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Apple or PC?

I am in the market for a notebook computer to use for University. I will be using it for research, writing papers (word/excel), sometimes taking notes in class, music, some photo editing, the odd DVD on trips, and internet surfing. It must be around a 12" and under 5 pounds with good battery life. I have been reading and it's my understanding mac OS X is a more stable operating system and that it is more secure from spy-ware and virusus. They also have 128Bit enscryption I hear as well. The powerbook 12" model looks perfect for my needs but my buddy who is a computer guru says macs are only good for photo editing and I will run into compatibility issues with the mac becasue they dont use a system registry or something like that. What should I do?
slov_dream
eastein
97 posts
 
I have an IBM Thinkpad and Mac G4 Titanium laptop, both are excellent. In addition to the above mentioned items the screen on the Mac is definitely a step up from the IBM particularly noticeable when using photoshop or similar. The battery was better on the IBM when it was new but now the older Mac's battery lasts longer. The support option on the Mac is also excellent. I could live with either machine.

I also have a cheapo dell laptop at work and the screen, keyboard, battery, and ergonomics are no comparison to either the Mac or IBM.
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
I've been digitally retouching and enhancing famous women's faces and boobs in LA for the last eight years on all sorts of Macs. If it weren't for Apple, I wouldn't be able to afford Audiogon.
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
As a loyal Mac-Jihadist, I have to agree with the comments regarding Macs being as vulnerable to viruses as PCs.

I've been the victim of a few nasty Apple bugs, and I believe the only reason there aren't more of them is because people that write these little nasties want to effect the largest group they can. With the mass of PCs out there, it's a no-brainer.

Also, since I push around files that get as large as 4-5 gigs when working, I bring my G5 running OSX to its knees quite regularly. On the other hand, when surfing and puttering around in iMovie, iDVD, etc. on my little Cube, it remains quite happy.
kennyt's avatar
kennyt
1,226 posts
 
FWIW I just got my new Power Book 12" with 8x superdrive, 1.25 Gigs RAM and 100GB hard drive, using student discount, it came to $1900, a lot of computer for that, and I couldn't be happier with it!

I must admit with some of the other posters, depending on your career, you might have to deal with PC's.... I hope for you that isn't the case, if you have the choice, go MAC!!!
trelja
3,223 posts
 
Brimac, thank you for your input. It's great to see an Apple dealer here.

That being said, I love my Dell!

However, for me, it's not as simple as that. I use a PC, which also runs MVS (IBM Mainframe) and a Sun Solaris Workstation (Solaris 9 - UNIX) at work, and have owned more than a few Macs as well. My next computer will just about definitely be a Mac.

Rather than look at this in the usual "us versus them" paradigm, since I have to work on a bunch of operating systems, I can see the pluses and minuses of each. The Mac would be a fantastic choice here, which I hope provides you with years of pleasure. But, you aren't going to have a disaster on your hands by running a Windows based PC - they do just fine.
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