My Final Thread

Hello everyone.
About 4 months ago I purchased a mac, my first one, after hearing all the raves about them, i decided to spend 1800 on a new 12 ibook G4. Here I am now sitting on my new Athlon 64 3200+ notebook, and never EVER want to look back at the horrible months behind me.

Consider this your warning, if you're considering switching from a pc to a mac, please, don't waste your money, you will regret it. I know many people here will challange this statement, but imo it was a total loss. I sold it for 1200, loosing 600 dollars, and also loosing a major headache.

Why you ask? Here is a small list for you people thinking about switching;
1. Constant lock up, ie. finder, so much for that rock hard unix!
2. Annoying interface, somthing about it just bugged me!
3. Crappy tech support, 90 days? come on, what a rip
4. Don't listen to people who say they are faster than pcs. I bought this and EVERYONE told me an 800mhz G4 would be faster than my 1.5ghz Celeron, DO NOT LISTEN!
5. 1800 dollars on a LOW END system.

I could go on, but I won't. Again, consider yourself warned, if you switch, you will regret it.

So long, farewell,

Rob.

witeshark said:

If true, sorry to hear. My switch to Mac was flawless for the past 7 months. Linux on that Athlon 64 3200? Anyone see a stone bridge around here?

Click to expand...

Ha, who said anything about linux?

lol, good believe it or not, the majority of us don't want whiney PC users, who have one crappy experience with the mac, and now hate it even more.. good, we don't want you!

enjoy your pc life.

Yea, i knew it was comming...But how many chances should you give a computer company with your money? i say once, you say many, probably why you still have a mac. (shrugs)

And as far as i'm concerned, apple should be taking the advice of customers like me, because last i checked, they were in business to make money, i suppose they did make a sale off of me, but i'd buy another alienware over another apple anyday. Apple and their few groupies arn't going to take much of the market if people arn't happy with their products.

I can tell you, if i went to microsofts website, i could still get help with my windows 98, my friend has os 9 (mpeters13) and has found they've dropped support, thats a sign of a bad company.

Saying "annoying interface" doesn't really say much. What exactly do you not like? And please, DO go on and on. So far, the points don't seem to be TOO valid. Most people can deal with these particular flaws, and don't consider them enough to dislike Macs. So pleae, let's hear some more beef of yours.

I kind of agree... I'm tired of Apple. I give them my PowerBook for a few days, fail a project because I couldn't get it in on time, because I lost it on my corrupted hard drive... these "genius" guys aren't doing their job.

witeshark said:

Move away from the magnet factory

Click to expand...

But I don't live in a magnet factory!

I'm saying, I was one of the people who took a gamble on apple because i heard good things about them, the only thing i can think of that they did come through on was battery life.
The biggest beef i have with apple is their claim to be as fast as pc comptuers,

Old laptop;
1.5 ghz Celeron
512 MB DDR PC2100 RAM
Radeon 7500 16mb
Average Frames in Medal Of Honor: 40

Ibook
800 mhz g4
640 MB DDR 2700 RAM
Radeon 9200 32 mb
Average Frames in Medal of honor: 25

Old laptop price: 699
Ibook : 1800

Does that seem like a rip off to anyone? How you people say that apples can and are as fast as its pc couterparts is obserd.

Lets talk about the problem with the GUI. first off, when you download somthing from the net, and save it to your desktop, if you don't click the desktop first, and wait for it to "redraw" the new icon, it will rearrange ALL of your icons. Second, i like to have my windows maximized and use the WHOLE screen, apple for some reason assumes you might still need to see the icons on the very right of your desktop, so i have to manually drag them, not a huge deal, but more work. Third, the lack of user options is horrid. I can't tell the computer not to sleep when i close the lid, i can't scroll on the side of my track pad, and i can't plug a mic into my computer BECAUSE THERE IS NO INPUT! Stupid things like this that shouldnt' have been looked over on such an expensive computer.

It still amazes me that i bought the thing after i heard about the 90 day tech support. Thats the worst i've ever heard of! Can't you people see how apple doesn't care about their customers? 90 whole days, hope you know what you're doing after that, or you'll be forced to buy their apple care plan if you need help, or for a very very small fee of 50 bucks, they'll help you once.

Also my friend had to reformat because he restarted his computer! amazing! If osx is so rock solid, why would something as simple as restarting screw up the "computer". Beats me.

Next, most laptops today come with 802.11b or g. Shopping after selling my ibook, i found 2 sub 600 dollar laptops that didn't. Apple thinks you should have to shell out another 79 bux for this, b/c the computer isn't expensive enough already.

I have more, but the biggest is the price. I just can't believe they can ask this much for these systems. I bought my new laptop for 1700! 100 less than what i paid for the ibook and i got a 64 bit proc with it! Its amazing these people are still in business, and i bet if schools didn't use them so much, they'd be gone.

Most people i know are one time buyers. You realized you've been screwed, and you don't do it again. Some people continue to buy from apple, which is fine by me, but i don't know how you could live with yourselves realizing that you're being ripped for hardware that sucks compared to its couterparts.

I'm just saying, if you're having doubts about buying an apple, don't do it! You have doubts for a reason, and there is a reason people are telling you to stay away! Take advantage of my mistake and loss of money, you won't regret it.

hey i had doubts too man. I hated OS 7,8 and 9. I ripped up Apple ads when I saw them. But, I got in to DV Editing and macs were supposed to be good for that. It shows that they are so i bought a PB. It worked wonderfully. I could of bought an iBook but I didn't buy it for the exact same reasons you didn't like it. I didn't want to shell 80 bucks for Airport either. Plus, if you can, get a eMac on educational discount. I find that the eMac is a whole load more reliable than the iBooks. If you can borrow an eMac, I suggest you do and just give that one a whirl. Just try it. Keep an open mind. I mean you did but then Apple screwed you but just try this one. As you can still see, I still own PCs for their compability with just about anything and for gaming. That might be the way to go.

I've used every apple they've ever sold through my school. The reason i didn't buy the pb was b/c i didn't feel that i should shell out 2gs for a decent computer, i guess that was my biggest mistake. As for an open mind, thats what i had when i bought the ibook, like i posted before, i don't know how many computers it takes before i should get a good one. i know i've owned gateways, hps, compaqs, emachines, toshibas, alienwares, none of which i have regretted, this apple has been the only purchase i wish i could take back.

lnetubaplyr said:

I've used every apple they've ever sold through my school. The reason i didn't buy the pb was b/c i didn't feel that i should shell out 2gs for a decent computer, i guess that was my biggest mistake. As for an open mind, thats what i had when i bought the ibook, like i posted before, i don't know how many computers it takes before i should get a good one. i know i've owned gateways, hps, compaqs, emachines, toshibas, alienwares, none of which i have regretted, this apple has been the only purchase i wish i could take back.

Click to expand...

so what are you going to do to yr Ibook?

I gave my pc plenty of chances...and it fails me all the time. I still use it though. I use my pb 12" and have very very few problems....and I love the feel/design/stability. Now maybe you didn't experience those things..and maybe others didn't...and that's a shame. I'm sorry to hear that, and really can't say anything to change your mind. Now I'll admit that sure Macs aren't really faster...but they are faster at some things...and definetley more stable at some things...from my experience anyways.

I'm not telling anyone to go one way or another...I'm just saying....really...think about how many problems you've had with your pc.....now ture, you can deal with that easily for less money.....but if you were to try mac again...you might have the experience many of use have had. Then again..if you are happy where you are...stay there....there is no reason to get out of your comfort zone when you have no real reason to do it. You have a great computer there....64 bit 3200...that's a crap load of power....and I'm sure you'll do just fine....I use windows xp, so I know it's pretty stable....but for me...there is just something about mac that clicked...and I don't foresee myself wondering from apple's products (at least comptuers) every again.....also, I'll always have a pc close at hand....it's good to play both sides a little

****, this is the saddest thread I've ever come across....

Look, lnetubaplyr, if you ever needed to do video editing, you might want a Mac. Most video editors in Hollywood use Macs, and "Lord Of the Rings: The Return of the King" was created using Shake, a Mac-only application. Also, from what I know, Final Cut Pro is the best video-editing application there is. That's what people said about Final Cut Pro 4. And now Final Cut Pro High Definition is out, so it's probably even better.

Look, I'm REALLY sorry you've had a rough time with Macs. But I'm sure that besides battery power, you can think of at least a few other advantages. I've just listed one: Great for making movies. Can you try to list some more?


Oh yeah, and to address your point on stability: That's really a gamble. For the most part, Windows XP and Mac OS X are very stable operating systems, but there still are computers out there running each that aren't stable. Overall though, they tend to be okay.

So, your biggest beef seems to be with the hardware. That's alright, that's understandable. And you have a few problems with the operating system as well, but not too many it seems. As I said, you can think of at least some good things to say about Macs or Apple in general?


P.S. I'm thinking of getting a PC myself, just to try it out and for those things (mostly applications) that can't be done or run on Macs. I mean, I've never owned a PC before, and I think it'd be nice to try it out and see what I think. Perhaps I will agree with you, lnetubaplyr, who knows? Actually, it's more likely that I will agree with you, since the fact that I'm using a G3 iMac will definitely create a bias, especially when compared to a relatively new PC. Unfortunately, I really can't afford a PC at the moment, even if it'll only cost $400 or so plus accessories (which would come out to about $600).

BTW, Witeshark, what kind of Mac do you use most of the time? Your specs say a 1 Ghz G4, but that's obviously not specific enough. You say it's a desktop, so is it an iMac, a PowerMac, or an eMac?

I believe he uses a PowerBook.

lnetubaplyr said:

I'm saying, I was one of the people who took a gamble on apple because i heard good things about them, the only thing i can think of that they did come through on was battery life.
The biggest beef i have with apple is their claim to be as fast as pc comptuers,

Old laptop;
1.5 ghz Celeron
512 MB DDR PC2100 RAM
Radeon 7500 16mb
Average Frames in Medal Of Honor: 40

Ibook
800 mhz g4
640 MB DDR 2700 RAM
Radeon 9200 32 mb
Average Frames in Medal of honor: 25

Old laptop price: 699
Ibook : 1800

Does that seem like a rip off to anyone? How you people say that apples can and are as fast as its pc couterparts is obserd.
\

Click to expand...

While apples arent quite as fast as pc's, especially for gaming....you are not being truthful here. A Radeon 7500 will not beat a 9200 under any circumstances, you clearly were using higher settings on the ibook. There is absolutely no way your old laptop could beat the ibook in any game PERIOD.

d4rr3n said:

While apples arent quite as fast as pc's, especially for gaming....you are not being truthful here. A Radeon 7500 will not beat a 9200 under any circumstances, you clearly were using higher settings on the ibook. There is absolutely no way your old laptop could beat the ibook in any game PERIOD.

Click to expand...

I don't know what i can say to that, i have no motivation to lie, i'm just telling you how it is.

People ALWAYS say that macs are good for video editing...ALWAYS. It seems to me that all the video editing i've done was on my pc with adobe premiere. If i told you the only thing i could do on my pc was game, you'd say thats a stupid waste of money.

I'm not saying macs aren't useful for anything, i'm just saying that with my experience, it wasn't a wise decision. There are some things that are good with a mac, like these forums, many pc forums are fill with idiots who think they know what they are talking about, also the power adaptor is really small, all i basically wanted to accomplish with this thread was to tell people that if you're having doubts about a mac, you should probably listen to them...not listen to me, listen to yourself, if it doesn't "sound" right for you, it probably won't be.

Many people love macs, many people love pcs, many hate macs, many hate pcs. It just seems to me like apple doesn't care about their customers as they should...but then thats my opinion.

BTW, i sold the ibook, the person who has it now seems to be in love with it, which i'm not condeming, but even still they paid me 1200 for it, so it was about 600 dollars loss for me. I guess somtimes learning costs money.