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Impressions from a hardcore PC user who 'switched'

F

Fraggable

Platinum Member
I know some people couldn't care less about my impressions, I just thought some might find it helpful or informative. So here I go.

I've used PCs since I was 10, starting with a 386. In the last 11 years I've spent an inordinate amount of time troubleshooting, building, repairing, destroying, and otherwise wasting time on PCs. I started an associates' degree in PC Support and Administration with an emphasis on networking and administration 2 years ago and am nearing the completion of the degree. I've used apples for a total of maybe 10 hours in 11 years, until yesterday. I went to order my dad an ipod for his bday and saw they were giving away a 2gb nano with a laptop purchase. I know I'll be expected to know a minimal amount of how to work with macs and at least how the networking side of them works, plus I was curious to see how easy the OS really is, I figured if I didn't like it I could always sell it or install Windows. So I ordered a basic macbook for $1050.

When I opened the box I was immediately struck by the incredible attention to detail and design, as most people are. Especially the power adapter. My HP 17" beast of a laptop's power adapter is almost the size of a brick and uglier than one, where the power adapter for the macbook is elegant and comes with 2 options for plugging it into the wall. The way they designed it makes it almost as convenient as having 2 power adapters, one for traveling and one for desk use. The macbook itself is heavier than I expected for its size, I'd guess about 6-7 pounds. Nice keyboard, the keys are spaced a bit farther apart than a normal keyboard but I don't fatfinger things as much when I'm using it. The screen is the perfect brightness and has a very good reponse time it seems. the webcam is of really good quality. It's totally silent 95% of the time, I don't think the fan runs much at all. The only thing I'm not really happy with is that the bottom gets pretty warm sometimes. I installed the update that's supposed to increase fan speed and help with temps but I havent noticed a difference yet.

The OS is too cool to explain. I cant get over how simple it is to install and uninstall programs just by moving/removing them from the Applications folder. Safari is nice but I haven't figured out if it's got tabbed browsing yet, ichat is cool but I wish it had support for Yahoo, the Dashboard is really nice and I love the white pages widget, that's going to save me a ton of time. As I type this it's importing music from my desktop to itunes, something I have never been able to get my other laptop PC to do.

In summary, I dont think I'll ever buy another PC. If I do, it will be strictly for gaming since macs really arent designed for it.

So there's my .02. I really just typed this so I didn't get bored waiting for itunes.
 
When I switched from mac to pc, I was amazed at how much faster pc's were (gui responsiveness), how much more hardware customizing was possible and how much more software was available. I shudder every time I hear about people like you going backwards
 
same here, i am also a new mac user. since 99 ive been using PC since college and the 5 years after college. should of stayed in a unix evenvironment, i probably would have a better job today. =)

i just recently got into web development and tried out ubuntu..well it seemed like i was spending the majority of my time fixing installations and finding drivers for my pc and less time programming. well i gave up on it. since i got a mac book pro, all installation of stuff went clean and easy.


 
just curious (as this seems to be a point many mac switchers make): why do mac users, in general, place so much importance on "elegance of design" when 99% of the time, you will be looking at the monitor and nothing else?

sure the G5/mac pro case is nice because it's compartmentalized, but what's so great about that? as i recall, i can simply BUY low dB fans or (in some cases) only heatskink for completely silent operation. least to say, i am still 😕😕😕😕 at the switch from PC to mac, both from a hardware and OS standpoint (my experience with OSX was nothing but painful on two different computers).
 
Hmmmm you may want to wait a bit more than 24hrs to decide. I have an iMac and for the first week I loved it, the OS is simple, until you need the command prompt, and the applications seem to get dull after a bit.
 
Originally posted by: Wonderful Pork
any heat/noise issues? I'm thinking about buying a mac laptop. Also, how much RAM did you go with?
Click to expand...

There really is no noise. the fans hardly ever run and when they do it's really quiet. The bottom does get fairly warm though, it would be nice if it was a bit cooler.

I went with the default 512mb ram, I figured if I wanted more I'd get it from newegg. the 1gb upgrade was $90 and I know I can get a 1gb stick for less than that and have a total of 1.25gb.

to acemcmac, I don't plan on getting id of my PCs, I have a gaming rig and a media center laptop that I use extensively, however its hard to take notes on a 17", 12-pound laptop at school and te battery lasts about 2 hours. This macbook will be perfect for it and lasts about 3-3.5 hours.
 
Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
just curious (as this seems to be a point many mac switchers make): why do mac users, in general, place so much importance on "elegance of design" when 99% of the time, you will be looking at the monitor and nothing else?

sure the G5/mac pro case is nice because it's compartmentalized, but what's so great about that? as i recall, i can simply BUY low dB fans or (in some cases) only heatskink for completely silent operation. least to say, i am still 😕😕😕😕 at the switch from PC to mac, both from a hardware and OS standpoint (my experience with OSX was nothing but painful on two different computers).
Click to expand...

Because hipsters like to look cool.

I'm not joking. 99% of the mac users I've met will say some variant of that.
 
Originally posted by: koloastreet
backwards?
if you write software, i think mac is an awesome work environment vs windows.
Click to expand...
Fair enough. But computers werent made so people could have more work.
Computers were made so people could have less work.
In other words, if the Mac is easier to develop but Windows is easier to use, which one do you think will be more popular?
(I'll give you a hint: We already know!)

As for me, I tried an iBook for two days and sent it back.
Already explained my decision in the other 50 "APPLE IS SOO COOOOOL!" threads we've had this year, so I wont restate my experience.

If the search was better I'd find them and cut & paste my old posts.
We used to get some pretty good discussions on that back in the olden days.
 
Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
just curious (as this seems to be a point many mac switchers make): why do mac users, in general, place so much importance on "elegance of design" when 99% of the time, you will be looking at the monitor and nothing else?

sure the G5/mac pro case is nice because it's compartmentalized, but what's so great about that? as i recall, i can simply BUY low dB fans or (in some cases) only heatskink for completely silent operation. least to say, i am still 😕😕😕😕 at the switch from PC to mac, both from a hardware and OS standpoint (my experience with OSX was nothing but painful on two different computers).
Click to expand...

I'm sure the thrill will wear off but for now I'm blown away by the beauty of the thing and the attention to every detail.

But like I said, the main reason I got it was to learn the OS and troubleshooting, so I wont mind when problems come up.
 
Yes, most mac people like to LOOK cool. It's sad, really. But hey, if you like your mac, then great for you. I had the chance to play with a mid-range macbook while I was configuring it, and I really like OSX. I had a couple of bad experiences, though, where I got the gay pinwheel-of-death and I had to end processes. The mac playing made me switch to Linux, and now I use Ubuntu completely, with only a XP machine in VMWare...
 
I love their iLife apps. Their Garageband software is really cool- can't beleive they give it away for free.
 
I just started school at NC State, and probably about 40% of the students have new macbooks. EVERY single owner i have talked to about them complains about studdering under normal desktop operations. This is only a problem with the macbooks, as they have the integrated graphics and all, but i know that is making alot of people angry. i wouldn't be able to put up with that, but aside from that, everyone likes them. I know far too much about PC's to switch to a mac, and i have no reason to want a mac. Mabye a bootcamped MBP, but...
 
Originally posted by: acemcmac
When I switched from mac to pc, I was amazed at how much faster pc's were (gui responsiveness), how much more hardware customizing was possible and how much more software was available. I shudder every time I hear about people like you going backwards
Click to expand...

Really, the options available with the right-click button (and the possibility of being able to turn off a lot of the unnecessary CPU/RAM overhead devoted to pointless OS visuals), plus the games and the ability to customize, are what keep me in the PC camp.
 
Originally posted by: acemcmac
When I switched from mac to pc, I was amazed at how much faster pc's were (gui responsiveness), how much more hardware customizing was possible and how much more software was available. I shudder every time I hear about people like you going backwards
Click to expand...

Interesting you should mention the GUI's. A friend of mine is in the graphic design program here and they required him to purchase a Mac for his design work. He ended up selling it because he couldn't stand the lag on the menus and things. I dunno, I'm thinking of getting a Mac laptop for law school next year, but I've got plenty of time to research/try things out.
 
Well this macbook isn't as smooth as my media center laptop but I didn't expect it to be. I expected more stuttering than I'm seeing. I know it has integrated video but I couldn't afford the $1500 MBP so I went with the cheaper option. I've heard that there's a big performance increase when you give it at least 1gb or memory, maybe that's what all those college students need to do. If I end up doing a lot of multitasking I'll definitely put some more money into it.

I guess what I mean is I wouldn't expect a Win XP laptop with 512mb to be faster than this so i'm not disappointed.
 
Glad you like and that Apple survived.

A product owned by the Company may be a good fit for many people but I prefer the open PC.

Unfortunately Microsoft/Intel/AMD & the U.S. Govt are getting very close to their version of the Apple for the PC world where they will own the PC, you don't.
 
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Glad you like and that Apple survived.

A product owned by the Company may be a good fit for many people but I prefer the open PC.

Unfortunately Microsoft/Intel/AMD & the U.S. Govt are getting very close to their version of the Apple for the PC world where they will own the PC, you don't.
Click to expand...

What? That makes no sense...
 
I have a Mac Mini that I use for basic web surfing and e-mail, and it works great for that task. It wasn't enough to "convert" me, though, because I still spend most of my time using Windows and *NIX systems at work.

You still need a real PC for gaming, though, because there are still no reasonably priced Apple systems with good graphics cards. Even if they release one, you would still need to buy a copy of Windows XP and use Boot Camp, since most games are still released for the PC first.
 
Originally posted by: Fraggable
Safari is nice but I haven't figured out if it's got tabbed browsing yet, ichat is cool but I wish it had support for Yahoo
Click to expand...

Safari... Preferences... Tabs... enable 'Enable Tabbed Browsing'

Tabbed browsing in Safari is really nice.

As for your YIM problem, have you tried AdiumX yet? It's one of those all-in-one messengers (MSN, AIM, YIM, ICQ, etc), and is pretty convenient and really customizable.

Enjoy your new Mac, I just got a new Core Duo iMac yesterday, and it's amazing. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: adambooth
Originally posted by: Fraggable
Safari is nice but I haven't figured out if it's got tabbed browsing yet, ichat is cool but I wish it had support for Yahoo
Click to expand...

Safari... Preferences... Tabs... enable 'Enable Tabbed Browsing'

Tabbed browsing in Safari is really nice.

As for your YIM problem, have you tried AdiumX yet? It's one of those all-in-one messengers (MSN, AIM, YIM, ICQ, etc), and is pretty convenient and really customizable.

Enjoy your new Mac, I just got a new Core Duo iMac yesterday, and it's amazing. 🙂
Click to expand...

Sweet, thanks for the tips. I'm running it now.
 
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