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MAC vs PC - which one to buy
elmomax:
All,
I know this is a question of considerable passion on both sides. My clunky gateway desktop is nearing the end of the road and I need to buy a new computer before this clunker fries. I do not want to spend an eternity on the decision, but want to be informed since I will be living with my choice for awhile.
I have never used a Mac but have heard the rave reviews. I largely use my home computer for work - intense use of word, powerpoint, excel and such and I need to be compatible with work PC in file editing etc. I also do not want to spend a fortune on a computer as I am not a hard core geek type, but I am pained by windows freezing and such and I really do not want to go to Vista given all I have heard - I now use XP.
In advance, no techno speak please - I am a non geek chick who loves mechanical keyboards, but I do not want to be asking follow up questions that will embarrass myself. I work in wireless so I am not a doofus, but I am also not in love with technology for technology sake. When I was scored on our segmentation I came out a Solution Seeker, which is spot on.
I tend to hold on to my computer for awhile as it is largely used for work, ebay and web surfing for amusement and knowledge, though I have moved up the techno chain overtime.
Any advice would be appreciated. The other consideration is that through work I believe I can get discount on HP and Dell - though given my experience with my dell laptop at work, I do not want that experience at home - gone through 2 motherboards in less than a year.
Thanks for any help or guidance you can provide. I need to get moving on this. My PC shut down with awful screen of death and I had a hard time getting it to power back on -- the end may be near and time is short.
E
elmomax:
BTW -- also leaning toward a laptop rather than desktop. Tired of the paperweight under my desk and think it would be nice to wifi it and cuddle up with ebay and my sweetie and watch old flicks. But would want some thoughts on laptop vs desktop as well. I have laptop for work so I can drag that around with me using bbaccess card, but they have disabled wifi on our work laptops and sometimes OTA BB is slow for large files. Also cannot count on being at the same job with BBA work laptop for eternity.
iMav:
Going with a Mac is a no-brainer if you are willing to spend the money. If you end up absolutely hating OS X (doubtful), a Mac will happy run windows.
The Macbooks are incredibly popular. I suggest heading down to a Best Buy, Apple Store, etc and seeing it for yourself. It's a 13.3" screen, so that would be the biggest potential issue (I've used that display as my main machine before and didn't have any issues...especially with "Spaces").
I was in town looking at iMac's today and found it very hard not to leave with one. They are beautiful machines. But, at the same time, there was a Dell desktop with 6GB of ram, 640GB hdd, and a 2.4Ghz Core2Quad (quad-core) computer for under $700. (which is tempting for me since I am a virtualization nut and am more than happy running either linux or OS X).
My vote is Mac (if the alternative is a PC running windows).
elmomax:
Another dumb question... if i stick with the Mac OS and create docs, will i be able to edit view them on my work PC which uses XP? To be able to edit on both machinse, will I need to use Windows on the MAC. If I run windows on Mac will it be superior to running on a PC. Trying to figure out if the increased cost is worth it if I cannot use the MAC OS. Screen size for work docs would not be an issue since I can use my 17" monitor when I need to.
Sorry for low level non geek questions. Gotta ask them!
e
graywolf:
MS Office is, I think, available for OSX. If not you can run in in Windows on the Mac. However, I am not a Mac fan. Although I did lust after a Powerbook 12 for awhile.
For your listed use you could get by very well with a laptop. I, myself, would buy a used Thinkpad or other business class laptop before I bought a new consumer one. In fact I do have a couple of older Thinkpads, one is still quite usable. However you have to understand that my desktop is a fairly powerful workstation and I know of no laptop, at least any that mere mortals can afford, that would replace it.
While I prefer almost any form of Unix (OSX is BSD under the hood) to Windows, I found that I had to interoperate with business users and so was kind of stuck with Windows XP. You should think long and hard about that, before you make your decision.
The final thing I have to say is take the advice to go play with some of the units you may think of buying, you will have to live with whatever you chose, so it behoves you to get something that you do not hate.
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