What are you looking for in a pc? What do you need it to do? How much do you have to spend? Need a monitor?
It depends on your purpose as well. Though one platform will require you to do things other than just use it. Macintosh ---------- Graphic Design Audio/Video CD/DVD Word Processing/Spreadsheets, etc. Internet(email, chat, surfing) Windows -------- All the above for a pinch less Windows Update searching(mandatory) Virus'/Spyware update searching(mandatory) oh... and games. If all you want to do is just normal business computing, you don't care how the computer works, you do not do any tweaking, you just want the thing to WORK.... I would say get a Macintosh. That is your ideal computer.
I have an Alienware and a Mac. As long as I have some extra change for a computer I don't think I would ever go back to a PC again. Im fed up with PC, virii, pop ups, blue screen of death, spyware, malware, etc. I have had none of that on my Mac. At least none that I've noticed. My PC was so trashed and infested with all that stuff within a year I could not even use it. Granted, you can buy 3 PCs for the price of a decent Mac. If you want a computer where you have to constantly fight off attacks and download all kinds of software to try to protect yourself and have to contantly monitor it, get a PC. If you don't want that, get a Mac. What I liked about my Alienware is they don't preload a bunch of crap software on it like the big boys do. They come pretty bare bones.
As Schatten said - what do you want it to do? If it's MP3, Internet browsing & e-mail, then consider Apple or a Linux PC depending on your budget and whether you comfortable with "do-it-yourself". These are likely to give you less trouble due to viruses, etc. If you want games, then you're stuck with a PC. In that case Dell is probably a better value than Alienware unless you really need the high-end features. If you do, consider build it yourself and getting exactly what you want.
Usually I would say build... but prices have been pretty saltly lately for pc components. Like everyone said, what is the purpose of the pc. If its a simple web/email thing you can get a good deal for around $500 or so.
Right now I'm going to ramble but in summary either get a Mac or build your own and put Linux on it. I built mine for $640, it would probably be $1500 if Dell were selling it. PLUS don't forget you can have Windows and Linux on the same computer, if you want Windows for the games and Linux for the useful stuff. But on the other hand most new games are coming out for Windows, Mac, and Linux, so the "Windows for games" excuse now only applies if you love your older games which aren't as good anyway, and lots of which have been ported to Mac or Linux anyway... so what I'm trying to say is if you want good software, pretty design, ease, games, and iTunes get a Mac, and if you want great software, customizable design, a challenge (unless you're used to Linux), and games, then build your own and put Linux on it. Screw Windows entirely. I have Windows and Linux on mine, Windows solely for iTunes, since I can't live without Linux so I refused to get a Mac.
Forget about a Mac if you're using it for gaming. I love my Apple, but there are almost no games for the Mac. If you're going to play games, you definitely want a PC (or a console).
define big programs? you are general and so far, non informative. any information we provide you will be a mute point if you are not specific.
I recommend any Macintosh computer. My dad has owned mac's for over 10 years and not one problem. If you want gaming, I heard alienware is good, but macintosh is starting to get into the gaming market more that before. But I agree with what everyone else has said, if you want a virus infected/pop-up's everywhere and a whole grip of other problems, get a windows. Even though windows has games, it's not worth taking the chance of your computer dying from virus's or the blue screen of death. P.S. My dad has a dual 2.5ghz PowerMac G5 and he loves it. Can't go wrong there, but they are a little pricey.
I just went shopping for a game for a Mac for my nephew. The selection was about 10% of what's available for a PC, and the prices were 25% higher. So a Mac costs more to buy, has fewer selections of software, and the software costs more. From a purely financial perspective, why would you buy a Mac?
You figure with a name like Napster (infamous music downloading site), you would know the answer to that question. My answer, if its gaming your after, go for Alienware.. cant beat it, but then again, you will have to burn a hole in your wallet.
with a name like Napster one would think you have some idea of computers I say build one, or get a computer savvy friend to build one... its cheaper and better
I'm not sure I buy the 'selling points' spewed by the Mac faithful. Macs are cool, I agree. The boxes they reside in are cool, their keyboards are cool, their screens are cool. It's all very cool. So what? It's also expensive, there are fewer options for software, and you can't 'speak' to 95% of the rest of the computing community. I spend 9 hours a day on a PC. I have problems maybe 1% of the time. Or less. Maybe a Mac is faster doing video and photo stuff, but I'll never know. I don't do video and photo stuff. I have a PC at home, too. I have more problems with it than I do with my work computer, but that poor machines problems have more to do with the fact that it's a 466mhz machine w/ 128mg ram and a very full 8g hard drive. It's a dinosaur in the future world. It has been replaced though, the new box will be up and running Christmas day.
I own both a 17" g4 Powerbook with osx 10.4 and a boxx 7400 workstation (top notch company, i don't think i'll buy a computer from anyone else now,) with x64 windows xp. i'm majoring in computer animation and spend all day on both platforms. the mac's pretty good for multimedia, specifically video. web browsing sucks on it, a lot of stuff isn't available for macs still. both safari and firefox lock up all the time on me. i don't know what all this stability people brag about is, either. programs lock up and crash on me more so than on my pc. i prefer most of the programs that are offered on both platforms from adobe and macromedia on pc. shortcuts just feel easier on the pc and many don't have shortcuts for simply minimizing the program on the mac. i hate having to actually quit a program on the mac as compared to just x'ing out on pc. mac's are pretty much dumbed down and automated for the masses if you ask me. it's all a matter of preference, each platform has it's ups and downs. if i had to stick with one, i'd go with p.c., despite my love for final cut pro. in fact, that's the only reason i bought the mac. i was on a u.s. tour for a month this summer with a band that i was doing video for. i wanted a laptop i could edit video and burn dvd's with, without a hassle. that's about the only selling point for the macs aside from the cool looks in my opinion. are the dual g5 mac workstations faster than my pc when it comes to multimedia stuff? i very highly doubt it. as for recommended companies, as i mentioned earlier in my post www.boxxtech.com if you're working with multimedia. if you're not computer savvy, i wouldn't recommend building your own. though more cost effective, it doesn't help you if it breaks and you have no one to call.
