Ryan Welsh -- Graphic design labs, journalism production labs and many faculty offices at OPS are equipped with Macs while virtually every other lab at CBU is equipped with PCs.
Take a look around during your next lecture class, if your professors allow students to use laptops for note taking, take note of one thing, those students who have them will either be using a Mac or a PC.
But which is better?
Why should someone prefer a Mac over a PC?
Or why should a PC be chosen over a Mac?
To say that Macs are not PC’s is a common misconception, by definition a PC, a personal computer is any computer that is a reasonable size and able to be used by the general population, without the need of an operator.
What people today are arguing over are Macs over Windows computers.
A poll taken here at California Baptist University showed that of those who participated, 50% of the students own a Windows computer, 45% own an Apple Mac, and 5% own both.
Those polled who own a PC noted that the affordability of their laptops appealed to them more over the high price of a Mac. Those PC owners also mentioned that their experience with their computers was much easier and simpler as well.
Of those who own a Mac, a significant number stated that their experience with Macs was much easier, and that they simply worked better.
And for those who own both, they took advantage of the cheap prices of the Windows computers, and the ease of use they had with Macs.
But what makes a Windows PC a better choice over a Mac, or vice versa? Both Macs and Windows computers vary when it comes to prices, hardware, looks, and how they run, which will ultimately mean the buyer will have to decide what is best for them.
When it comes to price, Macs will most likely be more expensive than a Windows computer.
“The cheapest Mac is over $1000, for the same price I can get a PC for the same specs and a laptop,” Junior Justin Park said, “it’s two for one.”
Students who are on a limited budget will have more variety when it comes to choosing a Windows pc.
The MacBook Air, with an 11-inch model running at $999 is the cheapest Mac laptop that Apple offers.
The least expensive Windows computer is harder to pinpoint, with so many options from many different vendors. Netbooks alone have become a popular alternative to those who have little cash to spare, and want something that is ultra portable, but again cheap, with models like a HP Mini at $279, or an Acer Aspire Netbook, at $269.
Most Windows computers are less expensive but, this might not always translate to better performance. You get what you pay for, and if lower end Windows computers are bought just to save a few bucks, then chances are the quality in performance will be sub-par.
This is where Apple and their Mac computers get thumbs up.
Most Macs share the same performance, whereas regular PCs are too different from one another to have the same kind of unity. The high price that one pays for a Mac almost ensures good quality hardware that will in turn result in better performance.
“A lot of Macs are design friendly, streamline and reliable,” sophomore Joshua Poetehena said, “Mac is very consistent with their products, very streamlined.”
With the streamlining of their products, Macs are just about all the same when it comes to hardware, performance and appearance.
Even aesthetically, both are worlds apart.
Apple products are all simple in appearance.
Their product line of laptops is no different, all adopting the same gunmetal grey steel cases, with the iconic glowing apple on the lid, black keyboard and slim profile. This design in their laptops seems appealing to many, and even art to some.
But for those who do not want their computer to look exactly like the next, PC offers what seems like endless choices in design.
Just about any other brand that is not Apple offers different design styles that vary from case design and case textures, to keyboard layout and color, something that Macs do not offer.
“Yes I like the customization options that PCs have,” Sophomore Ben Yuem said, “but it’s just too much work for me.”
So many options allow the customer to find or build a computer that will be more exact with what they want, and how they want it to look, and although this is a great high point for Windows computers, to some, it might not be what they are looking for, or may even be too much work for the common, every day user to do.
Whether or not the ability to custom tailor your computer appeals to you, or an out of the box streamlined machine is more desirable, it all comes down to the customer and their preferences.
To say that Macs are better, or PC’s is not true.
It is all about what needs are met with what computer, and as university students, needs vary. Most business majors will need more windows orientated programs and computers, and those in the graphic design field are relentless about owning Macs.
For the students with money to spare, Macs are a reasonable choice, and for those on tight budgets, a windows computer seems to make more sense.
