Mac Book

Mac or PC

  • PC

    Votes: 10 52.6%

  • Mac

    Votes: 9 47.4%
  • Total voters
    19
g4m3rof1337

g4m3rof1337

Active Member
Comparing a Mac Book to an equal PC laptop.

Which is better in the long run?

And compare both to there highest capabilities.



I might go with Apple.

Thanks
 
g4m3rof1337 said:
Comparing a Mac Book to an equal PC laptop.

Which is better in the long run?

And compare both to their highest capabilities.



I might go with Apple.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I edited your grammar, sorry I am a grammar nazi at times....

Okay, the real deal is you can not compare any PC laptop to a Mac laptop (or desktop even) because they are not the same thing. Out of the box the mac can do loads of things that your PC can not. Also windows vista sucks, and it sucks 10 x 2.5 ^10 (I had to use scientific notation to describe its vast suckiness!) times worse on a laptop. So, if you do go PC for the love of your system resources put XP on that thing.

However, the truth comes down to, will you actually use the extra features a mac offers? Will you do any of the following?

1) Edit digital video
2) Author a DVD
3) Record and master music or audio in general
4) need wireless sync abilities to cell phone (or PDA) via blue tooth?
5) Do digital photography
6) Publish any kind of web comic or web site?
7) Data management (contacts, emails, papers, documents, address book, etc)

Those are the benefits of using the Mac (plus there are zero known viruses for OS X) and they all work out of the box. No additional software, no installation, no third party woes, it all works out of the box. That is the beauty of owning a Mac.

The obvious down sides are:

1) lack of some third party applications (video games if that makes/breaks the deal for you)
2) Lack of third party support for hardware
3) You may have to adjust to a mac alternative if your app is not supported
4) complete incompatibility with vista, though xp has the same issues

Of course you can install and run windows on an intel based mac and pretty much get rid of all the downsides.

Since apple already increased the ram in the Macbook Pros and now offers nvidia cards I would recommend you just upgrade to the Macbook Pro. I know the price difference is a bit high, but it is totally worth it. Starting at just under 2k is not actually a bad deal for what you get, plus if you are a student you can get an educational discount.

All the pro models come with 2gig of RAM now standard!
 
nope there is spelled right, but its the wrong word. English is a messed up language. I said sorry too, its one of my faults as a person I have to correct spelling and grammar, I can't help myself sometimes.

Anyways I hope you see my point because you can't really compare the two fairly. Unless you pump the PC version full of software which would make it cost more than the mac to begin with.

So, if you will use those features than the mac is the better bargain, if you won't use them or use maybe some of them you'll need to decide if its worth it. Or if you prefer a Mac then buy a Mac. I mean obviously Apple is doing well, in fact they have been selling more laptops than anyone else in all of 2007 so far. Their market share is going up each month with laptops.
 
Yeah. I only have trouble with the theres and theirs. I correct other grammar and spelling occasionally. Usually whenever it appears in front of me.


I might go with the mac though.



Thanks.
 
I dunno tlarkin, I have Vista preinstalled on my laptop and I am perfectly happy with it. I can play CS:S, HL2DM, WoW etc etc very well on it as well. I think its just a matter of opinion sometimes. I'm dead set against Macs after they made me fail 3rd Quarter of my sophmore year in high school, but thats another story.

Go with what you want Gamer. And make sure its what you want not necessarily what is "better".
 
Well considering you can install windows on any intel mac means you can run any video game you want. Plus if you watched the keynote from the last WWDC Jobs himself said that the Mac was going to start supporting more games and both id and EA stated that they will start releasing games for the Mac at the same time as for the PC.

So, really it has already started to get more support and it will only get better down the road.

I have used vista basic and vista business on several different newer model laptops and I hate it, runs like a snail compared to my macbook pro.
 
If you dont mind paying up to twice the price for a Mac with the same hardware as a PC, then sure, go ahead.
 
I'll go with Mac, at least for the momment, im not a gamer and so far mac gas done what i wanted...edit videos,combine PDF,photoshop,ripp dvd's..etc...something that i struggled to do on linux (pdf..lol)
 
tlarkin said:
Twice the price? Prove it.
Click to expand...
It's not exactly twice the price, obviously. But here are some examples from the Apple and Dell sites:

Apple Configuration:
15.4" Glossy LCD
2.16Ghz Core 2 Duo
2GB DDR2-667
160GB 5400RPM SATA HD
8x DVD Burner
Integrated Video
Price: $2,074

Dell Configuration:
15.4" Glossy LCD
2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo
2GB DDR2-667
160GB 5400RPM SATA HD
8x DVD Burner
Integrated Video
Price: $1,164


Enough proof?
 
provide links and make sure that the dell has the following

1) Built in wifi
2) built in camera
3) FW 800
4) Gigabit ethernet
5) built in bluetooth 2.0 w/ EDR
6) ambient light sensor for keyboard and screen
7) Digital video out
8) Optical audio out


Add those parts and i bet the price is closer
 
tlarkin said:
provide links and make sure that the dell has the following

Add those parts and i bet the price is closer
Click to expand...
1) Built in wifi
YES
2) built in camera
NO
3) FW 800
YES
4) Gigabit ethernet
YES
5) built in bluetooth 2.0 w/ EDR
BT is an option (Add $30)
6) ambient light sensor for keyboard and screen
NO
7) Digital video out
NO
8) Optical audio out
NO

Yes the Mac has more cool features, but do you really think it's worth almost $1,000 more to have a light sensor and optical out? You can use the DVI/VGA to output to a TV if you want high resolution video. Besides, you can buy an HP if you want a webcam built in, so i'll do that for you and post back.
 
Allright, as promised here are the builds. Both the Dell and Apple builds have a built-in webcam, BT 2.0 w/EDR, WiFi, and the HP has a built-in fingerprint reader.

Apple Configuration:
2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo
15.4" Glossy LCD @ 1440x900
2GB DDR2-667
160GB 5400RPM SATA
nVidia 8600M GT 256MB
Bluetooth, Webcam, WiFi, DVD-Burner
PRICE: $2,499


Dell Configuration:
2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo
15.4" Glossy LCD @ 1680x1050
2GB DDR2-667
160GB 5400RPM SATA
nVidia 8600M GT 256MB
Bluetooth, Webcam, WiFi, DVD-Burner
PRICE: $1,539

HP Configuration:
2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo
15.4" Glossy LCD @ 1280x800
2GB DDR2-667
160GB 5400RPM HD
nVidia 8400M GS
Bluetooth, Webcam, WiFi, Fingerprint Reader, DVD-Burner
PRICE: $1,198


And here are some screenshots of the build if you would like to see them:

Apple
Dell
HP
 
It has built in Firewire 800???? I bet it only has FW 400

Also the audio/video out is high quality and HDMI compliant which also is a plus in my view.

It really depends on how you look at it in all honesty. The price tag of a computer is really not the end all be all reason to buy or not to buy. I can tell you on my Macbook Pro I am about 10 times more productive because of how easy the OS is to use, and how intuitive the UI is, plus the power of Unix in the background allows me to automate several things via shell scripts. Then add in the ease of usage for Apple Scripts and I can make GUI executables to run shell scripts for me so I never have to actually work in the terminal if i do not want to. Also, since professionally I support both Macs and PCs it makes it so much better for me to carry around one laptop instead of two. I also have the need on occasion to run Linux, but OS X for the most part gives the the functionality I would need from Linux. So, I have windows installed on a 15 gig partition via boot camp, then I also have a virtual machine of windows and a virtual machine of debian linux running with Parallels desktop on my Macbook Pro. So I don't even need to reboot into windows at all. I can do everything I need from one machine. Its powerful and quick. OS X is very responsive and will out perform probably most vista laptops because OS X requires less resources to run. These features easily make it worth it for me.

The ambient light sensor is a total fluff feature, and doesn't really effect the total functionality of the laptop. However when I pull out my laptop in like a server room or what not with low lighting my back light on my keyboard already and automatically kicks in so I can see everything.

Add in the plethora of open source applications the stability and the compatibility I think it is worth the price. The downside is what you have already pointed out is that there is no such thing as a low end Mac, they all have high end features.

Add in the cost of software you would have to add to a PC to be able to do all that a Mac can out of the box you would spend hundreds on software packages. I mean out of the box I can fully sync my cell phone via blue tooth with the calendar and the address book, which is very nice. I can send custom ring tones I edit in garage band to it via blue tooth. I have bluetooth enabled software that allows me to control my phone so I can send out SMS, answer and make calls from my laptop. If I had a BT ear piece for my cell phone I could just keep it in my pocket or at my desk. It also monitors my signal strength and battery life. I can choose to browse the whole root of my of my cell phone's directory structure and pull out files or push out media to it. You know some of that crap that is bundled with your cell phone that you don't want, well I used the BT management software to get rid of it.

I am lucky I suppose because my work buys me a laptop so it doesn't come out of my pocket and I chose to get a Macbook Pro. They also gave me a business class HP which doesn't even come close to the Macbook Pro, and I run XP and Linux on it.

So yes to some people it matters and that makes up the price difference in every way. It depends on if you will utilize all of what a Mac can do.

Oh and add in the cost of upgrading to an actual decent version of vista it will bring up the price. Right now your dell is only about 500 in difference. take all of what I said into account and then think about software. To make the Dell do what the mac can out of the box you will spend more than 500 in software.
 
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Everyone has their own opinion, personally i've been brought up on Windows so you would have to pay me to get a Mac over a PC, although I know it offers some great software and has a great UI (for some). But being the gamer and computer user I am, there are far more choices for game titles on Windows, and all of my applications that I use for certain tasks are only available on Windows.

My main point in the comparison wasnt the software, but the hardware. I'm sure you can admit from a hardware perspective, that you get alot more bang for your buck with a PC (mainly because of the competition). I personally cant see spending $2,500 on a laptop when you can buy a similarly configured Dell for $1,500.
 
and all of my applications that I use for certain tasks are only available on Windows.
Click to expand...

I don't really believe that, give examples.

My main point in the comparison wasnt the software, but the hardware. I'm sure you can admit from a hardware perspective, that you get alot more bang for your buck with a PC (mainly because of the competition). I personally cant see spending $2,500 on a laptop when you can buy a similarly configured Dell for $1,500.
Click to expand...

I agree and I used to be a real avid gamer when I was your age but not so much these days. Gaming is very boring on the PC these days, same game recycled over and over with new textures IMO. So I do most my gaming on my consoles these days. However I do have a desktop PC I have built that is for gaming. We are talking about laptops here, and why even buy a laptop for gaming in the first place when you can obviously build a bad ass desktop for the same price and a really decent desktop for cheaper? I have always dis liked gaming on a laptop. Maybe I would play like a RTS, but never a heavy 3D game it just doesn't feel right on a laptop to me. Plus I really hate track pads for gaming they get in the way.

I also hate Dells, they are big, chunky, heavy and bulky. The macbook Pro is 1" thick and only weighs 5.4 lbs. that is a huge plus for me considering I carry around a back pack filled with tools, two CD binders filled with software, several external HDs, etc. The light weight sleek design helps a lot. Especially since a laptop needs to be mobile by design.

Of course it comes down to your opinion. Vista is so slow compared to OS X and I really hate the UI. I started out using windows as well and then ventured on to Linux and OS X later on. There will always be a period of adjustment, but if you are fairly savy with windows you can migrate to OS X very easily IMO. Its not rocket science.
 
tlarkin said:
I don't really believe that, give examples.

I also hate Dells, they are big, chunky, heavy and bulky. The macbook Pro is 1" thick and only weighs 5.4 lbs. that is a huge plus for me considering I carry around a back pack filled with tools, two CD binders filled with software, several external HDs, etc. The light weight sleek design helps a lot. Especially since a laptop needs to be mobile by design.
Click to expand...
Alright, I'm referring to my torrent programs and similar apps, although I know they have torrent apps for Mac's, I prefer having a wide variety to choose from.

But what i'm mainly referring to are apps such as Wave Splitter, dBpower Music Converter, and my other video and audio programs. I know Mac has similar apps, but I found these to be simple and most importantly, free.

I used to have a Dell and it was a great laptop for the price last year, but I do admit that Apple's look nice and seem pretty sturdy.
 
Well torrent clients are all over the place for mac, its just a different UI but other than that they are pretty much all the same. I do wish they made a utorrent for OS X though, because that is my favorite client.

here go some awesome alternatives that are free and a lot of times open source for OS X:

Office:

neo office http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php
open office: http://download.openoffice.org/2.2.1/index.html

Audio:

Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
DJAY http://www.algoriddim.net/download/index.html


There are many more also check this out

http://www.opensourcemac.org/

Handbrake is freaking awesome. There are tons of things that run on the Mac you just gotta know what to look for and these are all free open source softwares.
 
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