PC vs. Mac

A few weeks ago, my husband made the mistake of trying to use my junky 2-year-old PC laptop.  Things didn't go well, and he complained to me later how slow it performed. (Never mind that he has his own laptop and that it didn't make sense why he was using my laptop anyway...)

After using it for what probably amounted to less than 15 minutes 1 hour, he insisted that my laptop must have some kind of virus.

At that time, I tried to explain to him that that's just the way it normally runs...SLOW.  (Seriously. In the amount of time it takes to perform a single action on it, you may as well be using an abacus...or a stone tablet, for that matter.)

These days, I'm a total iPhone junkie so I don't use my laptop as much anymore (and don't notice how slow it is anymore). I use my iPhone for a lot of my web browsing (unless it involves Flash, of course) and emailing needs.  I was actually starting to get in the habit of avoiding my laptop altogether. (Maybe that's why you haven't seen me blogging as much these days.)

But I've known for quite some time that I've needed a replacement computer.  I considered getting a netbook. Actually, I even bought one and brought it home...and then proceeded to return it before even opening the box.  And ever since the world has gone iPad bonkers iPad came out, I've been considering getting that instead.  But the closest I've gotten to actually buying it is going into the Apple store multiple times just so I can play Diner Dash on the demo models.  (If you've ever played it, then you know it's totally addictive...and if you haven't played it, well, then you should.)  I even went so far as to buy the Diner Dash app on my iPhone, but to be perfectly honest, it's not as beautiful and magnificent as it is on iPad.  But I digress...

So while I love my iPhone, I'm not ready to commit to the coolness of an iPad mostly because I think I'm a real (not virtual) keyboard kind of gal.  I've heard people talk about how they don't think they can ever buy one of those digital book readers because they like to feel the paper book in their hands (silly, I know...right?). Well...I'm the same way about keyboards.  I like to hear that telltale clickety clack sound as I type (so much so that I'm elongating this blog post just so I can listen to it more--ha!).

But...while you can do A LOT on an iPhone, to be honest, I'm starting to get sick of the virtual keyboard, especially since it seems that my fat fingers type nearly every word wrong, not to mention that iPhone's auto correction feature mis-corrects all the desi words I really intend to type when it thinks I've misspelled something.

Anyway...after my husband filed his complaint with me about my laptop, I did scan it for viruses. It turned out to be virus free, but it still ran...well, slow.  Regardless, I still tried to make a conscious effort to use the piece of junk that laptop...but that didn't last long.  To be quite honest, I was feeling a little "over" the whole PC thing.

So I did some research online about Macs.  Based on a lot of the stuff I read online and the people I talked to, it seemed like anyone who bought a Mac ended up really happy with it and didn't have any real complaints (or at least not enough to deter them from buying another Mac the next time they needed another new computer).

So last Sunday, when I went to the mall to return something, I made a point of stopping in the Apple store while I was there.  Mostly, I just wanted to get some more information and ask the sales people some questions (ok, A LOT of questions).  I'd already looked at a Macbook at our favorite electronics store, Fry's Electronics, and thought it looked ok.  (For those interested, Fry's has lots of selection and decent prices on pretty much everything electronic--and even some stuff that you wouldn't expect to find in an electronics store. It's every geek's--including mine--favorite store in Silicon Valley.)

I was starting to warm up to the idea of getting a Mac.  My biggest turn off on Apple products?: the price point.  I'm frugal, so in my mind, for the amount of money you spend on 1 laptop from Apple, you could buy 2 or 3 PC-based laptops or netbooks.  After considering the fact that my current PC laptop was only 2 years old (and already pretty much a dinosaur), getting a new laptop every 2 years didn't really appeal to me either.  I should mention that, in Silicon Valley, most people have a different computer for every day of the week.  (Ok, I'm exaggerating...but still.)

My requirements for the new computer?:

• Small(ish) screen--I was originally thinking a 10" netbook might be ok, but then I heard the processors in netbooks aren't that fast, which made me concerned since my current laptop has a dual core and is STILL slow.  
• FAST (or at least fastER than my current laptop)
• Decent hard drive space--My current (PC) laptop had about 120 GB and the drive is already full, so I knew I would need more space.

On the Mac side of things, I ONLY looked at the Macbook and Macbook Pro lines.  (I wasn't interested in the iMac models simply because I don't usually sit in a permanent location, and because I'd prefer to have something portable.)

On Sunday when I went to the local Apple store, it was crowded (as usual).  All of the demo Macbook and Macbook Pro machines were occupied by people testing out their capabilities reading personal email and updating their Facebook statuses.  (Apparently that's the norm and it seems that as long as you're not blasting music out of the speakers, nobody really minds.) The sales people had to (politely) kick 2 people off Macbook machines so that I could even try one of them out.  After waiting 10 minutes or more, a sales person was directed my way, and I swear that guy didn't leave my side until he gave me every Mac that he could think of...and then some. Which was fine by me because then I got my chance to ask all the questions my heart desired!  I'm not sure who wasted whose time more--me or him--but I was there for a solid 2+ hours.

I ended up getting a Macbook that came with a free (after rebate) HP wireless printer and iWork for $49 (regularly priced at $79).  As I was paying for my new Macbook, I must have looked pretty unsure of myself because another customer in the Apple store asked me whether it's my first Mac and then proceeded to tell me about his Mac and how much I'm going to love mine.

Oh, and before I left the Apple store, I asked the sales person my new best friend if he thought there might be something wrong with my iPhone's virtual keyboard since everything comes out wrong.  Wouldn't you know it...the time when I want to show all the misspelled words and typos, I can't replicate the problem.  (Curse you, fat fingers!)

So it's been a few days...I'm still getting used to it, but I'm pretty satisfied with my purchase so far.  It definitely works better (and faster) than my previous laptop.  I just hope the investment pays off (and lasts longer than my last computer).  

I must have made the right choice because my husband is already asking me if I think he should get a Macbook Pro or a Mac Mini.