I'm buying a Mac. Talk me out of it.

Seriously, if anyone knows why I shouldn't, please speak now.

My computer picked up a spyware bug one day, and the Trojans came flying. It really hijacked everything, right down to System Restore. My tech friends -- one runs the network at a New York City law firm -- couldn't figure it out.

We finally quieted it down to the point where all it seemed to be doing was activating Pop-Ups in Internet Explorer, so we used Firefox and that seemed to fix the problem. But we know there's still crap here. It's still messed up.

And then our battery started to fail. That's three batteries in 22 months.

So I went to the Mac store for the heck of it, and decided I wanted a Mac Book. Nothing fancy, but it does what we need it to do, and I feel more comfortable with it. The sales guys were all sunshine and rainbows, but I figured someone has to have horror stories out there. Any?

I know I'll be going without Word and Excel, relying on their stuff instead (I won't use Excel enough to warrant paying the cost), but that seems to be the only problem I see.

 

I just paid $449 for my Compaq Presario laptop, and it gives me everything I need.

The cheapest Macbook I found for what I want? $1100.

Don't succumb to the cult.

 

Have been a mac guy for 8 years now. I can't even use a pc now without getting sick.

There are a lot of myths out there about macs and what they can't do, but I've never had any trouble with anything ... as for your Word and Excel issue. You can get a free (stolen) version off of Limewire. That's the good thing about macs, you can pirate stuff and no one will ever know about it.

I'm not advocating it, but if you can't afford it, then stick it to Gates that way. However, the Apple software is just fine and it works faster.

You'll never think twice about getting another one.

 

MMSW, if you know someone in college, you can get a student license for $30 from the campus bookstore. Of course, you don't get the updates with those, but you don't seem too worried about that.

Even if you don't spring for Word/Excel, there's always Google Docs, and they do just as good of a job.

Either way, go for it. Wishing I had gone Mac with my laptop in some ways. Look into refurbished Mac laptops.

 

MMSW, did they tell you what spyware infected your computer?

That said, I'm with buckweaver. Mac isn't the answer.

And Mr. Homer, pirating software is never right.

 

Boo on Mac.

I've dropped water on the outside of a Dell. It's fine. I'm on it right now.

Four drops on the OUTSIDE OF A MAC and I have the world's most expensive paperweight.

 

Macs are awesome. You won't regret your decision.

 

Resistance is futile. Prepare to be (delightfully) assimilated.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=AA9C1548&nclm=CertifiedMac

 

There's a reason millions of people buy both. Both have their advantages.

 

You speak the truth.
I've used PCs and MACs back and forth for 10 years and depending on what you're doing truly depends on which one is best. No horror stories to report about the MacBook Pro or the Dell XPS Notebook.

 

Typing on a MacBook right now. Love it.

My only complain with the MacBook, which I bought about 15 months ago, is that there has been some cracking the edges of the palm rest. I know a ton of people have had the same problem, so you might as about that when you make your purchase.

So far it hasn't been a huge deal -- a few strips of tape have solved it -- but I'm sure it will eventually get worse since I'm on this thing about eight hours a day.

 

Vungo was in there. Still is, actually, The tech whizzes can't fix it. System Restore won't work, either. It goes through its paces, only to say something like "oh, yeah, sorry, this didn't, work dude."