Apple computer

[brainard6]

I'm in the market for a new computer. The one I have now (HP zd 8000 lap top) is about 10 years old. It's very slow at start up. The guy ran some type of test and he said it's comparable to like 60 programs running. I thought he said it was more likely some type of virus. Yeah I could fix it but I also have some color lines on the screen so I'm thing it's going to cost more then it's worth.

Now my question

I have been looking at apple computers. Are they worth the extra money?

Also I'm wondering what you thing the best virus scan,malware and spyware programs are. I have norton that I get through quest and that is junk.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Skeeter21i]

Never have owned a PC so can't give a PC vs. Mac opinion. Bought my first Mac in '93 and haven't had any reason to consider anything else for work or home use. The oldest iMac here is 11 years old and works fine. Have been happy with the Macbook Pro as well. In my opinion they are worth the purchase but comes down to what you want your new computer to do and what works best for you.

[Nick Kuhn]

If you know what you are doing on a computer, there is absolutely no way to justify paying double for a Mac.

[upnorth]

It all depends on what you want to to do on it. As of late Mac/apple has been kinda trendy. If you are heavy into graphics, go MAC, if you want to just do basic stuff like web, email, word processing/spreadsheets and storing photos and the like, I would say Windows platform will fit the bill fine at a lot less money. You can pick up a decent laptop for about $500 buck with windows 7, I think you are going to double that for a MAC.

Look at what you are going to do and see which will work for you.

[Jim Almquist]

Also I'm wondering what you thing the best virus scan,malware and spyware programs are. I have norton that I get through quest and that is junk.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

There is no best but there are some that people seem to have better luck with. As far as Anti-virus I always like to use a free one that dose automatic updates like AVG or Microsoft Essentials. For Malware I have found that Malwarebytes works great. For Spyware I like SuperAntiSpyware.

There will be other that have there favorite and they will works as well. I am always careful about what websites I go to and never open an attachment unless I know what it is. Another thing that can help is to create a user on your computer that is NOT a administrator and use that account all the time and make sure to password protect the administrator. This way if Malware tries to take over your computer it will not have administrative rights.

I agree with Upnorth. Get a PC with Windows 7 and right away make a couple of backups of the software. That way if you get a virus or Malware you and you don't want to deal with it you can just wipe it clean and reload with your backups.

[SpecialK]

If money is not an issue, go get the Mac. You will love it, your wallet will hate it.

Everything comes down to what you are going to use it for. If you are going to cruise the web and check e-mails, the $400 - $500 ones will do an ok job. I would suggest spending a little more and get something with at least the core i5 chip and 4 gigs of ram at a minmimum. That one will last you for a while.

[Scott K]

If you run work programs, make sure they will operate on the Mac before spending the money. I bought one a while back, and tried loading some simple programs, and they wouldnt work on them. Being that the programs are made specific for me, I would have had to pay to make them work with the Mac, I chose to sell it. I really wasnt impressed with the machine for any day to day use, so I wouldnt spend the extra money for one, if it would have worked, and I know, what I knw about them now.

[brainard6]

I'm just sick of buying a windows based computer and not able to get any service without having to talk to someone in India or whereever they are. At lease with an apple I can go to a store. I don't trust the big box store because you can never get a honest answer. I just hate going in to one of those stores and ask the same questions to two different people and get totally different answers.

I do understand I wound have to purchase different programs but most of my programs are out dated like my quicken program I use. I do work from home at times but I have a work lap top so that's not an issue.

[delcecchi]

If money is not an issue, go get the Mac. You will love it, your wallet will hate it.

Everything comes down to what you are going to use it for. If you are going to cruise the web and check e-mails, the $400 - $500 ones will do an ok job. I would suggest spending a little more and get something with at least the core i5 chip and 4 gigs of ram at a minmimum. That one will last you for a while.

If you shop around you should be able to get that for under 600. I did from dell, and a coupon code and discover card HSOforum.

[Jim Almquist]

I'm just sick of buying a windows based computer and not able to get any service without having to talk to someone in India or whereever they are.

This is the reason why I use Windows. If I don't know something all I have to do is put it in a search engine and the odds are I will have my answer. If there is a problem more than likely someone else has had the exact same problem.

[spearchucker]

I'm just sick of buying a windows based computer and not able to get any service without having to talk to someone in India or whereever they are. At lease with an apple I can go to a store. I don't trust the big box store because you can never get a honest answer. I just hate going in to one of those stores and ask the same questions to two different people and get totally different answers.

I do understand I wound have to purchase different programs but most of my programs are out dated like my quicken program I use. I do work from home at times but I have a work lap top so that's not an issue.

They now have Microsoft Stores as well.

[delcecchi]

They now have Microsoft Stores as well.

Do they close unexpectedly? haw haw

[spearchucker]

Do they close unexpectedly? haw haw

No, but ever once in a while the light turn blue and the doors all lock up.

[CJH]

FYI ~

Computerworld - Scammers are distributing fake security software aimed at the Mac by taking advantage of the news that al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has been killed by U.S. forces, a security researcher said today.

A security firm that specializes in Mac software called the move "a very big step forward" for malware makers targeting Apple's users.

Phony antivirus software, dubbed "rogueware" by security experts, has long plagued people running Microsoft Windows, but this is the first time scammers have targeted the Mac with a sophisticated, professional-looking security application, said Peter James, a spokesman for Intego, a Mac-only antivirus company headquartered in France.

"This is indeed a very big step forward for Mac malware," said James.

The program, dubbed MAC Defender, is similar to existing "rogueware," the term for bogus security software that claims a personal computer is heavily infected with malware. Once installed, such software nags users with pervasive pop-ups and fake alerts until they fork over a fee to purchase the worthless program.

Until now, rogueware has been exclusively targeting Windows PCs.

May want to look out for this if you have a Mac.

[SkunkedAgain]

I'm just sick of buying a windows based computer and not able to get any service without having to talk to someone in India or whereever they are.

[Shack]

Yeah. LOL~ When I have had warranty issues or replacing an iPhone, the Apple store in Roseville and the MOA IMO are the same or at even below the help at Best Buy. Yes do not base your purchase on the Apple store. Go to an At&t store before an Apple any day when it comes to even accessories for my iPhone.

Must just be the floor and check out help, I would hope.

[fisherman-andy]

An iPhone is very much like a small computer. It will exhibit similiar behaviors. When your experiencing crashes or freeze ups or features/hardware not working your first steps are to power cycle, reset or restore to see if issue persist. If its an App that has the issue your can delete and install to see if issue persist. That is common knowledge to do before you go into see a Support Center for assistance such as the Apple Store. If they are not able to replicate your issue then likely your device wont be replace due to that it could just be intermittent issues with the software error causing such problems and likely went away after a reset or restore.

If its a hardware issue such as touch screen no longer works, can be heard on a call, phone doesnt emit any sounds then it can generally be tested for the issue and phone is replaced.

There is no advantage in going to an iMac computer over a Windows base PC. It depends on the user and how savy they are at maintaining the systems. A person who knows very little about their computer is likely going to have an issue regardless of the brand. Apple's downside is software/hardware support by 3rd party as you wont find as many programs or electronic devices that will be compatible.

[itchmesir]

I love a Mac users obvious complain about windows "All I ever got were viruses"... hmm.. i've always owned a PC.. and in the past decade plus have had 1 virus... a little bit of common sense can go a long way... The obvious problem with the Mac user is they think that someone in Uganda really wants to wire them $100,000

[Nick Kuhn]

Or clicking on funnypic.exe thinking they'll actually see a picture...

[brian6715]

Windows 7 is incredible. If you are going to do anything that works your computer hard, Windows 7 blows Mac out of the water.

BTW, I have both.

[itchmesir]

Or clicking on funnypic.exe thinking they'll actually see a picture...

LOL!

The best thing to happen to Macs in the past couple years is VMware.. unfortunately you've been able to do this on a PC for closer to two decades

[simple1]

Lots on intresting responses. Basically if all you want to do is view email, photos, videos, and surf the web, get a very cheap laptop. Its not that Macs are double the cost, their cheapest computer just comes loaded with more software. ie. idvd, itunes, garageband, iphoto, and imovie. These features let you do a lot with the media you use. But again, if you dont see your self using these, I would buy the cheap PC. Of course you also get built in Facetime, back to Mac, Thunderbolt(On 2 Macs Now). But I dont think these matter much to a lot of people.

Thanks,

Simple1

[Steve Foss]

I've used both systems for many years. I prefer the Mac. Always have. For me it's no different than Canon vs Nikon cameras. Both great systems, but I'm much better instinctively using Canon and Mac than I've been using Nikon and PC.

If you really want to get a look at how they are different and the same, borrow a friend's Macbook for a week (if any of them would even let you pry it out of their hands). Or go into an Apple store and spend several hours over the course of a couple weeks using them.

Pay not too much attention to the salesperson at the Apple store. Their job is to sell Apples. Just decide whether you like the way and Apple works better than a PC. And, if you like it better, decide if you like it better enough to shell out a bit more money.

My wife has been a graphic designer for over 25 years, and has been using Apple computers all along (with some PC based systems for other work the requires PC software). My computer work use is predominantly for photography, and we really like the Macs for those things. For many years I used PC as front-end systems in daily newspaper newsrooms, and they did the job just fine, too.

My son, who is an attorney and not into graphic or art creation, has been a Mac guy since he was a kid. He uses PCs at work, and can fix any problem anyone has ever encountered with PC or Mac. He prefers Mac hands down. But that's just his preference.

The hard part in this equation is finding people who use both systems extensively. Mostly, you get the Macheads saying Mac is best and the PC nerds saying PCs are best. I know that I've had to troubleshoot PC systems way more than Mac systems over the years. I don't know why that is, to tell you the truth. But I prefer to spend my time USING computers instead of FIXING them, so . . . .

[spearchucker]

A computer is a tool. Use whatever gets the job done best for you.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I've had quite a few PCs through the years, averaging a new one every 2 years or so. I'm typing this on a 2 year old Dell laptop, that was in excess of $2k (BluRay, 17", Vista Ultimate, 4GB ram, etc), and is the reason my next computer will not be another PC. This thing has been a slow POS since the first time it was powered up. I think the bulk of the problem is Windows Vista, but I've used Windows 7, and I'm not exactly impressed by that either.

I'm easing into the transition to a Mac by starting with an iPad, which should be here soon. Even if the cost of the Mac is double, I will happily pay it to have a computer that works as it should.