<p>I know that discussion of the relative merits of one over the other has come up before. But I was wondering (a) what the experience among you has been of average lifespan of pc laptop v. apple laptop - either your experience or that of your college student (b) to what you attribute the problem (hardware, virus…?)</p>
<p>Thanks for any input - I need to start thinking about a replacement laptop and want to make an informed decision. If 1 1/2 - 2 years of constant use is all you can expect of any laptop so be it - but I am hoping to hear differently.</p>
<p>Mac lover here. We have all manner of macs in our family and one PC that I had to buy last year for a course I was taking. My son bought a G4 laptop in 2003 and my husband bought one this past fall. The PC was a powerful HP made for gaming and graphics programs - I had to send it back within the first year for a minor break on a button on the keypad. </p>
<p>I much prefer the mac - more intuitive to fix and figure out when stuff is wrong and never had a virus on a mac yet but the PC is currently unusable due to the last major virus that affected Microsoft Windows. We can’t even access Internet Explorer to fix the problem and will probably end up paying Geek Squad $200 to fix. I know the old song and dance about it not being much fun to hack into a computer that a small percentage of the population owns. I read an article that computer geeks are at odds as to whether this is the reason why macs aren’t plagued with viruses or if it is just a better designed computer. </p>
<p>That being said, my son did lose his hard drive this past fall on his Mac. He hadn’t saved any of his work - tons of research and papers. He took it into the mac store and they did manage to save the important stuff - I’m not sure how common it is but it probably didn’t help that he spilled a coke on his keyboard. For reliability and intuitive exceptional design
you can’t beat a Mac. I’ve worked on both and there just is no comparison.</p>
<p>we only have macs- very well made
I have spilled water into my keyboard with little result ( dried it up first before restarting) but not a coke!
My younger daughter is still using a mac laptop that is 4 years old. works fine-
we also don’t have any microsoft products on it ( I use neooffice instead of OFFICE) plus it is freeware.
the new iNtel macs should be interesting-</p>
<p>I’ll add another vote for Macs. I have a one and a half year old iBook G4 that still works perfectly. Like lizschup’s S I did experience disk failure once, but managed to transfer my data to a separate hard drive before the computer died completely. (Backups are a great idea whether you use a Mac or a PC.) Definitely get the AppleCare plan, which covers repairs for three years after purchase–it’s about $250, I think, and it’s worth it–exchanging my disk that one time would’ve cost (I believe) closer to $300 if I hadn’t had the insurance.</p>
<p>We have had only macs in our household since my husband left the corporate pc world in 1987. We love them and any problems have been easily resolved with Norton Utilities. My question is will my son entering UVA in the fall intending to study business be ok with just a mac laptop…Is there any reason he would need a pc instead?</p>
<p>I’d check with them. With the new intel chips, I can’t see why he would have to switch. Will he be getting a new laptop for next year? We are a mac family and son worked and saved for the new intel machine and just got one. He is over the moon.</p>
<p>Yes, we’re probably getting the macbook pro. It is incredible, isn’t it? And, yes, emeraldkitty, I had heard something about Norton and Tiger. Do you have an alternative?</p>
<p>I use techtool pro 4
also since harddrive space is so cheap make sure you have an extra drive for backup
but I love tiger it is amazingly stable</p>
<p>What’s bad about PCs anyway? Don’t say viruses or anything like that, because that’s BS.</p>
<p>You just keep believing that Moose I betcha believe in the tooth fairy too</p>
<p>However it must be noted that the FIRST EVER virus for mac has been identified
<p>DH used to work for a company making Mac software and hardware peripherals–so we used Macs then. Then he went to work for a major software company that made PC software so we used Wintel systems. Then kids went to college and got Macs (because that’s what people do on campuses). Now we run an internet business and DH has to test the web stuff on Mac and Wintel systems, so now we have about a zillion computers and some are Wintel and some are Macs… </p>
<p>Macs seem to be more reliable and last about twice as long, but Wintel systems cost about half as much, so it’s about even on actual use time per dollar spent… A lot depends on who/what you have to work with. Campuses seem to make Macs easier–at least the campuses I see–but I don’t the difference is that significant. </p>
<p>I do know that my daughter killed three different Wintel laptops (Toshiba, HP, and HP) in four years (magnetic fingertips) and took almost three years to kill her Mac (and it’s only injured and will recover). However, my husband’s had the same Wintel laptop for three years now, so that’s no indication.</p>
<p>My son the MIT CS major thinks the new Mac (with the Intel processor) is REALLY cool.</p>
<p>D was raised on PCs, then, when her laptop failed during finals two years ago, rushed out with my credit card and bought a Mac, loves it, and won’t even consider anything else. </p>
<p>I work from two laptops now but when it’s time to buy again I’m switching to Macs - she’s shown me enough, I’m sold.</p>
<p>My parents switched, too. I guess they got tired of hearing me gloat about my lack of viruses/spyware (meanwhile, our two PCs were drawing their last gasping breaths). They are now the proud owners of a 20" iMac. :)</p>
<p>second that question to moose. just for ground rules you should probably put your experience with each so that we don’t have blind comments based on others’ opinions.</p>
<p>My D has a MAC laptop and it has been great—very good for photo and graphics, also easier to troubleshoot yourself if you are not a real computer person. However, my son’s school issues all students a PC laptop and that has been good because the school services them all. Also older son went to college with a MAC (because that was what we always used at home). He found very poor tech support at the school because no one knew what to do when their system there didn’t work right with the MAC. It’s also harder in small towns to find someone to work on MAC if you do need something done. That said, our MACs have rarely had to have service (only when D drove off with hers on her car roof and when S had people over and a drink was spilled into the main computer part----never had a virus)</p>
<p>Owning a Mac is like owning a Honda or Toyota in my opinion compared to a GM, Ford or Chrysler. My PC needs more repairing and is just more difficult to repair - same with my Chrysler mini-van that rode like a dream but was in the shop so much the service people knew me by name. We got rid of it after 7 years and we always keep our cars for a minimum of 10. Loyal Toyota and Honda owner here.</p>
<p>I never hear of anyone loving there PC like Mac owners love their Macs.</p>
I betcha believe in the tooth fairy too</p>