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I sure wish I were a kid with rich parents who could buy me a new mac for school! Now I'm an old guy and I have to buy my macs with my own money.

Aug 14, 08 - 08:19 am Comment from: macaholic

sux to be u!

Obviously there are scores of other reasons... but let's stick with the easy one.

Mikey likes it.

Aug 14, 08 - 08:22 am Comment from: ragarcia

yeah, you suck!

:->

Just kidding!

Aug 14, 08 - 08:32 am Comment from: DLMeyer

Lladnar, I feel your grief! As a "retired" gentleman I need to be a little careful about my modest savings and walk dogs for pocket change. I may not be "poor", butt my means are "restricted". Good thing I kept the credit cards paid off, didn't carry a balance from month to month, and saved the difference. It will be painful replacing my Dual G5 in ... 6 months? a year? When Snow Leopard comes along. It will find a new home with my son ... never, EVER, throw away a perfectly fine computer!

"Macs offer built-in video camera and iChat software."

In this case, wouldn't it be iCheat software?

because macs are super cool ^^

Nick Fury

iCheat would be John Edwards software of choice.

Aug 14, 08 - 09:29 am Comment from: MacLovin

Hey DLMeyer... can I have your G5???

Actually, dear author, the mac mini does not come with 802.11n yet, since it's Steve's neglected red-headed step child.

Re: John Edwards

When your old car is warn out and falling apart, you start test driving new models.

I don't know what all the fuss is all about. He's just being a man.

Aug 14, 08 - 10:02 am Comment from: smyhre

There are more ways to cheat on a mac than a pc. Add that to the list Woops!!! Did I just say that? I don't use it for that but I know how.

also, mac pros do not come with wifi at all

it's a $50 option

Yeah and it's not like ultra-mavericky super-patriot Sidney McCain didn't dump his 1st wife (who had already been married and had kids when he first picked her up, thus breaking up family #1) for a hotter blonde ultra-rich beer heiress! What a straight shooter ol' Sidney is!

Holy S**t - perhaps the dumbest, most asshole statement anyone's ever made on these boards. There isn't an excuse for a guy cheating on his wife (who happened to be fighting cancer at the time).

Grow up prick.

To be fair, these points:
2. Macs offer built-in video camera
4. Every Mac comes with fast 802.11n Wi-Fi
6. Macs run Microsoft Office quite nicely
7. Microsoft Office 2008 Home & Student Edition, just $119.99
11. Free personal shopping assistance (Computer Retail Stores)

Are also true for PC Laptops. They basically all come with 802.11n wifi and webcams now. As a list of reasons to get a mac instead of a PC, it doesn't make sense to include things that are true for both, like the ability to run office, or the ability to get "free personal shopping assistance" (like, wtf? Really? Macs are the only computing platform where you get salespeople to help you? Or is it just with other ones you have to pay for the priveledge? Ooooook...).

I'm not saying Macs aren't they superior choice (they are), but I find putting things like the ones I indicated sends the wrong message- that macs are playing catch up with "me too" features, instead of the truth: they are leading the way, have always led the way, and that it is MS and PC-makers which are playing catch-up.

Aug 14, 08 - 01:39 pm Comment from: ElderNorm

@Jacob,

To quote a famous star. "Well,,,, Ah Yes.... and a NO." When asked if she was a virgin.

You said: " To be fair, these points:
2. Macs offer built-in video camera
4. Every Mac comes with fast 802.11n Wi-Fi
6. Macs run Microsoft Office quite nicely
7. Microsoft Office 2008 Home & Student Edition, just $119.99
11. Free personal shopping assistance (Computer Retail Stores)

Are also true for PC Laptops. "

Yes and NO. Cheap laptops give you little. Middle of the road laptops cost the same as Apple laptops and last less. And that free shopping advice..... well have you ever really been to a Best Buy. They are more than willing to help you spend more than you have, as much more as they can. commission you know.

"They basically all come with 802.11n wifi and webcams now. As a list of reasons to get a mac instead of a PC, it doesn't make sense to include things that are true for both, like the ability to run office, or the ability to get "free personal shopping assistance"

And remember, Apple Macs include cameras (and great software to play with them) and iChat (and great software to just make it work......


"I'm not saying Macs aren't they superior choice (they are), but I find putting things like the ones I indicated sends the wrong message- that macs are playing catch up with "me too" features, instead of the truth: they are leading the way, have always led the way, and that it is MS and PC-makers which are playing catch-up."

While I agree with your statement above, I to totally enjoy when papers write how its great to buy a Mac and its what parents should do. Period. NOT that Pcs are great and Macs are too sort of, see how Pcs have all this stuff toooo.

I work with pcs and friends try to get me to help fix their POS pcs. While I am nice about it, I am not a pc repairman, especially if you wanted to buy cheap so you got a pc, then let the pc salesman work you up to a pc that cost more than a Mac.

Sorry my friend, you just bought an expensive POS... LOL

Hey, its almost the weekend. Back to work.

en

Aug 14, 08 - 01:40 pm Comment from: Mac-nugget

@Jacob
That is the point, you don't loose anything by choosing a Mac, you get it now?

@Mac-nugget

I think you're the one who doesn't get it. You're not going to convince anyone to switch to Mac by telling them they won't LOSE anything. What you have to do is show them what they can GAIN. Taking about what they "won't lose" by switching IS loser talk. You have to focus on the positives, not just the absence of negatives. An absence of a negative does not qualify as a reason to get a mac. A list of reasons to get a mac should be filled with the advantages of the mac, not half the points talking about how it's just as good as a PC. There are plenty of things about macs that are better and easily demonstrable to people. Many people have never see Mac OS X in action or heard of many of its features... where are those features on that list?

Some little things are huge, like having a searchable system preferences. Ever tried searching the system preferences on Vista or XP? Can't be done.

My point was, saying something like "macs can run office" as a reason to get one makes people think "Well, fine, but my pc can already do that". Including such items on the list merely dilutes the persuasive power, since it presents the macs as the same as PC's instead of better.

@Eldernorm

"Yes and NO. Cheap laptops give you little."

Virtually ever new PC laptop, even those in the $500-600 range, give you a webcam and at least wireless g/bluetooth (wireless n is useless for most people, though many if not all of the cheap laptops still do have it).

"Middle of the road laptops cost the same as Apple laptops and last less."

It depends where Apple's laptops are in their product cycle. When macs are fresh they are good deals, when they are stale (such as the MB/MBP right now) they become less of a good deal. For instance, there is a Sony Vaio out there for the same price as a middle model MacBook that beats the crap out of in every way. Better processor, bigger hard drive, twice the RAM, blu-ray drive, HDMI-out, better screen, discrete video card...

Dismissing every non-PC laptop as a cheap piece of junk is pure ignorance, the kind that makes PC users hate mac users. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a mac user through and through (I've owned 4 macs, including a recently purchased Mac Pro, and I'm only 21), but I also know what is out there for both, and there are PC laptops out there that are of good value hardware-wise. The only problem with them is that they run Windows. Pretending that Apple's hardware is unequivocally superior is just foolish. Like I said, sometimes it's a better deal than other times.

"And that free shopping advice..... well have you ever really been to a Best Buy. They are more than willing to help you spend more than you have, as much more as they can. commission you know. grin"

Who said anything about Best Buy? Is Best Buy the only computer store? I work in a computer store. We are not on commission. I do my best to match each customer's wants and needs at a price which suits accordingly. So does everyone else that works there. For this reason, we get many repeat and long-term customers, and many people who come in and tell us how incredibly helpful we are compared to other (Best buy like) stores. And yes, we sell about P Mac stuff.

"And remember, Apple Macs include cameras (and great software to play with them) and iChat (and great software to just make it work......"

It's called MSN messenger. Most people don't care about distorting their face, they want a webcam to do video chatting.


"I work with pcs and friends try to get me to help fix their POS pcs. While I am nice about it, I am not a pc repairman, especially if you wanted to buy cheap so you got a pc, then let the pc salesman work you up to a pc that cost more than a Mac."

PC towers tend to offer better hardware at a lower price than iMacs. One reason is that the iMac uses many mobile parts that cost more for less returns. The iMac is still a very good computer, but not all PC's are cheap pieces of junk. Most people are buying laptops these days anyways... I probably sell 20 laptops for every desktop I sell.

"Sorry my friend, you just bought an expensive POS... LOL"

Not sure if you're talking to me or not, but I just bought a Mac Pro and I don't think it's a POS, although it was kind of expensive.

The inability to see both sides of the debate is always irritating, whether the person in question is a mac or pc user.

The bottom line is... macs run the better OS, come with better free software, are less vulnerable to problems with software (hardware, driver, uninstalling, etc. (no orphan .dll files lying all over the place,) have better re-sale value, far less vulnerable to viruses and web/email-based attacks, and generally have the highest level of customer service and buyer satisfaction. Oh... they also run Windows if needed, in a couple of different ways. If in emulation, the Windows "installation" can actually be much more stable than running on third-party hardware, and isolated from online problems. All of these things make macs more versatile, more flexible, more reliable and generally a better choice for students who may encounter unexpected demands upon their laptop during their studies, depending on course requirements. I'd have to say the increasing number of students on college campuses carrying macbooks around seems to support this.

Mac = OSX + Windows + Linux + Unix, etc. all at the same time if needed (just add memory and VMware Fusion and a few spare operating systems.) If I was studying CS it would be the only choice that would make sense. Or, you could just buy your kid 2 computers.... naaaah! Get a mac. It's just practical... and cheaper than 2 or 3 machines.