Computer help

[BrutusMaximus]

My Mac has never had any problems. My next stop will be a Mac laptop as soon as I can afford it.

And again I will say.........Macs have no problems, because they are useless paperweights. They sit there and look pretty, but that's about all the purpose they serve

 

[OhioSte]

And again I will say.........Macs have no problems, because they are useless paperweights. They sit there and look pretty, but that's about all the purpose they serve

I was right there with you at one point, as I was a programmer in college. I didn't stick with programming because it wasn't what I wanted to do. I never thought about Macs until I started toying around with one in the store. Say what want about them, but so far for me it has been the best computer I've owned. You guys will be the first to know if I start getting problems!

 

[BrutusMaximus]

Lemme know if you can play any games besides anything made by blizzard, then we'll talk

 

[OhioSte]

Lemme know if you can play any games besides anything made by blizzard, then we'll talk

Yeah...I can...I can play Halo, COD4, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Mass Effect...oh wait...you meant on my Mac...Who needs to play games on your PC when you have an XBOX 360 or PS3 that has HD?

The majority of non business consumers who buy computers, and this isn't fact but only a guess, buy a computer for a few things: internet and e-mail, digital pictures, digital movies, word processing, and digital music.

I'm trying to think of more but it's two thirty and I'm tired. Please put more on there as I'm sure I'm missing some. But of those things, for the everyday consumer, tell me what a PC can do better than a Mac?

I will agree with the point you were trying to make with a the game analogy. It does suck if there is some sweet new software that comes out, and only comes out for PC. However, the only reason that is, at the moment, is because Apple is really just starting to take off.

The majority of people believe that the best machines out there for them are PCs. Some of them are right, but for the 5 things listed above, I would recommend a Mac. The first 5 days they are going to hate it. New buttons and a few things that you have to get used to(like the maximize, minimize and close buttons being on the top left instead of right or the one button mouse...wow did that piss me off when I started).

The top reasons to not buy a Mac.

1. Price. They are a few hundred bucks more expensive than PCs.

2. You can run Linux for free and you can run Gentoo which some people say is better than OS X. But again, for the everyday user, you're not going to run either on a PC or even know about them.

3. PCs are a little more upgradable. There are few things that it's harder to upgrade on a Mac than a PC. You can still upgrade the two biggest things that people upgrade(Hard drive and RAM).

4. Gaming-- as listed above, not all the games are Mac compatible, which is why I own a video games system by Microsoft! And no, I would not buy an Apple video gaming system until they proved themselves that they can hang with the big boys in that department.

5. If you enjoy building your own PC, it is a much easier task to do then building a Mac, only because there are more of a variety of hardware available for PCs. Similar to # 2.

6. You have an IT guy in your family that knows nothing about Macs. Let's face it, if you have someone that can help you solve your computers problems it smarter to go with what they know because every computer will have problems.

7. You really enjoy the tint of the blue screen on your computer...I mean...it is a really nice blue!

Sorry such a long response but just wanted to let you know my reasons, but I would be glad to give you the top reasons to buy a Mac if you'd like.

 

[BrutusMaximus]

I am just being difficult. Any respect I had for Apple went away when they started using Intel stuff, and dual booting windows. Why would they do that? Cause OSX is basically linux. Very solid, very stable, and ya cant do a damn thing with it. Mind you I am talking about every day home use, or people who do play alot of games, like me. For the graphic designer, etc..........I dont really think it matters. You can have a mac or a pc, and accomplish the same tasks.

 

[Muck]

6. You have an IT guy in your family that knows nothing about Macs. Let's face it, if you have someone that can help you solve your computers problems it smarter to go with what they know because every computer will have problems.

6b. You have an IT guy in your family who knows more than he wants to about Macs.

Support on Macs is a major pain in the ass and Apple is one of the worst companies I've worked with on handling support issues.


---Apple's largest advantage is also their biggest weakness IMO. Their model is based on a closed/proprietary system to a greater degree than even Microsoft.

They don't really have fewer compability problems because they prevent the possibility of adding components that they don't have complete control over.

The user is restricted to an exponentially smaller pool of equipment to use as a result.

---FWIW when I was at GE, Mac users logged help tickets at about twice the average PC rate.

Cause OSX is basically linux. Very solid, very stable, and ya cant do a damn thing with it.

Uncounted BSD users just cried out in horror.


---I'm the opposite of BM. I'm firmly in the camp that the move to an OpenBSD based OS and to more industry standard hardware is what saved Apple. Continuing along the PPC/Classic OS path would have sent the company the way of the Amiga.

Considering I run NetBSD on a G4 and PC-BSD on a Thinkbook I'll disagree a bit about the daily useability of Unix based OS's as well.

 

[BrutusMaximus]

i guess saying unix is "useless" is kinda harsh. What I meant was it is not very user friendly to the average computer user. Windows is designed with that in mind. The common computer user is basically going to do nothing with linux......or do everything by accident

 

[OhioSte]

---FWIW when I was at GE, Mac users logged help tickets at about twice the average PC rate.



Part of that may be due to new users not knowing how to use a Mac. I believe OS X has come a long way to being user friendly. IMO, if someone had never used a computer before, it would be much easier to explain how a Mac works over a PC.

 

[Muck]

i guess saying unix is "useless" is kinda harsh. What I meant was it is not very user friendly to the average computer user. Windows is designed with that in mind. The common computer user is basically going to do nothing with linux......or do everything by accident

I think these days that is a bit more perception than reality.

There are finally quite a few distros out there that cater to the average schmo who just wants a box they can set up and use without screwing with too much.

I'm not a Unix adherent by any means, my main box still runs Windows but I was VERY happy with how well integrated some of the distros I tried out were before I finally settled on PC-BSD for my laptop.

The Linux community has come a LONG way in the past 5 years.

Part of that may be due to new users not knowing how to use a Mac. I believe OS X has come a long way to being user friendly. IMO, if someone had never used a computer before, it would be much easier to explain how a Mac works over a PC.

It was legitimate hardware/software issues more than ID-10T errors.

The folks who had Macs were typically execs who already owned them at home and had the clout to pull a special order box at work.

So they were already fully indoctrinated into the cult. :)


---FWIW I think Vista may have been the stumble that throws the doors wide open for .alt OS's to finally gain traction in the marketplace.

If Apple was half as brilliant as everyone thinks they are they'd finally be selling a full blown OSX port that'll run on that 92% of the market that it currently won't.

 

[jwinslow]

For the graphic designer, etc..........I dont really think it matters. You can have a mac or a pc, and accomplish the same tasks.

Well you can technically do design work in a fluorescent-lit, beige cement room, but productivity & creativity is usually a bit better in a clean, naturally-lit studio. Vista is a lil better, but still behind.

That being said, my money is devoted to photography equipment, so I'm still on a PC. :p Next machine will be a mac, however.

 

[OhioSte]

That being said, my money is devoted to photography equipment, so I'm still on a PC. :p Next machine will be a mac, however.

I was glad that I had a Mac for the one wedding I did photography for. They wanted something inexpensive and well...I was free, so it was nice to give them a good semi-professional final product.

Since then, my expensive camera has been used at family gatherings and that's about it...feels like such a waste...

 

[BrutusMaximus]

FWIW I think Vista may have been the stumble that throws the doors wide open for .alt OS's to finally gain traction in the marketplace.

Agree there. Vista really isnt bad, but it is just entirely too bloated with unnecessary content. The user account control is just laughable. I love when I get calls from people bitching about the prompt. If it's someone I dont like, I usually tell them that it's a "feature" that cant be removed :)

 

[iambrutus]

yes you can run all of the photography editing software on a PC, but it runs like crap. i've never owned a mac but i am buying on 3/1 because i'm sick of running photoshop and lightroom on a PC and waiting for them to open and just general slowness during use and thats a newer windows machine with a 3.0ghz processor and 2gb of ram.

 

[rocketman]

The one area where I think Mac's have a huge advantage over PC's is in music production and editing. As an amateur DJ/producer I mess with DJ controllers, midi keyboards and mixers. A couple years ago I did all my work on my PC. It was torture. Music software in general is hit-or-miss, but the software available for Windows was absolute crap, and would bring my then 3.0 Ghz P4 w/ 2 GB RAM to it's knees - hard crashes abound. Hardware integration was a pain as well - everything required drivers and a separate configuration application that had to be kept running all the time.

With my Macbook it has been a breeze. Between Traktor for DJ'ing, Reason and Logic for production, ReCycle for sampling, and Audacity for recording/editing, I haven't had any problems. Best of all, I can run all of that shit at the same time and my little ol' Macbook doesn't even wince. MIDI keyboards and DJ controllers just plug into the USB ports without any drivers or control programs.

Macs are probably useless in the business world but when it comes to content creation they are far from paper weights. I wouldn't give this thing up for a Windows PC, no way, no how.

 

[BrutusMaximus]

yes you can run all of the photography editing software on a PC, but it runs like crap. i've never owned a mac but i am buying on 3/1 because i'm sick of running photoshop and lightroom on a PC and waiting for them to open and just general slowness during use and thats a newer windows machine with a 3.0ghz processor and 2gb of ram.

I dont know what you guys are doin wrong, but I use flash, dreamweaver, photoshop and such on not only my desktop, but my laptop with vista. I have no problems on either. Neither of them drag.