MAC or PC

[gungywump]

Note the question is what you PREFER not neccessarily what you use at work. Be honest.

A computer can be a useful tool for mountain biking. Tech questions, auctions, classified ads,rides and trail conditions are but a few of the mountain bike related topics that can be explored online.

[Big Game]

I've long prefered MACs. Because there are so fewer MACS around, there are less viruses (or viri?) that continually plague those b.s. windowy thingies.

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Not able to explain your mountain bike advice clearly on the Nemba online forums? Try using a MAC OS instead. You'll find that your words will come more naturally and people will have a much easier time understanding you.

[sizlinseagulsoup]

I just like MAC better because the hardware is so much better. G4 with dual processors? A developers / editors dream.

[SloMoJo]

Well, I'm on computers all day too. For me they're just a means to an end. Sure the MAC or Unix box is a way better design. Everything runs on a PC tho, so I'll vote PC. I hated dropping my Mac years ago, but that's ancient history.

[Thedewser]

Well I have to say I prefer PCs. I don't hate MACs, I think they are very good with multimedia and multimedia development. They are designed for just that and that is where the excel. Now here is why I don't use them, $$$$$$$$$$$$$ Is one big reason. In order for me to own a MAC, it would have to be as good if not better than my present machine. Right now I don't see any Power books below $1500. My next gripe, THEY ARE ALWAYS HAPPY!!!!!!! No matter What!!!!! There is not a thing on this planet that could be that happy all the time!! The Hard drive could be on fire and the damn smiley face will still appear! So this leads me to believe that the MACs are not of this planet or..... they are on drugs!

Big Game has a point though. I have never heard of a Mac that got a virus.

[johnbryanpeters]

Bang for buck = PC.
Working in an office? PC.
My Mac was nice when I had it, but way expensive for hardware and software.

J

[splat]

Want a Mac Virus ? I can send you one ! They are out there , They are much less prevelent, Just like Virus's for Linux and Solaris not very many of them but they still do exist!

I must vote PC! Much More Bang for the Buck! I only recently began to like Mac's with the release of OS X , you can finally get to a command prompt! and the beuty of it is UNIX!

[sizlinseagulsoup]

I still don't like the horrid lamp called an iMac. Personally, I like the fact that on a g4 and other computers, my tower can be away form my monitor. I am not sure why, I just like that freedom. Prehaps I enjoy bending down to the floor to insert a cd into in. Also, it does not leave you very much room to upgrade your monitor (I think). Besides, who woudn't like a nice 19inch monitor?

[gungywump]

It still sounds like if money wasn't an issue many of you would PREFER a Mac and, that was the question; not what gives you more bang for the buck, right?

Personally I'm a Mac user and a Mac preferer.
OS-X is Unix based.
Dual-RISC proccesors.
1.25 Ghz each.
23" Flat Panel Cinema Display.
Virtually virus free.

[Jesus]

Only a MAC user would ask this silly question. Jesus does not understand why MAC users have such a superiority complex. We are all brothers.

[splat]

If $ wasn't an issue , I'd get an 8 Processor PC with 2.5 Ghz XEON's 5 or 6 ATI Radions , a Massive Ultra SCSI 160 Raid set . and Run Linux with SMP on it. 24 Inch Sony Monitors ( or 19 inch LCDs ) and Every imagianlbe Do-hickey you could get on it .

You really can't discount $$ as an Issue, it is really an intergral part of the argument.

[sizlinseagulsoup]

If $ weren't an issue, I'd probably buy more than one computer, some macs and some PC's. I hope I would not be the only one in that boat.

[gungywump]

You really can't discount $$ as an Issue, it is really an intergral part of the argument.


There is only one issue to "argue" here.

What do you PREFER a Mac or a PC.
The operative word here is PREFER.
Not have.
Not buy.
Not best bargain.
Not what your buddy uses.
WHAT DO YOU PREFER!!!

[johnbryanpeters]

Dear gw,

I >prefer< a PC. Now are you happy? Phbbbpppttt.

J

[Sylvan]

I haven't used a Mac since like 4th grade. I know they've changed dramatically since then, but since I own a PC and use one at work, I don't know if I'd be able to handle a Mac now.

I helped to build our home PC. Even christened it when trying to pop out the CDROM porthole thingy and ended up with 6 stitches.

I like being able to easily open it up and switch out components that aren't up-to-date anymore. Need a new Video card? Easy. New processor? Little more complicated, but not brain surgery. :D

Can you do that with Macs? Open 'em up and work on 'em yourself?

[NEMBA_bkr-dude]

I am a proud user of MAC. They kick ass! Plain and simple!!! They are unhackable, fast, and almost every good biking movie you have ever seen had been on a mac at least for one scene, if not the whole thing. Also, web dev. rules because the graphic design capable on a mac is 100x that of a PC. Also, macs come with less ram and hardrive space than PCs cause the simply don't need it. They are naturally fast and well balanced and don't run out of memory fast (anything involving final cut pro is an exception of course). I have had a mac my whole life and I have never owned a PC. I also find that everything runs smoothly on macs and the interface design is much more effecient compared to PCs. Macs are also easy to troubleshoot if by some slim chance something went wrong and restarting it doesn't help. Also, you can edit audio on macs very well. There is at least one ProTools G4 tower in every recording studio. The only thing you would want a PC for is business oriented work (finance, insurance, inventory, invoice,.....) and drafting/CAD (computer aided design) work. Sometimes literature publishing is better on a PC too, but the only thing that PC has that can compare to MACS is their expandability and network opprotunites.

If you are curious no I don't work for any computer company, I am just a high school student who spends as much time biking as using my computer.

[johnbryanpeters]

NEMBA_bkr-dude,

Would you mind expanding on the statement that a Mac is "unhackable"? It's an interesting claim if it can be supported.

J

[NEMBA_bkr-dude]

well first off, to even think of hacking a mac you need to have an encyclopedia of knowledge about macs. Also, 98% of viruses do nothing and the 2% that do have a 2% of doing damage. I have only seen one mac virus in my life and it did nothing. Macs are unhackable simply because even if you have all of the network info, there is still no way to get into the system. The tcp/ip part of macs runs parallel but seperate to the operating system. Sure you could spike the web connection or mess up the browser but that isn't really hacking.

[Dawgee]

i would hope you could work on any computer without getting stiches !!!! i hope you dont on your bike LOL j/k

[Sylvan]

Unfortunately, I seem to be real clumsy when it comes to putting PCs together. I've only needed stitches the one time though. Now, if it's something simple like just switching out a video card or something, no problem. But towers hate me. There are at least 3 computers who have tasted my blood... ::)

And I haven't worked on my bike yet. Victory Cycles in Hope Valley treats us real good, they do all of our maintenance and show us how to.

[Dawgee]

Im the opposite. I work on my own bike and have drawn blood put wont touch my PC in fear of killing it which might not be a bad thing. Ive only been to Victory Cycles once to buy tires but i hear their very good.

[Thedewser]

I used to spend most of my time working on PC's, now I spend more time and money on my bikes. I picked up a laptop so I don't really take apart machines anymore. Do enough of that at work. I understand the bloodletting when it comes to working on machines Sylvan.

Right now I spend my money the following ways: Bikes (hobbies), Truck (gets me to trail) and Computers (makes the money to pay for it all).

As for Macs being unhackable and virtually immuned to almost all viruses, that fact is true. I have yet to see one sercumb to many of the threats out there attacking PCs. Doesn't mean I will change. I like the challenge of locking down my machines. Also in a primarily PC based environment the Macs cause the most problems because of software incompatiblities. We have a lot of financial systems that only has PC client software. The only way the Macs can run it is with Virtual PC, which is dirt slow!! But as far as your claim about movie making and graphic design, I can't argue, that was what they were made for and that is what they can do! As far as Web development, you can't get confused with graphic design and web content. Web pages are just code, they can be done on any machine. Occasionally I still fall back on notepad.

Anyhoo, the trail is waiting, so I am off!!

[MTBSteve]

I would have to say that PCs are better for an all around computer that can be is good at almost eveything. But if u wanted to make kick ass videos get a mac.

[gungywump]

Can you do that with Macs? Open 'em up and work on 'em yourself?


Yes, Sylvan you can. As a matter of fact the design of the G4 tower allows probably the easiest access to the inside of any computer made. The entire side of the tower is a big door that hinges down and exposes everything you would want to get at flat on the desktop. You can swap drives, add RAM(It'll take up to 2Gigs), you could update graphics cards or even the processor. But, the beauty of Macs is that they do not need the constant updating of proccessors that is prevelant in the PC world. The fastest Mac tower is so much faster(18 Gigaflops) than the fastest PC tower that you don't NEED a new one every year(or 6mo.) A Twin 1.25Ghz Mac performs Photoshop functions 90% faster than a 2.53Ghz Pentium 4. G4's also have BUILT IN Gigabit ethernet.

[NEMBA_bkr-dude]

AMEN