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June, 2025

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What is better for me? mac or pc

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-Mugatu
Posts: 2579 - Karma: 86
ive used the search bar, and it was helpful, but i need to know what is better for me.  Im not in university yet, but hopefully will be in a year.  I currently have a hp laptop and like itm but my sisters comp broke and so im selling mine to her.  i dont do alot of photo/video editing, I just do random stuff, school work etc.  i always wanted a mac just because they looked cool, but now i want to know which i should go for. one of my teachers said that mac's arent as good cuz its mostly all external( dont know what that means). also, if im going to get a pc it will be a laptop, but if i get a mac, should i get teh macbook or imac? i was liking the imac but im thinking about university and shit, and what would be better for school?


17 years ago
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Chummer3
Posts: 599 - Karma: 9
Get a PC, but if you want to look hip and trendy then get a Mac
17 years ago
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Ericpbp
Posts: 3161 - Karma: 24
a pencil or typewriter
17 years ago
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2+2=5
Posts: 3676 - Karma: 18
go for the pc. you'll get a longer lasting computer for cheaper. plus u can do way more upgrades for cheaper. since ur not dedicated to making music, photography, or video editing, any PC program will do the same job.

get a dell, theyre good!
17 years ago
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Twig
Posts: 6472 - Karma: 62,829
macs look better and crash less.. but there are some things that you cant do.. the world still revolves around pcs.. that said i have a macbook and love it..
17 years ago
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TWoods
Posts: 10014 - Karma: 8,392
I don't know how the posts above could think that's true.

I have a powermac from three years ago (the laptop) and it runs the same it did the day I got it... ie it's still fast as fuck and there is nothing wrong with it. EVERYONE i know who has a PC laptop hates it, has had numerous problems with it, and wants a mac laptop. Every PC i have ever owned or used regularly has changed the way it funs after a while, gets slower and develops quirks. ONLY ONE person that I know who has a mac laptop has ever had a major problem with it, and that's a shitload of people that I know with Mac laptops, because I am a graphic design major.

Macs are trendy, sure. but much of the popularity has come from the fact that they are better machines, and they are more portable, and more durable.

if you are worried about learning to use it, trust me, it's fast. if you want microsoft office, you can buy it or torrent it.

PC companies make decent desktops (sometimes) but i have never encountered a well made PC laptop.
def. get a laptop for school.
17 years ago
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steezyjibber
Posts: 15967 - Karma: 11,027
im not a college student but i love my imac
when i go to college i'll probably get a macbook
17 years ago
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jwaveson
Posts: 343 - Karma: 10
if you're not doin any photo or video stuff and you're headin for college then I would say PC. I've got them both. I use my Imac for all my photo stuff and albums, and PC for everything else
17 years ago
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Xave
Posts: 2672 - Karma: 18
Now with intel processors, you can run windows xp or vista on your mac. So there's nothing your mac cant do that a peecee can do. Okay, they're pricier. If price is a concern, go peecee. If you want to look cool, go mac, but in the end, you'll be able to do the same stuff.
And macs have practically no viruses, spamware, trojan, etc.
I'm sold to macs, could you have guessed?
17 years ago
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bigwhite.steeze
Posts: 8229 - Karma: 1,034
go for a pc.
you can get the equivalent of a macbook pro for 1300$ in a pc version.
17 years ago
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thejackamo
Posts: 1785 - Karma: 11
Get a Mac. Aside from the normal "they're more stable" and "they look nice" arguments, I'll give something more practically/fiscally based:

1) It will last you longer than your average PC. I have a PowerMac G5 that's going on 3 years old and I plan on taking it all the way through grad school for graphic design - 3+ more years, so by that time it'll be about 6 years old

2) In addition to lasting you longer as a serviceable machine, they retain their value over time much better. So when/if you go to sell it a few years down the road, you'll be getting around 50-70% of the original value. PCs typically retain 30-50%, and 50% is being generous. I was able to get $500 for a PowerBook G4 from 2003 – for a 5 year old machine, it retained about 30% of its value. See if you'll be able to get half that for a 5 year old PC. I expect my PowerMac G5 to fetch around $1000-1200 when I'm ready to get something new in a few years - that's 50-60% of its original value.
17 years ago
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Snowcase
Posts: 11456 - Karma: 634
3 years isn't a very long time at all. I have a computer that is 8 years old. Almost every component has been replaced by now but that's what's great about pc's, you can do that. You're taking a risk that the technology isn't going to be completely replaced making your laptop worth alot less than you expect. The price you paid for it new doesn't make it worth it.
17 years ago
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thejackamo
Posts: 1785 - Karma: 11
In terms of the average person, replacing parts isn't really part of the equation - you realize that 90% of the population is afraid to replace their RAM let alone a mobo, video card, RAID cards, etc.? I agree that PCs in terms of expandability and flexibility can't be beat. However, for a good majority of the computer buying public, they just want to buy something that they can use and not have to worry about. I think that's something that people like us who are comfortable with technology and know it inside-out tend to lose sight of - the average person and their usage patterns. The computer is fast becoming an appliance - your average Joe Shmoe wants to just buy the thing, put it in his office and not have to worry about it. As for me, I went with Apple because I was tired of playing repairman with my 98/2000/XP machines, I just wanted to get work done and let the tech slip into the background.

As for laptops - that's the risk you take. I need something portable for field work. Necessity trumps any kind of perceived risk. And my return on investment for a laptop is tremendous - I now use my MacBook Pro more than I do my desktop system. If I continue using it the way I am for the next 2 or 3 years with the kind of jobs that I'm doing, the productivity (not to mention flexibility - I can lug a 5 pound laptop around with me to photoshoots and other studios, while with my PowerMac I need to wait until I get back into the studio until I can do anything) that it allows more than outweighs the $2000 that I spent on it.

So I guess you could say that Macs are the easy way out. But after working on/with/against Windows systems for so many years, I'm fine with easy.
17 years ago
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