PC or Mac?

[Sputterduck]

Cool. When we looked into it (our last laptop purchase was seven years ago), the cost savings were nonexistent.

 

Mine cost me about 1200 a couple years ago and I was able to build it with parts that are far than come in premade stuff. It was a good deal for me.

 

The difference between doing it yourself and buying something premade isn't only about cost. Computer manufacturers get the best deals on the cheapest parts they can. For example, hard drives of the same size are not all the same. Some spin much faster than others. Some were made very cheaply and some were made with exquisite quality. Dell, Gateway, etc get the biggest hard drives they can for the cheapest price. That way their computer specs look good but the drives sometimes fail in only a short amount of time.

 

I could never get a premade computer anymore because I'd be like, "Who made the ram? What is the CAS latency? What is it's bandwidth?" There is more to RAM than how many GBs it's has. People don't seem to know that. The same is true for every single part you put in your computer.

[Sputterduck]

I don't know about Mommy2BeautifulGirls DH, but most companies buy outright and replace basic equipment in 3 to 5 year cycles. Heck, the corporation DH works for expenses computers, laptops and peripherals under $5000 outright. If something doesn't work, it's replaced and freecycled. This obviously isn't the case with the servers.

 

But with buying from a manufacturer, sometimes parts die early. Someone's got to be able to replace parts, right?

 

Heck, they won't even give me my A+ certification without knowing all that. I have got to think her hubby knows this stuff being an IT director.

[nmoira]

But with buying from a manufacturer, sometimes parts die early. Someone's got to be able to replace parts, right?

That's the point. Larger companies generally don't repair anymore; they replace. This is one of the reasons Google pushing Chromebooks for businesses: $28 per user per month, support included.

 

Heck, they won't even give me my A+ certification without knowing all that. I have got to think her hubby knows this stuff being an IT director.

Probably, but not necessarily, depends what the job responsibilities are as to whether it's an up-through-the-ranks position or not.

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

But with buying from a manufacturer, sometimes parts die early. Someone's got to be able to replace parts, right?

 

Heck, they won't even give me my A+ certification without knowing all that. I have got to think her hubby knows this stuff being an IT director.

 

He says with some research he could probably build a computer from scratch. As far as a laptop goes, he would rather pay the extra money to not have to deal with it.

 

He has some Microsoft Certification, but he did not actually go to school for IT. He went into accounting, but really had NO interest in a career in the field. He has worked himself up to his position from an entry-level position at a title company. The owners didn't have time to hook up his computer for him, so he offered to do it. When it came time for them to have a dedicated IT person, it was my husband. When he lost that job due to the drop in real estate business, he got a job as a Windows System Administrator at the company he currently works at. Then he was promoted to Infrastructure Manager, then to IT Director.

 

ETA: He is almost completely self-taught. :D

Edited May 25, 2011 by Mommy2BeautifulGirls

[Sputterduck]

Looking at MacBooks, it's 999 for about what I built 2 years ago, but they don't even have an option for solid state drives instead of hard drives.

 

But see... that's what I built 2 years ago. Today I would be able to do far more for that price.

Edited May 25, 2011 by Sputterduck

[Sputterduck]

He says with some research he could probably build a computer from scratch. As far as a laptop goes, he would rather pay the extra money to not have to deal with it.

 

He has some Microsoft Certification, but he did not actually go to school for IT. He went into accounting, but really had NO interest in a career in the field. He has worked himself up to his position from an entry-level position at a title company. The owners didn't have time to hook up his computer for him, so he offered to do it. When it came time for them to have a dedicated IT person, it was my husband. When he lost that job due to the drop in real estate business, he got a job as a Windows System Administrator at the company he currently works at. Then he was promoted to Infrastructure Manager, then to IT Director.

 

ETA: He is almost completely self-taught. :D

 

That's awesome. I do love that self taught people can really make it in IT.

 

I'm going in to IT security, so either I can go to school for it, or I can teach myself to be a hacker. :lol: Considering that, I went the school route. :tongue_smilie:

[nmoira]

 

Looking at MacBooks, it's 999 for about what I built 2 years ago, but they don't even have an option for solid state drives instead of hard drives.

That option exists for the Macbook Pro, though it's not cheap.

[Spy Car]

I could never get a premade computer anymore because I'd be like, "Who made the ram? What is the CAS latency? What is it's bandwidth?" There is more to RAM than how many GBs it's has. People don't seem to know that. The same is true for every single part you put in your computer.

 

Again, part of why people like Macs, as Apple does not source "junk" parts.

 

I think it's cool that you build your own, so I'm not trying to convince *you* to do otherwise, but not everyone wants to build their own laptops. For those that don't they can purchase a Mac and not get a computer assembled from "junk" and while they may cost more up front you tend not to have the head-aches (and short lives) associated with commodity-quality PCs.

 

Bill

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

That's awesome. I do love that self taught people can really make it in IT.

 

 

 

He's really good at researching problems and using online resources to find solutions to them. That's SO useful in that profession.

[Sputterduck]

That option exists for the Macbook Pro, though it's not cheap.

 

Yeah, I saw that. But I included an SDD in my laptop 2 years ago for about that price.

 

Considering how good SDDs are for laptops (mostly because they use less power) it's weird to me that it's not even an option with their main line of laptops.

[nmoira]

 

If something doesn't work, it's replaced and freecycled.

I meant Free Geeked. Love those guys.

[Sputterduck]

Again, part of why people like Macs, as Apple does not source "junk" parts.

 

I think it's cool that you build your own, so I'm not trying to convince *you* to do otherwise, but not everyone wants to build their own laptops. For those that don't they can purchase a Mac and not get a computer assembled from "junk" and while they may cost more up front you tend not to have the head-aches (and short lives) associated with commodity-quality PCs.

 

Bill

 

I think about it like this:

 

Public school = PCs

Costs a family less, but you often get what you pay for.

 

Private school = Macs

Ridiculously priced, but if you don't want to take things into your own hands, it's a better option than above.

 

Homeschooling = Building your own

Great price and you get to do it all your own way.

 

:lol:

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

I think about it like this:

 

Public school = PCs

Costs a family less, but you often get what you pay for.

 

Private school = Macs

Ridiculously priced, but if you don't want to take things into your own hands, it's a better option than above.

 

Homeschooling = Building your own

Great price and you get to do it all your own way.

 

:lol:

 

GREAT analogy!!!

[Spy Car]

I think about it like this:

 

Public school = PCs

Costs a family less, but you often get what you pay for.

 

Private school = Macs

Ridiculously priced, but if you don't want to take things into your own hands, it's a better option than above.

 

Homeschooling = Building your own

Great price and you get to do it all your own way.

 

:lol:

 

And if you are running those "home schooled" computers on a lousy "boxed curriculum" (read Windows :D) they might as well be public schooled.

 

And if you run them on Linux . . . well, what about the socialization? :tongue_smilie:

 

Bill

[Sputterduck]

And if you are running those "home schooled" computers on a lousy "boxed curriculum" (read Windows :D) they might as well be public schooled.

 

And if you run them on Linux . . . well, what about the socialization? :tongue_smilie:

 

Bill

 

Linux = denim jumper people

 

And I think we all can agree that Windows has it's issues.

[nmoira]

 

And if you run them on Linux . . . well, what about the socialization? :tongue_smilie:

Linux is mainstream now. My husband is senior sysadmin to a bunch of heavy-duty Linux servers (clustered oracle environment) for a closing-in-on-the-Fortune 500 company with branches worldwide. He socializes just fine. I'm the one with issues. :tongue_smilie:

[Sputterduck]

Linux is mainstream now. My husband is senior sysadmin to a bunch of heavy-duty Linux servers (clustered oracle environment) for a closing-in-on-the-Fortune 500 company with branches worldwide. He socializes just fine. I'm the one with issues. :tongue_smilie:

 

Okay, that's true. Many, many large businesses use Linux on their servers. Many.

 

It's the home use that is less common.

[Shawna in Texas]

Linux = denim jumper people

 

 

 

Noooooooo. :D

[nmoira]

Noooooooo. :D

You're right. Linus lives in Portland. Portland is cool. Ergo, Linux is cool. Denim jumpers indeed. :rolleyes:

 

 

 

:D

[PeterPan]

I missed something on the quibbling over the SSD (solid state drives). I have one in my imac. Of course you want one. If you don't like apple's prices, you can get 3rd party installation through OWC.

 

I love my mac because it works, because the screen is huge, because everything is right where it should be, did I mention because it works?, and because it's SCREAMIN' fast. Thank you. Just go try one and decide for yourself though.

[Education Explorers]

I am not a super "techy" kind of person, therefore, your question is a no-brainer for me... MAC baby! They are very user friendly & FAST. My 7 year old can do just about anything on it. So I could always ask him if I needed help, but I don't because they are so intuitive. We have had PCs in the past, but they were not nearly as easy as this MAC. We had major issues with the price tag too, so we bought a refurb Mac. It has run absolutely perfectly. No issues whatsoever. I don't know that I could ever go back to a PC now. Since we bought the Mac, we have added a Touch for the kids (lots of math apps, camera, video etc. & oh yeah... Angry Birds) and 2 Iphones for my husband and I. We love them. My kids can make and edit their own films with shocking ease! Apparently our dog is destined to be a movie star! :) The only negative about a Mac is the price.

[ocelotmom]

Linux = denim jumper people

 

And I think we all can agree that Windows has it's issues.

You all are failing to differentiate between the many types of Linux. Not all Linux distributions look or function in exactly the same way. Ubuntu will generally work, in GUI mode, for anyone with the slightest willingness to Google a bit occasionally. Gentoo takes more technical affinity, but gets higher performance. And there's probably a hundred other options beyond those.

 

And no one has mentioned the BSDs yet. If security and stability is a concern above all else, look at OpenBSD.

 

Excuse me while I go adjust my jumper a bit...

[Laura Corin]

Do you generally use standard business software (wordprocessing, spreadsheets, accounting programs)..

 

I exchange documents with PC users with no problem.

 

Laura

[Sputterduck]

You all are failing to differentiate between the many types of Linux. Not all Linux distributions look or function in exactly the same way. Ubuntu will generally work, in GUI mode, for anyone with the slightest willingness to Google a bit occasionally. Gentoo takes more technical affinity, but gets higher performance. And there's probably a hundred other options beyond those.

 

And no one has mentioned the BSDs yet. If security and stability is a concern above all else, look at OpenBSD.

 

Excuse me while I go adjust my jumper a bit...

 

Which distribution do you use?

 

(Because honestly I was about to go Linux and then my university gave me Windows 7 for free on all my home computers.)

[ocelotmom]

Which distribution do you use?

 

(Because honestly I was about to go Linux and then my university gave me Windows 7 for free on all my home computers.)

At the moment, Ubuntu on my desktop and EasyPeasy (ubuntu derivative) on my netbook, mainly because, at this point in my life, I don't feel like messing with it any more than absolutely necessary and am not in the mood to experiment with different distributions.

 

I fulfill that particular urge with homeschool curriculums, instead :)