Thinking about buying a macbook after 15+ years of using a PC...

A

arkk

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
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But I know nothing about Macs OS. Never ever used one. A friend of mine who is a huge Mac fan showed me that they are now using Core 2 Duo processors as well and the hardware(except video cards), is on par. It got me thinking. Now this notebook will be for nothing but school stuff and for my movies/music, etc. NO GAMING.

Can anyone give me a rundown on this age old debate or a link to an article where Windows and PCs are compared to a Mac and points aren't brought up about how they don't get viruses, etc. I am basically looking for someone to sell me on a mac without having to walk into an Apple store and have them do a shtick on why PCs suck. But I know nothing about Macs, do they even have USB ports? LOL. Can you really surf the net without my firewall router and not have to worry about viruses/spyware/privacy?

Any info is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
arkk said:
But I know nothing about Macs, do they even have USB ports? LOL. Can you really surf the net without my firewall router and not have to worry about viruses/spyware/privacy?
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I sincerely hope you're kidding.

The employees at the Apple store shouldn't bug you. I would just head over towards your nearest one and try one out.
 
I used Windows since I was born, so...around 16 years. In middle school there were Macs, and I hated them. We got to junior high and there were pcs so i was all "YES PCZ IM A PC F4NBOI!!!1!!!!1!1!!!!111" Then I started noticing Macs when they went from being "flavors" like the strawberry and grape and all the colors and stuff to the sleek, silver, professional look. Since around 2004 I wanted a Mac. In 2005 I built a new PC instead of buying an iMac that I wanted because I was a n00b and thought Macs couldn't even right click (referring to desktop with regular 2 button mouse) So, this year when the intel minis came out I finally bought one after I sold my 2 month old SLI gaming machine. I was fed up with viruses, crashes, blue screens of death, etc.
My mini has been awesome. There are no viruses. You can do whatever you want pretty much, it's VERY hard to mess up from what I've heard. No problems here so far, it's been a very smooth transition and it's been a lot of fun. Also, I went from a PC F4nboi to a Mac f4nboi, except this actually makes sense. All my friends come over and see the little box on my desk and ask where my computer is because they thought it was something for my iPod. :p So, to answer some of your questions now...
No viruses on Mac. You can go into an Apple store and the people there are very friendly. You can do whatever you want on the machines, it's a great store. They don't pressure you at all, only give you the facts on Mac. Yes, they have usb ports. They also have firewire. My intel core duo mini has 4 usb's. Yes, you can surf the net without a firewall, but you might want one for other reasons like people hacking you and stealing identity etc... No viruses or spyware, but privacy is in issue no matter what OS you use, so just be careful.
Check out their website and visit a store if you can, you owe it to yourself. Check out this site about what Macs can do and how much you'll love it.
Macs come with multimedia software called iLife. It's got movies, photos, music, websites, etc. It's bundled on every Mac and if you wanted something even close on PC it will run you hundreds of dollars.
The few hundred dollar premium you pay for a Mac isn't really a premium at all. You get iLife, rock solid Mac OSX os, and all the fun features built in. Leopard (new os) is coming out first half of 2007 and that looks promising so be ready for that too.
This was the longest post I've ever written, hope this helps, and good luck with everything! :D
 
Usually the people at the Apple Store are really nice. I actually switched over this weekend and I am loving it. I got a white macbook core 2 duo 2ghz. I bought mine at compusa and I took up their offer of 2 years no interest.

Macs for me just make computers fun again. Played with Vista, wasn't impressed. OSX just has so many little tools that makes life easier. I still have my PC for storage and for software that doesn't run on mac (ie games).

I just like it and chances are you will too.
 
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1121751

Here's a thread where I've been helping and giving advice and answering questions about another person choosing between a Dell laptop, Sony laptop, or MacBook.

I've got a lot of long posts there with good info and a lot of useful links for applications and advice for keeping up with Mac news and stuff.

Check it out and come back here with any other questions.

Some of the PC guys got pretty defensive about stuff. I used to be a PC guy that didn't like Mac's, now I'll never go back; or at least if I didn't have a choice I wouldn't. Being a CompSci major doesn't leave me much option but using Windows often with some linux on the side for stuff.
 
Go for it. Macs can run Windows now too. There are a couple of different ways to do this.

You pick things up pretty quick. There is lots of help available online. Keyboard shortcuts(which I use very, very often) just make sense on a Mac. For example, "Apple + Q" quits out of the application you're using. "Apple + W" closes the window you have selected.

Buy Applecare! It's one of the few GOOD extended warranties.
 
I built a shiny new gaming rig this past may and then a month later sold it and bought macbook. I like using my macbook 1000x more than I did my PC.
 
hungryduck said:
I built a shiny new gaming rig this past may and then a month later sold it and bought macbook. I like using my macbook 1000x more than I did my PC.
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Ditto for me.
 
I have 3 macs, all of them fairly old, and I love them. My one has been to hell and back and it still runs like a champ. That's the $5 powerbook G3 I bought that was broken because the PRAM battery was dead, and it's not in the greatest shape cosmetically but, it's 6 years old and it still runs! I definitely agree that macs are just about bulletproof, and not having viruses/spyware/adware is totally sweet
 
dito on the PC to Mac switch. I used to have (well still have, but selling), an X2 3800+, 2gb ram, 4x200 sata segates, 1x250 ide segate system drive, tv tuner, dell 2005fpw, x800xt, antec p180 case, nec dvdrw....it was a great computer, but its nothing compared to MBP c2d, 500gb external, and a tivo.
 
arkk said:
Now this notebook will be for nothing but school stuff and for my movies/music, etc. NO GAMING.
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Then it'd be a good decision 2 years ago. Nowadays, with the Intel "thing", I guess you can do both.

Personally, I'm glad I had the inability to game during my degree. More work was done!
 
howlingmonkey said:
Then it'd be a good decision 2 years ago. Nowadays, with the Intel "thing", I guess you can do both.

Personally, I'm glad I had the inability to game during my degree. More work was done!
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He isn't going to be gaming if he buys the MacBook or the mini even if he wants to - those two don't have video cards (no, GMA950 is *not* a video card).
 
Thanks for all the help. Theres only 4 apple stores in PA, which sucks, but I'm gonna go to KOP and check out their stuff tonight. Thanks guys
 
DusanV said:
He isn't going to be gaming if he buys the MacBook or the mini even if he wants to - those two don't have video cards (no, GMA950 is *not* a video card).
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Sorry, confused by the genius new naming conventions over at the Apple. Presumably the one-size-fits-all 13" Macbook will indeed be crippled to the point of essay writing.
 
howlingmonkey said:
Sorry, confused by the genius new naming conventions over at the Apple. Presumably the one-size-fits-all 13" Macbook will indeed be crippled to the point of essay writing.
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You can do anything besides play a 3D game. That leaves a lot last I checked. Music, movies, web development, internet browsing, aim/msn/chat etc, irc, edit movies, etc...

I haven't missed gaming at all.
 
howlingmonkey said:
Prescisely, and this is no bad thing.
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Exactly, it's what keeps me doing my work. I don't miss PC gaming, I have consoles for that, the Wii is awesome and my new 360 is pretty fun too.
 
Kind of sucks for me, though. The Macbook is one sexy machine, but I like the fact that I can use my iBook as a portable 3D "sketch station". That isn't really possible on the Macbook.
 
I recently switched back to Apple and I must say, it feels great.

Was running a pretty fast AMD X2 3800+ system, and my Mac Pro completely blows it out of the water.

Apple Store people will not bug you or try selling you a computer you won't need. They'll let you just browse the net if you want. Won't have any problems in there. :)
 
I'll say one thing: Macs now run Windows.

You have very few reasons to buy a Windows machine: Macs are slimmer, sexier, and everything except gaming better.

Play around with a Mac. Chances are you'll find yourself using OS X much more than you do Windows and if you ever need to boot into that OS (as an IT guy for 3 years, I hated it), you'll find a nice OS to do your work in and then boot back into 10.4.

Honestly, you can't go wrong with Mac. You can run Windows and you can play with OS X. Chances are, you'll end up loving OS X.
 
I ordered a new iMac a couple days ago. This was replacing a gaming pc (which replaced a g4 cube system that was getting pretty long in the tooth). The sales person on the 1-800 apple line was really laid back - had thorough answers to the handful of questions I had (mostly about applecare, dead pixel policy - that sort of stuff). Supposed to arrive by December 5th!
 
RLich8 said:
Apple Store people will not bug you or try selling you a computer you won't need. They'll let you just browse the net if you want. Won't have any problems in there. :)
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As far as I know, the only thing they'll try to sell you that you do not need, is dotMac. :p
 
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