Choosing between PC and Mac.

[franciscog_chin]

ok, so my mom's old computer, from 2003ish, is basically dead. She is now looking into buying a new one. We went to best buy today and I showed her my top two picks. She wanted me to pick one pc and one mac.

So I showed her this pc:

Gateway - Desktop with Intel® Core™ i3 Processor - DX4831-01e

and this mac:

Apple® - iMac® 3.06GHz with 21.5" Display - MB950LL/A

I told her that the mac would probably have better overall performance, and that it wouldn't need virus protection. and probably last longer.

Here's what I see:

The pc has double the hard drive space, and two more gigs of ram. Also my mom already has an lcd, and she is used to windows based computers.

The mac on the other hand has a better history when it comes to performance, virus/pc problems (crashes), popularity, and resale value. Also this computer is A LOT more compact than the gateway.

I understand that this is the mac forums, so I expect people to say that the mac is better, but my mom just wants the one that will last her the longest. She doesn't want to buy another computer in 10 years. In all reality, my mom is just going to use it for web searching, and microsoft office stuff. In the near future, some very very very, light video editing.

So let me know what you guys think, which is better for the price?

 

[bobtomay]

No matter which computer she buys, she's going to be buying another one in 10 years. 10 years is an unrealistic expectation imho and I'd tell her so now. 5 years today should be realistic. And yes, I know there are a lot of folks still using 10 yr old computers. I just replaced our last computer from 2000 ( a P3) in the office a few months ago and used the excuse of a dead hard drive.

This choice really depends on your Mom. Does she enjoy learning new stuff or does she like to do things the same way she has always done them. Is she going to get frustrated when OS X does not do things the same as her Windows habits or will she like learning a new way to do things. While she won't have to learn a whole lot with what she uses a computer for, these are the key questions.

If she's in the first group, a month or two down the road she'll probably be very happy about the switch and you could set up her existing display as a 2nd monitor.
In the 2nd group, and you'll never hear the end of the phone calls about why doesn't it do it like this?

However, I could never bring myself to recommend a Gateway computer. I'm a fan of Dell when it comes to off-the-shelf Win machines.

 

[chas_m]

Consumer reports just rated Apple as not only the best company for after-sale support (in both laptops and desktops) but it wasn't even CLOSE.

Acers' brands (E-Machines and Gateway) came in DEAD LAST among ALL manufacturers.

I'm just sayin'.

PS. If your mom decides to get a Mac -- which if that's really her criteria, she will -- you might point her to the nearest Mac User Group. Lots of people her age, generally very friendly and kind, and very social and fun!

 

[maxsideburn]

uh....wow, 10 years huh?

personally I'd say the useful life of a PC is about 1-3 years, a Mac maybe 3-5 years.

Ten years ago I had an IBM with an AMD K6-3D 300mhz and 64mb of RAM. That sucker was FAST...for the day. It didn't lag at all, very responsive. But what would happen if I installed WinXP (let alone Vista or 7), a modern browser, modern media player, etc...? It'd be insanely slow. Right now that computer would be completely unusable for just about anything.

The problem is that software engineers write stuff for CURRENT hardware, so in two years time what was a very snappy computer is now having trouble even running a browser.

Cars are a good analogy. In 1990 most econo-box cars made around 100 horsepower, now the average is closer to 120-140 horsepower, but are the cars really much faster? NO. Why? Because the new cars are hundreds of pounds heavier thanks to unneeded features, safety requirements, etc...

If she's really looking to save money and just have something to surf the web might I suggest a cheap little netbook? You can pick one up for around $300 and replace it in a couple of years. On top of that it's light, easy on battery power, and if you install something like Ubuntu Linux you won't have to worry about viruses plus have access to tons of free software.

 

[GinnyK]

I don't know how old your Mom is, but if she is near my age (61) she will in the end like the Mac if all she is using it for is cruising the web . I had to learn some new things & I'm getting there. Its good for her brain LOL

The biggest reason she should go with the Mac is the cruising of the web. There are way too many nasties out there attacking microsoft windows.

That said the transition from windows to Mac can be confusing & frustrating. It all depends how adventurous she is as to how she will do. Let us know what she decides.

Ginny.

 

[Stonefly]

I have been using pc's since 1996 and just bought this 27" iMac a couple of months ago and am very glad I did. The best computer I ever had. If she's happy with the lcd monitor you could go for the mac mini.

 

[franciscog_chin]

Thanks for all the responses.

The reason why I chose that gateway is because at that price, cnet says that it is one of the best out there. I believe it was chosen for something like editor's choice or something...and from what I saw, the specs were the best at Best Buy for the price. If she gets a pc, she doesn't wan to spend that much.

About the ten years, our last computer was from around 2003, or 2002. And I know of some people still using their powermac g4s, and powerbooks.

Also, I didn't consider the mac mini because it has a significantly slower processor.

 

[RavingMac]

The latest mac minis are actually quite powerful and speedy little machines.

Regardless, if there is anyway to put a mac in your mom's hands for a week you should do it. A friend of mine was looking for a new machine (he's in his mid 60s) and I had pretty much talked him into a MacBook, but to make sure I loaned him one of mine for a week. At the end of the week he bought a PC--he just couldn't get past the learning curve.
I love my macs and at this point would never consider going back, but you may save yourself a lot of aggravation by doing a trial run first.

 

[Zoolook]

I'd say the Mac, but honestly if she's going to use it for such light purposes, a Mac Mini would do fine and last just as long. The main developments on the web over the next 5 years will be around HD video (my 4 year old MacBook still handles all video on the web, aside from 1080p which is too big for the screen anyway).

Even if you stick to a PC, that one is not one I'd recommend. There is a reason why the high level specs are better for less money, because it's built to last about 10 minutes.

And personally, for such light use, I think there is no reason why a computer should not last at least 5 or 6 years - the iMac definitely would, possibly with a RAM upgrade somewhere along the way.

 

[franciscog_chin]

What about the processor? I've heard that the i3 is better than Core 2 Duo, do you guys know anything about that?

 

[SweetCosmicPope]

For those light purposes, she's not really going to need any more processing power. That jump in Ghz is fine and all, but she's going to get little to no use out of it, and it's just going to rack up the $$$ she spends on the computer. That's on both ends of the PC vs Mac aisle.

For her purposes, she needs a decent processor, a good amount of ram (I would suggest 4mb if she'll be doing some video editing), and a good amount of hard drive space.

To be perfectly honest, for such light duty stuff, I don't really think she needs to worry about the learning curve, either. Mostly just new stuff like the file format, and the button orientation.

 

[Zoolook]

What about the processor? I've heard that the i3 is better than Core 2 Duo, do you guys know anything about that?

It's a mixed bag actually. A high end C2D will beat the i3 quite often, especially in games, but for content creation the i3 is better.

 

[chas_m]

The reason why I chose that gateway is because at that price, cnet says that it is one of the best out there.

phhhht. C|Net's reviews are bought and paid for by their advertisers. Get real.

Also, I didn't consider the mac mini because it has a significantly slower processor.

It's the exact same chip as the lower-end iMacs, and not significantly slower really.

Heck, for what you said your Mom requires, an iPad would do the job (with iWork instead of Office). So if you're trying to save money, that would be something to consider as well. You're never going to find anything easier to use than an iPad.

 

[bobtomay]

Didn't think about it until I read GinnyK's post, but I keep forgetting I'm married to a 60 yr old woman and she is definitely not a geek.

With her first Mac a couple of years ago, she went back and forth between her Win machine and Mac for about 6 months. She hasn't touched her Win machine for a year now so I get to turn it into a Linux box.

She didn't want me teaching her anything, so she didn't even know about Dashboard until 6 months ago.

 

[Jamie-Jamie]

The idea of thinking that the Core 2 Duo used in the Mac mini will make one whit of difference in real-world situations is laughable. For the things you said she's going to do, you could buy her a used Power Mac G4 for $150 and she'd be set for a decade unless she decides one day that she absolutely must upgrade from her janky old copy of iMovie 08.

The idea that people need a quad-core 12GHz box with 84GB of RAM to type email on is the reason that we need eight-core 32GHz computers with 240PB of RAM to type email on