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Posted by Desoto61 [66.75.44.24] on Friday, December 04, 2009 at 20:56:13 :
In Reply to: O.T. Buying a new computer posted by Keith Wolfe [168.216.237.249] on Friday, December 04, 2009 at 08:55:14 :
The Mac vs. PC debate will get you in as much trouble as politics or religion! All the discussion and this is a truck forum. You should see the computer sites!
If you're not a power user (and you wouldn't be asking the question if you were) either will work. Mac makes a nicer physical product, and the user interface is much more consistent, but you'll pay more (quite a bit more). I wouldn't worry about stability with a pre-built system from anyone. Most times the problems aren't from the OS, they're from the software and hardware attached, and a Dell is no less stable then a Mac out of the box.
[rant mode on] As much as everyone likes to harp on the instability of a PC I'll just toss this one out there.
I have 4 PC's in my house. Only the laptop was a pre-built machine. The rest are combinations of various parts, mostly hand-me-downs from my main pc I've re-combined and use for other duties. In every case I've installed Win XP or Win 7 and never had problem one. You can't even think of doing that with a Mac.
My Windows Home Server has 2TB of storage and 3-tv tuners. It not only records TV like a DVR but automatically marks and removes commercials. I can access these recordings from any computer or TV inside or outside my house and has only been shutdown or restarted in the last 6 months because of changes I've made or a power failure. It stores and protects all my pictures and music and does nightly backups of the other machines in the house automatically. All this with second-hand parts (except for the tuners).
A Mac may be able to run Windows, but that also means that Windows runs on EVERYTHING. [rant mode off]
Honestly you'll probably be fine with either, I would only reccomend not buying the cheapest PC you can find. It will work but like anything there's a reason it's that cheap. I'd stay away from any PC under $500. $600 should get you a pretty nice PC.