Should I get a Mac?

Question

I'm picking between like a Mac, a HP, or whatever good computer is out there. I dont want to spend a lot of money, but i dont want to spend such little money that the laptop will last me like 2 years.

the one thing with getting a Mac is that they are running an offer that if you buy a Mac you get either a free Nanno or ipod touch and i need a new ipod badly! what do you think of Mac's? What kind of problems do you guys have with them?

thanks!

Answer 1

i absolutely love my mac and will never go back to a pc.



no crashes, never have to restart (except when running updates, but even when i do have to restart, it takes 2 minutes), and everything is so simple.



i don't have to worry about viruses or anything.



my mac is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me.



(oh, and just because i own a mac and say all the good things about it doesn't mean i don't know about hackers. 2 of my immediate family work with computer.)

Answer 2

If I was your grandfather and I told you mac is a bad option would you take any notice of me?



People that have mac's don't even know what is going on in the mac world... they don't read about the mac. they just use it.. end of story.. and think they are safe from viruses and all the other nasties.

Well the truth is they are not. they can get viruses, they can be hacked into when they are on the internet.



At the hackers 2 day convention in May Mac OS/x was the fastest system to be hacked into, the winning hacker that hacked into the mac won $10,000 plus a mac computer. Windows vista also fell to the hacked into on the first day along with OS/x



At the next hackers convention in June it was the same story mac fell to the hackers first, the winning hacker won $5,000 plus a mac ibook this prize showed just how confident mac where in their product ... Vista again fell to the hackers on the first day..



over both 2 days convention hackers could not hack into Linux... thumbs down to mac thumbs down to Vista



Thumbs up for Linux the clear secure winner

Answer 3

I love Macs. There are less viruses made out there so your protection is way up. Everything is made by the same company so there is a lot of symmetry. It's sleek. Highly functional. Not all software work for Mac so consider this if you're a gamer. It's the best computer for the non heavy gamer because of all of the features. I've had mine for two years and I love it more each day. I cannot pry myself off of my Mac. I play some games, but not a hard core eight hour a day gamer.

My husband is a gamer who has a PC and he's on the second hp in two years because there's so many issues that pop up...graphics card errors, yada yada yada...My updates start automatically.

Answer 4

Getting an iPod in the deal is a horrible reason for getting a Mac.



However, having said that, I can pretty much unreservedly recommend Mac over a PC machine any day of the week.



If you just want a machine that works, that you don't have to futz with to keep running, get a Mac. (You can even run Windows on it if you so desire, either in a virtual environment like Parallels or VirtualBox, or via BootCamp.)



If you are a gamer or want to tinker with hardware and fight malware and reinstall your operating system (don't forget to back up first - and good luck with that on a Windows box!), get a Windows computer.



Alternatively, get a cheaper Windows computer, and install Linux on it. (You can also dual-boot Windows and Linux, like you can with BootCamp on the Mac, or you can run Windows in a virtual environment like VMWare or Virtual Box.)



Again, if you're gaming or just want to be a "Windows" user for some reason, get Windows. For any other reason, stay away from Windows; it's very 20th Century (even Vista).

Answer 5

Mac is new in markets so most of software and games are not compatible with it.

i think that's big problem right now.

if you buy Mac you gotta wait for atleast one year for software or games.

Hp works better than all.

dude,do you think is gonna be worthy to buy laptop for ipod?

Answer 6

Don't buy a computer because they are offering a music player for free unless you are buying it to play music and watch movies on the go primarily. If a Mac suites you're need, then buy it and get the free player. But you can easily buy a more powerful PC and an iPod for less than a Mac.



For Vista, look at the MS requirements…and double it at least and make sure it's certified. Triple if you can afford…then Vista should rock your socks. If you learn how to use it, Vista features and technology blows XP away…when it works. ;) You want it to last so get 64-bit Vista Home Premium or Ultimate. It’s mega-fast with 64-bit apps as well as lets you upgrade > 4GB TOTAL RAM (system RAM + graphics card + other devices). 64-bit also requires “MS approved” (a.k.a. digitally signed) drivers so this “might” help with hardware compatibility, etc. This is MS’s way of trying to get everyone to “move on” if they are able to.



But if you have old programs, they might not work (esp. with 64-bit version). Google “Vista compatibility list”. Knowing a bit about computers helps getting the old problematic ones to work (Internet has a lot of solutions that smart people share).



Ultimate is the best but if you don’t think you need anything that fancy, Home Premium is good too. Get a good video card if you want Aero graphics (at least 256MB 128-bit in the newer cards)… better if you can afford. Vista technology distributes more graphics processing to the video card and relieves the CPU for other things. Therefore, a good video card will make Vista work better.



Vista uses extra RAM to store commonly used files in a new activity known as “disk caching”. The computer uses artificial intelligence to determine which files will be used most and copies it to RAM (where it is much faster than accessing your hard disk). This includes components of the programs you use on a regular basis. When you need more RAM for programs you launch, etc. the computer purges the “least likely used” files from RAM to make room for the new program. That’s why if you look at the performance monitor, Vista always has near zero “free” RAM. So in theory, the more RAM (for disk cache) you have, the faster your computer will operate. This can also be augmented (to a lesser effect) with a flash drive/card with a technology called ReadyBoost. Just stick it in and select “Speed up my system” and leave it there.

http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=2917&p=6



Vista Home Premium and Ultimate has Windows Media Center, where with a TV card/USB adapter (if not integrated) of the type that fits your TV/Cable, acts similar to TiVo. You can play your videos, schedule recordings, etc. You can get a wireless keyboard / mouse or gyro-mouse and it will be sort of like remote control. If you do this, get a big Hard Disk.



Vista supports touch-screens and voice recognition if you’re into note-taking and dictation. A good program to use with this is OneNote, which is included in some Office editions.



Deals of America and Tech Bargains catch good deals on HP and Dell’s and sometimes you can get like $500 off! XPBargains has deals and coupons on Tablet PC’s!

 

Unless you are an artist, most Universities (and programs) as well as the rest of the world use Windows. WinMacs are popular but for the price, Macs don’t run Windows as well as other brands, but sometimes it doesn't really matter that much to most users. In addition some just want it for fashion and like them to match their iPods.



Here are some statistics to put it into perspective.

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/

Note that these “internet traffic statistics” actually miss a lot of Windows PC usage because many are used for work and do not surf the internet much (if at all). Thus the Windows PC’s out there may be even MORE than the representation on the charts!



Macs are durable because many have an accelerometer in there that can "increase the chance" of saving your hard drive when you drop it. Like those used in airbags. The power cord is also magnetically attached so it reduces the chance that you yank it off the table.



OSXMacs can exclusively install Final Cut Pro (which is good for media work). Adobe Creative Suite is also good and available for Windows but works better on OSX. The Windows version actually looks like an OSX port. Many OSX users are artists historically. Emotion workers are generally not as good with computers as logic workers so OSX is good for them. Because OSX is less complicated and harder to mess up, a lot of computer newbies also use Macs and you that’s why you see a lot of “Get a Mac! They are so awesome!” without any technical explanation to back up that opinion. ;)



Mac Pros:

OSX stability

OSX is easy to use

Dual-bootable to Windows

More durable than many brands

Trendy



Mac Cons:

Not as much peripheral support

Not as much software support

Windows doesn’t run as well

Expensive

Minority



Windows PC Pros:

More customizable

More choices

More styles

Cheap hardware

Vista has best gaming capability (Direct3D 10)



Windows PC Cons:

Less stable (unless you are an IT pro)

Many are relatively not as fashionable

Not as user-friendly

Some extra features in Windows requires advanced knowledge to use

The extra features require better hardware despite your use of them or not



Details of features can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X



Some brand statistics: In terms of recent sales, the top 3 manufacturers are HP, Dell, and Acer (Gateway). Apple is #4 in USA.

http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2008/04/24/mac-q1-2008-market-share-3-26-percent-worldwide-6-26-percent-in-the-us.aspx



Pretty good deal on a powerful laptop: $900 - Gateway M-6851 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T5550(1.83GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 4GB Memory DDR2 667 250GB HDD 5400rpm Dual layer DVD Burner ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600(512MB GDDR3 Dedicated Memory)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834101154



Pretty good deals on mid to powerful Tablet PC’s: $700 - Gateway C-141X / $1100 - Gateway C142XL

http://www.gateway.com/systems/series/529597319.php?mtr=DCYAONANC&sg=hm&ph1=8667187749

Answer 7

My iMac is AMAZING they overheat (feel really hot) and kinda causes lag but otherwise its probably the BEST computer out there!

Answer 8

an hp is way better.