A mac is like smoking, it has a terrible aftertaste, it sinks its teeth into your wallet, and you only end up doing it in the first place because you "look cool and hip". It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Macs are nowhere close as customizable as a non-mac, they only have a fraction of the software options a pc has (in terms of compatibility) and you marry yourself to a company that thrives on bloated hypes and closed platforms.

If you have any knowledge on a PC (like knowing what NOT to delete, knowing or being able to google stuff if you have a problem and stay away from crappy sites) you should go for a pc.

If you have zero knowledge on the thing you want to buy, go with a mac.

Soel

90 Posts

June 07 2010 07:46 GMT

#62

this being a PC gaming haven, it is no surprise that the poll would be overwhelmingly in favor of pc.

very few sc2 gamers play it on mac, lol.

as for which you should get, I have a PC and just bought a macbook pro for college next year.

I love pc's but for laptops... mac is pretty much perfect.

go with the MAC!

blabber

United States4448 Posts

June 07 2010 07:58 GMT

#63

as much as I dislike Apple and what they stand for, I really admire my roommate's Macbook Pro's battery life.

DeDubz

Canada14 Posts

June 07 2010 08:07 GMT

#64

Go with the PC, especially if you want to be able to play games on it. The Macbook Pros have a function key where the control key normally is, and trust me this takes a bit to get use to. My pro has started falling apart after a year of steady use, and I find it to be more of a pain to do simple tasks, like check email, than my PC. I suggest looking at the MSI, ASUS, or Thinkpad laptops and going through their high-end product lists. The MAC is not all bad, but if you're use to the PC, stick with a PC, they're far cheaper as well. For example the MSI GX740 has a core i7, a 5870, and 4gb of RAM for about 1500 CAD, these are way better specs than a MAC would have, and for less than the cheapest 15" Macbook Pro.

surLoop

United States80 Posts

June 07 2010 08:10 GMT

#65

If you absolutely need to go with a laptop I would suggest sager, definitely visit their site and experiment

Seltsam

United States343 Posts

June 07 2010 08:19 GMT

#66

My vote's in for PC. Honestly 90% of the problems PCs had before was solved with Windows 7. It's not perfect, mind you, but it's more than enough to close the gap if you ask me.

Macs are great for video and sound editing, but for nearly anything else, I find a PC to be superior. The typically shortened battery life only really applies if you have everything maxed out constantly. I have an HP PC that has around 3-4 hours of battery life when it's on the medium/lower settings, and that's usually while I'm running a more intensive game (like Brood War). If all I have open is Chrome and Word, it typically lasts 4-5.

Also, Mac OS may be shiny, but Windows 7 is shiny too!

But yeah, also PCs tend to be worse for people who are Computarded, but as someone else said, if you can effectively Google your issue and not do dumb shit like accidentally reformat your drive (although that might be a hard thing to do on accident), PCs are no problem.

sob3k

United States7572 Posts

June 07 2010 08:39 GMT

#67

On June 07 2010 15:30 BluzMan wrote:
You can install Windows on a MacBook Pro, you know.

why on earth would you though....

StutteR

United States1903 Posts

June 07 2010 08:40 GMT

#68

I went mac. I am going back.

rbkl

772 Posts

June 07 2010 08:40 GMT

#69

I have a mac book pro, I play sc2 bootcamp on it no problem.

For gaming, you will want to use bootcamp on your mac to run windows. Os X doesnt have very good graphics drivers.

For desktops I am windows 100% no doubt, but there really isnt a better laptop than a macbook pro.

blabber

United States4448 Posts

June 07 2010 08:41 GMT

#70

On June 07 2010 17:39 sob3k wrote:

Show nested quote +

why on earth would you though....

to run programs that work on Windows and not OSX

Deleted User 47542

1484 Posts

June 07 2010 08:50 GMT

#71

Macbook vs Notebook

Mac:
Pros
-Great battery life.
-High quality screen
-High quality keyboard
-OS for those who know how to use it

Cons
-Runs VERY hot, the high end i7 dual core was reported to hit 100*C!
-Expensive, and no i7 720qm as of now (which means no quad core, something macs users need more than pc users for video encoding and such)
-Designed with looks over funtionality(the entire thing is a heatsink with poor ventilation)
-Warranty is EXPENSIVE
-Obsolete hardware over time, they were more than a YEAR late in refreshing the macbook pros to i3/i5/i7's, which shows that unless you buy at the right time(which is now), you will usually be a generation behind.

Notebook
Pros
-Windows 7 for those who prefer it
-Way better price performance
-Better overall components
-VARIETY! <--very important
-good companies give standard 2-3 year warranties

Cons
-Retards suck at buying, and end up paying too much anyways
-"Gaming" laptops have horrible battery life

PC>Mac anyday, though for schoolwork getting the 13 inch macbook pro with the free itouch isn't too bad of a deal.

CorsairHero

Canada9491 Posts

June 07 2010 08:58 GMT

#72

The gaming laptop will have horrible battery life point is negated because they will have better gpu's then that mbp.

At least you get more choice in what gpu you want and nvidia is starting to roll out the optimus platform which switches between dedicated and integrated graphics without any problems.

Also notebooks can be upgraded very easily and have switchable batteries if necessary.

Deleted User 47542

1484 Posts

June 07 2010 09:11 GMT

#73

Notebooks can't be upgraded easily. The CPU's would have to have a compatible socket. GPU's are almost never user-upgradeable and mobile versions aren't even sold in retail anyways.

The only thing you can upgrade/ever want to upgrade with ease is Ram, HD/SSD, which a Macbook can do easily too(though it does void warranty I think, depends if they have a sticker covering the parts).

I'm not very fond of mobile computing either way. I have an Asus netbook($230 open box on newegg, 11 hour battery) for schoolwork, it does typing/web browsing/youtube, and even stepmania perfectly fine, and a very high end Desktop for gaming(just got a 5970 for $460 ^_^)

United Kingdom321 Posts

June 07 2010 10:04 GMT

#74

PC

Toshiba are making some good laptops right now.

Navane

Netherlands2757 Posts

June 07 2010 10:10 GMT

#75

You probably need to use certain software programs for several classes. They won't be available for mac.

Bockit

Sydney2287 Posts

June 07 2010 10:32 GMT

#76

Jibba and JeeJee have made some pretty great posts so far imo, I'd reread them if I were the OP.

Something which hasn't really been mentioned is the quality of the one button multitouch trackpad on OSX. it's pretty phenomenal. I don't like hooking up a mouse to my laptop anymore, unless running a game like HoN or SC2, because the trackpad gives me almost the same range of control and is closer to the keyboard than a mouse can get (don't have to move hands very far).

If money is not an issue I would recommend a windows pc for gaming / incompatible software issues and a mac laptop (whether you go the new macbook, or new macbook pro is up to you) for work / school. This way you still get to keep your gaming, compatibility issues are gone, and you get the advantages of OSX on the laptop.

Also, I saw in a quote somewhere in the thread mentioning that they can't run itunes, msn and safari at the same time because of performance. That might be a specific problem with that mac, because I'm using the previous generation 15" mbp and I run half of the adobe suite, a bunch of chat programs, safari, itunes, adium (msn + others) and a whole bunch of productivity software and never run into problems. Right now I'm converting gigs of video 24/7 and the whole thing runs as smoothly as if I weren't.

EDIT: Oh looking at your list of pros and cons I wouldn't really count bootup, you barely ever turn them off, just shut the lid and they go to sleep. If wakeup is what you meant, then yeah, they have near instant wakeup capacity.

emucxg

Finland4559 Posts

June 07 2010 10:34 GMT

#77

go for thinkpad

thrslimde

Germany57 Posts

June 07 2010 10:43 GMT

#78

Definitly PC. If you want the "Mac Features" just go for Ubuntu or some other Linux distribution as your second OS on your PC.

I can recommend Dell Laptops, have always been happy with them.

By the way, enjoy DrScheme, I had to go through it and its really awful

- certainly recommend to learn a real programming language, too!

Cheers

Mykill

Canada3402 Posts

June 07 2010 11:38 GMT

#79

On June 07 2010 15:30 BluzMan wrote:
You can install Windows on a MacBook Pro, you know.

that will crash your mac. it runs so slow. it cant really handle the two OS that well.

Manit0u

Poland17801 Posts

June 07 2010 11:45 GMT

#80

The only reasonable way to possess a Mac laptop is to get it free from your work when you need it to do it.
With PCs, you can generally get a lot better specs for half the price.

And why the hell are people considering battery life on a gaming laptop? If you want to play games on it, you need to plug it in anyway, because when it's running just on the battery it automatically adjusts settings (lowers everything) to extend battery life instead of performance.