Mac versu PC,{snicker,snicker}

[mr.wilson]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

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

These are true if you are comparing PC's, but do not come into play in a Mac vs. PC comparison. The two operating systems process information at different speeds and efficiency. Just like the varying speeds at which the languages we speak can convey the same information, operating system languages process information at varying speeds. A processor on a Mac would be equal to a larger processor on a PC. This is just one comparison that shows the speed difference done by Popular Mechanics. http://www.popularmechanics.com/tech...25.html?page=1

You get more bang for your buck with external memory, so buy a computer with the features you need (built in video camera, mat screen or whatever suits your purpose) and go with relatively low RAM to save some money. With Mac, you can use Time Machine to automatically save everything to an external hard drive.

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

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 agree that Iphoto is not a professional photo editing program, nor is it intended to be. It's a photo storage and handling program that allows users to use simple editing tools while maintaining the original image. If you want to get rid of the effects you have added you can reverse the process at the click of a button. With Photoshop you need to save the original as a separate file. Most Mac users use Adobe Photoshop to edit photos, and Adobe Bridge to store them while editing between the other Adobe design programs (Illustrator, Flash, Dreamweaver, In Design). Most photographers, film editors and design people use Mac machines for their speed, reliability, versatility, cost effectiveness and longevity.

If you are running inventory programs and building spread sheets, by all means buy a PC, but if you want to avoid hard disk crashes, slow processing due to viruses, and having to pay for software updates then buy a Mac.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by mr.wilson

This is just one comparison that shows the speed difference done by Popular Mechanics. http://www.popularmechanics.com/tech...25.html?page=1

.

um, yourt report you showed had results in the opposit. the desktop test the mac had the fastest cpu, the laptops they were all the same. but everyone know vista is speed limited so why would some one even compare program opening times. but in the context of that article I opened my adolb photoshop on my desktop with 8 other programs running. a good mix ie, word, exel, access, power point, outlook, windows media playing mp3's and a couple other hoile games of the wifes which I hate as they are huge processor power users and she always leaves them running.. took 15 seconds to open with a 8Mp RAW file so I realy don't know where they got there 40 seconds but who knows what MB they had or any of that.

I think that is one area I would agree that macs can be a little better than PC. because Mac controls all the parts for there computers, ie.. there is one mother board for this model, not the 15 different MB for a model of PC desktop they car more consistant. I can line up 15 desktops and get 15 different results in speed, reliability, ect.. depending on the combanation of parts. so I may have 2 that blow the mac away, but I will have 8 that suck compared to the mac, so you realy have to do your homework and such if you build a PC, where as for a mac... never mind you can't build your own mac

but you knwo what I am getting at. Mac vs. PC is realy no good unless you have the model numbers of the MB, CPU, RAM, Vid card, and on and on to make sure they are good ones not ones that are knowen not to play nice togeather.. this was a huge problem during the years of win95, Me, win98 as there were so many fly by night companies offering stuff that prommised great things but ended up causing conflicts with everything else. it took me a lot of reasearch to decide which parts to use when I owned my computer business a long time ago. I ended up shutting it down as I didn't have the time or capital to go bigger than a home based business and a couple other compainies in victoria were making the jump from home to storebased but they had the resoarses. but I also provided the highest quality systems for the price of the other companies base models and in 3 years only had 1 warenty issue and it was a keyboard that was warped when I got it.. so thee is a lot to be said about the quality of the parts inside and how they are put togeather and the reliability of the computer.

Steve

[lastlight]

Yeah that was the PC user I used to be. It WAS a lot of fun putting together a nice system but I really think that building a PC *that* way means you're spending more than on a Mac. Fun times tho and a great way to blow all my student loan cash!

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Yeah that was the PC user I used to be. It WAS a lot of fun putting together a nice system but I really think that building a PC *that* way means you're spending more than on a Mac. Fun times tho and a great way to blow all my student loan cash!

if you go to a retail store and buy yes... building is more expensive, but in my case I owned a computer company and the prices I got the parts for ended up saving me an average of 500 to 700 bucks for a high end system over what you would have paid for a run of the mill back then. remembr back then a average run of the mill PC cost 2000 to 2400 bucks.

not the 400 to 700 we see now.

Steve

[Slick Fork]

Originally Posted by mr.wilson

These are true if you are comparing PC's, but do not come into play in a Mac vs. PC comparison. The two operating systems process information at different speeds and efficiency. Just like the varying speeds at which the languages we speak can convey the same information, operating system languages process information at varying speeds. A processor on a Mac would be equal to a larger processor on a PC. This is just one comparison that shows the speed difference done by Popular Mechanics. http://www.popularmechanics.com/tech...25.html?page=1

You get more bang for your buck with external memory, so buy a computer with the features you need (built in video camera, mat screen or whatever suits your purpose) and go with relatively low RAM to save some money. With Mac, you can use Time Machine to automatically save everything to an external hard drive.



I agree that Iphoto is not a professional photo editing program, nor is it intended to be. It's a photo storage and handling program that allows users to use simple editing tools while maintaining the original image. If you want to get rid of the effects you have added you can reverse the process at the click of a button. With Photoshop you need to save the original as a separate file. Most Mac users use Adobe Photoshop to edit photos, and Adobe Bridge to store them while editing between the other Adobe design programs (Illustrator, Flash, Dreamweaver, In Design). Most photographers, film editors and design people use Mac machines for their speed, reliability, versatility, cost effectiveness and longevity.

If you are running inventory programs and building spread sheets, by all means buy a PC, but if you want to avoid hard disk crashes, slow processing due to viruses, and having to pay for software updates then buy a Mac.

That's horrible misinformation.

Hardware is hardware, and while different os's may be able to squeeze small performance increases out of the hardware I don't think you'll see night and day differences. Apple does have a bit of an edge as Stir Crazy pointed out because they standardize everything from the Mobo to the CPU. BUT talking nicely to a cavalier does NOT turn it into a ferrari.

"Relatively Low RAM"? I think you may mean Hard Drive Space? and I would agree if he goes with a desktop as it can ALWAYS be added on to.

"Hard disk crashes, Viruses and paid updates"? I have NEVER had a catastrophic failure on any of my windows machines and this has been discussed exhaustively in this thread already. Viruses, like I posted before... just because no one wants to make a virus that infects only 7% of the computers out there doesn't mean it's more secure. Paid updates? Correct me if I'm wrong but windows XP users are still getting their free updates. I've never paid for an OS update from Microsoft and I don't know anybody who has.


Is this the Imac you're looking at Doug?
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...baa8b63f96en02

If you compare it to the dell I posted you really can't beat the value on the PC.
2gbs more RAM
Processor was the same
500GB more HDD space
I don't know about the NVidia vs ATI video card
and most importantly $400 less which leaves you cash for Photoshop, the Bamboo pad and some nice coral!

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

Is this the Imac you're looking at Doug?
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...baa8b63f96en02

If you compare it to the dell I posted you really can't beat the value on the PC.
2gbs more RAM
Processor was the same
500GB more HDD space
I don't know about the NVidia vs ATI video card
and most importantly $400 less which leaves you cash for Photoshop, the Bamboo pad and some nice coral!

actualy one point the cpu's are not the same.. the imac is using the old core2duo, while the speed is the same the through put is lower than the one on the dell site you linked to.. which means you can get more done at the same speed if the software allows it. but it has 4 threads instead of two, it has the new turbo which alows it to burst to 3.5ghz instead of just 3ish.

now from the people I know who have been running windows 7 they are very impressed with it. it is a huge improvment over vista and vista was finaly a good stable operating system.

Steve

[StirCrazy]

here is a Mac I would concider very close to my dell laptop.

http://http://www.futureshop.ca/en-C...43084732d3en02

I have a 320 7200rmp drive as aposed to its 250 5400rpm, I have a higher level video card, the mack gets twice the battery live, which is one thing I have always been amaze of in macs. it has time warp, I have dells version of the back up and the windows vista's two versions. so all in all verry comparable systems as they are the identicle cpu, screen size, both use a one piece aluminum chasse. I have a 1080P screen and a blueray player, apple doesn't have blueray and they don't say if it is a 1080P screen

the apple is 1800.00 right now, I paid 1200 a year ago for mine.. probably would cost under 1K to build it on dells website now. actualy I just built one to see and it was 1018.00 so still a 780.00 differance for the same hardware. and the same types of software. the apple does have bluetooth and firewire, but thats a 15 buck option, and ther apple has 2 USB2 slots, I have 4 plus 2 SATA.

Steve

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

Is this the Imac you're looking at Doug?
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...baa8b63f96en02

If you compare it to the dell I posted you really can't beat the value on the PC.
2gbs more RAM
Processor was the same
500GB more HDD space
I don't know about the NVidia vs ATI video card
and most importantly $400 less which leaves you cash for Photoshop, the Bamboo pad and some nice coral!

Yeppers. The linked model is nice. I have looked at some, {not Dell}, at both Future Shop & Staples. Still have to then be happy with cords and wires everywhere, same as my current unit. That was the appeal of the iMac but $400 is also important.

Thats the same processor as in the Sony I mentioned for $1199. Just less memory and hard drive. Of course there is that $400 more again as its not on sale anymore.

So if that case has a sub woofer built in, where,s the speakers? Still external like my current ones?

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Doug

Yeppers. The linked model is nice. I have looked at some, {not Dell}, at both Future Shop & Staples. Still have to then be happy with cords and wires everywhere,

what about a wireless keyboard and mouse?

Steve

[Doug]

I use those now Steve. Soooooooo much better than wired. But the back is still full of lines to the tower, speaker lines, and a full plug in strip. Its nice and neat and behind the desk, so not a horrific thing or anything. You would have to see my tiny room/office. Its the large desk and everything I need to be rid of.

I was actually at Staples the other day, looking at smaller neat little desks, in case I do stick with a desktop which I dont think will happen.

To many choices out there. Much different than when I bought my first used computer way back when.