I was hoping to get some feedback from anyone who does a lot of mystery shopping data entry on an Apple computer. I've never used anything but the regular PCs (excuse my lack of knowledge of computer terminology lol), and I was wondering if Sassie, Shopmetrics, etc. work using whatever Apple uses for a browser. I have literally had NO experience with an Apple computer but am thinking of getting a Macbook based upon the recommendations of others. I have a bad feeling my notebook computer is about to die, and I've heard so much about how Macs dont run slow or get viruses. So, computer geeks, what are the differences when it comes to shopping and would I be ok with using a macbook? I do a lot of video shopping and also regular shops.

I've had no problems with the Mac at all. I recommend using Firefox as your default browser, but some sites (not necessarily MS related) work better with Safari. I'm a relatively recent convert, and I highly recommend it! Takes a little while to get used to it, but it's worth it! BTW, I had the need to retain Windows, so I have both operating systems on my machine. That said, although I have Bootcamp so I can start my machine and have it entirely dedicated in that mode, you can also get a program called Parallels. I've had a problem with Mac from time to time when emailing receipts, but not with uploads -- and it very well may be a weird setting on my computer.

Generally differences between the two should be pretty much invisible when you are using a web browser that is common to both systems. I've never used Safari but I've seen only a couple of job sites that indicate they are Safari compatible (and Safari is an exclusively Mac product, I believe). Any website that you were using Firefox before should work well with Firefox regardless of the underlying operating system. There are a few report sites that I still need to use IE with from my PC and I don't know if there is an IE version for Mac. I would assume that there is.

Yes, there you can access IE with Mac, but I've never had to. Firefox is by far my preferred browser. One or two times I've entered a report with Safari -- seemed less buggy, but that's still unusual.

There are still a couple of 'primitive' enough companies that you need IE for. They are good companies to work with but just technologically retarded.

Shopmetrics is the only platform I've found that gives any trouble with the current version of Safari. Firefox solves that problem.

I shop for 150+ companies. I use an older Mac (prior to Intel Core Duo). I had problems with only one company. With the current models of Mac you will have no difficulties. My older Mac is loved over a newer, and less expensive PC. Never had a virus. Never a lost file. Handles graphics easily.

I found it easy to give up the company that required Internet Explorer. It has not been supported for a Mac in many years. That will not be a problem with the current Macs since they also run Windows applications.

Hmm... I'm definitely leaning towards getting a mac now. Is most software made for macs as well as PCs? I'm wondering about Maps and Trips, etc.

I'm sure that there are equivalents between the two platforms if not the identical software used for both. The other thing is that you can set up a dual boot with Windows or the Mac OS if you have a copy of the Windows software. The major difference at this point seems to be in the graphics capabilities of the Mac, and after all, that was always its claim to fame. Thus there is no point in me paying the premium cost for a Mac as graphics are not a high priority item for me. Because Apple is the ONLY seller of the Macs, there is no price competition. For PCs there is a lot of competition so a darn good desktop or laptop can be purchased for under $500.

EddyLee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I use an older Mac (prior to Intel Core Duo). I had problems with
> only one company. With the current models of Mac
> you will have no difficulties. My older Mac is
> loved over a newer, and less expensive PC. Never
> had a virus. Never a lost file. Handles graphics
> easily.

Ditto! I too use an older Mac, and it has been absolutely wonderful. And like you, not a single problem ever!
And, yes, I use Firefox 99% of the time.

I don't understand how a mystery shopping company can only be "compatible" with IE. Boggles the mind.

That kind of issue generally arises when their programmer is not very good or is not paid enough to spend the time to do it right. Getting up something that can limp along with IE is an improvement over getting nothing up. And I suspect some of the website software is real legacy stuff that to get functioning with other browsers would require major rewrites rather than just more patches. One of the MSPs with a notorious website only IE friendly has made some changes that seem designed to reduce the load on their server, which has speeded up the site but made more page turns necessary for the user. In the past you could wait up to 20 minutes for a page to load. And heck, they may have upgraded their server as well.

Hi everyone - was just scrolling through the latest posts when I came across the answers to the question I was just about to ask!

I've just been given an older Mac after my PC crashed and was wondering if I would be able to continue to use Firefox. I really dislike IE which I am using on my son's laptop at the moment. Firefox which I was using on my previous machine was much faster and more reliable, so even though I wasn't the one to ask the original question, many thanks for your answers.

Yes, you can absolutely use Firefox. From time to time, I do use Safari, but most sites work perfectly okay with FF.

And to an earlier post, you can definitely use IE with Mac. I forgot that I HAVE used it, because I have AOL on here, and it's the default browser. Before I upgraded FF (quite a long time ago), some ICCDS things that wouldn't open up in either Safari or Firefox, so I booted up AOL and went through there. Since upgrading, I can get all the ICCDS stuff in Firefox.

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> ... One of the MSPs with a
> notorious website only IE friendly has made some
> changes that seem designed to reduce the load on
> their server, which has speeded up the site but
> made more page turns necessary for the user. In
> the past you could wait up to 20 minutes for a
> page to load. And heck, they may have upgraded
> their server as well.


Holy cow! How does this company stayed in business! LOL
I can only imagine what their clients thought of it.

I refuse to use IE. It's buggy, not-secure, and a general PITA.
I love my Mac and won't allow it to be infected by IE.

Evidently their clients are content and as a shopper I am content as well with super simple shops at $50 a pop :^)

I also will give up shopping for a company that insists on IE. It is buggy and not worth messing with. Life is too short.

I have a macbook (pro), and it's great!
I'm signed up with about 80 different companies, and I have never had a problem with Safari with any of the companies. Of course, Firefox is generally more widely accepted, but you can always download it for free. I use Firefox as a backup for the rare times that a website hasn't accepted Safari.

Another awesome feature about my Mac is the automatic spell-check. I can't tell you how amazing it is that everything I write is automatically spell-checked just like it is in Microsoft Word. I'm not sure if that feature is standard with Macbook Pro's or if it's an add-on, but for shopper reports, it sure is amazing!

And definitely get the laptop! Again, I can't tell you how great it is that I can take my computer with me to a shop, sneak off to a nearby coffee shop with WiFi and get the report done immediately. I've found this to be a life-saving feature, because information tends to leak out of my brain as I drive home.

And the Macbook Pro's are super fast and have a ton of memory. I've never once had a problem with mine.

Long story short, Apple laptops are awesome. They take a while to get used to, but they're worth it!

The Pro is a little more money than the regular Macbook, but it would probably be worth the investment in the long run. Nonetheless, the regular is still just as good as the Pro.

Sorry I got so ramble-y. I just heart my Macbook, and wish to spread the joy. =)

And for under $400 you can pick up a PC laptop that you don't need to get something that looks like Word or acts like Word because it IS Word. Spell check comes automatically with Word and is available in many of the report forms these days anyway either as an underlining or as a right click option. I don't know that there is a PC laptop these days that doesn't have WiFi capabilities. Most of them come with 3GB or 4GB of fast memory.

Obviously Mac folks love their Macs almost as much as us PC folks love our PCs and adore their PC pricetags :^)

Hey, I own a PC. I grew up with my PC. I actually hated my Mac when I first got it, but it's really grown on me.

Obviously one can copy and paste things into Word Processor, but come on! A lot of shops have short answer sections--and a lot of them. It's tedious to copy and paste each 10-word sentence into Word when you can have your computer do it automatically. And yes, ideally we should all be able to self-edit, but automatic spell check cuts the whole process in half.

Although I'm primarily a Mac user, I'm not a fanatic. That said, I prefer to use the Mac whenever possible. I think a friend of mine summed up the PC to Mac transition very well. I'm paraphrasing, but it was basically, "For the first couple of days after I got my Mac, I was like, 'What the heck did I do? Then in a few weeks, I wondered how I ever lived without it!'"

Of course, when he said it, it was much funnier than the way I'm telling it, and "heck" was not the word he used.

Been using Windows XP forever on my PC notebok without ever having a problem. Except when I did a data dump accidently.

Hellbent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Been using Windows XP forever on my PC notebok
> without ever having a problem. Except when I
> did a data dump accidently.

A lot of people never have problems. I, however, was not one of them! I've gone through hard drive failures with every PC I ever owned, and twice on the last one. My desktop (after being fixed) still works, but it's slow (but mostly because it is O-L-D!). However, I DO also have windows on my Mac. I didn't/don't NEED it, but it made the transition easier, and I do sometimes use full resources to boot up on the other side. There's some data I never even transferred.