Okay, so I'm going to ASU in the fall and my parents said they'd get me a laptop and I'm debating which one to pick up. My mom and I have been hooked on macs since she got her Pro, but my dad is a diehard HP fan. Anyone have any epic ideers?

 

I left school in 06 and from my perception, Universities are more PC friendly but that could have or could be changing. However, if you plan on going into anything with graphic design or anything along those lines, I would opt for a mac hands down. Anything else I would recomend PC. Basically its your own personal choice. Arguing PC Vs Mac is like arguing an Auto Vs Manual

 

What's your major? This was the big deal breaker for me. I wanted to get a mac, since I am a diehard mac fan as well, but since I'm studying mechanical engineering I have to run some huge programs that I couldn't have done with a mac. I ended up with an hp but now I am really happy with it, even after 3 years of owning it.

 

Well with the new Macs you can run windows as well. Then when you're out of school, just remove windows or keep it if you need it.

I love my Mac, and I'll never go back to a PC. I hate using them at work (it's the only place I do).

 

I just got a mac for college as well. In fact I'm using it right now. I too was skeptical about it but let me tell you its a dream. No pop ups no slow downs runs nice and smooth and it is VERY user friendly. I would never go back to a PC just to complicated. So I vote MACBOOK!

 

Leo Laport says : Mac for home and school; Windows for work and office.

Ide get a mac while you got the chance..

 

Apples are great but paying the Apple tax sucks and you get so much more for the money with a PC but if money really isn't an issue go Mac.

 

I got it today! A 13" MacBook with all the hardware and RAM from a pro. The thing is BEAUtiful. Got a TON of rebates and discounts because it was for college, plus a free iTouch and printer. well worth the little extra price.

 

Good for you...you will really enjoy it!

Your original question is like comparing Toyota vs. Ford

You can run a PC on your mac! In my office we run iMacs and run Virtual Box for the one program we run in windows. It is seamless...and faster than any PC we have by 10X.

And for those who say Apples are too expensive...so are Toyotas and you bought one of those. I have never had to trash a mac, only retired them. I have trashed every PC I have ever owned. My desktop is a G4 dual processor that I bought in 2000, it can still hold its own! I will soon be retiring it for a new iMac, just because I want something new, it is still pretty fast. My daughter has my original iBook since I bought a Macbook for my work computer.

Also, go to the Apple store and look at their refurbished Macs. I bought all of my computers we use in my office from the refurbished part of the store and have had zero problems. You can't tell them from new.

 

I guess PCs are different for all people since for 10 years never had any problems with our home PC and 3 laptops we have but it is helpful I have a friend who maintains them but no real issues over this time.

To get what I got in my HP laptop would've cost me 3x more for an Apple. I have more money to put into my Toyota like new tires.

 

This has the makings of a

 

yeah the reason i bought a hp notebook because it was cheaper than a mac. but now i wish that i got one when i found out that you can run windows on it. ps the hp notebook is pretty strong (ran it over with the yoter dont ask lol) and it only has a crack in the corner and it didnt spread yay.

 

one thing for PC is the free software, Mac software are big $$$, don't pay a dime on pc software.

 

You don't pay a dime and you pay for that lol
It's a seamless and fluid machine. From task to task there is not computing involved. I do sort of wish I waited a few more weeks to get the new ones they released at their global conference.

 

Huh??

It comes with just about every program you need...you don't have to buy programs to do simple tasks like burn DVD/CD's, edit movies, etc...like you do on a PC.

If you need something else there is a lot of free stuff out there...

Most of the PC software is crap anyway!

It's funny you say that...I just had to spend a fortune for anti-virus stuff for the PC's at my office...not a problem with a Mac!

BTW if you have a problem understanding what I am saying just press CTRL/ALT/DEL and that will fix everything....

 

^ sorry lol.

 

Macs are for people who are really going to get use out of them and are a bit much for your average computer person and yes,Macs are overall more fluid and do incur some less bugs but you pay alot for it and that doesn't always gurantee a MAC is going to be perfect.

The cheapest Apple I saw was over $999 at Best Buy and you get 2gb RAM,160gb HD ,13" screen but it did have a good Nvidia graphics card.

With a PC if you even come close to the $900 you get 4gb memory,320-500gb and even a BLU-RAY player and longer bettery life standard with a few of the HP machines I looked at.

I personally only needed something not so ambitious and spent less than $600 on an HP and got 4gb memory(Core 2 Duo-same as the Apple),320gb HD,even has an HDMI hookup for a TV and came with more standard progams than the cheapest Apple.

I just don't see why Macs have to cost so much proportionatly more for less but maybe I see things different since I've never had any real headaches with any PC and it's help that I have a few family members that are ITs but with our home PC and the laptop I've only had my system get buggered up once in the last 10 years and that was back in '05 but we don't use Vista on the home machine and use XP which is fine.

I guess if you can afford to pay the Apple tax and get less machine for nearly considerably more money that's your prerogative.
Apples might have their edge but why so much more $$$$$$? I've played aroudn on a MAC and I don't see where the extra cash goes;it's not like Macs run flawlessly like some of you make it sound.

 

I need my laptop to make me a living and none of the software I use runs on a mac. They are just an overpriced paperweight to me.

It's allright if you just need something around the house to do emailing, web browsing etc., but then again so is a $300 netbook.

XP, Vista (after SP1), and now Windows 7, I have them all installed on my laptop (hobby of sorts) and they all perform flawlessly for me.
None of them has ever crashed, and I have had that laptop for a year now. Vista & XP where installed together since the first week I had it.

Windows is a very impressive operating system if you think about it. It runs on such a large variety of hardware from different companies, as opposed to apple who make their own os for their own hardware. That's relatively easy.

If you select good hardware for a PC you won't have any issues at all either, it's usually some cheap addon with bad drivers what causes all the grief.

I've noticed that mac owners often have the need to prove themselves and then seem to want everybody to use macs just because they feel it's best.

 

for hardcore video and audio editing: MAC, hands down. PCs just cant stand up to macs when it comes to editing. oh, and supposedly games are B.A. on macs, WAAAAY better than PCs. but i personally like PCs. i built this system im on, amd athlon x2 dual core, for 300 bucks, and it gives my dads dell a run for its money (he spent 2000+ on his). and compared to the mac G5s we ran in school, its way better at everything except video editing (i only have 2GB, it takes forever to process the video changes in premier). im getting ready to build myself a new computer from newegg... AMD phenom, 500GB hard drive, 16GB ram, 1000w power supply, etc, for under 600 bucks. lets see a MAC compete with that price for the power of the new system.

 

I can see a Mac for that since I've played around with the editing software of several photo and video editing programs and they do rock but if I spend close to a $1000 on a PC it still gets the job done and offers still much more than a Mac.
The world still revolves around the PC when it comes to availability of programs and games tho'.

Macs are like a Prius since there seems to be a certain amount of smugness when it comes to Mac users.