Mac versu PC,{snicker,snicker}

[Doug]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Doug I want you to buy the HP (and allow me a few min to cry like a BABY in the corner)

Never purchased anything yet Brett.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Doug

Never purchased anything yet Brett.

found one for ya

http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/...NAM17XARN_R_1E



Steve

[pinhead]

If you really need bluetooth you can get a $1.98 usb/bluetooth dongle for your laptop from Dealextreme. I have one and it has worked flawlessly under XP, Vista and Windows 7 - however there are no Mac drivers.

I haven't really used the bluetooth more than once or twice and I haven't used firewire even though my external drive has firewire, USB 2.0 and eSATA II. I have hooked up the drive via firewire and eSATA is much faster. Theoretical speeds are 400 Mb/s and 800Mb/s for firewire 400 and 800 vs. 3Gb/s for SATA II

I don't believe there are any macs that come with eSATA.

That is the problem that I have with Apple in general. Apple gives you the experience that they believe you need - not necessarily what you need. Dell is the number one computer manufacturer at least partly because your machines are custom built to your specifications.

World wide market share for Mac OS vs. Windows vs. Linux which as of January 2010 including Snow Leopard and Windows 7 are 5.1%, 92.1% and 1.0% (don't ask me why it doesn't add up to 100 - I can give you the link)

If I had an unlimited budget I might buy a mac again. However, most people have a general idea of what they want to spend and don't buy on a comparison of specs. I would look at how much you want to spend and compare the windows and mac machines in that price range.

One machine that I have played with that is impressive is the HP tm2 touchsmart at 1099. It is a touchscreen notebook that is convertable into a tablet.
A co-worker of mine that is a mac person bought this at London Drugs.

[Slick Fork]

I've never used anything with firewire either. Same goes for Card readers etc. Even on my DSLR I find it simpler just to plug the thing in with the USB cord they give you.

I think there's been some good discussion here Doug and you've gotten both sides of the story. Ron99 has about as much a chance at converting StirCrazy and I over to the Apple side as we have of turning him into a PC user.

At the end of the day, I think the things you should compare are
1) Processor
2) RAM
3) Hard Drive space.

Like Pinhead mentioned, pick a price point and call it your total budget and compare what you get.
Include Photoshop Elements and Include the bamboo pen and touch pad if it's something that interests you. Don't kid yourself about Iphoto being enough for more than adjusting white balance. The reason Adobe makes a Mac version of elements is because there is a demand for it.

[Ron99]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

I think there's been some good discussion here Doug and you've gotten both sides of the story. Ron99 has about as much a chance at converting StirCrazy and I over to the Apple side as we have of turning him into a PC user.

At the end of the day, I think the things you should compare are
1) Processor
2) RAM
3) Hard Drive space.

Like Pinhead mentioned, pick a price point and call it your total budget and compare what you get.
Include Photoshop Elements and Include the bamboo pen and touch pad if it's something that interests you. Don't kid yourself about Iphoto being enough for more than adjusting white balance. The reason Adobe makes a Mac version of elements is because there is a demand for it.

I think you're right there. I have been an Apple guy since my Apple II days. But I have used them all including various flavours of Windows and Unix workstations (back before even Linux when it was a command prompt interface). I actually have a slightly older XP box that has been used for the odd game and playing some videos on our TV but I would never use it for real work It has given me more problems then the Mac and I don't do anything crazy with it. No matter what I do I can't get the ATI drivers etc. to work properly.

Also, iPhoto does do more then just adjust white balance now. It isn't photoshop but you can do some basic retouching and alot of colour, contrast and sharpness adjustments along with some cool built in effects as well. So depending on what image editing you need to do iPhoto could very well be enough to do the job. The one really cool feature is that you can easily create photo books and then order them from Apple. They make great gifts of family shots or you can make your own coffee table books or books with photos from trips with your friends etc.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Ron99

I think you're right there. I have been an Apple guy since my Apple II days. But I have used them all including various flavours of Windows and Unix workstations (back before even Linux when it was a command prompt interface). I actually have a slightly older XP box that has been used for the odd game and playing some videos on our TV but I would never use it for real work It has given me more problems then the Mac and I don't do anything crazy with it. No matter what I do I can't get the ATI drivers etc. to work properly.

Also, iPhoto does do more then just adjust white balance now. It isn't photoshop but you can do some basic retouching and alot of colour, contrast and sharpness adjustments along with some cool built in effects as well. So depending on what image editing you need to do iPhoto could very well be enough to do the job. The one really cool feature is that you can easily create photo books and then order them from Apple. They make great gifts of family shots or you can make your own coffee table books or books with photos from trips with your friends etc.

my first one was the apple IIE, I should have kept it as it would be a nice paperweight now. its funny cuz when I got that I was 14, had to build it my self and you pretty much had to write the code to all your games. or coppy them out of a mag. 11 years later the IBM DX2-66 was out and was the hotest thing on the market with 512K of ram and a 40meg hard drive. 2 years later I upgraded to a P166, 2 years later an AMD 900, 2 years after that a P4 1.2 laptop, then 6 years later a p2.2 quadcore desktop, and a year after that replaced the laptop with a 2.53 core 2 duo.

its amazing the progress of computers over the years.

as for Iphoto, it is the same thing as the free photo software that comes with vista, win7, ect.. lets normal people do some neat crafts and basic retouching of photos. I put up with it for quite a while as my old photo shop wouldn't run on vista.. I finaly broke down and upgraded my photoshop.

Steve

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

I think there's been some good discussion here Doug and you've gotten both sides of the story. Ron99 has about as much a chance at converting StirCrazy and I over to the Apple side as we have of turning him into a PC user.

Or turning Steve to T-5,s.

At the end of the day, I think the things you should compare are
1) Processor
2) RAM
3) Hard Drive space.

I have been doing that for sure. Perhaps one reason the iMac appeals, besides its clean look, is the 3.06GHz processor, 4GB ram and 500GB hard drive for close to the same price as their lap tops. As mobility is not the major reason for my purchase, it may be the best buy in that price range.

I leaning towards the HP I listed, if going down to the lesser price range. But not going to add all the additional warrenty, as it then brings me back to the iMac price, well close anyways.

So I,m thinking the Mac Books are now out of the equasion and down to the iMac or the HP or a comparable PC laptop, based on price. If the Mac Books that are a fair bit more money had at least 4g ram and little larger hard drives, then they would be favored. But even adding 2g more ram brings them up another $200 and over the price of the iMac.

Like Pinhead mentioned, pick a price point and call it your total budget and compare what you get.
Include Photoshop Elements and Include the bamboo pen and touch pad if it's something that interests you. Don't kid yourself about Iphoto being enough for more than adjusting white balance. The reason Adobe makes a Mac version of elements is because there is a demand for it.

Checked them out yesterday. Although the way they tied up at Staples not much to check out. Nothing listed on the boxes as to photo editing, so guess its a secret until open. Plus great for a desktop, looks kind of like a pain for laptops, unless they sitting on a desk, which then makes them desk tops. My wife, who uses her IBM laptop strickly on a table, wants one though. She,s not to fond of her mouse and never uses the touch pad.

[Slick Fork]

If portability is not a factor for you I would absolutely hands-down go with a PC desk top for a couple of reasons:
1) You pay a fair sized premium for the portability of a laptop and could get a much higher end desktop for the same money
2) Upgradeability. You can upgrade almost everything in a desktop machine thus extending the useful life of the same basic system and spreading the cost of upgrades out over a longer time.

And the clutter isn't really that much more significant over a laptop, especially if you're plugging a mouse, keyboard, bamboo pad, monitor, printer, etc. in.

[Slick Fork]

Check This one out

http://www2.dell.com/ca/en/home/desk...xps8100_en_1~~

Blows the laptops out of the water

Edit: Went through the customization process and at the final page it informs you that as a bonus you get Bon Jovi's newest Album... How do you say no to a system with free bon jovi?

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Doug

Or turning Steve to T-5,s.

Um.. I have two T5 setups Ill have you know! and there both used as T5's should be, one of a fresh water tank and one still waiting to be put togeather for actinics on a tank.

but now I am thinking I need some undercabnet lighting for the shop, so maybe I should use T5. lord knows it will work better for that than it would in a fish tank

Steve