I’ve known for awhile that I’d be needing a new laptop sometime soon. My eight-year-old MacBook Pro, while still very serviceable, had been showing signs of its age. It would occasionally just give up the ghost and force me to restart, but after so many years of devoted service, I was prepared to allow it to age gracefully. Its impending demise left me with a decision to ponder: what to replace it with? It’s the not particularly unusual Mac vs. PC conundrum. I use a Mac at home and a PC at work, so it’s not as if I’m not familiar with each operating system, both of which have evolved into very effective platforms, each with a with very different cachet. At this point, from where I sit the difference is primarily marketing, especially when you consider what I use my laptop for. I write and I surf the Internet; that constitutes probably 97% of my computer usage, so it’s not as if I need something advanced with an extraordinary amount of speed and/or computing power. That’s why my eight-year-old MacBook Pro has worked just fine.
Both Mac OS X and Windows 8 do some pretty cool things. The competition between the two has helped created operating systems that are leaps and bound better than what could be had just a few short years ago. If I were to be honest with myself, I’d have to admit that I’ve loved Apple products because…well, because they’re cool. They don’t have the “utilitarian” feel that PCs always have, but if I look a bit deeper, I recognize that my view of the difference is marketing-based. Apple’s advertising campaigns and product designs have created an indelible impression in my mind. When I think of Apple products, I think cool, sleek, innovative, and user-friendly. When I think about Microsoft products, I think slow, clunky, bug-ridden, and prone to security breaches. While there’s a nugget of truth in both of those mental impressions (good propaganda always contains a least a little bit of truth), the reality is somewhere in the middle…and that’s what I’ve found myself trying to resolve when it comes to my next computing device.
In considering the possibilities, once I established the bona fides of each OS, the choice came down to a more prosaic consideration: cost. The question became how much more I might be willing to pay for “cool” when both PCs and Macs will allow me to do what I need to do easily and efficiently. I’m not splitting atoms, curing cancer, or producing massive graphics projects; I’m a writer, so when you get right down to it, what do I need? The more I looked at it, the more I realized that either choice would be a good one.
Apple has a new MacBook coming out on April 10th, and it’s basic configuration- which would work quite well for me- is set to sell for $1299. A 12” screen, 8 GB RAM, and a 250 GB hard drive would be adequate for my purposes. Combine it with some very cool new features- ridiculously thin, weighing in at 2 lbs., and…wait for it…no fan. Yeah, it’s pretty tempting, and I was all set to wait until April 10th to check it out.
I have a friend who’s an executive at Microsoft; he’s been trying to convert Erin and I for some time now, and I’ll admit I’d been listening to him a bit more closely. Portland’s Microsoft store is a block away from the Apple store in downtown Portland. I’d been there before, and I left intrigued but not necessarily convinced. We were on our way to the Apple store to buy Erin a new iPad when I decided to stop by its chief competitor’s brick and mortar location on the way. Once there, I saw that there were some very good choices available and for a lot less money. The more I looked, the less I was able to justify spending substantially more money on a MacBook.
I left Microsoft with an Inspiron 2-in-1 laptop: 13”, 8 GB RAM, 500 GB hard drive…and we paid $799 for it. I can use it as a tablet, even though Windows doesn’t have nearly the plethora of apps available for iPad. Now that I’ve had a couple days to get used to it…well, it’s not as “cool” as the MacBook, but it seems to be doing just fine, and I’m pretty happy with it. Mission accomplished.
My next decision comes at the end of May, when I’m eligible for a new phone. I’ve been wanting an iPhone 6S, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to balking at the cost. I have a Samsung Galaxy S4, which I like, but not enough to stick with if a better choice presents itself. While at the Microsoft store, I found myself checking out Windows phones, which is something else my friend at Microsoft has been selling us on. It seems like a good option…AND the price point is significantly lower than an iPhone.
Hmm….