crossing over to the dark side...macbooks? imac?

As per my recent woes, I'm thinking I'll say goodbye to PC and try Mac. I want something that is more likely to just work, and I no longer need a computer for gaming.

I am not even sure of what questions I should be asking. I guess a few basic ones...

Would a Macbook be likely to have either mini display port or dual link DVI? That's a must, to drive my HP ZR30w monitor at 2560x1600. HDMI and VGA are out.

Would my MS Natural Keyboard Pro and Razer Naga mouse work, and would my Windows formatted HDDs and SSDs be read by the Mac OS?

Sure would be nice to be able to use my MS Office 2013 suite, too.

Hmm, liable to be other considerations, but that's what I can think off the top of my head. No longer need to know if HOTAS and TrackIR are compatible.

Thanks.

I don't know that a PC laptop wouldn't offer you the same thing for less. A lot of your problems came from having a desktop, but Mac hardware is no more reliable than PC.



The Jedi Master

I thought Mac hardware = PC hardware on the inside (that was not always the case, but is now). The Mac OS is a version of Unix (like Linux) that Apple has modified over the many many years. Consequently, one can load the Windows OS on a Mac (there is a special way to do that). My son does that with his Mac laptop. Then, PC software can be run.

Since Mac and PC are so alike, both can have problems. It is said Mac OS is easier to hack (for the nefarious). But, they don't bother as often because Apple is such a small percentage of the market that there is less money to be stolen.

A PC or laptop running Linux is an option (depending on one's problems). So, free Linux on your current machine could be an option -- to the degree that the Windows OS causes issues for a user. I have Ubuntu Linux as a triple boot on my Steam OS computer (also runs Windows 8.1). Ubuntu seems very decent. It comes complete with loads of free software (e.g. LibreOffice) that I prefer to the Microsoft products (and I use much of that same software on my Windows 8.1 machine).

Just random thoughts from an Apple non-expert.

I'm very Mac savvy,

There are certain things that I like about OSX, although you do pay more per pound of computer on a Mac rather than a PC.

Typically a Mac would last you longer too (although I think that's more to the steeper entry price, making them less disposable)

You can get whatever adapters you need to go from Mini Display Port to DVI/HDMI/VGA. No issues there. I guess it all really comes down to how portable you need this machine to be. If you're not gaming, grab yourself a 13" Retina, don't worry about your existing HDD's. Put them in enclosures or something.

Keep in mind when ordering certain Macs, you cannot upgrade the RAM at a later date. Do a custom build on the website, and spec it out properly, rather than buying straight away from the store and then regretting it 2 years from now.

Unless you hate Windows for whatever reason there is no advantage to a high end laptop from another brand. Apple is a bit more pricey. $1,500 for a 13" with a 2GHZ i5 if I recall from what I saw yesterday at the store.

I've really had essentially zero issues with Win 7 since I got it. This would push me towards retaining Windows; although I have had some issues with Windows 8. But I believe that was related to mods I ran such as Classic Shell. Which I still run...

And if you don't like having problems, throw out your Razer mouse. Razer is known for their junk quality. One of the first few results in google when typing in "Razer" is "Razer quality control is bad". My Blackwidow keyboard died in under two months. It just sat on my desk with average use. The bloatware they require is a joke as well and I never even got it to properly install itself.

Using MACs causes baldness in men. Fact.

Macbooks run Windows 7 very, very well. Not sure how everything else would port over into OSX, but you could look into running a dual boot.

Pepper,

I've been using both on a regular basis for many years now. It's mostly a matter of preference. Like others have said, keep in mind that you can easily run Windows on a mac too.

- To answer your question on file systems, you'll be able to read your ntfs windows-formatted hdds, but not write to them. There may be some kind of driver out there that you can install on OSX that will let you do both, but you'll want to google that.

- If you buy a newer mac retina, you'll get a thunderbolt port or two (that you can plug a mini-displayport-to-dual link DVI adapter into). You'll also have a Thunderbolt port -- which is fast, fast fast. -- in addition to an HDMI port and a USB 3.0 port (or two). You'll like Thunderbolt for an external raid enclosure like you were looking for earlier.


There are only three issues I really have with Macs. The first is price, but that's already been mentioned. Second, is the short length of the standard AppleCare warranty (1-year). Last, is how proprietary the OS and hardware are. You're going to have a much more limited choice of software and peripheral devices in OSX. Moreover, you will not be able to upgrade a modern Macbook's hardware, because that is also very proprietary or unchangeable. Memory is soldered onto the motherboard, batteries are literally glued to the cases and storage consists of this Apple-customized off-shoot of mSATA SSDs that are incredibly expensive. Point being, if your battery ever dies or if you need more memory or hard drive space, you can either upgrade or pay Apple $500 to install special new Apple stuff. If you were planning on buying a tablet or thin notebook, you may have run into these problems anyway.

Personally, I'd look at a used 2011 MacBook Pro with an i5, put in a regular SSD and 8GB of mem. If you want to splurge on the latest in greatest, just get the newest generation of Retina. Do *not* buy the first gen of Retinas (we bought 13 and have needed 13 repaired due to random power and video issues.)