TechDish: PC vs. Mac Debate - the first of many?

Posted on: Fri, 10/29/2010 - 09:52 — us104_techdish

That's right and here it is…you've never heard it before on TechDish, and you may hear it again…it's the TechDish Mac vs. PC debate! We're sorry, but Justin Long was unable to be here with us today, so it's point and counterpoint with yours truly and the self-proclaimed Übertech.

Why the debate?

Here at IDEaS Computers, we often get the question of "do you guys fix Macs?", or "why don't you guys sell Macs here?". As the Mac computer family has grown in popularity over the years, these questions have increased in volume, and as Mac continues to gain more of the market share of personal computers, it's safe to say we'll be getting these questions even more often.

Vote in our poll, share your thoughts and discuss!

We've set up a poll on the IDEaS Computers Facebook page to allow you to share your thoughts and comments afterwards on whether you prefer a Mac or a PC. We'd love to hear your feedback! So please swing on over to Facebook and post your thoughts.

The key points (and counterpoints)

Macs don't get viruses, PCs do

This is actually true…but there's a spin to the statement. The amount of people owning PCs versus Macs is so overwhelming, there just aren't enough Mac computers in the market to warrant virus and malware producers' time to bother with them. Granted, as Mac marketshare has increased over the years there are infections and malware strikes that are occuring, but these are in their infancy. This definitely doesn't mean to throw all caution to the wind. If you are a Mac user, you should definitely still be running antivirus, just as you would on a PC.

So are Macs really more secure than PCs? Time will tell on this one. As Macs really haven't gotten much attention (relatively) from the Virus/Malware community yet, I don't believe they have been exposed to enough real-world threats to really have a conslusive set of test results for this question.

PCs are good for gaming, Macs aren't

Historically, game publishers have not focused on producing gaming software for the Mac operating system, again more than likely because of the small market share. So it's hard to say whether PCs are better suited for gaming; however, PC owners will have lots more gaming software titles to choose from. The good news for Mac users, is game publishers are beginning to focus their attention on the Mac platform, and more and more games are now coming out for both PC and Mac.

Macs are better at graphics and video

This is a statement that got its roots years ago, before Adobe software (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc) made its emergence into the PC market. Macs weren't necessarily better at graphics, the software publishers just didn't make PC versions of their software at the time. And because PCs didn't have heavy-duty applications like Photoshop running on them, they were definitely built on the weakly on the hardware side of things.

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This has changed—to an extent. While there are now PC versions of industry standard graphic and video applications available, it does take a very hefty PC to run them efficiently. A home-use under $1,000 laptop or desktop won't do the job very well. On the mac side of things, any Mac will run these software fairly well, but you'll also be left wanting more if you are a graphics or video intensive person.

Macs don't work in enterprise environments

Go ahead an ask any of the guys behind our service counter if they will help you join your Mac to your domain, connect with network shares, and set up a remote connectivity solution and you may get some eye rolling. While it isn't impossible to build a business-class Mac and PC network (this author has!), it is definitely not your standard walk in the park process either. There are specific hoops to jump through and issues to address to make this work, and these can break whenever updates and patches are applied either on the Mac or PC side.

Macs are more expensive than PCs

This is true on a couple of different levels. First off, the sticker price is higher on a Mac system versus a PC. Why? Mainly, because Mac has set themselves in a class higher than PCs. Look at a Corvette versus a Camaro. Sure, you're getting a slightly bigger engine and more horsepower; but a good chunk of the price difference between the two can be attributed to styling, and the fact that you're buying a Corvette.

When buying a Mac, you are paying siginificantly more for the Mac name. However, that's not an empty cost. First off, those these do look a lot sexier than a PC. Yes, I said that. Second, hardware. Apple has a lot tighter hold on the hardware that goes into their computers. You aren't getting low-budget ram or cheap as cheap can be power supplies in these things. Lastly, Apple has tremendous customer support. Want to learn how to burn a cd or create a slideshow? Stop in an Apple store and any of the sales staff will help you learn. Having a problem that you just can't figure out? Call their support line and they'll walk you through it. Try doing that with a Dell or HP, see if that teenager at Best Buy can teach you anything, or if you get an overseas support line that has an understandable accent? And what about if your warranty is expired? Best of luck =)

In conclusion

One thing that really can't be argued is the fact that Apple has a much more talented marketing team, and they are VERY good at doing what they do. And, Apple is selling more than a computer…they're selling an experience. I do think it's pretty humorous how intense the debate gets between friends; sometimes I like to throw out a "so do you like Macs?" question at a gathering, just to liven things up! In the end, your computer is your computer, and hopefully you did some research on why you bought what you did. As long as you know that what you bought is exactly what you wanted, the debate can end—at least for the 3–5 years of your computer's life span ;)

Don't forget to swing over to the IDEaS Computers Facebook page to cast your vote and join the discussion on your thoughts of PCs and Macs!