Pc or Mac for web development?

I am going to get into web development soon. My cousin does it for a living and says that Mac's are better. I was looking at getting a 13 inch MacBook Air with 8gb ram, 256gb SSD, and i5 cpu. That would be $1340.

As far as web development goes, does it matter if you pick Windows or a Mac laptop? Is one guy on a Mac and another on a Windows going to mess up a project?

My price range is $1300. I want something with a 256gb SSD,13 to 15 inch screen, 8gb ram, ultrabook slim, good enough cpu, and maybe some graphics that are as good or better than the intel Hd Graphics 5000. Mac's have that intel hd graphics 5000. thats pretty fast compared to the other ultrabooks ive seen. It would be cool to play some games at low settings.

I may wait for the next cpu's to come out because that would mean another big increase in graphics and power efficiency. Although I want a laptop really bad, so I probably wont wait.

Not even sure why you would get a macbook air if you had to get a laptop for development

Every single web dev I have worked with uses a PC, and often times use Linux over windows. I have a feeling that you are talking about web page design and not development, though.

PC has more web design software, for cheaper. Also, you can get more, better technology for your money if your get a PC than a Mac. A Mac is just an "easy button" for people who don't mind paying 2-3 times the cost and are too lazy to learn dick about computers, and their ignorance blinds them to the concept that they could use that extra budget to just get that much better hardware/software. The only people that say Mac is better for designing are people who

A) Don't know much about PCs

B) Work in an Apple store

For $1,300 - you can get an extremely low-end Mac laptop with slow hardware and limited space. Or you can get an extremely nice higher end PC laptop, along with all the software you'll need for the job. Decisions decisions....

At the very least, I would post to multiple sites to find your answer. Especially to forums related to software you might potentially use.

I doubt many people here own Macs.

depends on what software you'll be using to develop, what area of development you're looking at doing and what os you're more comfortable with. if you're going to buy a mac do it for the right reasons.

in the company i work for i'd say around 90% of designers use macs and 90% of developers use pcs

First off answer the following ... as someone who is also learning web developement ... I might be able to respond. which one of the below are you:

A) Are you talking about actually "Web Developement" E.G writing HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript/PHP/Ruby/SQL/C# ect to construct websites from scratch" so in other words a "back end end developer" or programmer focused.

or are you:

B) using graphics software and making pretty pages while someone puts them together for you.

or are you:

C) Abit of both, so interested in front end developement (like myself). so you will do basic HTML/CSS/Javascript/php/sql but focus on the design/setup of the webpage, but not specializing in graphics design or programming specifically?

anyway it doesn't matter.... 99% of the same software for either path are on windows/mac/linux. the myth of mac being better for graphics design or design in general is one that needs to die.

A mac book air is a rip off, you are paying for weak hardware, a small screen (as any kind of designer you will want a bigger screen for more work space.).

does it have to be mobile? as a windows desktop with 2 monitors is far more productive and STILL cheaper imo .... I wouldn't do any design/programming without 2 monitors..... you can plug a laptop into a 2nd monitor ofcourse.. but I dunno, laptops are overated to work on.

Did you freind give any justification for mac's being better? bare in mind these people have payed ridiculous premiums for what is essentially a slightly simpler "brand of pc" with very poor value, they will justify it in their minds to the end of time.

It seems from all the searching on the web that it doesnt matter much if you go windows or mac. My cousin says he likes Mac's because the software is easier. I dont know what sort of work I'm going to be doing. I'm taking an html class in college next semester to start me off. What price for a windows laptop would be good? I guess I'll go cheaper on the laptop. Maybe $700 would be a sweet spot.

I mainly just want something I can do my college work on and that I can do web development or design on it. I dont want to spend much now because laptops are so slow for gaming compared to my desktop Gtx 660.

I wanted a ssd but that would be expensive, I'll probably just go with a regular hard drive. Touch screen on windows 8, should I get that or is mouse just fine for that?

Doesn't matter, I know tons of programmers who use Macbook pro's exclusively.

Looking at all your requirements, I would say you either need to look at a higher price range, or get a Windows Machine. A Macbook Air isn't going to give you good gaming performance because of its processor, and a Macbook Pro in your price range won't give you the storage or memory you are looking for.

With a Mac, you are paying a premium for the operating system (Microsoft sells MANY more licenses), and the fact Johnny Ive and Tim Cook want more money.

EDIT: They also charge a sh@t-ton for flash storage. That's true for all of their devices I think.

I went from a $600 15" Acer A6 laptop to a $1200 13" Core i5 Macbook Pro, and noticed the following differences:

1. With a 16:10 aspect and 2" smaller diagonal, it is much more compact. Windows Machines are usually wider and shorter.

2. The Core i5 is, not surprisingly, a better game performer than the A6.

3. The keyboard is a bit nicer

4. The touchpad is MUCH MUCH NICER

5. The battery life is MUCH better

6. The chassis is made of metal, not plastic.

I would never buy a iMac or Mac Pro, but they make nice laptops.