MacBook v.s. Dell Inspiron 1525?

I've owned PC's for years and switched over to a Mac Tower Pro in Dec. I'm still not 100% convinced it's better. Every program I use for a Mac is inferior to ones produced for a PC. Word, Excel, Outlook (Entourage on a Mac), Photoshop, (No ACDSee for Mac :(), Quicken, all ran smarter on my PC.

PC's pricing is 1/3 of a comparable Mac. (There are those who will argue, there IS no comparison ;)) So, it has to be 66% better. Hmmmmmm.

That said, it has VERY few hiccups, and is virus immune (for the most part). I'm not going back, but I am not a Mac groupie either.

I just purchased a Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop to go to shows, and for my studio viewer. It's a rocket. Paid less than $600 delivered. So far Vista hasn't affected me wrongly. For my uses.

I LOVE the Matias keyboard for my Mac, BTW!

Coop
 
annr said:
Thanks Bob W,
No, I do not need a laptop . I think a laptop seems more like a luxury item but a family member was pushing for that one.
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If that family member is approaching college age, I'd have to give them a kudos for long ranged planning. :p
 
SharpByCoop said:
I've owned PC's for years and switched over to a Mac Tower Pro in Dec. I'm still not 100% convinced it's better. Every program I use for a Mac is inferior to ones produced for a PC. Word, Excel, Outlook (Entourage on a Mac), Photoshop, (No ACDSee for Mac :(), Quicken, all ran smarter on my PC.

PC's pricing is 1/3 of a comparable Mac. (There are those who will argue, there IS no comparison ;)) So, it has to be 66% better. Hmmmmmm.

That said, it has VERY few hiccups, and is virus immune (for the most part). I'm not going back, but I am not a Mac groupie either.

I just purchased a Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop to go to shows, and for my studio viewer. It's a rocket. Paid less than $600 delivered. So far Vista hasn't affected me wrongly. For my uses.

I LOVE the Matias keyboard for my Mac, BTW!

Coop
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Coop,
You just summarized my dilemma in a nutshell:). My understanding is that with Parallels the Mac will act like a PC, but I don't know if that means buying two versions of software. Are you using the Parallels program? or maybe you don't need that with your PC on hand.

As I mull it over: I don't have the chops or much desire to trouble-shoot a computer. OTOH I want to get some of these projects completed before I'm old and gray.:D

It seems that ideally I need one of each to answer my own question.;)
 
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Macs are cute, trendy and well-marketed.
The MacOS is pretty stable (if a bit inefficient when compared to other Linux OS's)

The Dell will be cheaper for comparable/superior computing power
The Dell will run Windows (which will allow you to use the many, many software apps for DOS/PC)
The Dell can be hacked to run Mac OSX 10.4+
The Dell will be cheaper to repair

Macs are very expensive to repair and they WILL break (my el cheapo Acer is still going strong after 2.5 years of use, while my wife is on her second Mac and that Mac is on its second hard drive; two of my co-workers who own MacBooks are BOTH on their second hard drive)

SOftware-wise, Macs applications are generally NOT backwards compatible. Not a problem if you don't plan on upgrading your operating system every two years, but a PITA if you do.

Buy a PC if you are on a budget, require more universal compatibility, and generally don't like giving in to the marketing hype of Apple.

And note, I said a "PC" (I think you can do better than Dell)
 
I went from a Sony Viao desktop and an HP 17" laptop to a 20" imac and a 13.3 macbook.
I have been very pleased with the transition and have not had any hardware problems.
I have not run any of the windows environments.
When you run the windows environment, you open the door to the same vulnerabilities that you would have on a PC.

Software updates are smoother. Typically, updates do not cause things to stop working.

While microsoft office is available for the MAC, there are some features that were left out of the excel. If you are doing research statistics, you may be disappointed. I have not had to worry about it yet.
 
SharpByCoop, which version of Office and Photoshop are you using? It is possible that you are running the older versions which are compiled for PowerPC processors (G3, G4 and G5 Macs) and have to be emulated for Intel processors (new Intel Macs). They call this technology Rosetta. This is all done seamlessly so you would never notice that they are not designed for your newer Mac except for the performance hit which varies depending on the type of application. I am certain you will find a much greater performance increase if you use software marked "Universal Binary" or for Intel Macs. IIRC, Office 2008 and Photoshop CS3 are both Universal Binaries and have better performance.

I have had a problem free Powerbook G4 12" for 4 years and still running strong. Never reinstalled the OS, never reformatted, and when I broke a few keys (my fault) the Apple Store replaced them for free in 10 minutes. I leave it on when I sleep and restart it very infrequently. It's the machine I bring with me everywhere despite having a much more powerful, faster Dell 15". At work we use 8-core Mac Pros and they are nothing but a dream to use. Only problem I've ever encountered with them is Leopard can be finicky when connected to a SMB share.

I find OSX to be a more pleasant computing experience and as a computer science major I find it lets me get right down to work a lot better than I could with a PC. I know my way around computers (Mac, Windows, Linux experience) seeing as I used to fix them for spare cash but I find it a much more pleasant experience to use a Mac where I rarely ever have to troubleshoot. If a Mac fits into your lifestyle (and offers the applications you need) I am certain you will be happy with it.
 
carrot said:
I have had a problem free Powerbook G4 12" for 4 years and still running strong. Never reinstalled the OS, never reformatted, and when I broke a few keys (my fault) the Apple Store replaced them for free in 10 minutes. I leave it on when I sleep and restart it very infrequently. It's the machine I bring with me everywhere despite having a much more powerful, faster Dell 15". At work we use 8-core Mac Pros and they are nothing but a dream to use. Only problem I've ever encountered with them is Leopard can be finicky when connected to a SMB share. ..................

If a Mac fits into your lifestyle (and offers the applications you need) I am certain you will be happy with it.
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Your experience with the Mac conforms with mine and the other (at least) 10 Mac computers in my immediate family .:) This little computer has been a 100% problem-free work horse for years for both me and my brother, its previous owner. In fact I wouldn't upgrade if it weren't for my projects; I would get more pleasure spending the $$ on knives.:) Thanks for your comments.

BTW--I saw something really cool on a visit to a student's home. Her father, who hold patents on things the trackball and other computer screen technologies, was seated at his computer, a Dell I believe, AND he had a monitor comprised of three panels, each about 2.5 feet high x 1.5 feet wide (or larger). The panels were arranged in front of him in a broken "U". I would ask him about it but he is very introverted.
 
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Hi carrot: I have the latest Photoshop CS3, but a 2004 version of Office. The newest Office for Mac does not include Outlook, anyway, and that is my largest grouse. Outlook is infinitely better than Mac's email and address book programs, or Entourage, which is the Microsoft Mac version.

I do not run Parallels, although I have the program. You need a fresh INSTALLABLE version of Windows XP, which after purchasing (2) XP PC's does not come with. Another program to purchase. And, like was said above, I am wary of the problems a PC program and OS will create in the long-term.

Regarding the Mac, I must say the installation of programs and the subsequent non-issues are a pleasure. very secure.

It's the program shortcomings that have me wishing. (I mentioned ACDSee, which is a photography management program. The very best out there. For whatever reason, they don't support a Mac. Go figure.)

Coop
 
ExMachina said:
And note, I said a "PC" (I think you can do better than Dell)
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ExMachina,
So which PC do you like? I'm open-minded. After all if I wanted to hear, "buy a Mac," I wouldn't have needed to start this thread.:) I don't have much prejudice one way or the other. BUT, the fewer hassles the better: the hassle is on my clock/dime, not my bosses, or someone else's.:D
 
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Since I pointed you to FrameMaker, I'll point you to PC over mac. Running the software in emulation is only going to bog you down where you're doing memory intensive tasks and crafting a largish graphically intense book.

Which PC to buy is a difficult question. The best deals in the PC world tend to come with a lot of bloatware that subsidizes the PC. Dell, HP, Sony are all guilty of this.This is a hassle for a novice to uninstall and navigate and it slows down the PC. Microsoft is guilty of this too to a lesser degree.

For this reason and for support issues, you should buy from a local PC vendor. They need to build and service the PC locally. So no big box electronic stores. No big name brands. Ask around among local small businesses for who they use and among other techie types. You'll want a business that has been around a while.

My take on the PC vs Mac. I've used plenty of macs over the years. They work fine for many people's uses. I crash them repeatedly. They aren't nearly as configurable or tweakable as a PC. Not every one wants or needs that level of control. No mac for me.

Phil
 
phatch said:
For this reason and for support issues, you should buy from a local PC vendor. They need to build and service the PC locally. So no big box electronic stores. No big name brands. Ask around among local small businesses for who they use and among other techie types. You'll want a business that has been around a while.

My take on the PC vs Mac. I've used plenty of macs over the years. They work fine for many people's uses. I crash them repeatedly. They aren't nearly as configurable or tweakable as a PC. Not every one wants or needs that level of control. No mac for me.

Phil
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Phil,
Your reply resonates with me, seems to resolve some of my mental conflicts. Bob mentioned that he builds computers but I didn't realize that it would be viable for me to go that route. Surprisingly only a handful of custom PC builders popped in a Google search, none actually in Boston, but I'm sure they are out there. This is the kind of project that I don't mind wrapping my head around, even as a novice---great word, I'm going to steal it.:)

I can see the advantage of owning a PC. I already own two macs. Meanwhile I'm working on the book in roughly 10p. sections, keeping the remainder on the external hard drive. In polling friends the TOC/index is getting a big:thumbup:. Thanks again.
 
If you lived closer, it would have been an offer.
Otherwise, you certainly can do it yourself. :thumbup:
 
You are going to get as much mixed opinion on this topic as a Strider/Sebenza debate.

What I can tell you from my own personal experience is that I used to custom build computers. More as a hobbiest, friends and family sort of thing.

I got tired of the maintenance that I was constantly doing on a Windows PC. "Where did this file go?, why won't this work?, where's the driver for this?, update virus definitions, remove spyware, blue screen of death" and so on.

I bought a Macintosh iBook g3 on ebay and it trounced my custom built top of the line PC because it just worked! I would sit down, do what I had to to and get on with life. No viruses, no crashes, no drivers it was like night and day.

That was 8 years ago and except for at work where I have no choice I will not touch windows. I have slowly upgraded over the years and have owned 5 Macs in that time and loved each one. My latest is a beast of a Macbook Pro maxed out in every way possible, it set me back 4k but it is a joy to use.

Also, if you need to run Windows Mac computers will dual boot and you can use XP or Vista, and ask anyone: Windows runs better on a Mac.

If you are doing anything creative design wise, music production, photoshop, video editing... ect, there is no exception to a Mac.

Just my 2cents based on my experience, I'm sure some will disagree... we all have unique tastes and preferences, but I am very passionate on the topic. Mac: more intuitive, more style, better quality, better support, more options, no viruses, less maintenance.

-macj
 
Bob W said:
If you lived closer, it would have been an offer.
Otherwise, you certainly can do it yourself. :thumbup:
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Thanks on #1.
Fascinating on #2.

I guess I'll have to look into it:confused: Where to start......................;)
 
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macjmillsx said:
I bought a Macintosh iBook g3 on ebay and it trounced my custom built top of the line PC because it just worked! I would sit down, do what I had to to and get on with life. No viruses, no crashes, no drivers it was like night and day.


If you are doing anything creative design wise, music production, photoshop, video editing... ect, there is no exception to a Mac.

-macj
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I'm on an iMac G3 right now and can say I have never lost a file, etc., etc.. I'm just out of date. I'm not sure how people develop computer tastes but I agree that they are personal. I started with a PC and was reluctant to try a Mac but now that I'm used to the Mac I've forgotten about the PC......
For the amateur (or computer novice in my case;)) many of the virtues and limitations aren't even noticed.
But it is nice to hear from people who use computers far more than I do, puts things into perspective. Realistically, if I were to get into 'computer building' it would be a hobby.
 
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I guess I'll have to look into it Where to start......................
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Start by setting a budget.

Not only is that the first step when planning a build, it'll help answer your other questions: Build or buy? Mac or PC?
 
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