<p>Why is a macbook better than an acer, dell, or hp or any other laptop? Others could be cheaper than a macbook. I know macbooks don’t get viruses, but why is it more special than any other laptop and more expensive and more popular? I researched, and am aware of what it entails, but is there a reason to get this expensive laptop over others? Would you buy your child a macbook?</p>
<p>They are very good computers and are, in my opinion, better machines and worth the price premium. When comparing it to the less expensive options remember that that the Mac is a mac and the others are ‘just’ PCs. </p>
<p>If it’s ultimately about price then the PC will be fine and will get the job done, but if you can spend the extra bit then I’d say it’s worth it.</p>
<p>
Not quite true. It’s far less likely, but still possible. No computer is perfect in this regard.</p>
<p>For the record, I use and own both (I’m typing this on a PC).</p>
<p>No - I’d get the kid a Windows laptop due to the price differential and versatility in running applications without needing to dual-boot Windows on the Mac. For a college kid I’d get the 4 year accidental damage coverage that’s available from some manufacturers (like Dell) and some insurance companies that specialize in it. A college environment can sometimes be harsh with tight quarters, toting laptops, spilled liquids, etc.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say that Macs are ‘more popular’. Depending on the college it seems that more students have non-Mac laptops likely due to the lower cost and the fact that they’re Windows and often a more familiar OS to the student. I also wouldn’t say a Mac is better than a non-Mac laptop but this can come down to individual subjectiveness.</p>
<p>At least one of the reasons Macs are somewhat popular is just due to the aesthetics - they tend to look cool due to appealing physical designs.</p>
<p>I own only pcs. Our son in college has both a mac and pc. Younger daughter has mac only. For DD’s use the mac is superior. She likes to download stuff, she isn’t a heavy word or excel user, she uses the imovie and other features for school projects. She has the apple care plan and we have used it. When she uses my pc it inevitably ends up with a virus.<br>
I think it really depends on how the computer is going to be used.</p>
<p>We are a Dell family. But oldest D wanted a Macbook, so I purchased one at the college bookstore for her graduation gift. I have no regrets. It seems much more intuitive, she loves it, and since she chose flagship state U over private, I rewarded her. We also purchased Apple Care, and a dorm insurance policy (cheap) that covers accidental injury and theft.</p>
<p>AnnaSmith - had to fork over the dough for a Macbook for D as she’s studying art and design. The Macs are superior in that arena. I use a Dell, and am quite happy. She couldn’t get along without her Macbook. We are a bi-computer family.</p>
<p>We are a split family, too. I’m typing this on a MacBook. D has a MacBook Pro.</p>
<p>H and S use PC notebooks/laptops.</p>
<p>I love the Macs because I don’t worry about viruses. I’ve never had mine show the blue screen of death or need to be force-shut down. I also love their programs (iMovie, iWeb, GarageBand). Anything creative or artistic is better on a Mac.</p>
<p>It’s basically a right-brain, left-brain preference.</p>
<p>We said we’d pay $XX for a mid-grade PC. DS used graduation money to make up the difference and bought himself a Macbook. He loves it and has had absolutely no problems with it. Says his roommate has tons of problems with his PC and has had to send it out for repairs (read: the campus techies couldn’t fix it) several times in the two years they lived together. We think it was worth the investment.</p>
<p>engineering/geek son is a rising senior. He is still very happy with the Mac we purchased before his Freshman year. Has had no problems and still says “I have never asked this computer to do anything it can’t do.” That includes running SolidWorks and other crunch-intensive (my ignorant term) programs. His statement is striking because he is very critical and demanding of all things technological. Many of his PC friends have had to reload or upgrade their OS several times, and many feel they need new machines after 3 years. Son’s mac keeps humming along.</p>
<p>I can’t speak to the relative value of PC’s vs. Mac. I worked with macs for decades and now work with a PC. My take, personally, is that I am happy with my PC as long as I have an IT group to help me out; when I am back on my own I will go back to Macs.</p>
<p>^^^^^ Speaking of “accidental injury” there is a Mac virus on the loose; google “macintosh virus discovered” “the first virus for the Macintosh”.</p>
<p>I work in the computer industry and am comfortable with either one. Having said that, 15 years ago, I went all Mac at home and have never regretted it. As a part of my job, I travel extensively and felt that Apple would result in far fewer middle of the night panicked calls like “Dad - I can’t print my paper”.</p>
<p>In those 15 years, I can only recall one such call - and it was the printer that was broken. I walked him through clearing the jam and that was it. </p>
<p>Is a Macbook worth more? I think so:</p>
<p>1) I think Macs last longer. Small sample size but the roughly 8 family macs we have had have lasted 4-5 years and are generally still running when we trade up to a new model. The two Apple laptops we have had both lasted more than 5 years. (not counting the one I am typing on - a new macbook pro). The Dell and HP PCs that I get issued to me from work typically last 2 years.</p>
<p>2) it comes with real software (not demo apps) that don’t come with most PCs. iPhoto and iMovie are both really top notch software products.</p>
<p>3) Even though some viruses/malware may show up for the mac, in general it has not been a problem. </p>
<p>4) Ultimately, the PC/Mac is a tool designed to help my student get through college - I don’t want that tool to get in the way. To put it in car terms - the Mac is like a Honda - it just runs and runs. PCs are more like a Chevy - they run most of the time.</p>
<p>I think Macs are way too overpriced. I wouldn’t spend the money on one personally. I have a PC running Ubuntu and Windows Vista (Ubunutu mostly, I only switch to Windows when I absolutely have to). I’m very happy with it.</p>
<p>My parents got me a Mac and I love it. Its hard drive did crash one time but I did drop it, so probably my fault… Anyway because I had the plan they fixed it and even replaced (for free) cosmetic issues.</p>
<p>I think it just works better. Everyone I know who had a Mac in college never had a problem (except my one incident), and there were a ton of PC issues.</p>
<p>Also I despise vista. I’m on a pc right now, and the computer is downright slow, always gets viruses and the such, and it constantly asks me for permission to do things.</p>
<p>Macs are much more simple, they are quick. They also have great easy to use software (like iphoto). I convinced my bf (a life time pc user to get one) and he loves it. The cheapest one they have is I think around $949 or $999 I forget, plus you get a free Ipod touch, which could easily be sold, to further bring down the cost.</p>
<p>Almost every piece of important software is now also created for the Mac. At my college the communication people are actually required to purchase a Mac, not PC.</p>
<p>Microsoft Project has no mac version, so that would be a problem for me at work.</p>
<p>But as I stated earlier, son has encountered no obstacles in having a mac and has enjoyed many advantages.</p>
<p>We bought a Macbook for DS after his Thinkpad (PC) died earlier this year. As he is into music and almost all music software used at his school is Mac-based, it is a good fit for him.</p>
<p>He has never owned a Mac before, but now he likes his Macbook, especially its trackpad interface. I think he will likely not want to go back to PC again (assuming that he has a choice).</p>
<p>A downside is that some science/engineering software runs on PC only.</p>
<p>It seems nobody I know likes Vista. Almost all of my friends are willing to shell out extra $ to have Windows XP installed on their newly-purchased PCs. Why do so many people hate Vista so much? (Never used one so I do not understand why its reputation is so bad.) I hope Windows 7 will fix whatever problems Vista has.</p>
<p>BTW, Is Office 2008 on Mac any good in your opinion? When it was released 1.5-2 years ago, it is rumored that it was as bad as a “beta version”. I would guess its quality is now much better after so many versions of “upgrades.” yes or no?</p>
<p>We’re a Mac household, but I’ve worked in several offices that are PC. I’ve always been amazed by the IT staff needed to service the PCs. There always seems to be something messing up those PCs, and that the only way to fix them is to call the IT person. It’s like the average computer literate person is incapable of fixing a broken PC. </p>
<p>We do occasionally have problems with our Macs (and we’ve owned so many since 1984 I’ve lost count) but rarely have to bring one in to be seen by someone. Every now and then there’s a problem that I’ve had to call Apple about, and been guided on the phone to fix it. I’m willing to pay a premium for that. </p>
<p>But I confess that I’m also willing to pay the price because they are beautiful, I like Apple and want the company to survive. (And I am someone who typically likes to spend as little money as possible.)</p>
<p>^^ I guess I’m the only one here who likes Vista okay. I don’t have any problems with it and it has a nicer look than XP. On the flip side, it doesn’t have any earth-shattering advantages over XP either.</p>
<p>I’m a very heavy computer user and am in the business as well and regularly deal with a large number of servers, desktops, and laptops and never need to reload the OS and have rarely needed to deal with viruses and even then it was usually because someone did something they shouldn’t have with the PC - i.e. visiting virus-prone websites and installing software they shouldn’t while the anti-virus program is not installed or disabled. I think the ‘reloading’ of the OS is generally done by people who either don’t know what they’re doing and it’s a ‘replace the whole thing’ approach, or sometimes they’ve seriously compromised their system by doing the above.</p>
<p>There are very few things a Mac can do that Windows can’t including dealing with music, movies, etc. and Windows can run far more business and engineering apps without the need to dual-boot into Windows (as some Macs can do albeit at the extra cost of purchasing the Windows OS).</p>
<p>My response on PC vs Mac was primarily one of price - the Mac is definitely overpriced so one should pay attention to what they really need, what they want, and what their budget is. Clearly many people are willing to pay the extra price.</p>
<p>We’re a Mac family now but it all started when son #1 bought one for himself about 5 or 6 years ago. He’s currently a dual degree ECE/CS major and is on his second Mac and he still loves it. Son #2 also bought one for himself and is hugely into photography and the Mac is fabulous for supporting all of his photographs. The rest of us are now converts (even though we use PCs at work) and have an iMac and Apple TV at home and I have a MacBook Air. I took on the task of creating the official senior video to show at son #2’s senior banquet at school this year and the iMovie software was a breeze to use and created an incredibly professional DVD. We love our Macs!</p>
<p>Previously mentioned engineer/geek son runs the PC-based engineering and science programs on his mac, using a windows OS he purchased pretty inexpensively through his University and loaded on his mac. I expected it to be glitchy, but it hasn’t been.</p>
<p>Price was a factor for us. We bought S1 a Thinkpad. After four years of hard use and abuse, it is still running strong. He has never had any prob. with it that he couldn’t work out himself (and he’s not a techie guy).<br>
S2 just finished his freshman yr. with a Thinkpad. No probs. so far.
So the answer is No, we wouldn’t buy a Mac for our kid. My bro.did just bought one for his DD for her h.s grad. gift.</p>
<p>DH and I just purchased our first laptop (have always had HP desktops) this weekend.
We looked at the Macs but just couldn’t justify spending twice as much as a PC would cost us. The Macs were really cool but the price was just too step for us. Since the new laptop is really going to be a “extra” computer (and with college tuition bills coming soon) we decided to go the economical route. We bought a Dell.</p>