Is it worth getting a mac?

[GingeUK]

Like Dj says, MAC's can cost a lot of money to do a good job. Personally, if you partition your drives and keep up to date with your Anti Virus software and drivers you should be fine with a rig of a high spec PC for the same price of a PC, especially if you construct it yourself. I managed to get an Intel Dual Core 2.67 Ghz, 2GB RAM, GT8600 GT and 500 GB Hard Drive PC with a 22" TFT Monitor earlier in the year for £300 less than what my friend paid for a 2 Ghz iMac.

[livingdeadboy]

Personally, I'm a Mac nerd, I love my computer, but once again. Aside from the internet, I only use it for video editing. Which is great. But with that being said, I've used PC's as well, and have done some great work with them. We've cut music videos on Final Cut then brought them over to SONY VEGAS for a little clean up. Either or is fine and dandy.

[Khardis]

If you want to play graphically insane games that require quad cores dual video cards etc then go with a PC. If you want a good all around computer than doesnt crash, doesnt slow down, doesnt bog up with virus r spyware and is superior in editing graphics, film, sound and has its own plugged in fan base, then go with an Imac, I got an Imac, I wont ever use a PC again, I do my gaming on m 360 and my Wii, other than WoW that is. And WoW plays perfectly.

[3pidemiC]

My girlfriend's sister has a Mac and it does crash and it is pretty damn slow. It's the reality of having any kind of computer. Hardware can not always keep up with newer software that requires a faster part.

[Mutineer]

Vegas is like Moviemaker ? Huh ? Try using it. It is powerful, intuitive and simply kicks ass. VEGAS BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ivarr]

There used to be more clear reasons to use one vs the other ... Now things are a little more gray ... if only that MAC's are no longer "MAC's". They are just moderatly overpriced PC's running a version of Unix with a GUI front end. It is no longer true that if your into video or graphics ... you buy a MAC. (If it ever has been). If you buy a MAC Book, you can actually just load windows on it and its a PC... They are not bad or dumb or better... they are just made for a less computer literate base. (Being less computer literate than the average PC power user is not a crime) Honestly ... It comes down to this ... if you believe the apple is better hype ... buy one .... you most likely would anyway. If not ... realize you can build your own mega powerful PC with choice parts for as much or far less (depending on how good you shop) than you can buy a good model MAC. In the end ... it really doesn't matter if you really are never going to do much more than web surfing... email/word processing and other base line things. I just like to think back to the old MAC ad.... "The most powerful computer is the one people are using!" Sad for them ... it has never really been a MAC. (Market share) I am also a bit anoid at them for still shipping with a one button mouse when they have supported two button mice for years.

[Khardis]

Yes lets buy a mega powerful PC with no resale value, crashes constantly, has no real warranty, is forced to run windows (unless you get linux) and basically needs to be nuked every few months to remove the oodles upon oodles of spyware, broken library strings in the CMD and viruses. Sign me up! My story is that I used to be into all that. My PC was basically for gaming and Photoshop. Except I had the pleasure of it crapping out on my usually once a year or every other year because of the faulty crapola OS (Windows BLEH) and substandard hardware I purchased off of NewEgg. Then my brother bought an IBook, I was skeptical at 1st, but gave it a shot. I was blown away at how awesome OS X was, how flawlessly cool the notebook remained after abusive usage. I bought an Imac, at this moment it has been running since Leopard was released, I haven't turned it off since I installed that, its not slow, its not sluggish, has no viruses, no spyware its as if i just took it out of the box. Before I installed Leopard it hadnt been restarted or shut off in something like 5 months, I have had it for about 2 years now and on average I restart it or turn it off once every 6 months. Try that with a PC, I assure you that within 30 days it will be so slow, so bogged down with errors, leaky memory usage etc that it will force you to reboot it, and even then you still gotta load up all your antivirus and spykiller apps to clean it up. I switched to a Mac because I want a computer, not a part time job in computer maintenance. I play WoW and several other games on my Mac, but I have since switched to using my 360 and Wii far more since they are more fun than computer gaming. Macs aren't just an OS, they come cherry picked with the best hardware tested to see how well they work together. Try that with a PC, oh wait, then you would have to order from Dell or Gateway or who ever and still end up paying a grand or more for a good computer with all the support and warranty and such.

[GingeUK]

Yes lets buy a mega powerful PC with no resale value, crashes constantly, has no real warranty, is forced to run windows (unless you get linux) and basically needs to be nuked every few months to remove the oodles upon oodles of spyware, broken library strings in the CMD and viruses. Sign me up! You must be doing something wrong then, because if you know how to look after your computer you wont come up against those problems very often. To say that the Mac would never do those things is a little short sighted as I have seen it done numerous times. Try that with a PC, I assure you that within 30 days it will be so slow, so bogged down with errors, leaky memory usage etc that it will force you to reboot it, and even then you still gotta load up all your antivirus and spykiller apps to clean it up. I have had my new PC for a little over 8 months now and it has never crashed on me yet. I play games on it, download music along with a whole host of other things and it is still running just as good as it did when I first put it together. What I find funny is that quite a few Mac users swear blindly that they never have problems with their computers and that it never happens, yet it's obvious that it does. The same can be said for PC's. However, like I said above if you know how to take care of your hardware then you should have no problems, regardless of whether it is a Mac or PC.

[Mutineer]

Blah blah blah Khardis I've using PC's for a decade without incident; gaming, NLE's, business, graphic art ... Most people buy MACs because they think that is what is cool and hip. Mac sells an image and they must be doing something right with 6.1% of US Computer sales and not even palcing in the TOP 5 Internationally Hype and propanganda. They sell an 'i' life. They both do the same thing but a PC far outweighs the Mac in PRo's; from custom builds, massive competition (lower pricing) and more options across the board. I again say, I have zero issues with Mac, I could use one or the other, but why ? The only thing annoying are the clones that believe the hype.

[3pidemiC]

Yes lets buy a mega powerful PC with no resale value, crashes constantly, has no real warranty, is forced to run windows (unless you get linux) and basically needs to be nuked every few months to remove the oodles upon oodles of spyware, broken library strings in the CMD and viruses. Sign me up! Once again, if you are not a novice with a PC then you do not have to worry about spyware/viruses. Any person with common sense can avoid that. I think that gaining the knowledge on how to avoid and protect against these threads is a lot smarter than paying double for something that does it for me. Please explain how PCs have no real warranty? I work at a computer parts reseller and I can assure that a majority of PC components have a LEAST a 3 year warranty through their manufacturers. Try that with a PC, I assure you that within 30 days it will be so slow, so bogged down with errors, leaky memory usage etc that it will force you to reboot it, and even then you still gotta load up all your antivirus and spykiller apps to clean it up. Not true. If you are someone that has no knowledge on how to properly care for a PC then yes, that will happen. But the same can be said for a Mac. If you do not know how to properly take care of it, the same thing will happen. . Macs aren't just an OS, they come cherry picked with the best hardware tested to see how well they work together. Try that with a PC, oh wait, then you would have to order from Dell or Gateway or who ever and still end up paying a grand or more for a good computer with all the support and warranty and such. Every hear of building your own custom PC? Try that with a Mac, oh wait, you can't customize your Mac because you do not have a choice on what goes into it.

[Khardis]

You must be doing something wrong then, because if you know how to look after your computer you wont come up against those problems very often. To say that the Mac would never do those things is a little short sighted as I have seen it done numerous times. I have had my new PC for a little over 8 months now and it has never crashed on me yet. I play games on it, download music along with a whole host of other things and it is still running just as good as it did when I first put it together. What I find funny is that quite a few Mac users swear blindly that they never have problems with their computers and that it never happens, yet it's obvious that it does. The same can be said for PC's. However, like I said above if you know how to take care of your hardware then you should have no problems, regardless of whether it is a Mac or PC. Whats short sighted? I have had my mac for some time now, I keep it online constantly, I browse torrent sites, its yet to get any thing. I dont even use a Virus protector. I remember getting a virus on my old PC the day I plugged it into the Cable without a virus scanner. It took less than an hour and I had to wipe my HD. What I find funny is all the Mac hatred out there, its too expensive, its just a cool looking PC, its this its that. You could buy a computer thats way better if you build it yourself blah blah blah. Of course you could make a "stronger" computer, but that doesnt make it better, especially what with the blue screen rate of a PC. 8 Months and no crashes? Impressive, you must have the 1 of a billion PCs that does that. although I highly doubt it. Do you run a virus scanner, spam blocker, spyware killer? Blah blah blah Khardis I've using PC's for a decade without incident; gaming, NLE's, business, graphic art ... Most people buy MACs because they think that is what is cool and hip. Mac sells an image and they must be doing something right with 6.1% of US Computer sales and not even palcing in the TOP 5 Internationally Hype and propanganda. They sell an 'i' life. They both do the same thing but a PC far outweighs the Mac in PRo's; from custom builds, massive competition (lower pricing) and more options across the board. I again say, I have zero issues with Mac, I could use one or the other, but why ? The only thing annoying are the clones that believe the hype. Ive been using PCs since before they were PCs, before Windows and before GUI OS's when I was a little kid, and I am not talking about the old Apples either. After 26 years of using PCs and a recent switch to the Mac, I can say 1 thing only: WHAT THE HELL WAS I WAITING FOR?! The Mac was like a breath of fresh air. It did everything my PC did and more. Especially in stuff like editing video for my film class. (Original reason I bought a Mac). Yeah yeah I cant upgrade the hell out of it, but when you think about it, you really cant for a PC either, especially as they age, you tend to have to buy new stuff... oh my video card isn't good, I need a new one (or two) I better get them, damn they don't work with my mobo, better get another one, ooops, now I need new ram, DDR1 isn't compatible anymore with this one, ok got that, Oh shoot, this power supply isn't good enough to power my Quad-core, it produces heat, I better get one with a better fan.. etc etc etc. I ended up building an entirely new PC every year or other year when I was a PC gaming junkie. In your wrong opinion you think apple is selling an image, but you're wrong, obviously. They're selling a very worthy product. A top of the line computer that rates better than the common PC especially in terms of longevity, resale value and usage. Yeah maybe you cant buy the newest games for PC gaming, but again... who cares. If I want to play games I use my Xbox or Wii, why the hell would I want to spend 600-1000 dollars building a new computer simply for gaming? Its why people wont buy a PS3. Market share etc is the same old tired Mac hating BS that Mac Haters love to spew... I don't understand... So because Macs aren't as common as a crappy PC (sold at wal mart by the way now) they are inferior? Thats like saying Porches, Lexus', Caddy, BMWs and Mercedes are crap because more people drive junky 10,000 dollar lemons. Mac arent for everyone, specifically theyre not for people who believe that market share determines the quality of a product. I mean does McDonalds make a better burger than Rapid rays because McDonalds sells billions a year in an international market while Rapid rays caters to summer tourists in Saco Maine? Once again, if you are not a novice with a PC then you do not have to worry about spyware/viruses. Any person with common sense can avoid that. I think that gaining the knowledge on how to avoid and protect against these threads is a lot smarter than paying double for something that does it for me. Please explain how PCs have no real warranty? I work at a computer parts reseller and I can assure that a majority of PC components have a LEAST a 3 year warranty through their manufacturers. Not true. If you are someone that has no knowledge on how to properly care for a PC then yes, that will happen. But the same can be said for a Mac. If you do not know how to properly take care of it, the same thing will happen. Every hear of building your own custom PC? Try that with a Mac, oh wait, you can't customize your Mac because you do not have a choice on what goes into it. Heh, yeah thats what people want to do work for a computer business, and or go to school for computer science to "not have to worry about spyware/viruses." I am not a novice, by a long shot. I do know how to protect my PC from virus, key loggers, phish attacks, spyware, malware and every other "Negative" ware out there that makes owning a PC suck. But why the hell would I want to deal with all that? I don't like having to wait for protection programs, firewalls, virus, spam, malware scans to complete. I just want to get on my computer and do what I need to do. I don't want to buy a car with a leaky engine, bust axel and missing a muffler either over a nice fresh BMW simply because I know how to make the former car still work most of the time. Have I heard of building a custom PC? hmm let me think.. YES. I did it almost every year when I was still into PC gaming. Just because you cant rip open a mac and add stuff in doesn't mean its a bad machine, I mean I can just ya know.. pick the mac that suits my needs instead and have it all come, already compatible, ready to go, warranty for the whole machine and all parts etc.. which leads me to my next point: PCs (the ones you build yourself) have no warranty... and going through the HELLISH NIGHTMARE of customer Service for parts for your computer is absurd. The last PC I build was 3 years ago, I ordered the mobo, 2 kickass video cards, 2G of ram, a tricked out Dual core 64 with a nutso fan etc ya know the whole friggin shibang. Anyway, all the stuff arrives and here was what I got: A broken motherboard. the dual core 1 video card, which was only a 256 and a stock fan/power supply. Basically the companies I ordered from screwed 90% of my order up. I got most of it fixed within a week or 2 of getting it, which took a week so thats 3 or 4 weeks since they billed me. However the damned company I bought the motherboard from refused to refund my money at 1st, then after an hour or 2 of talking to various Indian people said they would refund me, but would have to charge me a restocking fee (for their mistake) They didn't even have any more of the same mobo in stock. All in all it actually took me about 5 weeks in total to get everything I paid for and all working together. I think it cost close to 800 dollars. This was the last time I dealt with that, things like that happend EVERY TIME though that I wanted to build a PC unless I went to a computer faire and bought the parts there off the racks. And the 1 time I tried that they sold me bum Ram and a video-card that didn't work. I mean, where does it end? Screw all that. If I need a new comp now, I just go to the apple site, pick out the computer I need, order it up, and get it. Done deal.

[Mutineer]

The Mac was like a breath of fresh air. It did everything my PC did and more. Especially in stuff like editing video for my film class. (Original reason I bought a Mac). And more ? Like what ? I'll take the tasters choice with FCP any day over my Vegas. And I don't need to buy the computer to run it. LOL Yeah yeah I cant upgrade the hell out of it, but when you think about it, you really cant for a PC either, especially as they age, you tend to have to buy new stuff... oh my video card isn't good, I need a new one (or two) I better get them, damn they don't work with my mobo, better get another one, ooops, now I need new ram, DDR1 isn't compatible anymore with this one, ok got that, Oh shoot, this power supply isn't good enough to power my Quad-core, it produces heat, I better get one with a better fan.. etc etc etc. I ended up building an entirely new PC every year or other year when I was a PC gaming junkie. Haven't experienced this issue. I've been running the same Dell for over 3 years; dual Intel Xeon's, 256 MBGC .... ZERO issues. Still smokes, ever reliable. Upgrading ? There are a million different suppliers and manufactuers in the PC market; what does that mean ? Competition. Mac has, Mac. In your wrong opinion you think apple is selling an image, but you're wrong, obviously. They're selling a very worthy product. A top of the line computer that rates better than the common PC especially in terms of longevity, resale value and usage. Yeah maybe you cant buy the newest games for PC gaming, but again... who cares. If I want to play games I use my Xbox or Wii, why the hell would I want to spend 600-1000 dollars building a new computer simply for gaming? Its why people wont buy a PS3. Opinion's are wrong ? They do make a worthy product, I never said they didn;t ? You're blind if you can't see beyond the hype and image they have created. Look to the annoyingly pompous commercials of late. (Hip young kid -vs- bald business dude) They oughta be ashamed of selling that image. No one hates Macs. They just hate prentencious pompous Macusers. I mean, you really think Mac's are better but can't give one reason why. It's the same effin thing ! Diffferent OS, different looks Market share etc is the same old tired Mac hating BS that Mac Haters love to spew... I don't understand... So because Macs aren't as common as a crappy PC (sold at wal mart by the way now) they are inferior? Thats like saying Porches, Lexus', Caddy, BMWs and Mercedes are crap because more people drive junky 10,000 dollar lemons. Mac arent for everyone, specifically theyre not for people who believe that market share determines the quality of a product. I mean does McDonalds make a better burger than Rapid rays because McDonalds sells billions a year in an international market while Rapid rays caters to summer tourists in Saco Maine? Comparing a Mac to a PC with a BMW to a Lemon is a joke and not in good debate. Not with the worlds TOP 500 fastest computers all being on a PC platform (or GNL/Linux) et al (Not a single Mac). Dude. Wake up. They are both machines doing the same thing with personal preference being the only logical debate. ILM uses Intel PC's, The WETA Supercomputers all use IBM XEONS (Linux) Jesus, even Mac went with Intel processors to try and keep up. That's the funniest part. 70 % of the worlds fastest supercomputers use Intel processors on PC specific platforms (I got's two of them procsessor thingy's). One can use most anything these days; PC, Mac, Linus, Windows, Firefox, Ford, Chevy Who cares when they all do the same thing. But don't buy into the hype and don't think you actually have a better product. You may have paid more for less, but that don't make it better.

[Danny]

you know after mroe time with them im pretty set that im going to get a mac as i just prefer them, its a sahme that a geniune request for opinions turned into a pc vs mac debate instead of actually answering the question i asked, which only 3 or 4 of you did.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Khardis, the parts problem must be you or whom you chose to order from because I have beenusing newegg.com for 3+ years and have had zero problems or broken parts from them. PC's aren't as deathly as you make them out to be. I leave my PC online 24/7 connected to a 128bit encrypted wireless network, which has another PC connected to it. I am using WINDOWS XP and the installation of XP currently on the system is the one that has been on it since I built it in March 2007. My Previous PC was an AMD Single Core 64 3700+ which had its windows install for 22 months with no issues. I had no viruses, no issues whatsoever. If you were stupid enough to hook up your PC to the internet with no Virus protection you deserved to be zapped right off the bat. However, if you were smart you would have connected it to a network to prevent that from happening. The only reason I may ever go MAC is for FCP, but since VEGAS does such an excellent job and has all the features I need, why upgrade to something else when the thing I have works flawlessly. Not too mention why spend $10,000 on a MAC that is now capable of running WIN XP when I can build a more kick ass PC for 1/4 of the price, and it will run circles around the MAC. In the end neither CAMP will win the argument, and anyone who tries, or thinks they can is full of sh1t. PC's have their niche as do MAC's. It is all preference. Also lets talk about warranties... Khardis you stated there is no warranty on PC parts... strange. My HDD came with a 5 year warranty, my motherboard a 3 year warranty, video card 3 years etc etc. You know how many warranty repairs I have needed in my years of playing with PC's? NONE! I have never had a part wear out, I usually upgrade way before that happens and sell the used part on eBay and make half my money back. Your information is flawed and inaccurate and maybe you should do some research before opening your mouth again, because everytime you do you have your ass handed to you by someone in the know. Since you don't know Jack maybe you should stay out of the conversations, or only interject what you know 100%.

[GingeUK]

blue screen rate of a PC 8 Months and have yet to have the blue screen of death. The PC's I edit on at work have also yet to experience this. Like one poster said above it is down to personal preference, but the way in which Mac fans seem to defend their product to the death without giving any credit to the bigger competitors (PC's) is a little silly.