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PC with Windows 8 V Mac Book Pro with OS X

by David Black 68
19 replies
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My fourth Sony Vaio has finally lost the will to live and it's time for a shopping trip.

Here's my dilemma:

Windows 8 touch screen laptop or MacBook pro with OS X Mavericks??

Any advice or comments much appreciated..
#mac osx #windows 8
  • Profile picture of the author BigFrank
    Banned
    I suggest you visit an Apple store at your earliest convenience. I have no problems starting World War 3. My Mac Pro has not had a single crash in over 2 years. Not one. In 2 years, plus.

    Find me a PC user who says that their machine has not crashed in the past 30 days and I'll show you someone who only used it sparingly in that entire month.

    That's a small point, maybe, but I place a high degree of importance on the "aggravation factor" of working with my computer at least 8 hours per day and sometimes 12. Maybe that's just me.

    Additionally, even with all that time at work, I still consider using my Mac Pro to be "fun" although I don't have a single game on it. Oops. Not true. I think it shipped with a chess game. Not sure.

    Cheers. - Frank

    P.S. I have converted at least two dozen friends and family members to switch. Not a single one has regretted it. That's the absolute truth.
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    • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
      Originally Posted by BigFrank View Post

      Find me a PC user who says that their machine has not crashed in the past 30 days and I'll show you someone who only used it sparingly in that entire month.

      That's a small point, maybe, but I place a high degree of importance on the "aggravation factor" of working with my computer at least 8 hours per day and sometimes 12. Maybe that's just me.
      "Find me a PC user who says that their machine has not crashed in the past 30 days and I'll show you someone" ... who knows how to use it properly

      Set them up properly and they don't give you problems. They just don't.
      Don't download and install stuff willy nilly ... and guess what no problems.

      Be smart and turn off all the service you don't need and they are very fast.

      They are turned on by default so everything works out of the box.
      It is the users responsibility to turn off whats not needed.

      Same with the on start.

      Occasionally you might have an issue with a bad driver.
      You cant blame that on windows.

      Get a bad driver for mac and same thing will happen. And it does happen.

      I have a windows laptop that I literally haven't turned off or rebooted
      in close to a year. And I run VM ware on it and run other OS
      on it ... all at the same time. Still haven't had it crash or slow down.

      I have a mac ... want to know what I think of it.
      I gave it to my four year old. It is his now. He plays with it.
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    • Profile picture of the author bertyounger
      Find me a PC user who says that their machine has not crashed in the past 30 days and I'll show you someone who only used it sparingly in that entire month.

      That's just silly fan boy, I have gone months after month on a production machine running Windows 7 64-bit without a reboot!

      Choice of hardware is always tied to the apps you use by the way! That said I'm not a big Windows 8 fan.
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  • Profile picture of the author David Black 68
    Thanks Frank - My Vaio has crashed 3 times today!!
    It shuts down in the middle of typing - very infuriating, when I turn it off at night, it turns itself back on.. I hate it!!
    Looks like I might have to try the big Apple...
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    • Profile picture of the author BigFrank
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      Originally Posted by David Black 68 View Post

      Thanks Frank - My Vaio has crashed 3 times today!!
      It shuts down in the middle of typing - very infuriating, when I turn it off at night, it turns itself back on.. I hate it!!
      That's the ghost of Steve Jobs sending a message from the universe.
      Looks like I might have to try the big Apple...
      Just a small effort on my part to make the world a better place and you eternally grateful. My work is done, here.

      LMK how you make out. Cheers. - Frank
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      • Profile picture of the author David Black 68
        Thanks Frank - will do..
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        • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
          Though Macs are well built and have a good operating system

          They are:

          Expensive, you could buy 3 reasonable. PC laptops for the price of a Mac one (Sony Vio's are unreliable, I used to sell them.) I have always had HP myself.

          Not able to run most IM software without a PC emulator

          Not able to run a lot of software without a PC emulator

          No highlight, right click copy and paste using the mouse, Thats a big one for IM people.

          Missing the glorious Right Click entirely.

          I could go on. My wife has one. I have tried them out and still prefer my PC. She is a graphic designer though and uses one because the graphic design software on a Mac still has a slight edge over PC versions for some reason. Anything else, no!

          A touch screen computer, not worth paying the extra for, you would soon get tired of waving your hands around in the air, a no, no, you will soon go back to the mouse. Long term use would be more comfortable having your hands resting on a table. Smudge the screen as well. Thats a dead end. Great for public interface systems and tablets/phones but not for people who want to do real work.

          I use a PC with Norton 360. Never have virus or Malware problems.

          I am using Vista though and admit though that Windows 8/8.1 looks a bit of a no no. giant cellphone. I would immediately get a free shell that makes it perform like the Vista or the windows 7 platform if I had to buy one.

          So a Mac is expensive but reliable, they look cool and are trendy. (marketing) if your doing music and graphic art then it's great for that. Aside from that a good PC Laptop or tower is still the number one choice in the real world in my opinion!
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          • Profile picture of the author BigFrank
            Banned
            Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

            Though Macs are well built and have a good operating system They are: Expensive, you could buy 3 reasonable. PC laptops for the price of a Mac one (Sony Vio's are unreliable, I used to sell them.) I have always had HP myself.
            Yes, one of the facts of life is that the best always does cost more.

            Sure you could buy three (barely) reasonable PC's for that money, but you'd still just have three reasonable PC's. I guess for some, that's enough.

            We are all certainly entitled to our opinions.

            Cheers. - Frank
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  • Profile picture of the author David Black 68
    Thanks lanfear63 and kenmichaels, its not as easy a choice as I first thought.
    I'd become very disillusioned with my latest laptop, but having said that, I've spent 18 years using a PC - I know my way round it - how to dig under the hood when I need to.
    I never thought about losing my right click - sounds a bit like losing an arm!
    I do think the Macs look nice - well built and I don't like the windows 8 'look', I think I'd rather revert to a windows 7 OS.
    I think I'll go and have a good play in the Apple store and see if I feel any different...
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    • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
      Originally Posted by David Black 68 View Post

      Thanks lanfear63 and kenmichaels, its not as easy a choice as I first thought.
      I'd become very disillusioned with my latest laptop, but having said that, I've spent 18 years using a PC - I know my way round it - how to dig under the hood when I need to.
      I never thought about losing my right click - sounds a bit like losing an arm!
      I do think the Macs look nice - well built and I don't like the windows 8 'look', I think I'd rather revert to a windows 7 OS.
      I think I'll go and have a good play in the Apple store and see if I feel any different...
      If you decide to get a windows machine, get a 64 bit one.

      The difference between 32 bit and 64 is amazing .. and the cost is the same.

      The average person wont notice, but you ... with 18 years of experience
      you will greatly appreciate it.

      Also one thing to note. win8 is more stable then 7.
      7 is more stable then xp

      Once I made 7 look and act like xp ...
      I came to appreciate 7. Hated 8.

      However once I made 8 look and act like win xp.
      I love it.

      Hope that helps
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      • Profile picture of the author BigFrank
        Banned
        This debate has raged for decades. Most people are comfortable with what they know and it's well known that people fear change of any kind. The fact is, life is change.

        It matters not what anyone else thinks about this subject. What matters is making a decision based on your personal needs after gathering all of the facts for yourself and making an honest comparison of the choices at hand, up close and personal. Once you do that your decision will be an easy one and you can make it without any fear of lingering self-doubt.

        To my way of thinking, which is no more relevant than anyone else's, if you enjoys tinkering and massaging your computer to keep it operating properly, you'll be more in the PC camp. If you just like things that work without applying any mumbo-jumbo, you'll wind up in the Mac camp. This is not rocket science.

        If nothing else, after you leave the Apple store with or without a new laptop, you'll better understand the "Cult of Mac" and that is not a pejorative term.

        I strive each day to make my life easier and more productive at the same time. My Mac is a cooperating part of my team and the one I can depend on most to deliver what is expected and required to complete the task at hand. It just works. I can't comprehend any more glowing praise than that.

        I seemed to have made it through life just fine with the choices that my mouse presents me. I can't fathom how the rest of the Mac universe has managed to survive with such limited options and still run their enterprises, large and small.

        Make your decision based on fact. If that choice involves a bit of change, fear not. I'm sure that you'll adapt and never look back. There are many places where you can read real life accounts written by the vast legions of "switchers" most of whom feel that they made a great decision and the only thing that they regret was waiting so long to do so.

        The two greatest myths that persist? Macs are trendy toys and trickle-down economics works. If you believe the latter, you may as well believe the former. Both are fantasies perpetrated by the a simple ignorance of the facts at hand.

        Knowledge is power. Good luck on your journey of discovery, regardless of the choice you make.

        Cheers. - Frank
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        • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
          BigFrank,
          Stop trying to win an age old debate with logic ... this is after all the OT forum

          any way, I think win and mac are pretty equal.

          I only have one issue with macs. ( and keep in mind I own one )
          Everything is proprietary. To me that's like buying a car
          and not being able to add my favorite cup holder.

          That is why it can ... just work

          I only said something because you mentioned windows crashing
          as if its a fault of windows for doing that and mac doesn't ever crash
          therefore making mac "better"
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          • Profile picture of the author BigFrank
            Banned
            Originally Posted by kenmichaels View Post

            BigFrank,
            Stop trying to win an age old debate with logic ... this is after all the OT forum
            Right. What wuzz I thinking???
            any way, I think win and mac are pretty equal.
            At what? The space they take up on your desk???
            I only have one issue with macs. ( and keep in mind I own one )
            Everything is proprietary. To me that's like buying a car
            and not being able to add my favorite cup holder.
            Well, that, to me is a major plus. I'm not a tinkerer, a DIY enthusiast or a Braniac. I want everything I need to be out of the box with no extraneous effort on my part. I fully understand that there are some people that enjoy, nay, need to build their machines virtually from scratch. They should not even look at a Mac. It has nothing to offer them and will only lead to total frustration.
            That is why it can ... just work
            That just about sums it up.
            I only said something because you mentioned windows crashing
            as if its a fault of windows for doing that and mac doesn't ever crash
            therefore making mac "better"
            Oh, my - no way. Years ago my Macs crashed repeatedly, most days. Frustrating for sure, but with each new iteration of the OS and the improvement of the software titles, these issues slowly evaporated into thin air. I marvel at the stability of the OS. I am by no means a power user of any one application, but I generally have 10 applications open at once and can maneuver between them without any trepidation or the threat of bodily harm.

            One other small point. I have no viruses, no trojan horses, no malware and no worries about any of them. One other thing I don't have? Antivirus software. While it may be a good precaution, it's just not a necessity and one less thing that I have to fuss with or have bogging down my system. I believe the last virus I encountered was in the mid-nineties and it was the one where basically if you turned your Mac on you got the virus, which in the end was rather benign in its intent. It seems that the "evil-doers" live on the dark side.

            Look, in the end, someone's decision on this type of purchase is not going to change my life, one iota. I just feel it is my responsibility to try and save someone from a life which entails having to put on a grass skirt and a coconut bra and then do a strange dance while they toss chicken bones and dried newts at the foot of a statue of Bill Gates in order to get their machine to boot-up, minus any protestation. I'm simply doing my bit for humanity. That's all. lol

            Enjoy your Sunday. If I'm not mistaken there's outdoor hockey this afternoon. Does life get any better than that??? I don't think so.

            "Think different."

            Cheers. - Frank

            P.S. This is where folks chime-in to tell me what a fool I am for not running AV software and that I'm risking disaster. :rolleyes:
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            • Profile picture of the author maricelu
              I have a friend who has a Macbook Pro and I see him every time having problems with it. One day he wanted to print out a document at the university, it didn't worked for him, lucky enough I was there with my oldish Acer Aspire . One day he had to give a presentation but for some reason the projector adapter didn't want to work at that time. And these are not single stories. You might like Apple products from a marketing strategy point of view but never as a consumer, at least this is the way I think.
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              • Profile picture of the author BigFrank
                Banned
                Originally Posted by maricelu View Post

                I have a friend who has a Macbook Pro and I see him every time having problems with it. One day he wanted to print out a document at the university, it didn't worked for him, lucky enough I was there with my oldish Acer Aspire . One day he had to give a presentation but for some reason the projector adapter didn't want to work at that time. And these are not single stories. You might like Apple products from a marketing strategy point of view but never as a consumer, at least this is the way I think.
                Marketing strategy is meaningless to me, as is a singular bit of anecdotal evidence. Ho-hum. Cheers. - Frank
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              • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
                Originally Posted by maricelu View Post

                I have a friend who has a Macbook Pro and I see him every time having problems with it. One day he wanted to print out a document at the university, it didn't worked for him, lucky enough I was there with my oldish Acer Aspire . One day he had to give a presentation but for some reason the projector adapter didn't want to work at that time. And these are not single stories. You might like Apple products from a marketing strategy point of view but never as a consumer, at least this is the way I think.
                Yes, I have been called upon by the wife to get various types of files and documents either printed or needing to be transformed in some way using my PC. Also some of the connectors the Mac has are proprietory to it and expensive.

                The Mac is very well made in it's design, durability of casing and internal parts. Jobs was always a stickler for that. And, rightly so it should be priced higher. Unfortunately, due to it being marketed as a status symbol and a lifestyle machine it was priced higher than it should be. This was not entirely down to Jobs initally as he was financed by investors who insisted on it. However, it seems to have been kept that way by Apple. People are encouraged to see it as a Rolodex to this day. That will always attract certain people to buy.

                As far as microchips are concerned mac went from using there own technology to Intel's a number of years ago. No real difference there.

                The software issue, Macs operating system was for years considered to be the most stable and virus free. however without a PC emulator you will be (apart from the big boys stuff) missing out on a lot of software possibilities. Software creators generally go with the biggest market which is still PC.

                Despite some wrong turns from Microsoft I would say that they now have operating systems that rival Macs in terms of reliability/usability and connectivity to other devices was never a real issue. The malware and viruses can be pretty much taken care of with software like Norton.

                I am sitting here using a HP desktop and Vista that is six years old, top of the range in its day (quad core 2.66 ghtz and 6 gigs of ram) Norton 360 installed. Never had an issue with it. I have a slimline usb external HD for backup (always backup, whatever you buy) It is on 24/7.

                I also have a dual core HP laptop the same age. Both these machines are heavily used. Perhaps I was just lucky :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author BigFrank
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    I wonder what Mr. Black wound up purchasing? - F.
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  • Profile picture of the author twister85
    I had a very bad time working with mac os while using PC's still has their own performance issues.

    Heres the best you can do.

    Mac pro + win 7 = Perfect PC

    i.e Performance + compatiblity = No problems.

    Works just great for me ;-)

    Good luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author Alchemist X
      At the end of a day a computer is a computer and it depends upon it's hardware and the user. OS should be decided based on preference and what you need.

      My custom Windows-based performance computer has had Windows 7 installed for about 3 years with no problem (and no, it has never frozen because I take care of it). But here's the catch: I'm a tech and I know how to work it.

      If you learn how to use and take care of your computer (or pay someone to maintain it for you), it won't lead you wrong.

      Also, a Mac is a PC. PC stands for personal computer. We're not talking about hardware here, we're talking about an operating system. Apple does not manufacture all of their own parts, believe it or not.

      OSX (Apple OS) is generally more stable, has a simpler user interface, is pretty much immune to malware (viruses and such), and contrary to popular belief can actually right-click if you buy an external mouse with two buttons.

      Windows is more compatible with almost everything (mainly because it's more common - this is changing), is much more customizable, is less expensive, and contrary to popular belief can have colors for graphic design just as good as a Mac.

      The virus thing is a minor annoyance at most considering legitimate free antivirus software can take care of this without you even knowing about it (there is no need to ever pay for antivirus software unless you are a company with tens of computers or more).

      If you want the most stable, customizable, and versatile operating system on the planet then find a Linux distribution you like. The only problem with this is the learning curve

      In any case you need to experiment with the different OS's and see which is best for you. Pro-Mac people and Pro-PC people are pretty much always biased.
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