Mac....

[TJVach]

Hey folks,
First off I want to thank you all. This is quite the website/forum. I have learned much more here then I ever have anywhere else! I don't know if this is a reasonable question but here it goes.
I recently got a Dell E1505 with Vista and have had nothing but problems. I would like to know from you folks if Mac's work well in general. I have read the postings about GPS and Mac's and how you need special software for it to work, but besides that how are they? Are they easy to use? Thank you all for your help!!!

 

[detailbarn]

I switched to mac about a year ago and I will never own a windows based machine again. I have never had it crash , unlike my dell which crashed weekly. It just works , every single time. As for gps stuff I haven't tried to install anything yet but with the availabilty to run windows on my mac it shouldn't be a problem if there isn't a mac specific GPS program.

 

[jeffryscott]

macs are great, and if you need Windows, the new macs can run that too at native speeds ....

 

[goodtimes]

The Dell I had was absolutely the worst f'in computer I have ever had. I am currently using a Sony Vaio desktop (circa: 2000). It just keeps going, and going, and going....The only thing that has been replaced is the video card (which was done to support a 22" HD widescreen monitor).

Macs scare me (I know very little about PC's, and absolutely nothing about Macs).

 

[Scott Brady]

I own them both. I am getting so tired of Windows Gestapo behavior now. They actually had an automatic update the other night that forced shut down my computer. I lost two partial articles. I was so ticked...

As soon as Mac allows you to run Windows programs without a reboot, I will transition over completely.

A couple thoughts on Mac.

1. They do crash, maybe a little less than Windows
2. They are not as fast for the same processor and RAM This is with the same programs (I have Photoshop on the Mac and the PC).
3. The MAC environment, display quality and design is so stellar that it nearly makes 1 and 2 insignificant.
4. You can get Aperture only with MAC, and it is my favorite image processing solution, by far.

 

[goodtimes]

4. You can get Aperture only with MAC, and it is my favorite image processing solution, by far.

Out of curiosity, have you used Lightroom?

 

[TJVach]

Yeah I have been having major problems with the automatic update right now. It won't install, but that's a whole other ball of wax. Right now I'm in the long process of talking with dell to return my computer. Everything that I have read about Mac's have been good if not awesome. I do plan on using it for imaging software, website production, and multimedia which is perfect for a Mac at least from my perspective. Oh and let's not forget backcountry trips so I assume I would have to "ruggedize" it lol.
Wish me luck in my battle with Dell to get this hunk of junk off my lap.

 

[bigreen505]

Macs work, though they are more expensive than comparable PCs. On Scott's points, I'm with him on the Windows updates/restarts, I lost a bunch over the last couple weeks too on deadline -- no fun. I have to disagree with Scott about Photoshop performance though. CS3, which is native on both platforms is screaming fast. CS2 runs on the Intel macs through a translator, which is slow.

 

[detailbarn]

As soon as Mac allows you to run Windows programs without a reboot, I will transition over completely.
.

scott here you go!

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=6C04E07A&nplm=TK057LL/A

 

[jeffryscott]

As soon as Mac allows you to run Windows programs without a reboot, I will transition over completely.

http://www.parallels.com/landingpage/dskd10_2/?gclid=CMnGmfzsxYsCFR4zgQodDUQhBQ

No reboot, allows you to run windows and mac and just go back and forth. no penalty speedwise. Give it a try, you'll be switching completely over.

(EDIT: didn't even get to the post above when I saw Scott's reply. there you go, further confirmation. Also, Leopard is rumored to have this built in, no rebooting between the two environments, and it will support Vista.)

 

[DaktariEd]

Shoot! I might as well just chime in here.

Hi, my name is Ed and I'm a Macaholic! :ylsmoke:

I've been using Macs since ~1988. I've owned a bunch...from the SE30 zipping along at 8 MHz to my current dual processor G5, and two G4 Powerbooks (yes, I have all 3).

I had a data-losing crash in 1992-3 thanks to AOL downloading something into the computer w/o clearance. Since then...no crashes...nada....zero!

I've had a few system slowdowns, but nothing a quick "Disk First Aid" couldn't handle.

Now in contrast. I recently forked over $30,000 for a dozen Windows-based PC's (plus routers, wireless etc.) for my office. Had to...the software we use only runs on a PC.

In the past 6 months (September 22 thru April 13) I have had 34 crashes or freezes on my HP. THIRTY-FOUR! That's more than one a week. In about a third of cases I lost data...patient records. That sucks! I had to force quit, reboot, sprinkle holy water on it, and start over every time.

So...I'll let you guess which computer I prefer.
Costs a little more...SO WHAT! What is YOUR time worth???

 

[thejafe]

I used to be a salesman for Apple -- and I still run an old G3 iBook.

I will never buy a PC ever again. OS X just stays out of your way and allows you to do what you want/need to do. It's there FOR YOU, not the other way around.

I was at a friends place last night who just installed Vista on his PC. He wanted to show me how great the new OSis and his machine crashed 4 times in the span of an hour. I just sat there with that "I told you so" look :xxrotflma

 

[TeleScooby]

'Nother convert here...
I spent ~4 years doing tech support and home pc consulting before realizing that the ulcer I was feeling starting up was from the f%#^in holes in Windows. In 2 weeks I had shut down my business, sold my client list, 3 PCs, and bought my first Mac. I'm on my 3rd one now (Macbook 2gig Core 2 duo)...The basic facts are, they work. Being based on UNIX means there are far fewer holes, crashes, reboots, forced quits, etc...and even if an application does crash, the way UNIX handles things means you can force that app to close and not loose everything else you are working on.

I work in tech support still, but my office is now about 50% Mac (the rest is split PC and Linux), so I'm writing this from a 2.16gig Core 2 duo iMac...I run Parallels with XP for the 2-3 times/day that I visit a work related site that is PC only...other than that...

Scott - You can indeed run Parallels all the time and even copy and paste between OSs...I do it all the time! There's even a new mode called 'coherence' that is supposed to let you have just one single Windows app open in a Mac application window, without seeing the windows behind it...just looks like another mac app...haven't had time to experiment with that yet, but it should be extremely cool and useful for me and for running GPS software, for example...