Would anyone NOT recommend a Mac, and why?

[vanimal]

Hiya,

Need to buy a decent laptop fairly sharp-ish, I have been told by quite a few people that Macs are wonderful, but as I am not that familiar with them, I am a bit hesitant (esp at the price).

I am not really 'into' laptops and IT/crisis management when things crash etc - I can't stand it and take ages to fix it - so I like the idea of buying something that just works and won't give me any hassle.

I work as a freelance writer and so don't want to be messing up deadlines etc with PC problems, but nor do I want to buy something that might not be compatible with my clients PCs.

Any advice/experience to share?

Can you please tell me the exact make of the printer you are so happy with, Rockbird?

I have one (lexmark, i think) which is supposedly wireless but i could never make it work and it doesn't work with my MacBook Pro.

Thanks!

I build my own PCs, Macs are over priced considering what you get inside them and the case.

They are just PCs nothing different, better to buy parts with 3+ year warranties and excellent reviews/specs and install your own O.S or two, it's not rocket science.

I fall to see what a few spelling mistakes has to do with anything some of us didn't get sent to School.

You're absolutely right in that sense Ryoko. But not everyone has the ability/time/interest to do that. So the option left is to buy what's available. I have to work on PCs and am a Mac user at home. My experiences of both have taught me that Macs are worth every penny of the cost. You can spend as little as you like on a PC but if it is a miserable experience then it's not worth what you spent. Not one of my Macs has given me a split second of trouble. Every one of the PCs have, including the new one I am typing on now. I'd rather pay the money.

Ryoko, most people have neither the time nor the inclination to build their own machines. It may not be rocket science but it is a hassle.

As the cliche goes, the best car in the world is not built by taking the engine of a Lamborghini, the chassis of a Hummer, the seats of a Bentley etc etc. Component engineering is important, but systems engineering is even more important. Apple produces tightly integrated hardware and software systems that deliver consistently better user experiences than rivals. They also have better build quality (ie the precision with which components fit together), better QC and better backup in case of problems than a home-soldered machine.

PS: I pointed out one spelling mistake, but the other two (Windoze and MAC) are not spelling mistakes. Windoze is just a way of being rude about Windows (and in my view, a bit childish). MAC stands for Media Access Control. Apple makes Macs, short for Macintosh.

Well thats your opinion, personally I find it fun and they only take about 10 mins to build and half an hour to install the OS, the hardest part is picking the parts in the first place.

but then I loved lego when I was a kid and love Gunpla now.

tootootired - what was the alternative you found to MS Money? When I first switched from PC to Mac (a few years back now) I couldn't find one, so I've been using an Excel spreadsheet ever since; a pain in the a*se, but it never occurred to me to check if there was anything around now!

We have macbooks and a pc. The pc because it's touchscreen, our education/autism software were only pc compatible, my former office vpn was only pc compatible and for streaming vuze.

The kids have since decided that they prefer the ipad, my new office is mac compatible so it doesn't get used as much.

The macbook pro has outperformed the pc (they're both high end devices). I haven't had to instal drivers for the camera, camcorder, printers etc on the mac like I have had to do on the pc. there's a lot of stuff that comes with the mac (iphoto, front row, garage band, imovie, ms exchange, ichat etc) that makes it worthwhile to me.

I installed windows 7 and vmware but have had much use for it.

Dictation software was better on the pc and there's more software available

We have a couple of iBooks plus an older Mac, have always had them.

Just seem easier to use than PCs and a bit more robust [thicko emotion], and that suits.

Have converted a few others to Macs and they would not go back to PCs.

Also have a wireless printer that works from all 3.

We've had Macs since 2000 and the only problem we've had was the ibook g3's motherboard broke and it was replaced free by Apple with a newer model. Learnt from that to regularly back stuff up

Currently have a Macbook Pro. It's great.

"The macbook pro has outperformed the pc (they're both high end devices). I haven't had to instal drivers for the camera, camcorder, printers etc on the mac like I have had to do on the pc."

Again another O.S related issue, that has nothing to do with the fact it's a PC it has to do with the fact you had Windows on it.