Why I Switched Back to PC

For three years, I've been a proud Mac user. Over time, my Macbook's case got warped probably due to overheating until the battery wouldn't fit. I was left with a computer that I could only use without a battery, risking losing my unsaved work if my charger fell out, or one that I could only use with the battery forced in until it turned off unexpectedly and started beeping loudly at me because warping made the battery push up into the RAM.

It was clear that I was going to have to get a new computer. As a poor graduate student, I had a tough choice to make. Stick with my beloved Mac or go back to PC? In order to make an informed decision, I took a closer look at the specifications of my new potential purchase. I've always known that Macs were grossly overpriced but I didn't know just how badly until I compared a Mac to a PC spec by spec.

First, there is the issue of the processor. The only Mac I could reasonably afford was the Macbook, which is still being sold with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. This is a processor that is over two years old in a machine that would cost me $999. By comparison, many PCs are available for half that price with the fastest Intel processors available, the i3, i5, and i7 processors. I finally settled on an Acer with an i5 processor that cost me a little over half what a Macbook would have cost me.

At the time of my search, the cheapest Macbook Pro was still being sold with an Intel Core 2 Duo, until they rolled out the "new" Macbook Pro that have the i5 and i7 processors. But don't be fooled by the hoopla. The new Macbook Pro is last year's new PC. And the difference is palpable. I can run several memory intensive programs at once and my laptop doesn't even feel it. This also prevents the problem that caused the demise of my Macbook: overheating.

Then there was the issue of getting accustomed to Windows again after having the user friendly and efficient Mac operating system. This wasn't as hard as I would have expected. As far as I was concerned, my biggest worry about returning to PC was the viruses but it seems Windows has come a long way since we last met. I've had no security problems since I got it with hardly even any pop-ups.

The system is now more user friendly and cohesive, just like the Mac, and I have much faster processor than I would have had if I had stuck with Apple. If that wasn't enough, even the new Macbook Pro only has a 320 GB hard drive. My new computer has twice that so I have all the storage I could possibly need for music, pictures and movies.

It might not look as cool or be as trendy, but I definitely got way more bang for my buck and I'm happy I switched back. Maybe one day I'll consider getting a Mac again, but probably not until Apple stops selling outdated, inferior products for twice the money.