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General discussion

Apple vs. Dell

Feb 19, 2005 6:57AM PST

I having been looking to buy a new laptop. I have the money to invest in a new laptop, but through my employer I get a discount on Apple and Dells, and am considering the pros and cons of each, and was looking for a little assistance.

Apple appears to get consistently high user and manufacturing ratings, but appears to be slightly more pricey. My biggest concerns is my current documents, etc that are on my current PC... will most be compatible to be opened/transferred to the Apple? Also, most of my work applications are all done on PC, if I do work on the Apple and try to transfer it to a PC, does it transfer?

I am just looking for some guidance... any and all assistance would be welcome.

Discussion is locked

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facts and my opinion on apple and dell
Feb 26, 2005 9:41PM PST

i have notice all apple computers have low memory &speed for thier price and the down side of dell is that some of thier parts can not be bought any wher else but dell.i suggest dell

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apples and oranges
Mar 21, 2005 12:25PM PST

The Apples are great but run a different OS (operating system) to the pc. Compatibility of your files depends on what the programs they were created on and you still wish to use. Microsoft Office and Openoffice.org , for example, are available for OSX (the Apple OS) as well as XP (Microsoft OS for pc's). All the files made with office can be created and read on either system. But files made in many programs may not be so easily ported! (and the program might be itself PC-only) You need to check that. I suggest that if you just want to do word processing, spreadsheeting, e-mail and web browsing: don't worry: once your files are copied across and the Mac version of Office installed, you will be in business. We run an Apple and Dell house with no problems. But with anything more complicated, stay with what you know: PC's (Dell).

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Can't go wrong with Apple
Mar 21, 2005 2:05PM PST

I'd choose the mac any day. ANY DAY. Although pricier, from my experience (years of both PC and Mac) apple computers tend to have less problems and just be better computers. Your files, if saved in Microsoft office will have NO compatability issues at all. Microsoft Office Suite for Apple works just as well and even improves upon its windows counterpart. Even before you buy Microsoft Office for Apple, you can open all your files in TextEdit (the basic word processing program that comes with the OS). Data transfer is not a problem, however, you will have to buy new programs. While ostensibly it may appear that the Mac's specs are lower that what you'd find on a comparably priced PC, from experience I've gotten a better performance on the Mac. A few hours on Jaguar, and you'll have no problem learning the ins and outs of the operating system. Overall, it's very intuitive and it's so easy to make the switch from windows.

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r u kidding me?
Mar 22, 2005 6:12AM PST

I hate to support dell, but really Apple vs ANY (well just about) PC. THats EASY! GET A PC! get the dell. Mac is expensive and its a Macintosh. I can't imagine telling my friends I had a mac. They would all kick me and tell me what a *** I was for owning a macintosh peace of crap. GET THE DELL!

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this is crap
Mar 22, 2005 6:15AM PST

I can't believe the forum automatically removed the word F@G from what I said!

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very expensive ...................................
Mar 22, 2005 2:33PM PST

apple is expensive and it has low memoryand other things i dont see why people get apple pc.

(someone tell me whats so good about apple and maybe il go to apples side)

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It depends...
Mar 30, 2005 7:48AM PST

If you use or intend to use UNIX OS then the Apple is preferable since it is based on UNIX and, therefore, no disk partition is needed. However, to really be able to tranparently switch between a Mac and a PC with Office docs requires purchasing Office for Mac. Why the extra expense? If you don't need UNIX, stay with a PC.

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why apple
Mar 31, 2005 4:35AM PST

here is the BIGGEST reason to use apple over ANY pc
NO VIRUSES on apple machines!!!!!!
And if that's not enough, THE NEVER CRASH!!!

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Mine crash.
Mar 31, 2005 4:42AM PST

Sorry. I've been at this some 20 years and have had my fair share of crashes on Apple machines.

Bob

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ours has never
Mar 31, 2005 4:53AM PST

my family has been using apple for about 8 years
only have experienced like 4 crashes

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You wrote never crash.
Mar 31, 2005 5:15AM PST

The Mac user at the office crashes daily. Go figure. I can only guess it's the video editing software.

Bob

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i know
Mar 31, 2005 5:20AM PST

i know i wrote "never crash" but it was a figure of speech cuz nething will crash if u push it too far
but macs are hard 2 push too far compared to windows machines