si325i

should i buy a G4 mac or a new PC. will the mac play games? iv built loads of PC's but no nothing about mac's are they any good, can they use gamespy? mohaa? UT? Kazaa? and what about upgrading. Thanks Simon.

DreXeL

This video may help you make up your mind:

http://www.drexel.pwp.blueyonder.co....arody_DivX.avi

(right click - save as)

*edit* Link fixed

[Edited by DreXeL - 10/28/2003 7:29:21 PM]

Mr.Cookie

DreXeL

Your missing the .avi extension on that linik

Si

snowcrash

if you cant use a computer - or have no intention of trying to learn how computers work, or want a hassle free OS - with hardly any game support get a mac..

Gordo

This is dead easy.

If you have a beard, are a gimpy scientist, are a bit arty or just like having something different for the sake of it, get a Mac

If you're normal and want to play games, get a PC

Sorted

AllanB

Macs for working and PCs for games. Have extensive experience of both and would not choose to use a PC but bought one to play games.



AllanB

messiah

IMHO If you're used to using a PC then keep clear of Mac's. I once switched jobs to place that had Macs and left after 4 months becuase the things are unusable.

You always get the folk who think they're great and "so intuitive" - well, thats because they're thick and. PC's are far more "professional", Macs belong in Toys R Us, they're utter sh!te.

RichB

LOL at all you Macaphobics.

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

you lot make me laugh...
ohh i'm so scared of a mac...

ScoobyDoo555

What a load of b0ll0x [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] Messiah, you can't have used the Macs in earnest.... they're a piece of p1ss to use!!

If Macs were that ****e, why do ToysRus and PC World sell PCs

Agree with Allan, Macs for media and business, PCs for Games and Secretarial stuff

Dan

Edited coz I'm a muppet

[Edited by ScoobyDoo555 - 10/28/2003 6:52:12 PM]

si325i

Cheers all, i'll think i build my self a new PC i know where i'm at with them. Si

GaryK

So tell me Allan what decent software dev. tool is there for the mac (apart from codewarrior) and what industrial strength database solution runs natively on OS X? (Not filemaker pro!) I posted this on a previous thread and all the Mac advocates never replied. Im not Pro-M$ in any way just want the facts.

You know Im seriously tempted to get a G4 iBook cos they're so cheap now but why do i want one? Cos they look the bollox ?!?! If I can actually use it seriously is another matter.

angrynorth

"Every forum is incomplete without a Mac Vs PC debate"
-Some guy on another forum


Thanks for labelling me thick Messiah. Cheers. You should know that I use my G4 because it handles Photoshop Illustrator and Indesign with ease. Much better than how a PC would deal with them.

My Mac hasn't crashed in 4 months, not even a programme has crashed out and longer. When was the last time your PC crashed?

I regularly work with Photoshop files in excess of 200MB for professional purposes, every PC I've used for this kind of work has never been able to handle it.

When I switch on my Mac, I know Mr Gates isn't snopping around, I know that I'm not going to get oodles of spam every time I get my mail, I know that I am very very unlikely to get a virus (unless it's a Microsoft Word Macro ) I know that my privacy is kept intact whilst on the internet, I know I can now spend more time doing my work because I have none of this to worry about. Thats why I got a Mac!

RichB

Not had too many viruses on the old Mac either, a security update from Apple is unheard of (and unnecessary).

The networking on a PC is much better granted, surfing the net is quicker on my PC than the Mac, but then it would be because that's all the PC is good for....

messiah

If you're used to using a PC fairly proficiently then switching to MAC proved, in my experience, to be a backward step. They're too "toy-ish" is how they seemed to me.

Before I'd used one I'd thought about getting a Mac, probably because my brain had been infected by Computer Arts magazine and went to PC World to have a look at a G4. Have to admit that the designs are stunning, but I couldn't "plug and play" for want of a better expression - it just didn't feel right. I decided to wait until I started the new job (I was working my notice before switching to a Mac place) to see what I thought about them when working on one for an 8 hour day. After 2 days I knew it wasn't going work but gave the thing the benefit of the doubt and tried to like it - but no.

I have to point out that my main gripe was the CAD package I had to endure - Vectorworks. THIS IS NOT A CAD PACKAGE - IT'S A GRAPHICS PACKAGE.

After 4 months I'd had enough and left to go back to a place with PC's.

OK, maybe calling them sh!te was a bit strong, great things are possible on a MAC, but if you're used to a PC, then they feel a bit "childish".

On the flip side - I worked with a bloke who was a MAC nut, and didn't like PC's due to the OS, although he's now a convert after using Win 2K.

Had my laptop with WinXP Pro since June last year and it's never crashed once - and it does get some punishment!

[Edited by messiah - 10/29/2003 9:51:04 AM]

judgejules

If you want to play games on a Mac, check this out...

Movie

End of story

Buy a PC

~Jules

angrynorth

It's pretty funny how people view the Mac as "a bit childish" and then complain that they can't play games on them

If you prefer the oppressive, totalitarian feel of Windows then you are welcome to think that Macs are toy-ish.

Oh, I've used Win 2K on my PC for over a year, and it is very stable and I have no complaints about it other than security.

I just prefer my Mac.

class_A

Have any of the PC users who've branded the Mac a "toy" used Mac OS X?

With Darwin and X11 available as well as ports projects like Fink, there is now more than enough to keep the tinkerer happy. The new developer tools, Xcode, offer features such as distributed builds, fix and continue and predictive compile.

Head on over to the Mac forum at ArsTechnica and you will see that there are technically minded Mac users too!

class_A

Sybase and PostgreSQL run on Mac OS X, Oracle released 9i Developer earlier in the year. With the 64bit G5 now available, more are expected. Have you looked at the MacDevCenter at O'Reilly?

GaryK

thanks for info class_a! thats what I needed, couldnt find much developer related stuff for Mac.

Gary
(Teetering on the brink of mac ownership )

messiah

Used Mac OS X but only when I was looking at the G4, have to admit that it looks good.

Sister has an iMac - one of these later ones with the flat screen, she's a total fashion victim and bought it as a lifestyle accessory first - useful tool second, so very similar to the new mini and VW beetle in that respect.

She now admits that she should have got a PC laptop. When she said she'd bought one I called her scum

Everyones entitled to an opinion and mine's very derogatory towards Macs.

Must confess to getting a "worm" on my laptop - but my feeling is that Macs and PC's are just as vulnerable as each other.

I don't claim that Windows is brilliant, and I do agree to Bill Gates having 1 eye on world domination, and I'll be surprised if Microsoft are NOT spying and everyone's machines.

boxst

Hello

I used to work for Apple quite a long time ago, and really liked the Mac. I even worked on some of the operating system development.


My parents bought a Mac to surf the internet and it's great. You buy it, plug it in and away you go. And it's a cool shade of purple.

But if you want to do anything interesting with your computer, the PC just wins. More software, more hardware, more users, more people developing interesting freeware / shareware.

Steve.

class_A

Steve,

Yes there are a greater number of users and developers on the PC, but that I don't think that makes other platforms (Linux, Mac) less interesting.

Apple is weak in some areas such as gaming and CAD/CAM, but arguably stronger in music (Pro Tools, Logic) and video production (FCP).

At the end of the day, OS choice for some people interested in computers can be a very personal decision which they often feel the need to defend to the death. Others such as myself run a number of platforms at home and enjoy working with them all; I run Win2k, Mac and Linux with my primary machine being the Mac. Personally I believe in selecting the right tool for the job you wish to do.

Here's to more healthy debate
Alex

boxst

class_A

I think that Mac's are very interesting to play with, and are really user friendly. I have always liked less than mainstream computers: I really liked my Atari 800 whilst everybody else had a Commodore 64!

It's just if I had to recommend a "general" computer to people then I would still go for a PC.

But you pay your money, and take your choice as they say...

Steve.

Jye

I love the Mac V PC argument so excuse this long winded post

This is from my perspective as a 'computer' hobbyist and gamer.

I also distinguish home Mac owners from work users.

I use my 3 PC's for everything from encoding SVCD's and DVD's, streaming movies through a server into the living room/bedroom, playing mp3's/live streaming internet radio (amazingly versatile with 1000's of stations) through my ethernet sliMP3 players to my hi-fi in the living room/bedroom and playing online games such as Counterstrike, Day of Defeat and Battlefield 1942.

All the PC's are networked for the odd lan game including the one in my GF's room that she likes to consider as 'her' PC

My main PC is a self built watercooled XP3200, Asus A7N8X mobo, Gig of dual OCZ 3500 EL in DDR mode, ATI 9800 with active and passive cooling, 2 SATA WD Raptors in striped mode with another 1 WD SATA 250 for my main drive. Its all housed in an aluminium Lian-li PC75USB case which in it's self is a work of art. I also have a Matrix Orbital BVF-2041-BK vacuum fluroescent display's just for mucking about with and giving diagnostic info, although it acts as a clock most of the time. IMO it looks better than ANY Mac, unless your some kind of interior designer luvvy

My Mac experience is via by brother who is a hardcore Mac user at both work and home. He has a 1.6 G5 PowerMac, not networked, another older Mac doing nothing much, and an old PC which he never uses except to play Diablo.

Anyway, my 2p's worth. Who has ever heard of a Mac owner upgrading their machine, new GFX card CPU, case, motherboard etc? They might say they dont have to upgrade, fair enough, as I guess as its usually games technology that drive hardware upgrades. But PC owners 'can' and with far less hassle. More of which later.

I like to build PC's to my own specification, it's an interesting hobby and I enjoy getting everything working just the way I want it to. I'd never be happy buying an off the shelf product like everyone else does, like a Mac owner does.

Windows Xp is a superb piece of software, I've not had one problem with it EVER. It can also be made to look and act like any Mac OS with np's. Set up correctly with decent hardware and patched when requried it is stable and bug free. I recently downloaded 'every' patch/security fix for a m8's XP box with my 1Mb connection in about 30 mins. Not bad considering XP's userbase and complexity.

Virus problems have never affected me, a decent router and firewall and a bit of common sense and it's another no brainer. OK everyone codes worms etc to hack Windows, not Macs, again its a userbase thing and a lets kill Bill thing.

My brother always has to search for software for his Mac, which then turns out not to be available for the Mac anyway, I never have to ask if something is available for the PC.

My brother uses a Mac for work and bought one for home use, what a laff it is when I visit him. Its a barren landscape his machine IMO. He never has anything funky to show me, no tasty coding demos or funky desktop themes, his Mac desktop always looks the same.

As for the games aspect, Mac owners dont play many games as its not really worth porting them for the Mac. Mac owners can scoff at PC gamers while twiddling with Photoshop and Quark, meanwhile were getting it together for some online fraggin on Battlefield 1942.

I like to leave my work at work, so at home using my PC to entertain me is a no brainer.

All those Mac owners who say PC's are 'only' for playing games must be slightly deluded, but hey, if airbrushing **** is all they use their Mac's for, GL to em. All IMHO of course

Jye

For those Mac owners who do want a good war game, this is a Mac friendly total conversion for UT2K3.

http://www.unrealwarfarex.com/redorchestra/

si325i

well just ordered Asus A7N8X-X SKT A Nforce AGP X8 Sound/usb 2.0 Motherboard,
Maxtor 6Y080M0 Plus 9 80Gb Serial ATA 7200rpm ,
AMD ATHLON XP2600+ 333MHz FSB,
KME 5260 Midi Tower Case Aluminium Front 400w PSU,
Gainward Fx 5600 Powerpack Ultra/760 128MB 8xAGP Video-Out DVI, Crucial 256 DDR333 PC2700 CL 2.5.
This should do the job. Si.
looks like the mac idea has died. for now?? hahaha.

angrynorth

Good case put forward there Jye, except for:

You know thats bollox. Any Mac tower user will be well aware of upgrades and be upgrading the machine on a regular basis. To say its less hassle to upgrade on a PC is riduculous. I'm sat here in front of my G4 with the drop down cover. Its much easier to open a Mac case using this cover and throw in a new graphics card or more RAM.

As for users of iMacs then yes I supposed you are right but even then I know a couple of designers with new iMacs loaded with tons of memory and higher spec graphics cards.

Jye

Fair enough angrynorth, as I said I'm only going by my own limited experience. I kept saying to my brother to upgrade his old Mac but he always says its too hard to get parts etc. I'm not against Mac's by any means and would think of adding one to my computer collection if I had a good reason to do so.

I know they have drop down covers which is a great idea I just thought getting the parts must be the problem. I'll tell him he's talking bollox now

angrynorth

Just tell him to pick up any Mac specific magazine and there's loads of ads in there for all kinds of upgrade hardware.

Don't we have a MacWarehouse guy on this forum too? Maybe you could point your brother in his direction.

I know the Macs **** is kicked left right and centre in the gaming world (even though we now have Halo) but when it comes do the kind of stuff I do (design work, for print and web) I really couldn't use a PC.