PC vs Mac - Looking to upgrade

MaleficZ · October 14, 2005

Ah the age old question. PC owners say PC, Mac owners say Mac. Usualy.

This computer will be used to edit photo's, store music, and maybe play Sims 2 and SimCity4 from time to time.

I have a budy who could build a 2ghtz 1gig ram, 200gig PC for $900. But a duel proccesor G5 with same ram and 160gig is tempting.

What does everyone thing?

DavidTO · October 14, 2005

I'm a mac guy from way back. Heavily biased towards the better of the two OS's

But Macs are behind in gaming, so if gaming is important to you, think twice. For every other reason, get a Mac. But that's just the opinion of one biased Mac lover.

Take a look at the new iMacs, they're awesome.

DavidTO · October 14, 2005

I also wanted to add that your question isn't really useful. You're gonna get a bunch of folk like me chiming in with their favorite OS/config. It's more of a poll that you've set up than anything that will truly be of help to you.

Do you have any specific questions? That would help.

mercphoto · October 14, 2005

Whenever possible I avoid Microsoft software. Buy the Mac. You'll be much happier. Why people continue to buy software from M$ that is buggy and has glaring security holes is beyond me.

Andy · October 14, 2005

i switched after 20 years with pc. switched to all mac in january of this year and couldn't be happier. my life as "sysadmin" has changed dramatically

i've gained hours per week of my life back! if you switch, i'll provide lifetime tech support for you - can say that, becuase you'll hardly ever ever need it

dunno if the sims works native on apple....

good luck in your choice mate

MaleficZ · October 14, 2005

Well the gaming is for my girlfriend who is all about the Sims Games. She also does a lot of photography, and uses photoshop more then I do.

I'm looking at a G5 with 1gig ram, and everything else base. Any suggestions on things I should get with it? Maybe the next leven video card?

Also, I'd need to get a more styling desk for it, and even some dramatic lighting around it.

What screen do you guys suggest? Do I have to buy from Apple for it? Or is it just better to stay with a first party screen?

MaleficZ · October 14, 2005

andy wrote:

i'll provide lifetime tech support for you - can say that, becuase you'll hardly ever ever need it

good luck in your choice mate

I think if I really did take you up on that, I would have one month of asking for help, then, it would be my new home, knowing where everything is.

Andy · October 14, 2005

MaleficZ wrote:

Well the gaming is for my girlfriend who is all about the Sims Games. She also does a lot of photography, and uses photoshop more then I do.

I'm looking at a G5 with 1gig ram, and everything else base. Any suggestions on things I should get with it? Maybe the next leven video card?

Also, I'd need to get a more styling desk for it, and even some dramatic lighting around it.

What screen do you guys suggest? Do I have to buy from Apple for it? Or is it just better to stay with a first party screen?

more ram. and get it from crucial.com it's 1/2 the price of apple ram. installing it is a cinch. i have five gigs of ram on my machine. 2-3 is ample though for most..

MaleficZ · October 14, 2005

My biggest problem here is money. I'm already going over my head here with a G5. I'd have to get it through the Apple installment plan already. I'm just going to get the 2gig ram from Apple so I can make payments...

I'm starting to think that I may have to wait till spring for this baby. Shame. Wating is a bitch.

DavidTO · October 14, 2005

andy wrote:

if you switch, i'll provide lifetime tech support for you - can say that, becuase you'll hardly ever ever need it

Hey, that's my line!

(Glad to see someone else picking up the torch of tech support!). Seriously, Male..., any questions or support you need, Andy will be happy to help you! (me, too).

DavidTO · October 14, 2005

MaleficZ wrote:

My biggest problem here is money. I'm already going over my head here with a G5. I'd have to get it through the Apple installment plan already. I'm just going to get the 2gig ram from Apple so I can make payments...

I'm starting to think that I may have to wait till spring for this baby. Shame. Wating is a bitch.

You can get a 2ghz iMac for $999 link

pathfinder · October 14, 2005

andy wrote:

i switched after 20 years with pc. switched to all mac in january of this year and couldn't be happier. my life as "sysadmin" has changed dramatically i've gained hours per week of my life back! if you switch, i'll provide lifetime tech support for you - can say that, becuase you'll hardly ever ever need it

dunno if the sims works native on apple....

good luck in your choice mate

Andy's comment could not be more appropriate. I swtiched to G5s at home, and the administering/ repairing/ updating and maintaining of the machines is Dramtically less than when my wife and I used Win XP. I used to spend hours and week ends keeping things running and upgraded. I no longer do any of that - one button click and I am backed up and good to go. Occaisionaly I'll get a notice from Apple asking if I want the newest update. One click Yes and it is done. I NEVER have regretted accepting an update from Apple. How many updates from MS have made you worse off or with a non-functional machine that you had to put back together again?

As for screens - the 20" iMAC is great and the 23" Cinema display is even better.

Apples aren't perfect - but they are a lot better than the Win boxes I use at work every day. Flame on boys, I got my armor on:D

DavidTO · October 14, 2005

pathfinder wrote:

Andy's comment could not be more appropriate. I swtiched to G5s at home, and the administering/ repairing/ updating and maintaining of the machines is Dramtically less than when my wife and I used Win XP.

Which is a major reason why the TCO (total cost of ownership) is lower on a Mac.

pathfinder · October 14, 2005

DavidTO wrote:

Which is a major reason why the TCO (total cost of ownership) is lower on a Mac.

Absolutely!! If you are willing to be an unpaid repairman hour after hour, PC's may be cheaper to purchase. But if you include the time spent keeping them running, they are vastly more costly in the long run. My free time is valuable to me, I no longer donate it to MS.

luke_church · October 14, 2005

pathfinder wrote:

Apples aren't perfect - but they are a lot better than the Win boxes I use at work every day. Flame on boys, I got my armor on:D

Hehe, not round here... It's little devils all the way (that's a moderately obscure techinical joke, if you get it, feel free to 'flame' back

)

I'm staying out of this.:):

Luke

colourbox · October 14, 2005

MaleficZ wrote:

I'm looking at a G5 with 1gig ram, and everything else base.... What screen do you guys suggest? Do I have to buy from Apple for it? Or is it just better to stay with a first party screen?

I would get a Mac with as little RAM as they sell, then turn around and fill it with much cheaper RAM from crucial.com, macsales.com...anybody except Apple due to the cost.

Also, 1GB RAM is not going to cut it if you're editing high-megapixel digital camera photos in Photoshop. If I could stick more than 2GB of RAM in my PowerBook...I would.

You can use anybody's screen. It depends on how picky your girlfriend is going to be about color accuracy. Cheap LCDs are not that great. DVI interface is definitely better than VGA, but the cheap ones only have VGA. Apple's screens are good, but pricey. A lot of Mac users are buying the Dell widescreen LCDs because they use the same panels, but are cheaper than Apple's.

nathan · October 14, 2005

I'd recommend Mac, but I'm paid to say that, I work for Apple.

As far as "The Sims" goes, all of "The Sims" and expansion packs are on Mac. "The Sims 2" is also available for Mac. However, I don't believe that "The Sims Online" is available.

Hope that bit helps.

gus · October 14, 2005

Mac i have no idea about but i cant kill my PC...i buy new stuff for it real cheap & bang it in my self...i belt it like a biting mongrel dog & it still runs just fine.

Khaos · October 14, 2005

What amazes me is that I never have all these issues ever since Windows 2000 came out. Everything previous in the MS world was terrible. So it's weird to hear the horror stories.

I think much is to do with the fact that the MAC is proprietary. The OS is built for the hardware.

Windows is built for so much plug and play style hardware out there that the driver organization is a nightmare, thus the problems.

However, this allows for a lot cheaper alternative and also a larger variety.

The MAC vs PC wars are useless. If you have the money and don't require extensive gaming and more shareware than you can imagine, yes go with a MAC. Having built my own PCs forever now, I prefer to get the more bang for my buck in this route.

If you're young with no forseeable income increases in the coming years, upgrades will be expensive for you. Apple makes quality products, but you pay for them. It's the reason I have a creative zen mp3 player instead of an ipod. Same sound quality but the ipod has a better interface. To me, it wasn't $160 better.:D

pathfinder · October 14, 2005

Khaos wrote:

What amazes me is that I never have all these issues ever since Windows 2000 came out. Everything previous in the MS world was terrible. So it's weird to hear the horror stories.

I think much is to do with the fact that the MAC is proprietary. The OS is built for the hardware.

Windows is built for so much plug and play style hardware out there that the driver organization is a nightmare, thus the problems.

However, this allows for a lot cheaper alternative and also a larger variety.

The MAC vs PC wars are useless. If you have the money and don't require extensive gaming and more shareware than you can imagine, yes go with a MAC. Having built my own PCs forever now, I prefer to get the more bang for my buck in this route.

If you're young with no forseeable income increases in the coming years, upgrades will be expensive for you. Apple makes quality products, but you pay for them. It's the reason I have a creative zen mp3 player instead of an ipod. Same sound quality but the ipod has a better interface. To me, it wasn't $160 better.:D

Khaos, I've built half a dozen Win boxes too - It's not that I don't know how - I've been there - I've done that - I just don't want to spend my time that way anymore.

I agree, PC hardware is cheaper, IF I don't factor ANY cost for my time. But I do - my time is valuable and limited, and I prefer to use my computer rather than work on it. Just like I prefer to drive my car and leave the mechanical repair and maintenance to the service technician. It is my choice - I accept that for others this is not their choice and that is a good thing.

I like having lots of choices. I will be interested to see what Vista is like, I might even build another box, but I will continue to use my MAC for its dedicated use as a Photoshop editing machine. I still play games on Windoze if I feel the need or desire. Rant OVER!!

A note - I think the reason my WIN machines seem less stable is that they are asked to run a large variety of devices - multiple hard drives, slide scanners, flat bed scanners, several printers, CF readers, multiple monitors, etc. They are not simple boxes with just a limted array a peripherals - that is where some of the complexity comes from. But my MACS do the same thing without complaint so far.

DavidTO · October 14, 2005

Khaos wrote:

more shareware than you can imagine...

Just want to clarify. There is more shareware available for the Mac than I can imagine. It's a lot.

At least this Mac user thinks so!

gus · October 14, 2005

To clarify further...there is far more shareware avail for PC than mac.

Everyone knows this but i do like to stir the pot.

DavidTO · October 14, 2005

Humungus wrote:

To clarify further...there is far more shareware avail for PC than mac.

Everyone knows this but i do like to stir the pot.

Pot is not stirred!

Not denying there's more for the PC, just saying there's plenty for the Mac. Enough that I really don't think you would notice a practical difference.

gus · October 14, 2005

We must be getting close to a nikon v's canon thread soon.

Andy · October 14, 2005

Humungus wrote:

To clarify further...there is far more shareware avail for PC than mac.

Everyone knows this but i do like to stir the pot.

but, how many games of solitaire does one need?

gus · October 14, 2005

andy wrote:

more ram. and get it from crucial.com it's 1/2 the price of apple ram. installing it is a cinch. i have five gigs of ram on my machine. 2-3 is ample though for most..

5 gigs of RAM

gus · October 14, 2005

andy wrote:

but, how many games of solitaire does one need?

I dunno mate...you know im close to choosing a Mac...b..b..but i will have to grow a pony tail..go to uni & drive a pre 1975 VW bug to fit in with the Mac crowd over here.

Andy · October 14, 2005

Humungus wrote:

I dunno mate...you know im close to choosing a Mac...b..b..but i will have to grow a pony tail..go to uni & drive a pre 1975 VW bug to fit in with the Mac crowd over here.

and you get more chicks, too.

DavidTO · October 14, 2005

Humungus wrote:

To clarify further...there is far more shareware avail for PC than mac.

Everyone knows this but i do like to stir the pot.

I seriously don't want to start a war, or even participate in it, but I can't resist mentioning viruses.

Windows: 60,000+ (or somewhere around there)
OSX: 0 (unless you count the ones that you need local access and an admin password--then I think it's 1 or 2.)

DJ-S1 · October 14, 2005

This is not directed at anyone in particular, but :deadhorse !

Of course I could just stop reading the thread, but it's kind of like driving past a car wreck.; it's impossible to NOT look!

DavidTO · October 14, 2005

DJ-S1 wrote:

This is not directed at anyone in particular, but :deadhorse !

Of course I could just stop reading the thread, but it's kind of like driving past a car wreck.; it's impossible to NOT look!

Guilty as charged.

PC vs Mac - Looking to upgrade

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