Need recommendations for a new laptop: mac or pc?

Question

I would use my laptop for:
1) writing (which makes me most scared if I get a Mac about the translating between pc and mac word docs which ive heard can be a hassle)
2) music and dvd
3) some online gaming
4) USB and wireless needed
5) I will probably travel a lot with it, taking it to college etc.
6) durability would be nice, my things can get the rough treatment sometimes

would you mind expanding on why to avoid macs or a certain comp? Thanks.

Answer 1

I'm a Mac user and windows user for 12 years.

1. Apple from years is being used by professionals for writings and creating music and movie editing. Mac as Microsoft Office which opens all ur Windows Office files. There are many tools for migration from PC to Mac.
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/word2004/highlights.aspx

New version of Microsoft 2008 is set to release this year end.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2007/jan07/01-09Macworld.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/jan07/01-09MacworldPR.mspx

So word related translation is not at all a problem.


2. Apple is best in Music and also DVD creation.
Garage band is the best for creating music. podcast interview and is free with every mac.

iTunes for Music
http://www.apple.com/itunes/jukebox/

GarageBand best software for making music.
http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/
http://www.apple.com/getamac/tunes.html
http://www.apple.com/getamac/podcasts.html


Create DVD with iDVD. Create music, Photoslide show and also movies and butn on DVD.
http://www.apple.com/ilife/idvd/
http://www.apple.com/ilife/idvd/features/widescreendvds.html
http://www.apple.com/ilife/idvd/features/themes.html
http://www.apple.com/ilife/idvd/features/mapview.html
http://www.apple.com/ilife/idvd/features/dvdburning.html
http://www.apple.com/ilife/idvd/features/slideshows.html
http://www.apple.com/ilife/idvd/features/dropzones.html

Thirdparty DVD makers
http://www.pure-mac.com/video.html


3. The beauty of internet is the Browser has to work . play games online on Safari or firefox. If incase u find you cannot open the site with those broswers you can fire parallel and bring XP or vista and play the games.. Infact any damm game that runs on windows.
http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/
http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/ss/

4) All Macs a have USB 2.0 ports, Firewire ports and Wireless internal Antenna
http://www.apple.com/macbook/wireless.html
supports 11 Mbps, 54 Mbps and 200 Mbps networks.

5) Macbooks good for durability, rubber mount harddrive, tough poly carbonate material, Harddisk freezing software when it fall down and works with almost all nework standards in college. (wireless and wired)


"Sleek, 1.08-inch thin design
MacBook makes it easy to hit the road thanks to its tough polycarbonate case, built-in wireless technologies, and innovative MagSafe Power Adapter that releases harmlessly if someone accidentally trips on it."

Source :- http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?family=MacBook

6. 5th point cover it all..

Pricing of Mac and Dell PC with same configs.
http://homepage.mac.com/yatheen/MS%20tricks2.htm

And one last thing. U can always run Windows on a Mac hardware which is the best part of getting a Mac. But u can never dream of getting Mac OS X running on PCs.

Answer 2

First things first from read the first part of your question it already sounds like you don't want a Mac. Or maybe just real scared to get one. Ok.....about 7 years ago yeah Mac was not universal but it isn't like that anymore. If you go to the Apple website you could see that as far as Word docs go they both use the same format, so you could type it on Windows and Print it from the Mac, or visversa.
1) writing (which makes me most scared if I get a Mac about the translating between pc and mac word docs which ive heard can be a hassle).
So first question solved mac and pc docs can both read the same formats.

2) music and dvd
Now Music and Video, lets start with music, the Macbook offers and digital/analog miniplugs, both in's and out's which automaticly knows when you have your head phone pluged in or if you have and optical cable pluged in. No need to switch between inpiuts. When in optical cable mode the computer lets out a beautiful sounding 5.1 digital signal. Second is Video (dvd), every MacBook comes with a HD Screen of 1280X800 passing HD 720 Progressive scan. iDvd enables you to watch an analoge movie in HD format while putting out 5.1 digital sound (5 high speakers. 1 sub).

3) some online gaming
So your a gamer huh kool me to, thats why i have a Mac, the new MacBook have an Airport card built right in. Unlike other brands like Compaq or HP, the airport covers wireless connections of 802.11 A, B, G, and now N, for the Fastest online gaming expirience.

4) USB and wireless needed
USB? Nope not just USB anymore, Every MacBook comes with 3 USB ports, 1 Firewire Port, 1 Mini HD DV out port, and NIC port. Apple has taken wireless to the next level, normal note book have a battery that lasts 3 or 4 hours Apple have made battery that lasts 6 hours. so less time connected to the wall. As i explained on the top It has wireless A, B, G, and N. Plus they all have Bluetooth 2.0!

5) I will probably travel a lot with it, taking it to college etc.
MacBook was made to see you world, this i a media machine travel photos and movies you want to create while on these trips and fast and easy on a make. That 6 hour batter would be great for college. There are 3 classes to the MacBook the 1.86 White, 2.0 White, and the 2.0 Black. 1.86 White has an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.86, and the 2.0 White and Black have and Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0. Standard with 1GB of memory. Possablilities are endless. Along with traveling every Macbook comes with a built in webcam, and mic for voice conversations all around the world.

6) durability would be nice, my things can get the rough treatment sometimes
Each MacBook comes with something called a sudden motion sensor, once the MacBook feels a difference in motion perhaps if it falls to the floor the Harddrive will lock and stop spinning so none of your information if lost.

Extras:
7) MacBook offers and MagSafe power cord, so if you mac is on the table and someone steps or tripps on the power cord the cord just pulls right off instead of pull the whole notbook to the floor.

8) Macbooks have Super DL Drives in other words they can burn anything from regular CD to DVD Duo Layer Discs, at up tp 40x for CD and 16X of DVD.

9) Every Macbook can run Windows XP or Windows Vista.

Well hope you make the right choose check out the site apple.com read up on it.


PS: Ok.....now stay away from compcrap, and Hpeeyoo.

Answer 3

Hello snapdragonxoxo,

Get a Macintosh snapdragonxoxo.

1) There's a bunch of word processors for the Mac and most are compatible with Microsoft Word. Oh, and you can also get Microsoft Word for the Mac. I use it at my work all the time.
2) You've heard of iTunes? It's kind of big. :-) The Mac also has great DVD player software too. If you would like to make your own music or DVDs, you can do that too. Creative types love the Mac.
3) Yes, I've enjoyed playing some on-line games. Games aren't exactly as good as what you'd find on game consoles. Isn't that what everybody plays on anyway?
4) All of the Mac laptops (MacBooks & MacBook Pros) have built-in Airport (WiFi) cards. They have built-in iSight cameras for video conferencing. They also have USB 2 and Firewire ports.
5) The MacBook or MacBook Pros would be great for college. They can talk to network printers great, as well as wireless work and what ever you would need, plus no computer viruses and spyware.
6) Macs live forever. Steven Dell, says that you need to replace your Dell every two or three years, but most people happily use their Macs for many, many years after that.

The best part of the Mac is it's Operating System. Go to a local Mac dealer and try one out for yourself. You'll find instantly in love with the Mac, just as most Mac users have done. Best of luck to you.

--Rick

Answer 4

What up?
For all out compatibility sticking with a pc is the way to go, for hardware upgrades and software issues it is much easier and cheaper to deal with pc's as so many publishers and manufactures make items that can be added to pcs, music, movies and gaming can be done also on both but most software titles are made for pc prior to macs unless there is a contract, 90% of pc ports have built in wireless and like mine has 7 usb 2.0 ports... as far as weight is concerned you can easily find light pc's and most can handle a beating as well as the next, all in all mac users are a specific breed, you just gotta decide where you will be, also realize most business and schools ( yes artsy schools may be an exception also elementary schools) use pc's so compatibilty wont be an issue...
hope this helped out a little have a great day...

Answer 5

I have both. I love my Mac the most. i would not get a dell if i was you, they have horrible customer service, i havent had to many issues with my mac, it runs its self. But they are great at service.

as far as the programing you can read all pc files on a mac. as for transferring them to a pc from a mac, you can save them as a Microsoft word paper. all new macs are pc friendly. However not all websites are. But you get much better security with a mac. And i have heard a lot of bad things about the new vista program on pcs.

both mine have dvd burning, movie watching and game playing. i can make better home movies on the mac.
i can play the games on line on both of them. however yahoo doesnt really like macs for chatting.

both are wireless and usb.

find out what your college has, if you have any class that will require a computer program with it.

i break everything and i baby my mac much more than the pc because i like it more. they both cost me the same price and have the same capabilities. so it comes down to what you are comfortable with.

my mac never freezes, my pc always does. have had both for two years now.

Answer 6

I think you should get two pcs. b/c if you want really good one it will be kind of heavy. if you going to be using for school I think you should get a tablet PC. they are really cool. Another PC I like is dell but I have a toshiba its ok the intergraded wireless modem broke on mine so I have to buy a card otherthan that it kind get over heated and turns off. If you going do heavy gaming get a Dell XPS model. with windows vista you need at least 512mb ram that a min I recomment at least 2 gig ram. if you are a really bad about droping things then you should look into the panasonic labtops there like steel.
I have not had the luck or curse to work with a mac. I heard after they put in the intel chips its better than before.
there are you choose and they do have MS word for mac so you have to worry about switching fomats or anything

Answer 7

I would recommend staying away from the Macs. I would say the best laptops now are the newer Toshiba Models. As far as using it for online gaming I would recommend something with atleast 1G of ram. Get a DVD burner and you should be able to do just about anything. Most all of the new models have built in wireless.

Answer 8

You will be able to do that with either. except for gaming.

You can get a copy of microsoft office that runs on a mac, so documents will work fine.

only the top games will run on a mac.

windows is less stable, but you can move faster and do things quicker with windows. this is what i have heard people say that use both pc and mac.

that and mac's suck


i like toshiba, get something from sams club if you can get in there.

Answer 9

definantly the mac. Im using mine right now to type this lolz. A mac will always be a good choice especially if you are going into music. just go with ur gut. and if u need lets say microsoft word for school u can get microsort office for mac. its great.=)

Answer 10

pc

i have a Gateway and it works great

i am only 11 so i dont know if it will work for you but...