Anyone make the switch...and wish they hadn't?

[hexonxonx]

Not sure when I last posted in this thread but I did sometime ago.

I am not regretting switching over to Macs but I can't say that I have switched over to Macs 100%. I did use Macs exclusively since March when I got my second Mac. My hp DV6000 just sat there for a few months collecting dust. I had also picked up the machine and threw it when I lost my temper breaking some plastic off on a corner and also breaking the DVD burner. The computer still works otherwise. I did power it up over the last few weeks and started using it again because well, there are a few things Windows still does better, software wise.

Last night, I went to CircuitCity and picked up a new DV6000 running Vista. I set it all up and one thing became immediately clear: Setting up a new HP is painfully slow compared to setting up a new Mac. Mac takes a mere five minutes tops, the HP had to go through the registration process than ageless minutes to install software. I may eventually take the disk and switch it with the disk from the original DV6000 so I can make the restore DVDs and then move the drives back, get rid of Vista and install the XP that my original one came with.

The truth is, I like using both Macs and Windows computers. Yes I lost my temper with the HP enough to throw it, I once even threw a mouse attached to another HP shattering it's screen.

I can't say that I've not been upset because things were not working the way they have when using a Mac, it's just they were much less, maybe only twice in one year of using Macs.

I will always have room in my life for both platforms, I just prefer the good old Macs for most things. I'm even typing this up on my Mac Pro

I guess it bugged me having a PC that I couldn't burn a CD on so I had to buy a new one that could. I feel good.

 

[IMissMyPC]

Hello,

I've had mine for about a month now and if it weren't for garage band I'd would've returned this or sold it on ebay. Mac is the strangest thing in the pc world for me, its supposed to be simple but it seems like it's meant/made towards stupid and lazy people but yet some things are alot more difficult than they should be. Really weird and the only thing I like about it so far it's garage band everything else is alot better on pc.

All I hear from mac users is "but this is so easy you don't have to.." so what? What about LEARNING to do things and doing your own servicing and upgrading? That's a killer also, not being able to upgrade and who was the genious that came up with the idea of including a video card with no way of changing settings on it or with the sound card or sound options? You have 2-3 sound options and that's it.

I'm keeping it for recording my music on it and that's it. I'm upgrading my pc soon anyways so I'll be back with my sweetheart soon. I seriously don't get mac at all, it's a complete contradiction. I smelled "bad move" from the start when my favorite game AOE The Conquerors didn't run on this thing and the support for the game said, the 8800 video card was a new thing for mac. ?? ?? ?? They already have 2 generations ahead of this video card on pc and they run AOE just fine.

The icons are tiny and at least so far I haven't found a way to make them larger. Same with the text on the internet, regardless of how large I set it, the change is only minimal as it uses a fixed format it seems.

I figured after a couple of weeks I'd get used to it but the only thing I've gotten used to is how lame and counter productive it really is compared to a pc.

 

[IMissMyPC]

Not sure when I last posted in this thread but I did sometime ago.

I am not regretting switching over to Macs but I can't say that I have switched over to Macs 100%. I did use Macs exclusively since March when I got my second Mac. My hp DV6000 just sat there for a few months collecting dust. I had also picked up the machine and threw it when I lost my temper breaking some plastic off on a corner and also breaking the DVD burner. The computer still works otherwise. I did power it up over the last few weeks and started using it again because well, there are a few things Windows still does better, software wise.

Last night, I went to CircuitCity and picked up a new DV6000 running Vista. I set it all up and one thing became immediately clear: Setting up a new HP is painfully slow compared to setting up a new Mac. Mac takes a mere five minutes tops, the HP had to go through the registration process than ageless minutes to install software. I may eventually take the disk and switch it with the disk from the original DV6000 so I can make the restore DVDs and then move the drives back, get rid of Vista and install the XP that my original one came with.

The truth is, I like using both Macs and Windows computers. Yes I lost my temper with the HP enough to throw it, ****, I once even threw a mouse attached to another HP shattering it's screen.

I can't say that I've not been upset because things were not working the way they have when using a Mac, it's just they were much less, maybe only twice in one year of using Macs.

I will always have room in my life for both platforms, I just prefer the good old Macs for most things. I'm even typing this up on my Mac Pro

I guess it bugged me having a PC that I couldn't burn a CD on so I had to buy a new one that could. I feel good.

See? That's the problem..most complaints mac users have is mostly do to lazyness, no offense. A PC not burning a dvd, cd etc, is user error or software error not the pc and why were you registering ANYTHING on pc? No need for that and the first thing someone should do when they buy pre-fab pcs is get an operating system disk and re-install windows so you have nothing but windows and a couple other things like WMedia and such. Then you install whatever you need only.

 

[hexonxonx]

See? That's the problem..most complaints mac users have is mostly do to lazyness, no offense. A PC not burning a dvd, cd etc, is user error or software error not the pc and why were you registering ANYTHING on pc? No need for that and the first thing someone should do when they buy pre-fab pcs is get an operating system disk and re-install windows so you have nothing but windows and a couple other things like WMedia and such. Then you install whatever you need only.

The DVD burner wouldn't burn disks anymore because I phisically three the laptop several feet. It couldn't be fixed/too expensive to fix so I got a new one. I do plan on installing just XP on the new HP but I gotta make sure I make the recovery disks so I can delete the recovery partition and get my whole drive space.

 

[jram]

I switched 5 years ago, since I don't build computers or play games, it was a easy choice once I went to the Apple store. I guess the reason I went Mac was I got sick and tired of updating spyware and antivirus programs. I never had a problem on my Windows machine, just like my Mac better. I'm still using my PB,never had a problem, will get a MB Pro when they cool them down. A buddy came over the other night with his new MBP, nice machine but the fans kept running even though he wasn't doing anything but surfing. My fans never come on surfing. I guess when you have that much power in a small space it gets hot. I guess it's normal, my daughter just got a XPS Dell, same specs as MB Pro, her fans never go off there always running. By the way, the Dell was more money, 300 and that was with free support for 3 years.

 

[IMissMyPC]

The DVD burner wouldn't burn disks anymore because I phisically three the laptop several feet. It couldn't be fixed/too expensive to fix so I got a new one. I do plan on installing just XP on the new HP but I gotta make sure I make the recovery disks so I can delete the recovery partition and get my whole drive space.

I read the part about you throwing it..COOL! Not laughing at you or glad that it broke but that's cool as can be. I would've loved to see you in action. ;D

 

[hexonxonx]

I read the part about you throwing it..COOL! Not laughing at you or glad that it broke but that's cool as can be! I would've loved to see you in action. ;D

It actually felt good to throw the thing, I was seriously upset with it. At the time I was doing some mod with my iPhone and it wasn't responding. My first instinct was to smash the iPhone and I resisted, the laptop lost.

 

[Discerptor]

Hello,

I've had mine for about a month now and if it weren't for garage band I'd would've returned this or sold it on ebay. Mac is the strangest thing in the pc world for me, its supposed to be simple but it seems like it's meant/made towards stupid and lazy people but yet some things are alot more difficult than they should be. Really weird and the only thing I like about it so far it's garage band everything else is alot better on pc.

All I hear from mac users is "but this is so easy you don't have to.." so what? What about LEARNING to do things and doing your own servicing and upgrading? That's a killer also, not being able to upgrade and who was the genious that came up with the idea of including a video card with no way of changing settings on it or with the sound card or sound options? You have 2-3 sound options and that's it.

I'm keeping it for recording my music on it and that's it. I'm upgrading my pc soon anyways so I'll be back with my sweetheart soon. I seriously don't get mac at all, it's a complete contradiction. I smelled "bad move" from the start when my favorite game AOE The Conquerors didn't run on this thing and the support for the game said, the 8800 video card was a new thing for mac. ?? ?? ?? They already have 2 generations ahead of this video card on pc and they run AOE just fine.

The icons are tiny and at least so far I haven't found a way to make them larger. Same with the text on the internet, regardless of how large I set it, the change is only minimal as it uses a fixed format it seems.

I figured after a couple of weeks I'd get used to it but the only thing I've gotten used to is how lame and counter productive it really is compared to a pc.

In Finder, click View > Show View Options. The first thing at the top of the window is a slider for adjusting icon size. To change text size in any web browser, Command-+ works, as will going directly into the Preferences and altering the default text size under the "appearance" tab or something similar. Though, given these complaints, it just seems you're dealing with a higher resolution display than you're used to. As for the video card issue, you're the only person I can find on the Internet having this problem. I know OS X 10.5.3 update broke some NVIDIA drivers, so it may be best to go back to 10.5.2 and see how that goes.

All fairly simple solutions, I think, provided that you shed some "laziness."

 

[Flumixt]

"It actually felt good to throw the thing, I was seriously upset with it."

When I first started with W/3.2 I wanted to change a file name. Tried to look it up in DOS for Dummies or some such book. Looked under change - nope. Looked under file - nope. Looked under a couple other things I can't remember - nope. Threw the book against the cieling. Bent over to pick it up. It was laying there open at RENAME! Problem solved.

Who'da thunk it? That word never was in my equation before that.

 

[IMissMyPC]

In Finder, click View > Show View Options. The first thing at the top of the window is a slider for adjusting icon size. To change text size in any web browser, Command-+ works, as will going directly into the Preferences and altering the default text size under the "appearance" tab or something similar. Though, given these complaints, it just seems you're dealing with a higher resolution display than you're used to. As for the video card issue, you're the only person I can find on the Internet having this problem. I know OS X 10.5.3 update broke some NVIDIA drivers, so it may be best to go back to 10.5.2 and see how that goes.

All fairly simple solutions, I think, provided that you shed some "laziness."

Thanks for the helpful info on making icons larger. I still have the issue with the browser though, I have to manually make the text bigger everytime because it doesn't save my settings. I set it to "never show text or fonts less than 12" but that doesn't change the text within articles, it just changes things like headers and tittles..real weird stuff. However, if I click on "View" then make text bigger, that changes everything to where I want it but the problem is I have to do it for each page or every time I open Safari. Is there something I can do so that it saves the text I set it to?

I didn't know the updates screwed up the nvidia drivers, maybe the next one will fix it. I hope so, I'm dying to play AOE II on this.

 

[dtravis7]

Seems to save here. I set it at no smaller than 18. Quit a few times and restarted. Still as I set it.

 

[Erieg]

I purchased a macbook a week ago. I wanted a change from windows and I figured OS X would be better then Linux.

I think the thing that is getting to me the most is the heavy reliance on keyboard commands. It seems like most every post I read says "to do X press X,Y & Z". What happened to Mac being the platform of "point & click"? It was even suggested by several people that I go buy a book to learn how to use the computer... excuse me?? I thought Macs were designed for the masses, not the geeks. Heck, I haven't bought a computer book since I learned UNIX in college.

I do love the hardware though. I will give it another week to see if I start getting more comfortable with it. If I don't, back to the store it goes.

 

[macwannabe]

I last used an Apple II in high school back in '88,

wow i was 6 back then...

 

[leecho7]

I wouldn't consider myself as a 'switcher' or 'convert'. I use both Mac and Windows based PC's daily. I just used them for different purposes.