BigBurnz

iTrader: (3)

been looking to buy a mac recently but been thinking are they worth the money because you can get a hell of a desktop for the money

looking to use photoshop, lots of picture handling, then general browsing, music, bit of gaming

your thoughts please

JackClark

You'll get a lot of posts telling you they're a waste of money. But that money pays for an operating system that's perfectly matched to the hardware, a lot of excellent software - search for iLife - and exceptional service.

Buy cheap, buy twice is my motto and my Mac's have proved that. I'm currently using my early 2006 iMac that's nowhere near needing replacing, runs silent, looks great and is more than powerful enough for 99% of computing tasks.

JackClark

Oh and it runs Windows 7 too.

BigBurnz

iTrader: (3)

my mate has a mac, and im so impressed, like you say it runs so smoothy and doesnt seem to slow or get clogged with internet cack.

but ive never seen a similar spec pc

JackClark

Go for it, you'll find very few users that go from Mac to PC but plenty the other way round.

Iain Young

Macs are very good, but then you pay a lot for the branding as well. Is it worth it? For me no. I can build/buy a much more powerful pc for the same money. It depends on what you use the machine for. In my case, doing a lot of graphics and music work (rendering/raytracing, synths etc), as well as programming, then processor power and ram are the key factors, not the operating system. I get much more "bang for my buck" from my Win7 PC than I would from a similarly priced Mac, plus a lot of the software I use simply isn't available on that platform.

I have to disagree with Jack about the service. I've had real issues with Apple over the years (almost threatening legal action just to get them to respond at one point a couple of years ago). They seem no better than anyone else in this regard. Don't get me started about the issues I'm having with my iPhone 3gs and trying to get anything resolved. It's personally put me off buying anything Apple related ever again.

Having said that, if all you are after is a standard user experience, then a mac will likely do the job nicely (although at a price). Just be aware that extra $$$ does not necessarily mean extra quality.

Ant

i got my first mac this year and never looked back

BigBurnz

iTrader: (3)

thanks for your opinons!

anymore?

just rearranging the spare room into some kind of office right now, then crunch time!

Ste RB5138

I have been using Macs for over 10 years at college/work and enjoy using them, OS10 is great once you get used to it.

I have got a old G4 tower dual processor at home, it must be 6 years old and has been fine till recently when it wouldn't connect to my monitor. I changed the graphics card still no change, then I changed the 1/2 size AA Lithium battery and reset the PMU switch and it seems to be working

They are a lot more money than a similar spec PC as said before, its up to you.

Markus

For most tasks I'd say both machines are pretty well matched. Apple's do seem to be more user friendly, iLife and iWork being rather good and easy to use. Obviously I'm somewhat biased

If you're going to do a lot of gaming, it's got to really be a PC. Macs are getting better, but if you want to really customize things, then you're looking at a Mac Pro, which is a serious amount of money and you could build a very, very nice PC for the same price.

I too have older macs that are ticking along quite well. Our old web-server was an OS 9 all in one (indigo colored) iMac running Webstar. Worked perfectly well.

ScoobyDoo555

Got to say, I'm a Mac fan (user for the last 20 years), and I love em.

However, for games, even with the dual-boot/bootcamp aspect, I would still use a PC. Why?

Well, gaming-specs change pretty much every 6 months (in my experience) and therefore constantly require uprated hardware.
A Mac running Windows is a perfectly capable machine.... until you want to upgrade parts. Then it gets tricky.

Gaming IMHO, you should be looking at a bespoke PC. If you want a generic PC, then Mac all the way. You'll get 2 computers for the price of one!

BigBurnz

iTrader: (3)

cheers again for these opinions

i said gaming but at the moment i can only see me playing Age of empires III
mate has it and its wicked

so gaming isnt an issue really, i mentioned it because my ancient laptop runs it very badly

so heading back towards a mac then!

what about photoshop? is it easy to er, cough, get hold of?

Ant

Photoshop is very easy to obtain . A mac will run age if empires easily

JackClark

You might find you don't need Photoshop, most common tasks can be performed with the supplied software.

djandyg

iTrader: (2)

I bought my macbook pro about 3 years ago, expensive in that it cost me nearly 2k for the spec i wanted though....

I originally only bought it because i needed a mac for my music production software that i run which is only available for macs....however...now iv had one, i dont think i could go back to windows ever again!

as they say, once you go mac, you never go back...

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Games = PC

So if you are going to get a Mac then you have to run virtual PC software. Virtual = a bit slower.

By the time you have bought a Mac that has the same performance as a PC running Windows based games virtually you will have spent more than twice as much.

I have to say that in this context, its a no brainer, you need a PC. Macs are good, but not at PC gaming (imo)

ScoobyDoo555

You're wrong Luminous - this was the case with the old macs, but with them now running Intel chips etc, you can actually install Windows on the drive and dual boot as a seperate machine.

No difference in performance.

But to do agree with the gaming - go PC.

Gordo

My parents have a top end Mac and it looks terrific for photos - but that's because of the screen rather than the machine IMO. I find the operating system obtuse to use, and often frustrating. My parents 'live' with it, but don't love it even after 2 years with it.

I'd happily buy an Apple monitor (or equivalent spec) - but I'd stick with a PC.

BigBurnz

iTrader: (3)

yes gordo i found that when using my mates, got frustrating but im sure its something to get used to.

its a good idea to get it upgraded a bit then? i was told you cant add ram and such after

JackClark

Adding Ram and a new Hard Drives is simple. Anything else you might struggle with.

boxst

You can add RAM, but make sure you don't buy it from Apple. Crucial do a good job of matching memory in your machine.

Personally I find Mac's a little frustrating, too protective but then I've been using Windows for a long time.

Steve

SinghSuperStud

iTrader: (2)

I think the Parellels/VMware is a better option than dual booting as you can swap at will and run both at the same time

Threw a few people off when they saw my Win Start menu on my osx screen

It used to be that virtual machines were a lot slower but in realworld tests - using Adobe Photoshop etc and still running windows apps I've never had a problem and I only have a standard Macbook 2GHZ - RAM is the key - I have 2GB!

Jai