Mac vs. PC - Is Apple worth the money? Is is a better system? I need basics, but want stable + reliable?

Question

I'm not a gamer, don't need it for art/graphics, etc. I'll pay $1000 if I'm getting my $$ worth. Also...looking to get my first iPod, a Touch. So maybe it's best to keep it in the Mac family and have everything work together?

Answer 1

ipods, i phones and all that are now being produced with compatibility with windows systems in mind. You will not have a compatibility problem with a computer that isn't a mac.  (they don't even come with a firewire interface native to macs anymore)

I personally don't find a mac worth the money. But that's just me, a Linux user :D. Especially nowadays, all the desktops and most laptops come with 3 GB of ram, a huge harddrive and a dual core processor faster that 2,0 GHZ for less than the price of a Mac(that only has a 2.0 ghz and 2 gig of ram plus a rather small HD)

Since you won't be gaming, won't be going into graphics or art, I'm guessing you'll do some surfing, maybe a movie, e-mail, chat, downloading songs and syncing with your handheld device. In that case, a Mac would be a gross waste of money. You could get a pc, running XP or vista, for under 600$ that could do all of those things without lagging.

for those who say windows is too hackable, you can get  a free antivirus/antispyware software like avast or AVG. + spybot search and destroy or superantispyware. there's your security problem solved with no money spent.

getting a family of apple products don't increase compatibility in this day and age. it's mainly for looks and style.

as for stability, doing a little homework aka research, for about an hour or two, will make sure you know how your computer works and what  is NOT good for your computer. I think an hour of boring info learning beats paying an extra 400-500$.  Windows systems are getting stabler and stabler. Just be careful what you install or download. With the internet, every problem is easily diagnosed and treated without taking it to a computer shop. For example, after installing a microsoft update, your system hangs after a few minutes. You have many options at this point. 1- roll back your system to a prior state, before the installation of the update and update it later, when MS has fixed the bug.

Google the update/problem. If you're patient and have a little of commonsense, I'll bet 10 bucks you'll get it fixed within the hour.

Answer 2

IMHO Macs aren't worth the money. If you're going for a higher end stylish laptop then the price gap isn't so big between the Macs and PCs but you'll probably gain more features for your money if you get a laptop PC in that price range. The real reason why Macs are so expensive is not because they're of higher quality than similarly priced PCs (they all use the same quality parts from the same manufacturers at that price range), it's because Apple charges nearly 40% of the cost of production of the Mac unto the cost price. They make money by making more per Mac than other PC makers do per PC. It also means that you end up paying more for the same hardware that others are selling for less.

iMacs are a waste of time. There are just too many disadvantages to going that route. If your iMac screen goes, your Mac is either in the repair shop or in the garbage, With a desktop PC you just get a bigger better monitor for less than the cost of your Mac repairs and your problem is solved. You can only do minimal upgrades with an iMac because they are really laptops with a screen facing outside. This means that you're stuck with integrated graphics on the board with no hope to upgrade if a new game suddenly caught your attention. That's the irony that is the Mac. In the PC world, integrated desktop boards are considered inferior, yet that's what Apple's so-called high end desktop is all about.

If your limit is $1000 then you can only afford the Mac mini...you'd need another $100 to buy a basic MacBook...And you don't need a Mac to use an iTouch...most users of iPods are actually windows users.