Apple attributes?

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Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I currently have a PC. I am wondering who has used both PC and Mac here, and the pros (if any) and cons of both brands. I have heard many good things about the Mac from the media, but I want a person to tell me some experiences they have had with the Mac and PC. Thank you.
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  • Reply 1 of 24
    irelandireland Posts: 17,802member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Vladimir Lestat

    I currently have a PC. I am wondering who has used both PC and Mac here, and the pros (if any) and cons of both brands. I have heard many good things about the Mac from the media, but I want a person to tell me some experiences they have had with the Mac and PC. Thank you.



    I've answered this type of question before. I switched from P.C. to Mac about a year and a half ago. Short version:



    1. No viruses

    2. Basically never breaks down

    3. Much easier to use

    4. More enjoyable to use, like fun!

    5. Elegant software

    6. Much, much, much more efficient and productive

    7. What more can I say (well actually a lot, but I wont)

    8. Lots of cool software built-in. iLife OS X

    9. Beautiful, neat, slim, sexy, tidy hardware AS A BONUS.



    Any questions?
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  • Reply 2 of 24
    Don't buy a MacBook. They are horribly defective and Apple is covering up a huge Logic Board failure issue. Why else would it take 2 weeks or more to fix a laptop that they promised in 5 to 7 days?
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  • Reply 3 of 24
    amodaamoda Posts: 17member
    Hey,



    As a recent switcher i agree with everything ireland said. He really summed it up well, basically the software is very well put togther. It makes it easier to get things done and done well. The hardware is amazing, the laptop is light, portable and a eye catcher. As you're switching from windows to OS X it will take some adjustment but it will happen quickly. One thing i should warn you about is to use the compatibility button on things like powerpoint and word. I've heard horrer stories of people not using them and pics and movies end up not showing on windows computers. But as long as you use checks you should be okay. I haven't had any trouble like i used to with windows, no more crashes and whatnot. However keep in mind that some people did have trouble with the 10.4.7 update but that seems to have cleared up. Actually the only time i've crashed was was about 10mins after i installed windows, while i was setting up my user preferences.



    About Gregg's post, it's really not as bad as he's showing it to be. The "huge" logic board failure isn't huge. Yes, some people's logic boards do have problems but apple is replacing/repairing those which have issues. As to why it takes 2 weeks or more, well you're unlucky. I've seen in the apple forums lots of people talking about 1 or 2 day turn arounds. You must have waiting till the peak before sending it in. My macbook pro is running as expected, it does get somewhat hot every now and then (75c) but compared to non-apple laptops that is great. The new logic boards that apple is replacing the old ones with has been mentioned to nearly 100% eliminate the whine issue and to significantly reduce the heat issue.



    Overall i truely belive that Mac's are better. I'm not a fanboy or anything i've been a windows user for about 12 years and owning the mbp for 3 months makes me wonder why i stayed with it that long.



    Good luck with your decision.
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  • Reply 4 of 24
    i have had a macbook for a week, bettere late than never, OS X is the best operating system i have used(windows,linux)it is so intuitive
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  • Reply 5 of 24
    im an adaptable chap and got used to it in about 3 days, comfy with it in a week, and "never go back" in a month. true i came from xp via linux (Suse) but hey



    converted my drummer how is a jinx with computers and can crash them just by walking into a room {SERIOUSLY} and she has an ibook that just WORKS never crashes and she loves it.



    my sister {18}, went from XP to mac mini and doesnt see the point in windows any more.



    my brother uses macs for animation, but never owned one.. a BIG hold out, and earlier this year got himself a macbookpro, and he cant fault it, and is now begining to see that windows is full of holes.



    my aunt.. i sold her my mini {i bought a newer intel one} she was pretty much flying on it with in an hour! still all a bit new, but shes been useing windows for years.. comments like "but this is so easy", "are you sure you dont have to do something else to make X happen?" etc. impressed me.



    unless there is SOME program/app that you HAVE to use on windows that isnt covered on a mac, then go for it.



    i have REALLY tried not to fall into that "WOW OMG MACS ARE GREAT" hole but im tempted a REALLY easy machine to get used to.



    hope you have fun whatever platform you choose!
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  • Reply 6 of 24
    dac0nvudac0nvu Posts: 175member
    I switched to a Mac about two months ago and every day I continue to find things I love about the Mac. It is just so friggin' easy to use!



    I've used Windows from day one to the present (at work). The thing that bothered me the most and ultimately caused me to switch is how slow Windows becomes after 6 mos. or so. And it seems the only solution is to reinstall. That above all other stuff is what made me switch...and I haven't looked back. (Especially since Flip4Mac became universal! )
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  • Reply 7 of 24
    icibaquicibaqu Posts: 278member
    to the orig poster,



    - what sort of things do you use your computer for now?

    - what sort of things have you thought it'd be cool to use your computer for?



    sound like pedantic questions, but might help get answers more tailored to the question your asking yourself.

    --



    as for a general reply - my girlfriend got a G4 iBook maybe two years ago because her old Dell died. I had a Toshiba. W/o going into details she is not computer savvy. About a week or week and a half later i was sitting at her computer and said "I wonder how you do..." and he hopped over and was like, "That's easy! I figured it out a few days ago. You just do this."



    One day soon after LCD pixels sort of started slowly spreading across the page and covering up the screen. It started from a corner of the screen). She did some investigation online and found out that the screen was never covered under the warranty. But we took it to the apple store and they replaced it since the computer was so new. Then they did the Target Disk Mode trick and when we opened the new iBook up it was the same as her old one...down to the background. I then began my journey of wallowing in a pool of envy until my laptop died and I got an iMac which I love passionately.



    The difference, on essentially every level, breaks down to ease of use. Yesterday my GF and I organized bill payment notices in iCal. She thought it would take a long time to organize all the info. It took 20 min. click. input. schedule alarm/email reminder. the end.



    or take the time I had taken my iMac down to my parents house and wanted to upload photos from their digital camera. They were like "oh no, you'll have to install this software for the camera b/c it doesn't come on your computer and the computer won't recognize the camera, etc. etc. It's a big mess. Let's do it later." In the time it took them to say that the OSX had recognized the camera (including cute photo resembling it) and was 1/2 way through importing the photos.



    or when I had to replace all the contacts in my cell phone and I just sync'ed it with my Address Book through bluetooth.



    or basically every damn day i use the computer with more than one program open and switch between them with ease and no lag (and none of those annoying stacks of windows at the bottom of my already compressed toolbar so I have to go sleauthing around for which file i actually want.



    The question your asking is sort of like trying to explain why sex feels better than masturbation.
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  • Reply 8 of 24
    Thank you guys for telling me about your experiences with Macs and PCs. If anyone else has anymore information on the PC vs. Mac conflict, please tell me. As for my decision on getting a Mac. I think I will get a Mac, and I will try them for myself.
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  • Reply 9 of 24
    Quote:

    Originally posted by icibaqu

    The question your asking is sort of like trying to explain why sex feels better than masturbation.



    ROFLMAO

    That best one-sentence explanation of the virtues of the Mac experience over windows I have heard to date
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  • Reply 10 of 24
    meelashmeelash Posts: 1,045member
    Ditto on all the good stuff everyone already mentioned. However, to counter the hype (which is pretty much true) don't expect that the computer you get has no chance of having something go wrong.

    Last week my brother's PB G4's hard drive crashed and he was unable to mount the harddrive and boot from it. We used my PB G4 to run DiskWarrior on it and I woke up at 4 in the morning (it was running overnight) to my computer's harddrive making these squealing noises-indicative of mechanical hard drive failure. I've since read up on the subject and it seems the Toshiba hard drives in those machine don't seem to have the best reviews and are somewhat sensitive to temperature movement etc. Also, since the laptops are so small and light I think it's easy to get careless and carry them around rather roughly which can be tough on harddrives and cd drives.

    Moral of the story is macs use a lot of the same hardware components as everyone else and problems happen...



    But then on the plus side, when something goes wrong there are STILL a lot of pluses to using macs. Target firewire mode is AWESOME. Also, compare booting from the CD in macs and windows. Formatting harddrives, repairing disks, erasing passwords. All are done in the same familiar GUI as the ordinary system even when booting from the CD. I would venture to say that a newb/old grandma and those types could do this stuff successfully. None of that black and white cryptic message crap you get in windows. Or the fake GUI they've slapped ontop of the install procedure in XP...



    Bottom line--nobody's perfect, Apple is pretty much as perfect as it gets, if you work with them for a while you'll get the feeling that they really work hard to make things better over time. (The coolest thing is, a lot of times (well, maybe twice ) I've sent in bug reports on stuff and the next version/update actually had it fixed. Whoa!)
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  • Reply 11 of 24
    meelashmeelash Posts: 1,045member
    Another plus on the mac side: The COMMUNITY. i.e. US.



    If you have a problem, question, or just want to vent, their're a lot of listeners (sympathetic and otherwise).



    Apple Support forums=awesome (this may be short lived given that AI story a few days back)
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  • Reply 12 of 24
    I want to do so many things on a computer. It seems that the Mac is just more efficent. Even if I do want to play a PC game I can partition the hard drive and play games with Windows XP and do nothing else with it. I have never heard of anyone getting a virus playing a game.
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  • Reply 13 of 24
    joeyjoey Posts: 236member
    Just figured I'd throw my two cents in... I've had a MacBook since they were released and have not had any problems. The new Intel MacBooks & MacBook Pros have been wildly successful for Apple. Of the tons they've sold, a very small percentage have had problems. With the Pros being the first off the line, a few months before the MacBooks, they did see more wide spread problems. The biggest (meaning most common) seemed to be the whining issues. Mind you, it's a fairly quiet noise. My roommate has a Pro and used to put it up to his ear to see if he could hear it. Apple owners are very demanding (because we're used to having the best)... so things like that will make it all over the boards. Similar problems on other brands would probably never even be mentioned. Macs just seem to have higher visibility.



    Oh... and forgot to mention... you can install Windows on any new Intel Mac (either using BootCamp or Parallels). If you use BootCamp, your Mac IS a PC. You're running Windows just as if you were running it on any PC manufacturer's hardware.
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  • Reply 14 of 24
    I have a black macbook and a 17" MBP. Also my girlfriend has a black macbook. No problems with any of them.



    To sum it up: Yes you should get a mac, they just work right.
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  • Reply 15 of 24
    skatmanskatman Posts: 609member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Vladimir Lestat

    I currently have a PC. I am wondering who has used both PC and Mac here, and the pros (if any) and cons of both brands. I have heard many good things about the Mac from the media, but I want a person to tell me some experiences they have had with the Mac and PC. Thank you.



    Both Macs and PC require upkeep. If you take care of them, they'll work. If you don't, you get problems.

    I work on both PCs and MACs and don't have problems with either. PCs are definitely more flexible in terms of hardware and software than MACs.



    I'd stay away from Mac laptops though. Chinese quality control might be ok for underwear production, but not for intergated electronics... as is clearly shown by blatant flaws in the recent notebook production.

    I hope that the Mac Pro towers are better... A LOT better!
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  • Reply 16 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by icibaqu


    The question your asking is sort of like trying to explain why sex feels better than masturbation.



    That's an interesting analogy, but which way you did mean it? Considering all aids in africa, it's almos as dangerous to drop your pants there, as it is to connect your windows to internet. Also being mac user among all these windows machines can some times be guite lonesome...
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  • Reply 17 of 24
    Hmm... Skatman doesn't like the quality of Mac laptops, and he says that PCs are more flexable in hardware and software terms. Anyone have a rebuttal?
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  • Reply 18 of 24
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vladimir Lestat


    Hmm... Skatman doesn't like the quality of Mac laptops, and he says that PCs are more flexable in hardware and software terms. Anyone have a rebuttal?



    The rebuttal is pretty simple.



    1) Skatman does not say that he owns a Mac



    2) And the dead giveaway, as all Mac enthusiasts know, that he isn't familiar with the product is that he refers to it as "MAC" in all caps.



    So there really is nothing to rebut.
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  • Reply 19 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lundy


    The rebuttal is pretty simple.



    1) Skatman does not say that he owns a Mac



    2) And the dead giveaway, as all Mac enthusiasts know, that he isn't familiar with the product is that he refers to it as "MAC" in all caps.



    So there really is nothing to rebut.



    I think you rebutted. Anyway thank you.
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  • Reply 20 of 24
    I found after using Macs that I had interests and abilities I never realized, nor pursued-- music and video creation, in particular. About three years after buying my first Mac, I was forced to buy a Windows laptop for school. Thinking how cool it was to have a new computer, I couldn't wait to do even more of my newfound hobbies on the Toshiba. After all, it was three years newer, right? Faster processors, better software?



    I never once completed anything on the Toshiba that even remotely compared to the Mac-made work. Honestly, i don't think I really even completed anything. The software was unnecessarily complicated and the computer slow, running industrial strength anti-virus (which failed and allowed the computer to die a year later, resulting in a hefty repair fee).



    I am not trained. I do not know why things do what they do on computers, but with a Mac, it makes me look like I do.



    To me, that's the Mac vs. Windows difference.
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