Macs or PC's?

Question

My laptop is dead and I'm thinking of buying a new one. I'm starting college next year so I need one pretty soon. Which is better and why? Also, being a mac user for a long time, if I were to get a pc, would that mean I would have to download ALL the programs such as Microsoft Word etc.? I would mostly use the laptop for: papers, presentations, music, video editing, watching movies, and the internet. Thank you. :)

Answer 1

It depends on your requirements. If you would like to just run word processing tools, watch movies, browse the Internet, etc... A MacBook Air could easily solve your job, and for its specs, its considered to be pretty value for money, since if you do the math, in the long run, Macs are actually cheaper to run than PCs. However, take note that if you are doing stuff like 3D rendering or anything that requires lots of CPU juices, a MacBook Air won't be enough, get the MacBook Pro. I know its pricy, but you won't regret it.



But, if you plan to game on your new computer, don't ever ever expect to be able to even run the game on a Mac. Macs are not really designed to do that much gaming, alright probably Minecraft of TF2 would be fine, but don't expect to be able to run Battlefield 4 on that thing...



Also, yes if you get a PC, you'll have to purchase softwares like MS Word, PowerPoint, etc. For Mac, you get iWork, which is a more professional and user friendly version of MS Office pre-installed, which means, not a penny spent! If you really want a PC, but don't want to pay for MS Office, try LibreOffice which is an open-source version of MS Office.



And just adding to this, you will need an anti-virus software for Windows, but with Macs, they don't get viruses.



Hope it helps ;)

Answer 2

A Mac looks good for that situation unless you do not have much money to spend on a laptop. I do not understand why computers with Windows are called PCs when PC stand for personal computer while Macs are personal computers.

Answer 3

Yes you'll have to purchase all those programs all over again, unless the original license and license was for dual format, usually its not though. For the stuff you plan to use it for, Macs are a great fit, but no low cost options unless you buy used or education pricing? Eg: MBP 13" $999 instead of the normal $1199 (-200).



http://store.apple.com/us/browse/campaigns/education_pricing

Answer 4

Macs are great machines with what are major show-stopping flaws to me: they are way overpriced, require you to use Mac OS X, and Apple has total control over application development and release, stifling innovation and increasing software costs. A comparable Windows laptop will cost about half what the MacBook does.



Instead of Microsoft Office, if you would like to save some money, download the free LibreOffice for whichever computer you get. Try that out for a while to get used to it. I strongly believe that you will find it does everything you need, albeit possibly in a way other than Office. You can change the default document format from theirs to the Microsoft *.doc format and you won't have to remember to save them as a .doc



Manufacturers:

Take a look at these rankings:

http://blog.laptopmag.com/best-worst-laptop-brands-2014/3

Apple makes the highest quality laptops however they are also the highest priced. You are also then limited to the Apple OS and software from the Apple store which tends to cost more than its PC equivalents and does not have as much if any free software.



Lenovo is the best Windows laptop mfg followed closely by

HP, Asus and Samsung who are all almost tied.



Dell is hit or miss: people generally love it or hate it. I have a serious problem with Dell as a PC enthusiast because they have a habit of customizing their hardware such that they have standard connectors but non-standard wiring configurations so that, for example, if you replaced one of their power supplies with a standard power supply you would end up frying the motherboard. Alienware is now owned by Dell and although their quality has gone down, the price hasn't.



The bottom of the pile contains Acer(Gateway), Toshiba, and Sony with them all having a score in the mid 60's.

1)Toshiba now has moved up in the ratings but they are still near the bottom of the pile although I have used their machines at various points without problems and many people swear by them.

2)Sony makes good hardware but has a history of pre-installing a lot of crapware which take a heavy toll on performance and they have a history of spying on customers in addition to draconian copyrights and software prices.

3)Acer makes Gateway and I would not spend money on either and would generally expect to be paid to use their products.