Should I get a Mac Laptop?

[scardella]

Wow! I didn't realize there were so many Mac users on here!

I work in a university's IT dept. We have both PC's and Macs. Even taking into account the difference in number of users, I've had to fix far fewer Macs than PC's. That said, when I go home, I log onto a PowerMac G5. I have both a Mac and a PC at work. I use the Mac for 90% of what I need to do. There's just one program that we use to track our jobs that's on a PC.

As for experience, CS degree, familiarity w/ Macs, PC, Linux, and a little more exotic stuff.

If you must buy a PC, we've had good luck w/ Dells.

productivity - there's Office for Mac (no Access database) or iWork suite (seems ok from my toying w/ it)
email - mail.app or Entourage (part of Office)
browsing - safari (works really well, though formatting is messed up on some sites)
cd burning - integrated
chat - iChat
compressed files (.zip, .sit) - Stuffit

As far as gaming, (if you're concerned), top flight games (often FPS stuff and Blizzard) are usually the only ones to be ported to Mac's and some independent stuff. My computer is more than adequate to handle that sort of thing, but I'm not too sure about an iBook. Plus, I'd usually rather play games on a ps2.

It comes w/ a few good programs out of the box...
iTunes - I would use this even on a PC
iPhoto - good for managing digital pics
iMovie - basic video editing
etc..

warning, geek stuff following....
As far as getting into the "guts" of the system, the Unix back-end of Mac OS X has lots of neat little things about it; it's much more satisfying to play w/ some of that stuff than windows. It also comes with its own compilers, etc.

PowerMac G5
2 x 2.5Ghz G5 processors
512 MB RAM
160GB HDD
Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra

[Lil Red]

i've heard though that the machines dell sells to businesses (corporate) are actually much more reliable than the machines they sell to the general public.

[scardella]

[quote name='Lil Red' date='Aug 24 2005, 06:34 PM']i've heard though that the machines dell sells to businesses (corporate) are actually much more reliable than the machines they sell to the general public.
[right][snapback]697709[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]

We've had good experiences w/ Optiplexes and Latitudes. Those are probably the business oriented ones.

Oh, and to answer the original question, I've heard a few stories 2nd or 3rd hand of poeple switching from Apple to PC, but at least one of the following was in effect:
1. The Mac was old and running OS 9 or earlier, which was crash-prone and had some old technologies in it.
2. They were already comfortable w/ Windows and didn't want to learn anything new.
3. They wanted/needed software or hardware only available on Windows.

[b]The majority of people I've seen switch, however, have really been impressed with it. Also, there are very good, capable general purpose apps, eg Office, mail, music players, DVD players, Web browsers, that fits 90% of must users' needs. The only mainstream thing it is really lacking (somewhat) is games.[/b]

[Theoketos]

I used to fear number 2 on that list, but I think I can handle it if means not losing all my papers all the time.

[scardella]

[quote name='Theoketos' date='Aug 25 2005, 12:15 PM']I used to fear number 2 on that list, but I think I can handle it if means not losing all my papers all the time.
[right][snapback]698443[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]

#1 rule of content creation (papers, artwork, presentations, spreadsheets, etc.):
Save early, save often.
#2 rule
Always make a backup! Back up to different media. Ex. Hard drive + USB drive, HDD + floppy, floppy + another floppy, etc.

Edited August 25, 2005 by scardella

[Theoketos]

[quote name='scardella' date='Aug 25 2005, 01:02 PM']#1 rule of content creation (papers, artwork, presentations, spreadsheets, etc.):
Save early, save often.
#2 rule
Always make a backup!  Back up to different media. Ex. Hard drive + USB drive, HDD + floppy, floppy + another floppy, etc.
[right][snapback]698502[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]

This why I still have my papers. But I am really really really really sick of having to restore my data. In fact I am so sick of it, my spouse is sick of hearing about it.