PC vs. Mac...The end all discussion

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cmi86

cmi86

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So I have been noticing this sudden up rising in apple products and the ignorance of their users and I just cant keep my mouth shut anymore. (feel free to do that same, thats why I started this thread : ) All i hear and see everywhere I go is massive amounts of marketing on behalf of Apple stating that macs are for Hip/trendy socialites and PC's are for Lame, acne ridden Anti-Social losers along with the product image that macs are vastly superior machines. All though this couldn't be any farther from the actual truth of it I still have had many conversations with the A-Typical mac user and they always go the same way. Full of statements like "they just work" or "macs dont crash" or even the infamous "macs dont get virus's" all of which are statements that have been directly adopted from the elitest womb of the apple marketing campaign and none of which can ever provide any factual basis to actually back up their claims. So all I can think to do is break it down as black and white as I possibly can and ask for all opinions ( mac users please only comment if you have something to say that actually has factual basis and I havnt heard it a million times before or isnt a direct quote from a mac commercial.thanks)

1-COST. For this segment I will compare a top end custom built PC Vs. a Mac of equal specs from the official Apple website.

Mac Pro
CPU-3.33Ghz 6 Core Intel Xeon (haha i still laugh about macs using intel CPU's, well i guess they never really made their own anyways (Power PC was made by IBM)
RAM-12GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM
HDD- 2TB
GPU- 2X Radeon 5770

Sorry for the lack of info, the great overlord Steve Jobs doesn't really disclose alot about the hardware he uses...(go figure)

Total $6071.00

Custom Built
MOBO-EVGA Classified SR-2 270-WS-W555-A2 LGA 1366 Intel 5520 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 (mac does not offer either sata 6GB/s or USB 3.0, this board has both)
CPU-3.33Ghz 6 Core Intel Xeon
RAM-12 GB (4X3) Corsair Dominator DDR3 2000 (PC 16000) (much better performing/higher quality than the conventional 1600Mhz ddr3 used in the mac system)
GPU- 2X MSI R5770 Hawk Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CFX (better quality and HDMI, which mac refuses to support)
HDD- Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
PSU- ABS Majesty series MJ1100-M Continuous 1100W@50°C ATX12V/EPS12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certified, Single 12V Rail (much better quality and higher output than mac)
AUD- ASUS Xonar Essence STX Virtual 7.1 Channels PCI Express x1 Interface 124 dB SNR / Headphone( much higher performance and quality than integrated mac sound)
BLU-LG Black 10X Blu-ray Burner - Bulk SATA WH10LS30 LightScribe Support (another mainstream technology apple refuses to acknowledge and does not offer)
CDR-ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner
CASE-Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case (just as aesthetic as the mac case, if not more)
OS-Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Full

Total $4,182.87
Price difference $1,888.13

I think this is simple enough for even the most ignorant mac user to realize that the custom build is comprised of higher quality/better performing components while offering many very use-full mainstream technologies that Apple refuses to acknowledge even exist( marketing, they want you to buy their own proprietary dead end technologies) while somehow still managing to offer a $1,888.13 savings over the under performing mac pro. The extra must be for the shiny case and social status.

2-OPERATING SYSTEM.
*I'll give it to the mac that that their OS (not even totally theirs, based off UNIX) is very good looking and simple to use but this is also part of the problem as the mac OS is designed towards the computer illiterate and is actually quite limiting and very pointlessly laid out to anybody who has half a clue as to how to actually run windows.( no right click, goofy dock that doesnt differentiate between running programs and icons, programs dont actually close when i press x, no real full screen, drag and drop doesn't actually copy files just creates shortcuts and buckets full of other stupid little quirks that annoy the hell out of me)

* It's better?? I think not, this pre conception comes from the masses of brainless mac users who hopped on OSX with a hand full off retard proof built in software and managed to make a movie, not necessarily better just easier ( in the opinion of the mac user easier = better)

*Compatibility...HA, good luck interfacing with anything that doesn't have an " i " in front of the name. This is part of apples marketing scheme aswell, yes they will eventually do what you want (most of the time) but only if you buy the i-this and i-that from the apple store (which will cost twice as much, starting to see the trend??)

*Crashing. The difference between a pc based on Windows crashing and a Mac is that on the pc the crash is in 99% of the cases caused by badly coded third party software, when the Mac just has a faulty operating system. Why else would Apple themselves run their india website on Linux RedHat?
There is another fun part about crashes on the mac, it's almost always impossible to trace the source of the crash. When your mac crashes you simply reinstall the system. Sounds like a fun thing to do in your spare time, well buy a Mac then!

*Charging for service packs. Rediculous especially when you consider what the differences are between one and the other (not much)

3-Virus's. This one is very simple, macs do get virus's just not as many as PC's because there are not as many macs as PC's. If you were a virus writer why would you write code for a machine no one has ?? If anything mac's are actually more subceptible to virus's due to the fact mac openly advertises the fact you do not need anti-virus software and actually does little to nothing as far as built in securities... they even ship with their firewall turned off!!!!

4-Upgrading and customizing. Non Existent, with a mac what you buy is what you get. Yeah you can upgrade(slightly) but the prices are so astronomical that you might as well just get a new machine.

5-Software. The amount of software titles for mac platform are very limited and generally cost alot more than their windows based counterparts. Yes macs can now run windows in boot camp which allows macs to run windows software but isn't installing your most hated badly talked about competitors software kind-of like admitting defeat ??

6- Repair. Yes applecare is great, I wont argue with that. How ever after your 1 (or 3 years if you paid the extra $400) is up you are S.O.L. $1,100 to replace a burnt out GPU...yeah not for me.

7-Gaming. Yeah it's the number 1 talked about reason although it may not be the most important to some people which is why I put it last. All the same mac's have a major game deficiency. There are next to no major labels directly for the mac platform, yes you can run windows games in boot camp. Still whats even mac about running windows games in windows on the X86/X64 hardware mac's stole from the PC world because they couldn't hack it with their own hardware. Again shiny cover, social status and astronomical price tag come to mind.

Well folks that really about all I have to say on this matter. If i missed anything please feel free to continue where I left off.
 
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^+900 Can you have a sticky for an anti-Mac rant, hmmmmm....

I was talking to a girl at school yesterday

Girl: Do you use a mac?
Me: No, macs have compatibility issues, they don't play games and I prefer 7s interface.
Girl: Have you tried a mac?
Me: yes, I prefer a PC
Girl: macs don't crash
Me: (realizes girls ignorance, quickly sidesteps the conversation away from subject)
 
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Hmm. Are you guys the mac haters fan club or something?

I guess the fair thing to say is branding. Mac users are paying for the brand. Its like a BMW/Mercs Vs a random china car company, you can put the same engine under the hood, but the china car can never command as high a price point as the european's. Why? Branding, looks, marketing. What I'm saying is, people are just buying for the novelty of owning a mac.

I own a desktop PC for gaming(in my sig), a gaming laptop AND a Macbook pro and air for work and travel. I build my PC for 1.4k, while my macbook pro cost me damn near 2k.

Compared to Vista, OSX feels like a speeding train versus a bicycle. Win7 is so much better, but its still slower than OSX(trust me I know). So for the 50% of the people out there who aren't gamers, enthusiasts, any computers is good enough. What comes up is the price point.

Macs are for people who just need a computer for work, basic stuff and has the money to throw around. While you can claim its stupid, then ask any Mercs/BMW owners why pay a ridiculous premium.

@CMI86
1. Its not true you cant right click on a Mac, YOU CAN.
2. while 99% of viruses attack PC, and 1% mac, what is the ratio of PCs to Mac out there? Definitely more than 99:1. Hence the made-up invincibility of the OSX.

What I am saying is that both PCs and Macs are made for different markets.
 
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This is an amazing well put together article and very true in any sense. I'm a graphic designer and contrary to popular belief most designer prefer PC to apple. The majority of reason you see companies have apple is because as a company they get a good discount for ordering a bundle of them for their department. But today that's really no longer the case since now PC companies now offer the same discounts but with a more versatile product.

I own both and I enjoy them, yes the Apple boot a little faster but not by much. At the end of the day though I find myself using my PC much more than my Apple. I really use my Apple as a center piece in my bedroom because it looks nice.
 
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Thanks for your input, thats pretty much the whole point I am trying to make is that through clever marketing apple has somehow branded macs as deserving that higher price point and I cannot find 1 single reason why they actually do. Buying a mac is like buying a pair of nike's, yes there are certainly better shoes out there but people buy the nike's becasue the commercial said Nike's are for hardcore athletes and real hardcore athlete's only buy nike. It's that elitest marketing that says buying this will make you better than everyone else, apple is making billions of the fact the consuming public is generally too stupid to look past their witty commercials and coffee shop social status to see that they are falling victim to EXTREME over inflation by apple. For what? Thats what I want to know.
 
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Hopefully the moderator isn't a macboy lol
 
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Here is a perfect example of mac BS at its finest. So one of my buddy's call me up today and asks if I can take a look at his G5 (1.6Ghz Power PC) I tell him I'm not a big mac guy but I'll take a look, I diagnosed a bad GPU (ATi Radeon 9800 XT/ 8X AGP) In searching for a replacement the least expensive new part I found was listed at $449.95!!!!! ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME !?!? $450 for a 6 year old GPU just because it's got that stupid little apple on the back of it, this made me sick...seriously. For that amount of money I could get 2 HD5870's and have like 1000 times the graphics performance ...LITERALLY
 
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I think you gotta change the comparison system, the custom pc.

While I think the idea of trying to compare apples to apples by choosing the same xeon CPU and same graphics muscle, how about putting more graphical muscle while changing the CPU down to the i7 990x, it overclocks much more easily and the accompanying mobo will be significantly cheaper.

My idea:
i7 990x ($1050)
Asus rampage iii extreme ($380)
same as you ($350)
gtx 580 ($500)
need a 2tb like mac samsung spinpoint f4 ($80)
ssd is essential ocz vertex 2 120gb 3.5'' ($230)
ST1000-P ($185)
onboard should be enough unless audio intensive then get a $100 card (not included in total)
same blu ($80) pretty sure this can do dvds as well
rv02b-ew ($190) great aesthetics
windows 7 pro 64-bit oem ($140) get 3rd party encryption

Total: $3185
this has a much better upgrade path than the mac and the custom pc you chose and will last for 6+ years with upgrades every 6 months
 
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Nice build, I fully understand that I could have sourced something alot less expensive while better performing and a little more future proof aswell. Although this was not really my objective as my point was to build something spec'd equally (with a couple small add on's to sweeten the pot) to the Mac Pro with all top end parts to illustrate just how much apple jacks up the prices on their computers not necessarily how much of a better computer can be built. I figured this would be easier for mac users to understand since most of them know nothing about hardware configs anyways lol

PS, I forgot to put 2X in front of the HDD listing. The build is priced for the second drive
 
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@CMI86: Your absolutely right: the average consumer isn't unfortunately intelligent enough to make their own intelligent decisions. Nope nope. Thats why Apple is so successful to begin with. Heck, that's why BMW is more successful to begin with. They feed on other's lack of computer knowledge. BMW feeds on people's lack of car knowledge. How many people that repair their own cars, or better yet, makes upgrades to their cars, buy BMW's? Very few.

Mac's are not for people who know their way with computers to the extent that most posters at Tom's Hardware do. They look at the hardware prices and simply laugh. Gee the Mac OS certainly doesn't get as many viruses as a PC, but I'd rather deal with that when the time comes then pay premium prices for old hardware. I'd rather not have issues with software compatibility with games, certain hardware, etc. I'd rather not give up my freedom to assemble practically whatever hardware I want in a custom build. And lets face it, if your justification for buying a Mac is the OS, well, guess what, you can dual boot Mac and Windows in a custom build. Albeit, probably not in a way Apple would want you to, but you can. Also, not to sound like a jerk, but the reason people get viruses, and admittingly twice when I got one, its because we click on or do something that we know we shouldn't do to begin with.

People also brag that Macs are the industry standard for graphical print design. Well, that's only because Mac has the larger footprint in the industry. But if you look at it, any Mac program that they use will still either work on a PC, or there's a version for PC. Adobe suite's being the main standard, which works easily on PC's.

I'm sorry, when I see someone buy a Mac where I work, what more can I do but rub their egos and encourage them. If I see a customer on the fence about it, I do my best to frankly pull them back to sanity, but when someone has crossed that fence and has a very narrow view of computer tech, what more can I do but encourage the blind purchase. Once someone buys a BMW, they typically do the same exact thing. Its sad really. And well lets not get into Applecare. Paying as much as an accidental plan at some retail stores, yet doesn't cover accidental damages.
 
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i have to say i agree and disagree with this thread. While i am an apple fanboy (just the laptops) i was seriously thinking about building my own pc. A really close friend of mine is a vp at apple right now and he fought valiently for me just buying a MacPro. i used the whole "i can build a better pc for less" talk and he used the "your not buying just hardware, your buying an experience" talk. I decided just to hold out until the sandy bridges come out to make a decision 😀 . What ponders my brain is that Apple sales are up for 20 quarters in a rowcompared to pc sales, and apple stock is still rising. I said to my friend, people just buy Mac's because they dont understand how to REALLY use a computer, and he retorted with the fact that more and more buisnesses are switching over to macs from pcs. Why?

side note- i like the new apple monitors :)
 
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This is a response to the OP and this specific post:

I definetily agree that Mac aren't everything they say. Infact I agree with everything said in the OP. The thing is, when it comes down the core, OSX/Macs are easier to use for computer illiterate people. Yeah its expensive, but for somebody like my grandpa is doesn't have a damn clue what a computer is and still thinks he's in the 2nd centery, a Mac is easier to use, simply because you can't really mess with it or customize it which makes it stable. In windows, its extremely customizable, but with customizability comes lots of *** 3rd party software that can cause crashes and lots of options which do provide much increased functionality but when messed with by somebody who doesn't know what they are doing, it can turn into problems.

Simply Put:
Mac=For computer illiterate
PC=Computer literate
Linux=Computer professionals

^Its as simple as that

Now
--------------------------------------------------------------------
To respond to the post I Quoted:
-I am a owner, A PROUD owner of a BMW. Unlike paying for a brand name when you buy a mac, when you buy a BMW (Not sure about mercedes, never had one), but when you buy a BMW, you get your money's worth...performance, handling, and general quality are absolutley untouched. Yes BMW's are more expensive but you pay for the Name AND QUALITY. I can garentee you no japanese, chinese, american...etc car or any of those cars can even touch my BMW in terms of handling and performance...some of those asian or american made cars might have a more powerful engine then my BMW but in race, i'd smoke them, turning, balance, steering..etc is 10x better. You can insult mercedes all you want, but I love my BMW and there aint nothing changing that.
 
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Because the IT departments are getting sick and tired of fixing all the PC's that the uneducated workforce manages to F**C up in a day. So they figure it's simpler to put them all on an idiot proof OS the wont let you tough anything, plus apple gives them a huge discount just to get their numbers up.
 
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