Long story short, I'm sick of how slow my Windows laptop is and the fact that it lasts not long at all without battery kinda doesn't warrant me needing anything more than a desktop computer.
A worker at JB Hi-Fi has pretty much convinced me that iMacs are awesome. Especially when you have the Apple TV thingy. The only thing that really is annoying is a lack of CD drive.
What do you guys think? I'm not looking to start an Apple VS Microsoft war because I think both a good, and obviously I will still need Windows on my iMac if I get one.
My MacBook is pretty spiffaliffy, but I can't really recommend buying Apple hardware with good conscience when you can get the same and better specs for a much better price with something a lot more modular and user-serviceable.
I bought my desktop setup from these guys: http://myworld.ebay.com/magic-micro/ I think the amount they charged for assembly and service added up to about $40 when I looked at the parts individually. And they have 3-year warranties and lifetime tech support.
There are two reasons people on here may have a Mac:
1. Xcode. (most likely)
2. They love working on a speedy, aesthetically pleasing and silent, discrete machine.
I use mine for both of those reasons, I also actually prefer the Mac OS over Windows ever so slightly. You can do more with Windows, but because I'm so deeply interested in art, photography, print and graphic design, an iMac seems like the obvious choice for me.
Obviously you can get a more powerful PC for far cheaper, but I think most people by Macs for the reasons I listed above.
Edit: By speed, I mean bootup/shut down times. I've had two iMacs, both of which would power up/down far faster than any PC I've owned.
Get a PC It's alot cheaper and you can install mac on it by installing a hackintosh. My brother's just configed a PC that runs mac and that uses all of the PC's functionality(no limiations), here's the result:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy8mRs--c6U
Lookup online for more info
Ah cool, I always wondered whether you could run Mac on PC
I notice the issue of the price comes up a lot a totally valid point but one that isn't AS much of an issue as this will probably be a 21st birthday present. (Yay).
Liam's reasons are pretty spot-on in terms of why I am thinking of getting one. My computer occassionally sounds like a Vacuum cleaner and takes a long while to boot.
Power isn't much of an issue for me as I think the specs of an iMac would be all I need, but still valid points.
Oh I should also mention that my laptop is Windows 7 and I really like it as an OS. I wouldn't stop using my laptop as a result of getting a new computer but it would be good to have the best of both worlds.
I'd go mini or custom built hackintosh. You'l have to carefully select your hardware, and be aware that your computer could become unsupported at the drop of a hat. Hackintoshing is a paint in the butt, but it will save you quite a bit of cash.
I don't really use my Mac for gaming, but I do play The Sims 3 and Serious Sam 3 via Bootcamp. Why do people say Macs aren't for gaming? Because you need to install Windows? Or due to lack of power? I've not had to turn down my settings yet, though the two games mentioned above probably aren't the most graphically intensive.
Actually there's a point of interest. Not for gaming in terms of the operating system or not for gaming in terms of Mac Windows falters in comparison to actual Windows?
Not sure how people associate Mac's with being speedy on boot up time or general performance... At the time of building my PC (for intensive electronics development) a comparable (in terms of CPU and RAM) mac pro was about 3 to 4x the cost, and came with a lame duck of a graphics card. I have an SSD for the OS and software - so in terms of boot up/shut down and loading software, it is quick on that front too (faster than any Macbooks i have seen, by a large margin). I have two 1TB HDD's for bulk storage of projects and documents, and a parition for Ubuntu.
The best iMac out there today (UK Apple shop) is nothing too compelling IMO (i5, 8GB of ram etc), in fact on most fronts my Laptop beats it, and cost me £750 less about one year ago. Not to mention zero to little upgrade or fixing potential of the iMac... When it breaks out of gaurantee/warranty or becomes obsolete the whole thing goes in the bin, including the monitor...
My rambly old man point? Mac money spent on PC hardware will create a monster. That said, most high end boxes unless designed carefully will be noisy, lots of power hence lots of heat to dissipate. I just crank up my amplifier and bookshelf speakers (PC speakers are poo) to drone out the PC... Problem solved!
I do not get the "artist needs a Mac" argument. The most commonly used packages (from Adobe) are cross platform. I know there are few Mac specifics (LOGIC for example, after Apple purchased them and stopped new releases being cross platform), but the same could be said for PC software.
The only advantage a photographer friend could give me was that the screen on his macbook was somehow colour corrected (i.e. colours on screen will match print outs somehow). Nice, but I remember calibrating for this on a graphics course I attended years ago.
They made me buy a MacBook for my media design and production courses, with the claim that the software in the field I was going into required a Mac. It's complete nonsense. I never boot into OSX. The university website had the "once you go Mac, you never go back" tripe, with very little actual reasoning.
It's funny to sit here cruising along in Windows, watching the professor restart crashing Adobe software on his Mac all the time.
Windows runs the same in Bootcamp as any other machine, so if you have gaming concerns, it comes down to the hardware oomph. My MacBook handles Minecraft and MMF2 beautifully, which is all I need.
It's not that Macs (or Apple products in general) are bad, because they're actually a bit better than average - it's just that they're nowhere near good enough to justify their ridiculous price-tags.
Plus a lot of people don't like the brand due to their unethical business practices and their association with hipsters and the middle-aged.
My perspective is Macs are pretty good, you shouldn't have any problems with it in terms of power. But yes, the same price would get you a "better" PC. My PC's would usually cost about £400 and were slow, noisy etc etc. Had I spent £800 on a PC instad of my first iMac, I'm sure the PC would have been a better experience.
Personally, I cannot stand noise from hardware. I find it so distracting. I also find music distracting, so a silent machine is essential for me. It just helps me clear my mind.
Another point is, a lot of printing businesses use Macs. I don't know enough about print, but I remember being advised to use Macs for it at University. From my experience, if I've designed something on a Mac and brought it to a PC, I've noticed the colours are not being displayed as I have them on the Mac. Probably something to do with monitor quality, or colour profiles... I wouldn't know though - They failed to teach us about colour on my course... >:I
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Edited by -Liam-
It's alot cheaper and you can install mac on it by installing a hackintosh. My brother's just configed a PC that runs mac and that uses all of the PC's functionality(no limiations), here's the result:
