hey guys & gals,
just writing about a recent thought i've had about a certain mythical mac that i know everyone wish exists. or at least, i do. a kind of "middle-of-the-road" mac. on the pc-side, this is sort of alleviated with the DIY-market. but, i will get back to that later. so, let's look at those macs, shall we?
first, is the mac mini. the mac mini is perfect in form and function and even intention. The mac mini is "affordable" and will sit right in the middle of one’s web browser in the $500-1000 category listing of computers online…. it is as if apple "listened" to its customer-base by bringing a headless "imac," as well as, a mouse-less and keyboard-less one. but, nevertheless, the mac mini gets the job done with its simplicity, affordability and minuscule form. fine. yet, the mini is just that--a mini. the most alluring of which contains a minuscule amount of vram circa 2005 for a 2011 gpu. Fine, again. The mini might be good for a year. Or two the most. That is $800 + tax down the pipe. Fortunately, macs have good resale value. So, one can possibly get lucky in the future and sell said mini for $500-600 and get the latest mini for a minimal price difference. perfect. everyone is happy. but that $800 mac mini is really closer to $1000 if one considers the buy-sell scenario above. and in the end, that new mini is still a mini and will probably still be underpowered. so that $1000 will surely rise again to $1500 down the road when it’s time to upgrade.
So, the mini is perfect. But, it’s not so perfect because the mini is really a $1500+ underpowered computer in the aforementioned 3-4 year timeframe.
the next mac is the imac. it's vram amount is reasonable. and the gpu is slightly better to a lot better on the highest model. but, it also suffers the same hidden upgrade cost especially when you consider that the imac comes with a screen. That’s all I have to say about the imac.
the next mac is the mac pro. it's the most expensive mac but it also has the most horsepower and the longest lifespan. It also doesn’t suffer the same limitations as the mini or the imac. one can upgrade (potentially) the cpu and the gpu and the ram and the hdd's. so, that $2500-3500 down is not bad if one considers that one will be using the mac pro a lot longer. So, in theory, the mac pro’s life is limitless. And this is really what I want to talk about because I am drawn to the mac pro’s superb upgrade ability and lifespan. But, the initial cost puts it well out of reach of some people’s budget. There is no $1000 mac regular.
I wish there was, though.
on the pc side, there is no "pro" or "i" or "mini." it's like a breath of fresh air sometimes. but then, again, pc's don't have that kind of optimization we are used to on the mac side.
just letting off some steam after looking at some pc's on the other side of the fence and seeing what i can build for under a $1000. mostly for gaming. but, i am not so sure of going through with it because i have invested so much on macs that if i get a pc that it would just be a really expensive gaming rig. lol. and pc's can't boot in os x like os x can boot in windows. isn't that weird?
just writing about a recent thought i've had about a certain mythical mac that i know everyone wish exists. or at least, i do. a kind of "middle-of-the-road" mac. on the pc-side, this is sort of alleviated with the DIY-market. but, i will get back to that later. so, let's look at those macs, shall we?
first, is the mac mini. the mac mini is perfect in form and function and even intention. The mac mini is "affordable" and will sit right in the middle of one’s web browser in the $500-1000 category listing of computers online…. it is as if apple "listened" to its customer-base by bringing a headless "imac," as well as, a mouse-less and keyboard-less one. but, nevertheless, the mac mini gets the job done with its simplicity, affordability and minuscule form. fine. yet, the mini is just that--a mini. the most alluring of which contains a minuscule amount of vram circa 2005 for a 2011 gpu. Fine, again. The mini might be good for a year. Or two the most. That is $800 + tax down the pipe. Fortunately, macs have good resale value. So, one can possibly get lucky in the future and sell said mini for $500-600 and get the latest mini for a minimal price difference. perfect. everyone is happy. but that $800 mac mini is really closer to $1000 if one considers the buy-sell scenario above. and in the end, that new mini is still a mini and will probably still be underpowered. so that $1000 will surely rise again to $1500 down the road when it’s time to upgrade.
So, the mini is perfect. But, it’s not so perfect because the mini is really a $1500+ underpowered computer in the aforementioned 3-4 year timeframe.
the next mac is the imac. it's vram amount is reasonable. and the gpu is slightly better to a lot better on the highest model. but, it also suffers the same hidden upgrade cost especially when you consider that the imac comes with a screen. That’s all I have to say about the imac.
the next mac is the mac pro. it's the most expensive mac but it also has the most horsepower and the longest lifespan. It also doesn’t suffer the same limitations as the mini or the imac. one can upgrade (potentially) the cpu and the gpu and the ram and the hdd's. so, that $2500-3500 down is not bad if one considers that one will be using the mac pro a lot longer. So, in theory, the mac pro’s life is limitless. And this is really what I want to talk about because I am drawn to the mac pro’s superb upgrade ability and lifespan. But, the initial cost puts it well out of reach of some people’s budget. There is no $1000 mac regular.
I wish there was, though.
on the pc side, there is no "pro" or "i" or "mini." it's like a breath of fresh air sometimes. but then, again, pc's don't have that kind of optimization we are used to on the mac side.
just letting off some steam after looking at some pc's on the other side of the fence and seeing what i can build for under a $1000. mostly for gaming. but, i am not so sure of going through with it because i have invested so much on macs that if i get a pc that it would just be a really expensive gaming rig. lol. and pc's can't boot in os x like os x can boot in windows. isn't that weird?
