Mac or PC?

[Addendum]

I'll stick with a PC for my games

 

[Deleted User]

PC. Basically, this is the exact summation of my feelings for Macs and Mac users: http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant

And to the person that said that Macs are not over-priced, I would have to disagree with you there. I can get a PC with:

a NZXT Zero Aluminum Full Tower
NZXT 500W power supply
Core Duo 2 E6700 @ 2.66GHz
CoolerMaster Liquid CPU Cooling Fan + 2 extra case fans
2 GB (2x1GB) Corsair XM2 Xtreme Memory w/ heat spreader
nVidia 8800GTS 640MB graphics card
ViewSonic VA1912WB (Widescreen) 19" monitor
320GB SATA-II 3.0 Gb/s HDD
etc. and so forth (Creative Labs sound system, X-Fi 24-BIT PCI)
And a three-year protection plan

for about.. $2,600 ($2,571.00)

I can get a Mac with similar (and even lesser) features:
Intel Xeon 2.0GHz
250GB HDD
20" monitor
ATI X1900 XT 512MB
and the three year protection plan for a grand total of...

$3,696.00.

That's over a $1000 difference based on name alone. And unlike PCs, I don't believe there are any Mac configurators where you can customize them yourself..

 

[jaguarr]

^^^

Just curious which specific systems you are referencing because those numbers look very off. And it's not so cut and dry (nor disparate in pricing) as you'd like to lead people to believe. Some interesting reading on the subject:

http://lowendmac.com/fishkin/07/0109.html

http://www.systemshootouts.org/shootouts/desktop/2006/0809_dt3200.html

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=22738

http://www.macworld.com/2006/08/features/macproprice/index.php
http://www.macworld.com/2006/08/opinion/dellmacprofollowup/index.php

Not to mention, you are talking about building your OWN PC by purchasing the separate components you prefer and then assembling it yourself if I am not mistaken. Definitely cheaper to build your own, but....you have to build your own. How many average consumers are going to do that? And if that's the case, you also didn't include the cost of the OS nor the fact that the protection plan only covers hardware and not head to toe technical support. You're basically comparing an apple to an orange (how punny of me) and talking about how the orange is cheaper without disclosing that you had to buy the seeds and grow the damn orange tree yourself. Most consumers either don't want to build their own computer or they don't know how. Not a straight across comparison, really. If I were to buy all the needed components to construct a Mac myself (some of which aren't available because of the way Apple controls the availability of certain things in the after-market hardware distribution channels), it would be far cheaper than just buying a Mac from Apple. Would it be fair for me to talk about how much cheaper it is to build my own Mac, if that were the case, than it is to buy a PC? Not in the least.

jag

 

[Deleted User]

^^^

Just curious which specific systems you are referencing because those numbers look very off. And it's not so cut and dry (nor disparate in pricing) as you'd like to lead people to believe. Some interesting reading on the subject:

http://lowendmac.com/fishkin/07/0109.html

http://www.systemshootouts.org/shootouts/desktop/2006/0809_dt3200.html

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=22738

http://www.macworld.com/2006/08/features/macproprice/index.php
http://www.macworld.com/2006/08/opinion/dellmacprofollowup/index.php

jag

The problem is that the pricing really is that disparate. Why? Because you can get PCs other places than Dell, Alienware, Falcon-Northwest, or any other number of sites/PC providers. PCs can easily be configured and tuned to tastes at configurator sites like cyberpowerpc.com, viciouspc.com, and other sites for cheap. And they usually work much better than the junk you get from Dell.

As far as I can see, there is no "Mac configurator" or Mac online store where you can get a mid-to-high end machine made with exactly the parts you want that isn't Apple.com. The comparison between the Dell and Apple machine is bull**** because you can easily get a PC from anywhere else (and of higher quality) and have it cost less. You can't do the same with a Mac. This is the trump card that PCs have over Macs. You have much more flexibility with the "PC" name brand because it doesn't belong to one company. This is the opposite for Macs.

End rant.

 

[jaguarr]

The problem is that the pricing really is that disparate. Why? Because you can get PCs other places than Dell, Alienware, Falcon-Northwest, or any other number of sites/PC providers. PCs can easily be configured and tuned to tastes at configurator sites like cyberpowerpc.com, viciouspc.com, and other sites for cheap. And they usually work much better than the junk you get from Dell.

As far as I can see, there is no "Mac configurator" or Mac online store where you can get a mid-to-high end machine made with exactly the parts you want that isn't Apple.com. The comparison between the Dell and Apple machine is bull**** because you can easily get a PC from anywhere else (and of higher quality) and have it cost less. You can't do the same with a Mac. This is the trump card that PCs have over Macs. You have much more flexibility with the "PC" name brand because it doesn't belong to one company. This is the opposite for Macs.

End rant.

Give me the site that sells the exact configuration you listed above, then. I'd like to check it out. Or are you building your own system as was my first guess?

jag

 

[JTStarkiller]

I'll never own a PC in my life ever again.

 

[DarthCyclopsRLZ]

Pc.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Got a notebook PC, but wouldn't mind having a Mac.

 

[wiegeabo]

What I'm noticing is that five years ago, probably only 5 or 10 percent of the votes would have been for Mac. Now, a third of them are for Mac.

 

[The Squirrel]

I use the PC the most because I like to play games.

But MACs have some cool features.

But I hate the one button mouse.

 

[04nbod]

i was using a mac last week in college, apparantly it is the standard for art and design. However simple functions like copy and paste are atrocious. I tried to copy a picture from my photobucket to photoshop and like hell would it let me. It didn't even had a print screen button. I've heard people complain that windows's simple interface is patronising but if it gets the job done quickly and effecively i'm all for it. I'm on a PC at home and I have very few problems with it. I can safely say never to touch a mac as my personal computer but i'm going to wait until i buy a new laptop for vista

 

[jaguarr]

i was using a mac last week in college, apparantly it is the standard for art and design. However simple functions like copy and paste are atrocious. I tried to copy a picture from my photobucket to photoshop and like hell would it let me. It didn't even had a print screen button. I've heard people complain that windows's simple interface is patronising but if it gets the job done quickly and effecively i'm all for it. I'm on a PC at home and I have very few problems with it. I can safely say never to touch a mac as my personal computer but i'm going to wait until i buy a new laptop for vista

How hard is it to drag and drop an image from the web onto your desktop in a Mac and then open it in Photoshop? Or use Command+C to copy and Command+V to paste?

jag

 

[ghosthorse]

I own pc.

 

[04nbod]

How hard is it to drag and drop an image from the web onto your desktop in a Mac and then open it in Photoshop? Or use Command+C to copy and Command+V to paste?

jag

it kept on asking me to select all and then copying the entire page. It was just really inconveniant. I didn't want to put the pic on the hard drive either so saving and opening was out of the question. the shortcuts wouldn't work either it again would copy the entire page, maybe my machine was faulty either way its taking the long way round.

 

[jaguarr]

it kept on asking me to select all and then copying the entire page. It was just really inconveniant. I didn't want to put the pic on the hard drive either so saving and opening was out of the question. the shortcuts wouldn't work either it again would copy the entire page, maybe my machine was faulty either way its taking the long way round.

Sorry, but this really sounds like more of an issue with you just being unfamiliar with how a Mac works than anything else. A lot of Windows users try to use them just like Windows and wind up with troubles similar to yours.

jag

 

[04nbod]

Sorry, but this really sounds like more of an issue with you just being unfamiliar with how a Mac works than anything else. A lot of Windows users try to use them just like Windows and wind up with troubles similar to yours.

jag

i've been using mac in college since september prior to that i had never used it. I knew the shortcuts and the dragging and dropping techniques but in this instance it was really tempremental and wouldn't do anything properly. The mac suite has become a source of humour in my college t:

 

[jaguarr]

i've been using mac in college since september prior to that i had never used it. I knew the shortcuts and the dragging and dropping techniques but in this instance it was really tempremental and wouldn't do anything properly. The mac suite has become a source of humour in my college t:

Could have been a problem with that particular Mac, but honestly (and I'm really not trying to ding you at all), it does sound like a PEBCAK error more than anything else.

jag

 

[Scarlet spidey]

I use the PC the most because I like to play games.

But MACs have some cool features.

But I hate the one button mouse.

So... buy one that has two buttons?

 

[Kaboom]

ive had pcs for fifteen years, my next comp which i will be buying in the newxt few weeks will be a mac

 

[Sugarculted]

I used to hate Macs, just due to me not being used to them.

Now though, I can't get through my course without using one. I've always preferred the PC, until now. I've been tempted to get a Mac for some while now. Features like Garageband and iMovie are pretty cool.