Macs are nice... BUT DO i NEED one???

OK im going to get my first own laptop.... (yeah im 16)
And im seriously considering getting a macbook! But i've been thinking, do i really need a mac? Is it worth the cost ? Well I hope you guys can help me decide to get a mac...or not.

What am I going to use the laptop for??

Surfing the internet,doing research,printing a few documents,listening to music,edit/record music, edit/view pitures,
I decided i wont play games but how about games like second life??? does that work on a macbook?....

Honestly i love mac because firstly it looks sooo much btter compared to ugly pcs and that its ready out of the box. You see i've never installed an OS before or anthing like that and i dont want to be faced with problems PCs might give me (such as viruses and stuff.) I want to be able to handle my computer myself and not have to ask for help everytime my PC dies....
I also love mac because of all the great stuff that come with it, that i will actually use.
However I must admit that a PC might do whatever i need at a much lower cost. It will also be compateble with most software. Although it may give me more problems....

so do i NEEd a mac?

If you're playing HL or anything Source, you'll need a MacBook Pro. The standard Macbook lacks a video card.

Do you need a Mac though? Depends on your definition of need.

i mean would i be just as happy with a pc? instead of a mac...

petrina_678 said:

i mean would i be just as happy with a pc? instead of a mac...

Click to expand...

Only you can answer that.

Well, for me, i wanted a change.
PCs were getting kind of bland, boring, a real yawnfest.
Macs seemed more energetic, user friendly, and virusfree.
If youre willing to sacrifice some of your games you could go used and cut cost.
But really it comes down to the person

can i play games such as second life and runescape on a macbook????

It really depends a lot on what you want... I had pcs for over 12 years, and believe me... the switch was so worth it, I only regret not switching earlier.

So, if the most important thing for you is playing games online, then get a pc, but cope with viruses and all the bad "things" you get with it; if you want peace of mind, a computer that just simply works as God intended, then get a mac; and for playing, get an Xbox or something... that's what I did, anyway.

Hope it helps...

though macs really arent made for gaming, in my experience the macbook pro (i have the 256mb vram one) is a MOOONNSTERRR. I had a Athlon 3000+ with 512mb ram and a 256mb videocard before, which is just as less a gaming pc as any mac, but the macbook pro can easily play new games on high settings if you install Windows. You'ld have to live with restarting between Winblows and Mac OS all the time though.

for HL1, or CS1.6, I think the smaller macbook should be able to run it without trouble.

Im 17 and I got my macbook pro for school and my birthday, and it really is much more comfortable to use than any pc with windows. especially for school stuff and creative stuff because it just works, has anything you need and it DOESNT CRASH right in the middle of a project!

I say if games are of any importance to you at all stick with windows. Personally computer gaming was a non-factor for me.

I decided to get a mac just to try it out. Had previously built my last 3 or 4 computers, has plenty of experience installing windows and troubleshooting hardware/software problems.

But the fun factor of build-it-yourself wore off, so when it was time to buy a new computer I got a mac mini. I even intended to still use XP as my main OS while I "played around with OSX." Can honestly say Ive only booted into XP a handful of times in over a year.

I dont miss windows at all. The biggest hurdle was just taking that leap of faith. It was very intimidating jumping over to a brand new OS, which I has ZERO experience with.

^^ same goes for me, except the gaming part. but its definitely doable if you only play games maybe 10 times a week.

I switched to a macbook because of the security, fastness, apps, and reliability. Sure they seem pricey but they are worth every penney and can do much more then a PC could at media and things like that. And dont forget you can run windows on macs now too!!

Jason

petrina_678 said:

can i play games such as second life and runescape on a macbook????

Click to expand...

Second Life runs on a Macbook, yes. I have not tried RuneScape. Keep in mind that many of the inexpensive PC's have exactly the same graphics limitations as the Macbook. If it will run on an inexpensive PC, it should run OK on a Macbook in Boot Camp.

You can save some money by buying refurbished computers from Apple, and they have the same warranty as new machines.

Sounds like you don't NEED a Mac. I didn't NEED one either, but I sure WANTED one and I've been most happy ever since. I love OS X and how seemless it works with the hardware....as it should since it is designed for it and it alone.

i just got my first mac, i didnt need one, i just wanted a change. Getting use to it, before id prefer windows, now im not fussed which I use. But i have been told give it a few months and youll never look back. I think as soon as i get the hang of photo shop ill be looking forward to another mac thats for sure!!! - but PS is a ***** to get the hang of!!!!!

When you look at mac's part for part, they are actually very competitively priced. I tried to build a theoretical dell when I bought my macbook, and to get as close as I could, it was going to cost me about $2,500. And that didn't even have all the stuff that comes with a macbook. iLife etc are all full apps, and they perform. With a PC you get crap apps and they are all 30-60 day trials, after which you have to delete them to keep them from plugging up your system, you've gotta leave room for all those viruses!

I say, as long as you can leave gaming behind for the most part, you'll love your mac.

That's the difference, I liked my PC but I love my mac.

SLC

If you have to ask "Do I need one", then the answer is usually no.

Short answer to your question.....NO

You can do anything you want to do on a pc. You just have to put up with all the short comings of windows and all the other little nastys that go along with using a windows system.

Personally i think that if you did get a mac you would end up loving it just as the rest of us do. They are sleek sexy machines that are very well built and styled. They use a great os in OS X and seem to on the most part just work without problems, and the majority of the time those problems are quite often self inflicted.

If price is your only deciding factor then no you won't find a mac at a pc price because Apple builds their systems to a better standard than most of those so called cheap pc's. If you really compare closly you will find that a pc built to match a mac will cost about the same amount and sometimes the mac is actually the cheapest.

So, NO is your answer, you don't NEED a Mac, but if you get one i bet you never go back...

for you and for the cost ...to take it to a macbook pro so you can do gaming... it doesn't sound like you "NEED" it i mean im 17... turning 18 in a month.... and i mean i do alot of photoshop
a bit of autocad a bit of music editing and i want to learn how to do more video editing
plus i do flash animatins occasionally and i work on websites....
if you plan to do that... then by all means go mac and go pro
other wise there are computers that aren't to bad that might not drain your parents wallet so much that are still enjoyable.

I'd say check out the new hp tablet i almost got one they are nice they are cheap they range from 800something to all the way to 1500 reliable computers
plus being a student and having the tablet gives that cool factor and it may just help you with note taking...
basically... what im trying to say is we were all young once we all liked to play games... your probably going to want to plat games so... if your parents dont think its worth the extra 1000 to 2000 dollars just for you to fool around at school and play games....save money and get an all around option...then later on when u graduate go for the mac

Don't look at it like "do I need one." Obviously on this board people are going to tell you to get a Mac. I been using Macs for ever, I am not a graphic designer etc. I prefer the Macintosh OS over Windows or Linux. Mac OS is more complete and robust, with iLife products and free applications on the internet, it makes the most sense to get a Mac (my opinion).

i think of apple OS as a medium between both Windows and Linux. Its more simplistic to use and more applications out there for the novice user (from the windows side) yet its more secure, stable and has a wide variaty of indervidual applications (from the linux side)

Also you can run windows in it so you cant go wrong! In most work environments you will need a computer but its just the option of which one to go for that you have to choose. you dont really need macOSX just like you dont really need Window xp/vista but you need a computer to do the work for you.