Shall i convert to mac?

[skill_guy101]

I have a PC at the moment but im thinking of converting to Mac. maybe a G5 imac. i would idealy like a gig of ram, 160gb hd, airport exrtreme, bluetooth wireless keyboard and mouse. probaly cant aford 20" and would probably get the 17" and plug in my 19" CRT.

But... couldnt i get a better PC for the same price. so whats the point of getting a Mac? is it only looks? who wants to sway my desission?

[funggorgor]

mac looks cool
and mac is good for application such as photoshop

one of the points for getting a mac
is to try yellow dog linux

[flashpenguin]

it's a philosophy.. being a mac owner is deeper than computer performance because for your money you can get a faster PC. Only a mac user can explain the deeper meaning. I for one am still in the matrix so can't help you..

[skill_guy101]

for one am still in the matrix so can't help you..

lol

i think i might turn in to that kid who loves neo

[aversion]

I have both macs and PCs (and linux PCs) and to be honest I prefer PCs, they, at least mine, crash less and are more intuitive to use. I think that intuitiveness comes with years of using windows before I got a mac but that's the way it is, I just don't find OSX good to use.

The style thing is another factor, it's definitely a big reason why a lot of people use macs, whether they'd like to admit it or not. The other is a universal hatred for MS of course

For my money I'd pick a cheaper better performing PC every time, I really only use macs for testing and burning cross platform CDs now. Also some of the software I use every day isn't available for the mac.

Buy a mac and pay a premium if you think it's the better machine for you, I think that's fine, but there's no universal answer, you just have to try it for yourself, the most important thing is not to listen to what other people think, it's such a polarised issue, get out there are try OSX, there's nothing more important than how the system will perform for you, with you.

Apple make the sweetest displays though, if you can get one do it, whether you stick it on a PC or a mac.

[The_Xell]

stick with pc just because you have the ease of upgrading...
I've totally gone off macs...

I have a G3 sitting next to me i've been meaning to sell!

[asheep_uk]

Buying a 17" iMac and then not using the screen is a tad pointless as you are pretty much wasting the monitor and part of your money. Go for the Power Mac G5, they start at about the same level the iMacs do.

They are wonderful computers and as pretty much everybody on this board knows (and is sick to death of) I've found it so much nicer, quicker, more elegant and a joy to use. The G5 is an amazing processor, I've played with a few in shops and at recording studios. You'll be very happy with it.

[skill_guy101]

i was talking about dual monitor

[flashpenguin]

Originally posted by asheep_uk
Buying a 17" iMac and then not using the screen is a tad pointless as you are pretty much wasting the monitor and part of your money. Go for the Power Mac G5, they start at about the same level the iMacs do.

They are wonderful computers and as pretty much everybody on this board knows (and is sick to death of) I've found it so much nicer, quicker, more elegant and a joy to use. The G5 is an amazing processor, I've played with a few in shops and at recording studios. You'll be very happy with it.

yeah.. from what I've read on the G5 if I ever did leave the matrix it would be for a G5 dualy.. Hardest part of switching is having enough money to do so..

[the sherrif]

there's a price to pay for being cool. It seems the other differences are insignificant or subjective.

[gerbick]

if you had to ask... then I'd say don't do it.

sounds common sense, perhaps even a bit snobbish, but seriously though. stay PC.

my move to Mac was inevitable. PC's pissed me off that much.

[atRax]

I will never exhange my workstation for any MAC. PC can be a pain in the ass if you dont have all the tool to maintain its stability but at the end you will have a faster system at a cheaper price whit AMD. If you got a certain amount of $ get a Dual opteron in RAID youll be please to see how everybody apply filter on 200mo 300 dpi files slower then you.

[wouter999]

Ask yourself this: what would be the pros of getting a Mac? I doubt they outweigh the pros of some 500 dollars saved when buying a PC.

[asheep_uk]

Originally posted by skill_guy101
i was talking about dual monitor

Ahhhh. That requires a small hack on iMacs because Apple don't consider the graphics card powerful enough to run dual-monitors. I'd just stick with the 17" provided by the iMac.

I agree completely with aversion, go and try it. Go to an Apple Store or a reseller and play with OS X. I'm the opposite to aversion, I far prefer OS X to Windows; Windows just seems clunky and old to me now.

But, like he said, go and try it for yourself. There are some changes you have to get used to, for me it was keyboard shortcuts. There are a lot in OS X, but they all make sense. For example, every single application that plays media that comes with OS X (QuickTime, iTunes, GarageBand, iMovie etc) uses the space bar as play. So once you've learned it once, you can use it over and over. Two most popular keyboard shortcuts: Cmd+Q and Cmd+W, the former quits the current application and the second closes the current window.

I would stop here and let you play, but a few people have mentioned cost.

All right, if you compare, spec for spec between an iMac and a Dell, the iMac is more expensive. The first point most people miss is the software. You're getting iLife '05, which includes GarageBand, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iTunes and iDVD. Nobody distributes that kind of software with a PC, certainly not that good anyway. If you where to buy the closest Windows versions of all that you'd probably end up spending another $400.

There's a whole bunch of other stuff which I can bore you with if you really want to know, but really, use aversion's advice, go and try it for yourself.

[flashpenguin]

All right, if you compare, spec for spec between an iMac and a Dell, the iMac is more expensive. The first point most people miss is the software. You're getting iLife '05, which includes GarageBand, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iTunes and iDVD. Nobody distributes that kind of software with a PC, certainly not that good anyway. If you where to buy the closest Windows versions of all that you'd probably end up spending another $400.

Don't forget all his current software which he would only be able to use on his PC.. ie photoshop, flash, dreamweaver, etc.. Mac might come with a lot of cool software but most PC's now days come with dvd player, photoviewers, etc. maybe not as good of software but it's there. What scares me about the change is the price of photoshop CS and macromedia suite to buy AGAIN for mac.. So I guess one thing to remember if you do end up switching is wait until your software is out of date too so that the switch doesn't end up costing too much more ..

[skill_guy101]

I quite like the dual monitor thing because then i can watch films on one screen (17" if there wide screen) and still do other stuff like messenger on the otherscreen. You say Apple dont consider the graphics card powerful enough to run dual monitors, is that mac being ultra corecious or is it generally not a good idea to run the hack ie quite a noticable change in proformance.

i think i will have to try one out. my mates just bought a G4 off ebay, 1gb ram, 1ghz prosessor. ill try that out, will there be a big step up from the G4 1ghz to say a 1.6ghz G5?

cheers for your help

[asheep_uk]

That is true, he would have that issue. I timed buying my Mac in with some upgrading I had to do anyway, like a new version of Office. But I can't afford Photoshop CS, or even the older versions in the first place, so I didn't have to worry about things like that.

Good point though.

[asheep_uk]

Originally posted by skill_guy101
I quite like the dual monitor thing because then i can watch films on one screen (17" if there wide screen) and still do other stuff like messenger on the otherscreen. You say Apple dont consider the graphics card powerful enough to run dual monitors, is that mac being ultra corecious or is it generally not a good idea to run the hack ie quite a noticable change in proformance.

i think i will have to try one out. my mates just bought a G4 off ebay, 1gb ram, 1ghz prosessor. ill try that out, will there be a big step up from the G4 1ghz to say a 1.6ghz G5?

cheers for your help

Yeah, there's quite a big difference between those speeds and the processor itself. The difference between processor speeds is quite big with Macs.

The dual monitor thing is slightly odd, because an iMac is more powerful than a PowerBook, but a PowerBook supports dual-screen right out of the box. It has a 64MB graphics card, so it'll be 32MB per monitor. The dual-screen is nice, I use it for video editing. The iMac, Mac mini and iBook are consumer Macs, so dual-screen isn't really something those kind of people want.

[skill_guy101]

I would get a power mac but the G5 is so dam beatiful.

Also ages ago i got a laptop (from PC world, stupid yeah but i did)and i got a 5 year ensureance thing with it cos i was taking it to school and stuff. i have had had it fixed loads much more than the laptop is work. anyway i have a feeling it might die completely soon and they will probably give me vouchers to get something of the same spec. is it worth chuching in a few hundrid quid and getting this powerbook
or sticking with a Windows laptop? or is that again down to perosnal taste? if i got the G5 then i supose it would make sence to have a mac laptop aswell.

[hanratty21]

Originally posted by skill_guy101
But... couldnt i get a better PC for the same price. so whats the point of getting a Mac? is it only looks? who wants to sway my desission?

Well, here's a topic I've not heqrd anyone explore before now...

</sarcasm>

RH