|
I also work for apple (tech support), and have this much to say:
There are so many problems with mac's its not even funny. You think they have less problems than PC's? The call center I work at just hired 200 new desktop / portable (apple hates them being called laptops) agents for tech support. This by the way, is only for the United States.
To the poster who said "I just plug it in, and it works". Unfortunately this is not true. To correctly set up your airport wireless connection for example, you are supposed to run the Network Assistant AND network diagnostic inside of system preferences before it will truly work. Also, I get numerous calls a day asking why the mail application just doesn't work.
Phrases I get atleast 10 times a day during my calls:
- "I was using mail just fine before, but all of a sudden now it says I can't send mail?"
- "I'm trying to set up my wireless network, and my computer can't connect to my existing network but my laptop connects to it fine"
- "My printer is plugged into my router, but I don't see it on my mac but my laptop connects to it fine"
- My computer starts up to a white screen with an apple logo and a spinning gear and it won't start up!"
- "whenever I try to wake my computer from sleep, it freezes up and I have to reboot!"
- "I get this weird black screen with a "power" symbol on it and it says I have to restart my computer in 6 different languages!"
- "my computer doesn't start up! it just beeps 3 times over and over again!"
...
The list can go on and on.
There are just as many problems on mac's as there are for PC's. If you are having problems with your PC its probably because you're downloading something you shouldn't or visiting websites that you shouldn't.
The only reason it "seems" like mac's have less problems is due to Apple's incredible advertisement campaign, customer service, and their sleek looking "user friendly" OS. Truth be told, there's a lot less control given to the user on a mac than on a PC.
For example, try to make your right mouse button do something other than "primary click, secondary click, expose, spaces".
All they have are the votes of the "not so tech savvy" because its like giving a fully loaded Mercedes to an every day joe. They'll go "oooh, ahhh, LOOK A SCREEN WITH DVD" but really have no idea if the performance really is as good or better than a less luxurious car.
Also, the hardware parts in a mac are IDENTICAL to the ones you can buy for a PC at half the price. For the guy who said you have to go to Korea to get drivers..well you're buying the wrong parts. Or the company you bought it from screwed you over.
Buy an ASUS motherboard, and you get drivers from the global ASUS website. www.asus.com
Nvidia or ATI video cards, exactly the same as Mac's. www.nvidia.com/www.ati.com
Corsair RAM - another global company to get support from. www.corsair.com
Western Digital / Maxtor Hard drive's - All mac hard drive's are by WD or Maxtor nowadays. www.maxtor.com
Creative Labs Sound Card - www.creativelabs.com
logitech keyboard/mouse - www.logitech.com
Okay, show me the Korean on those websites. Please. Funny thing is, half the stuff listed above are used in Mac's also, but are 5x the price.
(did you know, that adding 4GB or RAM on a mac is a $500 upgrade?..here's the "PC" alternatives: http://www.canadacomputers.com/inde...&id=RAM.346.983)
Mac's are "cool", they're "slick" they are "the in thing", but any arguement you make, they are not better than PC's.
Software wise, it could be a different story. Imaging, photography, video editing, this is where mac's excel..but not because of the mac computer, but because of the software supporting the mac. The hardware as much as you want to pull out links to other websites saying otherwise, is exactly the same. The lab which contains two Powermac G5's, 4 imac's, 3 macbook pro's, 2 Mac Pro's, and 1 eMac all with their guts hanging out in all their glory, are sporting Nvidia, Corsair, Maxtor, and the likes inside.
Believe what you will, get a mac, but as I tell all my callers, "it's a really good idea to get the Apple Care Protection Plan, you never know when your computer might not turn on. I've had it happen 2 days after purchase, to 2 years after purchase."
To all you Mac users:
Talk to you soon.
|
