If you do mostly Autocad, Revit and other 3D, then a PC as in HP is the best bang for the buck. If on the other hand, you also do a lot of image processing - Photoshop, Web design, illustrator, then and only if you can afford it, then go with MAC. It's like the difference between a Chevy Malibu and a 3 series - you get what you pay for.

@ Rethink..thanks for the post. I am an interior architect that completes work in Autocad, Sketchup and I also use Photoshop and Illustrator as well. I would like to add programs like Rhino and 3Dmax to my computer. With that said is a MAC a better purchase? I want something that will be able to grow with me instead of becoming more of a burden over time.

What are you using to complete work in your profession? Do you think the design field is going MAC crazy?

mac no questions. i purchased my first MBP in july and it has seriously changed my life. in terms of running CAD, i run it using bootcamp which is better then using a parallel program (running dual operating systems at the same time).

yeah macs more money but they are seriously a better computer. my gf whos also an architect has an hp. its ok but when i use her computer i def miss my mac. as i see it theres only 3 downsides with macs. 1 -price. like i said they are a lot more money then pcs. 2- you have to get legit programs. 3- when running windows with bootcamp, you have to partition your hard drive and you cant move files from your pc side to your mac side. i usually have an sd card in the memory card slot that i use to transfer files from mac with pc. and having to always reboot in either operating system sucks but its a small price to pay for peace of mind that you have a well built machine.

i would disagree with the need for legit programmes, not that i would use illigitamate ones though ;-).

I would go for a mac if you can afford it.

There is no reason why a mac is better than a PC. As a matter of fact, I have a Dell Precision M6500 laptop with a Core I7 chip and 16 GB ram. How can a mbp beat that? And the fact that a Mac is better at graphic programs is a myth. 15 years ago maybe, but not in todays age.

Power isnt the issue, but workflow and ease of use. On that, a mac will triumph any day.

There is absolutely no reason for anyone to buy a mac. Ever. Unless you think a different OS is worth paying more for.

"cant move files from your pc side to your mac side"

There's a way around this. MacLink and a few other apps give you the seamless ability to access the mac drive from the PC side.

PC.

Unless you wanna spend a few hundreds of dollars/pounds/euros more in a comparable product just for the sake of being cool.

I would rather put that money on a savings account or in a trip.

Got a new PC laptop one month ago and Windows 7 runs very well. Sick of using trendy slow iMACs in my office though.

all pf my mac buddies spend 75% of their time working on the pc side! that defeats the very purpose of owning a mac.

the world revolves around a PC

I run Archicad and all my graphic work on a Mac and I would have it no other way. I've run the same on a PC, working for someone else (someone cheaper) and definitely saw the difference. It crashed so regularly, I became totally obsessed with saving my work every minute.

The person who complained earlier about slow iMACs should enlighten their office that iMACs aren't designed for CAD and graphic work.

I find it entertaining that as architects, many of us spend a lot of our time trying to convince people to spend more for better quality, but we're like cheap clients in the way the field has stuck to AutoCAD and PCs.

I use PCs because of compatibility (Autocad and 3D Studio).

Using Photoshop, Illustrator, etc., are identical on both machines, so you get 0 benefit on a Mac (not using the OS while in either software).


So it comes down to:

1. Macs are pretty, well built
2. Warranty (Macs still suck, and running bootcamp you won't get any support - can't verify the latter, though)
3. OS - if most of the work you are doing is in bootcamp, that pretty much means you are paying for the pretty design, nothing more




Personally, I'll pay more for better design. BUT until their tech support is on par and there aren't compatibility issues, I'll stick with my Dell's.



oakley - I hear you, but it is about proficient business practices. I'd love a Mac, but won't spend more for something that has less support and is not compatible with the industry.

I own and operate a PC computer building and network installing company during my off hours as an architect.

I've been building PC's and networks from scratch since I was in high school. So I know my way around computers. Even though I build PC's for people, my own personal computer at home is a Macbook Pro.

I use my mac for all of my graphic and internet needs. I boot up windows on my macbook whenever i need to do any autocad outside of work. Simply put, the new intel-based mac's are PC's as well as they can natively boot Windows. When they first came out, a macbook pro with windows XP was benchmarked as the fastest PC ever. (I still get a kick out of that)

If you plan on using the computer alot, spend a little more money and get a MAC. It will save you hours of headaches in the future. The operating system is much more stable and user friendly. I have only ever seen my or any other person's MAC crash once in 4 years.

Anyone who hates MACs usually doesnt have an understanding of how computers work and generally doesnt even have a reason to hate them other than they are simply different.

Controversely, If you do decide to go with a PC. Don't buy from any big box computer company like HP. The only real benifit is the customer service you get with them (or lack there of). If the computer were to ever break, the time i would waste on the phone trying to get them to repair the computer would be of a greater cost then just fixing the part myself. If you want a desktop have a friend build you one from scratch and save yourself probably a 1/3 of the price. If you want a laptop, I would find a custom laptop building company / website. But then you might have to deal with yet again another flop of an entire operating system from Windows....

I just bought a MacBook pro and I'm running Windows 7 through VM ware...

Autocad and Revit both run fine through VM ware...If your going to produce renderings or run 3DS, bootcamp might be a better choice.

In all, the Mac line of products is superior...They are more expensive but their customer service and solid OS make up for the slight price difference...Plus, they don't load up their devices with 'garbageware' which I appreciate.

My old MacBook died on a Wed. night a year after I bought it. Called the Apple Store in Atlanta at 8:30, and the genius said "Bring it in, I'll wait for you at the store." He stayed late until 9:15pm (the store had officially closed) to pick-up my laptop. The next day they called me and said I needed a new motherboard..3 Days later, my laptop was ready at the store and I was off working again.

Mac's are not perfect, but the product/service/performance combination is far better than any PC maker I've found.

Now that I can run *most* pc programs on a mac, I personally can't find a compelling reason to go back to a PC.

trace... the less support and not-compatible argument just doesn't hold any water. I worked in MAC-based firms for over a decade and only experienced issues with tech-support when I worked at a PC-based firm. Perhaps we had a lame IT person at that place...I don't know, but I can tell you that he was certainly around a lot, whereas I don't even remember having anyone in to "deal with the issues" at the MAC-based offices. To me, proficient business practice is making an investment to avoid paying in headaches and IT services. But, as always, to each his own.

I've seen vectorworks crash a mac many, many times.
I've never experienced any benefit for Photoshop, etc, on a mac and I've spent a lot of time in mac offices.

To me, you're either have the patience to deal with being your own IT, or you want the no-brainer interface of the mac (remember the one-button mouse?)

I've been using a Macbook Pro with Boot Camp for a few years now, and I have to admit that it's so far been a pleasant experience.

By using MacFUSE and MacDrive, I can transfer files between the OS X and Windows XP partitions with no problems...they just act like any other folder structure.

I have AutoCAD, Rhino, and Maxwell Render installed on the Boot Camp partition, and soon I'll have the Adobe Suite on OS X. Though I have no hard data, Photoshop and other Adobe products seem to run a little better on OS X. I also prefer the Apple Mail client and the workflow of OS X.

I agree with w4000's comment. If you're trying to decide between a desktop or a laptop, it's a pretty simple decision in my mind. Get a Windows-based machine if you're going the desktop route (they can be more easily upgraded), and if you're planning on getting a laptop, there's no reason not to get a Mac. Their portables are very well-designed, and you have the added benefit of being able to go into an Apple Store and throw your computer at them if something breaks.

Finally...all computers break. My girlfriend's iMac has trouble just as often as my hand-built Windows 7 desktop does.

Mac.

My reasons are anecdotal at best, but are as follows:
I have a Macbook Pro from school, and while it was required and provided by the school, I paid for it and will be doing so for some time as part of my student loans. At work, we use PCs (Dells to be specific if it makes a difference). On both, I use VectorWorks in addition to the Adobe suite (more products on my Mac). In school, I had the unenviable habit of doing almost all my work in a single file--plans, sections, models, renderings, layouts, etc. These files become unwieldy, but my Mac took it fine. At work, files are broken up as they should be to be manageable, but even small files crash. I'd say I experience a crash at minimum once or twice a day. On the rare occasion that something crashed on my Mac, it did so quickly--on the PC the crashing process seems to take five or ten minutes. In terms of graphic display, the difference is huge. The Mac displays typefaces and lineweights beautifully and accurately, the PC requires printing or enormous font sizes to accomplish the same thing. PCs are fine and will provide you with the means to do your work, but if you look at this as a long-term investment, I would strongly recommend spending the extra money on a Mac and avoiding the aggravation of a PC.

Then there is the cool factor

I used to work at an architectural office in San Francisco where we had to bring our own computers - most of the office used MACs and the few of us that used PCs laptops felt like fuddy duddys - The Network there did not work with our PCs, so we were always using thumb drives to transfer files - needless to say, the MAC users looked down on us as - "Oh just let them do the Autocad and Revit Cad Monkey stuff" . besides I would not want to show up in a coffee house on Valencia street with my HP no way - I would get dissed for that. That being said. Where do you spend most of your time? Are you a Cad Monkey + BIM Wit like Me? then use a PC - if You do a lot of Sketchup, Photoshop, and other designer related software - then a MAC might be the best bet. Then there is the compatibility issue - I believe an office should be using one system or the other to avoid PC > MAC transfer issues. Besides If everyone is using the same system, then you don't get the MAC elite "designer" cliques forming that discriminate against us PC users.

So basically what you are saying is that mac with exactly the same specs as a pc will perform better on bootcamp? How can the same Nvidia Graphic card perform better on bootcamp, than on a pc? Better yet, how can a core 2 duo 2.8 GHZ be more powerfull, than a core I7?

I have used a Macbook Pro in the past and went back to PC. Switching constantly between bootcamp and Mac osx is a true pain. At a certain point I even had to double up on all software. I doesn't make any sense to have a mail client on the mac side while your working in cad on bootcamp.

harold

You got it. I would like to see a better performance breakthrough on the MAC side before I would be interested in bootcamp. The day may come - It's just not here yet - If Steve Jobs would would push on a breakthrough in the MAC powerbook product line like he has on ipads then I think MAC could at least be considered.

Man you guys are the best!

I think for right now so I can atleast generate some kind of revenue, I'm opting for a PC. My pockets depend on whats happening now, not in the long run. In the long run when I am more stable and comfortable, I'll go for the MAC.

was a mac user all through undergrad,,and i just switched after 7 years when i got to grad school. I could have bought a decent macbook pro 15" with what i paid, but i dont regret it at all,, if i can afford it sometime in the future, i would buy a little mac (or an ipad?) but i would only use it to surf the web, manage my photos, and music.. nothing more honestly