Is a Mac worth the money?

Question

I need a laptop for college. I'll mostly use it for pictures, music, and homework stuff. I'm thinking about buying a Mac, but is it worth paying the extra money to get a Mac instead of a PC?

Answer 1

Hello Caitlin;



Your question will spark a lot of opinions for sure..



To answer your question would suggest that you go to

www.pcworld.com and search Mac's laptops and get a independent view...They test and evaluate and have an enormous amount of information to help make a wise decision. You can see what others feel about theirs and learn about the Operating System..

One of the best features is that Operating System as a bit more secure and reliable..

How about Support? One of the most critical when buying a laptop. This you will be able to evaluate before buying..

Useful Tip......Always purchase from the manufactures web site for best Support and Always request a Copy of all Software in the computer so you can Reinstall later if needed..



Feel sorry for the one question earlier that bought from "Best Buy" and now has problems with support.



Good luck



tom

Answer 2

Depends on your budget. If you have a $1000 or so to spend, then it's pretty reasonable to put $300 more towards a Macbook. But if you have $500 only, then that $800 difference probably isn't going to be worth it.



For what you plan to do, there's no difference between a PC or a Mac. They'll both show the same pictures, play the same songs, and check the same wrong words.

Answer 3

Well, do you think it's worth the money? You basically have to decide whether OSX and industrial case styling is worth a 40-50% premium to you. It comes down partly to how apt you are to screw up your PC with malware, and also, I hate to say, but how pretentous you are. A Macbook Aluminum is certainly the hippest college notebook right now, but you don't have to be a follower. Even a Thinkpad, the Cadillac of notebooks, costs less than a comparable MacBook, so carefully consider alternatives before you invest so much money into a Macintosh.

Answer 4

No. I've used both. Macs have a cooler interface and reputation, but it's a lot harder to get free software, to get cheap upgrades, and they really work negligibly better than PCs. I do a lot of work with photography and don't think the Mac is worth the additional cost.

Answer 5

Absolutely. No viruses, extremely fast, great operating system...what more can you ask for?



Get a MacBook:

http://www.apple.com/macbook/



Hope I helped!

Answer 6

Mac is not worth the money... Here are reasons why... (take a look at the links).





PC=Variety of specs, options, quality, prices, vendors, support

Mac=One vendor, limited options, still more expensive. Look below for more information..



Contrary to belief, Macs are not better quality. Apple also has been changing suppliers to try to "lower the price" and thus lowering quality. Even with the lower prices, Macs still cost more, they spend a higher percent of budget trying to make it look pretty, and marketing.



Today, Macs use the same hardware as PCs. Why spend extra to get the same CPU chips, graphics cards and OS X isn't as secure as you think.. Look below.



WINDOWS ADVANTAGES:



Aprox 90% of the market is Windows. Most PCs include windows already pre-installed.

1) A number of websites still require Internet Explorer to view and IE for Mac Stinks (it is really ies4osx which is the Windows IE version running really buggy on OS X and illegal if you don't have a legitimate copy of Windows, too many problems with it).

2) More supported peripherals (printers and other things you hook into the computer) on Windows.

3) Many more games

4) Like the Dock on OS X (Mac)? google/yahoo rocketdock, objectdoc.



Install at least Free Versions of Avira AntiVir, Avast, Comodo Firewall on the Vista.



LINUX ADVANTAGES:



1) Install Linux, and then get tons of software for free.Update software easily and automatically. (Checking a checkbox in either two ways to install (Add/Remove or Synaptic Package Manager), search for something you want, check a box and click apply)

2) Like the Mac OS X effects? go yahoo/google COMPIZ FUSION. It can do just about any cool effect a Mac can do and more...

3) Like the Mac OS X Doc? google/yahoo Cairo Dock, avant window navigator.

4) It is faster/MORE SECURE. Surf the internet and even run some windows programs with Wnehq/Crossover..



LINUX OS

If you are worried about viruses, spyware, security, Try Linux (it is free), I have included some information about Linux and links so you are not lost if you decide to try it.



Easily turn your system into a Dual booting computer with Linux, fast, safe and secure, easy to use (contrary to belief). You then get the best of both worlds (Windows with all of its supported products, freely go online without the worry)



Installing Linux in general is very simple and much more secure than OS X(Macintosh) and free.

Also, most Linux distributions have a LiveCD which means you can try without installing...

UBUNTU, KUBUNTU, FREESPIRE, PCLINUXOS, etc.. all have live CDS.

All you have to do is..

A) to download .iso file off the internet from the Linux website

B) burn the .iso file to a CD or DVD (Make sure your burning software can burn an ISO or get InfraRecorder http://infrarecorder.org/ )

C) restart the computer with the CD in the drive

D) As computer is restarting, press on F12 Key a bunch of times to get a boot menu

E) Select the option to boot from CD or DVD.



Click on this link and follow instructions up to the point of "Once the system has started up...", (the rest is how to backup windows) for an easy picture guide for steps A-E above http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/

For easy instructions on setting up Dual Boot http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_windows_xp_and_linux_xp_installed_first.htm



ANOTHER QUICK NOTE: People have been able to run OS X on a PC since the PC and Mac use the same hardware. This is not legal and I would not recommend it for security and legal reasons, the purpose is to show that there is nothing special about the MAC.



A)Price...

A similar equipped PC is much cheaper to purchase than Mac. Lets use Dell (but you can compare with another PC Brand if you like)



*****************(LAPTOP)

Dell Inspiron Laptop $849 dropped to $799

15" Screen

CPU: (upgrade to) 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100

Memory: 3GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM

Hard Drive: 320GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm

Optical Drive: Blu-ray Disc Combo (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM) - WRITES DVDS,CDS, READS Blue-Ray Disks



Macbook $1349 just dropped to $1224

13" Screen (SMALLER)

CPU: 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (SAME)

Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 (SAME)

Memory: (upgrade to) 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (LESS RAM)

Hard Drive (upgrade to) 250GBSerial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm (SMALLER HARD DRIVE)

Optical Drive: (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) - (Writes CDs, DVDs, cannot read Blue-Ray) (WORSE AND 1/2 SPEED)



****************(DESKTOP)



PLEASE NOTE: I'm comparing Apple Mac's vs Dells best deal. If you decide that you must have an all-in one. The Dell all-in-one has more ram, wireless keyboard and mouse and equivalent to $400 for free making the Imac still more expensive when you upgrade the Imac to try to match. Personally I don't think the All-in-Ones are a good choice, and consider them overpriced, lack expandability and repairs both more expensive and require the entire computer.



PS: Apple knows that they must make Macintosh look different than PC so all Macs except the Mac Pro will not have a tower option. Apple's low end lacks expandability but it makes the Mac "look different", if Mac had a tower for low-end, more people would realize the similarities between the two.



Dell: (Right Now) Specs Below costs $809

CPU: 2.4 GHZ Dell Inspiron QUAD (4 Processor) CORE

SCREEN: 20inch Screen

MEMORY: 3GB Ram

HARD DRIVE: 500 GB hard Drive

OPTICAL DRIVE: 16x DVD/CD Read/Writer

GRAPHICS: (upgrade to ) ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO 128MB



The Best Deal Mac is not the Mac Mini since it has no monitor, keyboard, mouse, very skimpy on options and setup... IMac is better price than the Mac Mini.



IMac ($1400)

CPU: 2.4 GHZ DUAL (2 Processor) CORE (SLOWER CPU)

SCREEN: 20inch Screen

MEMORY: (upgrade to) 2GB Ram (LESS RAM)

HARD DRIVE: (upgrade to ) 500 GB hard Drive

OPTICAL DRIVE: 8x DVD Reader/Writer (1/2 speed)

GRAPHICS: ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO 128MB



************************END OF DESKTOP



B) SECURITY:



Mac OS X was hacked in 2006 under 30 minutes, and hacked within 2 minutes in a contest in 2008. Linux and Vista were not able to be hacked until another day when restrictions were lowered.

All macs are standardized with Cameras, if your system gets hacked, the hacker would more likely be able to turn on your camera.

Please Note: All OS's have vulnerabilities.



C) VIRUSES



The argument that OS X has less viruses is true, but that is against XP, BUT Mac OS X has viruses, a friend of mine has a virused Mac. As more users use Macs, more viruses will come out for it. Especially when users think "they are safe".



Google/Yahoo Mac Viruses





D) WINDOWS LICENSE is discounted with PCs



You do not pay the full price, for instance Dell -> you pay $50 or less for Vista Home Premium If you buy a Mac and want Vista, you pay full price.





D) EXPANDABILITY & REPAIR...



Repairs are more expensive than PCs since the IMac, Mac Mini are compact units, and Apple charges a premium for their services. Some repairs can be done by another repair service but the compact design of the computer causes problems.

With an IMac, if the problem is with the monitor, the whole computer would have to be brought in.

IMac and Mac mini lack expansion.





E) PROBLEMS



Sample of problems: Overheating Macbooks, OS X- not responding to keyboard, some units with 16bit screens, etc. Apple statistics are misleading since Mac users with problem machines are more likely to go out and buy a new computer than PC users. Apple is lowering prices which means you can expect lower quality than in the past. Apple had switched the manufacturers producing parts. OS X also has problems slowing down.



http://www.tuaw.com/2008/08/01/apples-quality-dwindling-my-macbook-pro-sob-story/

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Finds-Irony-in-Mac-OS-X-Getting-Hacked-Before-Vista-SP1-82135.shtml

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10020263-17.html

http://infosecurity.us/?p=4005

http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives/2008/07/malware_authors_take_aim_at_growing_number_of_1.html

http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.php/archive/poll_have_you_noticed_an_increase_in_malware_viruses_etc_on_your_mac/

http://www.ubuntu.com/

http://www.kubuntu.org/

http://www.freespire.org/

http://www.pclinuxos.com/

http://distrowatch.com/

http://polishlinux.org/

http://www.desktoplinux.com/

http://xwinman.org/gnome.php

http://xwinman.org/kde.php

http://www.linuxalt.com/

http://screencasts.ubuntu.com/

http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/OpenPrinting/

http://www.avast.com/

http://www.free-av.com/

http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwitchingToUbuntu/FromMacOSX

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwitchingToUbuntu/FromWindows

Google/Yahoo OS X on PC