The problem of the Mac

[intervenient]

I've been really impressed with Microsoft lately. I love WP8, what' they're trying to do with W8, and the simplification of cloud services (outlook is amazing). I was ready to jump ship onto the Microsoft bandwagon full force until I fell back in love with my MBA. I don't think I could use another computer again.

I'm currently using an Android phone (blegh), and level of interactivity between the two is basically nothing, which is completely the opposite of when I had my iPhone. Syncing my mail, calendar, and especially my media is a giant pain in the butt (Calendar hates Google Calendar, Android hates iTunes).

While I know that WP8 has better syncing capabilities with Macs than Android, I still can't help think that switching back to the iPhone once the 5 comes out would make better sense to me. iOS has better app support, and better connectivity with my Mac, wheres WP8 is struggling support. However, iOS is also extremely boring, and I'm not a fan of Apple's lack of innovation lately.

Is anyone else having this sort of problem when picking a smart phone?

 

[alent1234]

Set up gmail as a push exchange account

Only old people still sync data to mobile from a computer

 

[SurferMan]

Why not just use Googles services? Even for the iPhones I use gmail for calender, contacts etc, especially with employees and a few businesses so everyone is on the same page with different phones lol. I sync everything with my GSII on my Macs no prob, so not sure what issues your having? If for example you wanted to still use iTunes for your music, you can use iSyncr to sync it, Google Music etc.

Can't really blame Android or other OSs since Apple made iTunes and iCloud specific to the iPhone, never really cared for dealing with iTunes all these years and all it's annoying quirks, and have had plenty of issues with iCloud. But there are plenty of ways around that to work with your "different" OS . iTunes even runs crappy on Windows vs OS/X... thank Apple again lol. I love with Google that all various phones can sync with it.

 

[intervenient]

Set up gmail as a push exchange account

Only old people still sync data to mobile from a computer

Still have problems with it.


Maybe the Mac was the wrong word, as much as Apple ecosystem. There's no easy way to sync my notes, reminders, and all those goodies seamlessly across Android and my Mac. The only thing I'd hard sync to my computer is iTunes.



To the poster below me, I do use Google services, but they do sometimes not work perfect with my Mac as they did when I used iCloud across all my devices. This isn't a question about Android, as I don't like the platform enough to stick with it after WP8 or the new iPhone.

 

[polotska]

To the poster below me, I do use Google services, but they do sometimes not work perfect with my Mac as they did when I used iCloud across all my devices. This isn't a question about Android, as I don't like the platform enough to stick with it after WP8 or the new iPhone.

Yeah, that was my experience with Google services and Android, as well. Microsoft does make offer the Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac and presumably they’ll offer something similar for Windows Phone 8, but who knows.

 

[alent1234]

Still have problems with it.


Maybe the Mac was the wrong word, as much as Apple ecosystem. There's no easy way to sync my notes, reminders, and all those goodies seamlessly across Android and my Mac. The only thing I'd hard sync to my computer is iTunes.



To the poster below me, I do use Google services, but they do sometimes not work perfect with my Mac as they did when I used iCloud across all my devices. This isn't a question about Android, as I don't like the platform enough to stick with it after WP8 or the new iPhone.

for notes use evernote, way better
google calendar will sync if you set up your gmail via push MS Exchange in the account settings. and it will sync reminders.

only thing you lose is icloud and ability to play TV/Movies on your android. otherwise there are platform agnostic services out there that are better than what apple has

i never liked much of the MS ecosystem other than windows and some server products. same with apple, they make nice hardware and a good OS. but not much else.

 

[Wrathwitch]

Go where your passion lie.

 

[chrisrosemusic1]

I favour android considerably after my latest purchase. iOS feels stale, out of touch and lacking in terms of new features. They just seem to be drip feeding features which android and win phone have had for years.

As for OSx, no I can't bring myself to leave. Every time I use it I smile-it just works. I'm planning on buying a newer mac towards Christmas and that still excites me more than looking at windows laptops.

I've found work arounds for all the things I missed with my iPhone and to be honest, the S3 is so much nicer to use

It's all a matter of opinion, so just make a decision and roll with it. Nobody said you have to stick it out.

 

[intervenient]

I favour android considerably after my latest purchase. iOS feels stale, out of touch and lacking in terms of new features. They just seem to be drip feeding features which android and win phone have had for years.

As for OSx, no I can't bring myself to leave. Every time I use it I smile-it just works. I'm planning on buying a newer mac towards Christmas and that still excites me more than looking at windows laptops.

I've found work arounds for all the things I missed with my iPhone and to be honest, the S3 is so much nicer to use

It's all a matter of opinion, so just make a decision and roll with it. Nobody said you have to stick it out.

I think that's the perfect description of how I feel about OSX. I may be intrigued by Windows 8, but every time I hop on my Air, it really is the perfected form of the traditional computing experience.

I'm thinking about keeping the Mac, trying out WP8, and getting the elusive iPad Mini when it's finally released. Leaves the problem of Xbox 360 vs. Apple TV wide open though :/

 

[ixodes]

Go where your passion lie.

Works great for those of us that are indeed passionate about great tech gear.

For those who's passion is creating chaos... not so much

 

[chrisrosemusic1]

I think that's the perfect description of how I feel about OSX. I may be intrigued by Windows 8, but every time I hop on my Air, it really is the perfected form of the traditional computing experience.

I'm thinking about keeping the Mac, trying out WP8, and getting the elusive iPad Mini when it's finally released. Leaves the problem of Xbox 360 vs. Apple TV wide open though :/

I personally haven't got Apple TV - it doesn't do enough to justify the purchase. My Xbox does everything I need it to in my living room, although I do want Ouya

 

[mcman77]

I am osx all the way but wary of iOS. The only thing that gets to me with macs will be when laptops will become hybrids.

Imagine a hybrid MBA....

I guessing here but I think OS XI might be something like that...I just hope they don't screw it up and take the route of iOS cause currently it feels like android is being developed by the same people who coded for OSX and iOS is being written by the same people who wrote windows 98.

 

[Bilalo]

I've been really impressed with Microsoft lately. I love WP8, what' they're trying to do with W8, and the simplification of cloud services (outlook is amazing). I was ready to jump ship onto the Microsoft bandwagon full force until I fell back in love with my MBA. I don't think I could use another computer again.

I'm currently using an Android phone (blegh), and level of interactivity between the two is basically nothing, which is completely the opposite of when I had my iPhone. Syncing my mail, calendar, and especially my media is a giant pain in the butt (Calendar hates Google Calendar, Android hates iTunes).

While I know that WP8 has better syncing capabilities with Macs than Android, I still can't help think that switching back to the iPhone once the 5 comes out would make better sense to me. iOS has better app support, and better connectivity with my Mac, wheres WP8 is struggling support. However, iOS is also extremely boring, and I'm not a fan of Apple's lack of innovation lately.

Is anyone else having this sort of problem when picking a smart phone?

I see both android and iOS being awesome and W8, i personally prefer iOS, but if you dont mind any then go with the laptop you got, if its windows then windows, if iOS then mac.

 

[Dontazemebro]

It might just be me but I'm not feeling the whole metro UI with windows 8. On a phone, yea it works great, but not all lappys are touchscreen (yet) and i find it being more of a gimmick than actually being useful. Maybe I'm just too used to windows 7 :shrugs:

 

[intervenient]

I personally haven't got Apple TV - it doesn't do enough to justify the purchase. My Xbox does everything I need it to in my living room, although I do want Ouya

I'm kind of the opposite. The 360 doesn't give me that much of a tangible benefit over the Apple TV (only games really, and I'm not a HUGE gamer), and with the Apple TV I could easily get my iTunes content going from it, not to mention future iPad mirroring.

It might just be me but I'm not feeling the whole metro UI with windows 8. On a phone, yea it works great, but not all lappys are touchscreen (yet) and i find it being more of a gimmick than actually being useful. Maybe I'm just too used to windows 7 :shrugs:

At first I thought it was super cool...but then, practicality wise, I don't think it makes much sense. It's a great tablet UI for sure (RT models mostly), but I don't think scaled up it makes that much sense. Then again, I'd LOVE to be proven wrong in the desktop space.

 

[alent1234]

My Xbox is used for amazon, esPn, MLB tv, YouTube and games. Nick jr channel Is coming soon

Getting apple tv only because cartoons cost the same as amazon and wife wants air mirroring

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

I've been really impressed with Microsoft lately. I love WP8, what' they're trying to do with W8, and the simplification of cloud services (outlook is amazing). I was ready to jump ship onto the Microsoft bandwagon full force until I fell back in love with my MBA. I don't think I could use another computer again.

I'm currently using an Android phone (blegh), and level of interactivity between the two is basically nothing, which is completely the opposite of when I had my iPhone. Syncing my mail, calendar, and especially my media is a giant pain in the butt (Calendar hates Google Calendar, Android hates iTunes).

While I know that WP8 has better syncing capabilities with Macs than Android, I still can't help think that switching back to the iPhone once the 5 comes out would make better sense to me. iOS has better app support, and better connectivity with my Mac, wheres WP8 is struggling support. However, iOS is also extremely boring, and I'm not a fan of Apple's lack of innovation lately.

Is anyone else having this sort of problem when picking a smart phone?

I switched to gmail-based accounts years ago and really haven't had any issues since. In fact, right now I'm running both a Galaxy S3 and an iPhone 4S and with the exception of my music collection, both devices are properly synched to the same Gmail email/calendar accounts. I do find that iOS is a bit more integrated into an Exchange server environment, however.

As for music, I use iCloud and don't even bother hooking my Mac up to my phone anymore. That's a throwback to the Palm/Pilot days and ready to die the death it deserves in my book.

For everything else...there's Dropbox. Best. Utility. Ever.

 

[intervenient]

I switched to gmail-based accounts years ago and really haven't had any issues since. In fact, right now I'm running both a Galaxy S3 and an iPhone 4S and with the exception of my music collection, both devices are properly synched to the same Gmail email/calendar accounts. I do find that iOS is a bit more integrated into an Exchange server environment, however.

As for music, I use iCloud and don't even bother hooking my Mac up to my phone anymore. That's a throwback to the Palm/Pilot days and ready to die the death it deserves in my book.

For everything else...there's Dropbox. Best. Utility. Ever.

My Mac has been playing nice with my Gmail lately, so that's good news on that front.

I'm sure what you mean you're using iCloud for music. How does that work on an Android phone? Can you download them to the phone? I ask because I'm a runner, and where I'm at, once you're off the path, you can say good bye to any sort data connectivity.