which is better overall, a mac or a pc?

Question

which is better overall, a mac or a pc?

Answer 1

Get a mac. They work great.

Answer 2

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

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



Speed: PCs come with much better specs at a lower price because they can't rely on their logo. If you are concerned with viruses, try dual booting with Linux for free.



You may know about the expense difference but today, Macs use a subset of PC hardware. Why spend extra to get the same CPU chips, graphics cards and OS X isn't as secure as you think..



Don't believe the lies that Macs are better than PCs at graphics/animation.. Dreamworks Animation http://www.dreamworksanimation.com/ under studio click on Technology of Animation, an independent film maker I know uses PCs, a graphic artist I used to know uses PCs also.





A number of PCs can also run OS X (Mac OS) http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=os+x+on+pc&btnG=Google+Search&aq=0&oq=os+x+on+ as well just that Apple makes it illegal in order to get Market share.. The reason why Mac can run native Windows is because it is using a subset of PC hardware,



If you decide to buy a Mac for running Windows, you will still have to get the same virus/spyware protection, and run into the same issues as a regular PC.



Now is a Mac worth buying for OS X?



I say: NO... for the following reasons...



ADVANTAGES WINDOWS :

Aprox 90% of the market is Windows and most PCs have windows already pre-installed.

1) Some websites require Internet Explorer, to run IE on Mac you really get ies4osx which is the Windows version of IE running really buggy and illegal if you don't have a legitimate copy of Windows.

2) Supports devices (printers and other things you hook into the computer).

3) More business software/games

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

5) Used by businesses.



ADVANTAGES LINUX :

1) FREE (most versions are)

2) Install software by eitjher 1) Synaptic Package Manager, 2) Add/Remove 3) Opening a .deb or .rpm file (depending on distribution)

2) Like the Mac OS X effects? go yahoo/google COMPIZ FUSION which can do any cool effect a Mac can do and many ore....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4Fbk52Mk1w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3gkX9HDfEE (there is no flickering when you use it like on the video, not sure why the person has the flicker)

3) Mac OS X Doc? google/yahoo Avant Window Navigator.Cairo Dock, http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3rf5q_cairo-dock-mac-os-x-leopard-dock-on_tech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0hzi22g2DE

4) It is FASTERr/MORE SECURE to surf on the internet

5) Some Windows programs work with Wnehq/Crossover (also avail on Mac, but why pay $$$)



Instructions how to download, burn and boot http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/

Dual Boot Instructions http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_windows_xp_and_linux_xp_installed_first.htm



SECURITY

Mac OS X was hacked in 2006 less than 30 minutes, and within 2 minutes in a contest in 2008, and within 10 seconds in 2009. In 2008, Linux and Vista were not hacked until another day when restrictions were lowered. Vista was next, and then Linux. In 2009 Windows 7 fell shortly after the Mac but Linux was unscathed.

Macs are standardized with Cameras, if your Mac gets hacked, the hacker can turn on your camera with more ease.

Please Note: All OS's have vulnerabilities.

http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Mac-OS-X-hacked-under-30-minutes/0,130061744,139241748,00.htm

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/27/Gone-in-2-minutes-Mac-gets-hacked-first-in-contest_1.html

http://www.infoworld.com/article/09/03/19/Researcher_cracks_Mac_in_10_seconds_1.html

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





VIRUSES

Mac OS X has viruses (and significantly on the rise), 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".

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/



QUALITY/PROBLEMS

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.



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

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

http://www.appledefects.com/

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-operating-system/107748-mac-os-leopard-running-slow.html



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.



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)

http://www.dell.com/content/products/results.aspx/notebooks?c=us&cs=19&dt=SmallGrid&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn#subcats=&navla=55103~0~857204&navidc=Processor&navValc=Intel%20Core%202%20Duo&a=55103~0~857204

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB402LL/B?mco=MTkzOTI0Nw



**(DESKTOP)



PLEASE NOTE: I compare Apple Mac's vs Dells best deal. If you really want 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 matching specs. 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 need to 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: (At The Moment) 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 Mac Mini since it has no monitor, keyboard, mouse, very skimpy on options and setup and is not the best deal... The 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

http://www.dell.com/content/products/results.aspx/desktops?c=us&cs=19&dt=SmallGrid&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn#subcats=&navla=55103~0~861680&navidc=Processor&navValc=Intel%20Core%202%20Extreme&a=55103~0~861680,55103~0~861681,55103~0~857204&page=1

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB323LL/A?mco=NzMyNjMy



Equivalents to ILife

http://www.jakeludington.com/ask_jake/20070830_ilife_for_windows.html

http://www.xsellize.com/showthread.php?t=20518



LINUX INFO:

http://distrowatch.com/

http://polishlinux.org/

http://www.desktoplinux.com/

http://polishlinux.org/

http://www.ubuntu.com/



http://www.kubuntu.org/

http://www.freespire.org/

http://www.pclinuxos.com/

http://xwinman.org/gnome.php

http://xwinman.org/kde.php

http://www.linuxalt.com/

http://screencasts.ubuntu.com/

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

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

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

Answer 3

Hello,





It's down to the operating system.

Everybody has seen what you can get on a Win-based laptop.

But, I will point out that the MacBook Pro for example uses the 2.53GHz or 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB on-chip shared L2 cache running 1:1 with processor speed; or 2.8GHz or 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache and the spec's are @ 2.53GHz or 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB on-chip shared L2 cache running 1:1 with processor speed; or 2.8GHz or 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache @ http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html



So, I am going to toss you a link and you will have many choices on price, make, and etc... @ http://www.pricewatch.com/notebooks/



In the linux realm you can use Pidgin to use all your IM's, and haven't had a virus on my laptop. Win Vista uses WAY more memory than Mac OS or linux to even operate.

Here's a couple more for linux on laptops;

http://tuxmobil.org/

http://www.linux-laptop.net/

Answer 4

I would go mac. I have one and I love it. It still runs like new and I have had it about a year. It has never slowed down. It has everything built in like camera, bluetooth and wifi. If you can afford it go mac.

Answer 5

if your really scared of viruses, get a mac. remmeber that it will cost a lot more up front though!

Answer 6

speed, both Windows and Macs are about the same



nice display, MacBooks have a great display



Macs can use AIM, iChat, etc., no problems



Hands down Macs are the winner. There hasn't been a MacOs X virus released in 3 years. there are over 1,500,000 Windows viruses. 99.66% of all malware written is targeted for Windows computers.



New MacBooks have 7 hour batteries.



Camera, all Macs come with a built in webcam that works fine.



Memory space, you get as much as you pay for.



Macs come with a minimum of 2 GB of ram, unless you are running Vista also, that's more than enough.

Answer 7

if you are willing to spend the extra $1000 - $1500, mac is the way to go.

the new macbook has a battery that lasts 8 hours and of course there is only one virus that affects macs so you decide =)

Answer 8

Macs better with viruses

Macs have better displays, better contrast ratios, made for design work and editing.

Speed - either a Windows PC or Mac can have great speeds, depends on how much you want to spend.

Macs are better with multitasking thanks to the included Spaces (allows you to set up multiple virtual desktops, you can have up t0 4 separate desktops all with different apps opened on them) and Expose (allows you to clear screen or show all open windows with the movement of a mouse cursor).

Answer 9

get a mac. new macbooks were just announced today. no better time to buy.

Answer 10

Okay, let me take it one by one. Speed - they use the same parts (yes they really do, despite what Mac people will tell you) so speed is the same, look at what processor it has, not whether its a Mac or PC. Display - same story, look at the resolution. IMs - both can do them. Viruses - there was in fact a Mac virus released just a few months back, but yes there are far fewer so i guess that is an advantage. $50 for anti-virus takes care of that problem though. Battery - no differece, again look at the size of the battery not Mac or PC. Camera - both can have webcams built in, both can work with digital cameras. Memory space - same story as above, depends on the specific model, look and see how much they have. Games - PC, no question. Again its not the hardware, it is the software, Macs just don't run a lot of games, you can of course get bootcamp to solve that problem.



The biggest difference really is the price, but it does matter because for the same price you can get a PC with a faster processor, more memory, a better display, a bigger battery, etc.