Tux the albion Penguin
Resident Linux User
- Thread starter
- #21
I'm ready for whatever Frank or MYOB say. We all start from somewhere Presidente
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Are Macs really that great?
- Thread starter Tux the albion Penguin
- Start date
I'm ready for whatever Frank or MYOB say. We all start from somewhere Presidente
beorhthelm
A. Virgo, Football Genius
- Jul 21, 2003
- 36,016
What a load of shit. Steve Jobs really can brainwash people into believing anything can't he
yep. Macs are great, but theres a large slice of the emperor's new cloths about them. they use the same components as a PC of similar price. people overlook the main source of their success isn't their computers at all, but their MP3 player and itunes, and now their phones.
JetsetJimbo
Well-known member
- Jun 13, 2011
- 1,166
Macs are expensive, but I bought myself a top-of-the-range one and was using it for ten years before replacing it last year with another top-of-the-range one, which I hope will last me a similarly long time. I can't imagine any circumstances where I'd have been able to get ten years use out of a Windows PC.
The new Macbook Airs pack a surprising amount of punch for their price, and their form factor is just amazing. If you're willing to take the plunge, they might be a good place to start. I bought one as a present for my mum and must admit to being a bit jealous of how sleek it looked next to my Macbook Pro, but I wanted the extra grunt you get from the MBP models. You could also consider getting a Mac Mini and using it with an existing keyboard/mouse/monitor, but chances are you'll be looking to upgrade that in a couple of years.
The new Macbook Airs pack a surprising amount of punch for their price, and their form factor is just amazing. If you're willing to take the plunge, they might be a good place to start. I bought one as a present for my mum and must admit to being a bit jealous of how sleek it looked next to my Macbook Pro, but I wanted the extra grunt you get from the MBP models. You could also consider getting a Mac Mini and using it with an existing keyboard/mouse/monitor, but chances are you'll be looking to upgrade that in a couple of years.
Tux the albion Penguin
Resident Linux User
- Thread starter
- #24
I noticed the mac mini's are the cheapest option. Do those work with any keyboard, mouse and Monitor or Is It exclusively with only apple branded products?
No they don't. They use the same components as a PC half their price.
brightn'ove
cringe
don't forget the display, the displays that Macs use are top class, worth a lot of money which arent included in cheaper PC equivalents.
Once again you're speaking out your ass.
Anyway? Did you spend the same amount of money on your 2009 iMac as your windows laptop? Or are you doing the classic 'compare a £1200 computer with a £400 laptop' thing?
Someone else has already pointed this out, but you can generally pick up an identically specced windows PC for ~50-75% of the price depending on what sort of screen you want.
brightn'ove
cringe
i'm speaking from experience. I've found it a lot harder to keep windows PCs in line than Macs. The specs are pretty similar, the only difference with the mac being the graphics card and the HDD
Paskman
Not a user
My wife and I bought laptops at the same time 3 years ago. She bought Windows and I bought an aluminum macbook. The hard drive on hers has just failed for the 2nd time. My macbook is now running Lion (£25) and has never missed a beat. The Windows laptop was cheaper to buy at the time, but has cost a lot more since (running Vista - £70+ to upgrade to Windows 7) and is currently not working again. Which was the best buy then? I know which I would buy again. Not all of us want to build our own computers and then spend our time repairing them!
Sent from - not telling as it upsets some people!
Sent from - not telling as it upsets some people!
redneb
Active member
I'm a bit reluctant to weigh in to the is debate - as I'm bored of the Mac v PC tribalism which is silly and I'm here to read about The Albion - but a lot of people are missing the point in helping people decide which computer suits other people, or themselves.
The product specs. are only a fraction of what counts. What counts is user experience. AS an analogy, I imagine a Fiat and a Ferrari may have, say, 50% of components in common but in actual fact that is (almost) entirely irrelevant to the driving experience.
While cautioning that nothing is ever 100% perfect, where I have the choice in my home office I've exclusively used Macs for more than 16 years.
So, keep an open mind and choose what you can afford is my advice.... and the argument that a lot of useful software isn't available for use on Macs doesn't apply any more, and in significant cases, works the other way round these days.
The product specs. are only a fraction of what counts. What counts is user experience. AS an analogy, I imagine a Fiat and a Ferrari may have, say, 50% of components in common but in actual fact that is (almost) entirely irrelevant to the driving experience.
While cautioning that nothing is ever 100% perfect, where I have the choice in my home office I've exclusively used Macs for more than 16 years.
So, keep an open mind and choose what you can afford is my advice.... and the argument that a lot of useful software isn't available for use on Macs doesn't apply any more, and in significant cases, works the other way round these days.
JetsetJimbo
Well-known member
- Jun 13, 2011
- 1,166
They should work with your old keyboard, mouse and monitor, although I think the Mini's monitor port is the DVI type, which not all monitors have (most reasonably recent ones do though). Even if your monitor doesn't have a DVI output, you can get an adapter.
It's also worth checking out Apple's refurb store. I'm told by a friend who works for Apple retail that they're absolutely rock-solid, they don't resell things with any serious problems and they've all been thoroughly refurbished to a standard where even the staunchest Apple nerd would not be able to tell the difference. I'm not sure if I'm able to post links, but I'll have a go: Refurbished Mac - Buy Refurbished Mac Products - Apple Store (UK)
If that doesn't work, just do a search for "Apple special deals UK", it'll be the top link.
redneb
Active member
If you buy a cheap laptop for £500 then your gonna get this. However, if you buy a business class one like a Dell Latitude you wont, and they still cost a lot less than a Mac.
Also PC's are easy to upgrade and software which does run on both actually has a lot more options with the PC version.
in short, if you want excellent graphics and media get a Mac. For general Internet and word processing, get a PC.
And you each spent £1200 did you?
Paskman
Not a user
LamieRobertson
Not awoke
erm..hav macbook pro...ipad..iphone....they r made for simple people like me
omgitsjames
Member
I treat my IBM thinkpad like shit and its 7 years going strong. you just can't buy a rubbish PC and compare it to a mac and most consumer grade PCs are pretty crap since they usually don't have a metal chassis or hinges.
Gary Gurr
New member
As they say once you go Mac you never go back. My wife hates then but I bought her an iPad for Christmas and now she is using it all the time.
You must have a local Apple Store, you can go in there and play for a while.
Good luck with the hunt.
Garry Nelson's Left Foot
Well-known member
I have a second hand mac mini(2005, I think). I bought a new keyboard and mouse as I wanted wireless ones. It worked fine with my old monitor, although I did have to buy a new cable to connect them(the mac was dvi whereas my old p.c was hdmi).
In terms of how good/bad it is, I like it a lot more than my old p.c's. I'm a bit of a computer idiot so I only use it for basic stuff-the internet, movies, itunes, photo's etc. It's very simple to use, it's generally very smooth running and has given me no problems in the two years I've had it(touch wood...). It's also much smaller than my old p.c stacks and looks nicer if that's important for you. I bought mine of the internet for ¥35,000 which is about 250-275 quid at the current exchange rates.