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Parallels Introduces 'Switch to a Mac' Edition

Fastshutter said:
This is the PC I just purchased:

Intel i7 Quad core @ 2.66ghz
9 gb DDR3 ram
1TB hardrive
Nividia GTS 250 (just a hair better than the 9800+) w/1gb ram
DVD writer with lightscribe
BlueRay player
802.11N wireless built in
Built in card reader
Mouse/Keyboard

$1,100.

How much would this have cost at Apple?

One 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
8GB (4x2GB)
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB
One 18x SuperDrive
Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (English) and User's Guide
AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi Card with 802.11n

$3,099. No Bluray, no card readers, I have more ram, better video card, & core i7 is faster.

I'm very much happier saving $2,000!
Click to expand...

If your time has no value, then that is an accurate comparison. If I spend an extra hour per week dealing with slow start-ups, slow shut-downs, viruses, and tons of updates ... that's about €60 per week out of my pocket.

It adds up quite fast and totally recovers the cost of the computer. However, if you have to pinch pennies and worry about the extra 2k, I understand.

The point I am trying to make is that it's called a Mac Pro (short for professional for a reason).
 
Fastshutter said:
This is the PC I just purchased:

Intel i7 Quad core @ 2.66ghz
9 gb DDR3 ram
1TB hardrive
Nividia GTS 250 (just a hair better than the 9800+) w/1gb ram
DVD writer with lightscribe
BlueRay player
802.11N wireless built in
Built in card reader
Mouse/Keyboard

$1,100.

How much would this have cost at Apple?

One 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
8GB (4x2GB)
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB
One 18x SuperDrive
Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (English) and User's Guide
AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi Card with 802.11n

$3,099. No Bluray, no card readers, I have more ram, better video card, & core i7 is faster.

I'm very much happier saving $2,000!
Click to expand...

How is a Core i7 2.66Ghz faster than a 5500 series 2.66Ghz Xeon?
 
z4n3 said:
Being Mac users HERE!!! i.e. MACRUMORS!!! we are ALL very happy for you :D

but come on PC users!!! you guyz really NEED to understand the difference between WORKSTATION and DESKTOP!!!

:apple:
Click to expand...


You mean the semantic difference that Apple charges you $1,100 extra for because they refuse to sell an affordable i7 tower for $1,100 that's as fast as their ridiculouly expensive single quad ? :rolleyes:

Do you understand the difference between $1,100 dollars for being ripped off because you think its a workstation with 3GB of memory and a cr*p Nvidia 130 video card. What a sucker. Fail.
 
polaris20 said:
How is a Core i7 2.66Ghz faster than a 5500 series 2.66Ghz Xeon?
Click to expand...

It can be be oc'd to 3.6-3.8Ghz. The Mac Pro single quad comes with an absurd 3GB memory and a junk Nvidia video card. Hey, it's a workstation, though. It's got one of them there "z on" processors for $1,100 more. Apple's ripping you off and they must be rolling in the aisles at the sight of zombies arguing what a great deal it is. :rolleyes:
 
polaris20 said:
How is a Core i7 2.66Ghz faster than a 5500 series 2.66Ghz Xeon?
Click to expand...

The 2.66Ghz Xeon in the $2499 Mac Pro is actually a W3520. W3520 is just a re-branded 920 chip that supports ECC memory and can be configured in a dual-socket motherboard. That's it. It's the same chip.
 
jaw04005 said:
No. I'm not sure why this is a front page story anyway.

Parallels 4 and Parallels Transporter are not new products. The only thing of interest here is Parallel's marketing desktop virtualization to switchers, and the only thing new about this entire bundle is that they're including basic Mac tutorials and the USB transfer cable for Transporter.

The bundle doesn't even include Windows, which is probably the most complicated part of the Parallels setup. Maybe it copies your version of Windows over from your old computer? However, it seems like that would be in violation of Microsoft's EULA (OEM copies are limited to a specific machine, virtualization can only be performed with certain copies of Windows, etc) unless you had as specific license agreement (Family Pack, etc).
Click to expand...
When my boss moved to a Mac Pro years ago he moved his Windows XP installation using VMWare's Tools over to Fusion on the OS X side. It didn't seem to cause any problems.

jaw04005 said:
The 2.66Ghz Xeon in the $2499 Mac Pro is actually a W3520. W3520 is just a re-branded 920 chip that supports ECC memory and can be configured in a dual-socket motherboard. That's it. It's the same chip.
Click to expand...
I attached a picture of the clocks and Turbos of various Bloomfield and Lynnfield processors. The ~$200 Core i5 750 gets about 90% of the performance that the Core i7 920 does. It only falters in heavily threaded applications.
 

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acidfast7 said:
If your time has no value, then that is an accurate comparison. If I spend an extra hour per week dealing with slow start-ups, slow shut-downs, viruses, and tons of updates ... that's about €60 per week out of my pocket.

It adds up quite fast and totally recovers the cost of the computer. However, if you have to pinch pennies and worry about the extra 2k, I understand.

The point I am trying to make is that it's called a Mac Pro (short for professional for a reason).
Click to expand...

I have scheduled my virus definitions to update over-night. When a Windows PC update is needed, I do it right before bed as well. I never spend more than 5 minutes per week managing the computer, and I've never got a virus at my home PC, ever. (Just once at work in 11 years). The computer doesn't get restarted that often. On of it's uses is for a media center, it stays on all the time.
 
Scooterman1 said:
Try OpenOffice. www.openoffice.org It has the standard interface. I have Office 2007 AND Open Office. I like Open Office better because of the interface. And it's free. For both PC and Mac.
Click to expand...

I have open office on my laptop. Not sure if that solves the problem though, the kids use Office for Mac at school, it wouldn't help to have them use another office program.
 
Fastshutter said:
I have scheduled my virus definitions to update over-night. When a Windows PC update is needed, I do it right before bed as well. I never spend more than 5 minutes per week managing the computer, and I've never got a virus at my home PC, ever. (Just once at work in 11 years). The computer doesn't get restarted that often. On of it's uses is for a media center, it stays on all the time.
Click to expand...

Don't forget the time that it takes to do those things. We don't even need to run virus scanning software at the university if we run OS X. That alone saves time when every file is opened and closed.

When I get a budget for computers, I always buy Apple, because they're nicer and the group members enjoy using them more, so they're more productive.

I guess I'm in a position where time is money and a more productive person (even if they use it because it is shiny) is more important than the 2k€, which is rather insignificant in absolute terms.
 
acidfast7 said:
Don't forget the time that it takes to do those things. We don't even need to run virus scanning software at the university if we run OS X. That alone saves time when every file is opened and closed.
Click to expand...
How did you manage to convince them not to run AV on OS X?

I don't even want to go on about dealing with Apple's Education reps either. :eek:
 
ajbrehm said:
Link?
Click to expand...

HP Pavilion Elite e9180t series
configured from the site was $1,359
Found it on sale at Nebraska Furniture Mart, got an even better deal than I thought!

I *admit* I was wrong about the processer speed, the comparison between the two was for a different quad core.

11gslm8.png
 
z4n3 said:
So stick with Windows!! I do not understand why you are here complaining that Mac is not for you, and that you can get a faster & cheaper PC!!! :confused:


:apple:
Click to expand...

The point was, instead of jumping through costly hoops to make Windows work on an Apple Computer, why not save the money and just buy a Windows PC?
 
Screw Parallels. They still haven't released an update allowing you to install Parallels Tools in Ubuntu 9.04, which has been out for months. I'm sure they'll release it in version 5 and ask people to pay even more money for it.
 
Eidorian said:
How did you manage to convince them not to run AV on OS X?

I don't even want to go on about dealing with Apple's Education reps either. :eek:
Click to expand...

I don't deal with educational reps. I just buy through the department and they take care of everything else.
 
rwilliams said:
Screw Parallels. They still haven't released an update allowing you to install Parallels Tools in Ubuntu 9.04, which has been out for months. I'm sure they'll release it in version 5 and ask people to pay even more money for it.
Click to expand...
I've switched over to VirtualBox myself. I'm not going to cough up more money for Parallels to run my 64-bit VMs.

acidfast7 said:
I don't deal with educational reps. I just buy through the department and they take care of everything else.
Click to expand...
I do the same but we had a rep here once and it was terrible trying to cut a deal. We ordered 30 more SunRays a few weeks later.
 
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