What makes Macbooks better than Dell laptops?

I would be slightly careful about Dell having more processing power

It depends on what you intend on using the MB for but the Pro models go up to 16GB and 2.8 Ghz - that is plenty of power even for someone that deals in graphics and videos

Now if you are gamer - the field is slightly more evenly split but pound for pound the Mac leaves the PC in the dust - the performance is flawless and as you may glean from some of the posts here people have updated macs from 2009 and 2010 with the latest OS

The advantages of Apple are legion - suffice to say with the latest Macs - get as much RAM as you can afford - ditto for SSD since those are not user replaceable

My story, in short ...

I wanted a notebook (MBPs are notebooks not laptops). I despised Windows OS for it sgross instability (the most likely cause of many of your slowdowns). I wanted a UNIX-based notebook.

I was at first a bit hesitant to jump into Apple's self-controlled world of OSX, but bit the bullet and am so glad I did. My MBP is not several plastic sheets, but a single block of aluminum milled to hold the parts. The OSX rarely fully locks ... at worst I usually "ForceQuit" the offending application and maybe wait a minute for the cleanup ... and even then mostly for third-party non-OSX applications like FireFox.

Some have dropped their MBPs, bruised the corner visibbly, but the system runs on. My 2011 MBP runs strong even now. OSX can run for months between shutdown without the "panics" typical of Windows.

My MB cam from this site ... Apple-refurbished units. Apple fully verifies all parts during refurbish process so they can run for years as indistinguishable from new: http://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

As ManSinha pointed out ... gaming is not a strong point of the Mac. Some of the PCs do that better for a bit, before Windows needs to be re-installed and the rest gets shaky.

Macs can last for years, even if just as your web browser 8 years on.

Some PCs run faster ... for a while. Windows 10 is better than previous versions, but still not quite as good at isolating applications into their memory space as OSX. OSX does a good job of allowing the forced kill of problem programs with just a short delay while the scattered remains are cleaned up. Windows can lose its entire network table due just to a remote system doing a force-kill of your session.

Also ... Apple stores will at least look at a Mac for 5-6 years for free if you have a question. You may not like the estimate for repair, but they will. (After 5-6 years it is "obsolete" so goes off support). That does not mean the system is useless after 5-6 years, just that Genius Bar cannot help.

Also some still run their 2008 MBPs as webbrowser systems.

As to resolution ... more pixels in the end is for games or photos than general applications. In the end, the top menu bar has to be physically large enough for you to see it, whether it uses 10 pixels tall or 40 pixels tall.

I used to work in a steel industry and I was in charge of Automation support for PLC's, HMI, ThinClients, etc.

I found a lot of the time what you are doing on a Windows machine is trying to figure out why something isn't working.

Also constantly updating Virus Scanners. Once you got done installing all the updates, you then found something would not work.

Since retiring and switching to Mac I find I am doing very little time on computer maintenance.

Macs do not get viruses and it is recommended not to run a Virus Checker.

No need to defray files, Macs look after all that stuff on there own.

Also do you think you can find a 2009 windows pc capable of running Windows 10?

You will find a lot of people on this forum running computer as old or older than 2009 and running El Capitan with no problems.

I have a 13" early 2011 MacBook Pro and I am running El Capitan. I have a 500 GB flash drive and 8GB of RAM and computer speeds are very good.

As mentions in earlier posts, determine what size hard drive and how much RAM you require because they are not upgradeable.

I have read numerous post from people wondering how to upgrade their SSD because they bought one which was too small.

I think you will be quite happy buying a Mac.

Kim

Also if you are looking at buying a MacBook Pro check out this video which compares the 13" Macbook Pro to the 15" Macbook Pro. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWvf1XAw3CM

Also check out this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2pEPUuKqu4

Kim

And just to add one more viewpoint: Where I work Macs and Dells are the two most popular computer brands. I seldom see Dell notebooks older than 3 years and when I do I also see duct tape, mice, and people in search of wall outlets because their computers are getting 60 minutes or less on a charge. At three years a Mac notebook is still going strong and poor battery life is still measured in hours rather than minutes.

I used to work at a Steel Company in Canada.

Most of the software we used worked with Windows only. Very little would work with Mac.

Also all the desktop computers in the company were supplied by our IT department.

When I left, just a little over a year ago, most of our desktop computers were being replaced by ThinClients connected over a network.

Only select personel could get full computers, and you had to justify them. The computers we got were based on who would give the company the best deal. Usually it was either Dell or HP as you have indicated.

As far as laptops, when the IT department looked into replacing our laptops every 3-5 years they would normally look at the personnel who worked in our main office to see what specs were needed.

So when it came time to turn in your laptop for a new one you would find that the much needed ports that you needed like serial ports, etc. would not longer be supplied. You would now have USB ports instead. At this point you would have to try and figure out a way to connect your new laptop to a PLC or some other piece of equipment, which you previously connected via serial port.

Anyway, you get the picture.

Kim

Windows PC are not the mainstay that they once were but in many cases they remain the default machine largely due to low price per unit. When the IT department can replace a PC notebook or desktop for 1/3 to 1/2 the price of a Mac it looks like they are spending wisely. That Macs last longer and require less support is irrelevant to this way of thinking.

In my wife’s office Windows was a requirement until recently because their national reporting software required Internet Explorer. Last year new platform agnostic software was rolled out and techs are now using iPads while office work is being done on Macs. One lone PC remains because I decided it was easier and cheaper to keep their document and email server and database backend on it than to move it all but I’ll rethink that decision in a couple years.

Should I opt to get the 3-year AppleCare Protection Plan?

In my opinion, you should ALWAYS opt for the extended protection plan for any portable computer. It operates on a battery, can be placed in a backpack and carted around, and is subject to tremendous G-forces when you transport it.

Insurance is there to cover eventualities that you cannot afford to absorb on your own. But Insurance by nature spreads that risk over a pool of people -- some will need it, some will not.

If you can not afford to replace an US$800 motherboard on your own, buy the Insurance. If you don't turn out to actually collect on it, that will be good.

Each time a new smaller computer comes out, it is harder and more expensive to fix.

One problem could easily be more than the cost of the insurance.

In my opinion, I would get the insurance.

You do not have to buy it at time of purchase, you have up to one year.

In the MBA everything is electronic ... SSD, display, cables. Since there are basically no repairs you can try without voiding the warranty, you want AppleCare to replace parts that have manufacturing issues in the first 3 years.