I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a total "switcher." I'm a bit of a hardcore gamer and have a high-end gaming PC. For THAT specific purpose, I enjoy the ability to upgrade any hardware component any way I want as new things come out or new software requires greater specs. I highly doubt I'll ever completely leave PCs behind. However:
I just started a new Development/Programming job and everyone in the company is using macs and have gotten me interested. I've done my research and found that they're really only slightly more expensive than their comperable PCs and not the "2x" or whatever figure non-mac people generally give out. Naturally a Unix based OS is always a great thing as well.
I've just been given a (slightly older, but never used, 1.5ghz core solo) Mac Mini from "HQ" and it should be here within the week. I've gone out today and grabbed an apple keyboard since I'll be needing that (I wanted the mac buttons). I've got a mouse to use. In the work place, I'm all about whatever will do the job best for me. A mac, in this case, does because it will allow me to avoid some of the headaches I've already encountered trying to exist with a PC in a Mac workplace... I'm also not opposed to using a mac for general, non-work-related computing outside of my aforementioned gaming hobby. There's more than enough software out there for them now...
Assuming all goes well, and I expect it to, I've been offered a laptop as a college graduation present from my father-in-law at the end of the summer, and I'll go with a macbook (maybe pro depending on his price range).
As far as the mini goes, I'm curious how "upgradable" these machines are, if at all. I know the one I'm getting uses the Core Solo processor, so is it possible to upgrade the CPU by ones self to something like a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo? (my gaming pc's motherboard, for instance, accepts Core Solo, Core Duo, Core 2 Duo, and Core 2 Quad CPUs) If so, how does that affect the warranty? It's only got 512MB of ram, so do I have to use ram bought from apple if I want to upgrade it, or are there some brands out there that are known to work well with this hardware that I can buy from newegg.com or something?
Thanks for any help or comments!
I just started a new Development/Programming job and everyone in the company is using macs and have gotten me interested. I've done my research and found that they're really only slightly more expensive than their comperable PCs and not the "2x" or whatever figure non-mac people generally give out. Naturally a Unix based OS is always a great thing as well.
I've just been given a (slightly older, but never used, 1.5ghz core solo) Mac Mini from "HQ" and it should be here within the week. I've gone out today and grabbed an apple keyboard since I'll be needing that (I wanted the mac buttons). I've got a mouse to use. In the work place, I'm all about whatever will do the job best for me. A mac, in this case, does because it will allow me to avoid some of the headaches I've already encountered trying to exist with a PC in a Mac workplace... I'm also not opposed to using a mac for general, non-work-related computing outside of my aforementioned gaming hobby. There's more than enough software out there for them now...
Assuming all goes well, and I expect it to, I've been offered a laptop as a college graduation present from my father-in-law at the end of the summer, and I'll go with a macbook (maybe pro depending on his price range).
As far as the mini goes, I'm curious how "upgradable" these machines are, if at all. I know the one I'm getting uses the Core Solo processor, so is it possible to upgrade the CPU by ones self to something like a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo? (my gaming pc's motherboard, for instance, accepts Core Solo, Core Duo, Core 2 Duo, and Core 2 Quad CPUs) If so, how does that affect the warranty? It's only got 512MB of ram, so do I have to use ram bought from apple if I want to upgrade it, or are there some brands out there that are known to work well with this hardware that I can buy from newegg.com or something?
Thanks for any help or comments!
