PC or Mac?
 

Have always been a PC family, and it's time for an upgrade. What's your experience with the iMac versus PC? Any info appreciated - our biggest computer use is music, photos, video, and internet use. Thanks!

PC all the way.

you want to make media or just view it?

If you edit video, take lots of digital photos, or create music, Mac. No question.

If you only consume media, it depends on what your sources are.

The iApps (iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes, iDVD) along with GarageBand have no peer in the PC world. Maybe on an individual basis (ie there are some good web development apps and mp3 catalog applications), but nothing can match iMovie wrt editing video, and the seamless integration of the iApps is quite stunning. I can edit a video, pull in a song from my iTunes library, add some photos from my iPhoto library, then create a DVD.

Do you have experience with both? I'm just curious to know what you base your preference on.

Thanks! We saw the iMovie demonstration in the store today and it looked unbelievably simple. We do take tons of digital photos as well as videos, and would like to be able to manipulate and edit them.

Depends on what you want to do most...(which is....???) I'm a PC guy personally, but am being lured to the Mac side lately.

Nowdays, this is a no brainer: Mac intel, and you can run XP if you ever regret you bought a Mac...

Aurel

Mac.

The basic OS is very good. Extremely stable, far less "fiddling" than with Windows, excellent integrated search (Spotlight), convenience features (Expose, Widgets). Also far less problems with viruses, worms, spyware than Windows (in fact I've never had any such problems with OS X at all). I used to spend inordinate amounts of time fixing my PCs - clean installing Windows, etc - now I spend that time here on PP OT (hmm, a negative I guess).

The iLife applications are great - easy to use, work well together, basically best in class. I've mostly used iTunes and iPhoto, played with iMovie but am not a video buff. Safari is a very good browser.

Availability of other applications is very good. All the major apps are available for Mac (MS Office, Quicken, Photoshop, Firefox, etc). Almost all the major plugins are also. The only real exception is games, there are quite a few games for Mac but the PC gets them first.

Peripheral compatibility is good, sometimes you'll find office-oriented printers won't work so well w/ Mac. E.g. my dad just bought a Ricoh color laser all-in-one and is complaining some features don't work on his iMac. But H-P, Canon, Epson all support Mac well.

And now the Intel-based Macs make this really a no-brainer, just like Aurel said. You can install Apple's Boot Camp and dual boot into Windows XP, or you can install Parallels and switch between Mac and Windows on the fly.

my wife loves mac's
she uses both PC and mac's at work

pro's less steps to do many things
eazy simple to network
grafix and photo shop are faster and eazyer on mac's
never /seldom crashes or lost work/files

minus's COST and limited programs
mac's cost about 2x the same speed and power in a PC

Have worked with MAC's quite a bit, both of my Sisters and late Father had them. Just not my cup of tea and like PC's better.

Nostatic is correct that if you are doing video or media, MAC is the only way. Otherwise the options are a lot better for various programs with a PC.

For work? Unless you are in advertising/marketing, a PC is the only real choice. Most of the programs I use for work simply aren't availble for the Mac.

For home? I'd say its a toss up. If you're a gamer, PC, hands down. PC versions of games are out earlier, are usually better, and much of the better hardware for the latest games is only available for PCs. If you do media stuff, Mac.

Much of the "fiddling" with PCs I consider customization that just isn't possible on Macs. I work on PCs all day, I have two at home also.

We have had both. We have a PC right now. I wish we had gotten a Mac.
Mike

I have both.

The Mac is best for work. I use the Dell only for playing games.

I would disagree with that. There really isn't a significant difference in cost between like-equipped PCs and Macs. Of course if you're looking at the ultra-low end (sub $600 or so), there isn't a Mac priced to compete there.

Actually, there is. A Mac Mini costs $599, if you already have screen and keyboard.
And it will also run XP...

Aurel

Lockheed Missiles and Space used to be an all Mac shop until we were taken over by Martin and we switched to PCs and created a huge IT group to support and manage the PCs. Most of us would switch back in a heartbeat if given a chance. No chance for that with the huge infrastructure that the PC switch necessitated.

At home we have always used Macs, and I bought the Mac for home after experiencing a PC at work first.

Will not be your experiecne but with th IT group come weekly updates becasue of security problems with the Windows system software.

Go Mac. Even a good used Mac.

Unless you are a gamer. Then get the new intel based mac.

Simply not true. In the past part of the cost comparison issue was trying to compare PowerPC chips to Intel/AMD. Sure you can find a cheaper PC but then again I can go buy a Kia instead of a Hyundai instead of GMC instead of a Porsche instead of Ferrari. They are all cars, four wheels, internal combustion etc... but are they REALLY the same?

http://kurafire.net/log/archive/2006/04/25/debunking-the-price-myth-apple-vs-dell

The software thing is not true either. I've asked before, name one commercially available app that the average consumer needs that is not either cross platform (available for both) or does not have a comparable alternative. Last time someone reponded with "you can't get Computational Fluid Dynamics apps for Macs".

links to the non-existent Computational Fluid Dynamics apps for Macs.

http://aaac.larc.nasa.gov/tsab/tetruss/mac/

http://www.pointwise.com/gridgen/index.shtml

In terms of shear numbers of software available it's true, problem is most of it is crap. Maybe it's just me but I'd rather pick from a smaller pool of quality software than an ocean of garbage.

OSX is based on Berkely Unix. Probably the oldest most flexible operating system on the planet. You wanna fiddle? Just launch Terminal and you have all the power that you need to do whatever you want. Unless your idea of "cusomization" is changing the GUI then you're right, can't do it on a Mac but then again why would you want to.

Next someone will throw out the limited market share is why there are no Mac viruses. Anyone with an understanding of how operating systems work knows why that's bull. It's not impossible or even difficult to write a .nix virus. What's nearly impossible is to write a virus for a Mac that will actually be able to self replicate and spread.
In fact you'd have a near improbable chance of writing a Mac virus that makes it past the user account to infect the core OS.

Some educational reading.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/10/06/linux_vs_windows_viruses/

http://lists.apple.com/archives/fed-talk/2004/Nov/msg00018.html


Scott

At the very low end, complete PC systems do cost less. At the higher end, Macs range from roughly the same to +13% in the last study I found.

But when you add the cost of all the stuff you need for a PC, anti-virus stuff, any of the programs equivalent to the iLife programs that come for free on the Mac (assuming you want them): iDVD, iPhoto, GarageBand, iMovie HD, iWeb... the PC will be a lot more. And you spend a lot of time fiddling with a PC that you could be using to actually Do Stuff.

EDIT: The Mac Mini/low end PC comparison is closer than I thought. see
http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/editors/2005/01/miniapplesandoranges/index.php

Just remembered something.

I have been using my "original" installation of OSX on every Mac I've owned since OSX was released 6 or so years ago.

I started with the Beta, when the GM was released I just upgraded the Beta and so on with every minor update and major release. I've moved the entire disc image 6-7 times over the years, a combo of desktops and laptops.

I have never had to do a clean install and I've never had to reinstall any apps. I've had to re-enter some serial numbers but that's not a big deal.

With the Intel release I just used the built in migrator and every last bit of data was moved succesfully. It's been 3 months and I still have not found one thing that does not work.

Try that with Windows and it'll be screaming for drivers and dll's till your ears bleed.

Buncha smug Mac bigots.

Kinda reminds me of smug 911 drivers.