Rental Property Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2019 · 36 posts · 22 votes
I’m currently starting up my own commercial and residential real estate investing company and trying to decide to go with Mac or not. Anyone have any insight or recommendations or what type of computer software works better for the real estate investing world or if it even matters.
Lender · Tampa, FL · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7y
We've used Macs exclusively for years. I'm typing this on a MacBook Air as we speak. They are certainly more expensive, but they are hard to break and last a long, long time. In recent years, the compatibility is not as big of an issue as it used to be. We really don't have a lot of issues with the Macs. I've had both PCs and Macs and I have found the Mac to be a more stable platform. It's more expensive, but I've had far fewer performance issues with the Macs. I hope that helps.
I have had my MacBook Pro for 9 years now and still works and looks brand-new. I will buy a new one next year. I paid more upfront but definitely got my moneys worth out of this computer. I would cast my vote for the Mac
Property Manager · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
As others have said. It’s really not even close. A Mac book pro will last 7 years and a Windows even higher end last 2 years tops. They are junk. Mac book pro with Microsoft office so you get excel and you a good forever.
I am a former network engineer (aka nerd) who ran multiple VM software and other software support packages and windows just can’t hang. Spend the 2k and your stress will dramatically go down. Just because the specs are the same or windows specs are better mean nothing. After 6 months window computers are just one more thing you have to recycle.
Rental Property Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2018 · 112 posts · 23 votes
7y
@Jonathan Trimboli
I used to use cromebook it was terrible. I had a property that came with a pop up camper and sold it for a Mac. It took a little to learn but I use it for everything now !
@Nik S. Thank you, as well as everyone else’s input on this. It helped solidify my decision and i went with a new 15” MacBook Pro with the i9 processor and it’s awesome. It’s everything i was needing plus a whole lot more. Very impressive!! I’ll never look at a PC again.
You will NEVER regret it. Back in the days of my wife having to use Windows (& a dos system to boot) for her Medical Billing it was a nightmare & we have probably 5 dinosaur laptops & 4 PC's in the basement loaded with old WIN-OS. Our newer IBM laptop performed the blue screen of death last night when my wife was trying to access the 2018 TaxWise s/w installed on it.
Another great aspect of the Mac is the fact I can move between all 4 of our homes & it knows where I am, hooks up to the WiFi automatically as well as the resident WiFi printers. This 'transparency' is so relaxing given the grandkids can also hook up without frustration & then there's my wife who can auto-acquire the resident WiFi with any one of her 4 Macs (yes we have 6 Mac Pro(s) ).
Hey hey, something I'm overly qualified to answer. We are currently running both in my marketing agency.
As for usability I still use windows. it's what I'm comfortable in and there are some softwares that are only windows based that I use.
Windows is 100% cheaper, it works great and everything is usually server based applications anyway.
Heres where I would say you would want to go with mac. It looks like you're already making the money. I know this is a dumb thing but you have to dress the part and if you show up with a windows laptop to a client meeting it looks sloppy. Especially on the agency side. They are absolutely overpriced but if you need to dress the part then I would also recommend your tech do the same.
I realize the decision has already been made and I’m glad you’ve reached a solution but reading through the comments, some of the story is missing and some of the comments are flat out incorrect.
As with most advise, the answer is “it depends.” It depends on whether you want to grow your business with employees or if you just want to be by yourself. It depends on whether you are working with other people and have to send data back-and-forth. It depends on many items.
Rather than posting lengthy on why that is, I’ll just try to fill in some of the blanks that haven’t been mentioned for people that come behind.
Despite the comments here, Windows is a very good product and Microsoft has very strong offerings (not to mention that they are very good at making money).
With Office365, there’s no reason why a company of any size couldn’t have a domain name, email address, access to all MS apps and a Windows system joined to the domain. All for a very reasonable price of around $150/yr.
This also includes complete synchronization of calendar, contacts and documents on any device along with the added bonus of mobile device management.
Other solutions (iCloud, gcontacts, etc) are a poor substitute for what is built into the Microsoft offering.
Comments above about Windows laptops not lasting for “more than 2 years” and that they “can’t handle the data” and that “processing is slow” don’t have enough experience for making the comments.
Macs are good for where they are suited. But they are not the promise land. Apparently the others have not dealt with bad video cards that Apple refuses to replace, non booting systems with no recourse, OS upgrades that delete all your photos-contacts-calendar or Airs that simply become doa, etc, etc.
Rental Property Investor · Charlotte NC · Member since 2019 · 306 posts · 183 votes
7y
I have a mac book, I love it. I left PC and I enjoy mac a lot. The only bad thing about mac is the newer the laptop the more you have to buy things to go to the laptop. Like connectors for usb and hdmi. I would highly recommend a mac.
Specialist · Earth 2.0 · Member since 2019 · 598 posts · 271 votes
7y
I would go mac and we just installed Parallels so if need anything for windows it would work. Right we have switched to have a lot of apps/services in the cloud. I would try to hold at a few more months as some new models are cmong out or could get an existing model for cheaper.
It seems most of the responders are Mac lovers here. I prefer PC's. My kids have Macs from school and I hate helping them because of the differences and Apple's approach to security. I used to be an estimator and a project manager. The big 4 estimating software's for my industry are windows based. Why would I spend twice as much for a machine I cant easily modify and the run Windows on it. If you know computers or like to tinker and are willing to learn, PCs are cheaper and more fun. I haven't bought a new computer since I found govdeals.com. I can get Dell products just out of warranty for pennies on the dollar. And the Dell website will give you the specs of any of their products with the serial number. I bought a 3 year old i7 with 8gb of ram and MS office preinstalled for $25. Then then cloned the drive and upgraded to windows 10. So I have a computer that is at least as fast and capable as a $600 best buy special for about $100 and a few hours of work.
When I sold my business, I cloned my hard drive and plugged the cloned drive into a $25 PC I had. Different brand, different processor, different motherboard, but it booted and found the drivers it needed on the internet. Windows has gotten better.
And a 5 or 10 year old PC with an SSD and at least 8 gigs of ram will do anything but video editing or high end gaming.
I know I won't convert the diehard Mac users, but I prefer Windows and would use Linux before I would go to a Mac.
Carrollton, TX · Member since 2015 · 415 posts · 371 votes
7y
I agree that it now comes down to personal taste. Also Windows technology has been catching up so it lasts just as long now, I still have an XP machine doing something in the office. But the cost difference still gets me every time. I'm the kind of person who would split a paper towel in two to get a quick 50% discount... :-) So the only Mac I like is the Big Mac...
Contractor · Monroe, WA · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 1 vote
7y
I think it is personal preference but we use mac. My laptop is from 2011 and still works fine. No viruses is a big plus. The battery is getting pretty tired at this point. I really like how any pictures or files can easily be shared via Bluetooth from phone, to laptop, to ipad. Hope this helps.
Macs are expensive. I spoke to a teacher with computer experience once, he said if you're going to be designing art or something of that nature then get Mac. Other than that they're expensive and do the same as a Windows PC.
@Jonathan Trimboli We just got a MAC Pro last week. I switched from a PC. It’s a Little difficult to get use to but I can access all off my phone apps, take calls and messages straight from my laptop. It also has Touch ID and saves all your website passwords they you use on your phone. You don’t have to reset passwords wand get verification codes. My pick is Mac!
Olathe, KS · Member since 2018 · 148 posts · 207 votes
7y
This thread is a huge example of why you should buy Apple stock, lol...they own 6.8% of the market, yet 99% of the comments in this thread. :) Nobody is a diehard windows fan, but man Apple could put out some lousy products that people would be defending to their last breath. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm a Husker fan and despite them being not great for 15 years, I still watch all of their games as if they were the greatest still.
I think I've owned 3 macs and a couple pc's over the past 8 years. We actually were trying to switch to mac due to having iphones, ipads, and everything else. The problem? Everything costs like double, and then you have other problems like expensive accessories, kids can't use it for gaming, drivers for some devices are inadequate, etc.
The comments here make me think people are buying a $300 Best Buy Windows laptop that runs like crap, and then buy a $1800 Macbook pro that's amazing in comparison...of course the Mac is going to destroy the Windows laptop in that scenario, it has an SSD drive, faster processor, etc. It's not an OS problem like people are talking about, it's a cheap hardware issue. People buy cheap Windows laptops and complain that it's trash. Apple doesn't sell anything cheap, so you never get the same type of feedback on Mac OS. If Apple sold $300 laptops, you'd hear the same things on MacOS.
It doesn't matter as much as it used to (windows vs mac os) because everything is in the cloud. You're going to be successful with either. But if budget is of any consequence, you can buy an equivalent pc for about 1/2 of what the mac costs. And generally, the PC is going to be more well rounded...it will get outperformed in certain art/graphics packages, but it's going to be better overall for most things because it has more programs and hardware available to it.
Investor · Saint Paul, MN · Member since 2015 · 663 posts · 512 votes
7y
@Jonathan Trimboli
I work at a major university in the United States, and I support 90% PCs and 10% Mac. I like both platforms for various reasons, first to be looking for cost savings and reliability, PCs will be half the cost. I’m both Apple certified and Dell certified, and I see about equal amount of problems between the platforms. It seems like the logic boards in the MacBook Pros tends to be its biggest call Brett. Luckily if you buy the three year extended warranty, you can get that replaced at no charge. The 2015 MacBook Pro‘s had a recall on their batteries, but not all models we’re covered under that recall. You have to check by serial number.At home I run a MacBook Pro, simply because I love it for the graphics, watching movies, reading forums. And also because I think the touchpad is amazing. The biggest pain in the butt with Mac, is they are constantly changing their ports from Thunderbird to display panel to USB to USB three to USB. It’s like they want you to buy a different type of cable every year. Also there are no ethernet ports in any of these lapto models. So once you buy all of the adapters and extra cords, that adds onto the price that’s already pretty high. .
As for PCs, we work with OptiPlex, latitude and HP models. Lately we’ve had a bad string of luck with docking stations and video displays going bad. As long as you have the four year warranty those are covered. The beauty of PC laptops, is most of them have ethernet ports on them and USB, HDMI, so it makes compatibility very simple.
Both platforms work very well with cloud-based back ups in storage. Also both platforms work easily with office products and Adobe reader DC for PDF files.
Real Estate Agent · Mira Mesa, CA · Member since 2014 · 218 posts · 49 votes
7y
use applications/software that is platform agnostic(web based) then it doens't matter what device you use. I use google docs, dropbox, docusign, zipforms(all web versions). It doesn't matter if I'm at home on my linux pc or at work on my windows pc or my phone.
@Jonathan Trimboli. Mac has been good to me for the little time I’ve had one I bought the whole family macs and I don’t have any maintenance or viruses it was non stop with windows so far so good. It’s much easier to do business especially looking up my PM accounting for my properties I’d recommended Mac and the battery life is amazing