Hi peeps. Thinking about slatting off the pc and getting a mac. How will a G5 compare to my current pc? Specs of my PC are as follows: Intel core duo (cant remember what size think its a 3200 4 gig of ram GTX8800 graffix card.
Are you kidding? A new G5 will spank the system you have currently. Just look at the specs --> http://www.apple.com/macpro/specs.html You will have to upgrade from the base model to have more memory as it only comes with 3GB...but it's DDR3 and if your using an old S775 board it's most likely DDR2. Also, the base model only has a GeForce GT 120, will have to upgrade to the 4870 HD Apple offers to beat out the 8800GTX...or you can just swap the cards from your old PC to Mac. The big kicker is the CPU, you have the choice of a 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon or two 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon...enough said. Plus Mac OS X > M$ Windoze. Although, for the price you pay with Apple. You can upgrade you current machine depending on the mobo specs or build yourself a comparable PC from the ground up, if not better. Which is what I would do
mac are so much better thain pc! myself i use pc my folks have mac, one of the downfalls about mac you can't just got to store like walmart to replace mouse and softwear, one good thing it is not to easy to get virus, not many people who want write code to get mac, like the other poster said the mac will smoke the pc!
PCs have got a bad rap lately just because of the operating system that it has been monopolized toward. Although I was referring to that Mac and his machine. The G5 is lightning fast compared to his current machine. I still am a firm believer in PCs though. It really depends on what the OP wants and needs out of a computer. I will agree with you on the points you made however. Macs just work and have limited virus attention. I use a Mac at work everyday, it's a dream in functionality compared to a Windows box.
djscoop who uses "real" computers, I wonder what sort of experience on a mac you have? Because I too thought a mac is a huge expense for a similar device, instead when I trasitioned to a mac i found the functionality was crisp, it is far more user-friendly than a PC, and has far deeper software/OS functions. Not to mention my MAC is as fast today as it was when I bought it over a year ago. I have zero spyware or viruses, and as far a power, new G5's are sick.
Which is all well and good provided that all of the software you need has been written/ported to Mac. This has ALWAYS (and I owned a Mac SE and used to make a living supporting Apple products) been the knock. Availability of software and inexpensive peripherals and accessories. I realize that this has been somewhat mitigated over the years with updated hardware designs, but for the most part, the have a higher TCO than PCs, which is for me the bottom line. As far as practical use, I have always said, and continue to contend that: A Windows user can figure out a Mac faster than a Mac user can figure out Windows. I would never teach my child on a Mac as a primary computing source.
I could understand that. I just feel like a computer should be an investment and a PC these days is like buying a beater, thus the reasonable price, while a mac seems to last for 200,000 miles. I would agree that the amount of software made for macs is a problem, but the available software I have used is always reliable and accessible from both PC and Macs, no need to worry if your college prof. has word 2000, or works, or even a different piece of software that cannot even read, although microsoft releases them with windows...
Asilay, here's another school of thought: A PC is no more an investment than an automobile. In fact, PCs lose their value faster than automobiles. There's a thing called "Moore's law" which is a great contributor to this. There was a post the other day from someone who wanted to build a PC that "would last 5 years". After all of us got done laughing, we explained about Moore's law and said that the PC would outlive it's effectiveness and would probably become obsolete (to new applications) in 2-3 years, tops. I have built and owned PC platforms on most every Zilog, Intel, AMD, and Motorola CPU. I never buy bleeding edge, and never keep a unit for more than 2 years, and I'd be willing to bet that I have spent about the same amount of money as the person who goes Bleeding Edge --> Obsolete -->Bleeding Edge --> Obsolete. Another "problem" with Macs (IMHO) is since the hardware is pretty much NOT upgradeable, you are "forklifting" the entire box every time you "level up". With PCs I have been able to migrate parts through several levels of upgrades, lowering the TCO.
Yes, unfortunately I do use macs. I teach audio production at a local college in LA, and the entire RTVF (radio/television/film) department uses nothing but Apple products. I don't like macs for many reasons. First, because all of the audio/video products that macs USED to be superior on, such as Adobe, Pro Tools, Cubase, Reason, and many more, run just as good on PCs as they do macs. Second, there is very little upgrading you can do to the hardware. Everything is proprietary and expensive. 93% of the software out there doesn't work on macs. And yes, I know that you can emulate/run windows on macs, but to me thats stupid...its like taping a ford logo over a chevy...why not just buy a ford? Third, most of the enjoyment I get out of computers is the hands on part. I enjoy purchasing all of the individual components, building the computer, installing the software, and configuring the system to run the exact way I want. So if you want a expensive, plug and play out of the box computer that goes well with your ikea furniture, then get a mac. but if you want a real computer, get a PC.
You both make very valid points, and Moore's law is definitely a fact of life in the computer world. And I respect what you have to say DJScoop and I am glad that you at least use Macs and are not just the norm, a person scared of something new. I am not a user who needs constant upgrades, the upper tier of current Macs provide more than enough power, speed, and graphics for what I need at home. I am however a little shocked at your job skill and dislike of Macs, My cousin is a graphic designer and they only use Macs... I guess everyone has likes and dislikes, I prefer Macs...
Cheers djscoop, 'twas nice to see a Mac user who doesn't like them, and why. Good stuff. This really tickled me ~ All i have to offer is this ~ http://enews.penton.com/enews/windowsitpro/wininfodaily/2009_07_16_071609/display I especially like this bit
I've got to say i love Windows 7... But anyway, even if you DO like the Mac OSX, is it honestly worth the extra money? I'll show you a couple of examples; To start off with, the very basic model is a whopping $2,499 dollars, ok? Me and sammorris priced a Windows computer up for a guy just last week that would beat that Mac for guess how much? $600! That build was rock solid... Don't you Mac supporters see how much they're trying to rip you off? They're charging $500 for an extra 270MHz on the processor... On a Windows PC you could cough and accidentally overclock your processor by that much o.o $300 for a 1TB hard-drive, when on newegg they're $90... They're even charging $100 for a damn extra DVD drive! *sighs*
I no longer try the money arguement with Mac users because most of the ones I've encountered give me a cow-eyed stare and say "It's worth it", and when pressed for an explanation of why it's worth it, the reason usually boils down to "I've got money to p**s away".
I understand that PC's are far less expensive, and I acknowledge the amount of software made for it far surpasses anything apple has to offer numerically, but the reason for my liking of apple products is that they last. I would consider myself a pretty savvy computer user, not upper tier, but better than some. With windows based computers, they are very susceptible to getting spyware and viruses which slow down within months of buying them. More than 50% of windows users use Internet Explorer and think by renewing their Anti Virus they are safe. I also have a personal hatred for windows because they do things like release Windows XP talking about how their firewall is amazing, and when you bought a computer the firewall isn't even turned on... For many users they cannot explain what one is let alone find it to ensure it is on... Microsoft had to fight off an onslaught of lawsuits due to releasing OS's without even finishing their coding, and due to their commercials which spread false information about protection against worms. I feel like Microsoft is one of the companies the embodies my dislike for the current state of capitalism. Companies create things to only have you replace it within a couple years of release, hoping the frail structure doesn't collapse between editions or releases. Maybe my gripes are small, and mostly apply for newbies, but a MAC comes with everything you want right out of the box. My MAC has been completely reliable and fast for over a year and maybe other people have problems with theirs, I just know for a fact I prefer everything Apple over Microsoft....alright alright, not the prices... ha ha
Interesting you should mention that - I've had a virus once. Once. And that was on an unupdated computer with no anti-virus what-so-ever. The only thing that's ever gone wrong with any computer I've ever owned (aside from the occasional blue screen on one of them I just wiped and started over with) is a hard drive crash on a rubbish laptop I just messed about trying different operating systems on... I have a laptop that's already lasted nearly six years and still runs Windows XP brilliantly... There's no difference between the two if you can be bothered to take care of a Windows computer. If you got a Windows machine that cost as much as your average Mac it'd probably last even longer...
