Mac vs. PC Laptops

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I'm so confused.

I went to our local mall, so that I could check out the two Dell laptops that I was considering purchasing. I wanted to see how bulky the Inspiron was with the 17" screen, versus the 14.1" screen on the Latitude.

Well... they both looked like poo. For some reason, Dell thought it looked good to add cheap, white plastic to the cases of their laptops. Even those sitting, locked down to the tables, were already all scratched up. It may be a stupid reason to not buy a computer, but I'll be darned if I'm going to pay upwards of $2k and have it look horrible after I've been carting it around.

So... I walked farther down the mall and found myself inside the new Apple store. Of course, their laptops looked sleek, especially their MacBook Pro, which would be the equivalent of the Dell that I had customized.

But - - that sucker was almost $3k! The 15" inch screen was $800 less, which really has me stumped. The exact same computer, same specs, but with a 2" smaller screen, was almost $1k less!

So, what should I do? My daughter has an Apple, but other than her, I know nobody who owns one. I've seen people on here mention them though.

Are they worth spending that much more? Will I be able to tether my Blackberry to it?

 

[NEM]

Once you go Mac, you never go back....

Mac's are definitely worth it....I love them... I am sure others will chime in with the same sentiment.

You can shop online at apple.com and play with features and memory size to get exactly what you want and maybe save a little money.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Michelle

 

[ziggystardust]

i will only use a mac. I've only ever used a mac. IMHO they are the best computers ever

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

My main concern is my email.

I use Outlook and it will be a major pain to switch it. It's on my advertising (business cards, yard signs, etc.) and would take a while to phase out. Is there software that is the equivalent of Outlook, where I could continue to receive my email?

I don't use MS Office that much, so it wouldn't be a biggie to lose that, but I do use Adobe Acrobat. I just hate to pay for new software and I don't want to load Windows on a Mac.

Why do y'all love them so much?

Change is scary! Switching just sounds like it'll be such a PITA!

 

[RitaZ.]

Are they worth the money? In one word, yes.

We bought our first Apple, a Mac Plus, in 1988 for $2800.

We bought one of the first iBooks that came out, the turquoise one, and it still works. We replaced it with a 17" MacBook Pro with the Intel dual core processor. DH bought me a MacBook (black one) for X-mas, I'm using it right now. Our desktop is a Mac G5, the kids have our old G4.

DH is an engineer and his work issued laptop is a Dell, which he hates. He has had to have them repaired several times. Things that went wrong with the Dell: hard drive crashed (big problem), wireless card stopped working (big problem) and also a problem with a cable. If DH had his way, the Dells would be replaced with Macs.

Go with Apple!

 

[kendall]

My main concern is my email.

I use Outlook and it will be a major pain to switch it. It's on my advertising (business cards, yard signs, etc.) and would take a while to phase out. Is there software that is the equivalent of Outlook, where I could continue to receive my email?

I don't use MS Office that much, so it wouldn't be a biggie to lose that, but I do use Adobe Acrobat. I just hate to pay for new software and I don't want to load Windows on a Mac.

Why do y'all love them so much?

Change is scary! Switching just sounds like it'll be such a PITA!

Let me see if I can clarify

Outlook for email - using a Mac won't change your email address - it only changes the software program you will use to read the email. You can use the Mail program on a Mac. It may take a little adjusting, but you will find Mail easy to use.

Adobe Acrobat - do you use Acrobat or Acrobat Reader? Acrobat Reader is free. Acrobat is the program to actually make PDF files. And both of those are available for a Mac.

I work and play on both PC and Mac - and it is much more fun to play on my MacBook - photos, videos, are all more fun to play with on the Mac. My daily job means I support an environment that is 95% PC - and I'm fine with my PC. But if I had to choose and have only 1 machine, I would choose a Mac.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Are they worth the money? In one word, yes.

We bought our first Apple, a Mac Plus, in 1988 for $2800.

OMG! That would be like $5k today! At least!

We bought one of the first iBooks that came out, the turquoise one, and it still works. We replaced it with a 17" MacBook Pro with the Intel dual core processor. DH bought me a MacBook (black one) for X-mas, I'm using it right now. Our desktop is a Mac G5, the kids have our old G4.

I'm looking at this one: http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/

With Dell, bumping up a screen size isn't that big of a deal, financially speaking... but with Mac... whoa... $800??

I can spend $1,999 for the 15", or spend $2,799 for the 17". The 17" looks great, but is it worth that much more?

BTW, I'm 40 and the eyes aren't getting any younger, IYKWIM.

DH is an engineer and his work issued laptop is a Dell, which he hates. He has had to have them repaired several times. Things that went wrong with the Dell: hard drive crashed (big problem), wireless card stopped working (big problem) and also a problem with a cable. If DH had his way, the Dells would be replaced with Macs.

Go with Apple!

We've always had Dell laptops. Something about being Texan... I dunno. You just feel like you have to.

Yes, I've had issues with them. My current Inspiron gave me the blue screen of death just last night. I've also had major issues with Sony, HP and Toshiba.

So, methinks I'm having IBM issues.

Any advice is appreciated! Y'all keep the posts coming!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Let me see if I can clarify

Outlook for email - using a Mac won't change your email address - it only changes the software program you will use to read the email. You can use the Mail program on a Mac. It may take a little adjusting, but you will find Mail easy to use.

I gotcha. That was a dumb comment on my part. It probably won't be the last one either.

The sales rep told me there is a MS program called Entourage for Mac, that is the equivalent of Outlook. I could always purchase that. I think it might come with Mac Office.

Adobe Acrobat - do you use Acrobat or Acrobat Reader? Acrobat Reader is free. Acrobat is the program to actually make PDF files. And both of those are available for a Mac.

I use Acrobat. And to make matters worse, I just purchased the newer version. I use it for my contracts.

I work and play on both PC and Mac - and it is much more fun to play on my MacBook - photos, videos, are all more fun to play with on the Mac. My daily job means I support an environment that is 95% PC - and I'm fine with my PC. But if I had to choose and have only 1 machine, I would choose a Mac.

I've heard Macs are great for graphics. Which leads me to ask... can the laptop graphics card support gaming?

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I just thought of another question:

What about tech support? Is it North American-based????

The reason I ask, is because nothing irritates me more, than buying a product from a Texas-based company and speaking to someone I can barely understand, because they've decided to outsource their support staff.

 

[kendall]

I use Acrobat. And to make matters worse, I just purchased the newer version. I use it for my contracts.

Now that is a bummer. Well, I guess if you buy the new version it is a business expense and perhaps tax deductible.

I've heard Macs are great for graphics. Which leads me to ask... can the laptop graphics card support gaming?

Do you mean the MacBook Pro? Absolutely, no problem.

PC - depends on the laptop and quality of the card installed on the model you are considering. There's more variety in PC graphics cards...more variety in processors, too.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Now that is a bummer. Well, I guess if you buy the new version it is a business expense and perhaps tax deductible.

True. As will be the laptop itself. One bright side to spending that much, I guess!

Do you mean the MacBook Pro? Absolutely, no problem.

Yes. DH bought my Uro and I was never able to play it on my Dell... not that I'd be able to play it on a Mac either, since it's for Windows. Darn!

 

[kendall]

I just thought of another question:

What about tech support? Is it North American-based????

The reason I ask, is because nothing irritates me more, than buying a product from a Texas-based company and speaking to someone I can barely understand, because they've decided to outsource their support staff.

Good question.

We have all Lenovo (IBM) at work - our tech support is US-based. However I honestly don't know if that is because of our support contract we have with them. Support has been excellent.

Apple support - I've only called twice - once for a key that didn't work about a month after I purchased, and the second time for the power cord. Both times I spoke with someone here in the US. Both times the resolution to the problem has been good. I wasn't thrilled to have to ship a brand new computer back, but it wasn't a problem.

Dell support - In the past 4 years I would say most of my support calls to Dell with regard to my personal Dell laptop, have been with overseas support. Support has been good - the off shore tech support doesn't bother me as long as they know what they are doing.

 

[Ava83]

Just to clarify the laptops are not made by IBM any longer the division was spun off a few years ago..They are now Lenovo's.

I use a Lenovo for work and they are fine-no issues

 

[kendall]

Games - I really haven't looked at what games are available for Macs. Sorry - can't help you too much there! Technically, the hardware is capable, that is for sure!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Just to clarify the laptops are not made by IBM any longer the division was spun off a few years ago..They are now Lenovo's.

Lenowho's?

 

[RitaZ.]

OMG! That would be like $5k today! At least!

I still have the receipt. That computer was black and white, the screen was about 8.5 inches. DH really wanted to buy it, so I went along with it.

I'm looking at this one: http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/

I can spend $1,999 for the 15", or spend $2,799 for the 17". The 17" looks great, but is it worth that much more?

Are the specs between the 15" and the 17" the same? If so, then I guess it all comes down to size. The bigger screen is nice, no doubt about it. What will you be using it for?

My MacBook is 13" and I love how light it is. I wanted black because it hides scratches better than white. The black one costs $200 more than the white one. I did get a student discount when DH bought it. Also used my discount when he bought the G5. Do you qualify for a student discount?

I don't like to spend a lot of money on things like computers, but DH is a computer geek. His motto is: Price is no object. He gets a kick out of having these gadgets, so I don't even get upset about it. He tells me that I'm lucky to be married to him because his colleagues buy a new computer system every year.

BTW, I'm 40 and the eyes aren't getting any younger, IYKWIM.

I hear ya! I'm 42. I always set my text size to a bigger number.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[RadioNate]

There is no Outlook for Mac. Mac has Entourage which does come with MS Office for Mac. I think Entourage is actually a superior product to Outlook.

I create a lot of PDFs using Preview which is Mac's default universal reader and it's print to PDF function so depending on what you do with Acrobat you may not need it at all.

I love my Mac!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

There is no Outlook for Mac. Mac has Entourage which does come with MS Office for Mac. I think Entourage is actually a superior product to Outlook.

I create a lot of PDFs using Preview which is Mac's default universal reader and it's print to PDF function so depending on what you do with Acrobat you may not need it at all.

I love my Mac!

That's what I'm wanting to hear! I need to look to see if Preview comes with the MacBook Pro...

 

[isyne4u]

I just bought my macbook pro 15in less than a month ago. I love it!!!!!!

I think with the new intelcoreduotingymaboby you can run windows on the mac and run windows programs. I don't know how i just know it is possible.

I use a dell desk top at work and don't like it at all. We also have dell laptops for the kids at school and I hate how the keyboards feel. They feel like the keys aren't attached right. This mac book has the niceset feeling keyboard and huge track pad!!

go for the mac!!

 

[isyne4u]

That's what I'm wanting to hear! I need to look to see if Preview comes with the MacBook Pro...

mine came with preview, but I don't know how to use it other than to read things. I have never tried to make anything with it.