Gaming Mac vs. PC

[em2241992]

Other than price which do you think is better and why?

 

[da_head]

pc obviously. mac is just overpriced, and os x is designed for retards. xp or windows 7 are smexy, vista not so much.

 

[Sstew]

I prefer Macs. Although they overprice their computers like crazy. OS X is great, I prefer it but PC's have more power under the casing. Macs always look better exterior wise though

 

[curiousmike]

Other than price which do you think is better and why?

IMO, this question has to be framed with "What are you most likely to do with your computer.

Surf the web and IM and listen to music?
Isn't that what 95% of us do 99% of the time?

I recently "Hackintoshed" my main PC at home. I went thru a few teething pains acclimating to OS X, but now I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
It works.

But for that matter, I suppose if you skinned some Linux system to look like OS X maybe I'd be just as happy.

Desktop PC --- it's all about the OS. There's not much reason (IMO) to go for Mac hardware.

Laptops is a different ballgame.

With Windows XP, you just know that there's always going to be a piece of software to do what you want. Any hardware you buy will be supported.
With OS X, my perception is that isn't necessarily the case.
With Linux, that's definitely my perception.


I'd be interested to hear YOUR thoughts on this.

 

[Joe88]

Macs always look better exterior wise though

depends if you built your own PC

alot of cases will make MAC's look ulgy as hell compared to it

 

[em2241992]

Other than price which do you think is better and why?

IMO, this question has to be framed with "What are you most likely to do with your computer.

Surf the web and IM and listen to music?
Isn't that what 95% of us do 99% of the time?

I recently "Hackintoshed" my main PC at home. I went thru a few teething pains acclimating to OS X, but now I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
It works.

But for that matter, I suppose if you skinned some Linux system to look like OS X maybe I'd be just as happy.

Desktop PC --- it's all about the OS. There's not much reason (IMO) to go for Mac hardware.

Laptops is a different ballgame.

With Windows XP, you just know that there's always going to be a piece of software to do what you want. Any hardware you buy will be supported.
With OS X, my perception is that isn't necessarily the case.
With Linux, that's definitely my perception.


I'd be interested to hear YOUR thoughts on this.

Nicely put, as for my thoughts, I really don't have much of an opinion. I do like the physically look of the mac computers, especially the MacBook. I was considering getting myself one, but I made a topic like this to help me choose how good a choice that would be.

 

[DSiImporter]

Mac is way better Sorry It is not even over priced Why does you people always say that they just deliver better computers than the rest of those other computers

 

[Sir-Fritz]

Their overpriced because theirs often like 1000 dollars difference in models which for a pc would only cost like 300 max for the better components.

 

[Scorpei]

This has several aspects to it. Firstly there are many different providers of PCs (not excluding a custom build of course) which means prices are relativly low. The main advantages there are that aside from being able to build your own machine (which is a fun thing to do) and thus have a highly customisable system you are free to decide what you want to use your machine on the best. Also upgrades can be done relativly easily making the rest of the system live a little longer.

One of the main problems however with having so many different components / combinations is compatibility (with the operating system). Windows too has this problem every now and again, but as it is the most used OS for PCs manufacturers tend to work on support for it. Windows however, for me anyway, also has MANY downsides. One being of course they are the only provider of the OS which means if you don't buy it OEM it is quite expensive.

A Mac on the other hand, is pretty much only 1 system. There is only one manufacturer (not counting hackintoshes) which produces only a select amount of models. That means that most things will work perfectly fine on each mac out there, as they are highly similar and easily tested (assuming you have a recent machine of course). Compatibility issues are also less frequent. However that in turn also means prices go up, which if you know before you buy and is thus a concious choice. It is a similar situation with buying a non OEM Windows as I mentioned above.

So in short, hardware wise: A PC gives you more flexibility (though you can probably upgrade the new x86 macs, never really checked, but what I remember from the older ones that too has a few problems along the way), where the mac gives you more stability. You also get a few features with the high prices macs such as the alu cases, lighted keyboards and etc. which is included in that higher price.

Software wise, windows is the OS you want for games but that runs on both macs (x86) and regular PCs. Linux also runs games (and afaik will also run on both systems) however it requires a little tinkering and wading through several distros before you find what you like. OSx now also runs on both systems, naturally there are a few problems there however they are only very limited nowadays. If you want an OS for eye candy there isn't really one that is better then the other as all three have fairly much of that. All in all, the OS isn't something I would choose my machine around anymore. Yes checking if for example OSx runs properly without too many tweaks, or Linux for that matter, is a wise thing (my PC is pretty much built around it). If you however are no tweaker at all, and the OS is a deciding factor for you, then go with a machine that HAS the OS you want. Then again installing a different one (for example Windows on a mac) will probably also be harder for you, so at that time you should realise you are locking yourself out of a few things.

Personally I only use windows for games anymore (both PC and laptop). Vista simply is too crappy an OS, I have yet to see 1 Vista install that does not have at least 1 problem. My Linux install (Opensuse 11) simply works devine (laptop) and my OSx install (hackintosh, PC) also works allright.

[quick edit]So as you can see, I think a PC is better. The flexibility and customisability simply appeal to me more. I don't need / want an alu case as plastic works fine for me, I'll spend that money on a better graphics card or HD (or buy a cheaper laptop). With Linux (and OSx) my machine(s) works very well so as long as I dual boot all is well.

 

[juggernaut911]

I have yet to see 1 Vista install that does not have at least 1 problem.

Feast your eyes over here...

Isn't this thread just wreaking of trolling/spam?

 

[Joe88]

I have yet to see 1 Vista install that does not have at least 1 problem.

Feast your eyes over here...

Isn't this thread just wreaking of trolling/spam?

yea and fanboys

btw i have been using vista since the Jan.07 launch and if you dont count a misisng printer driver (lexmarks fault) as a problem
then I had none either

 

[Athlon-pv]

Basicly PC running linux for normal internet activities is the way to go. No virus/mallware problems.
If you want to install a partition for windows (gaming) , you can.

It is just more then just money. The development of MAC hardware allways seem slow allways have been ...

 

[Scorpei]

Good for you people with working Vista installs

. I suppose my PCs Vista also would qualify for a fully working install, aside from the fact that my firewall isn't quite compatible. But I'm serious, almost all of my Vista installs have had issues, as have pretty much all of those of my friends

.

And I am by far a troll in this thread, nor a fanboy. If you READ my post you'd see I pretty much judge all three options (not counting BSD) equaly and even think they all have their own right. Hell I even use all three

. I also make a valid point; when comparing a PC and a Mac there are 2 parts you need to take into account, hardware AND software.

My personal opinion however, which was asked by the topic starter, is indeed biased (duh!) as it is a *personal* opinion. I personally simply prefer a PC for the flexibility and the fact that you can fully choose your own hardware, and as I also want to play games the logical choice for that is Windows as most are simply MADE for that OS. However as I have had quite a few crappy experiences with windows Vista I've chosen to use opensuse instead as my default OS which, granted, also has one or 2 issues (audio isn't perfect due to incompatiblity and the screensaver was a little hard to figure out) but it even works for the few casual games I play during the week. Opensuse was a choice not in the least because of the open source mentality invloved with Linux, however the fact that my laptop has a few issues with OSx hardware wise also played a role

.

 

[UltraMagnus]

well hardware wise, I used to think macs were overpriced, until I got one. Just try to find a similar PC to (say) the macbook pro and see exactly how much cheaper it is, LED screens are still expensive for a start, and the dual GPUs give it a good battery life while still making it a decent gaming machine. The build quality strong and light with the aluminium chassis too. For your average user they are probably over priced, but for a power user that needs the power and something light to carry around all day they don't seem so.

software wise, the is a saying amongst engineers, "do you want something fast, cheap, or good, choose two." and the three major operating systems show that quite well:
fast and cheap: Windows
fast and good: OSX
cheap and good: Linux
your choice.

(note: please don't say "pc vs mac" you have no idea how annoying it is to Linux users like myself)

 

[Jiggah]

It's PC vs PC vs PC. They are all the same pretty much hardware wise, Apple lost on the hardware front and gave up PowerPC processors for Intel ones.

As a PC user and a tech person, I'd highly recommend a Mac for people who simply aren't tech savvy. It's simply much less of a hassle to deal with especially when it comes to friends/families. I don't have to go over to fix virus issues because the person went to a p0rn site and contracted a virtual STD.

For tech savvy people, I'm not even talking super tech savvy, just enough to know that you need to keep your system up-to-date, I'd recommend a Windows PC with Vista over XP.

Also, the belief that Mac has no issues is completely wrong. There are tons in both hardware and software and a lot of which since Apple has full control of the systems can be blamed on them directly. Unlike Windows, where people bitch an moan about how a driver isn't compatible so it must be Vista/MS fault when it should be the manufacturer's fault or when software not working is being blamed on Vista/MS rather than the software maker.

 

[playallday]

My $750 PC is about the same speed as a $2,900 Mac. What else can be said?

 

[RanmaFreak]

Though I have had minimal experience using a Mac (40-50 hours), I really don't see myself using anything but a Windows PC. I know there is the price argument, but it's mostly because of how much gaming my PC sees.

Some games are coming out which are compatible with OS X, such as Spore and WoW, but there aren't really enough games which support the system. I've been playing on Ragnarok Online private servers for about 4 years now, starting when I was 12, and it's just one example of a game I'm not willing to give up. Sure, there can always be updates and the like to make things compatible, but most online games have catered to Windows operating systems, and I don't see that changing very soon.

I completely understand people getting Macs who mostly only use their computer for web browsing and music, but I don't see any computer gamer shelling out the money for a Mac without owning a PC to do their gaming on.

 

[Ferrariman]

OSX > Vista
PC hardware > Mac hardware

 

[Joe88]

My $750 PC is about the same speed as a $2,900 Mac. What else can be said?

this

not to mention fully unlocked and easily upgradable

 

[CyberFish]

Friend at work showed me this and I laughed my ass off.

Im suprised quite a few people in a modding community would rather have a bland mac.