Computer, Software, & Video Game Related Articles

PC Or Mac? Who's On Top?

Posted: November 9, 2008

Mac or PC – it's the perennial debate for anyone looking to buy a new computer (or win an argument). Passionate and valid points exist in both camps, but it ultimately boils down to your personal tastes, needs, and budget. We played around with all shapes and sizes of Macs (Mini, iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro) and PCs (Gateway One desktop, Gateway M-Series laptops, Lenovo x300 laptop, Acer Ferrari 1100, Sony TP Series, and Dell XPS M2010) to figure out which type of computer was best on a variety of fronts. Much to our surprise, not all of our findings turned out as we expected....

Ease-of-use

Yes, the rumors are true. Macs, in general, tend to be easier to use than PCs, thanks to built-in video tutorials on new models, consistent look and feel across all applications, and the generally simpler, drag-and-drop-based actions of the Mac operating system (also known as Mac OS X, or Leopard, in its most recent iteration). That said, certain tasks, such as moving your iTunes and iPhoto libraries to an external hard drive, can be downright confusing and you can risk losing your entire music collection if you don't follow the steps just right.

Still, it sure beats the non-stop-barrage of "Error" messages and freeze-ups you get periodically on the average Windows-based machine. To be fair, Windows has become less crash-prone in recent years, but the built-in security features on the latest Vista machines result in you pretty much having to click a 'Continue" button any time you want to make a desktop move.

Lastly, the relative newness of the Windows Vista operating system means there just isn't that much online support should you run into a problem. Based on user-friendliness alone, we'd recommend a Mac over a Windows-based PC.

Media

Yes, Macs have Front Row, an onscreen TiVo-like menu feature that lets you use a remote to browse and play your videos, pictures, and music from the comfort of your couch, but it pales in comparison to what is offered by Windows Media Center (WMC). WMC is included in WIndows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate Editions and essentially lets you access all your media on a similarly user-friendly, TiVo-like onscreen menu.

But here's where the similarity ends. WMC includes access to a multitude of seamlessly integrated movie, music, and picture-sharing services, and easily syncs up with the built-in media extenders on, say, your Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, networked storage device, or other PCs, so you can watch anything store on your PC on any other TV or PC in the house.

(To be fair, Macs can sync up with PlayStation 3's and certain other types of media extenders or networked external hard drives, but trust us, it's a lot less easy to set-up, which means pretty much your only choice for streaming your computer's content to another TV is by using Apple TV.)

Performance

Sure, you can read the endless benchmark tests that compare the boot-up speed of Windows-based PCs versus Macs, but if you've ever tried either a Mac or a PC, you'll know that Macs start-up considerably faster. This is partly due to the Mac operating system being optimized for the Mac-made hardware (versus Windows, which is designed to run with a wide variety of components and hardware from different manufacturers, resulting in time-consuming equipment checks during start-up). And within Windows itself, Windows XP tends to be faster than Windows Vista, at least according to most benchmark tests (and our own anecdotal experience).

Once up and running, however, speed, stability and multi-tasking on a computer really depend on a number of factors, from how many programs (and what type) you have running to how much RAM you have installed – a souped up gaming or desktop-replacement PC may well (on paper and most likely speed tests) outperform a top-of-the-line Mac Pro, both processing-wise and price-wise.

Hardware

As with peripherals and software, the actual hardware models you have a choice of tend to fall along typical Mac and PC lines. Apple is the only company making certified Mac computers, so you essentially have a choice between seven models: On the laptop side, there's the super-thin MacBook Air, the affordable and attractive MacBook, and the fast (and heavy) MacBook Pro line.

As far as desktops are concerned, Apple offers the cake-sized Mac Mini, the 20-to-24-inch, all-in-one iMac, and the high-end Mac Pro. Macs look slick, but the all-in-one nature of nearly all the Mac computers other than the MacPro tower means that custom add-ons like extra memory and third-party graphics can be pricey, complicated, and ultimately somewhat limited.

On the PC front, the sky is the limit in terms of hardware, with everything from bargain basement, bulky, sub-$500 desktops and laptops to slick, 11-and-12-inch ultra portables and all-in-one showpieces designed to match your living room furniture. And rest assured, there are still plenty of ugly, generic desktop tower models to customize to your heart's delight.

Mac used to be the clear winner in terms of keyboard comfort and overall slick design, but PCs have caught up on the design and innovation front in recent years. Overall, we'd have to give overall props to the PC front in terms of hardware, if only because of the sheer variety of price range, designs, sizes, and the inclusion of built-in bleeding-edge technologies such as mobile broadband and high-def Blu-ray disc playback, for example.

One thing to consider, however, is that build-quality can vary widely depending on the PC manufacturer, whereas Macs all come from Apple, which means the quality control is more consistent throughout the line (if you don't believe us, just feel how solid the metallic MacBook Pro feels versus a similarly high-end PC laptop.