04-22-2008, 06:24 AM

Well guys and gals ive finally decided to switch to mac. I plan to do this in June/July time.

Before I switch I just have some questions to ask really.

Ive been a PC user forever since I was young and im not 22 finishing my degree in Multimedia/3D Modelling.

I will not lie I used to hate macs upto 2004 I never really thought they where that good but Apple has got its sh*t together over the last few years and is making some good machines. Ive already converted my brother as he would mess up his XP machine once a month so far 8 months of having a mac book and he hasnt broken it. I myself am really fed up wit vista, I dont play Pc games anymore and all my software other than 3dsmax can be used on a mac.

Bascially because im a 3d modeller i use 3dsmax a fair bit at the moment, now the way Im viewing it if im lucky enough to get a 3D related job ill be using in 5 days a week and wont want to use it much at home.

I do however plan to use bootcamp so that I can use 3dxmax n xp. What I want to know is how stable is bootcamp when running 3dsmax? Also ive heard rumours for years now that autodesk will port max over to the macs, is there any truth in this?

I was wondering if any more experience mac users can honestly tell me the pros and cons of going mac. Like the screens, they dont seem like the best with only 800:1 contrast ratio.

Im planning on buying the 24" iMac, and upgrading to 4gb of ram myself as I can buy 4gb of (Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C5 200-Pin SODIMM Dual Channel Kit) for £60 and apple charge £60 to put in 2GB.

Also about the mini DVI port, if I hook up my 360 via vga cable then convert vga to mini dvi it would work fine on my mac, I take there is an option ot switch between the two aswell?

04-22-2008, 08:33 AM

how stable is bootcamp when running 3dsmax

Boot Camp is a dual-boot mechanism for Intel Macs. It doesn't hang around once the OS is loaded so it's not a factor in compatibility. XP runs fine on Intel Macs, as they are built out of (custom) PC parts. To Windows it's just a PC. Apple provides the necessary XP 32-bit drivers.

04-22-2008, 08:42 AM

When you are using Windows on a Mac, installed on separate partition with Bootcamp, it IS a PC and is no different from any other Windows machine.

04-22-2008, 09:54 AM

Thats cool. Im glad thats cleared up as I want to be able to boot into window now and again to use 3dmax.

With regards to the mini dvi port on the back of the macs, is that deisgned to work as an external monitor or can I as mentioned before hook a console up to it and view my console on the mac screen?

04-22-2008, 06:16 PM

I started with boot camp but then switched to using fusion and to be honest its awesome and I have not once had a crash. In fact id go as far as saying running windows within mac seems more stable than runnig windows natively. Whichever option you go with windows will work on the mac.

04-22-2008, 06:34 PM

I don't think you're going to be able to hook up you xbox like that. The port on the Mac only goes out I believe, it doesn't come in.

Apparently a lot of people ask about this (judging by google), and I guess you would need a tv tuner and even then there is problems with latency, so the consensus is that you won't be able to play comfortably.