@Samuel, There haven’t been any widespread virus outbreaks on Macs. Apple provides a built-in firewall (turned off by default unfortunately). You can turn it on, or use a third-party firewall app, such as the product from Open Door Networks.

Peace,
Gene

What about Mac viruses u can use firewall such as Protemac Netmine. I have Leopard and use it for protects against viruses.It’s must be helpful to everyone.

eric wrote:

Try syncing a smartphone to a Mac. The Mac is worthless. It can’t manage to work 10 year old technology. Pathetic.

So you aren’t aware that there are third-party products that allow you to sync many of these smartphones with Macs. Pathetic!

Peace,
Gene

Try syncing a smartphone to a Mac. The Mac is worthless. It can’t manage to work 10 year old technology. Pathetic.

Let me say that your price comparison is utter nonsense, so why should I believe anything else you say?

Peace,
Gene

Maybe the reason that it didn’t talk about “ease of use” is that it’s not hard to use a PC. It’s not hard to use a pc at all. Your an idiot. I just bought a new laptop for my wife and O decided to check out how much pretty much the exact same computer would cost through Apple. It was $2000 more. I never have issues with attatching scanners, cameras, printers or anything else for that matter. I’m a graphic artist and was happy too see that the advatage of Adobe Photoshop on the Mac has disapeared as well.
I got nothing against Macs, mac users, whatever. I get it it, it’s what you prefer. But to get all pissy because Consumer Reports won’t give Jobs a BJ is outing.

Well, no, Macs don’t cost more than PCs with comparable equipment. The reason they are perceived to be more expensive is that Apple doesn’t build bare bones models without the frills we’ve come to expect.

As to the so-called ugly aspects: Apple still rates best in Consumer Reports when it comes to tech support, and they do not deliberately create defective software any more than any other company. But the marketplace often forces them to release products a little prematurely, that’s all.

Consumer Reports: They will ding a product for perceived ergonomic shortcomings, such as the alleged “flimsy-looking” pop-out cupholders on the BMW 3 models, but won’t give a car maker, for example, a positive for “thrill to drive.”

And. any BMW is fun to drive — but not fun to pay for.

Peace,
Gene

Although CR espouses their “objectivity” based on the fact that they accept no advertising, CR is clearly a biased organization. It has a utilitarian posture. I recall a review of SLR cameras years ago and predictably, they gave top ratings to cameras which were lowest in price. Thus, this same bias is reflected in its review of Apple. Let’s be honest ourselves here: no matter how big a fan you are of Apple, its computers cost significantly more than PC, batteries are not user-replaceable due to the arrogant soldering in of batteries and O/S updates set you back $139 per annum. Think about this last one: Apple sells software and uses its consumer base to beta test it, albeit this is hardly unusual. Then, after Apple receives feedback either thru support or angry customers, it updates the O/S and charges the customer. The beauty of Apple is that one company controls the hardware and software which results in a coordinated effort. The ugliness of Apple is that it has no direct competition and abuses customers with arrogant policies like soldered-in batteries. I believe CR’s review probably reflects some of this ugliness.

I saw the article as part of my trial subscription, which I am now not going to continue. I am out of town right now, so I can’t check this, but I think the article says something like “Macs have fewer viruses.” Like, what, a few concept viruses vs. thousands? If they were comparing two cars where one had four repairs and the other had a thousand, would they say the first car had just “fewer repairs?”

I would like to write CR. Does anyone have a authoritative reference that gives the total or yearly Windows and Mac viruses?

My Macs run eight to twelve hours a day compared to my PC for about an hour a day. Macs win hands-down in the reliability department.

“The ubiquitous card readers, for example, which allow you to handle media cards from different hardware. How many Mac or PC users need them — really?”

What has solved my issues with these is using SanDisk’s hinged SD cards that plug directly into a USB slot. That means wherever I am, I can access anything on my camera. I know one can buy small, cheap card readers, but that’s still an extra thing to carry around (and forget/lose at that vital moment).

You are right that an included card reader drive is not a critical option on a computer or laptop, but it can be an enormously convenient one. However with a hinged card, it’s not needed.

I especially recommend these for people travelling who may want to send some photos from an internet cafe, etc.

The problem with PR is that they have always been fine as long as they stick to fairly simple things that yield easily quantified results (this razor blade is good for three more shaves than that one). When they get into more complex stuff, like cameras, computers, or autos, they quickly get out of their depth but keep that same pontificating tone. And when they get into things where subjective reactions are part of the evaluation progress, they’re often hopeless.

Al,

I’m certainly not foolish enough to think everything on the internet is true. On the other hand, the PC reviews in CR shows that they don’t have dependable information.

Dave! By God, I think you’re right.

CR has been ill informed for years while everything you read on The Net is true.

Isn’t it?

All of the above comments are exactly why I canceled my subscription many years ago. I have no need to read CR with so much information available on the ‘net.