Old Fartbags and Mac Computers... - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Clarkey · 03-22-2009, 06:13 PM

I bought a Dell with Vista a year ago because I couldn't justify spending 50-100% more to get a Mac. I've had to use the rescue disk about 5 or 6 times to recover the operating system. This is scary considering the first 4 times I had all my pictures on there were no backup.

My pops is looking for a new computer, money is no object for him. I've told him to get a Mac but he is dead set against it. He used a Mac in 98 and did not like it, plus he heard about the incompatibility, which I assume is now a moot point. How do I sell him on it?

flamestalker · 03-22-2009, 06:33 PM

It doesn't get viruses.

HotHotHeat · 03-22-2009, 06:39 PM

Tell him to buy it and use it for a month... If he still thinks it sucks after a month install XP on it and he can go back to suffering.

PsYcNeT · 03-22-2009, 08:05 PM

Tell him to get a PC from a company that sucks less than Dell...

...so anything that's not HP or Dell should be fine.

RW99 · 03-22-2009, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clarkey

I bought a Dell with Vista a year ago because I couldn't justify spending 50-100% more to get a Mac. I've had to use the rescue disk about 5 or 6 times to recover the operating system. This is scary considering the first 4 times I had all my pictures on there were no backup.

You had to use the rescue disk 5 times? Something is wrong. While I have never used Vista (XP since it came out), I wasn't aware it was this bad.

AFireInside · 03-22-2009, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RW99

You had to use the rescue disk 5 times? Something is wrong. While I have never used Vista (XP since it came out), I wasn't aware it was this bad.

Yeah I would agree with this. I bought a computer from dell going on 2 years ago. I have never had to use the rescue disk, to be honest I've never had a problem with vista. I use my computer a lot, so I know my way around it, so maybe that helps. I also shut off that annoying window that pops up whenever you want to do something. I don't remember what it used to say, but it seemed to come up when you wanted to install something or delete something and it would ask if you were sure, or for permission.. Talk about annoying.

My gf has a mac. It's not bad, but I don't get why everyone is so in love with them. I'd take my computer over a mac..

Russic · 03-22-2009, 11:22 PM

Macs in 98 are a fairly different beast than what they are today. You are right, incompatibility is no longer an issue for almost everything. If you live in calgary you could set up an appointment at the apple store and get them to show him the positives. If he still doesn't see the point then perhaps it wouldn't be best to push him. I'm a major mac fan but they are different and depending on how used to pc's he is the transition could be frustrating. I'd make sure he's on board before a big purchase.

Traditional_Ale · 03-22-2009, 11:30 PM

Bring me your laptop with an XP Pro product key. In about three hours it wont suck balls anymore.

Vista, is your problem.

kukkudo · 03-22-2009, 11:34 PM

vista is fine if you got a good computer, im running vista sp2 on a p4 and it runs great

old-fart · 03-23-2009, 08:38 AM

I'm running Vista Home Premium on an HP laptop for over a year and the only problems I've had have been related to a failed hard disk. Since putting in a new disk, it has been great.

I also have another, older laptop (only maybe a year older or so) with Vista Ultimate and the only issue it has is a dead fan that causes it to overheat should you do much streaming video (or playing a DVD for example).

Both hardware problems, not Vista problems.

Hack&Lube · 03-23-2009, 09:36 AM

Maybe you are just using it wrong or not taking proper care of what you are running? That is not your fault, Vista and most Microsoft products are badly designed for the casual user which makes the features clumsy, hidden, and unintuitive for some.

There should be no way you need to use the rescue disk that many times. I have never ever had to use a rescue disk or restore operation from the windows disk except for one time a powersurge corrupted my boot.ini

It's all about how your use your OS, what you are installing, making sure you don't have too much junk running, etc. But yes, a Mac would be less prone to users messing it up like that. I'm no fan of Macs though. What do you mean incompatibility? Software incompatibility is still there. You still can't run Windows software on a Mac unless you use bootcamp which guides you through some repartitioning and some slightly complicated "expert" processes if you are willing to do it for him or he wants to learn.

As for the guy who says XP is suffering, XP is bliss and 10 times more easy to use and stable than Vista (of course it took a few years to get there). To be honest, for older people, they don't like change and putting a new non-windows OS on him might be harder than just getting a computer with XP over Vista. But like the other guy said, you could always buy a mac and if he doesn't like it, install XP onto it since it's all x86 compatible now.

PsYcNeT · 03-23-2009, 09:40 AM

I reformat every 2 months by choice, so 5 recoveries sound about right

Rathji · 03-23-2009, 09:44 AM

Have you ever contacted Dell about your problems? As much as the outsourced Customer Support can be a pain at times, if you have problems with your computer then I would be making them fix it, since this seems to be a hardware problem rather than a OS problem.

That said, XP can resolve many issues in a situation like this, especially hardware concerns, however I can't see why a computer that was purchased with Vista on it would have many(or any) hardware conflicts.

I agree with Hack&Lube though, this sounds like an issue with what is being installed on that computer and how it is being treated rather than an issue of the OS itself. A Mac can help with that since it is more 'user proof', but like any machine it needs to be treated properly for it to work properly.

As for buying a Mac with the intention of putting XP on it, that seems like a waste of money and a knee jerk reaction at this point, especially since he is set against it. I would try to get your current hardware working with XP (through Trad Ale) and if the issues persist, then look into getting new hardware. If he can foot the bill, I doubt he will be against a Mac for long, but he does have the boot camp option while he adjusts to Mac

FanIn80 · 03-23-2009, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

Tell him to buy it and use it for a month... If he still thinks it sucks after a month install XP on it and he can go back to suffering.

That's what I would do.

Jedi Ninja · 03-23-2009, 07:21 PM

Beware that, by default, you will become your Dad's support guy and mentor because he will probably not have any other Mac users to bug and you were the one that advocated he go that way. But maybe talking to each other a couple of hours a day will reinforce that father-son bond.

As for Windows, typically where people get into trouble is by making frequent driver and/or hardware changes, or by installing lots of intrusive software (or worse, virii). Probably your dad isn't at as much risk on that front.

Clarkey · 03-23-2009, 09:34 PM

I've usually been anti-mac if for no other reason than the guys that have them are pretentious brand loyal fan-boys. But after having to use the rescue disk a handful of times and having virusesque programs installed on my dell machine from day one that I can't get rid of (roxio) I'm thinking a mac might be the best option for the ol' fartbag.

With that said, I have reason to suspect that it's my tv tuner card that is causing the problems.

Russic · 03-23-2009, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clarkey

I've usually been anti-mac if for no other reason than the guys that have them are pretentious brand loyal fan-boys. But after having to use the rescue disk a handful of times and having virusesque programs installed on my dell machine from day one that I can't get rid of (roxio) I'm thinking a mac might be the best option for the ol' fartbag.

With that said, I have reason to suspect that it's my tv tuner card that is causing the problems.

That's funny, I'm anti-pc because guys who use them make sweeping generalizations all the time.

PsYcNeT · 03-24-2009, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russic

That's funny, I'm anti-pc because guys who use them make sweeping generalizations all the time.

Generalization though it may be, the basis lies somewhere between characterization and the ugly truth. There is a huge devoted movement geared towards Apple and their products, and to deny it would be foolish.

There is a curious blinding ideal however, as can be evidenced by a friend of mine at work that vehemently claims he can play games on his Mac, and then proceeds to show me how awesome WoW runs.

:/

llama64 · 03-24-2009, 10:08 AM

/beat dead horse

Macs are NOT 50-100% more expensive then a Dell.

If you want a cheap laptop, you aren't in the market for the same machine as a Mac, it's as simple as that.

Apple doesn't make a 600-800$ machine, Dell does. If that's your budget, buy the Dell. If you're looking to spend 1400$, both make similar products -- just one has a nicer operating system

Edit:
Just curious, what "incompatabilities" is your father worried about? Office is availiable on the OS X, and just about everything else is cross platform by default (or native to Unix....)

Russic · 03-24-2009, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Generalization though it may be, the basis lies somewhere between characterization and the ugly truth. There is a huge devoted movement geared towards Apple and their products, and to deny it would be foolish.

There is a curious blinding ideal however, as can be evidenced by a friend of mine at work that vehemently claims he can play games on his Mac, and then proceeds to show me how awesome WoW runs.

:/

I won't disagree with you or deny that there certainly is a large population of pretentious mac users. Obviously my comment was directed at the notion that mac itself doubles as a membership card to an exclusive club of ######bags. There are many Mac users on CP that exemplify the opposite of what is commonly perceived to be "the annoying mac owner".

I would argue that it is just as ignorant and annoying to blindly attack all things apple because you happen to be a pc fan. Somewhere along the line it became not as annoying to be a pc fanboy than a mac fanboy, and personally I find that frustrating. Perhaps it's because I'm an avid video game player so my fanboy sensitivity is always set to max.

That same blinding ideal you mention of is also very prevalent around here for pc users when discussing the high cost/low output of mac computers. I have personally seen Llama64 provide ample evidence that this idea is false, yet the hordes of pc fanboys continue to beat that drum.

Please note I am in no way referring to you as a fanboy of pc's ... I'm more or less just rambling on a slow Tuesday.

Your friend does sound like somebody that would annoy me. Then again, if all he is saying is that it will run games, he is technically correct. The obvious point to make here is that it isn't as good at it when compared to other pcs. It would be very irritating to have a mac fanboy get in your face about how awesome it runs games.