PC vs Mac laptop for research.

[jplunk85]

Hi folks, first time poster. I'm going to grad school for public relations or journalism. I've had pc's my whole life, and I'm leaning towards switching to mac. What are your thoughts?

[Kinkster]

I really don't think it matters. It's what you feel comfortable with. I switched to a Mac and it's fairly easy to get used to.

[origin415]

Macs are more expensive, is there something they do that PCs don't that you want?

Personally, I use linux.

[microman]

It all really depends on the software you need. Chances are, if its academic software, you can probably get it on Windows, Mac, and Linux. That being said, play around with them (if you can find trial versions of the software), see which platform you like best. On a side note, MS Office on Mac does not seem to play nice with the PC version (it tends to butcher the formatting of documents). I plan on getting a Mac and bootcamping Windows 7 on it (Longtime PC user, I still like having MS around), so that I can switch between the two (Maybe even triboot with Linux, but that might be pushing it)

[PastHistory]

I have Macs, so my opinion is biased in that direction. My recommendation would be to check with your program to see if they have a preference/requirement for a certain OS. Additionally, I would not recommend a netbook. Two of my friends had their netbooks (different brands) crash numerous times this past semester (blue screen) and lost so much research/classwork. It took them forever to recreate it (as best they could).

[jplunk85]

Thanks guys for your thoughts! My works is probably going to rely on Mega writing and research. Iwant good looking documents. Does Mac come with a good word processor or office suite?

[grendel]

To make good looking documents you really should be using LaTeX. No word processor comes close. Also great for bibliographies, indices, tables of contents etc. Check out the "Not-so-short introduction to LaTeX": http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/lshort.pdf

[ebaronov]

Does Mac come with a good word processor or office suite?

There is a version of MS office for Mac but you have to buy it separately. I assume it has the same features as the windows version. There is also an OpenOffice version for the Mac which is free but I've heard that it is not as good as the MS office.

If you're going to use the laptop just for writing and web surfing then get a Mac. Macs are way cooler than the pcs.

[liszt85]

To make good looking documents you really should be using LaTeX. No word processor comes close. Also great for bibliographies, indices, tables of contents etc. Check out the "Not-so-short introduction to LaTeX": http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/lshort.pdf

+1. No version of word can beat this. Its use is inevitable, as you will soon find out, so it might be a good idea to get used to it. You don't need a mac if its the writing and good looking docs you are most worried about. Also some statistical/modeling s/w can have problems on macs (eg: WinBUGS that I had to use for a course did not run on macs.. the only people who could do it also had a windows boot).

A mac is sturdy and looks awesome.. if you have the money to spare, go ahead and buy it! If not, get a decent Dell/Toshiba (or whatever else) laptop. I''m extremely happy with my Dell which I bought on Black Friday Its a dell studio 15 and it does everything that I need it to do, all for $600 (4GB ram, 500 GB hard drive, slot loading cd/dvd, and an awesome battery life). I didn't buy any extra software. I get antivirus from the university. I use openoffice and latex for docs, presentations, etc. Everything else that I need for courses and research is provided by the university. So unless you have the money to spare, you might do the same and avoid overspending on a laptop.

[Genomic Repairman]

I own both platforms but use the Mac about 95% of the time. The Mac is more expensive but then again they tend not fail as quickly as PC's from my experience. I use MS Office, which you can get at a discounted rate or free since you are a student. I think the main point to making your choice will be what software you need. Some stuff is PC or in my case Mac only. Also I find the Mac much easier for making figures for papers or if you do any type of video or film editing Macs stack up a little higher than PCs. But if you just need something a little less pricey to type up some papers or make a Powerpoint on, you should get a PC. The main selling point for me for the Mac was the Time Machine, which backups all my buttons with the simple click of an icon.

[eucalyptus]

I own both platforms but use the Mac about 95% of the time. The Mac is more expensive but then again they tend not fail as quickly as PC's from my experience. I use MS Office, which you can get at a discounted rate or free since you are a student. I think the main point to making your choice will be what software you need. Some stuff is PC or in my case Mac only. Also I find the Mac much easier for making figures for papers or if you do any type of video or film editing Macs stack up a little higher than PCs. But if you just need something a little less pricey to type up some papers or make a Powerpoint on, you should get a PC. The main selling point for me for the Mac was the Time Machine, which backups all my buttons with the simple click of an icon.

Quick question: what do you use for making figured on your Mac? I have one as well and haven't found a good program for this (although to be fair, I haven't really looked). Thanks!

[gsams]

I have seen both, so I think it is a preference. Some unis are more mac friendly than others. My UG institution has Macs and PC's everywhere. The one that is currently my top choice doesn't have a Mac anywhere on campus.

Netbooks are good depending on what you are looking for. No, they will not run SPSS. That is why I have a home computer and a lab to use However, for word processing, email, etc, they are a solid choice. While doing research for my thesis this year, my $240.00 netbook was a heck of a lot more useful than my $2400.00 behemoth of a computer. It's a long story why I was stuck with a 17'' notebook, but I am not pleased to carry it around as I am a 140 lb woman.

[prolixity]

Just for the science geeks out there:

My two year-old macbook (macbook 3,1) with 4GB ram can run perfectly fine the following:

Mathematica

Igor Pro

Labview

Molegro MMV

Molegro Docker

VMD

pyRX

Gimp

Stata 64SE

Nanorex

knime

datastudio

various flavors of TEX

Open Office/MS Office

I carry this thing in my backpack everywhere I go. I have 532 charge cycles and my battery still holds a four hour charge. I run Folding@home at night when I'm not using it. I can even run docking simulations locally while running other visualization programs or mathematics programs at the same time. The only downside is the lack of support for Origin/Sigmaplot. But Igor is better in my opinion anyway.

Buy a mac.. they're workhorses. A newer macbook with more memory will do you even better.

edit:

I forgot to add, I have about 30 GB of academic ebooks on my computer. Using Spotlight, I can nearly instantaneously find exact inline pdf citations for whatever it is I'm searching for. Want to know 10 different ways to synthesize CdSe quantum dots? Got it. Want to know the basics behind FRET? Instantly I have ten resources for that.

Seriously, if you're an information horder/fan of computational techniques like I am, you'll appreciate the mac (terminal is easy to launch and nice too).

Edited March 23, 2010 by prolixity

[joro]

edit:

I forgot to add, I have about 30 GB of academic ebooks on my computer. Using Spotlight, I can nearly instantaneously find exact inline pdf citations for whatever it is I'm searching for. Want to know 10 different ways to synthesize Cd:Se quantum dots? Got it. Want to know the basics behind FRET? Instantly I have ten resources for that.

Seriously, if you're an information horder/fan of computational techniques like I am, you'll appreciate the mac (terminal is easy to launch and nice too).

And on PC, there's a nifty program called Copernic Desktop Search which basically does the same thing.

[gsams]

I know someone has mentioned Dell, but I caution anyone tempted to buy a Dell.

Why?

Well, I only owned Dells until about 6 months ago.

I bought a top of the line Dell in 2008. My parents sent it over to me in England. Was the most expensive model they made. I bought it because I needed to be able to do graphics and photo processing and Mom and Dad REFUSED to spring for a Mac. I do photography, so I need a computer that can do that and school. Well, computer is fine for about 4 weeks. Then, the keyboard completely breaks. We replace it. Then blue screens of death become common place, Dell claims nothing is wrong. I come back to the US and start my final year of school. While doing thesis research, hard drive completely dies on the Dell. It takes 3 days to get a repair because 1. they have lost my account - transferred it to the UK PERMANENTLY when I told them not to 2. the person set to repair my computer is an idiot. The man replaces the hard drive, but I end up setting him straight in how to place it into the computer properly. He refuses to come to where I live on campus, so I meet him in a parking lot on a 95 degree day and then return home to spend 40 hours replacing all of my software.

Well, things are good for two weeks. Then, it gets worse. Blue screen once more. Dell refuses to do anything, blames Microsoft. Microsoft runs diagnostics and it is not their issue. Finally, Dell agrees to send back the "repair man". He once again refuses to come to me, but I am tired, not feeling great, and have been without a computer for about a week again now. So, I don't really care. He eventually arrives, upset with me. He takes out my RAM and replaces it, which leads to the computer being inoperable. He calls up the service tech, begins swearing at him, threatens me, and then storms out. I was then without a computer for SIX WEEKS. They repeatedly lost my order and kept lying about when the computer would arrive.

I was told I would get a new replacement of my old computer. Instead, I got a much bigger, much happier, and much different replacement missing much of the specs of my old computer. I had this for a week and a half and it started to fail. Dell refused to replace it. I had to email Micheal Dell and am still stuck with this HUGE 17'' computer. It took another 6 Weeks to get a computer. So, for almost an entire semester, I was without a computer. That is why I bought the netbook. I will never buy a dell product again.

[000]

For what it's worth, Windows 7 search works just as well as Spotlight, and Backup and Restore replicates the functionality of Time Machine (though it's certainly not as slick).

[RomulusAugustulus]

Looks like there is lots of info here already but I will just add that MULTITASKING on a mac is MUCH EASIER than PCs. Every PC I've used (and I've used several, my dad is a comp engineer so only uses PCs), gets super slow when you open more than one program, or more than one internet tab even. So for research, where you would potentially be switching between articles and note software, I would recommend a mac. I can keep several programs open on my mac and switch between them easily without having to see the spinning-color-wheel-of-death. Even with iTunes open and my comp hates iTunes (its old).

[Postbib Yeshuist]

Thanks guys for your thoughts! My works is probably going to rely on Mega writing and research. Iwant good looking documents. Does Mac come with a good word processor or office suite?

Mac has Office, so yes. One thing they DO have that I haven't found on the PC are some relatively powerful word processing apps aimed at technical writers. Mellel and Scrivener are incredibly useful apps that blow Word out of the water. In a sense, PC's have had Word for so long, they've not really innovated, despite the fact that Word is really not a powerful application when it comes to lengthy, complex documents. Macs have had more reason to innovate and have some incredibly powerful apps.

But that's about it. Aside from the overall reliability of Macs (I switched from 20 years of PC's a few years back and continue to be impressed by how smoothly my various Macs run day in and day out), the "PC vs Mac" is more or less hype. Both are solid and will do what you need done.

[Genomic Repairman]

Quick question: what do you use for making figured on your Mac? I have one as well and haven't found a good program for this (although to be fair, I haven't really looked). Thanks!

I used to use CS4 but now I am using EazyDraw. Way easier and more intuitive to use and saves a crap load of space on your hard drive.

[kdilks]

Looks like there is lots of info here already but I will just add that MULTITASKING on a mac is MUCH EASIER than PCs. Every PC I've used (and I've used several, my dad is a comp engineer so only uses PCs), gets super slow when you open more than one program, or more than one internet tab even. So for research, where you would potentially be switching between articles and note software, I would recommend a mac. I can keep several programs open on my mac and switch between them easily without having to see the spinning-color-wheel-of-death. Even with iTunes open and my comp hates iTunes (its old).

The only information this post adds is that you're an idiot when it comes to computers.

[RomulusAugustulus]

The only information this post adds is that you're an idiot when it comes to computers.

well, the only information your post added is that you are a nasty, bitter human being. I like being an idiot better (also I'm not, so score 2 on you, buddy).

[Genomic Repairman]

The only information this post adds is that you're an idiot when it comes to computers.

I'd like to confirm what acs said about PC's slowing down a little when flipping between programs when compared to doing the same task on a Mac. And I'd also like to confirm you are a giant asshat. Way to go douche, nice way to destroy a civil and pretty objective discussion (in my opinion).

[explorer-c]

It's as simple as this: If you know how to maintain a computer, go for PC; there's no reason to go for a Mac. Otherwise, go for a Mac.

[NeuroNerd86]

I actually have a little more specific question in the same area. I am in biomed sciences and I really need a new laptop for grad school. Luckily for me, I got a fellowship which would allow me to buy a laptop "for scientific purposes" (aka for school, or so I hope), so I can actually get a nice one. Right now I am debating between a macbook pro or Lenovo Ideapad/Thinkpad. I've been a PC user all my life, but I will be alright with switching to MAC. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Genomic Repairman]

It's as simple as this: If you know how to maintain a computer, go for PC; there's no reason to go for a Mac. Otherwise, go for a Mac.

Methinks not exactly boss. Some programs that are vital to some of us are Mac specific. So it honestly just boils down to you what is the best fit (programs, money, the damn thing not dying one year after the warranty, etc.) that should be the main reason you make a choice between the two.