PC or Mac, what would you get?

[DialMforMummy]

Hi,
current laptop in on the blink, so we are thinking about getting a new one. We have a budget of about a grand but could stretch to a bit more if we are to get a Mac.
I tend to lean towards a Mac as people have said that they are quick to start and don't tend to slow down after a few years as PC do.
DH leans towards a good PC as he finds Mac expensive (you get a 17' screen size for the price of a 11' Mac) and we have to buy software on the top of the computer (we can get office and other stuff for free from work).
We use the computer mainly for browsing and Office.
Are Macs worth the extra money? Are they more durable than PCs? Or are they just fashionable and grossly overpriced?
Any advice and thoughts gratefully received.

I love my mac book and if anything happened to it i would definitely get another one - as it is I've had it for four years and it gets used daily for at least an hour more often 4/5 hours and have no problems with it ever x

DH bought me a mac book air a few years ago and we were so impressed we are complete mac converts now! Just love them, so simple to use would never go back to a pc!

For that money I'd go for a Mac. Love mine. Yes they're worth the extra money. They do 'just work' - plug it in, turn it on, play!

Another vote for Mac. They are so vastly superior, you wont ever go back.

I have Office for Mac, useful for working from home, so best of both worlds.

"DH leans towards a good PC as he finds Mac expensive"

Apple don't make low quality machines, if you try and find another computer with exactly the same specification and build quality you'll soon find yourself at the Apple price level.

So yes they're expensive, but they're very good.

"Are they more durable than PCs?"

I find that they are. Windows PCs do tend to get clogged up and they do have a habit of slowing down, even older Macs are still usable after years of service. So again that's something to consider when it comes to price, they can last longer. But that does mean you don't get a nice new machine as often :)

"we have to buy software on the top of the computer"

You can download various free pieces of software that are pretty compatible with Office, but your mileage on that might depend on exactly how complicated your Office/Word work is.

The big downside of Macs is gaming, which you say you don't mention so that's not a problem. Software in general can also sometimes be a bit of a problem, not all gadgets come with Mac compatible software, though it's becoming much more common as Macs become more popular.

A big upside you haven't mentioned is security. Macs are more secure than Windows machines, you don't need to worry (yet) about anti-virus software and you're not engaged in this almost constant fight against the hackers. So Macs are much easier to look after in terms of software maintenance. Windows takes work to look after properly, which is another reason why for many people it slows down over time, it's not looked after how it wants to be.

So yes I think Macs are great, but they're a luxury.

I work all day on Windows computers, I know them really rather well and they're a great tool that I can make do all sorts of impressive things. But for my out of hours computing when I don't want to have to fight the computer I like using Macs.

Another one saying once you are Mac you don't go back

Although there is the price thing to think about, if it make you gulp too much the maybe it's not worth it. Also the fact that you'll feel like youve never used a computer before for a couple of months....

I've got a shiny new mac air. That was to replace an 8 year old mac lap top. When you have to go back to PC for work, they seem so clunky! However, if you might need to work from home, check that your work systems are mac-compatible.

I would say get AppleCare if you can afford it. We have found it useful for little things over the years, although mine is well out of warranty now and is so old I can't put Lion on it [sob]. One day I'll be able to afford my own one rather than one of DHs cast offs!

I think they're a bit marmitey tbh - I prefer a pc, but no reason other than I can't get along with macs

So I guess I'm outnumbered here but I would plump for a pc.

Yes Macs are all shiny and cool. But you pay over the odds for them. If all you need is basic normal functions then a standard mid-range Dell will cost a lot less and perform pretty much the same.

Maintenance is a lot easier now with Windows 7, and the poster claiming you don't need to worry about security with Macs is just wrong. There are plenty of viruses for both platforms now, and increasingly attacks are happening via websites instead of on your computer so your OS doesnt even come into it.

"But you pay over the odds for them."

See my earlier points, this is far from clear cut. Once you start to look for Windows PCs with a similar specification and a similar build quality you'll pay Apple style prices.

"There are plenty of viruses for both platforms now"

No, there's not one virus for OS X, even after ten years.

Yes there's malware that will try and trick you into downloading it and then giving it permission to run but there are no viruses. You do not need anti-virus on a Mac.

"increasingly attacks are happening via websites instead of on your computer so your OS doesnt even come into it."

Break those attacks into two main sorts.

If you are tricked into going to a site and giving your personal information then you're as likely to be hit by that on a Mac as on a PC.

However the browser is also used for more technical attacks onto the computer, for example getting you to load a deliberately badly formed music file or video and the OS does most definitely come into things like that, and once again Macs are safer. There is bad stuff out there but there is, as yet, nothing that can get onto your Mac without you giving it permission.

I'm not completely knocking PCs here, I use them far more than I use Macs, but you can't argue in their favour by just ignoring or distorting the security issue. Windows has many major positives over Macs, security it not one of them.

Macs are very good for certain things (publishing, graphics, etc) and they are very pretty. They are no harder to use than PCs but they are different and you need to be prepared for that. You are paying for the prettiness.

You need to think about what software you use as not all of your existing software will work on the mac (some will work, some you will need a new version, some will never work). You need to be aware that documents, email, etc. is mostly compatible, but not seamlessly (I still get blank email from mac users at work).

I've only ever found one case that's as pretty as a mac case and it's no longer available. It drives me nuts!!! But nothing on earth could convince me to buy a mac. We build our own PCs and you just get so much more for your money. The mac might not slow down, but it won't be ad fast to start with! And if you keep you PC clean of crap it shouldn't slow. And as online and media tech require more, you can upgrade your PC rather than buy a whole new mac. I use my PC when I work at home too and suspect I would have niggly issues if I had a mac. Nothing major, but enough to irritate.

If you work in certain industries none of my objections overcome how much better a mac is. If you care more about looks mac is outstandingly better. I love my iPhone and iPad. But a PC is better in my experience (I have used macs but not owned one).

"you can upgrade your PC rather than buy a whole new mac"

And that is a positive for a Windows PC.

Macs are harder to buy new bits for and for many of them you can't really do it at all. PCs tend to be more like "lego", you can take them to bits and throw new things into the box/case. You also have a lot more choice of what to put in there.

So for people who like tinkering Macs aren't so good.

But the reward for that lack of choice and flexibility with a Mac is stability. The reason that Mac's don't crash as much as Windows PC isn't primarily because of some secret sauce from Apple. Apple only have to work with a very narrowly defined set of components and they will make sure that they work perfectly. Microsoft have to support all sorts of odd things that are beyond their control, which can be great if as said you like tinkering with hardware but can and will cause all sorts of software/driver issues.

There are no viruses on macs because a virus is an executable file eg .exe macs can't deal with those but are just as susceptible to other malware.

I would vote for mac but you really do need to learn how to use them.

again - once you go Mac you never go back - NEVER

Badgers, I understand what you are saying, but there really is a price premium for Apple. They make a substantially higher profit margin than PC makers from their hardware. Demand/supply and all that.

Security is the same story. There are tons of exploits for the Mac especially Safari holes. I can't be arsed to go find links right now but they are there. I hear the same story from Linux people as well. The reality is that all computers are vulnerable. However the bad guys go after PCs more since they have such a dominant market share.

Mac

"There are no viruses on macs because a virus is an executable file eg .exe"

Not true, that's not the reason that there aren't Mac viruses.

"there really is a price premium for Apple."

Compared to similar high spec machines the issue becomes far more blurry... In the end Apple don't make cheap entry level machines, and that's what brings about most of the price issue.

"Security is the same story. There are tons of exploits for the Mac especially Safari holes."

But the vulnerabilities have far less scope to cause harm and damage, they just can't take over a machine in the way that they can on a Windows PC.

"However the bad guys go after PCs more since they have such a dominant market share."

No.

The sheer kudos alone of writing the first proper Mac virus would be huge.

Microsoft have security issues, they're much better now than they were but they still have issues. The market share argument is false, Microsoft's web server software doesn't have the most market share, it is the most hacked.

Apple's OS is descended from Unix which will not wonderful was built from the ground up with some pretty high security standards. Microsoft's history is from single user systems where security wasn't even an issue. Microsoft retain a staggering degree of compatibility with that older software (another plus point there) but that compatibility and that ancestry causes problems. Apple just gave up on their past and started again with something more secure.

As an example it's still very common for Windows users to need to be the highest level of users on a machine, and that user and program can then do all sorts of very powerful and therefore potentially damaging things. On a Mac you can't even log in as that highest level of user.

I won't say that a Mac virus is impossible and that they'll always remain free of them.

But right now you don't need anti-virus on a Mac, you couldn't survive without it on Windows.

... and just in case I come across like a rabid Apple fan I'd like to point out again that I do most of my work on Windows machines and in the Mircosoft world and for that I really couldn't begin to imagine using a Mac.

It really is different horses for different courses, one isn't "better" than the other for all things.

And coupled with that is an understanding that you don't need false arguments such as "Macs are only secure because they're obscure" to make the case for Windows.

Another vote for a Mac
I treated myself last year to a macb

Macb

Mac, absolutely no question. We are an all mac family. 4 generations of us. Money well spent.

iPhone not so good for mn tho! As demonstrated here!
Macs are more stable. I've worked in IT for over 20 years and my mac is so much more reliable. And it will still be going in 5 years