Laptops: Dell vs. Apple?
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I’m not buying a laptop quite yet…probably in about 6 months, but I figured I should do my research on them now, so the decision is easy later.
I’ve been using Windows on desktop PCs all my life, so I think I know what to expect from a Dell. However, I know very little about Macs. I know they are becoming very popular these days, largely thanks to their amazing TV commercials, but are the really that much better?
I’ll be using this laptop for university…so I’ll need the functions of Microsoft Office (Word, Powerpoint, etc). What are Mac’s comparable softwares, and are the just as good (or better?). And of course I need reliability…can’t have it suddenly crashing and dying just when I need it.
Also, is OSX hard to get used to for a lifetime Windows user?
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Tagged with: buying a laptop • dell • desktop pcs • lifetime • macs • microsoft • microsoft office word • reliability • tv commercials • windows user
Filed under: Used Apple Laptops
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Haha… I was in your shoes 7 years ago.
Apple and PC’s are REALLY different…. but in good ways… good ways that favor Apple. I bought my first Mac 7 years ago (a PowerMac G4 that i still use daily because it’s a work horse) and will never consider buying anything else.
It’s not hard to get used to OSX… it’s just very different from Windows. It’s more intuitive and EXTREMELY user friendly. It only took me about a week of daily use before I was really comfortable with the different platform. I sold my PC’s the day after I unboxed my Mac it was *that* good.
You won’t have to worry about random crashes because OSX is the most stable operating system on the market (without going to Linux which for most people, myself included, will drive you insane trying to figure out). In my 7 years I’ve never had one single system crash, not one single virus, no spyware or malware and I haven’t needed any extraneous software to protect me from any of these. On a side note, I have had software crash on me before, but on a Mac, unlike in Windows, this will not bring your whole system to a hault. Macs have the operating system and the software running completely independent from each other where Windows everything is intertwined so if one thing goes down, everything goes down. Also, OSX is built on UNIX which is the same system used to run government and military servers, and any system that has a lot of classified data stored that needs to stay protected and online.
You can get MS Office for a Mac, and I am not exaggerating at all when I say this… it runs better on my 7 year old Mac than it does on my wife’s 1 year old Dell. If you don’t want to shell out the money for MS Office you can download Open Office or Neo Office which are free open source applications that are 100% MS Office compatible. OR you can purchase iWork from Apple which can save to MS Office documents but is so much cooler and more fun to use.
Keynote, the PowerPoint equivalent, makes PP look like a joke. The transitions are so smooth and look professional. Pages, the eqivalent to Word, is just really cool and has a lot of really well designed templates.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do everything on a Mac that you can do on a PC…. I’ve been doing everything I did on a PC on my Mac for 7 years.
Another thing that Apple has that’s so much better than anyone elses…. their customer service. In 7 years I’ve only had one issue with my PowerMac and it was in the 6th year. They fixed it for free at my local Apple store…. this was 3 years after my extended warranty had expired. Try getting that from Dell, I can tell you already that you won’t. And you won’t get it from anyone else.
There will probably be people telling you to not join "the cult"… but I can tell you the people who are really passionate about Apple and their products are mostly people who have been burned by Windows based systems for years and years. I alone spent 20+ constantly fixing Windows problems and said "enough" 7 years ago…
Another testimony, a family member of mine works for one of the biggest manufacturers of PC’s in the world…. he recently replaced all of his home PC’s (had several in his office for different purposes and had one for his wife) and the PC of his daughters and her husband with Macs because he was tired of constantly having to fix problems with his own companies product….
If you have an Apple Store nearby, run in sometime and play around. Ask the sales people questions. They’re generally very enthusiastic and ready to help you with any needs.
Good luck!