Mac versus PC: the experts declare a winner

Being forced to watch "Saving Private Ryan" is indeed a grueling test.

thats because they picked the wrong pc honestly gateway sucks

See it is funny they should choose what they did, because despite their results, Linux still wins!

Pfft, idiots, I could build a better PC(for cheaper!) then what they tested on.

if they were comparing apples to apples i'd take this study and believe it but they weren't. contest, my honda accord versus a ferarri modena...big surprise, i lost. same thing here. yes i like pc's, and yes i like apple's, i just hate the aura that surrounds typical mac's and the people who use them. you're not cool because you say you are apple marketing machine...ugh, irritating.

Man, at the end of the day we are ALL a part of someone's marketing demographic. Find what works for you and go with it.

[This post made with Mac]

Well Gateway are way overpriced but they do have great service so it's a trade off since you're paying for ease of replacements and upgrades. Better for business that need to be running and expanding all the time. Not so good for personal use on a budget.

The point being that You have a lot more options with PC in upgrades and configurations than you do with Mac.

It's all overpriced with Apple and only a few options in what you can get. You can get PC parts and custom built systems for a lot cheaper that will do a lot more.

Liking the Coke vs Pepsi touch to the pic :P.

psssh...MAC is awesome, those that disagree just don't know how to use it.

@Floonds:
that is until someone spills them on the keyboard...

The University of Missouri requires all freshman journalism students to purchase a Mac. If Mac is good enough for the best journalism school in the world, I think the winner is clear.

This really doesn't surprise me, PC are good for somethings but Mac are just better over all for general use. Mac are really good machines it about time the rest of the world realized!

[Post made on Mac]

Apple is great don't get me wrong, I love Final Cut, best program ever! but macs are also expensive both when purchasing and upgrading compared to PC.

This post was made on a mac pro quadcore and the sad reality is I could build one mean machine for a fraction of the cost on PC and bundle it with linux... only problem is i'd miss Final Cut too much :P

lol, coke vs pepsi, who will win?

i would choose a mac though, because it can also run windows, if only it could run linux and bsd too...

Finally, news made for me, a hardcore nerd. My 2 cents:

Which ice cream flavor is better? Well vanilla is vanilla and chocolate is chocolate. Then you've got strawberry which is of course strawberry. Clearly the winner is vanilla.

Yes, that is stupid. So are comparisons like these! Budget minded folks will think the Macs are overpriced when a similarly priced PC has WAY more hardware. People who appreciate design will be drawn towards Apple's polish and simplicity (often overestimated thanks to spectacular marketing). System administrators and hobby fans will think linux's customization, hands-on nature, stability, and open source nature are most important.

Which is better? Depends on what you expect, want, and need to accomplish. It also depends on whether you talking about hardware, or software. Comparing software and hardware are two different discussions. For the most part hardware is all the same thing! Sure the case looks different, but trust me, it all comes from a handful of companies, of which you have no idea which one is which.

If you've got the money, and don't like gaming, get a Mac. If you like to be different and enjoy playing with your machine, try linux (much easier these days!). If you want simple and cheap, get a Windows PC. But don't ever tell me which one is best without qualifying for whom!

For the record, I have a Mac, a headless linux box, a linux/WindowsXP machine, and have used just about every other OS out there.

I am a mac snob, im not even ashamed. I switched from my POS dell laptop 3 months ago and I will never go back. My mac hasn't glitched yet, its so easy to personalize that its become an extension of my brain.

In sum: if my mac had a vagina, I would probably have had sex with it by now, and I'd be a snob about how much better it was in bed then a PC.

Once you go mac you never go back!!

Gateway is a bad choice, but what is a good choice when it comes to a PC?

If you're doing graphics or video, get an Apple. If you're doing word processing and email, buy a cheap PC. I think it comes down to the best tool for the best task. And budget comes into play. The article says PCs are just as expensive but that's not really true. You can get a cheap PC, but don't expect it to do as much as an Apple. With Apple you get your money's worth.

If you are not a video editor you do not need a MAC, and if you are truly smart you can easily build a clean and fast desktop PC saving money without sacrificing quality. Furthermore, you can buy a PC laptop that is better in every aspect compared to a MAC for less.

For example my Asus G1s costs $300 less than a mac book pro, and has a faster (7200k rpm) hardrive, while all the other specs are identical.

Bottomline, Macs look nice, are trendy and easy to use. PCs are not marketed well, most pre-built PCs are bland, but the overall potential of a PC in terms of customizing and compatibility is immensly greater than that of a Mac.

Well, I guess it's finished then. The Mac and it's latest operating systems are (as is slowly becoming obvious over the internet) better than PC and it's Vista.

I'm on a Mac, and I'd have to say that it's pretty great for most of the things I do everyday. However, there are some applications where having a PC would be kinda handy (Try finding AutoCAD for Mac, it's quite a task!)

RelikpL, are you seriously claiming that PCs are not marketed well? PCs are and have been outselling MACs for years.

Also, claiming that your computer which was $300 less than a MAC pro and is faster is nice and all, but back it up with some more of your computer specs. Saying that your computer is faster because it has a faster hard drive is comparable to claiming you have a faster car just because your car has fuel injection. What are the processor specs, how fast is your RAM and how much do you have, what kind of graphics card and how much memory does it have, how large is your hard drive in comparison, etc?

Ok I Have had it,

Why is it that everything in this dame country is racist, sexist, or in this case hexist. It does not have to be a contest and a jock for position or power all the time. for most of you a machine that speaks to the net and writes on and RTF text editor is all you need. Many smartphone users can do that. For the rest it is the right tool for the right job; or worst yet, what somebody has spoon-fed or forced you to use so long you don't know any better. The majority of the twenty plus comments are full of misguided or misled pontification.

Yes Mac cost more in price at the time of purchase, but hold their value longer and have some nicer amenities. Not unlike a luxury car some good innovative add-ons for a price and a pretty nice service department thats there for the most part when you need it. Wait... Yes after warranty it is at a very high price and there are incidences where you'll get a bad service writer but mostly good. You get what you pay for. Although the gap is lessening mac users are of a slightly higher income to debt ratio than many pc users but dont hate them for having the skins to buy one, and all the flair that comes with being down with cult of mac.

Yes PC are cheaper now on the first day of purchase and for 82% of the population that works best. For that you get to spend $99 per year for protection software and get to call India for support when needed. If you are good at computing this is great too. I like building my own and tweaking out on it and getting it to the same speed and implied luxury as a mac... but when it breaks I gotta deal with it myself too. Like a good Civic... great car for the masses and easy to find and buy . For the most part cheap and reliable, but missing all the added innovation at purchase that can be added on later. Hell they can even be tricked into looking, sounding and preforming like a BMW. And like a Civic when it needs and oil change I either do it myself or pay a moderate for somebody to fix it. It will take a week or two but. You get what you pay for.

I was a PC and Civic user when I was in a lower tax bracket. Now I use all Macs.

Why? Finally, Mac can run all three major OS's and then more. That's what makes them tops for me now. No they don't play games very well but it was to cession of playing those games and doing work to improve the lives of others and myself that got me to the higher tax bracket.

One Love! No more fighting about useless shit, do something positive.

hi p.c. , hi mac LOL

Everyone knows that Mac is for looking cool (artistic work/college/movies) and PC is for everything else (geeks/gamers/office workers). I have both, but I'm currently typing on a Macbook Pro laptop. Oh yea and Final Cut Pro seems to work alot better for me than Adobe Premiere (used for 6 years on my VAIO desktop).

I love my Apple.

apple all the way

What the hell is up with all the stereotypes? Just cause you use a mac doesn't mean you're an artists. Just cause you a PC doesn't mean your retarded. I personally use a Mac, because they work better, they look better, the cost isn't ridiculous, the operating system is 1000 times better, and everything is integrated so seamlessly. You know what though? That's just my opinion. Why do people get so personal? Fine you can love your own computer, but there is no need to lash out at others.

(By the way....it was unfair to use a Gateway....use an IBM, Mac will still pwn it.)

Something just occurred to me, everyone who posts that MACs are good for some stuff while PCs are good for another mention things like MACs are good for art and media editing while PCs are good for games and work etc, etc.

The only thing that makes PCs better at running games and work programs is that Windows has a virtual monopoly on the OS market. As a result many of the games and work programs that are on the market are programed only to work for Windows. There are some games and work programs, however, that are designed to work for both MAC and Windows. The funny thing is that when run on two systems with similar technical specs, most of those programs run better on the MAC. The reasons are simple;

1)MAC OSs take up less processing power to run then Windows and therefor leave you more power to run your programs.

2)MACs are designed specifically to work with their OS. PCs have many different kinds of hardware configurations, but the slapped on from the manufacturer with no real tailoring to fit the hardware.

3)MAC OSs tend to be more complete than the standard OS that PCs use, Windows. PCs get many more errors and the infamous blue screen of death. Why do PCs tend to have these software problems? Because Microsoft usually slaps an OS together so it runs like an old beater car and then puts it on the market to be beta tested by the consumer rather than do it themselves. Every time you send an error report on a Windows machine, you are doing their work for them. Kinda pathetic especially since it still costs $100 a pop for the previous version of Windows, XP.

I believe that the only argument I have for getting a MAC is that nowadays most additional hardware is available on USB/Firewire... Thus the whole hardware upgrades of the PC is becoming obsolete. Once another faster external port becomes available to consumers, the PC may perhaps be completely useless... or maybe not.
In slight retrospect, I feel that a PC is a mix of MAC and Linux, and perhaps in the long run, the middle man will disappear.

Sorry I said "...the only argument..." but I meant "...a big argument..."

now that the apple company has spent millions in advertising alot of people outside the artist communities are starting to laud the mac computers....i grew up using apple computers starting with the apple 2e and then the first macintosh...i believe i have had every mac computer that they have ever built....i now still use my g3 for media purposes, a g4 for surfing the internet, my quad 4 g5 and macbook pro for music production and djing....but that does not make me a snob it just shows that i love the way the computer os systems work and are used to them...i still think that my g4 can run just as fast as any pc out ther but that is because i juiced it up...the bottom line is use the computer that bests suits you...if i am using my computer for data entry there is no need for me to use a mac when any old pc will do...but if you want to crunch numbers using music, video or art manipulation software, i think the choice is clear....mac all the way ......and for all yall new jacks who are jumping on the train...really learn how to open up all the power that is availble to you

Varex_Sythe,

If you read closely I said the specs are identical and then the hard-drive is faster.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Tell me why Apple is charging such a premium price for a product that is inferior in its specifications?

Regarding what you said about PCs selling more units, yes that is true, but it wasn't my point. Along similar lines to what you said, PCs sell on their own because of the sheer volume of Windows machines out there already e.g. corporations, schools etc. Simple PCs like those loaded with bloatware are what gave them a bad name. Apple made sure to stray clear of that and are regarded as better machines. My point is: you can build a PC that is better and just as stable as a MAC for much less.

Marketingwise, it is clear that Apple has the edge, PC companies try to compete and be as fresh in their advertising as possible, but as second-movers they have already lost that clientele.

If you do choose to buy a PC you must format and reload your operating system for best performance. On a MAC you don't need to do that. I guess some people just like that convenience.

In the end it's all personal preference, I am just defending PCs because there are too many MAC fans that have no clue about the potential of PCs.

Take it easy.

I use a PC for art and video. In my experience Adobe Premiere renders 5 times faster than Final Cut Pro so I mostly use that the only thing Final Cut does better than Premiere is handle the audio more effectively.

Every graphics program that the Mac has is available on the PC and some of the 3D modelers are for the PC only. The stereotype that Mac is better for artists is over a decade out of date

There is no question that Apple makes the superior product. Their hardware is better, but more importantly, Mac OS X is the best operating system. The operating system is more far important than the hardware as a factor in general computer usage.

The fact that Macs can run Windows and Linux in addition to Mac OS X makes it the computer that can run virtually anything.

My advice is: Don't waste your money on a Windows-only PCs. Macs have the highest customer satisfaction rating in the industry.

RelikpL, first off, your computer may have similar specifications, but that does not mean it runs as fast or as well. Also, having a faster hard drive can be relatively worthless if the processor or RAM cannot keep up with its speed. Of course it is very uncommon for a processor to be slower than a hard drive, but not for RAM. The limiting factor on all computers for speed is the speed of their RAM and the limits of the motherboard that the RAM connects to. If I have a 3ghz processor but my RAM is 600mhz DDR, then my computer is going to run at 600 MHz because the processor cannot out perform the RAM. It is the same with a hard drive. Sure you can access your files more quickly on a hard drive that has a faster RPM, but the speed of the hard drive is only relevant if it is the slowest component.

Now, as why apple charges more for computers with essentially the same hardware. The truth is that MACs charge more because they don't have the same hardware. Sure the video cards and processors and normal internal components are the same or similar, but that is not what is costing you the money. Features that you can't get in PCs are what cost you that extra money. Apple does innovative things with their computers that PCs don't. Such things include;

1) A motion sensor in Mac books to detect sudden shift. Upon detecting a sudden shift the laptop stops the hard drive so it doesn't get banged up while spinning in a fall.

2) Magnetic power cords. Because anyone who has or does own a laptop knows how much fun it is to trip over the power cord resulting in either the forceful damage of the power socket, or the airborne stunts of the computer. These magnetic cords attach firmly, but pop off easily when given a sudden pull.

3) The really expensive MAC laptops, the Mac book Pro, are housed in an Aluminum case. The only other laptop computer on the market on the moment that offers such a sturdy exterior is made by Panasonic, the tough book.