Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Time to Convert...

Just to clarify, this is not a religious post. But it deals with something that people feel strongly about anyway, and that is the PC vs. Mac decision.

After years and years as a PC user, mainly because a good family friend and computer guru got us started on them, I think the time has come to change to a Mac.

Like any big decision, I've thought about it a lot. And the thought came to the forefront even more yesterday when my nearly 4 year old Toshiba laptop went all "stretchy graphics" on me when I started it up. And then I did some calculating...I've had this laptop since February of 2008 and it has had 7 repairs. Most of them I didn't have to pay for, luckily, courtesy of our computer-savvy friend, but still...7! That's a lot.

It didn't help that the lady I spoke with on the Toshiba tech support line yesterday knew very little. OK, almost nothing. I almost laughed when she asked me to rate the quality of help I received after the call resulted in, well, nothing.

So I went to the local computer store and took my laptop with its messed up screen and, while the store manager was tinkering with it, I started looking at the Macs. Yes, they are expensive and yes, it will be an adjustment, but I think the time has come. I'm tired of dealing with viruses and updates and quirky operating systems (my laptop came with Vista...yuck.)

I did the math and by the time you add up the cost of my current computer, plus Word, plus the Microsoft 7 upgrade, plus what I've spent on repairs, it comes out to almost as much as the iMac, which is the one I'm seriously considering.

So get ready, world, because in the next few months this will probably be my next computer. Pretty, huh?
P.S. My Toshiba is working OK right now, but for how long? After 3 repairs in the last 4 months, my hopes are not very high.

Update 12/7/11:
I just landed accidentally on a post I wrote from November 2008. In the post I described how I was having problems with my Toshiba and had just taken it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy for repair. Everything had frozen on the screen and it wasn't even allowing me to do a "force quit." At the time, the computer was only 6 months old. Yikes.

3 comments:

garcias said...

I have to admit that I was in a similar position several years ago, and my heart really wanted a mac. Our pc laptop was bogged down, therefore slow, and our usb ports were broken. So we were looking for a new computer. We stumbled across a friend who was able to get us a imac (used from a graphic business. They barely used the computer and needed to update) So we purchased it for $250. It has been okay but not what I had hoped. It was so hard to figure out how to get our mac compatible with the school's computer. We had to spend money to replace our hard drive, and we did get a virus. (Our pc never got a virus)

I am not suggesting to change your mind. I just think my mac experience is ironic. :) I do love my mac though and would probably do it again. Anyway you'll love it. The macs are beautiful and sleek. Good luck

Karen said...

My two brothers and a sister have all converted to Mac. We have not. =)

Kristie said...

My Toshiba has had a few viruses over the years, despite the fact that I use AVG, a very powerful anti virus program. The viruses were in the form of attachments from friends and family who had been hacked and then sent out to acquaintances like me. Pretty tricky! The Mac laptop I had when I was teaching never got a virus and was very durable. And, even though I know it will be an adjustment, I'm thinking it may be worth. The fact that I've used Macs a lot over the years at school gives me a little bit of an edge, which is nice.