I will be buying a new computer soon and I wanted some advise on what to get. I’m currently using a PC and never had any problems with it. I have never used a Mac before and notice that most design firms and people on the music industry uses Mac. Why is that?
Save yourself the embarassment of showing up to the coffee shop and meeting with your design buddies and being ridiculed for having a pc. Buy mac. <speaking from experience>
Actually I think if you dig deep you can find apps for either that are cool. Macs are more expensive but probably built better than most of the PCs out there. Plus you can get a high def monitor on the 17” mac book pro now which is nice for graphic design.
If you compare a mac and pc with the same hardware (not price point), they’re within about $100 of each other for the base macbook and comprable Dell laptop. With Apple and OSX, you get so much more bang for your buck. After a short learning curve, I found myself actually USING my computer, instead of tolerating it. And I get iphoto, imovie, idvd, garageband, and a more productive environment. I don’t worry about viruses or spam. It’s worth EVERY penny I’ve spent on it, and more to make the switch.
And now on Intel, you can run Windows and OS X in parallel, or even at the same time with Parallels or VMWare. If you’re in design/development, I’ve found the tools on the Mac just plain better than on Windows, either the same software, or their equivalents. I won’t be going back any time soon.
Also, if you look at the amount of money you would spend on certain programs compared to the (perfectly good) programs that come WITH the mac, I’d argue that the Total Cost of Ownership is actually lower on the Mac.
A good example is Microsoft Office. Now that all Macs come with iWork, including the new spreadsheet program, that’s a good chunk of change right there.
Oh, and lack of support for Pivot Tables aside, Numbers is “teh awesome.”
Dell? <bleeecchhh> I think I just vomited on my keyboard. Everyone I know that has a Dell has had MAJOR issues with it. And that is not even the problem. The real problem is their service or lack thereof.
Buy Mac… Owning a PC and buying a Mac is kinda like owning a Minivan and trading it in for a 350z.
Yeah, I’m not too much of a fan either. I think the problem is that people buy a $600 Dell laptop or desktop, and expect it to run, perform, and last, like a $1500 machine. And of course they didn’t buy the extended warranty, so they get screwed when it dies in a year. Invest in a machine that you enjoy using, and will last you.
Not to say Apple products don’t ever get or have problems, but I’ve had much fewer problems with my Macs, than I had with my PC machines.
Graphics artists, design folks and the music/movie industry use MacOS systems because of the software available and the fact they want to focus on their work, and not have to constantly deal with the “tool” behind it.
[Edit] This is coming from a person that has used Macs since System 2.0 back in 1985, and has had to work with, or use for testing purposes, every version of Windows between 2.0a on a IBM XT w/Hercules graphics card (Mmmmm “high resolution” amber monitors were the bomb , and Vista on a well outfitted Xeon based workstation with 4gigs of ram…
I suppose it depends what you do. I have used an IBM Thinkpad for a few years now and really like it, but I’m not a professional designer…just a tinkerer. On the other hand I do use pivot tables quite a bit, so that may tell you a bit about where my needs lie. In any case, if you’re a designer then the Mac is probably your best choice, and if you go the PC route, I’ll chime in with others that you get what you pay for. A cheap PC doesn’t compare to either a Mac or a higher end PC no matter what your needs are.
Don’t go into it thinking your every computing problem is going to cease. But if you are truly open to relearning some things I think you will find that the Mac side of things can be very good.
I’ve converted a few people over and after the initial freak outs about things that were different or unfamiliar not one of those people has told me they regretted the switch.
All computers are made out of similar base components so there is always a way for things to go wrong. I’ve personally had especially bad luck with Hard Drives.
The difference I’ve noticed with Apple is that I get pretty good support. I spilled a glass of tea on my laptop a few months ago and Apple foot the bill on the keyboard part and I only paid for the labor of getting it put in ($60 bucks). And when you call Apple Support you get someone who speaks English like it is their native language and they are generally helpful and friendly. Likewise about the various Apple Stores out there (though generally I feel like the non official stores treat me a bit better and I try to give them my business when possible).
I bought a Mac for the following reasons:
* In general, the shareware/freeware software is extremely well written
* it is very, very purdy
* things (wireless, bluetooth, sleep, etc) Just Work.
I would recommend the new released iMac. Planning on buying one my self
Indeed, I’m trying to find an excuse to sell my dual 2.0 G5 and 20” cinema for a 24” iMac… I’m infatuated with my Macbook as well, and wouldn’t have any other portable. As is the story with many, I was an avid PC user / geek until a job a number of years ago required that I work on a Mac. It was about the same time OS X 10.1 was released, so my first Mac experience was a great one. I quickly ditched my PC at home in favor of a Mac, and haven’t looked back.
I’ll just throw in $0.02 here as well. Mac. I can run Windows “inside” my MacBook Pro using Parallels, which solves the problem of testing sites in PC browsers, but that’s all I need Windows for, pretty much. I don’t do pivot tables
My mac just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. It’s not a computer, it’s a lifestyle!
, and Vista on a well outfitted Xeon based workstation with 4gigs of ram…
