Why would anyone buy a PC instead of a Mac?

[Reverend]

Oh man, I just tried out Parallels on my new Intel MacBook. This is kind of like Boot Camp, in that it lets you run XP on your Mac, but you can run it in a WINDOW, so you don't have to reboot!

I can't tell a performance difference between Boot Camp booting and running XP in a window with Parallels.

So that begs the question: Why would anyone buy a PC??? Before you answer that, keep in mind that Mac Minis start at $600, and the MacBooks at $1000. So the old "Macs are too expensive" excuse won't really cut it anymore :shake:

Pete

 

[Mr_Snipes]

I am not ready to part with my PC yet. Plus the Macs only recently started being able to run Windows. After it has been doing it a couple of years without problems, then I will probably be ready to look at going that route.

 

[Thermal]

You are still paying a premium on the apple controlled hardware. I can still buy a PC with similar specs to a mac mini for less money.

 

[Mirage]

The main reason I buy PC's is because games generally work better on PC's and most of the time aren't even availalbe for Mac.

However, as a laptop, or second computer, I see no reason not to buy a Mac. In fact I hope to get a new laptop soon, and unless Vista is leaps and bounds better than OSX, I'll definitely consider shopping Mac.

I know Windows like the back of my hand though, and can build a PC from start to finish in less than an hour, so I am definitely more comfortable with PCs over Macs.

 

[trick_r_treat]

I guess I am just not sure about the differences. I know that growing up, schools used Mac's years ago, but all I have ever owned was a PC. I guess I would be open to it, and would consider one for my next computer purchase.

 

[Reverend]

You are still paying a premium on the apple controlled hardware. I can still buy a PC with similar specs to a mac mini for less money.

Yes, you are paying a bit more for the "Apple controlled hardware", but to a large extent, you get what you pay for! Apple meticulously works to ensure that their hardware is of good quality, and works together well.

I too have built my own PCs over the years, and I have occasionally run into hardware incompatibilities, IRQ conflicts, and poor quality parts.

And Vista does look pretty nice, but you might as well run hardware that (legally) runs both OSX and Vista (which Parallels already supports).

Pete

 

[Thermal]

I can buy good quality equipment for less than what apple can offer. Apple has always charged more for their hardware. I built a computer about a month ago for around $800 dollars that offered way more than the $800 dollar macmini. If you're going to buy a Macmini, you're probably not buying it to have Windows on it.

As for hardware incompatiblity and IRQ conflicts, I haven't had any problems with either since windows 9x. I still have problems with drivers from time to time but that is the price you pay for a free market for computer hardware.

 

[JohnR]

I absolutely love this post, because you are exactly right. What disadvantages does apple have now? Slim to none.

 

[jzan]

True, and viruses and stuff don't infect macs as much as pcs. I think apple is starting to take over the market, and when it does, I probably will be using one

 

[Thermal]

True, and viruses and stuff don't infect macs as much as pcs. I think apple is starting to take over the market, and when it does, I probably will be using one

I doubt Mac will ever take over the market. The Mac OS X is still only around 1% of the desktop market. As Parallels, its not a Apple product, nor is it very fast since its still emulating a XP system. Maybe when Apple starts using the new Core 2 Duos on all their newer systems (and charges their premium), we'll see a speed boost.