New laptop PC or Mac?

[Michelleltn]

I am looking to buy a new laptop. I have a HP Pavillion right now that I really love. It has been a great laptop. The screen is great, It has been enough for everything until lately. I am running digital scrapbook software-so I keep many zip files, papers, embellishments etc.

Plus I want to run PSE 9 and maybe try out lightroom. My current laptop ram is not expandable. (It is about 5 years old.) So I have to get something new.

I know if I go back with another HP I want 8GB Ram and at least 700 HD. Is there anything else to really consider for photo editing?

As for Macs-I like the way they look, but it looks like you get more (memory etc. ) for your money in the PC end. Anybody with a Mac want to chime in? Also I have an HP wireless printer that I love. (And want everything easily compatible.)

[ArmySoldier777]

I'm a huge PC person, because I like to have full customization in my build. So it's not normal for me to say this lol. As far as laptops go, if you're main use for it is going to be photo editing, I'd say get a Mac. That's one of their biggest strong points and it's why you see so many photographers with one. If you were talking desktop, then I'd lean more towards going PC. But as far as a photo-editing laptop, I'd say Mac.

[Professional]

I am a PC and Mac user, i started with Mac back in 2008 then i didn't look back to PC much, i keep PC only for office application even i can have that on Mac but without Arabic support, but for Photo editing/processing, Mac killed my PC with no mercy, i will not say that PC is bad for photo editing, but Mac made this job much quicker and easier and more effective, the calibration on Mac is so reliable over my PC, i am talking about laptops here, but even with desktop, i have Mac Mini, it is amazing cheap and help me a lot over my PC desktops, also less viruses and failures as with windows.

[Doug Sundseth]

I've worked on PCs and Macs for more than 20 years at this point. I don't see a systematic difference in image editing. (Caveat: If you must have Aperture, you'll need to use a Mac.)

There are minor differences in the UI, but essentially the software works exactly the same on both platforms.

[dakwegmo]

I use both for my work, and as far as the use experience, I don't have a preference for one over the other. The differences were annoying, but I imagine I'd get used to them if I could use one system exclusively. The up front price difference can be significant, and for my money, I'd much rather save a few hundred dollars and put that toward photography gear. If you do decide to go for a mac, don't pay their prices to upgrade memory or hard drive space. Their markups on upgrades like that are ridiculous.

[sk66]

Hmm...
How many posts from Mac users have you seen about file corruption, system failures, lost files, viruses, etc, etc?

Yes, it can happen and HD's fail regardless, but Macs are much more stable and secure and the file system is MUCH cleaner. Is it worth the cost? That's up to you.

I won't buy another PC unless they come up to the same level.

[dakwegmo]

Originally Posted by sk66

Hmm...
How many posts from Mac users have you seen about file corruption, system failures, lost files, viruses, etc, etc?

In the last five years, excepting for hardware failures, I've never had a lost file, corrupt file, system failure etc. on either my Mac or my Windows PCs. I've also had one virus on each of them, a trojan, that ended up there because one of the websites I was working on had been hacked. Interestingly, Windows alerted me to the threat, and removed it, while my Mac simply let it share info with malicious websites.

[ceremus]

Originally Posted by Doug Sundseth

I've worked on PCs and Macs for more than 20 years at this point. I don't see a systematic difference in image editing. (Caveat: If you must have Aperture, you'll need to use a Mac.)

There are minor differences in the UI, but essentially the software works exactly the same on both platforms.

+1. Mac's used to have a bit of an edge in multimedia design and editing, but especially now if you're working with Adobe products the software is fundamentally the same regardless of the platform it's running on.

It's really a question of whether the machine is a good fit for you or not. Are you more comfortable in a Windows UI or a Mac UI? Do you prefer the greater flexibility and software choices in the PC platform, or would you prefer the more limited, streamlined interface of the Macs? Can you secure your own PC against virus/trojan attacks, or would you be more comfortable on the platform that has had essentially zero viral outbreaks?

Originally Posted by sk66

Hmm...
How many posts from Mac users have you seen about file corruption, system failures, lost files, viruses, etc, etc?

Yes, it can happen and HD's fail regardless, but Macs are much more stable and secure and the file system is MUCH cleaner. Is it worth the cost? That's up to you.

I won't buy another PC unless they come up to the same level.

Having worked warranty repair on both sides I can say that Macs can crash just as much and as hard as Win boxes.
Don't get me wrong, Apple is a good brand, but especially since the switch to Intel their hardware is not substantially different from the hardware of other large PC manufacturers. It's all made in Taiwan anyway, if you're paying around the same price points you're getting about the same quality hardware. So far as file structure, they are certainly different, I don't know that I would quantify them as better.

As stated, Macs essentially do not have issues with viruses, trojans, and the security concerns that you'll have to deal with on the Windows side. On the other hand, Win7/Vista is much improved on security compared to WinXP, and if you run as a Limited Account in Windows the level of security is directly comparable to that of OSX.

[Doug Sundseth]

Originally Posted by sk66

Hmm...
How many posts from Mac users have you seen about file corruption, system failures, lost files, viruses, etc, etc?

Yes, it can happen and HD's fail regardless, but Macs are much more stable and secure and the file system is MUCH cleaner. Is it worth the cost? That's up to you.

I won't buy another PC unless they come up to the same level.

I've had significant and repeatable problems (hard locks, among other things) when using multiple Macintosh computers with brand new OS installs using major commercial software.

I'm glad you've found a computer system that works well for you. My next system (I'm buying the pieces now) will be a Win7 system.

[dbarto]

Really.

I'm a Mac user because when I wanted to purchase my first computer all my friends used Mac's. For this reason I knew I'd have easy, free, local support. This was in the early 80's.

Now it really doesn't make much difference from a PS/LR point which you choose, so I recommend that people choose the computer used my more of their friends. Free, local support.

If you don't want to hassle your friends for that free support, get a Mac for Ease of use. IMHO.

David