I'm sorry, but the IT manager at your company needs his/her head checked. Vista is not ready for a production environment, and probably won't be until at least SP1. Everyone knows that!
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I couldnt wait any longer.. went with Vista
- Thread starter BestBuyBoy
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I'm sorry, but the IT manager at your company needs his/her head checked. Vista is not ready for a production environment, and probably won't be until at least SP1. Everyone knows that!
I don't get it
I don't quite get the obsession with technical specs.
I buy Apple because my experience over the last 14 years has been that every system has worked out of the box, required minimal set-up, and next to no maintenance.
You want me to pay a premium for that? Fine, because I can't put a price on that kind of user experience.
You want to tell me that my Mini is underspecced?
Frankly, I don't care about the numbers on a spec sheet, I care about what it can do. It can happily display live cable TV full screen, recording to the HDD, whilst downloading a zonking great file from teh interweb and processing an iDVD project in the background.
How much more would I reasonably want from my processor?
Can I run 3D modelling apps? Probably not. Would I want to do any kind of serious Photoshop work on it? No. Would I expect to get a machine that would enable me to do this sort of work for £500? Strangely enough, also no.
Cheers
Jim
I don't quite get the obsession with technical specs.
I buy Apple because my experience over the last 14 years has been that every system has worked out of the box, required minimal set-up, and next to no maintenance.
You want me to pay a premium for that? Fine, because I can't put a price on that kind of user experience.
You want to tell me that my Mini is underspecced?
Frankly, I don't care about the numbers on a spec sheet, I care about what it can do. It can happily display live cable TV full screen, recording to the HDD, whilst downloading a zonking great file from teh interweb and processing an iDVD project in the background.
How much more would I reasonably want from my processor?
Can I run 3D modelling apps? Probably not. Would I want to do any kind of serious Photoshop work on it? No. Would I expect to get a machine that would enable me to do this sort of work for £500? Strangely enough, also no.
Cheers
Jim
Thank you, that's what I was trying to say, but as usual, someone has said it better. Putting the Mini up there and comparing it to a quad-core system is just ridiculous, especially in relation to the target demographic of each computer.
I just bought a refurb 24" iMac for $1700 and it SCREAMS when it comes to video editing my home movies. I think the 20" is only $1300...
Man, if video editing was his main application, the Mac is the way to go. ESPECIALLY when it comes to getting it on a DVD... There is NOTHING on the PC that can do what iDVD does.
BTW, I also built a PC last week when intel dropped their prices. I got a Core 2, 2.66ghz, 4GB very fast Ram, 600GB RAID 0 Hard drives, GeForce 8800GTS video, etc... BUT... I do NOT have ANY intention of EVER using it for video editing. It is a gaming PC and nothing else.
Should you expect that an $800.00 box will allow you to render a half hour video in less time than it takes to drive to NY from Boston... I do. Should I expect that in April of 2007 if I am spending 600 or 700 dollars on a computer it is going to have a chipset that is newer than a year old. I mean please, go on Newegg and look how much a core duo is selling for... For me, functionality was far more important than how pretty the unit looked on my desk. I'll tell ya.. if I have learned anything from this forum over the past 8 months its customer brand loyalty. How Apple got its customers to think that they are walking into an Apple store, putting down mega bucks and walking out with a good value today is something that should be studied by every retailer in this country... I think apple could come out with a roll of toilet paper tommorow and call it iWipe and people will say it's the best thing they ever tried... It's a box with parts in it for god sakes. When they keep putting old parts in the box and dont lower thier price.. then I aint drinking to cool aid and going along with it.. great OS or not...
A yeah.. a quad core vs a core 2 duo.. I guess we should call Intel and tell them that they are wasting thier time improving thier chipset line... they should just stop now because the imac 24" is the bomb! And wow.. it burns a DVD.. . Man, it makes me wonder how 75 million windows based computer in the us alone actually turn on every day and run this world.. yeah, the subway you got on this morning... the toll booth you put your token into.. all windows based... Good grief.. another case of "apple is best.. apple is best".. LListen Jim.. sip that cool aid brother.. no gulping... little sips..
I'm outa here folks.. I'm the last guy that needs to defend windows..
Man, I own Both Macs and PCs. I have for MANY years.
For games, PCs are the way to go... (Although bootcamp is changing that...)
For my Family PC... Surfing Web, Email, Kids Games, ITunes, Syncing with WINDOWS MOBILE phones... We use an iMac... (Yes, I can more easily sync my Windows Mobile phone with a MAC than I can with Vista (Or XP Really!)
For Video Editing of our home movies and getting them to a DVD, IT IS A MAC ALL THE WAY.
I have tried EVERYTHING on a PC, and continue to try every so often, and there is NOTHING that can match iMovie and iDVD on the MAC.
I get STUNNING results with my DVDs EVERY TIME.
I wish you luck on the PC... For the video editing, the PC is getting somewhat better... Heck, the Free Windows Movie Maker is pretty good... But when you want to get that movie to a DVD, there is NOTHING that can match iDVD.
Truely, you are missing the point.
If you just want to puke your home movie onto a DVD, then sure the PC can do it...
But, if you want to EASILY make a DVD of your home movies that contains ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL menus, slideshows, and high quailty movies, then you need a Mac with iDVD.
Like I said, I have tried EVERYTHING on the PC... Nothing comes close to iDVD. Add in how smoothly iMovie, iTumes, and iPhoto integrate into iDVD, and you have the most amazing $79 (Free with a Mac) suite of products for home movie production.
Can a quad PC render a movie quicker? Sure. Can it puke it onto a DVD? Sure.
But I bet you that if you take your finsihed product, and compare it to one done on a Mac, you will wish that you went with a Mac.
On the plus side, you do have a kick butt gaming machine, and there is something to be said for that. (I am a gamer too...)
Man, I own Both Macs and PCs. I have for MANY years.
For games, PCs are the way to go... (Although bootcamp is changing that...)
For my Family PC... Surfing Web, Email, Kids Games, ITunes, Syncing with WINDOWS MOBILE phones... We use an iMac... (Yes, I can more easily sync my Windows Mobile phone with a MAC than I can with Vista (Or XP Really!)
For Video Editing of our home movies and getting them to a DVD, IT IS A MAC ALL THE WAY.
I have tried EVERYTHING on a PC, and continue to try every so often, and there is NOTHING that can match iMovie and iDVD on the MAC.
I get STUNNING results with my DVDs EVERY TIME.
I wish you luck on the PC... For the video editing, the PC is getting somewhat better... Heck, the Free Windows Movie Maker is pretty good... But when you want to get that movie to a DVD, there is NOTHING that can match iDVD.
Truely, you are missing the point.
If you just want to puke your home movie onto a DVD, then sure the PC can do it...
But, if you want to EASILY make a DVD of your home movies that contains ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL menus, slideshows, and high quailty movies, then you need a Mac with iDVD.
Like I said, I have tried EVERYTHING on the PC... Nothing comes close to iDVD. Add in how smoothly iMovie, iTumes, and iPhoto integrate into iDVD, and you have the most amazing $79 (Free with a Mac) suite of products for home movie production.
Can a quad PC render a movie quicker? Sure. Can it puke it onto a DVD? Sure.
But I bet you that if you take your finsihed product, and compare it to one done on a Mac, you will wish that you went with a Mac.
On the plus side, you do have a kick butt gaming machine, and there is something to be said for that. (I am a gamer too...)
You wont get an argument from me on that one.. iMovie is great hands down.. great intergration.. absolutely.. and thats exactly why I spent the better part of 8 months sitting waiting for a desk top that I could afford with my own monitor.. yep.. the OS is fantastic.. no two ways about it.
Unfortunately, when you apply the billion annoying dell coupons (or the weekly special prices www.techbargains.com ) the dell IS always cheaper than a Mac.
If Dell ever gets rid of this "coupon" practice, Apple will be in trouble as it can't continue to say "Mac Pros are cheaper than a Dell similarly configured."
Weaker hardware to who... You? The OP? Good luck with that mentality.
People in the world (and on here, guys like Multimedia) who make a living off their Macs would never say the system was weak hardware because it isn't. Just because Macs aren't bleeding edge video card gamer machines like (overpriced) Alienware or XPS garbage doesn't mean Mac hardware is weaker. Keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night while Windows downloads those critical updates.
Thank you!
But we're not talking about "buying", we're talking about "building", you know, because it is possible to BUILD Macs, isn't it?
If millions of others thought the same way and didn't buy Macs, then Apple would change their tune. Guess what? Take a look behind you. People may agree with you on a verbal level but that doesn't mean they're agreeing with you with their wallets.
Dell also likes to put exploding capacitors in their motherboards too. You get what you pay for. You want to pay a cheap price? You get a cheap, shoddy built computer.
And I guarantee you that anything Dell puts out cheap (Dimensions) are outperformed by Mac Minis. But keep telling yourself that Netburst (Pentium Ds) is better than a Core Duo.
See above. Keep telling yourself that.
G3s can run OSX. Can you run Vista on a run-of-the-mill Pentium 1 box? Didn't think so. Hell you can't run XP (and get any work done) on a Pentium 1 either.
By comparison - how long do you think your $300 Dell Dimension will be able to run future Windows variants without being upgraded first?
But saving some money up front makes it a 'better value'.
Meh. Whatever. You have a machine that does what you want, and I have one that does what I want.
As I said: my experience -- which I will happily concede may not coincide with the experiences of everyone else, everywhere, ever -- is of a user experience that I have not enjoyed with Windows, and that I am not aware of my Windows-using friends enjoying.
Would I prefer that the experience was available at a lower price? Well, duh. I'd like Steve Jobs to come round my house and personally install an eight-core in every room. Like a £200 Mac Mini or a £350 iMac, it ain't gonna happen.
If the user experience isn't worth the money to you, that's entirely your decision. Enjoy your new machine!
Cheers
Jim
Weaker hardware to who... You? The OP? Good luck with that mentality.
People in the world (and on here, guys like Multimedia) who make a living off their Macs would never say the system was weak hardware because it isn't. Just because Macs aren't bleeding edge video card gamer machines like (overpriced) Alienware or XPS garbage doesn't mean Mac hardware is weaker. Keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night while Windows downloads those critical updates.
Thank you!
But we're not talking about "buying", we're talking about "building", you know, because it is possible to BUILD Macs, isn't it?
If millions of others thought the same way and didn't buy Macs, then Apple would change their tune. Guess what? Take a look behind you. People may agree with you on a verbal level but that doesn't mean they're agreeing with you with their wallets.
Dell also likes to put exploding capacitors in their motherboards too. You get what you pay for. You want to pay a cheap price? You get a cheap, shoddy built computer.
And I guarantee you that anything Dell puts out cheap (Dimensions) are outperformed by Mac Minis. But keep telling yourself that Netburst (Pentium Ds) is better than a Core Duo.
See above. Keep telling yourself that.
G3s can run OSX. Can you run Vista on a run-of-the-mill Pentium 1 box? Didn't think so. Hell you can't run XP (and get any work done) on a Pentium 1 either.
By comparison - how long do you think your $300 Dell Dimension will be able to run future Windows variants without being upgraded first?
But saving some money up front makes it a 'better value'.
Phew. That's some excited response!
I wish old-school Mac people would stop finding no fault in anything the "angelic" Apple does. If their hardware is old, the standard response is "oh but it's still faster than a PC." When the hardware is more expensive the response is a list of legitimizations....
Basically, as more Windows people switch to Mac, Apple needs to start updating more frequently to keep these switchers happy in the years-to-come. Windows folks are used to computers keeping up with the latest releases from Intel/AMD. 8 months between updates is not acceptable in the new x86 world.
End-of-Story.
I'd bet that the vast majority of computer users, Windows or not, have no idea what processor is in their computer. Most people just don't care. Furthermore, the latest releases from Intel/AMD are placed in the high end computers first, which isn't what the majority of the world is buying. Most are buying sub $1k machines...which don't have bleeding edge equipment. Most people just want something that works.
I'm not an old-school Mac person and I find faults in anything anyone does; I'm not blind to the fact.
When the hardware is faster, that's the response.
When the hardware is slower, that's not the response.
I'm not out here saying "oh well, I could go buy a B&W G3 and it'd be faster in Photoshop than a $1000 Dell Dimension", am I? No.
The fact remains that Dell's 'bottom dollar' machines have either Pentium D
or Athlon processors, both of which are outperformed by Core Duo.
If you want to talk about old hardware and act like it's only on Apple's side of the fence, then...whatever. Pentium D is **** and it's older than Core Duo. But I guess since Apple puts CD in their machines and charges a little more than Dell's PD desktops, it's not ok.
That's utterly ridiculous.
You're complaining about paying too much for old hardware, yet the old hardware outperforms the cheap Dells...which come with older hardware.
I'll repeat the same thing I said in my last post.
If you don't like their business practices, don't buy their equipment. If enough people do that, they'll change. But don't be surprised when nothing changes because people continue buying Macs no matter how outdated the technology is.
If you truly believe that having bleeding edge hardware is a must, then you'll upgrade your computer at least three or four times a year and you'll go broke from the cost involved, just to run the next version of Windows.
And I'll repeat again - you pay extra for a Mac and what do you get? A perfect balance of hardware and software that will work for a long time. Hardware that may be outdated, but will still run their current OS.
You know, I think a lot of you, and especially BestBuyBoy, are really overlooking some of the biggest advantages to "switching"... Software value and Productivity.
Just to give a small amount of background on where I'm coming from, I "switched" January 2006. I did so "cold turkey", selling my PC and purchasing a 20" iMac - and I had never owned a Mac and had virtually no experience with OS X.
I wasn't just an "average" PC consumer either. I'm a programmer and built custom PCs for years, I started out in MS-DOS 3, working my way all the way up to Windows XP, which I still consider the best version of Windows Microsoft has ever made.
I was a hardcore gamer as well, and very experienced in Windows support (have even worked in IT). I upgraded all the time, troubleshoot peoples PCs frequently. I was fully immersed in the Windows world, far more then most people are.
Apple was adopting X86 (Intel) and I knew I'd be able to dual-boot XP if I needed to, and a Mac would let me develop for both platforms from a single machine.
I had decided to scale back, I didn't want to keep spending so much money on PCs. You may think PCs are "good value" and you may love your hardware options like I always did. But incremental upgrades over the years really add up. Most PC owners that used their machine for more then e-mail tended to upgrade their computer at least once or twice every year, usually more.
Then there is the software cost. Unless you are a (filthy!) pirate you are going to end up paying a lot of money for really good software on Windows. Yes, there is lots of free software out there. I was an extreme freeware connoisseur in my Windows days; but even so you definitely don't get the best money can buy. Even if you get free software 95% of the time it's extremely well made, and can take a lot of time and effort to get it to do what you want, how you want it to.
Which comes full circle to the other issue with Windows: Productivity. I've managed / cleaned / repaired enough Windows machines to know what a headache Windows maintenance is. Do people realize how much productive time they lose administering Windows? Spyware, Adware, Drivers, Updates... this stuff all adds up to some serious time. If you want really good software protection, your going to buy Nod32 for about $60 as well. But you are still not going to be as productive because maintenance is still going to pile up and you will waste more time maintaining that PC then you can imagine.
Which brings us straight to the biggest Apple Advantages: Software Value and Productivity
Ever Mac comes with some seriously upper-class grade-A software. Lots and lots of value for the money. iLife, Automator, built-in PDF support (print to PDF, view PDF, etc), even the Utilities are great (Disk Utility which supports imaging, repair, etc). Great system stability (My Mac often runs for weeks/months at a time), much much better Memory Management, etc.
You get so much great software already on the system it's an incredible value, it's great AND easy and fast to use. You'd easily pay hundreds of dollars for everything packaged with OS X - plus you get OS X as well.
All of that leads to better use of your time (read: Productivity), getting more work done faster. Heck, even Expose can be a big time saver if you are a huge multi-tasker like myself.
In the end, that "Premium" you pay for a Mac easily pays for itself. Less wasted time, less frustration, less hardware conflict, less maintenance, more software, more producivity, and even if the hardware is "less" you get "more" out of it in my experience (perhaps thanks to the Unix foundation of OS X?)
And you know, the dang thing runs XP and games pretty dang well too (at least my 1yr old iMac does)... although you'd hardly spend time in Windows if you have OS X.
Hardware alone is a small part of "computing", you'd think people would realize that buy now and know when you buy into a platform it's not just about the hardware, as hardware is nothing without software.
Just to give a small amount of background on where I'm coming from, I "switched" January 2006. I did so "cold turkey", selling my PC and purchasing a 20" iMac - and I had never owned a Mac and had virtually no experience with OS X.
I wasn't just an "average" PC consumer either. I'm a programmer and built custom PCs for years, I started out in MS-DOS 3, working my way all the way up to Windows XP, which I still consider the best version of Windows Microsoft has ever made.
I was a hardcore gamer as well, and very experienced in Windows support (have even worked in IT). I upgraded all the time, troubleshoot peoples PCs frequently. I was fully immersed in the Windows world, far more then most people are.
Apple was adopting X86 (Intel) and I knew I'd be able to dual-boot XP if I needed to, and a Mac would let me develop for both platforms from a single machine.
I had decided to scale back, I didn't want to keep spending so much money on PCs. You may think PCs are "good value" and you may love your hardware options like I always did. But incremental upgrades over the years really add up. Most PC owners that used their machine for more then e-mail tended to upgrade their computer at least once or twice every year, usually more.
Then there is the software cost. Unless you are a (filthy!) pirate you are going to end up paying a lot of money for really good software on Windows. Yes, there is lots of free software out there. I was an extreme freeware connoisseur in my Windows days; but even so you definitely don't get the best money can buy. Even if you get free software 95% of the time it's extremely well made, and can take a lot of time and effort to get it to do what you want, how you want it to.
Which comes full circle to the other issue with Windows: Productivity. I've managed / cleaned / repaired enough Windows machines to know what a headache Windows maintenance is. Do people realize how much productive time they lose administering Windows? Spyware, Adware, Drivers, Updates... this stuff all adds up to some serious time. If you want really good software protection, your going to buy Nod32 for about $60 as well. But you are still not going to be as productive because maintenance is still going to pile up and you will waste more time maintaining that PC then you can imagine.
Which brings us straight to the biggest Apple Advantages: Software Value and Productivity
Ever Mac comes with some seriously upper-class grade-A software. Lots and lots of value for the money. iLife, Automator, built-in PDF support (print to PDF, view PDF, etc), even the Utilities are great (Disk Utility which supports imaging, repair, etc). Great system stability (My Mac often runs for weeks/months at a time), much much better Memory Management, etc.
You get so much great software already on the system it's an incredible value, it's great AND easy and fast to use. You'd easily pay hundreds of dollars for everything packaged with OS X - plus you get OS X as well.
All of that leads to better use of your time (read: Productivity), getting more work done faster. Heck, even Expose can be a big time saver if you are a huge multi-tasker like myself.
In the end, that "Premium" you pay for a Mac easily pays for itself. Less wasted time, less frustration, less hardware conflict, less maintenance, more software, more producivity, and even if the hardware is "less" you get "more" out of it in my experience (perhaps thanks to the Unix foundation of OS X?)
And you know, the dang thing runs XP and games pretty dang well too (at least my 1yr old iMac does)... although you'd hardly spend time in Windows if you have OS X.
Hardware alone is a small part of "computing", you'd think people would realize that buy now and know when you buy into a platform it's not just about the hardware, as hardware is nothing without software.
Amen to that.
Expose is the greatest thing since sliced bread, as is Spotlight. OSX has very useful keyboard shortcuts.
Vista has Flip3D and Ctrl-Alt-Delete.
this is a great discussion. i think everyone is doing a good job of staying civil.
the main issue here is that the OP waited for an update that never came so he decided to buy a Windows machine. nothing wrong with that. there are pros and cons of Mac hardware and software just as there are with Windows software and whatever company's hardware. as long as the OP is getting something he feels he can use, is comfortable using, and feels he got a good deal on, that's all that matters.
nobody can make you buy a Mac. nobody here is suggesting that Macs are the best at everything. even Apple contends that PCs are better for spreadsheets and chart-making (a la the commercials). but there are certain things that we (the greater Apple community) believe are done better on a Mac. one of those things is video editing. i don't think the OP disagrees with this - he's said how iMovie is great and i'm sure he would be blown away by Final Cut.
still, when you have an idea of the hardware you want and a company does not offer it, you get frustrated and tired of waiting. to the OP, it was obviously more important to get started on his project (after 6 months of waiting) than wait another week or month or quarter for his desired hardware to be announced.
as for price comparisons, you definitely pay a premium for some of Apple's hardware. the MacBooks Pro and Mac minis are not the best value - but people do not buy them for value (i would imagine). people buy them because they want or need them. the iMacs, Mac Pros, and MacBooks (based on my own non-scientific research) are all equally good or better deals than their Dell, HP, Sony, etc. counterparts. but with any Apple computer, you need to factor in the ease of use, the hardware and software integration, and the features that come with the OS (Spotlight, Dashboard, Expose, Automator, even something as simple as AirPort Admin Utility which makes managing a network that much easier). people don't buy Apple computers simply because the hardware can connect them to the Internet and they can write a Word document and play their music. any modern computer can do those things.
as many have said in previous posts, to each his own.
the main issue here is that the OP waited for an update that never came so he decided to buy a Windows machine. nothing wrong with that. there are pros and cons of Mac hardware and software just as there are with Windows software and whatever company's hardware. as long as the OP is getting something he feels he can use, is comfortable using, and feels he got a good deal on, that's all that matters.
nobody can make you buy a Mac. nobody here is suggesting that Macs are the best at everything. even Apple contends that PCs are better for spreadsheets and chart-making (a la the commercials). but there are certain things that we (the greater Apple community) believe are done better on a Mac. one of those things is video editing. i don't think the OP disagrees with this - he's said how iMovie is great and i'm sure he would be blown away by Final Cut.
still, when you have an idea of the hardware you want and a company does not offer it, you get frustrated and tired of waiting. to the OP, it was obviously more important to get started on his project (after 6 months of waiting) than wait another week or month or quarter for his desired hardware to be announced.
as for price comparisons, you definitely pay a premium for some of Apple's hardware. the MacBooks Pro and Mac minis are not the best value - but people do not buy them for value (i would imagine). people buy them because they want or need them. the iMacs, Mac Pros, and MacBooks (based on my own non-scientific research) are all equally good or better deals than their Dell, HP, Sony, etc. counterparts. but with any Apple computer, you need to factor in the ease of use, the hardware and software integration, and the features that come with the OS (Spotlight, Dashboard, Expose, Automator, even something as simple as AirPort Admin Utility which makes managing a network that much easier). people don't buy Apple computers simply because the hardware can connect them to the Internet and they can write a Word document and play their music. any modern computer can do those things.
as many have said in previous posts, to each his own.
Trying to convince the OP that he should have bought <insert Mac> instead of building a PC is just a waste of time. From all of his comments and arguments, he already made up his mind that, even though he claims to want to switch, there was no Mac that was right for him.
Mini = not upgraded (and likely when it is upgraded he still wouldn't be happy, as it will probably get C2D and not Santa Rosa right away).
20" iMac = can't mount it on the wall
24" iMac = can mount but "just looks too big"
Mac Pro (refurb) = too expensive or has an "old" video card
People talk about Steve's RDF, but to me it seems the OP got sucked into the "value of PCs" RDF. He was originally looking at a $700 machine and ended up spending twice that "because it was such a great value". In my opinion, people who double their "budget" because of value didn't know what they wanted in the first place.
So, OP, have fun with your new PC. It's probably better that you didn't wait for updates, as they would just have been another disappointment for you.
Mini = not upgraded (and likely when it is upgraded he still wouldn't be happy, as it will probably get C2D and not Santa Rosa right away).
20" iMac = can't mount it on the wall
24" iMac = can mount but "just looks too big"
Mac Pro (refurb) = too expensive or has an "old" video card
People talk about Steve's RDF, but to me it seems the OP got sucked into the "value of PCs" RDF. He was originally looking at a $700 machine and ended up spending twice that "because it was such a great value". In my opinion, people who double their "budget" because of value didn't know what they wanted in the first place.
So, OP, have fun with your new PC. It's probably better that you didn't wait for updates, as they would just have been another disappointment for you.
Yeah, I'm not in video myself - I'm a graphic designer. CS2 runs as good at home on my P4 that it does at my job on my G5. But given the other features in OSX and several other 'factors' (especially when it comes to using and managing hundreds of fonts) - I get more work done, quicker, on the G5. And I used to think the G5 was crap because it was a single 1.8ghz and I have a P4 3.0C HT at home. I used to be a clock speed junkie. Then I ran the Retouch Artists Photoshop benchmark at home and at work and was blown away by how bad the G5 made my P4 look. G5 ran the test in around 3 minutes...P4 = 30 minutes. It was then that I realized how much better Macs were for anything related to design or video.
Yes! Thank you!
Hence the names...Mac Pro.
Some people fail to realize - these are Pro machines; these aren't 'home AOL user' machines. If you price out a similar spec'd machine (which you don't build yourself...fair comparison since you obviously can't build a Mac) you pay the same or more.
Yeah, in a perfect world.
Fence sitter switchers always see the sticker price as the final price, and don't take into consideration the intuitiveness between one OS and the other, or the added costs and time spent with updates and installing/using software to keep Windows boxes from being compromised.
Does Windows work? Absolutely. Is it easy to use? Sure. [Any GUI is.]
But I'm tired of all of the baggage that comes along with running Windows.
No.. I hear ya guys.. many of you make great points.. I bought the stuff already so turning back at this point isnt an option... But yeah, do I feel absolutely comofrtable in my decision to go with windows another 3 or so years.. no, of course not.. I looked at mac for a reason of course.. When I first seriously looked at Macs it was the mini. Basic video editing was what I wanted to do. The I see the iMac.. for a bit more you get this.. so now I convinced myself to spend 1500 on a 20"... then I read, hey, wait until Macworld.. the mini will be updated and you can get your wall mounted 22" samsung 226 (225 at the time) and be happy.. I waited.. and you know the rest.. Yep, frustration and the fact I have a box that is falling apart here on the floor.. litteraly. When the Quad price fell.. and benchmark times were off the charts.. I said heck, let me put 1500 into a windows machine and have a screamer.. rather than something that "I" felt was outdated.... Again.. who cant love iMovie.. its great.. and Murphys law will be the day the UPS truck pulls up with the parts is the day that the new Mac mini is out with a c2d... but then again.. there was also a lot of talk about the mini being discontinued.. the imac beign revamped for the october OS rollout.. etc. etc.. and having waited 8 months already.. it was time to do something... and so I did... The bottom line is this.. its 1500 bucks.. its not 15,000... there is always next time.. just as there as last time.. i'll be back... but you know what will be nice.. no more checking the apple web site to see if it is "the" tuesday morning.. no more checking the refurb site only to find the page empty..
I'm sorry, but the IT manager at your company needs his/her head checked. Vista is not ready for a production environment, and probably won't be until at least SP1. Everyone knows that!
There is nothing wrong with our IT manager. What was wrong was Dell only offering machines running Vista (which they have now remedied by making XP available again due to the outcry from customers like us). We were pretty sure we were going to have to put XP on the machines once we took delivery, but decided to test a couple of them with Vista for a few days.
I've noticed other people with this exact same issue... fearing an update or anticipating one making them delay their purchase.
I can understand that, I was that way with my PC too. I bought a SoundBlaster Live! and one month later the Audigy came out. Happens all the time no matter what platform.
But as I've told other people waiting for Leopard and system updates. If you can wait, then do. But if you need/want something right away do you really need to wait? The point of a computer is to get something done, if the existing line will do what you need... waiting doesn't give you that much more of an advantage.
I bought this Mac intending to keep it for at least 5 years, likely for as long as 10. The truth is, if this computer can do video editing and DVD creation now, it will ALWAYS be able to. Plus, I'm a web developer and my work is going to be browser based. IE7 just came out and works on XP. It's going to be many years before it becomes the standard, so I easily have 10 years of life in this iMac.
The only thing that is going to force an upgrade for most people, and this includes PC users - is gaming. I already decided to can PC gaming for that reason, it's expensive to keep stuff upgraded. I bought a Xbox 360 for that, as it has at least a 5 year life span.
The only other reason is going to be impatience... wanting to do something faster, things you probably don't even do that often to warrant the additional upgrade cost...
Ha! a sheep
why not try another OS if you were a switcher? There is more out there than Vista and OS X(though I prefer it).
http://www.pcbsd.org/
The most Ubuntuesqe BSD. It was voted the most user friendly OS.
http://www.ubuntu.com/
or Ubuntu it self, it even has eye candy now.
But you won't try either because you are either afraid or don't know how to use them.
why not try another OS if you were a switcher? There is more out there than Vista and OS X(though I prefer it).
http://www.pcbsd.org/
The most Ubuntuesqe BSD. It was voted the most user friendly OS.
http://www.ubuntu.com/
or Ubuntu it self, it even has eye candy now.
But you won't try either because you are either afraid or don't know how to use them.
I personally don't see the relevance of having a slightly underspec-ed machine.
I mean, the Mac Mini of today if you had it three or four years ago would be the second coming of computers in terms of power and speed.
The Mac Mini of today will suck when compared to the machines of 2008 and 2009.
And every bit of software of any computer today will probably have to be upgraded by then no matter what choice you make.
I say, just buy what you can afford, as long as it does what you need, it doesn't cost TOO much and it won't give you time-wasting problems.
The above always leads me to buy Macs... but that's just me personally.
I mean, the Mac Mini of today if you had it three or four years ago would be the second coming of computers in terms of power and speed.
The Mac Mini of today will suck when compared to the machines of 2008 and 2009.
And every bit of software of any computer today will probably have to be upgraded by then no matter what choice you make.
I say, just buy what you can afford, as long as it does what you need, it doesn't cost TOO much and it won't give you time-wasting problems.
The above always leads me to buy Macs... but that's just me personally.