OT: PC or Mac? Discuss.....

Only barely an opinion, Sunny. Who's going to support it? As with SMs or stoves or just about anything, where will you turn if things go goofy? My computer stuff comes from Office Depot because when I need help, they fix it or they send someone who can. None of the make a phone call to India and die of old age waiting. Polly

My own learning curve in switching from PC to Mac last December was only a matter of days. Lovely.

Karen, Queen of Squishies

Another thing to consider -- what software do you intend to install? Is what you have compatible with Macs? or will you need to invest in new software? Not all specialty software (like quilt design or embroidery software) is available for Macs...

So in addition to the cost of the machine, don't forget to add up those costs, too..

Have you used a Mac much before? If not, is there one that you can try out? IMHO there is a lot of eye candy on Macs so you need to figure out what you want to do and not be dazzled by the cute stuff. And check if the programs you want to use are available for Macs.

Personally I'm still a PC person in spite of being exposed to Macs at work. I can work on them if necessary but still prefer my PC. I am running XP right now since I was not thrilled with Vista but the next version of Windows (due out in the fall) has been getting good reviews from beta testers and I may be upgrading.

Good luck!

Allison

I've been using PCs since DOS days, and was a graphic designer for 13 years--with a big chip on my shoulder since designers *always used Macs. BUT I switched to Mac last summer. It was briefly discombobulating, but the Mac feels infinitely more stable than any PC I've ever had. So after the second virus attack in four months even while he was using McAfee (and for which McAfee was going to charge $100 AGAIN to remove), he switched to Mac, too. He's much less computer literate than I am, and easily intimidated by techies--and he came home from a 1:1 session at the Apple store all excited about the stuff he'd learned. And the tech support is awesome! Not just for things that go wr-ong, either. But when you want to do something that's not covered in any manuals, too. I've never been on hold for more than a minute. If only for the customer support it's SO worth it.

As far as software, current Macs use Intel chips which can run Windows natively and you can boot either to Mac or Windows. Or, if you get Fusion or Parallels, you can have both running at the same time. Since I'm not a designer anymore I haven't bothered to install Photoshop or QuarkXPress, but I am regularly running EQ6 and it's absolutely flawless. If you're invested in Office, you can run it on Windows, or you can use NeoOffice (donationware) that includes the whole kitchen sink and then some and even opens Works files.

I am a very happy camper.

--Heidi

I used to be a PC person, but for the last few years I have only used a Mac and would not go back. My wife has a pc that she uses and I have that available if I need to use that format for whatever reason, but it is like night and day. If you do get a Mac, get the service contract. It will cost you a couple of hundred dollars, but it is worth it the first time you need to have anything fixed. Let's face it, they are both machines and machines fail. But, if you have a prepaid service from Apple, you can call them and talk to them and they can do diagnosis over the phone and tell you how to resolve the problem and if it needs to be repaired they do it for free. They are very customer oriented in their way of dealing with you, and every experience I have had resolving the inevitable "Issues" that come up from time to time, they have been most helpful. If the only things you do are on a PC platform, then that might be a reason to consider PC's. But you can run PC's on a Mac. That takes a bit more effort than doing it on a PC but it can be done. The Apple is usually a bit more expensive to compare to a PC, but I, for one, Think they are worth every extra penny. And you have the added bonus of no Virus Attacks. At least not yet.

John

Howdy!

Software: Hardly an issue anymore.

Best Buy sells Macs. The American guy I talked to on the Apple help-line (to ask about my serial number) spoke good Amurikin.

The time saved in not screaming at the machine and pounding head against the wall in PC aggro makes the Mac so worth it. ;-P

Besides, iMac knows where all the good quilt sites are.

R/Sandy - ³I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn't itch.² Gilda Radner

On Thu, 14 May 2009 14:33:45 -0500, Sunny wrote (in article ):

Mac.

I have a Mac at home and a PC at work. I much prefer the Mac for ease of use (just plug in the printer and go--no drivers to worry about, etc,) and for good looks.

Plus, I can run Windows on my newest Mac for EQ6.

Maureen

On Thu, 14 May 2009 15:00:41 -0500, Polly Esther wrote (in article ):

Maureen

I have found that the phone and web support from Dell was very good. So the time I closed my laptop screen onto a usb drive and messed up the screen they were able to get me through reinstalling the screen by myself so I didn't need to pay for a technician.

Allison