macbook vs pc

Im in the market to get a new lap top. Ive always a pc but noticed that many of the top photogs use apple computers. I really want to get a macbook but what I want to know what are the pros and cons of mac vs pc when it comes to photography? Ill be using CS5 and LightRoom as photo programs.

Its a very personal thing mate.

The truth of the matter is that CS5 and LR both run equally well on Mac or PC.

Looking at Macbook Pro Vs PC it is clear (and I think most of the Apple fanboys would agree) that like for like you can get a much higher spec PC for a lot less money. Unfortunately this is not the end of it, as I have found out recently with my son, because the Apple reputation and build quality also have to be factored in.

The simplest non-pc comparison I can make is to do with cars :

A Ford may be faster and cheaper but some people will always prefer to pay more for a slower BMW or Mercedes because of the image and percieved quality.

The problem that you face is that you want a Macbook - irrespective of the spe's if you buy a Windows PC it will NEVER BE A MACBOOK.

If you want one and can afford one then why not just treat yourself, safe in the knowledge that you will be happy with the purchase - buy the PC and you will always look at it as being, in your mind, inferior.

However, there is one thing that I can guarantee - owning a Mac will not improve your creativity.

Brandon Anderson Photos wrote in post #13101042
... noticed that many of the top photogs use apple computers. I really want to get a macbook but what I want to know what are the pros and cons of mac vs pc when it comes to photography?

There is very little difference between them for getting actual work done if you're inside of an application. You like black or you like white. Pick your favorite color.

http://hackthemac.blog​spot.com …-pc-or-expensive-mac.html

One thing very bad about Macs....no USB 3 ports!!! They jumped on the Thunderbolt band wagon and there are very few devices....and no card readers. If you are lucky you can find a Thunderbolt to FW800 converter. But try to by a new FW800 card reader. Besides, USB 3 is much faster than FW800 as a transport.

While I do like Mac OS.....dang if Apple does not make some of the strangest hardware decisions and leave its customers out on a limb.

look up bootcamp

MCAsan wrote in post #13124179
One thing very bad about Macs....no USB 3 ports!!! They jumped on the Thunderbolt band wagon and there are very few devices....and no card readers. If you are lucky you can find a Thunderbolt to FW800 converter. But try to by a new FW800 card reader. Besides, USB 3 is much faster than FW800 as a transport.

While I do like Mac OS.....dang if Apple does not make some of the strangest hardware decisions and leave its customers out on a limb.

Except they do have PCI Express card slot, which allows you to transfer images @ SATA speeds, which is much faster than FW800 or even USB3. This is what I use and it's the fastest way to go.

Not to mention that there are tons of Thunderbolt perifs coming soon (hubs are already becoming available).

In my opinion, this is not a negative at all - but, your mileage may vary.

PCs cost less, but not a lot less. I think Apple stands behind their products well, especially if you've got an Apple store nearby.

Contrary to popular belief, on the laptop front, the price divide is not all that large between Macs and PCs. In desktops, sure - but many of the MacBook Pros have pretty similar prices to PC laptops with the same specs. (Lots of cheap PC laptops, for example, have very low-res displays compared to their Apple counterparts.) MBPs are still more expensive on average, but it's not like Leica vs. Canon. Plus the build of the unibody MBPs is just fantastic, and customer service is miles ahead of the other companies.

Having said that, unless you want to use Aperture (which prefer over LR for everything other than Adobe's awesome noise reduction and cool crop overlays), there's really no difference on the photo editing front. All of the same software works just as well on both systems. My suggestion to you is to spec out what you need in terms of CPU power, RAM, etc and then buy whatever is the cheapest option that matches those specs. And make sure you don't get a glossy display!

MCAsan wrote in post #13124179
One thing very bad about Macs....no USB 3 ports!!! They jumped on the Thunderbolt band wagon and there are very few devices....and no card readers. If you are lucky you can find a Thunderbolt to FW800 converter. But try to by a new FW800 card reader. Besides, USB 3 is much faster than FW800 as a transport.

While I do like Mac OS.....dang if Apple does not make some of the strangest hardware decisions and leave its customers out on a limb.

This is a contradiction, you can not jump on the bandwagon of a product that has no bandwagon yet.

Going USB 3 would have been jumping on the bandwagon. As for thunderbolt vs usb 3, thunderbolt is newer and will take a little time for new peripherals to come out. Thunderbolt in its current iteration is ALREADY faster than usb 3, and with promised support for optical thunderbolt cables down the road, the speeds will only get faster. Thunderbolt is capable of some amazing things, and switching to the faster optical cables will only be a matter of updating device firmware, the current hardware supports it already.

Still love usb 3?

Apple laptops are so small that they had a choice between usb 3 or thunderbolt, and they chose the FASTER, BETTER technology. Their pro users are thanking them now, and their consumer users will thank them in a few months.

Brandon Anderson Photos wrote in post #13101042
Im in the market to get a new lap top. Ive always a pc but noticed that many of the top photogs use apple computers. I really want to get a macbook but what I want to know what are the pros and cons of mac vs pc when it comes to photography? Ill be using CS5 and LightRoom as photo programs.

For photography purposes, probably the same. Since the interaction is done in PS, the experience will probably be the same. I would say try them both if you can.

However I will tell you this.
I was a PC user all my life, but I always thought that Apples looked way better, granted their laptops were slow compared to PC counter parts. However once they released the new sandy bridge CPU's on their macbook pros. I jumped on the bandwagon and got my self the i7 13.3 inch. I, in all honestly, promised I would give the OSX a fair try before making judgment. I gave apple 30 days to "convert me". However I just didnt like how it was set up at all. For various reasons. I especially disliked the fact that they wrote in "hidden" files to USB drives everytime you plugged it in. Once I realized they did that at about day 2, I realized I would never use Apple computers for any serious work. Since if an file gets deleted by accident of a shared USB drive on anther computer then i plug it in an apple, and by luck of the draw apple writtes over the same sectors (which is likely on a nearly full drive), it would not be possible to restore it once written over. Just one of the MANY issues I had it, I could go on but you get the point.

I do love the iOS on my iphone, however if you like, you can still call me a windows fan boy. after the 30 days were over, I put on Windows 7 thru bootcamp and never looked back, I didnt even keep OSX in a partition or anything as I know I wont ever want to use it. As an iPhone 4 and MacBook Pro user I will tell you that to me personally Windows 7 > OSX all day anyday. I also used unix (solaris) back in freshmen year of college (4 years ago?), so I did have quite high hopes for OSX. And I really don't understand how it is that issues that would never be present in a unix enviroment (such as solaris or heck even linux, which comes from unix) made their way to OSX since it is based on UNIX.

I like the MAC because I can choose to run in 32 bit or 64 bit mode. On a PC you'll have to get a whole different operating system if you want a 64 bit OS, unless you order one with a 64 bit OS. I like that CS5 runs in both modes, you'll find that you get a small performance gain about 10% in certain instances. The displays are very good on a MAC as well, although if you buy a good PC you'll get a good display, but then when you buy a PC with close specs to the MAC you spend nearly as much. CS5 and Lightroom 3 operate the same way on a MAC and a PC. I would recommend that you get a matte screen rather than a glossy screen, the glossy screen is nice but for editing photos the matte screen will be much easier to deal with.

edofloat wrote in post #13128057
I like the MAC because I can choose to run in 32 bit or 64 bit mode. On a PC you'll have to get a whole different operating system if you want a 64 bit OS, unless you order one with a 64 bit OS. I like that CS5 runs in both modes, you'll find that you get a small performance gain about 10% in certain instances. The displays are very good on a MAC as well, although if you buy a good PC you'll get a good display, but then when you buy a PC with close specs to the MAC you spend nearly as much. CS5 and Lightroom 3 operate the same way on a MAC and a PC. I would recommend that you get a matte screen rather than a glossy screen, the glossy screen is nice but for editing photos the matte screen will be much easier to deal with.

Don't spread misinformation. Windows x64 will run both 32 and 64 bit applications with no problems.

I would say buy whichever you feel more comfortable with. For me, I would never buy a mac because there isn't enough easy access to the back end of the OS, but I know some people really like it. I think it comes down to the OS you will enjoy using the most.

For laptops, the prices will be a pretty much the same. The main advantage the PC's have are simply more options. However, if you not a complete computer nerd (ahem, like me) then it can be a bit daunting to try and find out what combination of hardware is really ideal for you.

Brandon Anderson Photos wrote in post #13101042
Im in the market to get a new lap top. Ive always a pc but noticed that many of the top photogs use apple computers. I really want to get a macbook but what I want to know what are the pros and cons of mac vs pc when it comes to photography? Ill be using CS5 and LightRoom as photo programs.

There won't really be any difference.

If you want to be a lemming and follow "top photogs" and spend more money for less computing power, then go with a Mac. Otherwise, go with a PC and get more for your money.

I bought a mac because I dont feel like reformatting once a year anymore.

Not saying you have to, because you dont at all and running Windows 7 on a newer box is much more stable than back in the day when I was a PC junkie (was a huge advocate of 2000 pro and had to deal with the ME fiasco as well...).

I work on mac now because I edit on mac platform in the office, it is stable-er (dont nitpick this, Unix based systems are more stable, I havent rebooted my laptop in months), and it plays very well with any kind of box out there... the incompatibility issues that was the divide for years simply doesn't exist anymore. I can throw things back and forth from box to box with zero issues.

Does it take a minute to learn the new OS? Of course. Then you realize all your shortcuts in Adobe that were Control + (key) simply become Command + (key). Thats it... there's your Adobe on PC to Adobe on Mac learning curve.

Also, I think 10.6.8 is one of the best OSs out there in terms of usability and speed. Im on Lion now and I feel it is a slower interface (I use spaces a LOT) but with time Im sure Ill get faster with it. I made my boss nauseous watching me fly through spaces/apps before. I feel it is MUCH more organized and fluid an interface than Windows.