Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Do you have anything against us Masochists?

Just asking...? :-D

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Whatever floats your boat...I won't judge...mock on the other hand, perhaps.

Wallbanger Loc: Madison, WI

Never had that problem with any of mine, from my iBook, PowerBook 12", 15" original MBP, MacBook, MacBook Air, or my current MBP 13" Retina.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

That works for me!

Sort of like when the the Masochist said "Beat Me!" and the Sadist said "No!" :-D

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Not my experience. All of my family have gone through their (Windows) laptops-- and they weren't the budget models. Meanwhile, my MacBook continues like the energizer bunny-- and I use mine more than they use theirs. However this is just my experience-- not pretending to know what the industry studies would show.

My work (financials) requires that I use Windows. For my personal use, I'll never go back. I edit everything on my MacBook.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

It depends. Do you want a computer you can take into a store and say "fix it." And some techy type sits you down and plugs you in, or takes your computer "in the back" and performs VooDoo on it while you browse products?
Then Apple is your brand. Usually there's a Starbutts nearby with other helpless minions in the same boat.
Taking what their giving and shrug it off. Yeah, there's a class for that. As long as you don't ask any out of the box questions. (I tend to never get in the box to begin with.)
Apple is fine for my wife, step-daughter, and her family. When it doesn't work, take it to the store.
If you'd like that, get a Mac aroni book. My SIL has blown up several so far. And he just buys another one.

If you'd like something you can groom to exactly what you want, are a bit tech savoy, and know what you want out of your computer. Then I'd suggest a PC.
I've been PC since 1989. Both bought, and built my own. My last computer died when the Solar guys had to replace my main service panel. Seems that after 10 years, taking away it's power finally killed it. I even tried a new Mother Board battery, but the poor old XP was dead. RIP
So since you can buy something cheaper than you can build it, and it's ready to sit down, plug in, and runs everything you still like (like my dual displays), I just went down and dirty with a Dell tower. Much improved over my last decade old PC.

And I got a Toshiba laptop as my traveler with a 16" display. It mainly runs 24/7 as my email, weather station, and solar hub. But I grab and go with it when we travel.
Both PC's have my favorite software so I can easily work graphics at home or away. And they both operate pretty much stand alone, updating daily, self maintaining. They just work, and I work their butts off.
And it appears Nikon works better with a PC than it plays with an Apple. Just an observation...

There is a very good reason 80% of the world operates off of PC's. And Apple struggles to hold onto their 20%.

But hey, you should always get what YOU want.
Afterall, I, and nobody else out here, are going to live with your choices. YOU are.
Choose wisely Grasshopper. ;)

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

If you are not prepared to build and maintain your computer and/or if you are not very knowledgeable about computers - and I mean very, then get a mac. If you are going to use it for photography get a mac. If you would like an operating system that is simple, straight forward and intuitive, get a mac. If you are really fond of some software that you can't get for a mac, then run windows on your mac. I have only ever taken one mac to the store. It was a macbook air with a broken hinge that was out of warranty by at least two years. They replaced the whole screen - no charge.

Tom S. Loc: Hillsboro, Ore.

And Microsoft is just so lovable? :lol:

I use a Dell laptop at work all day. It's an appliance.

I use an Apple laptop at home. It's like a breath of fresh air.

Wallbanger Loc: Madison, WI

"Choose wisely Grasshopper. "

That's SonnyE's way of telling you to buy a Mac. I know he secretly uses his wife's after she goes to sleep! :lol: ;)

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

There are some pretty interesting comments on here regarding how each came to take their relative place in the world of computers that ignore the whole role placed by marketing.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Actually no, it isn't.
That's my way of saying, "I really do not give a shit how you do it."
I've worked on too many pieces of Apple mush to ever consider owning one.
But please, you Apple Jacks continue to soak in your milk. ;)

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

I wonder how many users are actually qualified to make an objective evaluation.

I'm happy with my custom PC for under $2500 but then I've been using PCs since the DOS days. So that makes me unqualified as well.

Collins Loc: Groveport , OH

I spent 30+ years using windows operating systems while working and ,upon the advice of a buddy, switched to Apple. Our family is now complete Apple and are very pleased with build quality, functionality, and the logic behind the Yosemite operating system. Well worth the money involved. I personally use a MacBook Pro and it meets my expectations for photography needs.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

In fact you hit the nail on the head. A laptop for Photoshop needs to have at least 16 gb ram, and two hard drives - so that $2000 price is pretty optimistic. And a 13" retina display will have system text prompts that are so small that it can cause eyestrain after a little while of constant use. The MBP is a nice machine but to properly outfit it for optimal performance with Photoshop, it can get expensive, more than it needs to be.

For that same $2000 (or less) you can get a computer with 2 internal drives - one SSD for software and system, and a 1Tb 7200 rpm drive for data (picture) storage. The resolution will be ideal for editing, and you have a choice of 13, 15 or 17 inch displays.

The reality it that the retina display is less impressive in gamut-hungry applications like Photoshop. Put simply, it does not have the color gamut to properly display color images for editing. There are better choices out there, if you look at the right criteria - but like yourself, the Retina does look impressive because of the detail and resolution. It just doesn't display enough colors.

You might find this article informative:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1432348

The laptops I have been recommending are the ones mentioned in the article as having excellent color gamut - the Clevo/Sager 15" laptops.

which you can find here:

http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-clevo-sager-notebooks-ct-95_51_162.html

I have a number of students that have purchased a system based on the SAGER NP8268 which starts at just under $1200, but can be user-expanded to 32 gb, so it has some future-proofing.

Their warranty and extended warranties are quite good, and also less costly than Apple's comparable products. It is a good alternative to Dell's Alienware machines, and a favorite among gamers.

At the end of the day, once you are in your applications, the OS is pretty much in the background, and it really doesn't matter which one you use. Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 are just as stable as Mac OS, and given some of the issues that arise when Apple updates it's OS and applications run into compatibility issues, I would say that the stability goes to the PC platform.

I have quite a few students with Apple products, and the rest have Windows, and some have both. I don't see much of a meaningful difference between them in use - either from a functional or reliability perspective. Buying the cheapest PC and comparing it to a premium priced product like an Apple, is silly, but often Apple converts will make that comparison. They leave out the price when they make the comparison. Best to compare apples to, well, apples (premium PCs). Select the Apple as you need it configured, and then get a Premium quality PC and configure it the same way, and you will see the differences.

These days, PCs crash just as often as Macs - which is not all that often.

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

I started with Macs when they first came out. I bought them for the school I worked in. After about 6 years the school administrators decided to go to pcs. I also bought pc for myself and my kids. I've had many of my own pcs crash and they were well taken care of. After my daughters pc crashed (she was in college) she bought a Mac and I soon followed suite. After almost 5 years of owning Macs we've had no serious problems. Any time I had a question or minor problem I was able to contact tech support by phone within 5 min to get help. I live near an Apple store and I showed them that the rubber on my power supply cord was beginning to crack in one spot. The power supply was replaced even though it was out of warranty. I will also make an appointment to let apple update my computer with the latest OS free of charge. For $100/year my husband takes one to one computer lessons at the Apple store. What I'm saying is that when you buy a computer you are also buying customer service and tech support. Apple is wonderful. Waiting on the phone for tech support from Dell was unbearable. I couldn't get HP to answer a question about my printer without paying a fee. (My next printer will not be an HP. )