Thinking of switching from pc to mac..

[postalp]

.

 

[postalp]

...also, are the thunderbolt connections input only, or can they also be used for output?

 

[rocknblogger]

I'll only answer one of your questions and leave the rest for the better informed members.

You can use your FireWire drives using a Thunderbolt dongle. When I bought my rMBP I still (and have) three FireWire drives and it all works flawlessly for me.

Okay two questions

You iMac is not any less likely to stop phishing attacks. That's usually done through email or shady sites where the user needs to use common sense and be diligent about what information he/she is providing and to whom.

There are no known viruses at this time so you don't need any anti virus software, which was a nice relief coming over from a Windows computer.

Hope that helps some. The rest I leave for others

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...also, are the thunderbolt connections input only, or can they also be used for output?

Thunderbolt two way, read and write.

 

[postalp]

.....

 

[X-Ravin]

Welcome to the club, I use both PCs and Macs in my house since they both have their strengths and weaknesses. Now getting on to your questions.

I disagree that there are no OSX viruses, that is not true. There are FAR fewer of them than Windows viruses, yes, but they DO exist. So just keep your ears open on sites like this to see if a virus has come out, and how to avoid it. But there's no need to install 10,000 antivirus programs, or any really. Actually I don't even run antivirus on any of my PCs and I've yet to have any problems. Diligent browsing goes a long way.

Retina really has no formal definition, but certainly the pixel density of the monitors isn't like the MBP Retina. But a 1440p 27" display is still damn sharp by desktop monitor standards. Now if it was 27" and 1080p, that would be a different story.

I've been using an SSD on my PC gaming rig for a few years now and haven't noticed any performance differences. I also have one in my year old+ MBP retina and it blazes. Not sure who makes Apple's SSDs, I want to say they are custom designed by Apple and probably outsourced to Foxconn or similar, but I could be wrong.

I personally don't use an optical drive for anything other than Blu-Ray ripping. I can't remember the last time I needed an opt drive in any of my computers (I have a lot lol). Get a high quality 32gb or 64gb USB stick, something fast, and you'll be set.

I think today that Macs and PCs are about the same stability. I know others will probably say I'm crazy, but my PC and my MBP crash about as often as each other, which is to say extremely rarely. But it does happen. Now keep in mind my PCs are all custom built with clean Windows 7 installs, I can't comment on the crappy pre-built machines from places like Best Buy, never had luck with those.

That's quite a hefty build you got planned, I personally think 1TB of flash is overkill, but I can only comment on my own usage. Also unless you are really going to take advantage of that i7 you may want to save that money and stick with the i5. The i7 won't really help with gaming.

GTA4 will run fine, the 780m is on par with a 660ti:

http://gtaforums.com/topic/520972-gtx-660-ti/

 

[bp1000]

I'm thinking of switching over to the mac from a pc, but I have a few questions before I take the plunge.

Is it true that os x is much more secure against hacking attempts, i.e. so less worrying about phishing, cookies, advos, pop-ups, hijacking, and hacks because os x is built on a more secure platform like linux? So there should be no need to run programs like norton, mcafee, or malwarebytes, running in the background 24/7 hogging up system resources?

There has been a lot of complaints that the screen is not retina. I've seen the screen, and it's a fact that the screen produces slighty blurry text, but the color and resolution both look great, especially for doing color and photo work. My laptop displays 1920x1200 res on 17 inches, which gives it a .19mm dot pitch. It has super sharp text, and is not blurry at all. I wonder what the dot pitch of the 27" imac screen is? Is it possible that the imac with the 780m can display a 4k monitor using the thunderbolt 1.0 connection at 4k res?

And is it true that flash storage drives (ssd drives) slow down over years of use? Is the ssd in the imac user replaceable just in case this happens? Would applecare cover you if your ssd slows way down after a year or two of normal use? And who makes Apples pci-e ssds anyways?

Is the seperate cd/dvd player worth the buy? For example, if I purchase programs from Apple or Adobe, do customers purchase them retail on discs anymore, or do most people now just download their software purchases? And lastly, is it true that macs in general crash less often than pc's?

My specs so far:

3.5Ghz i7
8GB Ram (I will upgrade later)
1TB Flash storage
780M
Total cost $3114

Is this a good price? Is there anything else to consider getting? Can this rig play a game like GTA IV at the monitors native 2560x1440 resolution, at 35-40fps? I'm not buying it just for gaming, I'm just curious what the computer can do. Is the applecare coverage worth it? How common is it for the imac computer needing to be serviced in first three years? Dosen't the imac come with a 1 year parts and labor warranty anyway? Or would it be better to wait for 4k with the upcoming Mac Pro? Thanks for your advice, I'm just learning still.

Mac OS based on unix did have the fundamental security protection built into the core of the OS unlike windows if you look at the foundations. But dont let that lull you into a false sense of security. OSX is technically just as much at risk as windows. Issue is, up until recently Mac computers made up only 10-15% of the computer market. Most of the big fish ran windows and hence more data to steal. I think it is also slightly harder to steal data on OSX due to the fact that program files are almost sandboxed away from user data where as windows leave files all over the OS. Remember the mass botnet on OSX last year, perhaps now virus writers are realising OSX is getting a bigger market share so they are now turning their efforts on us. Diligence in this case, will prevail.

4k displays are still hugely expensive so i dont think they will be coming to an iMac anytime soon. The 780m is a mobile GPU (m). Some dedicated desktop cards struggle to run 4k displays outside of normal desktop display duties, i.e. 3d etc. I think it could technically run the display but it might struggle. In addition retina iMacs require a huge amount of pixels at 27", literally double what we have now so i cant see it happening.

I wouldn't be surprised if Apple released a 4k thunderbolt display in the near future before anything else, this would go nicely with dual GPU's in the Mac Pro. They even make reference to 4k video support.

SSD drives do slow down at max capacity. Therefore its wise to over-provision, leave at least 15% free. The drive then does not have to run wear levelling and space hunting mechanisms. Kept below 85% full it should be fine, little to no difference.

I keep a DVD drive purely for importing CDs but even now i download from iTunes mostly, cant remember last time i used it.

Your spec is good if you need an i7? It will be redundant in i expect 99% of what you do. It would give you a small time gain advantage when rendering or encoding for example on programs that use all 4 cores.

Are you sure you need 1TB or SSD? Normally it is unnecessary to store your data (typically mp3s, photos, videos, rips) on an SSD. They dont need the pure read/writes that an SSD gives so therefore makes it very expensive per GB. If you like to store vast amounts of data on the internal drive you might find you run out of SSD space anyway.

If you run bootcamp and have a few games and like to have managed libraries for iPhoto / Aperture / iMovie etc then perhaps a 512GB is a good choice, if just a few core apps and the OS plus some docs, 256GB should be fine. + A good external drive of course.

I honestly can't remember the last time my macbook air crashed, if ever. I dont think its ever rebooted on its own or frozen to the point of forced power off. I've never had a problem with it either. I thought i did in the early days but i foolishly installed a fan control program which was running in the background and i complained to Apple techs the fans were running constantly. I realised my mistake after they swapped out my machine i was going through my installed programs list. Felt a huge fool.

iMac is a solid purchase, i love OSX experience, so simple, solid, fast and fluid.

 

[talmy]

Is it true that os x is much more secure against hacking attempts, i.e. so less worrying about phishing, cookies, advos, pop-ups, hijacking, and hacks because os x is built on a more secure platform like linux?

It's really a security through obscurity since it's easier to target the most popular OSes (versions of Windows).

So there should be no need to run programs like norton, mcafee, or malwarebytes, running in the background 24/7 hogging up system resources?

I never have, but I "practice safe computing". I don't get PC viruses either.

I wonder what the dot pitch of the 27" imac screen is?

.23mm which while larger than your laptop, won't be at normal viewing distance (which is farther away with a desktop). Resolution is no problem.

Is it possible that the imac with the 780m can display a 4k monitor using the thunderbolt 1.0 connection at 4k res?

2560x1600 is maximum external display resolution supported.

And is it true that flash storage drives (ssd drives) slow down over years of use? Is the ssd in the imac user replaceable just in case this happens? Would applecare cover you if your ssd slows way down after a year or two of normal use? And who makes Apples pci-e ssds anyways?

It isn't user replaceable, and if slowdown is normal it would not be covered by Applecare.

Personally, I wouldn't get the SSD, especially the 1TB model. Most data doesn't need the fast access, and if you sleep the computer and keep your apps running most of the observable performance increase is lost.

Is the seperate cd/dvd player worth the buy? For example, if I purchase programs from Apple or Adobe, do customers purchase them retail on discs anymore, or do most people now just download their software purchases?

Virtually all software is available via download these days. I haven't purchased software on CD/DVDs in years.

And lastly, is it true that macs in general crash less often than pc's?

That's been my experience, although they are both reliable if conservatively designed (business PCs, for instance) and unmodified.

Is the applecare coverage worth it?

Applecare is insurance. If you can afford risk it is not worth it, just like any other insurance.

How common is it for the imac computer needing to be serviced in first three years? Dosen't the imac come with a 1 year parts and labor warranty anyway?

It comes with one year so the real question is how common is it for it needing to be serviced in its second and third years. I've purchased 5 iMacs over the years and all have been kept more than 3 years. Only one has required service (display failure) in years 2 and 3.

Or would it be better to wait for 4k with the upcoming Mac Pro?

Be prepared to pay a lot more!

 

[Erphern]

Just an observation about SSD - I've ordered the 1TB version, and not just because of speed. I didn't want spinning disk.