Doing some computer research #1 ..... PC or Mac?

[DJ Cyber]

I'm using these stats as a guideline for my business....the more responses the better

[morriswindgate]

Mac > Still the best professional graphics computer out there. Great Operating system. Expensive for the proper equipment (Something besides an IMAC). Expensive Software.

PC > Does everything fairly well, but graphics such as those used professionally still not up to MAC. Software inexpensive and types plentiful. Intial cost per unit is low. Biggest drawback called Microsoft.

[glc]

What the Chief said

[shecky981]

No offense Cyber, but, this is a question that cannot be asked without more information. I mean, what kinda business are we talking about here? I'll give ya my opinions, but, anything i say will be a guess as Macs and PCs have different target audiences entirely.

Mac vs PC is clearly about what you are doing with the machine. Now, understand that they will both do basically everything, however, each has strengths and weaknesses.

PC = most common, approximately a 95% market share. this is due to the hardware not being proprietary and therefore many manufacturers can make product based on a set of (supposed) standards. Windows is probbly the biggest weakness (word up, morris!) but, due to licensing genius by the Gates, is most prevalent. Average use, business use, and gaming are where Windows shines. because the hardware & software is so pervasive, prices are lower than Mac. There are also many many many people who make and sell PC hardware & software, so, there is a lot of junk out there. As a consumer, one needs to be careful. As a friend put it, "PC's aren't good, aren't bad, they just are."

Mac= small market share, but, still a huge number of people using them (millions) Macs are generally percieved as student/home users (iMac, iBook) and professional designers & power users (PowerMac G4, TiBook G4) if you are a student in a school, you have a good chance of using a Mac (Apple agressively sells to public education sectors.) if you are any kind of professional designer, graphics, web, etc, you will most likely be on a Mac. The architecture of the PowerPC chip (made by Motorola) makes for a very fast and stable platform for graphics processing. Certain programs like Photoshop are specifically optimized for the "Velocity Engine" built into the PowerPC G4 chip which gives a 128-bit data stream for some programs (sort of..this gets complicated, lets just say that Photoshop running on a 867Mhz Mac G4 feels faster than Photoshop running on a 1.8 Ghz Pentium) Apple has always been a design leader in terms of enclosures and simple, streamlined software, and products such as iMovie (for video editing) and iTunes (for MP3 ripping/playing/burning) are where they shine as software developers, and attractive enclosures (theiBook is a great example, go pick one of these up - its just a wonderful product) And you will soon see more than just computers from Apple (the iPod MP3 player is the first in a line of non-computer specific products on the way from Apple) The reason Macs are less prevalent is, in my opinion, because they controll the hardware AND software AND OS AND etc........... so, they did not get the licensing that Gates got for Microsoft, so, they are less popular.

Now, i think that PCs & Macs have goods and bads, but, overall, i think that the design, speed, architecture, ease of use, and stability of Mac makes it a better product overall, however, i personally use both. I do all design work (web & graphic) only on my Mac, period. and i generally surf the net & do fileshareing stuff on my PC.

[DJ Cyber]

I totally agree with you shecky981. I have my own business where I build, upgrade and design systems. This poll was intended to be a guideline for the following question....."should I also bring in MAC hardware?" Up to this point I have only delt with PCs; but I want to see if getting into MAC would be profitable for my small business or not; and weather or not the usage of MAC (world wide)is consistant with the percentage of inquiries I get pertaining to MACS in my business. What better way to do this but a poll?

This is the same idea with the other poll (#2 AMD or Intel) I offer both in my systems but wish to know if the % of users are the same world wide.

Thanks for your honest comments!! I highly appreciate them

[audiyoda]

Originally posted by DJ Cyber I totally agree with you shecky981. I have my own business where I build, upgrade and design systems. This poll was intended to be a guideline for the following question....."should I also bring in MAC hardware?" Up to this point I have only delt with PCs; but I want to see if getting into MAC would be profitable for my small business or not; and weather or not the usage of MAC (world wide)is consistant with the percentage of inquiries I get pertaining to MACS in my business. What better way to do this but a poll? This is the same idea with the other poll (#2 AMD or Intel) I offer both in my systems but wish to know if the % of users are the same world wide. Thanks for your honest comments!! I highly appreciate them

Well I can tell you this: here in the Lansing/East Lansing area, there is one decent shop at fixing Macs. And they make a killing at it. What would happen if they got decent competition -- don't know. But right now, they are the only game in town.

-Craig

[shecky981]

i TOTTALLY agree with Craig on that one... those who can fix Macs are limited, so, if you can get the certification from Apple, and market yourself properly, then yes, you could make a killing and it may be worth offering Apple service.

good luck!

Shecky <----- gunning to the the Mod fer the Mac page on the PC Mech forum

[Frey Grimrod]

While he's gotten pretty good responses just cause the people on these forums are so great but am I the only one who feels this is ENTIRELY the wrong place to find an unbiased survey of that liking? This is PCmech not MACmec hehehe anyways...

Yes everything as stated before.

[DJ Cyber]

Thanx for your replies I very much appreciate it!!! I was unaware that there were so few MAC techs!!! Maybe I will look into more training in respect to MAC. I am not quite sure of the facts in my area (Southern Ontario) but I will assume the the logistics will be similar through out North America. GRIMROD if you have any suggestions on how I could make a more accuate and unbiased polling please share with me This is all part of my market research. Now I could probably get stats about PC vs MAC sales but if there are few MAC techs then I would have to assume that many MAC owners are also "hack" (and I use that phrase lightly) techs and not use Cerified MAC techs due to the apparent lack of them and therefor would not be an accurate polling.

Thanks again to you all!!

[Nuclear Krusader]

I've always wanted a Mac, but since it's not a decent gaming platform, and I'm not into graphics design, and since it's pretty expensive, I've never bought one. But you're right! There are so few mac junkies out there, and it sounds like a good biz.

Well, I think I'll be adding the purchase of a Mac to mi 2002 wish list.

[justbarron]

I agree with Craig on his post. Here in Texas, it is extremely hard to find anyone willing to service Macs. I know of only twon in this area and they are the only computer shops that stay buried all year long.

justbarron