6 Reasons to Buy a PC Instead of a Mac

No Joke; As much as we love Macs, we admit there really are reasons not to buy a Mac. Here are my top six reasons to buy a PC instead of a Mac.

1. You only have $300 to get a new computer. There is no disputing the fact that Apple doesn't compete in the market for cheap, POS computers. Today, a refurbished Mac Mini is going for $519 from Apple. It only goes up from there. Counterpoint: you can always buy a good used Mac for cheap on eBay.
2. You like to build your own computer. Some people like to tinker, and Windows or Linux PCs are the best way to do it. You can't just march into Fry's and start buying the parts to make a Mac yourself. Counterpoint: Unless your time is worth $3 an hour, don't fool yourself into thinking you are saving money.
3. You plan to pirate your software and all your sources use Windows. There is no denying software piracy is running rampant and by virtue of market share, there are far more sources of pirated Windows software than Mac software. Counterpoint: Macs come with most of the software you will need for free. Also, don't be a thieving asshat. You aren't entitled to steal someone else's work, even if it's Microsoft.
4. You live for the latest video games. You also don't mind dropping $500 for the latest video card to play them. Facts are facts: Computer games come out first for PCs and sometimes never even make it to the Mac. I've been waiting YEARS for Half-Life. Counterpoint: Go buy an Xbox.
5. You need a program that is only available for Windows and a Mac counterpart won't do. There may be tens of thousands of Mac programs available to you, but there still are gaps in very specific software categories. Counterpoint: Run Windows on your Mac via Parallels or Boot Camp to access that program.
6. You want an ultraportable laptop. At this point, the MacBook is Apple's smallest laptop computer, and it really doesn't compete in the ultraportable category where screens are small and optical drives and battery life are shed to save weight. Counterpoint: Get a job where you don't have to travel so much.

I'm sure I missed some items for the PC die-hards. What do you think? Use the Comments section below to take your best shot, but stick to reality. As much as you can.

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Your Comments:

Mac is the way to go if you like supporting a pricefixing (illegal under state and federal law) monopolistic company that doesnt permit competition, customization and spending twice as much as a windows machine and 3 times that of a linux machine for the same power and specs.

 mike
 06/11/2007  at  04:44 AM

Hi Mike, Scot Finnie at Computerworld has an interesting article on the price comparison issue you bring up. The link is in the Mac Link of the Day archive.

Not sure I'd call a company with 3-5% market share monopolistic, but everyone's got a different take.

Welcome aboard. We like different opinions.

 Chris K
 06/11/2007  at  10:09 AM

spending twice as much as a windows machine and 3 times that of a linux machine for the same power and specs.

Hmm well lets see where to begin. First how can an even spec'ed "system" cost different amounts for running Windows or Linux on it? Would be the same box, same power, same specs, would it not? hehe

But some good reasons? A brand-new full version of OS X is $129, Windows Vista is $400+, and about $75-200 if you want a Linux distro with company support behind it (read Redhat, Novell, etc.), or free if you are willing to use community support. Of course community support online is fine and good as long as your computer problem does not revolve around getting online. Then your free OS is fairly worthless.

Next, with OS X you can run known, main stream applications from major companies, you can do that too on Windows, but you are talking about a monopolistic company now aren't you . Linux on the other hand, unless you are willing to skip being able to use desktop applications from major vendors world-wide, no. I guess its possibly ancheaper alternative, but not free if you actually are a business or person looking to have a company behind your OS to assist you with support or other questions you may have.

 Brian James
 06/12/2007  at  07:19 AM

reason to buy PC:: you want a laptop with a right-click! and not ctrl-leftclick.
i have a mac book, and i really do not understand why Apple does not include a right click button. May be Microsoft has copyrighted it? Or Apple refused to take anything from PCs. [one thing Microsoft is good at, is they have no hesitation to copy things from Apple0

 IlearnApple
 06/14/2007  at  05:46 AM

Hi ILearnApple,

You should be able to enable 2-finger clicking to get that right click you want. It's very cool. Even cooler is 2-finger scrolling which you can enable at the same time.

Check out item #3 on 5 Things to Do After Starting Up Your New Mac for details.

 Chris K
 06/14/2007  at  10:47 AM

Hi there...

I use both PC's and Macs for some of the reasons you have mentioned above (software compatibility, cost, custom-building).

First of all, I agree with your idea to buy a [very] cheap older Mac on Ebay. It's no problem nowadays to purchase a nice G4 for under $200 shipped. However, you CAN custom-build a Mac. Purchase one of these older units cheaply by getting just the case, power supply and motherboard. Then, search around or look on the LowEndMac Swap group and purchase the individual parts you desire--as much memory as you want, the best video card you can get and an upgraded processor (from somewhere like Sonnet or PowerLogix or OWC). I've even gone far enough to have a friend custom-build some waterblocks for my Blue & White G3 and watercool it for some overclocking fun. With some modification work, you can even run a complete Macintosh setup inside of an ATX PC case.

Also, we now have Leopard coming. That's going to make gaming a non-issue between the two. EA Games is cooperating and porting over their games for the new OS and I'm sure others will follow.

Granted, most of what I do revolves around PC's since I custom-build them for a living, but that doesn't detract from the fact that Macs and the Mac OS is superior to Windows. The arguments for buying or building a PC are quickly diminishing, but thanks to the general public's despise of change, I'm not worried about my job security.

Thanks for a fantastic site.

 Jason Shepard
 06/16/2007  at  12:43 PM

I only have one finger on my right hand, so that's my mouse hand. How do I right-click with that Apple keyboard now?

 Anon
 06/16/2007  at  07:17 PM

Welcome Anon,

You can left-click (normal) while holding down the control key to get the same function as a right-click. You could also get a third party mouse that has individual buttons. Another way to go for people who like to mainly use the keyboard is to enable Full Keybaord Access in System Preferences>Keyboard and Mouse>Keyboard Shortcuts.

 Chris K
 06/16/2007  at  09:39 PM

If you enjoy wasting time updating your virus, anti-spyware, adware, and any other clean-up app. on a daily basis get a pc. Counterpoint: You can enjoy saving time by not updating any cleanup app.

I also have a HP laptop that I use whenever my Son is working on a project using my mac. I now use Safari exclusively on my HP laptop!

 JOE
 06/21/2007  at  06:51 PM

Here's the way I see it.

The "PC" is an INDUSTRY. The "Mac" is ONE TYPE OF COMPUTER -- a very good one -- built BY ONE SPECIFIC BRAND, Apple.

When you go the PC route, you have an enormous amount of choice as far as hardware and software goes. When you go with Apple, you are somewhat more limited.

PCs are also more widespread and have a larger user base, therefore there's a better chance that you will be able to find solutions to any problems that might come up.

Does it mean simply by the virtue of popularity that PCs are better? No.

But let's face it, Macs are ALMOST "PCs" now. They come with Intel processors, use much of the same hardware, and can run Windows. And sure, they have their niche. The odds of you being able to find the software and hardware that you need for your Mac to do its job are pretty darn high.

I own a G3 iMac and was raised on an Apple //e, but just recently I built a new Core 2 Duo PC system from scratch, which is running Windows Vista Ultimate. I had a very fun time assembling it, and I'm very happy with its performance and everything that I'm able to do with it. I have to be honest and say that it's crashed a few times, but now that I've straightened out most of the driver issues and software incompatibility problems, those symptoms are disappearing.

The Mac is a fine machine, but that doesn't mean that PCs are a complete waste of time or that their advocates are total idiots.

 Erich
 06/28/2007  at  01:11 PM

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