Mac or PC for college?

Question

First off, I do not want this to become a fanboy debate. I would prefer evidence before you go telling me which to buy. Second, price is not an issue so do not recommend a pc because of bang for your buck over macs. Third, I will be buying a laptop.

Okay, I've always been a big pc guy. I love the control I have and the ability to play games. Yet, I have gotten away from playing pc games. Currently I have a custom made laptop. I'm running ATI 5870 graphics, an i7 processor, 500 gb hdd, blu ray player, 17in screen, 8 gb ram, and of course windows 7. Don't get me wrong, it's a great machine, but regardless I will be buying a new laptop for college. Now, my sister recently purchased a mac and I'm extremely impressed. It's easy to use and from my experiences with it and pc's, the mac should remove hours of troubleshooting I've had to do on my current config. Also, the mac is considerably lighter and while I'm well aware a 15in pc will be lighter, I still think it would be heavier than the mac.

So, with this new laptop, I will only be using it for school and maybe some TF2 from time to time (that's a video game that runs great on Mac too). Also, if it matters, I will have the laptop hooked up to a 30in external monitor when in my dorm which will also run my xbox.

So to sum this up: Fanboys don't answer without evidence, price isn't an issue, I will buy a laptop, gaming isn't an issue, want little maintenance, and portability. Thanks.

Answer 1

I was in the Exact same boat as you. I was extremely comfortable with a PC and never dreamed of switching. There was the lack of gaming, the unfamiliar OS, all the Apple haters/fanboys........ etc.

I ended up getting a Macbook Pro for cheap (I had family working at an Apple store) and I love it.



The OS is easy to get the hang of and to navigate through. With my time at school, I've run across programs you need to install for various classes. While some companies have made the step forward to accommodate Mac users, most..... have not. The absolute best part about a Mac fixes that problem.

---Mac OS X can partition the hard drive on your computer and allow you to install a separate operating system, thus allowing you to have both Windows and Mac on the same computer. To switch over from one to the other, all you have to do is reboot your computer.



I did this, and love it. I use my Mac OS for some things and windows for others.



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To sum it up, I use both operating systems on my computer and don't really have much preference. If gaming isn't an issue and you want low maintenance, I'd recommend you a Macbook Pro.



Sidenote: Team Fortress 2 works great on a Mac, Love that game. I play as a Medic or a Sniper. It's hard to believe a 3 year old game still holds up this well. Valve = best video game developer.

Answer 2

well to me, i see no difference between windows 7 or OSX. I love computers and i just see that windows 7 and OSX just give people another way of doing the exact same things. OSX does not render videos faster nor does windows 7 clunker down your computer. But i go with windows 7 based laptops because i believe they are simply better. YES, apple does have the best build quality and some of the best led displays but that doesnt mean the laptop as a whole is better. They lack many features such as dual hard drives in some custom pc laptops, blu-ray drives, hdmi, or usb 3.0. Yes thunderbolt is theoretically faster by 2x, but still no periperals out there could even take advantage of the speed usb 3.0 offers, that extra speed with thunderbolt just goes to waste until something out there could take advantage of it. Also, thunderbolt will NEVER catch on, its like how firewire died even though its faster then usb 2.0.



But for ur answer, just go with windows 7, anything they have on a mac in terms of software, u will find equal or better alternatives. sounds like u already have a beast of a laptop anyway, nothing wrong with having a good lan machine while u take a netbook too class. I currently have an acer timelinex 4820tg, good build quality, mostly metal except some plastic borders around screen and keyboard, 5 hour battery life (i study with my friends, just docs and powerpoint etc...) and still powerful, i3 with ati 5650, should have w8ed for i5 for same costs but i jumped too soon. I would w8 for a sandy bridge version though with the amd 6650 or 6550.



But since u said ur playing mostly TF2, which is not a hard game graphically to play at all. You should know, a mistake you said, TF2 runs great on a mac..... just wanted people to know, games run gr8 on dedicated graphics cards, NOT OSX or windows 7, macs could make gr8 gaming machines, actually they are right now, 15 inch mbp for 2500$ runs games gr8 but yeah 2500$ for something i could get from hp for 900$. But you said price doesnt matter, which i think is a grave mistake. Rich or not, never squander your money.

Answer 3

Normally, I would recommend to anyone to get a Mac (I've used both and own both, so I know both platforms very well). However, since you seem to just want to use it for school and games and the game you like is cross platform, it really depends on what you prefer. I would recommend putting your sisters laptop and your current laptop side by side and perform simple tasks on each such as rebooting, internet connection, typing, setting preferences, and see which one is faster, easier to navigate for each task etc. Something to keep in mind is that since Macs run boot camp, you can install Windows and OS x so it acts like several computers. It is your decision. They both have their ups and downs.

Answer 4

i suggest you buy pc cuz there are lots of program that are incompatible with mac....and also if u ever get mac errors theres not much u can find in the internet compared to pc...

Answer 5

MAC SUCKS, get a PC