Why buy mac

There are to many things to say I have spend over 30 minutes wording and rewording a reply and I just cannot say it all without a massive and boring post. The best thing to do is try and perform a variety of common tasks on a Mac and then see how you like it. Also look around and see if their are versions of your favourite apps for Mac if you can use all your stuff on Mac and if you feel happy with this then give it a go.
 
so would I be right in thinking there is no real performance difference between the two and is it basically like the AMD vs Intel war.

Are Mac's not at all upgradeable then and is there anything that could sway me to buying a mac.

I have tried to google but cant really find any definitive answers.
 
You can upgrade Macs, but not like you can build your own PC and tweak with that. The idea is that Apple supply the hardware, Apple supply the OS and Apple supply most of the software - garuntees compatability.
 
Hate said:
You can upgrade Macs, but not like you can build your own PC and tweak with that. The idea is that Apple supply the hardware, Apple supply the OS and Apple supply most of the software - garuntees compatability.
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that is true, compatability is great. but people complain about windows being incompatible and unstable but when you think about how many different devices it must work with it is pretty damn good.
 
daven1986 said:
that is true, compatability is great. but people complain about windows being incompatible and unstable but when you think about how many different devices it must work with it is pretty damn good.
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If you put it like that it is but the problem is that its not just drivers that are the issue, think GUI and software. Windows has a lot of annoying little things which just should work and don't. Also the Mac OS lets you just get on with being constructive and creative rather than trying to work out how to be constructive and creative or why is this not working or how do I do this, things are presented in a logical way.
 
wheras the whole compatability seems great I've just checked prices on the apple site and my god it's expensive.

For basic 2gb ram and 1.8ghz dual core CPU I would be looking at £850

Think i'll stick with PC and build same spec for around half the price
 
I dont know of many people who buy Macs for the hardware (they do exist though). I personally cough up the cash just to use the OS. The fact that Macs are easy on the eyes is a bonus. My main gripe is they're always lagging behind the PCs in terms of sheer power.

My first Mac was an iBook, which is where I learned to appreciate the Operating System. Since then I've only bought Macs.

OS X gives you a (more) trouble-free experience. I'm not Windows bashing (I like Windows, its good at what it does) but it was becoming a pain to maintain. And Linux is a pain to configure. OS X fit the bill for me.
 
I've used Macs on/off over the years since getting a lime green iMac when they first came out.

I'm a bit of a control freak so I always get frustrated by the OS X software not having the same levels of functionality as Windows versions. Everything seems to be slightly dumbed down which is why the OS X experience is said to be more user-friendly.

I'd say if you are a power user you might end up banging your head against a wall a few times when your software doesn't do what you want it to. This is not really OS X itself though, just the platform.

I'll give a couple of examples - Toast Titanium has nowhere near the same level of options as Nero Burning ROM.

The torrent programs (XTorrent, Tomato Torrent, etc.) are not as good as uTorrent. Unison is not as good as Newsleecher. UnRARX is not as good as WinRAR. Mac:Office is not as good as Microsoft Office.

Of course, the reverse could be true in other applications, I've just not found any!

TBH, I really want to like Macs but I'd probably find myself booting into Vista or Parallels more than using OS X because I know software is out there to do what I want to do.
 
daven1986 said:
for me macbooks are far better built laptops than any PC.
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All I can say to this is that you must have used some awful PC laptops. I love my MacBook but there's no way I'd even think about being able to treat it the way I've treated some ThinkPads or HP business notebooks in the past, they really aren't that well built. They are cheap though, which is mainly why I got it.
 
Go to an Apple store, spend an hour with a Macbook. Surf with it, look at mail, pages, keynote, iphot etc etc. You have to try one - you can't write it in words - it's a whole usabillity thing. Press F9, F10...they're brilliant tools to get around stuff.

2 years ago - if someone said 'get a mac' - I would have told them to **** off - why would I want an overpriced, underperforming lump of nonsense with crap OS and an obscure underperforming CPU.

This May I bought a MacBook.

I just sold my Inspiron 9300 (for only £200 less than my Macbook cost me) as I was waiting for the moment when the bubble would burst and I'd want my PC Laptop back again. I've turned it on once in that time...to put a new HDD in and install XP to put it on Ebay. I couldn't go back.

My workstation at work is a Q6600 with 2gig and a raptor - and even with all that, you get XP being, the only word I can think of is inconsisent. Sometimes it freezes up for a bit, sometimes it takes an age to . I spent a day - a whole day - troubleshooting an SATA issue that was bringing the machine to its knees.

I know it's a horrid cliche - but my Macbook just does what I want. I can achieve more, in less time, than on my workstation. When Leopard and iLife'08 roll around in October, I intend to shift to a 15" MacBook Pro.

Only problem is, now I'm a Mac owner - I hate the community of Mac owners I find myself in - who are the biggest bunch of anal, whining, elitist, egotistical barstewards since the founding of a BMW Owners club (no offense, but it's true - the reputation of Mac Users is the single worst thing about the entire platform - and the recent ad campaign didn't help much)

Dougr
 
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dellison said:
Go to an Apple store, spend an hour with a Macbook. Surf with it, look at mail, pages, keynote, iphot etc etc. You have to try one - you can't write it in words - it's a whole usabillity thing. Press F9, F10...they're brilliant tools to get around stuff.

2 years ago - if someone said 'get a mac' - I would have told them to **** off - why would I want an overpriced, underperforming lump of nonsense with crap OS and an obscure underperforming CPU.

This May I bought a MacBook.

I just sold my Inspiron 9300 (for only £200 less than my Macbook cost me) as I was waiting for the moment when the bubble would burst and I'd want my PC Laptop back again. I've turned it on once in that time...to put a new HDD in and install XP to put it on Ebay. I couldn't go back.

My workstation at work is a Q6600 with 2gig and a raptor - and even with all that, you get XP being, the only word I can think of is inconsisent. Sometimes it freezes up for a bit, sometimes it takes an age to . I spent a day - a whole day - troubleshooting an SATA issue that was bringing the machine to its knees.

I know it's a horrid cliche - but my Macbook just does what I want. I can achieve more, in less time, than on my workstation. When Leopard and iLife'08 roll around in October, I intend to shift to a 15" MacBook Pro.

Only problem is, now I'm a Mac owner - I hate the community of Mac owners I find myself in - who are the biggest bunch of anal, whining, elitist, egotistical barstewards since the founding of a BMW Owners club (no offense, but it's true - the reputation of Mac Users is the single worst thing about the entire platform - and the recent ad campaign didn't help much)

Dougr
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I agree with what you're saying about the Mac community, but it's a bit harsh to categorise ALL Mac users under the same header.

The main reason I prefer to use the platform over Windows is because the hardware does "what it says on the tin" and the OS isn't as nagging for attention as Windows. Basically, it lets me get on with what I want to do.

It's the Mac loyalists that deny ANY weakness exist thatt bring the reputation down with the whole 'Mac is virus free, F the Windows no0bs' talk. Sure, Mac have their own problems, but admit the problems and people wouldn't think you're so arrogant ;)
 
Fair cop - not all mac users are like that - but the community as a whole does bring the brand down a little I think. Some people can't get past that. They think 'Bunch of arrogant little fanboys' and never even bother sitting down and actually finding out what they're like to use. I've found one Mac Forum that's not too bad - but far too often the answer to someones Windows-to-Mac compatability issue will be 'get a Mac' - which is as arrogant as it is narrow minded. I've found some usefull people there though. Maybe the projection of the community is worse than the community itself.

The word 'nagging' does strike a chord. I tried Vista briefly and I was drawn to a quote by Colin Chapman when describing his engineering ethos at Lotus

Colin Chapman - 'Simplify and add lightness'

whereas

Vista - 'Make shiney and add annoyance'

Doug
 
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Why buy a mac? Because they're groovy!

If I'm honest, they're not really 'better' or 'worse', they just suit different people, and different purposes.

I stopped playing games, and I'm a Mac Operator by trade, so when I pretty much stopped playing PC games, I decided to go Apple at home too.

It's definitely worth trying one though, I prefer them and so do plenty of people, but it depends how strong your urge to **** about with stuff is.
 
dellison said:
Go to an Apple store, spend an hour with a Macbook. Surf with it, look at mail, pages, keynote, iphot etc etc. You have to try one - you can't write it in words - it's a whole usabillity thing. Press F9, F10...they're brilliant tools to get around stuff.

2 years ago - if someone said 'get a mac' - I would have told them to **** off - why would I want an overpriced, underperforming lump of nonsense with crap OS and an obscure underperforming CPU.

This May I bought a MacBook.

I just sold my Inspiron 9300 (for only £200 less than my Macbook cost me) as I was waiting for the moment when the bubble would burst and I'd want my PC Laptop back again. I've turned it on once in that time...to put a new HDD in and install XP to put it on Ebay. I couldn't go back.

My workstation at work is a Q6600 with 2gig and a raptor - and even with all that, you get XP being, the only word I can think of is inconsisent. Sometimes it freezes up for a bit, sometimes it takes an age to . I spent a day - a whole day - troubleshooting an SATA issue that was bringing the machine to its knees.

I know it's a horrid cliche - but my Macbook just does what I want. I can achieve more, in less time, than on my workstation. When Leopard and iLife'08 roll around in October, I intend to shift to a 15" MacBook Pro.
Click to expand...

Couldn't really agree more. I owned a "used" 2nd gen PowerPC Mac a few years back and it was light years better for internet use with MacOS 8.5 than my PC (100Mhz Mac vs then new P2-350 Windows box), and had me always hankering after a proper new Mac but the cost put me off.

I went on holiday to the USA in March OK, half tempted to buy a PC laptop while I was there. Wandered in the Apple Store looking at iPods for a friend and accidentally discovered the new Intel MacBook Pro. It seemed very good value compared to the PCs around ... was in stock ... and had an international warranty unlike the PCs. Credit Card company were somewhat unhappy with me when I got back!

I've owned what I consider decent laptops before, and work with IBM ThinkPads at work which are well built and designed (an entire different discussion!), but I'd always prefer to be using a MacBook Pro and OSX. It's a good size and weight and just works which makes it way more efficient.

Only problem is, now I'm a Mac owner - I hate the community of Mac owners I find myself in - who are the biggest bunch of anal, whining, elitist, egotistical barstewards since the founding of a BMW Owners club (no offense, but it's true - the reputation of Mac Users is the single worst thing about the entire platform - and the recent ad campaign didn't help much)

Dougr
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Sounds like you've been reading the Motors forum ;)

I've had some dealings with Mac "Technicians" at work recently and they're a godawful snobby, condescending bunch. It's fun to watch them come out in a cold sweat when we mention Active Directory and Exchange, then see the looks on their faces when I tell them I've got a MBP at home! We aint allowed to touch the handful of Macs for political reasons even though I'd be quite happy to....
 
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