increasingly strong whiff of the 'weird cult' about Apple now. 'join us, join us...it just works, it just works ...'
Sent from my iPhone
..and is as functional.
How so? This is fairly specific to what you're doing surely? A Mac wouldn't do what I need, either at home or work so I'd argue the opposite.
The form factor/look of the iMac is certainly a huge plus, but function wise I can't see how you'd ever have more control. I guess it comes down to your uses. The very latest iMacs show off about their top end graphical performance, when realistically they have a £60 graphics card in there, with a tiny fraction of a proper desktop PCs rendering power, your CAD/CAM is going to be a bit gimped. They're more like big laptops.
I'd get a custom build PC, i7, couple of raid SSDs, silent, higher graphics card, tons of RAM given it's cheap as chips.
im thinking now like this...
ive had laptops since i was 14.
never owned a mac untill yet, but now to the point where im thinking of one.
i have owned most branded laptops from shit like hp to sony.
Now i have had only 1 laptop that lasted 2 years(battery died after 16months or so)
I personally think in my experience that laptops generally have a life span of 12-16 months of every day use like i do. i have a hp pavilion dv5 and its a complete piece of shit! i have problems since day one, had replacements x2 and sent for updates and upgrades of sorts in this year.
I will no longer be buying laptops of a price range of £700 ish as i think its the part of the spectrum of not a great laptop but not a shitty one neither but thats where the problem lies i think.
I think given a laptop life is approx a year or so i will only be now paying for cheaper laptops and selling whats left on ebay after a year and buying new.
You can pick up compaq laptops or simular quality with 250gb hdd and 2gb ram etc for about £400 and tbh you would easily get at least £150 for a good condition laptop in a years time. so i will be doing it like this from now on as every year i get a new laptop for approx £250 or so which i think in the long and short term is a MUCH better option for me.
but saying that, my friends all own ibooks or equivalent and never had 1 problem since owning. 1 has his for 3 years and the battery life is still a good 1.5hrs which i have never had even with my current laptop from new!!!
so its either cheap laptops or mac from now on.
What on earth are you doing to them that they only last a year or are you just very unlucky?
(Sent from my 6 year old HP Pavilion laptop)
"choice of less software"
Is an odd one, as one of the reasons I use macs is there's software I need that I can't get on windows. Works both ways.
The problem with PCs is it's hard to buy good quality PCs. Quiet, powerful, built well etc. Especially PC laptops.
Not saying you can't - typing it on one I built myself now* - but it's not easy.
And I think macs offer good value in general, compared to equivalent spec'd pcs. 27" imac compared to a 27" (2560 res) monitor and equivalent PC for example. And at the top end, a dual xeon mac pro actually works out cheaper than the same spec from dell* Either of them is eye-bleedinglg expensive mind!
*this was about 6 months ago when I was speccing it up, might have changed.
"so its either cheap laptops or mac from now on."
This is good advice for tech in general, get the base model or go balls deep, it's the only way.
ebygomm - Member
What on earth are you doing to them that they only last a year or are you just very unlucky?(Sent from my 6 year old HP Pavilion laptop)
i have no idea then, when you type also to google problem seep through for the hp pavilion with problems. so i think your the lucky one.
for eg.. my laptop is now running at 94 degrees ;)with a bios update 😉
my laptops stay on all day as i need access constantly.
Must just be a lucky family, parents and sister also have 6 year old HP laptops, although not the same models. 🙂
"Can you not see the problem with these comments?"
Clubber, not really - my folks PC was a nightmare a few years ago, as much as my brothers HP Laptop is now!
I am not saying macs are better than all PCs but in general, they seem to be more stable, with better built hardware, and need replaced less often - so offer good value IMO. I work in an office with both mac and PC and there really is little difference in terms of what software you can run on a mac - plus macs are much simpler to use, microsoft seem to catch up (but not quite) about 4 years after apple add function to their OS 🙂
An ex-colleague of mine has had their whole studio swapped to PC's (to save money)... surprise, surprise is that when updated to the same standards as the old mac's there was little cost difference, and there has actually been more software integration issues and hardware problems.
If you want and easy life - buy a mac, if you want to save a few quid (maybe) and have some (or lots) of spare time - buy a PC.
I know that mac v PC argument is old hat, but the feeling I get that most friends that tend to slag off mac's have never actually used one.
I think there's also the issue that not everyone values their computer the same way. Those who value it more are more likely to have macs IME. And it's fair enough, some people just want a cheap computer and it's a necessary evil. I use a computer all day everyday and so it's important to me it's a high quality computer.
How so? This is fairly specific to what you're doing surely? A Mac wouldn't do what I need, either at home or work so I'd argue the opposite.The form factor/look of the iMac is certainly a huge plus, but function wise I can't see how you'd ever have more control. I guess it comes down to your uses. The very latest iMacs show off about their top end graphical performance, when realistically they have a £60 graphics card in there, with a tiny fraction of a proper desktop PCs rendering power, your CAD/CAM is going to be a bit gimped. They're more like big laptops.
I'd get a custom build PC, i7, couple of raid SSDs, silent, higher graphics card, tons of RAM given it's cheap as chips.
Functional in that everything is in one box without any unneeded cables. It's a clean set up on a table in the living room. Sleep mode works well, and it wakes up from sleep very quickly (this might have improved with Win 7, but before that using sleep mode with pc's was a joke).
Now you say a mac will not do everything you need which surprises me (there is plenty of CAD/CAM software available), but you really give it away in the last sentance. You can dual boot to Windows, personally I admit I have a windows virtual on both macs (work and home) in case I need one (about once every two months).
I've always built my own computers before getting a mac, and to be honest I would keep on upgrading. Actually the inability to upgrade with the mac has been a good thing for me since I never really needed the power (I spend the effort upgrading my bike now).
It's all about filling a need. As I mentioned at work I have a workstation running Linux. It's a custom built box with an Intel X25 SSD, I7 processor and 8GB of ram. At home this 4 year old iMac still works well (though after getting the SSD on my work computer I do feel the disk is far too slow).
I think there's also the issue that not everyone values their computer the same way. Those who value it more are more likely to have macs IME. And it's fair enough, some people just want a cheap computer and it's a necessary evil. I use a computer all day everyday and so it's important to me it's a high quality computer.
I'm not sure I agree. The people who value their computer the most are generally the lot who build their own, and spend a lot of time considering things like performance for money.
Apples target audience (not counting graphics / audio users with a long mac history) are more people who use a computer for general things, and have found the hassle to be far less.
I never had a problem with Windows, but most of my family and friends who are computer illiterate do. For me it's stable, for them it's often a nightmare... On the mac computer illiterate people do very well.
On the other hand some control freaks have a very hard time because you also lose some control (well you can do almost anything, but you might have to use the terminal to do it). That is, simple things have been simplified far further, and more complicated things have been hidden away.
I dunno, I've just observed that amongst computer scientists whom I work with, the trend has been from 1 or 2 around 7 years ago to nearly everyone having macs now.
Though it's partly the maturity of OSX there. The tipping point was 10.3 when it became mature, and you could get the command line and tools you needed to fiddle, and the nice GUI for when it needs to just work.
Apples target audience (not counting graphics / audio users with a long mac history) are more people who use a computer for general things, and have found the hassle to be far less.
Nah don't agree - my brother is a professional geek and much prefers Macs - lots of techy people do. Partly because you can test things on windows and apple OS'.
Now you say a mac will not do everything you need which surprises me (there is plenty of CAD/CAM software available), but you really give it away in the last sentance. You can dual boot to Windows, personally I admit I have a windows virtual on both macs (work and home) in case I need one (about once every two months).
I really gave what away Sherlock? I don't use CAD/CAM software, the OP does, assuming the software is hardware accelerated it'll be quicker on a mid range £700ish PC than a high end Mac due to the £60 gfx card choke point.
I'm a programmer for 360/ps3 at work and tinker with Android etc at home, all of which would scupper me. Why spend more on a Mac when you want to dual boot to run your software? I can't say the idea of paying more, then hacking my way by with dual OS or imitation Windows software really sounds like a solid plan.
To put it another way, what can you do that I can't do for less money? What does your average Mac user require an i7 for but only the very lowest modern line of graphics card? High end video processing or something?
My tuppence:
Friend's PowerMac - he seems to be forever rebuilding its OS.
My PC running Vista64 - Only a quad core, same RAM, seems to crunch LR faster, and never have had any problems with any hardware, spyware or viruses, and somne 'dodgy' sites have been visited 😉
In fact, ironically, the only problem I've had, is it synching with my new iPod!
they say macs are pricey, but basic imac has better graphics and performance than most pcs and will last much longer.
The lowest end iMac (around a grand?) has a lesser graphics card than the one in my £650 pc which I bought a few years ago!
I work in possibly the the most geeky places on earth (univeristy elec eng departments and software dev depts). I know of no love for macs there. Over in the arts departments, yup, they're like iphones over there!
I work in possibly the the most geeky places on earth
No those are [i]nerds[/i] not geeks - crucial difference 😉
I read the first page then got bored, so skipped to the end.
I'd just like to add though - I've recently bought a Hewlett Packard 17.3" Pavilion laptop running Windows 7 to replace my dying Toshiba Equium.
It's fast, multi-tasks amazingly, 'just works', is secure and is compatible with 95% of the populations pooters/programs too
I work in possibly the the most geeky places on earth (univeristy elec eng departments and software dev depts). I know of no love for macs there. Over in the arts departments, yup, they're like iphones over there!
OTOH I'm in computer science, perhaps the epitome of computer nerd/geekery... macs all over the shop. To be fair also linux boxes all over the shop too. Generally mac laptop, linux desktop.
Horse for courses really when you get to higher end stuff (which includes macs). If the gfx card matters cos your gaming, you want windows anyway. If it doesn't matter so much then it's personal preference.
For me when I need "power" (loosely defined) I need CPU. Different kind of specialist need.
If you're an xbox dev, of course a mac's not right for you.
Anyhow, this argument could run and run. For some folk macs are better, for some PCs. Some budget & tasks it's personal preference. I don't think anyone's arguing any differently?
I used to get phonecalls from my dad about twice weekly with PC problems...
Since he's got a Mac, its about once every other month...
Worth every penny!
I use Macs and a PC and a linux laptop at home, and PCs at work. They all have good points and bad points. One mini mac crashed more than any PC I have had. The macs certainly look nicer. But Horses for courses.
Would people get so emotional about an Iron, or TV or some other item of consumer white goods?
I don't know which is worse - the smugness of the "anything but a mac is rubbish" mob or the twits who label anyone who owns anything apple as a 'fanboi".
Would people get so emotional about an Iron, or TV or some other item of consumer white goods?
Last time I was trying to decide what TV to buy I browsed through some related discussion forums, and the answer to your question is yes.
I'm pretty sure someone somewhere on the internet is emotional about anything. The telly fanatics probably wonder how on earth anyone can be fanatical about bike pedals say (crank bros vs. spd).
No those are nerds not geeks - crucial difference
Nono, very definitely geeks.
[img] http://putative.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451ede369e20120a56b3fe7970b-800wi [/img]
My 2p:
Have an iMac 27" , core i7 and think it is the dogs danglies, however Windows 7 is getting there, finally. Still, I work with IT and hate Microsoft with a vengeance (the company not so much the products) so refuse to have them in the house (including x-box).
That withstanding, I still have had to create logmein profiles for all members of my family, XP, Vista and now windows 7, as I am continually hassled for support services... 😆