My friend David posits that any given apple computer will last 3 times as long as a PC, so you're better off spending the 2100 up front than $700+ three times. Is this generally true, or is it a myth?
My friend David posits that any given apple computer will last 3 times as long as a PC, so you're better off spending the 2100 up front than $700+ three times. Is this generally true, or is it a myth?
I don't know how that is measured. My homebuilt 2005 XP machine still runs. My 2006 iMac still runs. I built a duo core win7 machine this year and it was alot cheaper then purchasing a new Mac. I very much like windows 7. I can also upgrade a PC which is something you can't do with a iMac. Currently I use my PC more than my 2006 iMac because its faster. I also don't like being tied to the built in monitor of a iMAC. I like hooking up my PC via HDMI to a larger LCD TV. Still I think one can like both systems. Its a matter of choice.Originally Posted by Todd Erickson
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My wife's macbook "lived" about twice as long as the hp laptop I got around the same time, but for me to buy a 2nd laptop in the same price range as the first one (and with better specs) would've still cost less than her macbook did.
My current PC desktop is nearing its 4th "birthday," and even with 2 OS upgrades, a replaced monitor, and upgraded peripherals, it's cost me less than $1,000. It doesn't have nearly the specs of a Mac Pro, but it's not too far removed from the caliber of a base model iMac, which would have run around $1,200. I can't find any definitive information on the average lifespan of an iMac (most sites seem to say 4-6 years), so I can't say how things come out financially.
My experience with my wife's macbook is that it's not really something that you can fix yourself- the parts are expensive and hard to find, and the computers are not designed to be easily taken apart. The mac owners I've talked to about this tell me when there's an issue with your mac, you should take it to get serviced. Maybe I'm off-base here, but it seems like if you're the type of person who can generally fix things him/herself, the PC is going to come out cheaper in the long run. If you're intent on buying the latest thing every model year, the PC is going to come out cheaper. If you are intent on getting the most life out of your computer, and would be paying someone else to do the maintenance/fixing (or would consider the need to fix a computer as the end of its life), the mac might come out cheaper.
If it's desktop PC vs. Mac, then the desktop always comes out ahead, especially if you can build your own.
I'm not clear on whether this is the case for notebooks, which is where Apple really seems to make their money.
An article I just read points out that if warranty and/or repair will cost more than 25% of the unit, you're almost better off just saving up for a replacement in case something goes wrong. I don't know how that cost runs for Apple, but I saw somebody stating a $600 repair for their notebook, and that was apparently within warranty.
It is an unfair question that can't really be answered because your friend makes an statement that is mostly biased hyperbole. That's like positing that "Corvettes are better than foreign cars." It's simply untrue and it all depends on the specific products being compared. I built my current desktop in 2006 for $1360 and it has run almost 24/7/365 for all 5 1/2 years. The truth is there are so many factors at play that it's difficult to make a fair comparison, especially on the life (years) of computers.
Having said that, a $700 PC is cheap and therefore a poor comparison. Compare it to the Dell precision and Latitude line and the comparison is no so clear.
(I still use both products; my desktop is PC with XP Professional and my laptop is a Macbook Pro.)
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I don't think it's poor. The question was not one of quality, but of price and lifespan. IF the average PC's lifespan is 1/3 that of the average mac's, then in order for it to cost the same to use a PC, you would have to be buying PCs at 1/3 the price of the mac. Of course, if the disparity in lifespan is not the same, then the rest of the argument is pointless.
Of course, a $700 PC laptop right now would probably have better specs than macbook did 4 years ago, so that's something to take into account as well...
For me, the Apple should last a lot longer, because I don't use it very much. My daughter talked me into getting an iPad. It is fine for a toy, but it really doesn't compare to my Dell Laptop. I am sure the Dell will wear out first, because I use it so much more.I don't think it's poor. The question was not one of quality, but of price and lifespan. IF the average PC's lifespan is 1/3 that of the average mac's, then in order for it to cost the same to use a PC, you would have to be buying PCs at 1/3 the price of the mac. Of course, if the disparity in lifespan is not the same, then the rest of the argument is pointless.
Of course, a $700 PC laptop right now would probably have better specs than macbook did 4 years ago, so that's something to take into account as well...
I have played around with my daughter's Macbook. She loves it, but it isn't nearly as useful as my Dell.
When it comes to computers, how long the hardware lasts doesn't really seem relevant. In fact, I still have the Radio Shack TRS-80 I bought in the 1970's. The last time I turned it on, it still worked just like it did then. Would you buy a TRS-80 because they last a long time?
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True, unless it breaks down within 3 years or something (and some laptops do). But I agree it doesn't matter at all if a laptop will last for 6 or 10 years.
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I'm curious why you think this? The iPad is a toy as you said, but the Macbook, especially the Macbook Pro is a full laptop and can do everything a PC Laptop can. When you dual boot as I have, it becomes a "PC laptop" because I have Windows 7 which runs with full functionality.
This is why I thought the original comparison to a "$700 PC" was poor. There are some great $700 PC that will last as long as a Mac, others will be lucky to last more than a year because it all depends on brand, model, etc.. Then there's the whole issue of specs and performance which can vary widely even within the same brand among different models.
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My family is purely Apple. My daughter, wife and I use MacBooks, Chris uses an iMac. ALL of our previous models still work, begining with a 1986 MacIntosh black and white 9" screen. We have an Apple Power PC with all the latest features and power processor for the 1990's. Its difficult for me to upgrade because none of my Apple's have ever failed, crashed or run away from home. As Steve Jobs said, "Apple designed the original personal computer and everyone else copied it." That's why those other devices are called droids!
I'm a recent convert, so I can't share about longevity from actual experience. If heat is a factor, then there may be something to this "myth". My Macbook Pro has to be the coolest laptop I have owned since the pre Pentium days. My last couple of PC laptops would actually create enough heat that they became uncomfortable to use for more than an hour or so. The heat from the apple isn't even noticeable.
And yes, I have always bought top of the line PC laptops. I'm not finding any limitations after switching over to apple, I've almost forgotten what a "crash" is, haven't had one in six months.
Pricewise the 13" macbook is $1199 and the three year applecare warranty/support package was another $250. So for $1449 I have a laptop that will last for three years without any additional cost. I have never had a PC laptop last that long before becoming either obsolete or non-functional. Although I must admit that PC laptops have gotten better and cheaper over the years.
My desktop PC's will probably last much longer now as I only use them for functions that the mac won't do. So far the only application that seems to have me tied to the PC world is the CAD program that I use for home design.
-Jim
To know and to serve God, of course, is why we're here, a clear truth, that, like the nose on your face, is near at hand and easily discernible but can make you dizzy if you try to focus on it hard. But a little faith will see you through.
Garrison Keillor
What do you consider "top of the line"? Did you buy a certain brand/model?
In the past 7 years, I have never had a single crash, freeze, or other similar issues with my laptop or desktop ─ both were/are Windows XP Pro.
You are either buying cheap (not necessarily in price) laptops or it's user error; or, it could just be really, really bad luck. I have only once seen someone buy a laptop that quit working after just 2 years. It was Compaq that was pure junk; by junk I mean it was cheap hardware that cost way too much. I still have several laptops that are 8-12 yeras old and all work perfectly although their outdated.
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Lets see, my first laptop was a sanyo, it was $1800 and I think this one was a DOS machine, this was before color screens on laptops. I remember being offered $3500 for it on St Kitts. A friend of mine quickly reminded me that selling it abroad could possibly be considered a crime. Exporting technology and all.
Next one was a NEC, right around $4500 Windows 3.1 and a color screen! One of my favorites, it had a docking station that looked just like a desktop, so it was truly two machines in one. I had for a couple of years of absolute bliss, always had everything that I was working on right with me! I had built a house with a CPU based lighting/alarm/climate control system in it and it seemed like a good spot to retire the old NEC. It's still there and in still in service!
Then I bought the very first Pentium laptop! 75MHZ! It was an IBM and it was $9850. Absolutely hated the silly IBM pointing device, I can still feel the pain from it on the end of my index finger. It was outdated and outclassed within six months. After a year and a half, they were going for $50 on ebay, it took real courage to toss that one in the dumpster.
I had a big giant HP with a numeric keyboard built in, that one was $2000 with XP Pro. Really nice machine especially since my CAD software makes full use of the numeric keypad. It generated enough heat to heat a medium sized room and eventually cooked in it's own juices. By then I had worn the case down to bare plastic on each side of the touchpad and it wasn't worth putting a motherboard into it. Ebayed it for $135, I had gotten good use out of it.
The most recent one is now about three years old or so. A smaller HP as I had gotten tired of hauling around the bulk of the bigger one. That one died a few weeks ago with what appears to be an internal charging problem. I'll probably fix it and keep it around as a spare. That one was somewhere around $950 with Vista Pro. Pretty happy overall with it, doesn't owe me anything.
The Macbook Pro is so far my absolute favorite. I don't see myself going back. This thing is just so quick and easy to use. No problems at all with four or five programs running at the same time and sharing things between them. Battery life is unreal and there is virtually no heat coming from it. I have no idea what it has for memory, processor or operating system and I don't care because it just plain works.
I like XP Pro, I still think that it was the best. But yeah, I've had plenty of crashes and freezes. The big HP laptop locked up bad enough once that I had to actually drop the battery out of it to free it up. CAD programs with 3d visualizations aren't the most reliable tools in the shed, I'm not entirely blaming windows.
I really have no hardware complaints, computers seem to become outdated faster that they can wear out. My old TI 994A will still fire up, and the Tandy Model 4 that I gave away many years ago still runs.
-Jim
To know and to serve God, of course, is why we're here, a clear truth, that, like the nose on your face, is near at hand and easily discernible but can make you dizzy if you try to focus on it hard. But a little faith will see you through.
Garrison Keillor
Can't say I've ever had one either... when my computers die, it's outright hardware failure.
There was a generation of HP laptops that virtually all overheated. I had an HP tx2000, and it was probably my most short-lived computer at 2.5 years. It looks like it was the AMD turion processor that caused the overheating, both in my machine and in those of many other folks who bought computers with that particular processor. I think HP has more or less switched to strictly Intel at this point.I have only once seen someone buy a laptop that quit working after just 2 years.
To the OC, I think the friend's assertion is probably not based in fact. I think that a PC Laptop will generally last as long as a Mac laptop. Macs do cost more to use... but for many people that cost difference has little to nothing to do with lifespan and more to do with things like ease of use, etc.
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I have had a few laptops in my years. My first was a Toshiba that I got when I went to seminary. It lasted very well, especially since it was around the time that spyware started coming out and nothing was really on the market that would prevent the pop ups for a while. I ended up giving that laptop to my nephew a year or so after I graduated and he used it for a couple years after that. He eventually got a new computer as a Christmas present. The computer still worked but technology was coming out so quickly that it was just convenient to get him a new one. I believe it still works. I then got a Dell latitude in 2006 and it still runs well. The only issue it has is wear and tear in that it has gone all over the place and has survived my wife and a toddler. I ended up getting another Toshiba a few months ago because the power cord on the dell was becoming frayed (my wife has a nasty habit of stepping on the cord every 5 days) and it was going to cost me a $100 to replace it. My new Toshiba cost me about $700 dollars and it is awesome. I mainly got it because I love HDTV and have had a BluRay player in my home for about 3 years so most of my movies are BluRays and I like to watch them when I am on the road or in the hospital. Plus it hooks up to TVs in hotels really easily which is great to take on vacations where we can watch Netflix as a family. In this economy, PCs are really inexpensive and you can get quality machines for easy financing or low cost. Dell seems to be charging too much for their computers IMHO. The other issue I like with PCs is that Jim mentioned getting a 13' MacBook for $1200. I refuse to have such a small screen.
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@Jim,
I asked because the vast majority of the time I hear people talk about buying "top of the line" and they usually mean the most expensive at Walmart or Costco which is closer to $900-$1000. As a web developer and programmer I use my computer 10-16 hours a day. I absolutely love my Macbook Pro and iPad ─ so I'm not bashing Apple at all. I just haven't seen PC's fail nearly as much as many Apple fans claim and when I have, it's almost always been cheap (as in the $599 special at BestBuy or Walmart) laptops.
@Shea,
The only laptop that really ever died was an HP that my friend bought at Best Buy. It was constantly overheating and as a result the fan burned out. Every quote to fix it was over $300 so she just bought a new one.
@Steven,
I love the Dell Latitude product line. Their prices are high for new ones, but you can get incredible deals through Dell Outlet, and even better deals if you're lucky enough to find a coupon for an additional 10-20% off.
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I've had great success with both PC and Mac. Buying good product and taking care of it makes a lot of difference in lifespan. I just replaced my dearly loved and long-lived PC home desktop for an iMac. They both rock.
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