Calling those who are in the know: new computer time!

**bogan** · 26th May 2010, 14:43

My Summary

Macs:
look cool
fashionable
can do whatever a PC does (if you know how to dual boot)
macOS is sposed to be quite good

PCs:
cost bout 25% less than an equivalently spec'd mac
heaps of choice so you can get one you think looks cool anyway
never found a program i couldn't run on them
win7 is a pretty sweet OS

**firefighter** · 26th May 2010, 14:47

Originally Posted by Ronin

Can you not just do stats the way that ACC do and make them up? Then it wouldn't matter what OS you are using.

Hahaha, fuck I wish mate! I fucken hate stats. Maths was never a strong point. I can understand the basics of most every area, but when you go in depth the old "shotgun in mouth toe on trigger" comes to mind.....

**Scuba_Steve** · 26th May 2010, 15:20

Mac & OS X are much nicer to use than Windows. I was using windows since Win 3.11 to WinXP/2000 (& have used Win7), But I switched to Mac OS X in 2003 I would NEVER go back to windows now.
As for the price thing, you can get cheaper windows machines but then you can get a cheap Chinese bike too... Would you???. If you look at equivalent spec with equivalent design & quality (your looking at higher end HP, Toshiba, Sony now) the prices are very similar.
Apple put alot of effort into every aspect of their product, Quality, Functionality, Aesthetics, Usability etc. As they say its the small things that count & you'll find Macs know this. Yes you are paying for a high end machine but thats what it is, a bloody good PC & OS second to none as far as a home computer goes.

**firefighter** · 26th May 2010, 15:27

Originally Posted by Scuba_Steve

but then you can get a cheap Chinese bike too... Would you???.

That's not even nearly a relevant comparison.

Try japanese or european.

You could buy a cheap Jappa, but would you? Yep.

**spajohn** · 26th May 2010, 15:43

Originally Posted by Kiwi Graham

Anyone out there use both and can give me the real pro's and con's of each please.

KG - I'm an IT Pro of approx 15 years ... we run Windows in the office, and I use a Mac at home. Why did I switch? Because I wanted a computer that works at home, so I don't have to spend time fixing it etc. As for the comments on IT guys hating them, I know more and more who are switching over to Mac. But that may just be for the geeky fun of trying something new.

What Mac are known for is that they are easy to use....as a friend using mine put it - "Wow, it's like a computer made for humans to use." Anyone who isn't particularly computer literate I point in their direction, and as I said for myself, it means they just work without me having to do too much. They have excellent phone support, and a really good self help online. There will of course be that initial pain of getting used to it, but I think it is well worth it.

Yes, there are less programs about that support Mac, but for most uses it makes little difference as there will be an alternative, and if you run into a major deal breaker you can go and buy a copy of Windows and make the machine dual boot to either operating system. There is a great tool included to help you do this which makes it pretty simple for non-tech folk. If you are just using it to browse the web and email etc everything you need is included, and there is good bundled software for a lot of other things, like photo's etc. The included Time Machine is miles ahead of the backup solution on a Windows machine, and something overlooked by most people. Are they faster? Possibly not at the lower end, however the quick startup / resume from sleep is great.

The biggest issue you that you may have is sharing Microsoft Office files, like Word or Excel. You can buy Office for Mac which solves that easily enough. I chose to buy Apples iWork, which can read those Office files, but it means you need to Export, rather than Save, to send them to your friends still living in the Windows world. At the time it was a lot more expensive to buy Office than iWork, but I see they are a lot closer now.

Mac's are expensive, no two ways about it, but since going Mac, I have happily paid more for an Apple wireless network device...because it just works! Can't wait to upgrade my Fiancee's PC to a Mac and have one less PC in my life that is a drain on my time.

If you have any questions please feel free to PM me.

Added: On the Windows side the new Operating system "7" is a very welcome upgrade. It was Vista that pushed me over the edge to change to Mac. I still think Mac is designed more with the end users experience in mind, and they do a better job of it.

**bogan** · 26th May 2010, 16:08

Originally Posted by Scuba_Steve

Mac & OS X are much nicer to use than Windows. I was using windows since Win 3.11 to WinXP/2000 (& have used Win7), But I switched to Mac OS X in 2003 I would NEVER go back to windows now.
As for the price thing, you can get cheaper windows machines but then you can get a cheap Chinese bike too... Would you???. If you look at equivalent spec with equivalent design & quality (your looking at higher end HP, Toshiba, Sony now) the prices are very similar.
Apple put alot of effort into every aspect of their product, Quality, Functionality, Aesthetics, Usability etc. As they say its the small things that count & you'll find Macs know this. Yes you are paying for a high end machine but thats what it is, a bloody good PC & OS second to none as far as a home computer goes.

bollocks, asus (and i'm geussing many others) make products at least as good quality and design wise for significantly less price. And apple put a lot of effort into their marketing campaign, nuff said.

anyhu, enough of the OS holy war.

Kiwi Graham, kids are pretty quick to pick up whatever computer system they use, maybe mac at school and a PC at home would make them more computer savvy? and keeping with the current type of system is probably a lot easier on the older generation.

**Tank** · 26th May 2010, 16:19

Originally Posted by firefighter

You can, just do'nt expect half the programs to work. I seen it first hand, with most of the software put out by the publishers of textbooks. For some reason it wo'nt work with the dual boot thing.

I'm not going to get into debate on this with you guys though as with you both personally working in I.T and obviously know a shiteload more than I do! My opinion is just from user experience.

Re the 1/2 programs to work thing - if you are running windows on the mac - its just the same as any other PC - so that isnt a issue with it being made my apple. As for it not dual booting - meh - Id suggest you get better IT people.

Originally Posted by Headbanger

Apple VS PC.

Your paying a premium for the Apple, so you really want to be positive your keen on the OS.Forget dual booting, If you want to do that then buy a PC. Paying the Apple premium and then running Windows on it is madness.

No its not because the OP was thinking of the mac OS for his kids as its the same as schools - a apple can dual boot and run mac OS and windows - a windows PC cannot** dual boot into mac OS - so its hardly madness - it simply gives the OP access to both options.

** Yeah - I know you can with hacked installed etc - but lets keep this non technical 'ish

You could alays consult your kids as well, if they want to use it as a gaming platform then get a PC.

Originally Posted by Headbanger

Playtech has some nice systems, You can get a more powerful PC built with quality components for about half the price of an Apple.

http://www.playtech.co.nz/

http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139...ctdetails.html

Indeed - Playtech are really nice blokes and you can get a lot of computer for little $. AND - if something goes wrong - they do stand behind it.

Originally Posted by firefighter

Nope. http://www.prenhall.com/phstat/

It refused to work. (We had a download from the Uni website via Stream which is where we get all our info from).

I have no reason to just make that up.

Yeah = but your comment was about 1/2 of all software - a far cry from what you were inferring (incorrectly)

Originally Posted by bogan

anyhu, enough of the OS holy war.

Kiwi Graham, kids are pretty quick to pick up whatever computer system they use, maybe mac at school and a PC at home would make them more computer savvy? and keeping with the current type of system is probably a lot easier on the older generation.

- good post. and probably the best solution also

**Ronin** · 26th May 2010, 16:24

Originally Posted by bogan

bollocks, asus (and i'm geussing many others) make products at least as good quality and design wise for significantly less price. And apple put a lot of effort into their marketing campaign, nuff said.

anyhu, enough of the OS holy war.

Kiwi Graham, kids are pretty quick to pick up whatever computer system they use, maybe mac at school and a PC at home would make them more computer savvy? and keeping with the current type of system is probably a lot easier on the older generation.

Good point. I wandered past my 11 year old the other day using my mint linux with chrome and open office. Never showed him how to he has always used the windows boot before.

**avgas** · 26th May 2010, 16:41

Originally Posted by Scuba_Steve

you can get a cheap Chinese bike too... Would you???

Said the FXR150 owner.........replaced any Chinese/Malaysian bolts lately.......

**avgas** · 26th May 2010, 16:46

Buy a mac.
For no other reason other than "you will use it".
You will get pissed off with what it can't do, but "you will use it everyday".
Macs are like lego - you never out grow them, but you never achieved much with them either.

**Tank** · 26th May 2010, 16:56

Originally Posted by avgas

Macs are like lego - you never out grow them, but you never achieved much with them either.

**Tank** · 26th May 2010, 16:58

Sorry - just saw this and had to share....

**Sam I Am** · 26th May 2010, 17:03

Mac for me ... they seem to last the distance I work every day on a mac and have had this laptop for 4 1/2 years i am only just thinking of upgrading it for a little more speed..
my last mac laptop that is 7y's old is still running my itunes every day in the corner and the kids use it for youtube.. I think they come with most programs you will need and most others are not that expensive untill you get into "pro" programs but they expensive no matter mac or PC...

ps there easy to use..