If I had invested the $22K I spent on my MCS back in 2005 in Apple stock, it would be worth around $200K today! But all that motoring is priceless... riiight? ;-)

That being said:
-iPhone 3GS user (probably will never upgrade until it breaks)
-2010 Macbook Air 11.6" (4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 1.4Ghz C2D) + cheap vizio 22" 1080P LED monitor = win!
-2003 3rd Gen iPod 15GB
-2005 1st gen ipod shuffle
-Apple wireless keyboard
-Apple Magic trackpad

A MINI and an apple a day keeps the doctor away!

 

Macs get viruses... I got one 3 years ago on my Ibook. Macs aren't perfect - every machine has its problems.

Macs are more expensive (my macbook pro was $2,200) and if you compare apples to apples, you can get a much more powerful PC for the price.

BUT. The reason I'll continue to buy Macs is because of OSX. Its plain and simply just easier to navigate and less clunky than windows. Spaces, one click spreading of all open windows, one click spreading of all open windows within a program, etc... I go between mac and pc for work all the time (I do professional photography/ some multimedia/web) and my workflow is way faster with mac. Is it the hardware? Not really. Its the OS.

Design is another thing.. The illuminated keyboard that dims in complete darkness, unibody construction, high def screen (beats ANY PC in pixel count - very important for my line of work), non glossy screen - (hard to find in PC laptop.. and reflections suck for photo reproduction).. I could go on.

Lastly, customer service with Apple is awesome. They replaced a fried motherboard that was 2 years out of warranty for free (should have cost $800+labor). Whenever I have a software question, they walk you through it in person. They replaced my iPhone screen after it stopped working due to rain (my fault) in a matter of 20 minutes. No questions.

I dunno.. Not to be a "fan boy".. I really hate that stupid internet term. Mac and PC both use intel chips, same video cards, etc.. Whatever. You could buy a Kia or a Mini. Both get you from A to B. Mini and Mac share one thing, which is incredible design inside and out.

 

The only Apple product I have is an old Mini (coincidence?). And that has RockBox firmware and a flash drive in it, so it's hardly an "ipod" anymore.

 

Sorry but thats your opinion only. I prefer Windows for ease of use and I DO own Apple products, a Iphone and a new Ipad 2. Funny thing , the Iphone has given me more problems than any Windows Laptop I've ever owned.

 

This is coming from a PC user so no fanboisum here. The iPhone issues you had I would bet are mostly AT&T's fault and neither of these devices is a true test of Apple's OS, like that of a computer.

 

personally, i've 2 iPhones (1 original, 1 iphone4) an ipod, and im using a brand new mac book pro right now. I think its just something about both company's 'differential advantage' (look i learned something in my marketing class) thats just too hard to resist. This chick I do a lot of business with drive's an 06 S she also has a lot of apple stuff like new iPad iphone macbook ect. we just had this conversation the other day so I felt I had to post

 

None of the issues were with AT&T. Issues were with iOS. And I STILL have issues with it, but gotta say, my new IPAD 2 is super cool.

 

17" MacBook Pro i7/8gb/750gb 7200rpm
23" Apple Cinema Display (aluminum)
iPhone 4 32GB (and every gen before that )
iPad 3G 64GB
iPod Shuffle
etc. etc.

I still prefer PC desktops (primarily for gaming) but also love Apple products. I pretty much upgrade my MacBook Pro and iPhone every year, or when a new model is released.

 

I love my 17" macbook pro.

 

I have an 18 month old MacBook, an iPod Nano 4th gen, iPhone 3GS (upgrading when the 4S or 5 launches). To me, the integration of HW & SW on Apple products is much better than the alternatives. Apple stuff just works, and does so beautifully.

 

Well, lets see. I have a 3GS and a Ipad 2. The 3GS is on IOS 4.3.1. I started at 3. something. I've had to upgrade the IOS about 10 times since I got it a year ago. Some of those were major upgrades, most were "BUG" GASP!!!! fixes. My Ipad 2??Love it, really do. But then I got the AT&T 3G version. Folks who got the Verizon version are not quite so happy. Seems that if they switch to wiFi their Ipad will not switch back to 3G when they leave the Wi Fi area. They have to reboot to get it to work. Apple's already admitted its a problem with their software and a fix will be released "Shortly"..... Oh, and of course there's the IPhone 4 antenna problem. I like Apple products, I really do. But would one of the Apple fanatics out there please send me a pair of the rose colored glasses you seem to wear so I can also ignore Apple flaws ????

 

Hey, don't get me wrong, I know Apple's not perfect. Someone else'll have to send you the glasses, cuz I don't have any.

When considering my own history w/electronics, Apple has been the most hassle-free & well thought out. I had a Samsung Instinct on Sprint before getting the iPhone in '09. That was one of the worst phones I've ever had. Talk about patches & fixes, firmware updates, pathetic performance. And after dealing w/Windows for 16 years, I was happy to move to OS X for all the regular reasons.

Different strokes for different folks, but for my $$ Apple is the best choice in the field.

Now back to the cars...speaking of which, I think it's time to get my baby outta the garage & stretch her legs.

 

I Love Apple and MINI

My car ? MINI JCW 2011 PW
My Phone ? iPhone 3G
My Work computer? iMac 17 White
My Home computer? iMac 24 Aluminium
My Notebook? I have 2 the old one is MacBook BLACk and my new one is White Macbook.
Yes I have iPad too.
Time machine and airport express too.

I love MINI and I love apple, yes both are from the same religion

 

Well, Apple Macs are nice, but I run a Thinkpad with Linux on it

 

Never tried Linux, but I've heard good things.

I guess I'd have to say that I hate Windows, not necessarily PC's. The hardware isn't the issue for me. Anyone who does heavy graphic design or photo work has a Mac for a good reason. Its OSX. Its very simple to go between tons of images / windows / programs at one click of a button - "Spaces" is awesome, it allows you to set up multiple desktops and switch between them on the fly when you're ready to work on that project.. great for working on multiple projects. I used XP/Vista for years and there's no going back. Maybe the new Windows 7 is better.. I haven't tried it.

Maybe folks who crunch numbers for a living or do heavy gaming would prefer a PC... One huge downside to Mac is that they make way more programs for PC for more technical applications.. But, the workaround is "Bootcamp", which is Mac's app (built into the OSX) that allows you to run both Windows and OSX at the same time. Best of both worlds.

Dont want to pay big $$ for a Mac? Google "hackintosh" and just convert a PC netbook to run OSX.

Personally, I like the way Macs look, function, and the quality materials the cases are made out of. Pick up and touch a plastic PC laptop then a unibody titanium Macbook Pro. Which would you rather trust as a work computer while working on the go? Hmmm..

 

That's why I've always liked Thinkpads, they have Titanium Unibody, or a least the 'T' series, which is for Business use. They're also very easy to disassemble and repair and put back together.

 

Thats interesting, didn't know anyone else made a quality case. I'd totally buy one to install Mac OSX on it - best of both worlds.. Are they cheaper than a Mac with equivalent processor/ram/etc.. ?

 

Stuff I've seen in this thread so far about Apple:
better build quality
-most every laptop available is made by one of a few manufacturers and very rarely by the same company they're branded with. A few of these companies, referred to as ODMs(original design manufacturer), are clevo, msi, asus, and compal. One HP might bea different manufacturer than another HP and one HP might be the same as a Dell. Macbooks are no different and happen to be made by asus(for the most part at least, I can't say with certainty that every macbook is asus and not one of the other ODMs.) so it's absolutely false to say that macbooks are better brands for build quality, maybe better than a typical $400 laptop but you really can't trust any one brand to be better since they don't even build their own stuff!

macs are better hardware and/or faster
-macbooks are built with the exact same hardware as is available for other laptops, you can often find something with the exact specs because nothing in a macbook is proprietary. For instance look at the ASUS g73 that you can buy at bestbuy vs the best macbook pro 17", they have essentially the same processor, the same screen size, same multitouch trackpad, backlit keyboard, etc... and made by the same company. The only difference being the OS, harddrive and video card. The g73 has a 750GB harddrive that spins at 7200rpm while the mac can be configured with an equal speed 500GB or a slower 750GB at 5400rpm, the g73 has a superior video card but they have the same amount of video ram and you can configure the mac up to the same amount of ram. The g73 also has an empty second harddrive bay if you feel like using that and finally the mac costs $3000 vs the g73's $1300. My girlfriend was looking at an iMac once in a store that cost about $1600, I was curious and looked up the specs on it and what did I find? A core i3! For those who don't know, the core i3 is basically the low end processor used in the $300 throwaway laptops that are often being practically given away on black friday. That's the one you use when your main priorities are really good battery life and low cost while not caring about being fast, not the kind of thing you put in an immobile desktop that doesn't use a battery. I expected at least the midrange i5 for a $1600 computer that isn't even mobile.

macs get no viruses
-fairly true, it's very difficult to make a program that will propagate itself over a network without any user interaction. This is true for Macs and linux and Windows since all of them require user interaction to allow a recieved program to do just about anything. However, the word virus is used by the general public to mean any sort of bad program and all are subject to that. It's true that macs are not as big a target but they are growing so that won't be true forever and a little caution goes a long way toward not being a victim.

iphones are way bigger targets than android but android has more malware.
-for one android dominates the smartphone market right now and is slowly taking more with iOS and blackberry pretty close to each but both are a fair chunk behind. Malware has shown up on android, that's true, but never in the market itself. It's only shown up on apps that people have gotten elsewhere on the internet from shady locations and guess what, they had to go into system settings and turn on the ability to use non-market apps just to do it. I'm not going to say it's wrong for apple to leave that option out on the iphone but I personally like the ability to take off the training wheels if I want to.

Spaces
-it's a great idea and I wish windows used it, I've enjoyed the multiple desktop idea for years now since most every consumer version of Linux has been using since the mid 1980s

It's easier to use/it's intuitive
-this one always gets me. Windows can only be stretched from the lower righthand corner, not the sides or any other corners. wtf... how is this better? such a small thing, I know, but isn't that just silly to not include? I once tried to move a movie from my gf's macbook onto an sdcard(had to be sd because I was going to play it on a wii) so I looked for the card reader... wtf no sdcard reader? I could understand not having a multicard reader but not even sd? Anyway I think, whatever, I'll just put the card in my camera and plug that in via usb. It always shows up as an external drive in linux and windows gives you the option to import pictures or look at the files on the card so I assume the same on a Mac. Nope, it sees the camera and tells me flat out that I MUST want to import pictures and no other options. I look up the problem online and spend about 15min reading multiple recomendations to just buy a card reader. What a bs excuse...

Anyway I'm not a PC or a MAC, I'm a geek. I like to be able to have my computers do what I tell them(that's the whole point of a computer) currently that means I switch between win7 and linux, my phones were windows mobile but are now android until something better comes along and using my gf's mac will likely **** me off every time lol.

I'm not going to look down on you for choosing Apple products, that's your decision to act on preference but please, PLEASE don't make generalizing statements about Apple being better at everything. The fact is that everything Apple makes has both inferior and superior alternatives and very very rarely do those superior alternatives cost as much.

 

Asus makes the plastic Macbooks. The unibody aluminum Macbook Pro (think macbook vs macbook pro = Cooper vs Cooper S) is made by Quanta, but thats no surprise. Mac gets +90% of its hardware from manufacturers like everyone else. I'm not saying that Mac build is better than all PCs... Just the majority of PCs are cheap plastic. And I'll admit that the Macbooks are cheap plastic - wouldn't buy one for anything other than a web surfer. Mac and PC are basically the same. Its the SOFTWARE that makes them different.

Anyone have experience with the new Windows 7? I'd be interested in hearing what the improvements are.. My wife needs a PC for work and I'm thinking of getting either a netbook or a used macbook of ebay to "bootcamp" it and run windows.

 

I run windows 7 ultimate. It is by far and away the best Windows OS yet. Granted you still have the slight annoyances of the security features to deal with. For example, when you install a new program, it will pop up a security window that asks for permission to install said program to the HD. But I've seen this slight annoyance stop virus attacks in their tracks.

Other than security improvements there are a lot of visual improvements, DX11 runs much lighter than DX9, the differences are too long for mento type on my phone. Go try it out at an electronics store like Staples/best buy when you can.

 

Yeah........ i guess im not part of this crowd, personally i cant stand apple products, im not going to go into detail because i do see the purpose of apple products and do believe there is a type of person they are perfect for but perhaps its because Ive been a geek for as long as i can remember. my first computer was a 486DX4, last computer was a quad core running W7Ultimate with a Linux boot partition. been faithful to windows and more recently android.... currently working on a completely android powered car *audio and tuned*. so that said ill leave this here

 

I bought my first Mac a couple months ago. It's a "mini". Then two weeks later I go out and buy my 04 MCS PW/B! Hmmmm...

 

Yes, IBM is the inventor of the PC. The Thinkpad was their own design. The company I used to work for exclusively used The 'T' series Thinkpad's, which is their business line. They have other lines as well, which are more "plasticy" for the consumer market. Although, a few years ago when IBM sold it's PC division to Lenovo, quality suffered somewhat, I think some of that has been remedied.

Most companies have a business and consumer line, each of varying quality, I've just been partial to Thinkpad based on previous experience. I always thought that business line machines from HP and Dell were very heavy and thicker compared to the Thinkpad.

Actually, one thing that was really cool, back in the mid-nineties, where I worked, we had a Compaq laptop that had a trackball built into the lid that was really nice to use. You can't find that feature anymore!

My current Thinkpad was priced about the same as a Mac, roughly $1200.00, but the specs were better. Also, like I said earlier, Thinkpads are very easy to repair and upgrade. I've always heard that disassembling a Mac was a real pain.

 

But a gottie tell you laddies, My IPad 2 is the best timekiller ever when killing time at a dealership.

 

I had an Apple computer even before I bought my MINI.

Apple II+ (1982)

Currently have:
iMac G4 Panther -> Tiger
iMac (current) Snow Leopard
iPod(s)
MacBook Air (13")

Netbook (Xandros Linux)
PC (100Mhz Win 95) - being converted to Linux as a file server
PC (1.8Ghz Win XP SP3)

Recently completed building a QuadCore 3Ghz gaming machine. Running Win 7 Ultimate.
Converted the 1.8Ghz Win XP PC to run Ubuntu Linux and Compiz Fusion.
Donated the 100Mhz PC to charity for teaching the homeless how to use computers.