Loaded question: low-end Mac...or high-end PC?

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2010+ Mac Mini, 2.4 ghz, 8 gigs RAM / iPad (1st gen) 32gb 3G / iPhone4 16gb / iPod Video 30gb
Or spend $799 on a Mac mini (3336 Geekbench), which will hook up to your awesome monitor and do everything you want it to do. Spend $80 to bring it up to 8 gigs. Grab a wireless keyboard and a super mouse and you still come out WAY ahead. They are TEENY TINY and look super cool. Still can't believe how well my mini performs. One power cord and one HDMI cord and it is hooked up. This makes it very portable, too.
 
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mid 2011 27" imac Core i5 2.7GHz, 8GB, 1TB
OR get the PC and hackintosh it WIN WIN
 
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OR get the PC and hackintosh it WIN WIN

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I wouldn't be suggesting the use of hackintosh on this board.
 
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OR get the PC and hackintosh it WIN WIN

The illegal way is not one I'd recommend. You can legally run both OSes on a Mac, but not on any other PC.
 
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Phacade
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All things being equal, I'm about 60/40 leaning towards the 21.5" i3 right now. It'll get me through (as Ozzy Osbourne would say) and perhaps in a year or two I'll give it to the kids and get me a bigger 'mo powerful Mac.
 

RavingMac

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All things being equal, I'm about 60/40 leaning towards the 21.5" i3 right now. It'll get me through (as Ozzy Osbourne would say) and perhaps in a year or two I'll give it to the kids and get me a bigger 'mo powerful Mac.

I don't think you will regret that choice. Sounds like a real win-win option.
 
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Phacade
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Well here's the deal. I've got my dying AMD 2700 and my wife's (even more ancient) AMD 1800 that I figure I can "patchwork" together and make something for the kids. Wife's been addicted to her laptop for awhile so she won't miss it. Right now their computer needs are...well what ever gets them on Nick Jr's website. But I'm thinking in a few years, they might need a bit more. Perhaps by then they could make good use of the i3 iMac. Bonus on its WIFI, so I could easily stick it in their room without cluttering up the house with more cabling.

Who knows, maybe I'll get that Mac Pro then? Thanks guys. You've been most helpful.
 
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17 inch 2 GHz C2D imac (5,1) with 3GB DDR2 RAM, X1600 (128MB memory) GPU - OSX 10.6.3
Well here is a little info you might find useful.

I own an iMac. It is now 5 years old. And still runs the latest operating system 10.6.6 and can do a lot of things and play most games. Yes the PC is a lot cheaper for a better machine. But my point is the imac you get will last them for several years. Maybe even more. You seem to be the kind of person who wants to buy a computer and have it last for the ages. I'm not saying Windows boxes can't last a long time but they take a little more effort to do so.

And secondly you need to work out the cost per year of ownership of the computers. ie. A computer costing $1000 you keep for 4 years is $250 a year but a $600 one you only keep for 2 years is $300 a year. I think you get the point there.

Thirdly you really need to look into the OS and apps. So you want OS X and ilife and the other Mac Apps + the ability to use windows/linux? Or is a windows/linux machine enough for you. This is also something you need to look into as well.

Lastly what about a Macbook or similar. If you plan to give to the kids in a year or 2 maybe that is a nice option. Then depending on the kids age they can take the macbook with them if they are older or if they are really young you can watch what they do on the Mac, as a parental control + to teach them all about computers. And for what you want to do with the Mac, the Macbook will suit you for these tasks.

These are just some ideas that entered my head.
 
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Just to throw in my 2 cents here. A core i3 processor is not a bad proc at all. My previous PC was a 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo and I bought my wife a Dell Laptop with a 2.13GHz Core i3 proc and the benchmarks on it were substantially higher than my old Core 2 Duo desktop (It's since been upgraded to a 45 nm Core 2 Quad and now just barely beats out the i3) with the exception being the laptop has on board graphics and I had a decent mid range video card in my desktop.

Considering the machine you are currently using, Even a brand new Celeron based PC would be an incredible performance upgrade.

Really the question is whether or not you want a Mac or a PC. Either purchase will do the job you want. The question is how do you want to do it.

-MikeM
 
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Naturally the wife will be using whatever garden variety new computer we et as well, so we've been going over this post and comparing answers for whatever works for us. She wants a Mac as well, but possibly not for the same reasons. I asked her to voice in on the topic and, rather than create a Mac-Forums username for one topic; she had this to say:

So I'm really starting to hate the lot of you. Stop making sense! Your logic and well spoken arguments only serve to throw more fire on the wood of my indicision. It seems everytime I go over my new 'puter budget, I get on hitting the Mac mediocrity wall. I can't get the Mac I want because it'd cost twice or three-times my new computer budget, and yet for the same amount of frogbacks, the PC seems like it'd come with enough bells and whistles to give me an iBuzz in places Mc Forums' posting policy would (likely) frown on my mentioning. Its downright frustrating, but I absolutely refuse to give the hubster the "told you so" right of passage. Nope.

I still want a Mac. :*

Unfortunately after limited time evaluating an iMac in the Mac store (or at Best buy), I've come to several conclusions:

  • iPhoto ilikes to eat photos
  • The case feels hotter than a conventional incandescent lightbulb shoved up a desert cameleon's hiney at high noon.
  • Multitasking feels more like a hand of Uno.[/li]
  • Safari sucks donkey.

...and yet I still want one. I want to be that trendy and sophisticated débutante sucking down a mocha at a cyber cafe in Venice's Lista di Spagna on my Mac while nodding slightly to the overweight tourist propping up his (literally) smoking PC on his Hawaiian backfrop of shame that he picked the wrong computer. I love the way they look. I'm enamoured with the keyboard to the point I want to rub it against my cheek and hide it away in my underwear drawer when nobody is looking for fear another pair of hands might touch it when I'm not. Its everything my soul tells me I need need need. I like the idea of no need for virus protection. I love the fonts. I want simplicity in mail. I crave that upscale better-than-you snarky moment when fortune smiles on me the opportunity in conversation to throw my cyber religion in your face by proudly admitting I use a Mac. Instant status. Instant (imagined) superiority. Secret cloak-wearing society with a smug-grin admittance. Privately I could pity the lot of you for not using one.

Achievement.aspx


My soul says yes but my mind says no, and yet the reality is I still can't guarantee I won't get a Mac. Its like the first time I drank a beer, puffed a cuban, or smacked a policeman's bare bottom. I knew better, but the experience is often something that can't be told...I might have to experience it for myself. Sadly my test drive today has left me more confused than a baby in a topless bar. Build a smokin' decent PC off NewEgg, have the chimps at ibuypower build me some PC McLovin', or buy the only iMac we can afford - the cheapest (a 21.5" i3).

Winning the lottery would seriously uncomplicate this. :Smirk:

Yes, she does have a way with words...keep in mind these are her words and not necessarily my own.
 

RavingMac

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I am naturally cheap . . . I could use the more polite term and call myself 'frugal', but the reality is I tend to search and figure and refigure trying to get the biggest bang for the least bucks.

Having said that, I am getting better. After years of underbuying as a result of trying to go cheap I am finally learning that it is usually a better bargain and cheaper in the long run to buy what I really want.

I resisted for years getting a Mac because of the cost. I spent a half year on a Linux machine because of wanting the Mac but not being willing to pay for it. Linux is great, but not what I want to live with long term. So, finally, several years ago I bit the bullet and went for the cheapest, bottomline, plain vanilla MacBook I could buy, figuring at the worst I would be out the ~$500 cost difference between it and an equivalent Windows Laptop.

This is what happened:
1) I loved it. Even with the bottom rung MacBook the performance was great and even today would meet all of my needs (pretty similar as I have said before to those you list)
2) I lost it. Every PC I had ever owned I had dutifully set up a user account for my wife--which she never used. Six months into owning my first MacBook I had to buy another--for myself
3) I have since traded up to a 15in MBP (mainly for the larger screen for Photo viewing and editing) not because I needed the added performance

I totally understand the lust to have the fastest and highest spec'd machine on the block. I also know that I can't afford all that I would like to have.

Bottomline: Apple has a generous return policy. My reccomendation is buy as close to what you really want as possible (I would still go with the 27in refurb over the higher spec'd 21in--but that's me) and if you find out it really isn't what you thought it would be, return it and build your mega-zoom-ultra PC.
 
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You don't have to use iPhoto. Picassa, Adobe Bridge, Adobe Lightroom, and Apeture are all available on the Mac. Personally I use a mixture of Picassa and Bridge.

Macs seem to run hotter than PC people are used to. Put a temperature sensor like istats if you feel like monitoring it. Mostly this is for switchers to feel better - I use istats menu. You still have to blow out fans and keep the machine clean though.

I don't understand what you mean by "Multitasking feels more like a hand of Uno"
One of the reasons I switched was because of Expose and Application Expose. Makes it very easy to find the window you are looking for. If you like Window 7's toolbar then there is hyperdock which is pretty close.
HyperDock

I don't use Safari. Chrome, Firefox, Camino, Opera among others are available for the Mac.

I was a windows user since 3.11 - I even drew a bitmap with a worm in the apple for that computer for bootup. Mac has won me over because I can run Windows if I need to (I don't as much any more) Linux when I want to, and Mac as the base.

Secondly - for all the people I support I recommend Macs to lighten my support burden. Yes you can get a fast cheap PC, and for desktops that I hand build you will have a hard time matching performance/price. But - every 1-2 years I have to reload windows because the registry gets full and it just starts to run badly, Or I have to help someone get rid of malware, and the list goes on. That re-setup or initial setup usually takes me a day or two to get all the programs reinstalled and the backup restored. That is stuff I do for free for friends and people don't take into account time for setup when they talk about PCs. Anyway - the rant goes on but I've found that the Mac doesn't have this one all encompassing registry that can get honked up over time.

tl ; dr - generally there is less maintenance for the Mac so it is worth it in time spent dealing with issues - as time=money.
 
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Phacade
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^^
The wife's point of view, hense the quote. I'm sold on the Mac myself, its just a question of selling her at this point. I actually just back from lunch where I spent it up at the local university playing on a little Core 2 Duo 21.5" iMac. What an awful experience!

...no, not the iMac. Coming back to my office and getting on this PC again. Awful! :D
 
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You don't have to use any of the included programs if you don't want to, but I think eventually you will come around. I used to HATE Macs and even when I had to get one for work, I only used it for Final Cut Pro. But after awhile, I came to really like the applications that come with it and the ones that the developer community creates. iPhoto is not that bad, in fact it's great if you don't have any other photo organizing and editing software. I used to agree with you about Safari and downloaded Firefox for my Mac, but now I use Safari as my main web browser.

Macbook Pro's feel warmer because they work as hard as desktops and the aluminum makes a great heat conductor. But it's totally normal.

There is a learning curve for OS X, but I think eventually you'll like the multitasking features once you get used to them, just as you'd have to get used to Windows features coming from a Mac. I don't use Spaces that often, but I use Expose constantly. It's all there to use if you want to.

I also used to think owning a Mac was about being a smug hipster, which is why I refused to get one for so long. But really in the end it's about a smoother and more enjoyable computing experience.
 
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My mac is 6 years old and still running strong with the latest version of snow. How many PC's do you know that can do that with ZERO maintenance?

Stephen
 
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Back to my old 2.2GHz C2D MB after selling my MBP and wondering what my next Mac will be :)
Also, look at the link in my signature.... http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/ and run through the list of video tutorials on the left under the main video window.
Even if you haven't got a Mac yet, I think they give a great insight into what you would have if you got one.
 
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Phacade
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Very good advice, danke'!
 
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Phacade
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Just placed my order tonight. Picked up the 21.5" 3.60GHz Intel Core i5 refurb along with a side of AppleCare. Simply can't wait! Thanks all, you've been very helpful.
 
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Congrats with the purchase. And if you have any questions feel free to ask.
 

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