Why do you guys believe Macs are superior so PC's?

[chrono1081]

Mac Pros are pretty low-performing machines for the price. They're outdone by the new iMacs in many benchmarks. Besides, to build an identical computer in PC would take about 1/5 the amount of money as buying it prebuilt from Apple.

I have to disagree with this. My Mac Pro runs circles around my friends brand new iMac. You have to remember that Mac Pro's have many more cores and the programs people who buy Mac Pro's use take advantage of these cores.

Programs like Maya, Real Flow, Houdini, After Effects, etc all run much faster on a Mac Pro. I've tested this when I went to visit said friend and had to install my software on his machine for 3 weeks. Although the iMac can perform faster for certain programs, it definitely cannot perform faster for all programs, including a majority that Mac Pro users are probably buying.

For people doing lighter stuff like Photoshop or Illustrator they will probably see an increase of speed on the iMac.

 

[Turkish.KS]

My Personal Experience

After staying with PCs for many years, building three of my own relatively inexpensively for the superior specs (on paper), I finally decided to try a Mac. Many of my friends had switched to Macs over the years, and swore by them, and said they'd never switch back. I couldn't understand the hype either, especially for the price, which seemed outrageous. It's hard to explain to someone who doesn't have one. What made me buy one, is that several of my friends were running Macs that were 5-6 years old, and that were still competitive, with little to no maintenance done, still fully functional and meeting all their current needs. Unheard of really with a PC, and I should know; I've built some pretty fantastic ones. I would never buy or build a PC again. I've run different operating systems, different hardware configurations from the very low-end to the high-end gaming system, and none have ever compared to the reliability, functionality, and ease of use of my iMac. I saw it mentioned above that someone who only uses email and surfs the net will not notice the difference, and that could be true. But if you do anything else, Macs just work better (me personally, I feel they have an edge even when surfing). My friends make fun of me now, calling me an "Apple Polisher," but I'll be the first to admit that that's exactly what I've become. Something that turns out to warrant the extra money spent, ought to be praised. It's a rare occurence these days to get one's money's worth. Cheers

 

[jackoatmon]

I have to disagree w.....e iMac.

I could build a PC that would eat your Mac Pro for lunch for a tiny fraction of the price. You pay $2000 just to have OSX and an aluminum box.

Don't get me wrong. I have a mac. But the current mac pros are garbage for the price. 3-year old GPUs, outdated processors, etc. etc.

 

[Legion93]

I could build a PC that would eat your Mac Pro for lunch for a tiny fraction of the price. You pay $2000 just to have OSX and an aluminum box.

Don't get me wrong. I have a mac. But the current mac pros are garbage for the price. 3-year old GPUs, outdated processors, etc. etc.

Intel core i7 with quad core processors is not outdated. Macs are not designed for gaming so a dedicated GPU is not really needed. Obviously the more the merrier but when I play Crisis I don't think a Mac, I think of my Alienware. The whole question comes down to the operating system (OSX vs windows 7), not third party hardware.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I could build a PC that would eat your Mac Pro for lunch for a tiny fraction of the price. You pay $2000 just to have OSX and an aluminum box.

Don't get me wrong. I have a mac. But the current mac pros are garbage for the price. 3-year old GPUs, outdated processors, etc. etc.

Configure the same machine with the same hardware on Dell's or HPs' website, and you see, that Dell and HP also want more money than a cheap i7 costs. The Xeon CPUs are more expensive, they can cost up to 1500 USD per CPU. I give you the GPU part though, it is a shame, that they can't get ATI or Nvidia to make them professional GPUs like the Quadro or ATI Fire.

Intel core i7 with quad core processors is not outdated. Macs are not designed for gaming so a dedicated GPU is not really needed. Obviously the more the merrier but when I play Crisis I don't think a Mac, I think of my Alienware. The whole question comes down to the operating system (OSX vs windows 7), not third party hardware.

GPUs can be used for more than just gaming, though that is the most known way to use GPUs nowadays.
GPUs are also important when creating digital content (DCC) with Photoshop, After Effects and some other, less known applications.

In 2004 I had a very expensive GPU (mid level), called VP 870 it had 128MB RAM and a very fast CPU for that time. I could play PAL video in Combustion (an application like After Effects) with two effects applied to it in real time. But I couldn't play any serious 3D game with it, as the instructions on the GPU were tailored for DCC instead for games.

 

[seasurfer]

After staying with PCs for many years, building three of my own relatively inexpensively for the superior specs (on paper), I finally decided to try a Mac. Many of my friends had switched to Macs over the years, and swore by them, and said they'd never switch back. I couldn't understand the hype either, especially for the price, which seemed outrageous. It's hard to explain to someone who doesn't have one. What made me buy one, is that several of my friends were running Macs that were 5-6 years old, and that were still competitive, with little to no maintenance done, still fully functional and meeting all their current needs. Unheard of really with a PC, and I should know; I've built some pretty fantastic ones. I would never buy or build a PC again. I've run different operating systems, different hardware configurations from the very low-end to the high-end gaming system, and none have ever compared to the reliability, functionality, and ease of use of my iMac. I saw it mentioned above that someone who only uses email and surfs the net will not notice the difference, and that could be true. But if you do anything else, Macs just work better (me personally, I feel they have an edge even when surfing). My friends make fun of me now, calling me an "Apple Polisher," but I'll be the first to admit that that's exactly what I've become. Something that turns out to warrant the extra money spent, ought to be praised. It's a rare occurence these days to get one's money's worth. Cheers

Couldn't agree more.

Mac remains functionable even after many years, this is not true for PC computers....not to mention that you can still sell your mac after years and there will still be buyers. The same cannot be said for a second hand PC computer that was made 5 years ago.

 

[W1MRK]

Couldn't agree more.

Mac remains functionable even after many years, this is not true for PC computers....not to mention that you can still sell your mac after years and there will still be buyers. The same cannot be said for a second hand PC computer that was made 5 years ago.

Nowadays it cannot be said for second hand pc's that are only a year old.

The quality that one existed in PC builds just is not there anymore.

 

[derbothaus]

The quality that one existed in PC builds just is not there anymore.

Was there ever? If you paid as much as a Mac for one maybe. Like older Hypersonics and Voodoo custom builds. Otherwise I can't tell any quality difference between Dell and HP or any other flavor.

 

[jackoatmon]

You just build the damn thing yourself. Why pay dell to do it and put spyware on it? Just pick your parts at a component retailer, shove them together, then Windows 7 takes care of everything. A drunken gorilla could do it. Ultra-high-end desktop in $1000 that could eat any mac pro for breakfast. Badaboom, badabing.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

You just build the damn thing yourself. Why pay dell to do it and put spyware on it? Just pick your parts at a component retailer, shove them together, then Windows 7 takes care of everything. A drunken gorilla could do it. Ultra-high-end desktop in $1000 that could eat any mac pro for breakfast. Badaboom, badabing.

I guess you haven't read the thread yet?
Anyway, good riddance for people like you.

 

[MythicFrost]

You just build the damn thing yourself. Why pay dell to do it and put spyware on it? Just pick your parts at a component retailer, shove them together, then Windows 7 takes care of everything. A drunken gorilla could do it. Ultra-high-end desktop in $1000 that could eat any mac pro for breakfast. Badaboom, badabing.

You do realise that there are xeon processors used in the higher end Mac Pro's which literally cost more than $1000 retail each and there's two of them in said models?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

You do realise that there are xeon processors used in the higher end Mac Pro's which literally cost more than $1000 retail each and there's two of them in said models?

I already told him that, but I guess reading is not his strong suit. There have to be ignorants, otherwise there wouldn't be any aware people.

 

[iCole]

It's not really a matter of being superior. I like my iMac 27 because its a finished product that fits neatly in my living room. I could do the same with a pc, but then I have a big box on the floor, probably more noise, a lesser and smaller screen and more software to configure. I now have this well designed, powerful enough pc that doesn't feel like a pc. Everything works out of the box and is hassle free (more or less ofcourse, its still a computer).
I do prefer OS X, but for my use, I could probably live with Win7. If I would be a pc gamer, I would've never bought an iMac.

 

[G4er?]

Since you ask about Macs and not specifically iMac I will answer.
While I prefer Macs I don't know if I would completely say that Macs are superior. Not until Apple comes out with a headless mid range Mac. If that happens then Macs are superior.

 

[chrono1081]

I could build a PC that would eat your Mac Pro for lunch for a tiny fraction of the price. You pay $2000 just to have OSX and an aluminum box.

Don't get me wrong. I have a mac. But the current mac pros are garbage for the price. 3-year old GPUs, outdated processors, etc. etc.

Um actually no you couldn't. I build PC's too. I build a LOT of them. I work with them on a daily basis and have for 11 years professionally and 18 years total. I know all about PC's.

The weak link is the OS. Hardware is nothing without the OS and for working with huge data sets Windows cannot do it as well as Mac OS and Linux can. You are under the impression that hardware is everything. Hardware is nothing without good stable software to run it.

Not to mention you fail to understand Mac Pro's have Xeon processors in them.

 

[Choctaw]

Mac remains functionable even after many years, this is not true for PC computers.

Just your view...I have kept PC's that were top of the line at the time of purchase for 5 years and upgraded the OS to keep current. They did a find job... only reason to get a new one was MS made it impossible to use older hardware or software cause there was no compatibility. Same happens to Apple after a few upgrades. That is so the companies keep the money flowing into their pockets. I would like to see a third OS that would give people more to fuss about. The old fight of PC/Apple is getting a bit out dated. Heck just use what you want and don't try and get everybody else to salute your flag. For some of us have our own flag and like it.

 

[TrollToddington]

Nowadays it cannot be said for second hand pc's that are only a year old.

The quality that one existed in PC builds just is not there anymore.

2 weeks ago I successfully sold my nearly 3 year old ACER laptop. The buyer tried to lower my price by comparing the specs of my laptop to the specs of some substandard, subspecced contemporary laptops (which had like 1 GHz processor, 2GB of ram, far smaller HDDs, inferior screen etc) not to mention the inferior build quality.

 

[jackoatmon]

You do realise that there are xeon processors used in the higher end Mac Pro's which literally cost more than $1000 retail each and there's two of them in said models?

You do realise that there are ******-ass 3-year-old GPUs used in the higher end Mac Pro's which literally cost less than $10 retail each and there's two of them in said models if you pay like $600 extra for the crossfire?

 

[derbothaus]

You do realise that there are ******-ass 3-year-old GPUs used in the higher end Mac Pro's which literally cost less than $10 retail each and there's two of them in said models if you pay like $600 extra for the crossfire?

...and people that buy Mac Pros are not gamers. I don't see the point to your rants at all. Yes you can be all cheap-ass ghetto and build a PC you got parts from best buy or something and then claim your single threaded winamp tests beat a 12-core Mac Pro but then you would be lying to yourself as the iMac users do. I own a business and need some write off's. 3000.00 vs. 1000.00 seems better to me. Uncle sam gets it either way. Crossfire is a micro-stuttering joke and not supported in OS X. Neither is SLI for same reasons. You do not know of what you speak. A 5770 is also more than 10.00.

 

[Freyqq]

My only one gripe with OSX is that MS Office for Mac doesn't seem to run as smoothly on it as it should. I am getting intermittent crashes and that beachball icon when editing documents of 50+ pages.

Should I switch to Iworks? It should run better, presumably being optimised for Mac, but I have heard there are compatibility issues (and my workplace uses only windows). How bad is this?

i would try upgrading to the most recent version of office (office 2011) and install all updates/patches.

 

[Inconsequential]

You just build the damn thing yourself. Why pay dell to do it and put spyware on it? Just pick your parts at a component retailer, shove them together, then Windows 7 takes care of everything. A drunken gorilla could do it. Ultra-high-end desktop in that could eat any mac pro for breakfast. Badaboom, badabing.

Difference is my Mac Pro doesn't fall over every few months.

[Speaks from experience of building computers regularly for the last 10 years]

XP-M, DFI SLi-DR, NF7-S, 9700/9800 Pro, been there, done that. Got the Mac Pro.

 

[jackoatmon]

...and people that buy Mac Pros are not gamers. I don't see the point to your rants at all. Yes you can be all cheap-ass ghetto and build a PC you got parts from best buy or something and then claim your single threaded winamp tests beat a 12-core Mac Pro but then you would be lying to yourself as the iMac users do. I own a business and need some write off's. 3000.00 vs. 1000.00 seems better to me. Uncle sam gets it either way. Crossfire is a micro-stuttering joke and not supported in OS X. Neither is SLI for same reasons. You do not know of what you speak. A 5770 is also more than 10.00.

I gave away my 5770 a month ago. I bought it new several years ago for $150. $10 is generous. Crossfire, dual parallel, whatever. The 2 video card version - whatever you want to call it.

Also, people who think GPUs are just for gaming are, well, just plain wrong.

At this point, anyone defending the Mac Pro is just mad that their expensive computer is outdated.


PS I should also point out that someone back there was questioning windows for component stability/performance. As far as I know, Windows has much better benchmarking with identical hardware due to better driver availability. This is obviously not always the case, as it's component by7 component, but drivers and componenet performance are amongst the strengths of Windows, not the weaknesses.

 

[derbothaus]

I gave away my 5770 a month ago. I bought it new several years ago for $150. $10 is generous. Crossfire, dual parallel, whatever. The 2 video card version - whatever you want to call it.

Also, people who think GPUs are just for gaming are, well, just plain wrong.

At this point, anyone defending the Mac Pro is just mad that their expensive computer is outdated.


PS I should also point out that someone back there was questioning windows for component stability/performance. As far as I know, Windows has much better benchmarking with identical hardware due to better driver availability. This is obviously not always the case, as it's component by7 component, but drivers and componenet performance are amongst the strengths of Windows, not the weaknesses.

I wouldn't call it outdated, I call it solid. X58 and X5600 are very stable and still kick the crap out of i7-2600K in multi threads. And there is STILL no replacement yet. In 2 weeks maybe. How can something be outdated when there is no replacement for it? Z68 and i7 is not the pro replacement. X79 and E5 is. As for your component analogy you are obviously a newb and don't understand market saturation and driver optimizations and directX stranglehold etc.

 

[chrono1081]

I gave away my 5770 a month ago. I bought it new several years ago for $150. $10 is generous. Crossfire, dual parallel, whatever. The 2 video card version - whatever you want to call it.

Also, people who think GPUs are just for gaming are, well, just plain wrong.

At this point, anyone defending the Mac Pro is just mad that their expensive computer is outdated.


PS I should also point out that someone back there was questioning windows for component stability/performance. As far as I know, Windows has much better benchmarking with identical hardware due to better driver availability. This is obviously not always the case, as it's component by7 component, but drivers and componenet performance are amongst the strengths of Windows, not the weaknesses.

Wow. Its so obvious you really don't know much about computers. Honestly, I'm not saying this to be mean, go out and learn other operating systems. There are plenty to choose from. I'm sure after you do you will realize that a computer, and its software is a tool and some tools are better than others for a job. For gaming, sure have your Windows box. I can't argue that because Windows is the best choice for gaming right now, but its not the best choice for stability. I work with Windows for a living, I know.

For high end work like video editing, 3D modeling and animation, compositing, etc Mac OS and Linux are the choice for performance and stability hence why creative houses use these systems.

Not to mention the whole "outdated" think doesn't hold water. People who buy workstations know they will be buying them to last for years. Just because some processor somewhere bumped doesn't mean that the current machine is any less effective. There is a huge difference between benchmarks and real world use, and for real world use my machine is running just as fast as it did last year when I got it. Outdated? Hardly.

 

[kingtj]

Yep.... all of the below!

I keep telling people a Mac (or really, most Apple products) are more than the sum of their parts. That's the best way I can put it in a sentence.

If you don't actually get "hands on" with one and give it an honest try for long enough to get over your preconceptions of how everything "should be", you won't really understand why people like them so much.

If you've done that with an open mind and still determined a Mac is not for you, fine. That can definitely happen. There's no such thing as the ideal system for everyone. But having worked in I.T. for close to 20 years now and having owned at least one of practically everything on the market (well, it FEELS like it, anyway!) -- I know the Mac works better for me.

After staying with PCs for many years, building three of my own relatively inexpensively for the superior specs (on paper), I finally decided to try a Mac. Many of my friends had switched to Macs over the years, and swore by them, and said they'd never switch back. I couldn't understand the hype either, especially for the price, which seemed outrageous. It's hard to explain to someone who doesn't have one. What made me buy one, is that several of my friends were running Macs that were 5-6 years old, and that were still competitive, with little to no maintenance done, still fully functional and meeting all their current needs. Unheard of really with a PC, and I should know; I've built some pretty fantastic ones. I would never buy or build a PC again. I've run different operating systems, different hardware configurations from the very low-end to the high-end gaming system, and none have ever compared to the reliability, functionality, and ease of use of my iMac. I saw it mentioned above that someone who only uses email and surfs the net will not notice the difference, and that could be true. But if you do anything else, Macs just work better (me personally, I feel they have an edge even when surfing). My friends make fun of me now, calling me an "Apple Polisher," but I'll be the first to admit that that's exactly what I've become. Something that turns out to warrant the extra money spent, ought to be praised. It's a rare occurence these days to get one's money's worth. Cheers