The Energon Pub

[UltraPrimal]

I'm looking to buy a laptop on Boxing Day, but a friend suggested maybe I should get MacBook instead. I've done a little shopping and all I've noticed is you pay twice the price for a machine running Leopard with half the power of a one running Vista. So what's so great about Apple?

[Geekee1]

If you have the opportunity to go to an Apple store do that. You can try them out and see what they are like. I love them, but you have to decide what you are going to use it for.

If you want to do gaming, go with a PC. If you want a computer that's going to be rock solid and have very little problems in terms of installation, viruses, and has an awesome interface, go with Mac. And you can't compare GHz between PC's and Macs, they aren't equivalent.

Now onto the Mac haters...

[Tweezy]

Unless you're looking for a career in art, the laptop PC is the choice to make. otherwise whenever you search for programs you have to add "for mac" on the end. I'd say go with the laptop! I have a macbook. Mac's CAN get viruses, they aren't invincible. and they have this nasty habit of crashing with open source programs like frets on fire or linux ( nigh upon impossible to run on macbook, I've tried, it just goes into kernel panic.)
Save yourself some cash and go with the PC, and just get AVG antivirus for it.

and this is the most important thing to know about the MacBooks. they get hot, and when I say hot I mean 1st degreee burns on bare leg skin hot. and they get hot FAST. The only vents they thought to include are these tiny things right between where the monitor and computer connect. Major design flaw.

If you want a computer that's going to be rock solid and have very little problems in terms of installation, viruses, and has an awesome interface, go with Mac. And you can't compare GHz between PC's and Macs, they aren't equivalent.

(rock solid my ass the thing gets dented if it's in my backpack for too long) and installation is no problem at all. it's Un-installing that's a pain in the ass. you have to go through the files to find out how to uninstall a program instead of just going to the control panel and choosing a program to uninstall.

Save yourself the trouble and get the PC.

as a matter of fact just go ahead and customize an alienware laptop it's better and (believe it or not) cheaper.

[Geekee1]

Unless you're looking for a career in art, the laptop PC is the choice to make. otherwise whenever you search for programs you have to add "for mac" on the end. I'd say go with the laptop! I have a macbook. Mac's CAN get viruses, they aren't invincible. and they have this nasty habit of crashing with open source programs like frets on fire or linux ( nigh upon impossible to run on macbook, I've tried, it just goes into kernel panic.)
Save yourself some cash and go with the PC, and just get AVG antivirus for it.

and this is the most important thing to know about the MacBooks. they get hot, and when I say hot I mean 1st degreee burns on bare leg skin hot. and they get hot FAST. The only vents they thought to include are these tiny things right between where the monitor and computer connect. Major design flaw.

If you want a computer that's going to be rock solid and have very little problems in terms of installation, viruses, and has an awesome interface, go with Mac. And you can't compare GHz between PC's and Macs, they aren't equivalent.

(rock solid my ass the thing gets dented if it's in my backpack for too long) and installation is no problem at all. it's Un-installing that's a pain in the ass. you have to go through the files to find out how to uninstall a program instead of just going to the control panel and choosing a program to uninstall.

Save yourself the trouble and get the PC.

What the hell is wrong with your Macbook? I'm using mine on my lap right now and it's fine. And how are you denting the hard shell plastic? Or do you have a Macbook Pro? That would make more sense. And to uninstall you just drag the program into the trash, what else do you want?

Granted I use my computer for pretty basic stuff, I don't program or game on it. But it's awesome for Photoshop, Office, web surfing. Also I didn't say that they can't get viruses, they are just much more rare for the time being.

But get what you're comfortable with. I've used PC's forever too. I just prefer my Mac.

[Tweezy]

I am using a macBook pro. but seriously the alienware is better and it is Cheaper. I looked it up myself and customized a reasonably superior one for one or two hundred dollars less!

[TheMuffin]

PC's will always be cheaper. But you don't get that awesome superiority complex that comes with owning a Mac.

[Bombus distinguendus]

well it depends on what ur looking for in a comp. i have a dell inspiron 1521 and my wife has a macbook pro...both are good. when she got her mac 2 yrs ago it was the firts mac that either of us used since the early 90's...was nice cuz it didnt get viruses and it is the best running computer that we have ever used..now mine is the best windows based comp ive ever had..i hate vista...wish i came with windows xp insted but oh well. on macs u can buy virtual windows so u can run windows stuff on mac but i dont know how that works. dont listen to ppl who are all one sided on windows or apple. both have ups and downs just get what u need

[GetterDragun]

PC's will always be cheaper. But you don't get that awesome superiority complex that comes with owning a Mac.

PCs will always be cheaper? Cheap PCs are cheaper. A PC equipped like a Mac, comes out about the same. Remember, you get what you pay for (and that goes for PCs too). And what are you talking about "superiority complex", does the advertising run you the wrong way?

[TheMuffin]

PC's will always be cheaper. But you don't get that awesome superiority complex that comes with owning a Mac.

PCs will always be cheaper? Cheap PCs are cheaper. A PC equipped like a Mac, comes out about the same. Remember, you get what you pay for (and that goes for PCs too). And what are you talking about "superiority complex", does the advertising run you the wrong way?

I'm running a 2.4ghz Quad Core Intel, 500gb Seagate HDD, 4 GB of ram (6400) and a 880GTS NVidia card. Came out to $1578. Build me a Mac with those specs for that price.

And those commercials piss me off to no end. They make it seem like to do anything a Mac can, you have to upgrade every piece of hardware in a PC. The one about viruses made me want to punch Justin Long for being in those commercials. Give me 10 minutes with a Mac and I can get you a virus on it. Will you find one in normal every day browsing? Of course not. But that commercial made it sound like it was impossible to get one on a Mac. That is a straight up lie. The fact that you can get far more compatible pieces of software for a PC seems to never pop up in those Mac commercials for some reason. Oh yeah! It's because they don't want to admit that the majority of companies don't want to support such a small user base.

[Bumblebee-otch]

PC's will always be cheaper. But you don't get that awesome superiority complex that comes with owning a Mac.

PCs will always be cheaper? Cheap PCs are cheaper. A PC equipped like a Mac, comes out about the same. Remember, you get what you pay for (and that goes for PCs too). And what are you talking about "superiority complex", does the advertising run you the wrong way?

I'm running a 2.4ghz Quad Core Intel, 500gb Seagate HDD, 4 GB of ram (6400) and a 880GTS NVidia card. Came out to $1578. Build me a Mac with those specs for that price.

And those commercials piss me off to no end. They make it seem like to do anything a Mac can, you have to upgrade every piece of hardware in a PC. The one about viruses made me want to punch Justin Long for being in those commercials. Give me 10 minutes with a Mac and I can get you a virus on it. Will you find one in normal every day browsing? Of course not. But that commercial made it sound like it was impossible to get one on a Mac. That is a straight up lie. The fact that you can get far more compatible pieces of software seems to never pop up in those Mac commercials for some reason. Oh yeah! It's because they don't want to admit that the majority of companies don't want to support such a small user base.

nice setup

i hate those commercials too! i was praying throughout Die Hard 4 that "Mac" would kick the bucket

[TheMuffin]

Something I wanted to inquire about as well. Can you upgrade Macs on a whim now? I honestly haven't kept up with them since I used one for Oregon Trail in middle school. I remember back then that the big letdown was that you just had to toss the system out because you couldn't upgrade it. Is this the case or are the more like PC's where you can just throw a new part in when you want?

I've always looked at Macs as the normal persons system. They're easy to use and practically retard proof. I've never found a use or had a need for one personally though. Nothing about them appeals to me. Besides the shiny case. Steve Jobs is adamant about the shiny cases. So that is one thing I can agree with him on.

[Bombus distinguendus]

Something I wanted to inquire about as well. Can you upgrade Macs on a whim now? I honestly haven't kept up with them since I used one for Oregon Trail in middle school. I remember back then that the big letdown was that you just had to toss the system out because you couldn't upgrade it. Is this the case or are the more like PC's where you can just throw a new part in when you want?

I've always looked at Macs as the normal persons system. They're easy to use and practically retard proof. I've never found a use or had a need for one personally though. Nothing about them appeals to me. Besides the shiny case. Steve Jobs is adamant about the shiny cases. So that is one thing I can agree with him on.

once u get use to a mac(if uve never used one before or in a long time) there really easy to navigate around, it is retard proof. mac has normal updates/upgrades like windows does,the new OSX just came out and from what ive seen it rocks.u cant do the whole build a comp with a mac like u can with a windows pc... so if thats what ur looking for then a mac isnt it.

[GetterDragun]

Something I wanted to inquire about as well. Can you upgrade Macs on a whim now? I honestly haven't kept up with them since I used one for Oregon Trail in middle school. I remember back then that the big letdown was that you just had to toss the system out because you couldn't upgrade it. Is this the case or are the more like PC's where you can just throw a new part in when you want?

I've always looked at Macs as the normal persons system. They're easy to use and practically retard proof. I've never found a use or had a need for one personally though. Nothing about them appeals to me. Besides the shiny case. Steve Jobs is adamant about the shiny cases. So that is one thing I can agree with him on.

Yea, you can, but why would you. Everything runs fine on it and Macs have a better "life span" than PCs. Think of it, why do you need a quad core with 4 gigs of RAM? That's a lot of power. The only thing that needs that is a high end game. Nothing else a home user needs would require that (and if they are doing 3d rendering for fun, well maybe that too). Most people use a home PC for writing letters and e-mail, going on the internet, organizing photos, downloading music, and maybe some financial tasks. All of this can be accomplished on a basic machine. The difference is that when a new version of Windows comes out, you need to upgrade our hardware. On a Mac you have better cross version support for the OS and if I upgraded my Mac to Leopard I would see a small improvement in performance over the last version. If I upgrade my XP machine to Vista, I'd get a decrease. So for the average user, a Mac is easier to maintain.

I personally have all 3, a PC, a Mac, and a Linux box. I use my PC for work stuff and internet, the Mac for music and photos, and the Linux box for development.

I personally think that in a corporation, no desktop (for the average office person) should be a full machine with any OS, it should be a thin client running a browser or a remote client.

[Shadowman]

I'm running a 2.4ghz Quad Core Intel, 500gb Seagate HDD, 4 GB of ram (6400) and a 880GTS NVidia card. Came out to $1578.

By the checkbook of Gates! You could run The Matrix on that thing. Not the movie, the actual Matrix Program from the movies.

I much prefer PC. I like to be able to upgrade rather than buy a new machine. If I wanted to do that, I'd get a game console.

[Tweezy]

PC's will always be cheaper. But you don't get that awesome superiority complex that comes with owning a Mac.

PCs will always be cheaper? Cheap PCs are cheaper. A PC equipped like a Mac, comes out about the same. Remember, you get what you pay for (and that goes for PCs too). And what are you talking about "superiority complex", does the advertising run you the wrong way?

hello... does the term "alienware" ring a bell somewhere in this conversation?

oh and "open-source" because that's kind of important too!

EDIT:
and I agree with muffin about the virus thing. The only reason mac has less viruses is because everyone uses a PC. If the hackers turned their Sauron-esque eye toward the mac. Steve Jobbs would be forced to eat his own foot!

And the adverts DO rub me the wrong way. They're complete dicks with their Mac Vs. PC ads. basically a direct insult to Mr. Gates himself. and this is completely irrelevant but I think it should be stated that the I-pod touch is just an I-phone without the phone!

[Me, Grimlock!]

I'm looking to buy a laptop on Boxing Day, but a friend suggested maybe I should get MacBook instead. I've done a little shopping and all I've noticed is you pay twice the price for a machine running Leopard with half the power of a one running Vista. So what's so great about Apple?

Macs are awesome for film editing. I used (I think it was) Final Cut Pro in class, and I fell in love with it once I got the hang of it. Have yet to find a PC equivalent, or anything that comes even close.

Other than that I'm afraid I can't be much help to you. The one thing I don't like about Macs is the cycloptic mouse. Whatever Justin Long says in those commercials is totally undone because Apple can't get past the one-button mouse... unless they have and I'm behind the times.

[GetterDragun]

PC's will always be cheaper. But you don't get that awesome superiority complex that comes with owning a Mac.

PCs will always be cheaper? Cheap PCs are cheaper. A PC equipped like a Mac, comes out about the same. Remember, you get what you pay for (and that goes for PCs too). And what are you talking about "superiority complex", does the advertising run you the wrong way?

hello... does the term "alienware" ring a bell somewhere in this conversation?

oh and "open-source" because that's kind of important too!

EDIT:
and I agree with muffin about the virus thing. The only reason mac has less viruses is because everyone uses a PC. If the hackers turned their Sauron-esque eye toward the mac. Steve Jobbs would be forced to eat his own foot!

And the adverts DO rub me the wrong way. They're complete dicks with their Mac Vs. PC ads. basically a direct insult to Mr. Gates himself. and this is completely irrelevant but I think it should be stated that the I-pod touch is just an I-phone without the phone!

What does open-source have to do with any of this? Open-source code/applications is available on all platforms. And And alienware is a high-end PC. Plus I could blow away windows on an Alienware machine and run Linux on it.
That post reminded me of the news guy in Anchorman...Lamp! Table!

I don't like the Mac PC ads either, Novell has one with a chick whose Linux, but it's kind of a nerdy ad. And the Mac has less viruses than a PC at this point period, you can always "if" something, but it's not the case.

[DREWCIFER]

I'm looking to buy a laptop on Boxing Day, but a friend suggested maybe I should get MacBook instead. I've done a little shopping and all I've noticed is you pay twice the price for a machine running Leopard with half the power of a one running Vista. So what's so great about Apple?

Macs are awesome for film editing. I used (I think it was) Final Cut Pro in class, and I fell in love with it once I got the hang of it. Have yet to find a PC equivalent, or anything that comes even close.

Other than that I'm afraid I can't be much help to you. The one thing I don't like about Macs is the cycloptic mouse. Whatever Justin Long says in those commercials is totally undone because Apple can't get past the one-button mouse... unless they have and I'm behind the times.

I always get an after market mouse. I hate the Mac mouse.

[TheMuffin]

To answer your question Getter. I future proof my technology. That Quad Core won't be the standard for another 2 years. And neither will that amount of RAM. I buy big so I don't have to think about upgrading for a good 5 years. I'm keeping XP so no worries about it being bogged down by Vista either. And I use it for everything from Adobe Photoshop to Adobe After Effects to my solid modeling programs like SolidWorks. I wouldn't even be able to do what I do if I used a Mac. I've never been in an engineering office that used a Mac. Because no modeling program is compatible with it.

I just can't see the draw of a Mac for someone like me. It does the same stuff as a PC but for a higher price. Don't get me wrong though. If someone just gave me one I would learn it inside and out. But no one will ever do that, and I'll probably never have a reason to learn anyways.

I've never used a Linux machine so I can't comment on that.

[GetterDragun]

To answer your question Getter. I future proof my technology. That Quad Core won't be the standard for another 2 years. And neither will that amount of RAM. I buy big so I don't have to think about upgrading for a good 5 years. I'm keeping XP so no worries about it being bogged down by Vista either. And I use it for everything from Adobe Photoshop to Adobe After Effects to my solid modeling programs like SolidWorks. I wouldn't even be able to do what I do if I used a Mac. I've never been in an engineering office that used a Mac. Because no modeling program is compatible with it.

I just can't see the draw of a Mac for someone like me. It does the same stuff as a PC but for a higher price. Don't get me wrong though. If someone just gave me one I would learn it inside and out. But no one will ever do that, and I'll probably never have a reason to learn anyways.

I've never used a Linux machine so I can't comment on that.

Good point about future proof. But that is what I like about Macs is that for their OS, they future proof there machines. And like your example, every machine has its strong points. I use AutoCAD, so I need a PC, but for graphic design, I use a Mac because a Macs color palette is far superior to a PC (Mac colors are spot on to Pantone, where PC's are not). Linux on the other hand is basically when you need the most hardcore, like rendering at ILM is done in Linux.

Realistically most companies are going Virtual Machine now, so it almost doesn't matter.

[Tweezy]

PC's will always be cheaper. But you don't get that awesome superiority complex that comes with owning a Mac.

PCs will always be cheaper? Cheap PCs are cheaper. A PC equipped like a Mac, comes out about the same. Remember, you get what you pay for (and that goes for PCs too). And what are you talking about "superiority complex", does the advertising run you the wrong way?

hello... does the term "alienware" ring a bell somewhere in this conversation?

oh and "open-source" because that's kind of important too!

EDIT:
and I agree with muffin about the virus thing. The only reason mac has less viruses is because everyone uses a PC. If the hackers turned their Sauron-esque eye toward the mac. Steve Jobbs would be forced to eat his own foot!

And the adverts DO rub me the wrong way. They're complete dicks with their Mac Vs. PC ads. basically a direct insult to Mr. Gates himself. and this is completely irrelevant but I think it should be stated that the I-pod touch is just an I-phone without the phone!

What does open-source have to do with any of this? Open-source code/applications is available on all platforms. And And alienware is a high-end PC. Plus I could blow away windows on an Alienware machine and run Linux on it.
That post reminded me of the news guy in Anchorman...Lamp! Table!

I don't like the Mac PC ads either, Novell has one with a chick whose Linux, but it's kind of a nerdy ad. And the Mac has less viruses than a PC at this point period, you can always "if" something, but it's not the case.

All I'm saying is that the mac isn't as invincible as some people like to think. and as for open source; I'm not debating it's avaliability, I'm saying that open source programs have a nasty tendency to crash on macs. (as far as I've seen anyway)

[TheMuffin]

Getter. It pains me to see you using AutoCAD.

[SnapTrap]

THe Macbook can also run PC programs via Bootcamp. YOu do need to install a version of Windows onto a seperate partition but it is supposedly rock solid.

[Tweezy]

software is't the problem here it's the hardware, it's the fact that the mac costs waaaaay more than a PC with the same specs.

[homelessjunkeon]

software is't the problem here it's the hardware, it's the fact that the mac costs waaaaay more than a PC with the same specs.

That depends.
You can find similarly specced OEM PCs that cost a similar amount to a Mac. It's fairly obvious in the laptop market, since there is no build it yourself option.

While MacBooks do tend to cost more than a PC laptop, the difference isn't that noticable on most branded systems, and, despite being an XP man myself, I'd say it's actually worth it in many cases.

If I were buying a laptop right now, I'd get either a Macbook, or research the hell out of my purchase and install Ubuntu on it.
I wouldn't want a Vista laptop right now, which is pretty much all you will get in terms of PC laptops.