Mac vs PC

PC: for either mega noobs or mega 1337 people
Mac: mega rich noobs or 1337 enough people
Lynux: ultra 1337 H4X0R

i iwned both and I love my mac much more than my pc

depends what you're using the computer for

Absolutely. If you're going to spend any amount of time at a starbucks definitely go with the Mac.

hahaahah this. If your playin games go with a pc. I find more things are compatible and even upgrade-able! Bootcamp is a option for the mac but just sucha pain.

holy shit your karma is at 1337.

so many useless threads today...

i totally want to k+ you but i dont want to mess that up

Honestly, bootcamp is shit.

If you plan on making one paged excel or access documents then you it will be fine. But if you ever have to take an excel or access class your screwed. I took several of these classes and everyone with Macs get fucked over. Bootcamp can't support real excel or access processes like a PC can. Its just the way it is. Don't let anyone else tell you anything else.

But if you have money, and don't really give a shit about your computer get a mac. You have a lot smaller chance for viruses. But you can get teh same powered PC for half the price, and if you are literate at ALL with technology you can avoid 90% of computer problems. I've had my dell latitude for 5 years and i still get 4hrs on my battery and have had 0 viruses or problems (I download a shit ton of movies too).

Half my family owns Mac half owns Dells. If you want more info PM me

I really enjoy my Mac over the pc. If you don't need a pc to operate certain programs or games then a Mac is the better choice for the average consumer. IMO. Plus the multi touch trackpad is the best thing since sliced bread.

The trackpad is by far the best thing on my macbook over my friends pcs. Everything else is comparable but the trackpad just kicks ass.

They're at the point now that they're basically the same.
It's all just personal preference really.

PC= Gaming

Wat?

Yeah, cos for my CAD workstation I really want to be using an aesthetically pleasing Mac, instead of a fire-breathing badass quad-socket 24-core PC.

I'm going to bump this because I'm pissed right now.
First off I'm in highschool, just putting that out there.

I do a lot of photography stuff (I'm going to go to college for photography, so hopefully I can become a full time photographer), and I've been really dedicated to photography for almost the past... oh year and a half, or more.
For the past 1-2 years I've gone through 3 PC laptops.
The first laptop I had was an HP and had 4GB of ram, 600GB hard drive, and some crap intel processor, a pentium or something. This one would literally crash on me all the time. I would perform full virus scans about once a week with Microsoft security essentials. There were never any viruses. I would Defrag all the time. I would download a few things online, but that's it, and I mostly just used the laptop for editing. I have a 1TB external hard drive that I would keep my 300GB of photos on, just because the computer would crash so much. I did countless factory restores and it still ran terribly.
I still have this laptop but I can't use it anymore.
The next PC that I had was an old one from my mom that I couldn't even edit on because it was so old and slow. It eventually ended up just randomly crashing, and dieing on me. I don't know what's wrong with it, but it's so old it's not even worth it to try and figure out what's wrong with it.

I was hired for a photography job for one of my local golf clubs huge tournaments. I didn't have a working laptop and had $900 in the bank. I told myself I would save up for a mac but I desperately needed a laptop right then for that job, and school that was starting the next week. I didn't have time to save up anymore then. I saw best buy was having some sale on an HP DV7 laptop for $900. It had an Intel Core I5 quad core processor, 800GB hard drive, ATI radeon graphics card and 8GB of ram. I thought this computer, even though it was a PC, would be able to hold up to my editing. I was wrong. I've literally never downloaded anything on this laptop. I have 500GB of photos stored on my external hard drive. I never game on this either, I don't game in general.
I perform all the latest updates, defrag, daily virus quickscan and do full scans every few days. Over the course of the day of doing schoolwork and editing, I get probably 2-3 blue screen errors. My video card always fails and my screen goes black. I've done 3 factory restores with no change in performance. It's still under warranty though and I just received a box from HP to ship it back in and get it fixed.
I can't keep doing this with fucking PC's. I don't see how I could've possibly done anything to cause this PC to malfunction like this. I've spent more on laptops in the past couple years then the price of a MAC. I wish I could've just bought one in the first place. I have no money though and am now stuck with this piece of shit. To edit pictures in lightroom takes forever because it is so damn slow.

Would a mac really handle all of this better? If so, I'm going to save up over the next couple years and purchase one. My mom has an older IMAC and loves it. I've used it a little bit too, and I love it also. I just wish I had money to buy myself a new computer. I can't even do my job or schoolwork without one. Who knows what I'm going to do for the next few months when I send it back.

Oh well, I hope all of that made sense, I typed it kind of fast because I literally have to send this computer out today. If I'm doing something wrong with computers, please tell me. I just don't get it. Thanks

just buy osx or whatever mac has as an operating system these days and throw it on your pc. easy fix

I'm not the biggest fan of HP. I have a souped up Dell Latitude and I edit photos all the time, download a shit ton of movies, and still have a 4 hour batter life after 4 years.

But a Mac should work well for you. Some great photo/video editing software. The only thing is you really can't customize Mac's that much, so you are going to pay out the ass for a higher processor and a higher hard drive.

Thanks for the help! After all of this, I'm not a fan of HP either. I'm glad not all PC's are like mine though, and yours is still running good!
Yeah, I figured I'm going to be spending a lot to get a Mac with the right specs for what I need. If I do save up to get one, do you think it would be alright if I say... maybe ordered one with an upgraded processor, but left the hard drive the same and used an external one to store a lot of my photos and videos on? Rather than upgrade both right away? I'm just trying to figure out how much money I'm going to have to save up haha.

PC: gaming, modding, programming
Mac: media

Of course you an do all of these on both, but one is better than the other, and vice versa. My biggest beef with PCs is their their laptop enclosures tend to have a crappy design, whereas the Macbook Pros are amazing (all ports on one side, magnetic power connection, trackpad, etc). For desktops, it doesn't really matter.

As for OS, it's preference. I think OSX is just plain more efficient than anything Windows has made. The finder alone has literally saved me hours when doing media work. Also, Terminal is a highly overlooked program that is amazing. Learning a few simple commands can do wonders for increasing speed/productivity.

Both are awesome for different reasons. Will this pissing contest ever end?

I owned Dell computers for 10 years (both desktop and laptop), got a MacBook Pro last year, and I'll never go back. I like the Mac so much better. Personal preference mostly, seeing as how I only use my computer for the internet and word processing for the most part, but I like the looks, how slim it is, the FUCKING TRACKPAD IS AWESOME, and the battery lasts for like a million hours. Everything opens up/runs quickly and easily, and I like the set-up with the dock, toolbar, etc. better than the Windows setup.

My family owns both macs and pc's. I have worked extensively on both.

@filmtram.

Yeah, you're definitely right. I would like to switch to apple sometime though. I do have some experience with their OS it and I really find it suits my media needs better.
For some reason I never even thought about the heat stress I was putting my laptops under. Honestly, my laptop is in use for probably 8-10 hours a day.
I'm a home schooled, high school student, so basically all of my classes are on my computer. I work on school work on my laptop from about 7:00am to 12:00 then from probably 12:00-6:00pm I'm either doing some type of photography stuff, or skiing everyday, where it is not in use. Then from 6:00pm-11:00pm I'm back on my laptop again. I knew I was on my computer a lot, but I never even realized exactly how much I was on it.

Can someone give me some advice here again... haha thanks:

I'm a junior in high school and I'll be going off to college in a couple years. I'll hopefully be going to a photography school, and I just need some advice about computers. Over the course of the next summer I've decided I'm definitely going to be saving up for a Mac. tomPietrowski brought up a good point about buying a desktop/mac pro for the use I'm putting my computers under. I would like whatever Mac I buy to last me a couple years and hopefully into college. Since I sent my laptop out to HP earlier today (on my bro's computer now) hopefully they can fix that for me. So I'll at least have a laptop for web browsing and stuff. For the time being, I'm still going to be putting it under a lot of stress when I get it back though, so maybe I'll have to get a new computer kind of soon.
When I go off to school, I'm going to have to room with someone in a private apartment, because most photography schools don't have a campus/housing. How would it be to leave a desktop computer in my apartment all day while I'm at class? Would it be sketchy? I'm just looking for someone with experience on it to give me advice on what I should do here. Here are basically my options:
1: I could possibly sell my current HP laptop on ebay and get a Macbook after saving up for a little.
2: I could keep my laptop save up for a little bit, and get an iMac to do all of my editing and labor intensive stuff on.
3: I could keep my laptop and get a Mac Pro set-up, after saving up for a long time.

Or I could sell my laptop on any of those to get a "desktop" Mac more soon, then later while in college I could buy another laptop/macbook. I just don't know what to do because I have so many possibilities of where my life could go, and I'm basically trying to get something that will be semi-versatile and be able to work with me on how my life changes in the future.
Normally a computer isn't too big of a deal, but I'm going to be using it to basically continue my life. So I just want to buy the right thing.
Also, my parents will not give me any money towards any of this because they basically don't have any money to give, which is very understandable haha. I don't expect them to give me any money, I buy almost everything that I have. I just want to clarify, that's why I kept saying "I'm going to have to save up" about my options.
Thanks so much guys for any help.

this... seriously just go with the pc, easier to use if every aspect that you would need a computer for.

i scoff at noobs who buy macs becouse there "cool" seeing there paying over a grad or more (depending on the model) just to surf the internet and use its webcam.....i know some people do buy them for editing purposes wich i can see, there a decently beefy computer for what you pay for and thats one thing macs are specified for....buisness.

Why? Why do you give a fuck...at all? Two grand really isn't a lot of money when you think about it, so if you have the means, why the fuck wouldn't you buy a Mac just to use the internet and webcam?

i see your point, but for me every one i know (excluding a couple people, and realy theres only a couple people)who has a mac is a spoiled rich kid who's parents bought it becouse its made by apple and its "cool".

@Filmtram, what I would do is buy a desktop which is easily upgradable. Really no pc how ever fast today would be fast in even 3 years, so make sure you get somthing you can upgrade.

Oh wow, definitely a big price difference there. I do realize Macs are overpriced too. For what they are, they really are overpriced. I guess you're really just paying for the convenience of OSX. Even if I end up buying a Mac, I'll still admit they are overpriced.
That definitely sounds like a much better deal though to buy a desktop straight from newegg. I'll really have to think about it awhile though. Thanks for giving me some more options to think about. This is a long term thing, so I'm going to take my time making a decision and saving up here. Thanks again for going out and looking around at options for me too, +K.

This is what I'm going to tell you, I know it's been stated previously in this thread, but it's my personal preference. I have owned 1 iMac (Desktop), 1 Dell Laptop (school), 1 Fujitsu Laptop (school), and a Desktop I built. Basically its an i7 2600k Cpu @3.4 GHz, 8GB of memory, 1TB harddrive and a MSI 6950 graphics card. It's essentially a gaming computer. The price, bundled with a 24in 1080p monitor and keyboard + mouse was roughly equivalent to a MacBook Pro. This thing is a machine. Editing on Lightroom, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere and Aftereffects is all quick and easy. I can upgrade my PC at anytime as well, because I built it. My iMac after downloading about 5000 songs and 8000 pictures runs so sluggish I can't use it anymore. At this point on my PC I have just over 1000 RAW pictures, and about 2000 songs. Still runs quickly as ever. However, going back to my laptops, they were absolute crap. They broke all the time, overheated and shut off and the battery was dead after about 2 years. As for a Macbook, I have no experience of my own, but my friends have them and they have definitely slowed down overtime, but the build quality and the trackpad are great.

What I'm getting at here is that it all comes down to personal preference. Some people buy Macs just for their OS, which is great, but for my needs, I prefer a more orderly and professional Operating System. Again, this is my experience, try some laptops out for yourself and see which one suits you.


holy long post...

Weird that I run autodesk applications on my MBP just fine.

However, I wish more autodesk apps were available on mac. Its awkward going from PC workstations to my mac every day

Pc is going to be more compatible with nearly anything you have to do for school. Most programs run in Mac or have a Mac counterpart but things like word and excel are never going to run on a Mac as smoothly or efficiently. I just built a pretty badass Sony vaio s series for under 2000 and that is with windows professional, the full adobe suite including photoshop and premiere, ms office professional, has a 1080 hi def screen and an aluminum magnesium case so it's durable and aesthically pleasing as a MacBook pro. At least check Sony out theyake some sweet stuff.

this. i just got my sony vaio f series. 750 g harddraive, nivida 640x graphics card, 1g dedicated memorey, 6 gigs of ram plus a shit tone of other nice features for only 900 dollars with an extra year warrenty brand new!! ..sorry for shit spelling writing under my desk in cklass lol

I own a PC, but I really want a Mac, I just find it's better for most things. Of course this is just my opinion, but I feel Mac's are easier and better.

Keep in mind that an iMac is basically a really big laptop that needs a power cord all the time (do they use desktop CPUs or laptop ones like a lot of Windows all-in-ones?). They are designed for casual users who require occasional spikes of processing power. Like a laptop, they suffer from crappy ventilation etc because they make sacrifices in the name of looking pretty.

If you're going to be doing sustained high load work (for example video editing/encoding) you need something designed for this purpose. There's a very good reason a Mac Pro looks like a regular PC, just with a brushed aluminium case.

You wouldn't buy a Ferrari to tow your boat. It might look nice doing it, and no doubt it would probably tow your boat pretty damn well, but it would last about a week. Same thing here.

My Dell just crashed today so FUCK PCs. That thing gave me so many problems so Im sure investing in a mac this time around will be a smart decision.

pc

Now that I look at the specs on the iMac, I'm pretty sure it has a laptop graphics card too, forget that. Just wondering, has anyone ever bought a refurbished mac? The base Mac pro is about $2,000 refurbished and that doesn't seem bad.
Yes, I'm sure a PC with the same specs would be 500 or more dollars cheaper, I'm just wondering. I just saw that their refurbished products are covered by the same warranty as their new products, which most refurb PC's have even less of a warranty, so that's a plus. I'm just trying to figure out a way I can get this quicker, so I'm trying to look at all my options that's all.

That mac pro is very basic for $2000. It only has 3gig of ram, This is no where near enough. Its tripple channel ECC memory too, so chances are you would just end up getting rid of the 3x1gig sticks that come with it. It has a 2.8Ghz Xeon processor. That is a server processor, and does not have hyperthreading. You would be much better off with somthing like an Intel i7 2600k. The 2600K is a quad core too but it has hyperthreading so your computer sees it as 8 cores. It also has a 1gig ati graphics card. If you plan on using adobe software your best off going with nvida, and if your going to be using premiere get at least the gtx 560 so you can use the mrecury play back engine. It also only has one big HDD. this is not ideal when using lots of files like you. Its great for storage but you want a smaller faster drive for the opperating system and programs. Change those things and it would make a huge differnece.

have a look at this computer to see what you could get from a windows pc. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=851785&CatId=4928

pretty dope machine. I like laptops myself but I bet that thing hauls ass. i7 is whats up i have one in my vaio.

Its an example of what is out there. Desktops are always the way to go if you can. For example the i7 in that pc , is basically like 2 of the processors you have in the laptop. The mobile i7 you have is 2 real cores with hyperthreading. The desktop is 4 cores with hyperthreading. Its base speed is also the same as the mobile versions boost speed. So for value for money and speed you cant beat a desktop.

Yeah I definitely see what you're saying. That PC you posted is pretty sick too. I recently helped my brother build one similar to that actually. Same graphics card. He used a quad core i5 instead of an i7 though. Almost the same exact coolermaster case too.

Interesting appreciate the learnedness. you in it?