Radio Flyer1647545514 Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 Been looking into a computer for school and I have a few questions. Well the title says it really, pros and cons of PC and Mac, and what is the big difference between the Macbook pro and macbook. How are the HP computers? as these are the only PC's I really have come to have interest in. I'm not a computer guy when it comes to understanding what all the specs mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyin Miata Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 Be prepared for this thread to turn into a bunch of Mac people arguing against a bunch of PC people. It's almost inevitable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio Flyer1647545514 Posted August 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 Yeah, I mean, I know it will happen but I'm in the middle between what to get for school. I'm going for a business major but I still like to play around with other programs like photoshop and all that other fun stuff. Just wondering what would be best/ necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exploder95 Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 If you go to an Apple store, they can give you an earful about any/all of their products and the differences between them vs a PC. They were honest with me about the disadvantages with a Mac depending on what you are studying in school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87GT Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 Use fedora or ubuntu and dual boot with windows xp. Use open office on both of them for free software for school homework. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfiveeight Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 what you want to do is determine everything you want the computer to do. Macs are sweet and expensive, OS X and office will be great for college papers and the like. My gripe with them is that most of the stuff is over simplified and not as easy to get into the advanced settings if you don't know what you are doing. As for Windows based notebooks, my friend has the HP dv6000 and it works really well, no problems and he's had it about year and also isn't the most technical person in the world. If i had money to blow, Mac Book Pro, with VMware to run vista/xp, i'd go for it. What the MBP has that the regular macbook doesn't: A real graphics card 15 inch screen But then you are looking at damn good Windows based laptops as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio Flyer1647545514 Posted August 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 Yeah, I like the screen and the graphics a lot better on the macbook pros, which is why I'm ruling out the macbook. The only thing is I know the ins and outs of microsoft office as far as using it. I know how to use excel, powerpoint, word, and all of that, and I know how to use all the features with them. Are the programs on the macs similiar or no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unfunnyryan Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 MS Office is available for OS X. Theres open office available (as neo office or something) but in reality, nothing compares to the power of MS Office. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan93z28 Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 Macs are cool, but they are a little to pricey for my conscience. A linux-distro/xp dual-boot is pretty awesome in my opinion. And if you like the way the OS X desktop looks, you can make a linux desktop look almost exactly like it. But beware... http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/cautionary.png it happened to me and itll happen to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l36tols1 Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 If you are just browsing the net, downloading here and there and typing papers. It's point-less spending so much for a Mac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio Flyer1647545514 Posted August 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 Well, this will be used for downloading my music and such, watching videos, writing papers, browsing the net. I do like the fact that mac is not prone to viruses as well. I'm just browsing, but how does HP stand to the other PC's? I get a 12% discount at dell because I'm an OSU student, but I have no problem spending more money for something that is going to perform better. My buddy has a HP Desktop and I like his a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conesmasher Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 I purchased a Macbook last year on Black Friday. Previous to that, I exclusively used PC's and I didn't know a damn thing about OSX. My PC is a 1.8 Celeron with 1GB RAM and a 40GB hard drive. I wanted something mobile for obvious reasons. Around this time, Vista was relatively new. I didn't know much about Vista except that I couldn't get many laptops without it, and from what I heard you needed an exubarant amount of RAM to run it properly. I searched and searched and searched and after awhile, I started checking into macs. I dig the iPod, I dig the iPhone, and figured why not. It's pretty cool, nothing mind blowing. I don't brag to my friends about it. My PC IT buddy hates on it......but who cares!! Apple does one thing VERY well. It keeps things simple. The interface is very simple and it has some interesting features. I like the iLife software, which is Mail, iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie, Garage Band, iWeb, and others. They all work together well. There are not a gazillion lights, gizmo's, gadgets, trinkets, flahsing and stinking out of this laptop. I recently brought home an HP laptop from work and this thing has more ports, lights, and trinkets than the batmobile. The HP is a clusterfuck of random things that I have trouble understanding which button I use to turn up the contrast/brightness or where the wifi button is, it's just insane!! I didn't need all of these features and the Macbook had most of what I needed. Pros: Wireless N MagSafe power adapter(kick a regular power cord and find out what happens) One button mouse(tough to get used to, but better IMO) Simple interface Simple physical design Cons: Price Cheap one is white I don't regret my purchase and I'll probably purchase more Apple products in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaSSon Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 As far a HP goes, I :thumb up: They make a solid product. I've had 2 HP notebooks and I have nothing but great things to say about them. Alex has had the same experience. I'll take an HP over a Dell any day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorne Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 I run a pc and vista at home. I game mostly At work I use a Mac Pro 8xcore, Inside that i run vmware fusion with a exact image of my work laptop. I find that setup way more stable then straight windows box. I can also backup my work file to a External and open the image at home. Macs are expensive thought and as a geek my personal laptop is a Dell Inspiron 1505. T7250 8600gt I can game on it and run lots of shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 If you are just browsing the net, downloading here and there and typing papers. It's point-less spending so much for a Mac. I disagree. Macs can run windows and OSX. FYI the MacBookPro is about to get upgraded. October is most likely when they come out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akula Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 I run a MB Pro for work. The ability to backup the OS, Applications, and data in one nice formfactor and then move it entirely to another MB/MacPro/MBPro is a very compelling argument. If you run XP in a VM and XP gives up, you can just go back to the last time machine backup. I prefer Mac, you don't find many Mac users that say "I will never do that again" but you find plenty of Mac users that say "I don't know why I didn't do this sooner". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 I love how the Mac fanboys love to compare their Macs with PC's/Laptops that are 1/2 the cost w/ compareable features. Compare equal-cost units, and the Macs are just sad. And kind of gay. Seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 I love how the Mac fanboys love to compare their Macs with PC's/Laptops that are 1/2 the cost w/ compareable features. Compare equal-cost units, and the Macs are just sad. And kind of gay. Seriously. We could say that about you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FourString Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 For the fellow musicians in the house, I highly recommend a MAC. I like my HP laptop, but I have never been on a better multimedia machine than the MAC in the recording studio at my college. Logic Pro is quite possibly the craziest/most complicated program I have ever used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyin Miata Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 I bought my Macbook Pro two years ago, the summer before I started college. What I really like about OSX (besides the overall aesthetics of the interface) is it's ease of use. I'm not really technically challenged, but I don't see the need to over complicate things if it's not necessary. Things just seem to work easier with less set up than anything I used to do with Windows. And yes, you can get Microsoft Office for Mac and it is nearly the same as you would see it on a Windows box. Downsides are you have a very limited choice of games, but I'm not really a gamer so this doesn't bother me one bit. I've also never installed any virus/spyware removers on my computer, and have never once had a virus or anything. Nice thing about having a less common operating system is that the majority of viruses are not written to affect OSX. If you have any other questions about the Macbook Pros, PM me. Mine is a couple years old now but I'll try and help you out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio Flyer1647545514 Posted August 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 thanks for all the above help. Ima wait around for a few months while money piles up as I don't trust myself to make payments on anything quite yet. If I can get close to he price of a mac that's my first choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alibies Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 I have a macbook pro, and an hp laptop. The apple is my favorite between the two. If you honestly look up the prices between two comparable machines, including quality as a factor, you will find that mac prices aren't that bad. Don't forget the vast amount of free programs and jenky sh*t you can get on a windows computer. There is no limits or regulation of software for windows, so free stuff is abundant. hell... the apple store's hand held scanners run xp... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 fuck mac. edit: fuck hp too. build your own, get exactly what you want. an OS is just an OS, no matter what machine its on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinHawk1647545499 Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 ---------------> http://addictedgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/gay-test.jpeg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akula Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 fuck mac. edit: fuck hp too. build your own, get exactly what you want. an OS is just an OS, no matter what machine its on. Unless the OS is built by the people that build the hardware and don't have to depend on some other freak to make it work.... sorry, mac bias at this point, since the question has been answered I would suggest moving this to the kitchen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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