Going from PC to Mac - how long to feel the love?

[anamika]

Not looking to start another war. I think the PC/Mac debate is as contentious as the other hot button topics on this board
I got a Macbook Pro (refurb - can return in X days).
I am not just feeling it! I am not talking about the minor annoyances like having the close/minimize buttons on the left instead of the right and command instead of control. I can figure those out and get used to eventually.
What I don't get is any sense that this is better/faster than my 6 yo PC laptop. Web browsing, Word processing all the same and maybe slower on my Mac. Is that even possible?
And remote desktop connection for sure just lags behind my PC. I use it a lot so I am not sure what I can do to speed it up on my Mac.
I want to love this machine - I really do. But at double the price of the other laptop I was thinking of getting, I feel I need to see some tangible benefits.
Also I cannot believe there is no forward delete function? I used it all the time. Now I need to use both hands for it. Not sure I will ever get used to that!

So please help me feel the love!

[AnnieW625]

I tend to agree with you and I like my iMAC 21" desktop. There are some days I just miss the ease of use of the PC esp. when dealing with photos (iPhoto is my biggest gripe, although I probably haven't spent enough time getting to know how to use it so that is my fault), oh and making mailing labels with IWork is a royal PITA! I need to get MS Office pronto (thank goodness we can get it through DH's EE union for cheap!) I get my PC fix at work and we have a Toshiba PC laptop from DH's work and I love how the thing feels like a tank. The Mac Book Air while pretty just does nothing for me. Now a huge plus for the iMAC for us is that it is easy to use and has been virus free, which our old desk top was not (however our desktop ran well for over 5 yrs. before I finally killed it by removing a corrupted AVG Free program). Neither DH nor I are computer programming or skilled enough to fix a computer so I like that with an Apple you can buy Apple Care and all you have to do is take it to the Apple Store and get it fixed for free (we just had to do this last weekend and got our computer back in less than 2 days; Genius Bar help was nice and helpful). Plus I don't have to deal with an outsourced operator in another country to help me fix my PC over the phone (no offense to those who know outsourced employees, but the language barrier is a pain and I already deal with it at work).

If we had bought a stand alone PC we probably would've saved about $300, but with Apple we ended up qualifying for a state employee discount (yes there are discounts for Mac! Just ask the computer people! We had no clue!), so in reality for a pretty trouble free computer we paid $150 more for a computer that has been easy to use for our family.

[anamika]

Originally Posted by AnnieW625

Neither DH nor I are computer programming or skilled enough to fix a computer so I like that with an Apple you can buy Apple Care and all you have to do is take it to the Apple Store and get it fixed for free (we just had to do this last weekend and got our computer back in less than 2 days; Genius Bar help was nice and helpful). Plus I don't have to deal with an outsourced operator in another country to help me fix my PC over the phone (no offense to those who know outsourced employees, but the language barrier is a pain and I already deal with it at work).

That's the thing. DH's hobby is all things tech. When I worked at a large corp, DH was able to fix things on my PC that even the tech support guys were stumped by. So I have built in tech support for my PC. But I keep hearing awesome things about the MAc - faster and better long term that I really feel I should give this a try!
DH wants me to keep the Mac because of all things he feels the body is better on the Mac. The body of our PC laptop creaks/sort of gives when we press on it too hard.

[AnnieW625]

Originally Posted by anamika

That's the thing. DH's hobby is all things tech. When I worked at a large corp, DH was able to fix things on my PC that even the tech support guys were stumped by. So I have built in tech support for my PC. But I keep hearing awesome things about the MAc - faster and better long term that I really feel I should give this a try!
DH wants me to keep the Mac because of all things he feels the body is better on the Mac. The body of our PC laptop creaks/sort of gives when we press on it too hard.

My friend who fixed my PC when I had issues with it is an IT technician who fixes computers, and he bought a Mac and said he'd never buy one again because it was just no fun and he didn't see the point.

I also don't care for the keyboard, and the wireless mouse. I ended up buying an after market keyboard because I needed the number pad (working with numbers all day for the last 13 yrs. will do that to you!). I am also not big on reading manuals so plug n play is great for me, but like I said above for things like photos and mailing labels, which should be plug n play there has got to be an easier way.

My DH does still get kind of annoyed with the MAC because it is the first one he has ever had (I had a Mac Power PC from 95-2001), but overall he mainly uses it for the internet, email, and Facebook so he lives with the funky oddities that make Macs a Mac.

[daisysmom]

You might not. I hate to admit it, but I didn't.

What makes me mad is that I grew up on a Mac in college and lawschool, so I really did know how to use them and appreciated them a lot. But I use PC's so much at work that they have been ingrained for 20 years. I switched to an apple 20 inch at home about 15 months ago and I still don't love it. I get really frustrated and I don't have the time to figure out the ways around things. I never felt the love.

Now I will say that last month I switched from a blackberry to an IPhone 4S and I immediately felt the love there (ok well after one day or so). I will never go back. I love the iPhone but the computer, I am ehh on.

[maylips]

I'm the same way with my Mac. Granted, I am terrible about reading instructions so I think my Mac can do a lot of things "extra" that I would rather someone tell me how to use rather than me read how to do it (like iPhoto, which is a mess and getting messier) but having used a PC for so many years, I'm just better at it.

I do love the keyboard and other random features (and I feel like a Cool Kid when I'm out in public) but it probably doesn't cover the extra costs for the Mac.

[wendibird22]

What applications are us using for browsing, word processing, and remote desktop? What is your processor speed and version of OS? I think a lot of what you are experiencing with speed and lags is more about the software its running than the computer itself. Admittedly, I've been using a macbook pro for about 10yrs and now find that I can't go back to PC cause I can't find where anything is LOL!

[arivecchi]

I dunno.

We've had a macbook pro at home for over a year now and while I like it, I still find my PC at work much easier to use. I just don't find it intuitive at all and always have to research how to do things which can get old........

[anamika]

Originally Posted by wendibird22

What applications are us using for browsing, word processing, and remote desktop? What is your processor speed and version of OS? I think a lot of what you are experiencing with speed and lags is more about the software its running than the computer itself. Admittedly, I've been using a macbook pro for about 10yrs and now find that I can't go back to PC cause I can't find where anything is LOL!

I am using Safari, Word and Remote desktop connection.
It's a Mac from last year with Lion and a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.
I am really fine with looking things up and getting used to it. That part I get. Like I said, I am not seeing the wow-factor.

[JElaineB]

Sorry, I agree with some of the others in that I don't love Macs. I have a almost 5 year old PC at home and I prefer it to my husband's less than a year old 27" iMac. I'm just a PC user at heart, though I did use both Macs and PCs fairly equally in the 90's, the past 10 years has been all PCs. I also use a PC at work. The iMac is beautiful, but unless you are needing certain applications (my husband works as a graphic artist), I don't think they are inherently better than PCs. On the other hand you couldn't pry my iPod Touch out of my cold, dead hands. I love that thing.