a Mac?

Kracker Bomb · 11-21-2009, 10:34 AM

I'm looking into getting a new lap top of some sort and i was possibly going to consider getting a mac since they are suppose to come with less "problems". But I know very little about them. Its not for gaming, i have a ticking time bomb of a 360 for that. For the Apple disciples here I have a few questions. What are the benefits of the mac over a regular pc? How user friendly is it? Would I be able to use the Zune software and sync my zune with it? Stream music to the 360?

goblue52 · 11-21-2009, 10:38 AM

you must have won the lottery if you want to get a mac.
go get a ps3. lol

Kracker Bomb · 11-21-2009, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goblue52

go get a ps3. lol

That is what I'm planning on doing as soon as the box implodes... which could be any minute now.

Stin 8 · 11-21-2009, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krackerman

I'm looking into getting a new lap top of some sort and i was possibly going to consider getting a mac since they are suppose to come with less "problems". But I know very little about them. Its not for gaming, i have a ticking time bomb of a 360 for that. For the Apple disciples here I have a few questions. What are the benefits of the mac over a regular pc? How user friendly is it? Would I be able to use the Zune software and sync my zune with it? Stream music to the 360?

I love my Mac, but anymore I think I could be happy with either PC or Mac. I've had this MacBook for 3 years now and have never needed any virus protection or ad-blocking software. That's a big plus for me. About a month after buying it, I dropped it onto asphalt, denting in the corner and mashing in the dvd slot (probably the maddest moment I've ever felt in my life) but it has worked fine since. Dvd drive even works.

You can stream to the 360 and PS3 with this company's software. I've been using Connect360 and MediaLink for quite some time now. They work great, and worth the $20 for each IMO. There's probably some free software out there now, but I've had these from the beginning.

Chord · 11-21-2009, 12:19 PM

You can't use a Zune with a mac.

I've never had problems with Windows PC's

Innina · 11-23-2009, 11:28 AM

I switched to a Mac when Vista came out and my old Dell laptop died. I figured my switching cost just went to zero anyway, so I might as well check it out, and I've been very happy. I now prefer Macs actually - because of the little things that just work. 90% of what's nice about a Mac is something that's also nice about a PC, but the 10% that isn't the same is therefore all the more noticeable IMO.

What I like the best:

I do not have to read up on my software versions, compatibilities, or bug reports when I decide to upgrade programs or get new ones. The Apple programming seemed semi-miraculous to me at first, because a lot of such things that are your responsibility (and which I don't mind doing for fun, but DO mind fixing when I'm on a deadline) just work with a Mac. Apple has taken the responsibility for making sure that things play well together instead of lopping it off onto you. (I remember fearing each upgrade to ActiveX in anxious detail.) It doesn't make using a PC impossible, but not having to made me realize how annoying it really was. I recently upgraded from Leopard to Snow Leopard and that involved popping in the DVD, accepting the license agreement, and waiting, then restarting the computer. Everything was as I left it in terms of settings and customization. It's like nothing ever happened, other than my computer runs faster.

I can plug in most printers and scanners and print straight away. As in, plug in new never-before-used printer, go to program, select print, collect print-out. Done. Again, installing drivers and/or listening to Windows tell me that it found a new printer! Yay! Do I want to play with the printer now? isn't IMPOSSIBLE, but having it just work so my train of thought regarding WHAT I'm printing can keep running instead of getting derailed due to the printer is a small thing that makes me happier than I thought it would.

iWork is much simpler than Office. It does the what Office does that you need 90% of the time - short letter, memo, simple spreadsheet or table that fits on a page - VERY quickly, easily, flexibly, and prettily. It just works, and doesn't pretend to or try to be more complicated than it is. I can focus on the content of my resume, the title to put on my business card, or the text of the letter, and know it'll look great and whatnot. (And even if I use a template, it doesn't scream "TEMPLATE!" and can be used with NO modification.) I wrote my thesis in LaTeX though. (I also didn't want to do that in Word - if you're writing a whole book or ding a lot of scientific calculations and/or plotting, Office comes up short anyway IMO.)

I can make PDFs left and right without ever having to worry about Acrobat. Any work-related document I make I can send as a PDF with infinitesimal effort. Boom done sent controlled by me.

Programs work very well with each other as a result of the control Apple retains over OSX and the hardware as a whole.

I already have a fabulous photo management system for my home photos out of the box, no research required, no reading reviews or making comparisons of the options. It looks good, it's organized, and I can make it easy to show people just the best ones in about a minute without looking for folders, filenames, or anything of the sort. Click show show done. Tagging photos and writing captions is all you have to do, and even that's really optional. Because it's so easy I actually do have my digital photos organized, it got done instead of being permanently relegated to the "to do later when I'm less busy" pile, like scrapbooking was.

I can still use Microsoft Project - nearly seamlessly with iLife, in fact. (I can even play FFXI if I boot up in Windows.) I have never had to say "Sorry, I can't deal with this file/program, I have a Mac, can you accommodate me?"

Time Machine. FANTASTIC backup utility that, well, just works. It saved me when I was writing my thesis and accidentally deleted some data files - after the initial adrenaline rush and kicking myself in the behind for being so stupid, it took me about a minute to get the files back. Set it up and forget it and then be saved when disaster or stupidity strikes. Really. I've wrestled a PC backup program at work that was supposed to work the same way, and at least a few times a month I log in to be greeted by 50 notification windows that "Backup to W:/ failed". I'm sure you can find a solution that works better than that one, but then you have to go research and read reviews and... again, not impossible, but not having to do it is something that never even had to go on the to-do list to begin with.

All in all, my Mac has speeded up a lot of to-do list items and eliminated others completely. Nothing earth-shattering - it doesn't do the laundry nor the dishes - but the improved life efficiency is definitely noticeable. I would recommend it whole-heartedly.

I started using 90% of the software capabilities just on common sense (Hmm, I wonder where "Print" could be? Hmmm, I wonder what the keyboard shortcut for "print" could be?), and the remaining 10% you can pick up as you come across it really. It took me some getting used to the way you handle formatting in iWork, but now that I have I see the virtue - it's all in the same place, regardless of WHAT you're formatting. Turns out that makes it really easy to figure out where to format something you've never done before :D

ON3T1M3R · 11-23-2009, 11:34 AM

NSFW - One thing PC users can do that Mac users can't: NSFW

Stin 8 · 11-23-2009, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by x C Y L 0 N x

NSFW - One thing PC users can do that Mac users can't: NSFW

Ouch, man. She's right though...

Chord · 11-23-2009, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Innina

I switched to a Mac when Vista came out and my old Dell laptop died. I figured my switching cost just went to zero anyway, so I might as well check it out, and I've been very happy. I now prefer Macs actually - because of the little things that just work. 90% of what's nice about a Mac is something that's also nice about a PC, but the 10% that isn't the same is therefore all the more noticeable IMO.

What I like the best:

I do not have to read up on my software versions, compatibilities, or bug reports when I decide to upgrade programs or get new ones. The Apple programming seemed semi-miraculous to me at first, because a lot of such things that are your responsibility (and which I don't mind doing for fun, but DO mind fixing when I'm on a deadline) just work with a Mac. Apple has taken the responsibility for making sure that things play well together instead of lopping it off onto you. (I remember fearing each upgrade to ActiveX in anxious detail.) It doesn't make using a PC impossible, but not having to made me realize how annoying it really was. I recently upgraded from Leopard to Snow Leopard and that involved popping in the DVD, accepting the license agreement, and waiting, then restarting the computer. Everything was as I left it in terms of settings and customization. It's like nothing ever happened, other than my computer runs faster.

I can plug in most printers and scanners and print straight away. As in, plug in new never-before-used printer, go to program, select print, collect print-out. Done. Again, installing drivers and/or listening to Windows tell me that it found a new printer! Yay! Do I want to play with the printer now? isn't IMPOSSIBLE, but having it just work so my train of thought regarding WHAT I'm printing can keep running instead of getting derailed due to the printer is a small thing that makes me happier than I thought it would.

iWork is much simpler than Office. It does the what Office does that you need 90% of the time - short letter, memo, simple spreadsheet or table that fits on a page - VERY quickly, easily, flexibly, and prettily. It just works, and doesn't pretend to or try to be more complicated than it is. I can focus on the content of my resume, the title to put on my business card, or the text of the letter, and know it'll look great and whatnot. (And even if I use a template, it doesn't scream "TEMPLATE!" and can be used with NO modification.) I wrote my thesis in LaTeX though. (I also didn't want to do that in Word - if you're writing a whole book or ding a lot of scientific calculations and/or plotting, Office comes up short anyway IMO.)

I can make PDFs left and right without ever having to worry about Acrobat. Any work-related document I make I can send as a PDF with infinitesimal effort. Boom done sent controlled by me.

Programs work very well with each other as a result of the control Apple retains over OSX and the hardware as a whole.

I already have a fabulous photo management system for my home photos out of the box, no research required, no reading reviews or making comparisons of the options. It looks good, it's organized, and I can make it easy to show people just the best ones in about a minute without looking for folders, filenames, or anything of the sort. Click show show done. Tagging photos and writing captions is all you have to do, and even that's really optional. Because it's so easy I actually do have my digital photos organized, it got done instead of being permanently relegated to the "to do later when I'm less busy" pile, like scrapbooking was.

I can still use Microsoft Project - nearly seamlessly with iLife, in fact. (I can even play FFXI if I boot up in Windows.) I have never had to say "Sorry, I can't deal with this file/program, I have a Mac, can you accommodate me?"

Time Machine. FANTASTIC backup utility that, well, just works. It saved me when I was writing my thesis and accidentally deleted some data files - after the initial adrenaline rush and kicking myself in the behind for being so stupid, it took me about a minute to get the files back. Set it up and forget it and then be saved when disaster or stupidity strikes. Really. I've wrestled a PC backup program at work that was supposed to work the same way, and at least a few times a month I log in to be greeted by 50 notification windows that "Backup to W:/ failed". I'm sure you can find a solution that works better than that one, but then you have to go research and read reviews and... again, not impossible, but not having to do it is something that never even had to go on the to-do list to begin with.

All in all, my Mac has speeded up a lot of to-do list items and eliminated others completely. Nothing earth-shattering - it doesn't do the laundry nor the dishes - but the improved life efficiency is definitely noticeable. I would recommend it whole-heartedly.

I started using 90% of the software capabilities just on common sense (Hmm, I wonder where "Print" could be? Hmmm, I wonder what the keyboard shortcut for "print" could be?), and the remaining 10% you can pick up as you come across it really. It took me some getting used to the way you handle formatting in iWork, but now that I have I see the virtue - it's all in the same place, regardless of WHAT you're formatting. Turns out that makes it really easy to figure out where to format something you've never done before :D

Thats cool, but everything you listed I do with a PC and MS apps.

I wonder how many issues are brought upon one's self the longer they use a specific platform. I have a friend who used to use mac's from the G3 days and when trying to switch over to the intel line had a long list of issues, very similiar to the issues a long time PC user has. Now he has switched to Windows 7 and his comments are very in line with yours but reversed (just replace mac w/pc).

CMorrigu · 11-23-2009, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Innina

I recently upgraded from Leopard to Snow Leopard and that involved popping in the DVD, accepting the license agreement, and waiting, then restarting the computer. Everything was as I left it in terms of settings and customization. It's like nothing ever happened, other than my computer runs faster.

This is the same basic experience I had with Android on my phone. Did a firmware update - two reboots later, everything was the same except some bugs had been fixed.