To Mac or not to Mac!!!!

[Phunkie Munky]

Hey, I have been thinking of getting a new computer in the near future.
But I was wondering what should I get, a PC *what I have allways had* or a Mac.

Some people seem to LOVE their Macs and think they the best.
But some people; i.e. 'Man in StiltMan's Ad', HATE Mac with a passion'. Lol love that Ad StiltMan!

Neways, I was wondering what you would recommend, I have always had this idea that Mac's were great. But to tell the truth I have never used one so I dont know.

The dude in the Ad, lol. Says it crashes all the time, but I am all to familiar with this problem with Windows, *hope you die a painfull death Bill*.

Thanks, Phunkie.

[subclubkid]

I think I would pick up a Mac if I could run Linux on it, but I'm not much a fan of MacOs. Then again I dont own a mac and I'm going off what I have seen and messed with other peoples computers.

This topic is apples and oranges though. Everyone will have a diff opinion.

Personally I would stick with a PC, easier to upgrade and cheaper. If your sick of Windows why not try out a flavor of linux. If your afraid to take such a risky step you can always just partition your hard drive for both OS's. That what I have going and its good because I get to learn Linux, and when I need to run something Linux cant I just reboot and choose windows.

[andkiich]

Where's the Linux option!

[LanEvo7]

I'd stick with the PC. There is more hardware choices and you won't end up paying extra for Mac proprietary hardware.

[freestyler]

For the price of a Mac, you could build one bad-ass PC. Hell, you could bust out with a monitor setup like the one in Swordfish even - I know I could with the $$ I'd be saving.

[tgpo]

Take a guess what I voted for :P

[thayne]

I think I would pick up a Mac if I could run Linux on it, but I'm not much a fan of MacOs

You can. Several distros have Mac versions. If you haven't tried OSX you will be surprised! I installed yellowdog linux on my iBook and everything but the built in modem worked, even the airport card worked.

If you are going to get an iMac I would wait. They are due for an update soon.

I have a 2001 iBook and it's slow as snot, but the newer Macs are really good. One thing though, it NEVER crashes, ever....

[Faustus]

Woowoo! I think 7 votes is enough.... Mac Wins!

[galactica]

amazing to see a post where a mac actually wins. This is a good day then!
If you are going to get a mac, get one of the G5's, you wont regret it at all!

There is something to be said for the price of a mac, at least in my mind. Quality?! The pc i own is made of mostly plastic and well plastic. I think the only metal parts on there are the screws that are cut into the plastic case to hold it together.

Ever eject a cd or dvd tray on a basic PC (ie, dell or gateway) and then compare it to the cd/dvd tray of a basic mac tower?

Heck look at the case for goodness sakes. G5 case is made entirely out of aluminum, the powerbooks are made of a titanium allow.

You pay for what you get. Quality for $$. Its like comparing an Alpha Romero to say a Camery. They both work and function as cars. You get in, use a key to start them both and you can drive away in either of them.

But in the end, you should go with what you are most comfortable with and what your needs are.

I have both, and use both - but my mac is the one I LOVE!

[freestyler]

What software that isn't already on PC worth going "All Mac" for? I don't see all the fuss behind Macs - what do you Mac guys gain from using a Mac, that I am supposedly missing on a PC?

[galactica]

Final Cut Pro. Dvd Studio Pro, iTunes (though thats about to change soon - as its coming out for PC.), iChat AV (audio video chat program that actually WORKS! [to mention a few]

and most important of all the ENTIRE OS!

10.3 is out soon and thats going to even blow Jaguar (10.2) out of the water.

[freestyler]

You Mac people are an odd bunch with a lot more money than I have

[Faustus]

10.3 is out soon and thats going to even blow Jaguar (10.2) out of the water.

Which is quite a statement considering how pleased I've been with 10.2 even on this slow G3 500 I have here at work with only 128ram.

[galactica]

10.3 is out soon and thats going to even blow Jaguar (10.2) out of the water.

Which is quite a statement considering how pleased I've been with 10.2 even on this slow G3 500 I have here at work with only 128ram.

Yep, I cant wait until It comes out. HOWEVER, you may need to add more ram to that G3 inorder to get 10.3 to run nicely on that machine. Infact, you would see quite an imporvement if you uped the ram for the preformance of 10.2 on that G3.

Any way, its a great time to be a mac user.
G5's are here
10.3 is out soon
New "dual" [i have quotes because its still based on talk at the moment] powerbooks are on the way in near future
.....

[thayne]

What software that isn't already on PC worth going "All Mac" for?

The operating system!

What software that isn't already on PC worth going "All Mac" for? I don't see all the fuss behind Macs - what do you Mac guys gain from using a Mac, that I am supposedly missing on a PC?

For one you don't have all the headaches, like virus's, worms, computer crashes you know the normal stuff you run across in windows all the time.

I use both and I like my PC just fine, it's fast as hell and pretty solid, but I hate windows. Period. OSX kicks XP's ass all over the place. It's not even close. The OS alond makes a Mac worthwhile.

[galactica]

Agreed.

Here's a easy way to tell the validity of that statement.
Look in this comptuer form. How many people do you see with MAC related problem questions here?

I see:
"ok strange error here" - pc
"Random XP Failure and Partition Question" - PC
"My Right click doesnt work......" - PC
"Strange Windows XP problem...." - PC

Sure, most of these can be solved, but its the point that they are here!
And not just here! The net is LOADED with forums of people who have
"strange XP errors" or "random XP failure's"

[RabidDog]

8) mac is to computing what B & O is to hifi. Ie very pretty, in a superb box, but the performance is middling and the price is way too high. yes osx is better than xp but is it worth all that much extra money? so many xp problems simply becoz 92% use windoze 4% use mac and the rest use an etch a sketch.

Not a minor point ... how many games get released for Mac?? stability yes but at what price. Bill gates gouges you for a new secure OS every 3 years but Mac gets you on everything. Also how many people really have a choice???

[Faustus]

is it worth all that much extra money?

If you got it, then yes it is.

[thayne]

so many xp problems simply becoz 92% use windoze 4% use mac and the rest use an etch a sketch.

That's not true. I use both daily and can say for a fact that widows is way inferior to OSX. I have had my iBook running OSX for almost 2 years without any problems. I have been using windows since 3.1 and have had counless problems, some major and some minor. I can say from daily experience with both that OSX is far better. Pre-OSX is another story! OS 9.2 and earlier were crap in my opinion...

Bill gates gouges you for a new secure OS every 3 years

Secure??? ROTFLMAO! Now that's damn funny!

Not a minor point ... how many games get released for Mac??

I have an Xbox for games. So far that's the only Microsoft product I have that doesn't have any problems...

[Faustus]

2 machine right next to me at work. A PIII 700 and an iMac G3 500. The PC has the better video card, and faster CPU, but guess what? I only surf the web and play on the mac cause even though its a little lack luster for running OSX its still better then dealing with the Daily locks freezes and crashes that the PC gives me if I run it in anything but the most stream lined config.

Dont get me wrong, PCs are great too, they have their place. Both professionally and at home I use both and I love both.

But if you gave me huge gift certificate to the computer store of my choice to buy a new computer I'd pick an Apple Store everytime. You just can't beat a platform that does exactly as its suppose to do with USUALLY very little hassle. Oh don't get me wrong, macs are NOT as perfect as the ads want you to think, but then if you really think the ads were telling the truth then you need ALL sorts of help that this board isn't likely to be able to provide. If they were as perfect as the commercials say then I wouldn't have a job.

[gmatov]

This is getting ridiculous.

The MAc people are saying how stable their machines are.

They are ABSOLUTELY the best.

My daughter is Marketing director for our local, rather large ISP. She was happy like shit that the company bought her a MAC, A REAL MAC to do her sales graphics work on.

And, then, she called me to tell me the goddamned thing kept doing the equivalent of the BSOD on her. It crashed more than her 98 machine!!!

Believe me, she was pissed off with the performance of her MAC machine. Especially, since it cost twice what her latest Windows machine costs.

Jobs will tell you it's the best, but what the hell do you expect? Almost as good as MS? So, buy an MS machine. And lets forget Linux. When it gets an MS type interface, we might embrace it, but not if it's half command line.

[thayne]

This is getting ridiculous.

The MAc people are saying how stable their machines are.

They are ABSOLUTELY the best.

My daughter is Marketing director for our local, rather large ISP. She was happy like shit that the company bought her a MAC, A REAL MAC to do her sales graphics work on.

And, then, she called me to tell me the goddamned thing kept doing the equivalent of the BSOD on her. It crashed more than her 98 machine!!!

Believe me, she was pissed off with the performance of her MAC machine. Especially, since it cost twice what her latest Windows machine costs.

Jobs will tell you it's the best, but what the hell do you expect? Almost as good as MS? So, buy an MS machine. And lets forget Linux. When it gets an MS type interface, we might embrace it, but not if it's half command line.

Funny how only people who have never used a Mac or Linux are always the ones to bag on them.... Linux half command line?? wtf? Virtually all linux distros have a gui that rivals anything from Microsoft.

Did you even read what I said? I'm not a "Mac" guy, I'm more of a PC guy. I use them all and know what each can do. I don't have to say what I know because my daughter, son, or accountants wife knows. I know from experience...

[Faustus]

@gmatov

Was this mac an OS9 mac? Cause thats the OS that usually has problems like that. Either way 99% of Mac issues are caused by crappy software, but then its basicly the same on PCs also except I'd lower the figure to about 85%.

I've actually talked to people who go Macs that were Lemons, but then I've talked to people with HPs, Sonys, and Toshibas that got the same thing. Either of those 3 PC makers gets FAR more bunk machines then Apple, and since I only take PC calls when the PC Techs are all busy thats saying something.

The only problem I ever had with my iMac was when I first got it and accidently plugged the phone line into the network jack because I wasn't paying attention.

[m4r1n5]

I've been using WinXP pro w/SP1 for a year now and I haven't had too many problems. If you don't like tinkering or constantly upgrading your machine buy a MAC. I spent a total of 600 for my pc w/ dvd recorder, cd recorder, AMD 1.8, 64mg video, 60g hd, 17" screen, 762mg RAM and a ATI TVTUNER. Beat that price, MAC!!!!!!

[gmatov]

Flaystus,

No,no,no, I am talking about a Corp that bought, for the marketing person, a Mac, and Adobe Photoshop 6, for Mac, not the PC version. And, the gdamned thing crashed just as often, if not more, than a PC did. In fact, she was happy to get back to a PC..
Now, my kid is not some stupid twat. She has graduated Summa cum Laude,Business school, Duquesne University, has half the credits for her MBA the same. Has a damn good job, and spends the corp bucks to get the corp known.
But the fact remains, Macs are just as, or more, prone to going to hell than PCs are. They may actually, at one time have been better at graphics than the PC, but I doubt this is so today.

[gmatov]

Just out of curiousity, Thayne, at 4%, How is your Etch-a-Sketch running?

Hey, it's your post, your quote, must mean something. Do you know Dilbert and Wally? And the pointy haired boss?

Nuff said.

[pluche]

Mac are more expensive at the start but: I just sold my +- 4 years oldMac G4 400 for 1000 euro (+- 1000 dollar)) - without the monitor - and got myself a new G4 dual 1.25 with 1.7 gig Ram, 2 HD +- 2100 euro so cost price for the new machine: +- 1100 euro; since I had an exterior firewire dvd writer I could keep it, no extra costs
the Mac is a bit like a Mercedes: keeps resonable value after a number of years; what is the value of a 4 years old PC - over here that is just scrap

[gmatov]

pluche,

Don''t be silly.
There are gullible people all over the world.
You got a fish, praise god, or whatever.
Here, and probably anywhere else over there you would have been laughed out of town.
You got more than you paid for it, basically? Ha ha ha

I have some machines to sell. Can you give them my address?

[gmatov]

Flaystus,
This might be an embarassing question, as you say it's your fault, but how in the hell could you plug a 3/8 wide phone cord into a 1/2 inch wide RJ45 port? I mean, if you stuck the damn thing into your CD tray, your "coffee cup holder", it would do no more harm. No electrical contacts. Totally irrelevant.

[Faustus]

@gmatov

Uhm... I didn't suggest anyone was using PC software on a Mac, I think maybe you miss understood my question. I asked if it was a mac running OS9 or OSX as OSX is far more Crash resistant then OS9. Also other software loaded tends to cause problems on the mac instead of the OS itself. Mac can crash, but do so far less often then PCs in general, perhaps hers had bad ram or something? For Hard drives and ram and such macs are limited to the same manufactures as PC makers, bad hardware happens from time to time.


@everyone Hey guys! Actually I remember just reading on the web the other day that MS said 60% of WIndows problems are caused by 3rd party software, if you flip that coin it means that 40% is caused by the OS itself right? *Shudders*