You’ve had sound reasons for postponing the purchase of a new computer for much of 2009. The economy is in shambles. You wanted to make sure any kinks were addressed before taking the plunge on machines with new operating systems from Microsoft and Apple.
But months after their arrival, there’ve been no major blowups with Windows 7 or OS X Snow Leopard. And while your budget isn’t exactly overflowing, you’re finally thinking about replacing your Vista clunker or aging Mac.
Obviously, how you plan to use the machine weighs heavily on your buying decision. Hard-core gamers and video-editing junkies require more robust (and pricey) PCs than more casual users whose chores are primarily Web surfing and e-mail.
Here are other mainstream factors every PC buyer should consider:
*Windows or Macintosh. The religious war endures. I’ve generally preferred Macs to their Windows counterparts, but Windows 7 is a snappy, polished operating system that narrows Apple’s advantage.
Macs have avoided the malware scourge that has afflicted PCs through the years. We’ll see how that continues to play out over time. Meanwhile, the peripherals and accessories you connect to Macs generally just work, without the incompatibilities that have historically plagued Windows PCs. Windows 7 reduces such hassles.
You’ll still pay a premium for a Mac. The entry-level MacBook laptop starts at $999; the entry-level iMac all-in-one desktop starts at $1,199. You can find decent laptop and desktop PCs for half the price, though the comparisons don’t exactly represent Apples to, um, apples, partly because of the dandy multimedia iLife software suite supplied with OS X for such things as organizing photos and making movies.
In the past, some people rejected Macs out of hand because they work at companies whose software required Windows. You may no longer be in that situation. For years now, Macs have been able to run…