Mac or PC and Why?
-
-
- Chris S
- Hero Rocketeer
- Posts: 292
- Thanks: 0
-
I don't want to be the spoiler of the Mac-Hype here, but...
I think, both sides have their ups and downs...
The Mac surely has it's very nice and intuitive Interface, which is a huge plus and it's almost immune to crashing. Did you ever question yourself, why?
MacOS has the easy part there, since it's built to run on the Mac only and this means very specific Hardware only. (you could compare that to i.E. Dell delivering Notebooks with a special Version of Windows, that's rock-stable, but only runs on Dell-Laptops).
Windows, on the other hand, has to be way more adaptive, since it's built for Modular Hardware from a bazillion of different brands. In fact, a lot of Windows-Crashes can be traced back to Hardware-Incompatibilities.
Seen from a distance, this also leads to Mac-Hardware/-Parts being exorbitantly expensive for no particular reason, since they can produce out of competition, while (often superior) PC Hardware is way cheaper (due to competition on the market).
As an example from real life:
About 2 months ago, a friend of mine asked me to fix her Mac, because her PSU blew up. Her Mac's an "old" G4 (well - nothing too old... built in the end of 2003). Well - not much of a problem... looking at the old PSU, it looked like a (very cheaply produced) standard 230W PCI-PSU, so I went to my local Hardware-Dealer, got a 250W PCI-PSU (for € 15) and replaced her broken PSU (or better said: tried to do so) - I connected the drives and everything (did not connect the Case-Fan at this point, since it has - oh what a surprise - a Mac-only special connector, that would have required some more "custom fixing") - and then I tried to plug in the Motherboard-Connector but... SURPRISE! Mac is off standards there and has 22 pins instead of the standard 20.
Crap! At least I was able to hand the new PSU back and get my money returned.
Try #2: consulted the Mac-Homepage for certified Dealers and found 2, where I live. Called Dealer #1, the answer was "G4? No way to get anything for that...". Great! Called Dealer #2 - at least he promised to get the part and it would take about 2 weeks and that the PSU would cost about 80 bucks
80 Bucks (about 120 USD) for a crappy cheap 230W PSU?! WTF!
So - while being forced to wait anyway - I looked at ebay and found a G4-PSU for €1. Great - that's more, what it's worth I had the winning bid with €1 and paid another €15 for shipping, so all in all €16 (about 24 USD). The PSU arrived some days later, clearly labelled as G4-PSU with MAC-HW-Nr. and so on, so I screwed it in, plugged everything in, tried to connect the Mainboard-Plug.... and... what the... it had 20 Pins ???
Further "investigation" showed, that some (earlier) G4s were delivered with 20 Pin Connectors (but would not start with a "standard" PCI-PSU anyway), while the later ones had the 22-Pin-Version. 16 Bucks wasted -.-
So, after another week of waiting, the Certified Mac Dealer got their G4 PSUs... well... what they got, were Charging-Cables for the G4 MacBook. I told them,, that this is not, what I was searching for, but the Internal PSU of the Desktop-G4, so they phoned their contact at Apple and the only Solution, they had to offer, was to send in the whole Computer for Apple to replace the PSU. Minimum Cost: €150 (223 USD), probably more.
I thought, they probably want to make a Fool of me and went to the other "certified MacStore" and they told me exactly the same, along with the fact, that Apple would not provide Spareparts like PSUs and that such parts can only be replaced by sending in the whole Computer to Apple.
That's plainly ridiculous. With a ton of luck, I found another (used) PSU on ebay, that had the same part-# as the broken one etc. and 22 pins. It was the only one - worldwide! And it cost friggin' € 89 (132 USD)!! At least cheaper, than paying 150++ bucks for a completely senseless monopolistic return-policy...
So, after 4 weeks of annoyance and paying more than 100 Bucks for a used part, that has less quality than a brand-new 15 Buck PSU I was finally able to fix her Computer...
Just as Comparison: as coincidence wants, I had to replace my PC's PSU some days ago. I went to the Retailer, got a really good one (550W, 3 seperate Powerrails, Modular Cable Management, giant silent fan, 10 yrs. Warranty etc.) for 80 Bucks and it took me about 20 Minutes to change the old one for the new one.
-
-
-
- Bob Ateah
- Elite Rocketeer
- Posts: 4521
- Thanks: 0
-
$223 for a 230 watt power supply - THIS is a major problem with Macs.
Proprietary hardware. As a sidenote, a 230 watt power supply, WOW, that is not much power, forget about running a decent video card in there!
Having said that, PC makers such as Dell pull the same crap - they build with proprietary components and good luck trying to replace the parts with cheap aftermarket parts. :-\ >
example: I had a Dell 8200 to fix for a client, blown PSU (350 watt).
Dell wanted $120 for the replacement cheap 350 PSU - I could buy an aftermarket 550 watt PSU for under $50, HOWEVER, Dell makes their PSU with the power cord in a different location (the major problem, there are others), so to use an aftermarket PSU you have to gut the case, use a Dremel to carve out a niche for the PSU to fit right and then put everything back together.
I refuse to purchase or recommend a "factory" built computer for clients, I only suggest a custom built computer which will cost less money and will be a much better machine with high quality parts. - The member formerly known as Roland Deschain
After your question is solved, please Edit your original post and choose the Solved message icon, thank you!
-
-
-
- Joe Halleck
- Preeminent Rocketeer
- Posts: 5480
- Thanks: 67
- Never give up!
-
Brien McDowell wrote:
Can we say VIRUS! Totally Mac hands down.MACS can get viruses and trojans.
Don't get all warm a fuzzy thinking if you buy a MAC your imune.
As the numbers grow so will the hacks.
BTW I love OSX...I run it in a vmware guest on my Quad core PC!
- Last Edit: 16 years 9 months ago by Joe Halleck.
- Magento - phpBB3 - Kunena - RokBridge Specialist
No Secure Tab posts unless requested.
Use the Thank You and Life Preserver Buttons!
Your signature is also great place for setup details...help us help you!
-
-
- For April i will gift me a Mac......wow im so excited....
-
-
-
-
-
- ProtoPC
- Hero Rocketeer
- Posts: 289
- Thanks: 0
-
I must start off saying, I had been a Mac loyalist since the Mac Plus was introduced and the graphics industry started to embraced that funny looking computer. I remember discovering on my own that a Mac could be used for everything I used to go to the typesetters for. That was many Macs ago...with each Mac looking cooler than the last (except for the PowerPC).
But all that changed for me one day when I decided to try a Game demo running Windows XP at Best Buy - compared to my two shiny new Mac G4s w/OSX at the time. (Sure the Macs are faster now, but so are the PC systems.) Basically the PC seemed snappier, the boot time was much shorter, the graphics and gaming really fast and beautiful... and just more performance for the money. What the...? How could this be?
I remember feeling betrayed. Just about every year or 2, I would obediently get the newest & best Mac to keep on the leading edge. How could this lowly PC, blow my new Mac G4s away? The Macs sure had great design and I always bought the top end...but...but.
So I took the plunge and built my own custom PC...not as hard as it sounded. I could upgrade newer parts cheaper and without waiting for the "Mac" version to come out, or without having to buy a whole new Mac system! Plus, there was a huge selection of software and PC Games for the PC compared to the Mac. In fact all my old main Mac graphics programs are just as easy to use on the Windows XP and now Vista. Most graphics files work cross platform now. It just all made sense to switch - a notion that bordered on almost a religious apostasy for me before. I remember thinking how far behind the PC world was, especially after listening to any of the Apple Keynotes.
But after building a few custom PCs for myself and other "Mac" family members, the custom PC world was an eye-opener. It took a couple weeks of learning the ropes and reinstalling the Windows system a few times to see what worked best but...for me now...after almost 5 years on PC... it was worth the switch. I have had less networking issues and yes, even less crashes on my PCs overall. System crashes/hangs exist on both platforms, the solution is finding the working balance of current applications & the latest drivers. Even though the Mac OS has many "time-saving" features...the dock and it's gimmicks seemed to be just that.
I still have my iPhone (even did their Newton)...but everytime I go into a Mac store today to play...it just reminds me how the many years I spent in the Apple world and how when I switched to PC it felt like their 1984 commercial in reverse...Selection, Customization, Value, Performance...and Freedom!
PS: And as for "looks" ... the custom PCs are placed more like show pieces with cool cases, windows and LEDs that get more WOW from people than my Macs ever did. And after gaming on these, I gave my consoles to my kids
- Last Edit: 16 years 8 months ago by ProtoPC.
- Herbal Natural Remedies | Get Paid Advertising 3 Minutes A Day!
-
-
-
- AzzX
- Rocketeer
- Posts: 79
- Thanks: 0
-
Nice post Brett your comment especially "Selection, Customization, Value, Performance...and Freedom!" hit the nail on the head.
Freedom is a funny word, especially in the world of Joomla.
The other Mac guys at work get blown away by my Irivers drag and drop ability. I've taken a whole archive of music long before itunes even starts up... to Freedom.
-
-
-
- jakeeb!
- Jr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 39
- Thanks: 0
-
And what do you, Mac-users, think:
you'd choose MacBook or a desktop version? or maybe a notebook or Pc
for webdesign, you know, you install all the programs e.g. Adobe Fireworks, Photoshop, etc on it. You prefer working with it from behind a desk or you appreciate the mobility of it, for example, to take it to the city - center or for a coffe to work there? But there comes the problem of the mouse a small screen or anything else...
How do you feel about it?
Cheers!
Jake - Web designing in memory of Alex - beloved parrot friend - now gone ;(
extreemo.com/ - Home of Extreme Sports and Adventure!
-
Time to create page: 0.061 seconds