Time for a new computer

Pablo

I'm looking to get a new computer and was having a hard time picking something out. I was thinking of the iMac (top of the line) with the core duo 3.06 and 24" display for about $2199. But i've been a dell man for most of my life (I have had a lot of good luck with all the pc's I've bought from them [4 so far]). The last 2 have been refurbs, and I had no problems. For the same price I can get a refurb core duo extream at 3g and a refurb 24" ultra sharp display (it would probably also have better video, better disk burners and more ram). Currently I am on a photo processing rant (and illustrations as well, and maybe a little video down the line), so that is what I will use it for at the present time. And I'm not much of a pc gammer (but I do love playing games), but I will probably burn CDs and DVDs. The big question is; does is the quad processor really that much better for anything but extensive graphic display? Is that all-in-one thing really nice to have? Do I need kick butt graphic card(s)?

Any help would be appreciated. (If I go for the iMac, I would probably pick it for my birthday on Sunday).

Thanks all.
Paul.

mutelight

I have been a PC person my entire life and just two years ago switched over to Macs and haven't looked back. I currently have a Mac Pro, last years iMac, and a Black Macbook and I have never had a single problem with any of them.

The panels in the new iMacs are fantastic and while you might be able to get a slightly faster PC equivalent the efficiency and speed of OS X will make that moot. If you have an Apple store near by, go play with the 24" iMac for some time and familiarize yourself to OS X. It took me a couple weeks to get acclimated coming from Windows my whole life but now I am extremely satisfied.

Since you are going to light gaming I wouldn't worry too much about the GPU although the 8800GS will run games just fine. If you take a lot of RAW photos I have nothing but good things to say about Aperture, definitely helps with workflow, organization and RAW processing.

In regards to RAM, do not purchase any from Apple.
http://www.18004memory.com/category.asp?catid=9&subcatid=905&cap=4000&sc=1241|0|0|0|0
That is a link to a reputable store which I have purchased all my memory upgrades from in my computers. I have 6GB from them in my Mac Pro, 4GB from them in my iMac, and doubled the memory in my Macbook. As you can see it is only $100-150 to get a solid 4GB of RAM in the 3.06Ghz iMac which will make that thing fly. As far as installing, you just remove a small little door at the bottom of the computer, pop out the old and then in with the new.

BottomFeeder

I too switched - over 4 years ago - & I'm so glad I did.

janmike

There is a 75% chance, right now that is, that MAC will be my next one. I'm an old DOS guy that has stuck with the Windows platform ever since the beginning. Hell knows why. Good luck.

madmax

I'd get a mac just for the diversity.
madmax

Shizelbs

Build your own if you've got that much cash to play with.

ben62670

Shizelbs wrote: »

Build your own if you've got that much cash to play with.

I have a quad core, 5 HD's, DVD burner, real nice SC, and a bad A$$ video card, nice LCD much under that price. How is OX installs on Intels now. Dual boot would be real sweet.
Ben

Airplay355

I switched too before I went to school. Everyone at school was using Macs so I decided to try it out.

I can't think of a single thing that I miss from a PC other then the fact that when it broke I knew how to fix it. Good thing my Mac never breaks, because I don't have a friggen clue about fixing it.

mutelight

ben62670 wrote: »

I have a quad core, 5 HD's, DVD burner, real nice SC, and a bad A$$ video card, nice LCD much under that price. How is OX installs on Intels now. Dual boot would be real sweet.
Ben

Since he will be doing image editing it is crucial that he has a IPS panel, the iMacs have S-IPS panels to avoid dithering and poor viewing angles of cheaper TN panels that lots of manufactures use.

Yes, you can install OS X on PCs but the drivers are very specific so you would need to build your system around supported hardware, not only that, it isn't legal.

Another nice thing about Apple machines is that their support over the phone and in store is fantastic.

ben62670

I thought Apple sold the OS for builders. MS is supposedly going out of the OS business, and will stick to making software while Mac is supposed to take over in the OS department.

Sherardp

Macs are cool, Im looking to get one for my bday.

ben62670

I started on a IIc
Apple that is.

JohnLocke88

Fisherprice's my first computer aka the Mac, is a great computer!

Shizelbs

mutelight wrote: »

Since he will be doing image editing it is crucial that he has a IPS panel, the iMacs have S-IPS panels to avoid dithering and poor viewing angles of cheaper TN panels that lots of manufactures use.

Can't you just then buy an Apple display or other IPS panel and use that on a Windows machine?

ND13

I'll, more than likely, be switching to a Mac when it's time for the next puter, too. I really like that 24" all in one. Hopefully, they be able to integrate a BluRay drive in them before too long.

GaryZ06

Last week I bought a MacBook.....2.4 GHz....4GB of memory.....250GB Hard Drive.....It's pretty cool and much faster than my laptop PC....

Airplay355

MS is going out of the OS making business? What's going to happen to all the businesses out there using MS OSs?

That seems kind of weird to me. Macs are becoming more popular, but there are still way more PCs out there.

JohnLocke88

Airplay355 wrote: »

MS is going out of the OS making business? What's going to happen to all the businesses out there using MS OSs?

That seems kind of weird to me. Macs are becoming more popular, but there are still way more PCs out there.

No they're not. That's completely false. With the exception of ME and Vista, MS operating systems have been rock solid. Vista isn't that bad even, just a few quirky things that can be turned off/adjusted manually. If you have 4 GB of memory with Vista, you'll have 99% fewer hassles.

Macs are great computers, I just feel that they are way overpriced.

paymontna

I have two rigs that I built myself. One with Vista 64bit and the other with Windows XP 64 bit. The Vista rig has a better processor. Both rigs have comparable RAM. I would take the XP 64bit against any OS out there. I rely on my computers heavily and the XP 64bit has never let me down. I have never ever had to reboot. I have never had a virus, and it runs like a champ. The Vista on the other hand has so much crap bogging it down. If you ask me, they loaded a bunch of bells and whistles and left out the solid well rounded OS that the user deserves. I am very disappointed in Vista. In fact I am buying another version of XP 64 before they are all gone. I can fire up both rigs at the same time and edit 2 or 3 photos on the XP 64 rig before the welcome screen pops up on the Vista:D

Pay

paymontna

I could build you a monster rig for about $1800. The only thing that you would be w/o is the phone calls to Bangladesh or Istanbul with some telemarketer that knows English as a third language, and all of the added useless free ware that windows slops on their OEM rigs.

Pay

Pablo wrote: »

I'm looking to get a new computer and was having a hard time picking something out. I was thinking of the iMac (top of the line) with the core duo 3.06 and 24" display for about $2199. But i've been a dell man for most of my life (I have had a lot of good luck with all the pc's I've bought from them [4 so far]). The last 2 have been refurbs, and I had no problems. For the same price I can get a refurb core duo extream at 3g and a refurb 24" ultra sharp display (it would probably also have better video, better disk burners and more ram). Currently I am on a photo processing rant (and illustrations as well, and maybe a little video down the line), so that is what I will use it for at the present time. And I'm not much of a pc gammer (but I do love playing games), but I will probably burn CDs and DVDs. The big question is; does is the quad processor really that much better for anything but extensive graphic display? Is that all-in-one thing really nice to have? Do I need kick butt graphic card(s)?

Any help would be appreciated. (If I go for the iMac, I would probably pick it for my birthday on Sunday).

Thanks all.
Paul.

amulford

I just got a Dell XPS M2010, and it's BAD ****...

goingganzo

all i have to say is diy

exalted512

JohnLocke88 wrote: »

No they're not. That's completely false. With the exception of ME and Vista, MS operating systems have been rock solid. Vista isn't that bad even, just a few quirky things that can be turned off/adjusted manually. If you have 4 GB of memory with Vista, you'll have 99% fewer hassles.

Macs are great computers, I just feel that they are way overpriced.

look at their profit margins to lets say...dell....they are way overpriced.
-Cody

bigaudiofanatic

I would go with mac or HP if you want to stay with windows. Up to you I recomended HP to my dad and he love his laptop. Also FYI compaq and HP are the same company now. I am running on a PowerBook G4 and own a Cannon Rebel camera and the photo editing is better on a mac.

paymontna

NEC monitors and like wise are necessary if you are viewing X-rays or ct scans and someone's life or limb depends on it, but I edit thousands of photos a week sometimes, and my Sami SyncMaster gets the pictures back just as I see them on the screen. DYI PC will out run a MAC any day for photo editing. Last week I was editing some files that were half a gigabyte and I had several of them open at once. I am able to open 300 to 400 20mb RAW files and edit them in real time. I would not trade my PC for any MAC nor any off the shelf PC. Anyone that wants a layout for a good PC DYI rig pm me.

Pay.

Systems

paymontna wrote: »

I have two rigs that I built myself. One with Vista 64bit and the other with Windows XP 64 bit. The Vista rig has a better processor. Both rigs have comparable RAM. I would take the XP 64bit against any OS out there. I rely on my computers heavily and the XP 64bit has never let me down. I have never ever had to reboot. I have never had a virus, and it runs like a champ. The Vista on the other hand has so much crap bogging it down. If you ask me, they loaded a bunch of bells and whistles and left out the solid well rounded OS that the user deserves. I am very disappointed in Vista. In fact I am buying another version of XP 64 before they are all gone. I can fire up both rigs at the same time and edit 2 or 3 photos on the XP 64 rig before the welcome screen pops up on the Vista:D

Pay

Hello

I have xp and Vista dual booted on my homebuilt machine and Vista boots faster then xp.......Go figure, anyway heres my next homebuilt.....

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=6896412&WishListTitle=Lorthos

WilliamM2

Lorthos wrote: »

Hello

I have xp and Vista dual booted on my homebuilt machine and Vista boots faster then xp.......Go figure, anyway heres my next homebuilt.....

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=6896412&WishListTitle=Lorthos

Ram is dirt cheap right now, bump that up to 4GB. Maybe bump the drives up as well. I currently have 4 500GB drives, and I think I will add two more.

Systems

Lasareath wrote: »

Get a bigger PSU, like 750watts, WD now has a 300GB Raptor

I think I'll stay with the power supply, It will be plenty for what I'm doing..... Yes, its called the Velociraptor:) The version of raptor I'm going to use has a window on the hard drive and I'm going to mod the mounting bracket so you can see the drive through the tower window......

Systems

WilliamM2 wrote: »

Ram is dirt cheap right now, bump that up to 4GB. Maybe bump the drives up as well. I currently have 4 500GB drives, and I think I will add two more.

Okay, I'll go to 4 GB, the 150 Gig raptor will be fine for me as I don't need very much storage and I have an external 500 gig anyway......

Systems

Yes, I'd seen that case before. I had built a clear case tower a few years ago. One of the problems with those cases is you have to take the panel off that the motherboard is mounted to get the drives out. I see on that one though they have the hard drive mounted so you don't have to do that.....

Heres a scan of the one I had built.....

Pablo

Well, I decided to pickup the new iMac. It's the 24" with a 3.06 processor. So far, so good, but it will take a little getting used to (I've been a windows [even DOS] guy all my life). The mouse and keyboard are a little funky, but should be ok after I get used to it.

The main reason I went with this (i'm on it now), was because of the general power (decent processor, video, ect) and the size. It's nice that I can move it out of my office and into another room with ease (I'm watching a movie right now). I thought about getting a kicking dell or even building my own, but I think after this many years of that kind of stuff, it's time for something pre-packaged.

After further research, I think I found the the processor is equal to the new x9100 coming out (if it's not already out). But it is a version designed just for apple. As far as I can tell, the x stands for "extreme" (which should be some sort of quad core), but it only says duo core. Anyone that know different, please let me know. They were useless at the apple store. No one knew exactly what processor it was or even if the operating system was 64 bit?!? All they can tell me was what was on the little sign (schmucks).