ReMan
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 06:02 PM |
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MAC PC MAC PC?
The family workhorse PC is creaking and needs replacing.
I've spent the last 20 years building playing and maintaining Microsoft and PC hardware, so am fairly clued up.
I'll still have access to a.nother PC and laptip but this is the one that gets most use.
It's used for everything, Internat, mail, family pictures a few games, Office, online casino, music, video you name it, though nothing too
cutting edge, but nothing too paid for either ;-)
We quite fancy a change to an iMac, for interest and education and that they look great
The question is:
Assuming I take the plunge and learn to use it,
How long, or will there be something I will find that it won't do that a PC will?
www.plusnine.co.uk
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JC
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 06:09 PM |
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Never if you use bootcamp and install windows on a separate partition! However, I've used Macs for years and never missed anything and have
never bothered with bootcamp!
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mookaloid
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 06:11 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
How long, or will there be something I will find that it won't do that a PC will?
it won't do all that the pc will do for the same money as a pc ...... 
"That thing you're thinking - it wont be that."
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yellowcab
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 06:14 PM |
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Go Mac - never look back.
27 incher all the way.
/that is all
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mangogrooveworkshop
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 06:26 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by yellowcab
Go Mac - never look back.
27 incher all the way.
/that is all
THE BEST 27" IVE EVER HAD …….. Is my Mac
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deltron63
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 06:27 PM |
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You must be clue'd up if you can use a " laptip "
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ReMan
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 06:31 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by deltron63
You must be clue'd up if you can use a " laptip "
My laptip is good for the internat
www.plusnine.co.uk
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ReMan
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 06:36 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by JC
Never if you use bootcamp and install windows on a separate partition! However, I've used Macs for years and never missed anything and have
never bothered with bootcamp!
I forgot about that, but I did'nt realise it was so well supported, almost encouraged on the apple site.
"it won't do all that the pc will do for the same money as a pc ...... "
I'm seriously considering a (only just) used one to take the sting out of the difference.
These 2 things could tip it....
www.plusnine.co.uk
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scootz
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 06:38 PM |
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It'll drive your family nuts until they get the hang of it, but stick with it and you'll never go back to a PC!
It's Evolution Baby!
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VinceGledhill
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 06:47 PM |
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I have a 27 inch iMac and wouldn't go back.
I actually have a PC with it's monitor sitting on the same desk. I use it to run some lighting software that is only PC (not duel booted the
mac can't see the point)
How many have had a mac and swapped to PC? Not many I bet. I can't see me swapping back any time soon.
It just runs, it's on all the time and doesn't slow down for anything. Superb. Getting used to the file system was the only thing I
couldn't get my head around at first but apart from that....
You can even get auto cad for the mac now.
Regards
Vince Gledhill
Time Served Auto Electrician
Lucas Leeds 1979-1983
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Wadders
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 07:14 PM |
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If you actually enjoy faffing with the inner workings, repairing when they go wrong, fighting viruses and figuring out why your printer/scanner /phone
etc software won't talk to your computer probably better stick with a PC.....
On the other hand if you just want something that works out of the box, never goes wrong, and just does what it should
then in the spirit of your post title.....MAC MAC MAC MAC
Al 
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balidey
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 09:26 PM |
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I've never uses a Mac, so can't comment on that. But I gave up on Windows years ago. I switched to Ubuntu and so far have found only ONE
bit of hardware that wouldn't work (a USB printer switch that I didn't need in the end). Ubuntu costs zero, and its very forgiving on
older PC's. Infact all my PC's are old cast offs from people who ran windows and they 'died'. A fresh install of Ubuntu has
them running better than new.
So my advice, before spending loads of money, you have already consigned the PC to the bin, why not install Ubuntu, give it a run for a couple of
months, then decide what to buy with the money you've saved.
Dutch bears have terrible skin due to their clogged paws
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AntonUK
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 09:52 PM |
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Like you I have been a PC/Windows guy, building, repairing etc for years.
Recently wanted to try a mac, with the plan to bootcamp it for anything i might need on the windows platform.
My shiney macbook pro 15" arrived 3 weeks ago and i can thoroughly recommend it... everything just works and its easy.
Only used bootcamp partition for OBDII software and MS publisher (as the missus refuses to use swift publisher)
Build Photos Here
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VinceGledhill
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 11:32 PM |
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You can get office on the mac, what about publisher?
Regards
Vince Gledhill
Time Served Auto Electrician
Lucas Leeds 1979-1983
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vanepico
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 11:38 PM |
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Yeah they are more reliable but they cost 3 or 4 times more and you can't do lots of stuff. My hp keeps going wrong though so it is all relative
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VinceGledhill
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| posted on 27/6/12 at 11:42 PM |
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Seems to me that most people that knock the mac have never had one.
Many a mac user is ex PC and wouldn't go back.
Regards
Vince Gledhill
Time Served Auto Electrician
Lucas Leeds 1979-1983
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Davey D
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| posted on 28/6/12 at 05:26 AM |
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I think the best way to sum this up is: if you want a computer get a PC... If you want a Mac then get a mac
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t11
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| posted on 28/6/12 at 05:52 AM |
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mac
Hi I've been using a mac for years now got a second hand mac book pro 17ins and would never go back to a pc had 5 or 6 of them and they all went
wrong......MAC
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hughpinder
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| posted on 28/6/12 at 08:29 AM |
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Get a mac, but buy refurbished direct from apple - you get a better warranty than a standard new one and I've never had a problem:
http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac
It is true that you pay more than the minimum you would for a windows PC by a factor of 3, but if you compare to a comparable hardware specification
of say dell / sony you won't be buying the cheapest range, but close to the top range - say £800 for the microsoft machine vs say £1000 for the
mac. Don't go too mad for extra memory unless you are doing HD video editing or something very memory intensive all the time, (or intend to run
windows a lot), you don't need it. If you want more add it later from crucial or kingston as its much cheaper. To see how to get into the cases
of most apple kit go to the www.ifixit.com site. some are much easier than you might think to upgrade ram/hdd. You also get the full software disk,
whereas you oftem find you don't with a microsoft machine. OS version upgrades are comparable to windows ultimate and cost about £40. Your mac
will still have some resale value when its old - I recently sold my 6 year old G4 laptop with non working screen and damaged case for £150.
I strongly recommend that you buy the oreilly book "OSX the missing manual" for the version of OSX you buy. You get loads of useful stuff
on how to do things in there. If you want to know how thing work before lashing out on the computer buy the book first and read it.
You can get an osx specific port of openoffice, or neooffice so you don't want to pay for ms office. You do get a nagging worry that something
wont be compatible with microsoft office if you do, the same way you do on linux/a pc.
I worried about not having windows for a while and installed XP/vista/7 on a partition, but can't remember ever using it except for megasquirt
set up.
I'm not sure what the comment " if you want a computer get a PC... If you want a Mac then get a mac" means - they are both
computers, the difference is that with a mac you use it to do something rather than the computer itself being the thing you do, if you get my
drift.
If you want to get into the OS, you can go in via a terminal/console window and get into the guts exactly as you can in linux, so if you have that
level of knowlege you can install many linux packages.
Regards
Hugh
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ashg
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| posted on 28/6/12 at 10:18 AM |
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i have been a pc user all my life. about 6months ago i got a mac book air as the price was right and i wanted something extremely light small and
powerful (i7 processor lots of ram ssd hdd etc)
i also have a win7 desktop pc, laptop running xp and a netbook running ubuntu. recently i found when i need to use a computer the first thing i
pick-up is the mac.
don't get me wrong it took me a while to get used to it but i stuck with it rather than boot camping it. little things like you cant cut and
paste. you can either copy and paste or drag and drop if you want to move a file into a different folder. but other than little niggles like that to
begin with i wouldn't change it for any other device.
as for cost well its subjective, apple do use very good hardware in their machines, and to build a pc using stuff made by the same manufacturers would
cost almost as much.
i am now at the point where if i were to replace my desktop pc i wouldn't even hesitate and just buy a mac. I love that i get the friendly just
work GUI (easy like windows) but when i want to get clever i can open a terminal window and feel like i am working on my ubuntu box in flat out
unix
[Edited on 28/6/2012 by ashg]
Anything With Tits or Wheels Will cost you MONEY!!
Haynes Roadster (Finished)
Exocet (Finished & Sold)
New Project (Started)
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 28/6/12 at 10:23 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by VinceGledhill
Seems to me that most people that knock the mac have never had one.
Many a mac user is ex PC and wouldn't go back.
My brother had a Mac Book and then a Mac mini, but after picking up a Shuttle PC system cheap both gathered dust and he has recently sold both.
Mac's are ok for for most mainstream users e.g. office stuff, email, browsing etc. but they still lack support for a lot of the more niche
stuff.
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ashg
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| posted on 28/6/12 at 10:48 AM |
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actually i think the opposite mike
mac's are for the general user and the hardcore user but dont really fit the intermediate users.
e.g users that know their way round a pc pretty well but are not what i would call an expert. un-fortunately the mass majority of people working in
the IT industry i would class as intermediate users, i would even go as far as saying some of these people would claim themselves as professionals are
not any more than than self made up intermediate users.
if my mac wont do what i want it to do in the gui (not that it happens, unless im fiddling) i would open a terminal window and do it at the command
prompt if that didn't work then i would code it. lots of people don't realise, just because it doesn't have a pretty click box
doesn't mean you cant do it another way.
i am currently working on a project to port a couple of windows developed apps into a Linux environment which requires getting .net 4.0 into linux.
currently they run on a windows virtual machine installed on linux, if i can make them work without the vm then we can reduce the hardware specs
ultimately saving money on hardware for over 1000 devices, meaning more profit.
Anything With Tits or Wheels Will cost you MONEY!!
Haynes Roadster (Finished)
Exocet (Finished & Sold)
New Project (Started)
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ashg
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| posted on 28/6/12 at 10:51 AM |
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sorry
back on topic
i vote buy a MAC
Anything With Tits or Wheels Will cost you MONEY!!
Haynes Roadster (Finished)
Exocet (Finished & Sold)
New Project (Started)
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FuryRebuild
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| posted on 28/6/12 at 11:53 AM |
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Right Then!
Lots of good points have been made here, and here area few more to consider
user experience
Firstly, aple spend untold millions on product design and the user experience, and it itterly shows when you use it. The product out of the box is
great. the software you get with it is stupendous. the consistent use of gestures in all the software is great - little things like in a browser,
flicking three fingers on the (large) trackpad left moves you back. The same gesture in iPhoto scrolls you back through your photos. Little things
like dragging text off an app and dropping it on to the desktop automatically creates a text file with that in. When in system prefs, each trackpad
gesture comes with a constantly playing video shwing you how to use the gesture and what the difference is, etc.
If you have a laptop, closing the lid instantly puts it to sleep, opening the lid instantly brings it back - apple had this in the design from the
very get go. Look at the little things like the chassis is really thin, and there are no crappy clips to hold the lid closed - it's done
magnetically.
service and support
You get a year's warranty, and 3 months support when you can call someone up to help you with your transition - it's just in the price.
Noone else I know does this. You can extend the warranty out on an annual or more basis.
If you get an issue, you just go to the website and book an appointment at an apple store to get someone to fix it. If it's under warranty they
do it *there and then*. All the stores have people there who are trained and qualified to take these to pieces and fix them for you.
windows compatability
I don't use boot-camp but do use vmware when i have to access a windows 7 machine. The machine only consumes 30G, and I have several centos
virtual machines in there as well. You can do really useful stuff like copy from an progrram in windows and just flick to a osx programme and paste
the text in. If you want to, you can run your windows programs as if they are mac ones in a mac window - no-one would need to see your shame.
build quality
Just go and look at the quality of the monitors, the thinness of the keyboard, the fact that when the keyboard starts to run out of battery, the
subtle icon on the screen tells you.
the list just goes on and on and on. And yes, if you tried to spec an i7 quad-core laptop with a retina display, 8G of ram and an SSD anywhere else,
you'd struggle to even meet apple's price, yet get under it.
When all you have is a hammer, everything around you is a nail.
www.furyrebuild.co.uk
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hughpinder
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| posted on 28/6/12 at 12:22 PM |
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Just a note from earlier to copy use COMMAND-C to paste COMMAND-V and to cut COMMAND-X, (command is the key with the funny square with a circle at
each corner) rather than CONTROL-C etc as on windows.
The O'reilly 'missing manual' thing gives loads of tips like these where windows and osx are different. I like the way you can
select for a second screen to be either a 'mirror' or a 'continuation' of your main one for a laptop, and that works for
everything. I means if you give a powerpoint presentation using a projector everyone sees the powerpoint on your projector, but on the laptop screen
you can have additional notes, browse for things without everyone seeing all the stuff on your computer etc. For photo editing you can have the
overview on one screen, and a tiny bit blown up on another which is good. On a windows machine what you can do is very dependant on the
application.
Regards
Hugh
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