Mac Book Pro or Windows

As just an internet marketer, you're not going to need anything fancy (it doesn't take much to computing power to browse the internet and write articles ). Not to mention a lot of the software IMers use is restricted to Windows. Sure, there are ways around it with a Mac, but there's really no point in getting a Mac unless you want a *pretty* laptop.

BTW, I grew up with PCs, and I switched over to a MacBook Pro a few years ago. I love the thing to death, but for your needs (from what I understand, at least), a PC will suit you just fine. Your wallet will thank you, as well.

Macs come with iLife installed for free. It includes: iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, and a bunch of other stuff.

iWork does almost everything MS Office Ultimate does for $79.

And if you do much writing, there's a little-known but powerful writing tool I found called Scrivener.

BTW, my brother was just complaining that all three of his kids have gotten some crazy virus on their Windows boxes. The people who fix them either charge $85 to reformat and reinstall Windows (what you can do yourself simply by installing the "restore CD"), or they charge $150 or more to run a battery of anti-virus stuff that fixes things. He said he's had to do that about every 6 months.

I've heard this from a number of people over the past couple of years.

They look at the price of a Mac and say, "That's just TOO EXPENSIVE!"

Ok, so how many times have you paid to have the system wiped or de-liced or whatever, and how much has that cost you per computer?

When you add up the wasted time, expense of fixing things, and all of that, it's way more than what you'd pay for a Mac.

A base Mac laptop (suitable for a kid) is $900 or so. Compare that with a typical Windows laptop at $600 that has to be disinfected every few months, along with annual subscriptions for various anti-virus software, and all the problems you have to deal with. Is $300 really saving you anything?

Not to mention that the iLife apps just kick a$$ over their more-or-less equivalent apps found in Windows.

To me it's a no-brainer. But people seem to think there's some value in saving a few hundred bucks in exchange for having to battle viruses and stuff all the time. Go figure.

-David

I got a mac but there isn't really that much difference, software is usually harder to find tho, like article bots etc... I heard mac is better for design but not sure about that, go with what ever you feel comfortable with, I like my mac, it more simpler to use then windows.

My instinct tells me Mac Book Pro but little daughter will want one too and in UK that will put me out aleast a couple of grand.

If I get a refurb one is support key or are they more durable than windows?

G

I have a MacBook and I love it, I don't have the problems with locking up the way I did with Windows and it runs faster in my opinion. I still have my Windows laptop I use to read some files that my Mac won't open.

I think this is really a software and application issue. Which tools do you need? Which operating system will those tools work on?

Hi,

I've replaced all PCs with Mac in our family. It has been the best thing I've done. The kids were a nightmare with the PC. No matter how much anti-virus, anti-spyware etc I was running, the kids would always go looking somewhere for a mobile phone ring tone or something and get another virus/spyware/trojan etc etc. So, out with PCs in with Macs.

The issue is that most kids tend to get sucked into the "let's install this crap" mentality with Windows, so that's where most of the problem lies. I guess you can lock down the Windows OS, but I found that to be problematic with some software such as mobile phone desktop stuff, which really would not work properly unless you have admin rights on Windows. So, now they just use their Macs for word processing, surfing, email etc. No games, that's for xbox.

Myself, I have a MacBook Pro and I love it. I have purchased refurb MacBooks as well, and they've turned out pretty good (in fact I couldn't tell the difference between new and refurb). A basic MacBook is £799 and a basic MacBook Pro is £899, with the updates in graphics cards and memory, processor etc, these have become very good machines. If you doing really top end graphics, the pro is the way to go, with the additional graphics acceleration.

Yes, my pro cost me £2K, but so far 2 and a half years of not one problem. So, I think it's worth it. It's down to personal preference. For me, I want a tool that does the job. Not something I have to tinker with on and off. Windows is great though, it's created a whole industry to look after it. So, just think of all the jobs it's created and businesses it has helped create.

Cheers, Lee.

Just do it dude! MAC!!!

My vote is for the Mac.

1. You can download almost anything without worrying about it.
2. All of the software really does "just work" and integrates pretty seamlessly into the OS and other software.
3. If you're an Internet Marketer you might get go use out of all of the Apple-only tools such as Automator. For example, you can configure it to make copies of landing pages or resize thumbnails in bulk.
4. If you're a coder/web designer there is nothing like the text editors on Mac.

However (quick plug for Windows):

1. Microsoft Office on Mac is pretty buggy and slow. If you want to use Excel (which personally I use often) it will work better on Windows.

However again (back to Mac):

1. You can install a vitualization software (my favorite is VMWare Fusion) to run Windows in another window for cases when you have no choice. You can also install Windows in a way that will allow you to completely boot into it like you'd do in an HP or Dell computer (via Bootcamp).

I recently got the new Mac Pro, which I love but previously I had (and still own) the first Intel Macbook Pro (I got it on release day). That was 3 years ago. Have I had any problems? None. Still works as new. It was the best investment I had ever made on a computer.

Mac FTW!

I made the switch from PC to Mac, and let me tell you, I can't believe I lasted with PC as long as I did. I'm typing this on my wife's PC and I can barely stand to touch the keyboard. I do all of my IM with my Macbook Pro. Its SO fast, and SO reliable, whereas a PC laptop gets slow and bogged down almost immediately after purchase. You'd figure after all this time PC could get itself together, but it doesn't look like its going to happen.

As for IM purposes, well, its true most of the "tools" you'll need are for PC, I think you'll learn that you don't really need the "tools", and can get everything you need to get done on your Mac, and get it done a lot faster.

I do all my IMing with Mac. Not a new Mac, either; a PowerPC iMac G5 that's several years old as well as a G4 Powerbook that's several years old. Both still working great. I've only run into two software programs I wanted to use that were not available for Mac, and for one, there's a comparable program available, and for the other, I just run it in Windows on my Mac.

If you're doing anything with video production, there's no dilemma here, in my opinion.

Get the Mac, but run VM Ware on it so you can install Windows as well.

It's like having 2 computers.

I run XP Pro on my Mac Book Pro and I love it.

Only thing is if you are going to do this the VM Ware will slow down the Mac bc it uses up a lot of resources, so make sure you get more than just the entry level Mac Book Pro.

It's worth the extra few hundred dollars to have both running with no lag.

Cheers,
Jason

I just gotten myself a window 7 and it's working very good for me

I use Mac as my desktop & also have Ubuntu & Windows XP on a netbook & a laptop. I use them all a lot but in my opinion the Mac is streets ahead of the rest.

It's fast (3 years old now & still running quick) easy to use & I do some video & music work so it's perfect for that.

Go for the MacBook Pro.

I hope this is not offending with Mac lovers. Read this just a piece of information!

An Apple Mac was the first victim in a hacker shoot-out to determine which operating system is the most secure.
A former US National Security Agency employee has trousered $10,000 for breaking into a MacBook Air at CanSecWest security conference's PWN 2 OWN hacking contest. The MacBook was lined up against Linux and Vista PCs - which have so far remained uncracked.
It took Charles Miller just two minutes to break into the Apple. Show organisers had offered the MacBook, a Sony Vaio and Fujitsu U810 as prizes, saying that they could be won by anybody at the show who could find a way to hack into each of them and read the contents of a file on the system, using a previously undisclosed "0day" attack.



Just search the full story using the content.

Go with the Mac - I've noticed a lot of IM guru's have mentioned that they have "converted" to being Mac users

If you have the money and are willing to pay a premium for the Mac OS, then go for it. That's all you're paying for is the Mac OS. Macs are Intel based computers and use the same basic components as PCs so you're paying a premium to be able to run the Mac OS.

The only real advantage of a Mac (in my opinion) is that you don't have to worry about viruses. Even so, I have never had a problem with viruses with a PC...I mean ever. Install an anti-virus program for precaution and don't download stuff from unreputable sites and you'll be fine.

Any new PC you buy now will come with Windows 7 which is a dream to run. No problems at all so far. It's definitely leaps and bounds better than Vista. You can run all of your IM tools without having to switch between OSes on your Mac.

I would save yourself several hundred dollars and get a PC laptop with comparable specs. Spend the money on outsourcing or IM tools.

When people bring up the issue of "cost" when comparing Mac to PC, I typically ask them if they would expect to pay more for a BMW than they might pay for a Geo.

I was a die-hard Windoze guy for years. I switched to Mac a few years ago.

I was nervous about spending so much more for the Mac than I ever had for a Windoze unit.

But the purchase price is only part of the story.

In my own experiences, when I was running Windoze, I was always (and I do mean ALWAYS) having to fix stuff, upgrade drivers, install new sound cards, upgrade this, update that, repair this and repair that, take it to a repair shop for some issue or another.

The time I was spending battling viruses, the blue screen of death, trying to figure out why it wouldn't print, etc... was time I was not spending on my business or just enjoying my flight simulator and other games.

The fact that I have kids and a wife that were also using Windoze meant that time was being used up even more with responding to things like, "Honey? Why won't my computer do anything? It's just sitting there with a blue screen".

My entire family and business are transitioned over to Mac now. We spent more money up front. But now I don't spend any time on repairs, installing drivers, debugging, rebooting, etc... I just USE the computer.

My Mac handles all of my marketing tasks and is used for video and music production with no problem. I didn't even have to buy new drivers. It worked right out of the box.

I do still have one windoze unit on my desk.

Why?

A lot of our clients still use windows and WHEN (not if) they contact me with issues related to using the IE browser on a windoze box, we're able to see it from the perspective of a real windoze box and get it resolved for them.

For online business there is no competition...Windows. If you're looking to scale up...Windows. Not only cost being a factor (but that should be a big factor with all businesses), but just compatibility issues and why bother having two OS's on your computer when you can do it all with one? I run Windows on all of my computers and I don't have any extra OS's clogging up my hard drive I have no need to; my computers all work fine.

My personal computer and my business computers don't have virus issues because they aren't used for things that cause viruses (warez, porn, shady sites in general). My son and wife's computers get spyware every once in a while, but that's because they click on everything they see and are inexperienced computer users. My solution, every once in a while I clean their computers (using freeware) that of course you just click Go and after a few hours (unattended) they're clean. It's general maintenance and it literally takes a few minutes of my time every few months.

Windows has all the programs you need, especially if you really want to scale up and get into more automation for the things you do.

I am now officially not sure on this issue again

Well, if you want the devil's advocate service:

Windows can be less money up front, since there are so many vendors and you can customize the exact hardware you want.

Thinkpad keyboard quality and Toughbook sturdiness are just not available in any Mac laptop.

For desktops, there are more options to incrementally upgrade one component at a time, if you'd like to do your own tinkering; but Mac desktops tend to hold their economic value and utility longer, so this might balance out.

There are a great variety of programs of every type for Windows, which would run full speed if you boot to Windows on your Mac, but would run slower if you run them side by side with Mac OS.

There are more people who use Windows, so there's a wider variety of opinions about how to use it. Some of those opinions are even worth something.

Windows is far more of a target for viruses and such, so you absolutely must invest more time, money, and effort in security than with the Mac. If you have the time, talent, and interest, or don't mind finding a good expert, this might cost less for you than the price difference for a Mac.

Personally, based on over two decades of computing, I think you should get the Mac without a moment's regret.

Buy a mac mate, i've just ordered a customised mac, for nearly £3000, there is a software you can buy so that WINDOWS programs DO work on the mac!

apple do sell this, which i've just bought. I'm just waiting for the delivery now!

By the way i've always used Windows laptops! Thanks to the warrior forum, Money is no issue!

In my own experience - MAC.

My laptop is my life and I'm totally sold on my mac.

I've had desktop and laptop windows machines - since moving to MAC - I wonder why it wasn't way sooner.

It seems the majority of these posts cover the pro's.

I run parallels for any windows apps - and have no compatability issues (and trust me - I consult to Gov't and they are windows all the way)

My last windows laptop - the drive blew 11 months after purchase.

In terms of workflow, for me personally the Mac is like 5x more productive...I've been a windows user since windows 95 on my first computer...I played with OS X for 1 month...I was hooked...the workflow is just much, much faster for me.

Also, unless you know what your doing I wouldn't recommend "building" a Mac yourself...I thought that too until a couple of weeks ago when I went on a OC forum and saw a thread with benchmarks comparing the Quad Core Mac Pro with self-build Mac Pro's...in almost every benchmark the "original" Mac Pro won...it got almost to a tie when the guys started to modify voltages, cooling solutions, power supplies, overclocking the ram etc...

You only need a really basic computer... but if you're going to buy one...

Get a MAC.

PC by far man.

Cheaper, just as reliable, and runs more programs.

I don't really get the whole Mac fad, my dad got a free one for work and we took it for a spin.

My PC can do everything his mac can do, heck it can do more! I run open office, which is completely free, and extremely nice. I run VLC player, plays any movie.

I have two laptops, one is ten years old, the other is a new netbook, only 6 months. Both have never had a virus, nor have I ever paid for antivirus software (I use free AVG)

In comparison we couldn't really see the advantage to switching to a mac.

(Note: I am computer savy, if you aren't really good with computers a mac may just be for you, but if your used to a computer I don't see why you would change.)

I think it comes down to a personal preference. I use both and love them both for different reasons.

Get a mac! I switched about 2 years ago and I will never buy a PC again. The main thing is the amount of time I save not having to restart and recover my Mac from all the crashes like I do with my PC's.

Here's an interesting article on "why you should consider OS X" -

Marco.org - Why you should consider OS X

Don't get me wrong man. I am actually a fan of Apple....I think Microsoft should throw in the towel in the MP3 and smartphone market. Equally I think Apple should do the same with the computer market.

Yep stick to phones and MP3 players....they've shifted a few of those.

Its not necessary to utilize an apple computer. However if you do have the money to spend then by all means purchase one. But its definitely not needed

What ever the truth of which one is better, appeaRs to be irrelevant to teenagers especially girls and the resale market where amazing product placement on teen shows mean that macs have incredible trend appeal to the young and windows is looking so last century and boring to them.

Try as I might my daughter would prefer to go without a computer if it meant not having a mac ( any mac however old), the thought of having to display a dell or a packard bell pc to her friends was the equivalent of becomming a social outcast.

So I just bought her a 15 month old mac pro for £485 , and I will just have to keep my 7 year old windows pc and get is refurbished and rebuilt.

The power of girls over their dads-I tell ya.

G

Hi,

well i bought my wife a macbook pro. and i am thoroughly disgusted with it. she cannot run any programs aside from mac osx compatible she cannot do an awful lot and i go spend 2000 bucks for a computer i then have to buy her the new software that comes i have to buy her the aple add ons so she can keep her email and stuff going whatever they are called so each year for 3 yrs now i have had to put out another 800.00 i paid 1600 for mine and can do everything with 0 issue use any program and develop whatever i want oh sure you could run a virtual desktop on mac to run windows but why bother it's a waste of cash and my wife now wants a laptop like mine. way to go mac!
this is why i am a pc
-WD

I've built PCs since early college as a hobby and I'm just now starting to look into Macs. I think with my video editing Im doing these days for my IM products a MAC would be the way to go.

I just got an email from a friend that was a pure Mac hater asking me about iWork and Aperture. It looks like Hell is freezing over just a tad.

Only bummer is, if they get really popular then the viruses and other sleaze will come too.

You won't be sorry about going Mac.

Josh

after this month i have become a windows hater, i used to be the main person from even college days who loved windows 3.1 95 98 2000 xp vista and windows 7 or to be frank,anything they made

but all i have had is nothing but problems however i own a mac book pro and i can say i never had one problem with it compared to all the operating systems of windows and things like dirvers since apple just places it all on the website so its more easy to find and download

go for mac..because after mac you never go back,

thanks

There are great values to be had in the aftermarket for previously owned MacBooks and MacBook Pro models. One of the best sources for such deals are education Asset liquidators. I just acquired a fully tricked out 2008 MacBook Pro at a fraction of its original cost.

Apple's products retain far greater value over time than similar Wintel laptops. You have an added advantage of running the MS Operating system either natively via Boot Camp or in virtualization with Parallels or Fusion.

I purchased the 2.4GHz 15.4 inch MacBook Pro with 4GB RAM and a 250 GB HD for just $325! Now, it came without a viable battery or power charger. However, I got the new battery for just $30 and the new Apple charger for $16.

I have the same model (with just 2GB RAM) and paid $1970 in 2008. You will do well to consider on of these.

Joe Benevides

Ha ha ha. You think buying the right computer will lead to success??

I have both. I have a MacBook Air, and I have a 6 Core 3.33GHz, 12 GB RAM Machine with all the bells and whilstles.

Guess which one is fastest? They both basically do the same job. And I don't really think that one is easier or harder to use than the other.

If you get a Mac you can run a Windows virtual machine, and get the best of both worlds (you can do the same in reverse with a Windows machine, but it's a bit harder)

To help you understand my reasons. I got the PC because I wanted a fast and powerful machine with lots of software for it. I got the Mac because I wanted portability, and to be able to open the computer and use it straight away (there are PCs that do this also) The downside to the Mac is that there isn't anywhere near as much software for it. On the other hand, in most cases, there is enough.

Don't buy into the usual childish mac vs pc rubbish. My Mac does look pretty, but there are Windows machines that look almost identical. My Windows machine is a beast, you probably can't get a Mac version of this. I can get most software on Mac, but Windows definitely has more, and has the edge. I personally have not found anything on Mac that makes me think that it is better. Aside from the availability of more software and peripherals for it, functionality wise, there's nothing in it any more.

So I'd go with what you're used to, then from the sounds of thing whether you wanted to pay less, for more, get a PC. If you're into the Mac interface get that.

Personally if I didn't have a machine, I'd recommend a PC, just because you have more available for it, and for a cheaper price. I like both.

I ditched my Windows based machines last year and went for an iMac 27 and MBA 13'3.

I have never looked back.

But the OP's question is largely down to one thing: budget. If you have the money, go for Apple.

Mac Book Pro. It is what I love and use. I never have to worry about viruses or it crashing. I love creating things like websites on it as well.

I'm a Mac guy, my wife is a Wintel girl. Neither of us has much problem with our computers, but she spends a lot of time updating and running anti-virus software, making sure everything is perfect, and I just basically leave my Mac on all the time. (Shut down once every week or two just to empty the cache.) I agree with whoever posted above that a Mac will save you lots of time not rebooting and so on. Yes, there are some programs that are available for Windows and not Mac, but that's becoming less and less so with the new AIR platform stuff. So I vote Mac, especially if you're not super-technical (which I'm not).

Now realize this question is coming from a guy who spent 10 years in a corporate IT environment...

Why do 75% of people that buy Mac's - drive Volkswagens and have a bike rack on the back?

Just something I've noticed...

It's funny, because it's true.

Another iMac user here. It's by far the most productive computer out of my machines. I use VirtualBox with Win7 on the Mac to run Windows only software, and own another Win7 computer.

I would buy a Mac if I were you, no contest..

Mac! Even a few years ago, I would have said PC. But no reason for it now. I've been a mac user for 20 years, and I can tell you. The ROI is worth it. For instance, I just upgraded from my 13inch G4 powerbook that I bought in 2004.

Be well,
Lane

Ugh forget mac unless you wanna be one of those sat at Starbucks on your own with your shiny turd on your lap thinking you look cool.

PC is the way to go Windows 8 with touchscreen

I bought a Macbook Air and a Macbook Pro last year and I would never go back to Windows again.

But saying that, you don't need a Mac to make money online or build an internet business.

If money tight, get a PC... That's more than enough for what you need or ever need for that matter.

At the end of the day, a Mac is basically something you "want" more than you "need" to make money online.

James Scholes

It all comes down to ECOSYSTEM!

I have iPad / iPhone but run Windows. But I am a MS programmer and so I need my Windows machine. Difference is I have the ability and skill to mix and match my ecosystem to make sure that everything is in 1 central place:
- Documents
- Code
- Videos
- IM Stuff (downloads, courses, pdf's, etc)
- Bookmarks
- etc..

And the most important thing is that I can access whatever part of my Assets be it a video, a document, a piece of code, a remote session on a dedicated server etc... ALL FROM 1 PLACE!

I have sat in airports and written SQL Queries via my iPad through TeamViewer to my home machine etc.

If you a non-techie person than go with the most ease of use platform. A platform that you can achieve everything on and more. I personally can't use the Mac OS because I way too use to the Windows OS. But the iPhone and the iOS platforms are brilliant! They just work! No tinkering and no fuss. They work extremely well!!

Don't go for overly complex. Go for what works and what will save you time down the line. That is the best advice I can give you.