You know I have only had Mac’s my whole life! but you also know that i have had two hardrives crash on me!!!!!!!!

I have still not found a perfect solution to my dilemna. I’ve investigated comparable Macs and Dells, and the Dell is two-thirds of the price! And, that’s not including the price for a three year Apple Care package or all the non-Apple software I’d need to buy (ie Windows Office, Photoshop).

What I keep hearing is “A Mac is awesome, you’ll love it because it’s better” but it’s hard to justify without quantitative facts like – “A Mac’s battery lasts X times longer than a Dell 6-cell battery”, “A Mac is X times faster than a PC”.

It’s seems that a Mac is simply a nice-to-have, and as a 20something (just recently graduated from college), it’s hard to justify something we want rather than need since that’s the way we had been trained to live our lives.

On the other hand, my biggest purchase this year was a 37″ LG TV that I splurged on when I could have gotten a smaller one. Every single time I use it, I am completely satisfied with my decision.

I think I might have to keep thinking about this one for the time being… (especially since I keep catching myself considering just buying a new battery for my current computer and giving up the search altogether).

I had Windows PC’s since 1989. Seriously. I even used to be a Microsoft engineer.

About 3 years ago Apple moved the Mac to Intel. I waited a year for them to work the kinks out and bought a MP Pro two years ago. Took me about 2 weeks to get used to the keyboard layout but I it was really nice to have it do cool things like…not crash, or instantly come online when I opened it, or install drivers automatically when I plugged things into it. You know, stuff we Windows people only wished we had and Mac people kept secret for two decades.

I am never going back to Windows no matter how much John Hodgeman tells me he is a PC (he owns a Mac and iPhone in real life if that says anything).

See you around DC,

Steve

The only danger in getting a Mac is that it will most likely be functional and still working in 3 years. I’m upgrading the memory on a 2001 Titanium G4 PowerBook to get it ready to send off to a niece for her first machine. Not super fast but compared to no computer, it still runs OS 10.4 and works fine on the web – a couple upgrades along the way but a still serviceable entry level machine.

The 13″ MacBook is just a bit heavier than the Air but a fully loaded machine and a good bit cheaper. I’m planning to get one myself to replace the Ti G4 since I need a Mac laptop for my personal stuff on the road.

Jake, Shira and Matt have it right! I could go on for hours about why you should get a Mac; just do it, you’ll like it. I’d be happy to answer all your questions about switching or differences or whatever.

I think MAC are just stronger and smarter computers. Also, in terms of business school. You do not NEED a PC. In fact, a lot of my friends have MACs granted I am in Israel, but still. All you need for business school is Microsoft (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) which you would have to buy anyway for a PC.

You MAC will last you longer than 3 years. My guess, closer to 5. That seems to be the average among my friends who’ve had MACS for about that long before they had to trade em in. I have the 13 inch and it’s perfect! Don’t get the MacBook Pro if you don’t want such a big one.

Let me explain it this way… if you are still uncertain after my rather lengthy post. Just watch the MAC commercials: MAC vs. PC. That should answer any questions you may have.

Now that I’m a full-time professional with computer access at work as well as an iPhone, I rely on my personal computer much less.

Ideally, I’d like it to be light enough and have a battery that lasts long enough to take to a Starbucks on a Saturday, for example.

I’d like it to operate quickly, even with multiple applications open.

And, I’d like it to have enough space to store my pictures and videos.

Thats the kabosh, my angle is how versatile will my machine be for the money I am investing it in. I bought a VAIO its stable and I haven’t had 1 problem with it since I grabbed it back in 05! my gripe with it is the video card is subpar to the games i want to play but then again the tech isnt that intense with laptops but I know I could have found something with a better card for 1500$.

-Word