I have had my Dell laptop for the past 4 years and I am now in the process of upgrading to a newer computer. My number one dilemma is whether I want to purchase a 13 inch Macbook Pro or another PC computer.
I used to hate Macs. I could not look at a Mac without utter disgust because I thought that people were buying them for just the “brand” of Apple and not taking into consideration what other computers can do the same as a Mac but for cheaper.
It wasn’t until I started attending school at UH when I realized that Macs are not as bad as I thought. They were in fact very useful and to say the least, fun to use. I transferred to UH my sophomore year and being a communications major, I was constantly at the Comm Lab doing work. The Comm Lab was renovated a couple of years ago and the entire lab was fitted with brand new Macs. It was basically transformed into the Apple Store.
Over these past couple of years I have turned my disgust for Macs into a respect. Macs are capable machines and they do their job. The design graphics of a Mac are stunning and beautiful to look at and it is evident to see why so many people have purchased a Mac. I have asked numerous people about how they feel about Macs and the majority of them have had positive things to say. There are a few who won’t jump on the Mac bandwagon and are die-hard PC people.
With the release of Windows 7, personalization and customization has been at an all time high. Microsoft founder Bill Gates suggested that this version of Windows would be more “user-centric”, in an interview with Newsweek. Gates later said that Windows 7 would also focus on performance improvements. Some of the new features included in Windows 7 are advancements in touch, speech, and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, support for additional file formats, improved performance on multi-core processors, improved boot performance, and kernel improvements.
With the release of the new 13.3” Macbook Pro, Apple has made the notebook playing field tilt in their favor. One of the biggest drawbacks that Apple had was the fact that there was no SD card slot on their Macbooks. This edition of the popular notebook has added the card slot and has a battery life that boasts up to 10 hours of continuous playback. That is a major upgrade to the 2 hour battery life of my Dell laptop. And another positive is that Apple has lowered the starting price to about $1100 for the basic model Macbook Pro.
The other computer that I have been eying is the Asus U30Jc-A1. This is a 13.3” notebook that is compared to the Macbook Pro that runs Microsoft’s Win 7. It supports all the functionality of a Macbook and offers about the same battery life. The one major difference is price. Asus has made its model notebook available at a price of $899. One thing that the Mac allows is that it can run Windows 7 while a PC does not allow the user to run Mac’s OS (operating system). Macs allow the user to use Windows 7 and performance is on par with that of a regular PC.
Now back to the question at hand, Mac or PC? Basically it comes down to preference. Both notebooks are worthy of purchase and both offer similar specifications. Price is always an issue but it won’t be the deciding issue when it comes down to buying either products. Maybe one day, there will be a super computer that will offer both aspects of a Mac and PC that will make this debate of Mac vs. PC come to an ultimate rest.
