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Computer Buying Help: Mac vs. PC

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truifh0

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My hard drive crashed for the 2nd time in 3 years and I am looking at getting a new laptop rather than spend more money on this one. I have always been a PC user, but am thinking of making the move to a Mac Book Pro and am looking for some input on whether it is worth the extra cost. Below are the main computers I am considering:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro/select - primarily looking at the two 13" models

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+...8705947299&skuId=4559043&st=4559043&cp=1&lp=1

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+...-39?id=1218703221538&skuId=5892069&st=5892069

Just wanted to get people's thoughts or see if anyone has any additional recommendations.
 
I was a PC user forever, recently switched to Mac. I think its incredible. Go to the apple store and play on one and see what you think.
 
My MBP is easily the best computer I've ever owned.
 
Try them out and see what you think. I wouldn't buy a dell if you're looking at PC's. Look at Asus or Lenovo.

IMO Macs aren't worth the extra price but it comes down to what you want to use it for and which you like best.
 
TWDeac said:
Try them out and see what you think. I wouldn't buy a dell if you're looking at PC's. Look at Asus or Lenovo.

IMO Macs aren't worth the extra price but it comes down to what you want to use it for and which you like best.
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You're right, if you're on a budget Macs definitely are a bit much. But if its not that big an issue, getting slightly ripped off for a fantastic machine that might last you 10+ years opposed to the 3 or 4 most PCs seem to last is worth it if you ask me.
 
WT901 said:
You're right, if you're on a budget Macs definitely are a bit much. But if its not that big an issue, getting slightly ripped off for a fantastic machine that might last you 10+ years opposed to the 3 or 4 most PCs seem to last is worth it if you ask me.
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This simply isn't true. They use the same constituent parts and will each become outdated at the same rate. The only difference is the operating system and the price tag.
 
BacktoBack said:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+15.6%26%2334%3B+Laptop+-+6GB+Memory+-+750GB+Hard+Drive+-+Aluminum+Lake+Blue/5584485.p?id=1218666586495&skuId=5584485

Just got this. It seems great so far. My research led me in this direction. I had considered making the move to MAC too but needed to make sure mine was compatible with electronic medical record that my office will be shopping for soon. Just made sense to stick with PC. Plus the price was quite a bit less, which is never bad IMHO.
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Good buy. I'm still undecided as to whether I'm going to buy a replacement battery for my old Wake laptop, or buy a new laptop next year. I use my desktop for almost everything, so I think a nice laptop would just be a luxury good at this point.
 
TWDeac said:
This simply isn't true. They use the same constituent parts and will each become outdated at the same rate. The only difference is the operating system and the price tag.
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And quality of construction. I'm not sure about current machines, but my 2 year old MBP got twice the battery life of comparable PCs.

Typically, the PC professionals I've met hate Macs until they use it. Then, they can't live without them.
 
bym051d said:
And quality of construction. I'm not sure about current machines, but my 2 year old MBP got twice the battery life of comparable PCs.

Typically, the PC professionals I've met hate Macs until they use it. Then, they can't live without them.
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I'd hope you're getting quality construction for 1.5 to 2 grand.

Sure, if you're buying a low end <$500 laptop, the build quality could be questionable, but if you do your research, you will have no problems.

Battery life on Macs is very good. That is the benefit of a closed OS on your own hardware. Even still, any decent PC laptop with a 9 cell battery is going to give you 4+ hours of battery life.
 
bym051d said:
My MBP is easily the best computer I've ever owned.
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Agree with this; I don't know that my MBP would "outperform" a similarly spec'd PC, but I've been very pleased overall with the computer, especially when processing pictures in Photoshop.
 
My Macbook has crashed 1 time in the 4 years I've owned it. No PC laptop I've ever had has even come close to that.
 
TWDeac said:
Battery life on Macs is very good. That is the benefit of a closed OS on your own hardware. Even still, any decent PC laptop with a 9 cell battery is going to give you 4+ hours of battery life.
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Mine still gives 6+ hours after 2 years.

DistrictDeacon said:
My Macbook has crashed 1 time in the 4 years I've owned it. No PC laptop I've ever had has even come close to that.
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Steam seems to freeze quite a bit, but that's it.
 
bym051d said:
Mine still gives 6+ hours after 2 years.
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Yes, and if you take care of any battery on any computer in the world, PC or Mac, it's useful life will be extended. I can assure you, Mac doesn't have a monopoly on some type of rare battery technology. The only benefit they have is the advantage I mentioned before, a closed OS running on a restricted set of hardware.
 
Macs are way better but way more expensive too. I used to be strongly against them because of the price difference for relatively similar hardware, but OS X blows windows out of the water. Unix based, no restart on updates, immensely more stable, much more aesthetically pleasing, better built in software, incredible touch interface, etc. As a programmer, the biggest difference for me is Unix terminal > windows command prompt. Unix was built from the ground up by developers for developers. Windows is significantly lacking in administration capabilities and its CLI sucks overall.

Macs also hold value much better which is something to consider as it mitigates the effect of the initial price difference.
 
OliveGardenDeac said:
Macs are way better but way more expensive too. I used to be strongly against them because of the price difference for relatively similar hardware, but OS X blows windows out of the water. Unix based, no restart on updates, immensely more stable, much more aesthetically pleasing, better built in software, incredible touch interface, etc. As a programmer, the biggest difference for me is Unix terminal > windows command prompt. Unix was built from the ground up by developers for developers. Windows is significantly lacking in administration capabilities and its CLI sucks overall.

Macs also hold value much better which is something to consider as it mitigates the effect of the initial price difference.
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All good points. I definitely hear this from programmers quite often, especially if they don't want to work with any versions of Linux.

Btw, my first account got banned on Thursday night. Boo!
 
For Mac users, do you recommend getting the Microsoft Office package with PowerPoint, Excel and Word for $199.95 or just going with the Apple versions of this software which is $60. This will be a computer for personal use and I know you can save a Microsoft Office compatible copy in case you need to send a file to someone in that format. Also, do people recommend getting the extended 3 year warranty for $250.
 
TWDeac said:
All good points. I definitely hear this from programmers quite often, especially if they don't want to work with any versions of Linux.

Btw, my first account got banned on Thursday night. Boo!
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Using windows with virtual box running ubuntu is always an option, but a much more annoying one. And linux by itself has too many compatibility issues with popular software. Basically a windows computer is fine, but if the extra money isn't all that big a deal I'd go with Mac.

That sucks man. I still haven't been banned yet, maybe because I'm the only one running this bot or something. My gold isn't selling anymore anyway though.
 
truifh0 said:
For Mac users, do you recommend getting the Microsoft Office package with PowerPoint, Excel and Word for $199.95 or just going with the Apple versions of this software which is $60. This will be a computer for personal use and I know you can save a Microsoft Office compatible copy in case you need to send a file to someone in that format. Also, do people recommend getting the extended 3 year warranty for $250.
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If you're not a power user and are just using office apps casually and occasionally, I see no reason not to just use Google docs
 
truifh0 said:
For Mac users, do you recommend getting the Microsoft Office package with PowerPoint, Excel and Word for $199.95 or just going with the Apple versions of this software which is $60. This will be a computer for personal use and I know you can save a Microsoft Office compatible copy in case you need to send a file to someone in that format. Also, do people recommend getting the extended 3 year warranty for $250.
Click to expand...

Depends on what you need to do; I found that the Apple versions lacked certain functionality that I wanted/needed. I don't honestly remember what some of those things are now, but since we went to the Microsoft Versions we haven't had any issues. Part of the reason we went with Microsoft for one of the MBPs we have is that my wife uses that computer for work.
 
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