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Ye olde Mac vs PC thread. Which should I buy?
bigpanda
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Ok, so I'm going to be buying a new computer in the next month or so.
I'm wanting to be able to run both WoW and WAR on it. I'd also like to be able to do some video post production with it which is why I'm thinking Mac. I wouldn't mind toying around with things like 3D Studio Max, Mudbox, and other 3D modeling and animation applications as well.
I don't really have the time and patience to build my own PC so I'd be buying it from Alienware or another similar place.
The PC I can probably price out cheaper than the Mac, but obviously won't be able to run Mac software on it (i.e. Final Cut Pro, etc.). I use a Mac daily now and do enjoy it, but am a little concerned with it in regards to games and hardware compatibility with future expandability.
Thoughts?
Thanks in advance,
BP
I'm wanting to be able to run both WoW and WAR on it. I'd also like to be able to do some video post production with it which is why I'm thinking Mac. I wouldn't mind toying around with things like 3D Studio Max, Mudbox, and other 3D modeling and animation applications as well.
I don't really have the time and patience to build my own PC so I'd be buying it from Alienware or another similar place.
The PC I can probably price out cheaper than the Mac, but obviously won't be able to run Mac software on it (i.e. Final Cut Pro, etc.). I use a Mac daily now and do enjoy it, but am a little concerned with it in regards to games and hardware compatibility with future expandability.
Thoughts?
Thanks in advance,
BP
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Also, depending on how the current Psystar battle plays out, buying and installing OS X on your Intel PC hardware may be a viable option very, very soon.
Outside of Final Cut Pro, you're not going to be at a massive creative software loss by using a PC.
It all comes down to budget and preference. I bought a cheapish (400$) PC for a friend with no monitor and only onboard video, we're throwing in a nice video card and we got a 10$ monitor for a friend. A comparable Mac would have been over 1400$. I also have a friend that loves OSX enough where he was willing to pay the extra cost for a super nice Mac. It's all about price.
If you've got the money, a Falcon Northwest or Voodoo computer would be great, and, although I don't care for HP, you definitely can't go wrong with an HP Blackbird. It has a gorgeous case and is pretty sick for the cost.
Buying from Alienware would be kind of silly though, there you're comparing $50 apples to identical apples that cost $10.
What sort of specs did this PC have? Yes, macs tend to be more expensive, but I think you're exaggerating some.
2 gigs of ram, 640 gig hard drive, AMD 5000+ Dual Core. Considering that the shittiest Mac Pro with the worst options for sale right now in the Mac store is $2,299.00, it's not exaggeration, I assure you. The nicest Mac Mini is 800$ and has exactly half the specs of our 400$ PC.
On a side note: how hard is it to build a Hackintosh these days?
I have a buddy who builds hackintoshes all the time. He's got one of the old clamshell models fitted with a new mb and runs Leopard on it.
Pros:
-OSX works...and does it with style.
-Pre-loaded software typically wins over Windows (iMovie HD vs Windows Moviemaker is a pretty good example.) Not to mention you get Garage Band! Time Machine is makes backing your data up so easy that it shouldn't be legal.
-If you get an extended warranty, they will fix your shit, basically no questions asked, if anything goes wrong on the hardware or software levels. (at least, in my experience)
-For the artist, it often makes more sense. (As photography hobbyist, I could never go back to anything other than Aperture 2 for photo management. (Yes, I've used Lightroom)
-Macs look pretty.
Cons:
-You can't run a lot of shit. (A LOT OF SHIT)
-Low end Macs don't come with good graphics cards, and you won't be able to swap them out unless you have a Mac Pro.
-With the exception of WoW, which runs beautifully, you won't be able to game. And even if you play a bunch of mac-compatible games, chances are you'll still have issues. There's never any support for particularly advanced shaders and what not. (Run XP on Boot Camp)
-Internal upgrades and a general accessories are all ridiculously overpriced. Really, anything made by or at all associated with Apple is going to be way too expensive. I really get a kick out of the new commercials, bashing Microsoft for spending too much money on ad-campaigns. The irony is palpable.
Conclusion:
If you get a mac, you won't be sorry, I promise.
If you get a PC, you'll have money to spend on more things. And even a fully loaded mac is going to be outdated within a year or two.
Oh, almost forgot: If you happen to have an iPhone, get a mac. It will make your life so much easier. Otherwise, consider the points above. And I apologize if they're not definitive. This whole debate is always raging. In my mind, Mac OSX wins over Vista, hands down. But I think arguments of the other aspects of the purchase are all up in the air.
Good luck.
PS: Just don't buy an Alienware. If you really want to throw your money away, I know a guy who'd be interested in taking it off your hands...
That's true for anything you buy though.
It's nice and all, but after you get over the streamlined interface you're not talking a dramatic difference. The flexibility you get from a PC, as in the ability to run anything you ever need to, is pretty huge.
Warframe: TheBaconDwarf
Except I need to run Final Cut Pro, and have no real use for being able to run AutoCAD or Lotus. The flexibility thing is entirely dependent upon what specifically you need to do.
Windows works acceptably, but I find that it acts more like a barrier between me and the content I wish to produce, while OS X flows around me, speeding up my workflow in some areas but rarely hindering me in any others.
To me, that is worth whatever the extra money is. (the infinitely superior hardware design is a tasty bonus too)
If you need a program that is only on Mac, why even submit the discussion?
If I needed a program that was only on Mac, I wouldn't have said what I did. I wanted to use Sopcast, but I couldn't. I wanted to use Google Chrome, but I can't. There's a lot of older games and software I forgot I'd want to boot up.
These are minor annoyances, and sure, I could install Windows on my machine, but if I could do it over again I would have just bought a Windows machine.
That isn't to say I'm unhappy with my Mac, but it isn't a lifestyle to me, just another computer.
Warframe: TheBaconDwarf
Just wondering if you could elaborate on this a bit? I'm considering a new laptop if there are some awesome features for an iPhone it might be worth getting a mac.
But if you want to be obnoxious you could get a mac and put those stupid stickers all over your car. (JOOOOKE)
GM: Rusty Chains (DH Ongoing)
I bought a mac 2 years ago. Ind bootcamped it "just in case" 2 months later - I removed windows entirely as I simply didnt need it. Then recently I started playing a game with my mates, so I reinstalled windows.
Its really no problem. Hell, if you have plenty of RAM and "need" an app, you can always run something like parallels too...
Lolong story short. I havent looked back. I know they are pricier - but I use my home laptop so much that I am happy to pay a little extra for the amount I enjoy using it.
Right, needing and wanting are different. About the only two "need" categories of software that you can't find a perfectly viable form of on OSX are CAD and games. Meanwhile if you need non-destructive editing software that doesn't suck you're not really looking at a Windows app.
Hah, I was waiting for somebody to mention this.
I've got an Intel Mac, mostly because I not only wanted the Mac side for creative stuff and ease of use.......but the PC side, for everything the Mac side couldn't do (like game, for instance). I think it's been the perfect choice for me, personally...though if you're looking for something where you can upgrade separate parts with ease, PC may be more for you.
and
Seriously, with bootcamp what can't you run?
(Hacking aside) With an apple you can run logic/shake/final cut et al. where you can't run it on anything else. With an apple you can also run vista, linux... etc. Windows only programs such as Fruity Loops? Bootcamp problem solved.
Now I do agree about render farming. It's not cost effective for macs to be render machines in a render farm and there are very few decent cross platform render farm programs as far as I could find last year before I gave up on the idea.
If you want a PC, buy from newegg or NCIX or a similar online store. You pick your parts so you get what you want, you can select a bearbones kit to get things rolling. NCIX build my computer for me perfectly with the parts i selected for $50 and I still saved $300-$400 compared to the same system from Dell (Alienware would have screwed me harder then dell i'm sure). Buying a comparable Mac would also have set me back at least $400 more.
I only went with NCIX over newegg because newegg was being pissy about shipping to canada at the time, thats no longer the case now but I don't know if newegg will build it for you or not. I've swapped lots of parts in computers but never built one myself so I can understand your hesitation, I did consider when I was ordering though and it doesn't look like it would be that difficult, I just didn't want to deal with it for the sake of $50.
Is this really the case anymore (macs being more expensive to upgrade)? Cannot you put memory purchased online (e.g. Crucial) and any Nvidia GPU in?
A thousand times this.
If you play a lot of games, or value old PC games, you're going to prefer sticking with a custom PC simply for the video card upgrading. If you're a console gamer, it's a moot point.
I use my Mac for audio, which is dreamy on OS X. I will also echo what was mentioned above -- for me, with OS X, I feel like the interface drops away and I'm working with whatever I'm working on. I'm not spending time "setting up" or "configuring," and since apps are generally designed to have similar hotkeys, I'm also spending less time when I do get into a new program.
I strongly suggest macs to people who don't really play games on their computers and who want to use their computers for work -- even if it's "fun work" or a hobby.
I have a macbook pro; it isn't the ULTIMATE GAMES MACHINE!!!111' but it's a solid one, i happily played through Crysis on it, a claim I can't imagine many others owners of a year old laptop could make (and its an actual laptop, not a desktop with a battery and a monitor attached.)
I read the study that showed this and the methods of comparison were so retarded its not funny. So thats not true. The Mac in study was assembled by apple techs and they put on vista, while the website did the pc's, They also left on all the crapware that comes with the computers and used computers with the same specs, which means that the price of the pc's compared to the macs was about half the cost.
If your looking for a laptop I would go with the gateway P7811-FX. This maybe is great for the price:
P8400 processor 2.26 dualcore
9800gts
4 gigs of DDR3 ram and
hdmi and esata
250gb 7200RPM harddrive
The best part is you can grab it for 1349.00 from best buy, the comparable Mac is over 2500
I don't think there is even a Mac version warhammer online released is there? I know they said there would be one but it's not out yet.
For PC I wouldn't go alienware (You'll be paying more for what you get) I would go with a dell or something and pop in a nice video card and new PSU.
Of course the best advice is to build your own as it really is easy, you also get exactly what you want
There was a study? I was just going by what people I know with bootcamp have told me versus what people I know with just Vista have told me.
Edit: Also aren't all Macs assembled by Apple techs?
Bottomline:
If you have the money to buy an Alienware computer, I think you also have the money to buy a cheaper end apple and a cheap windows desktop machine (built yourself) and you'll basicly have best of both worlds!!
Now when comparing it to a Dell or similar PC, if you are comparing straight specs, then yes the Mac is more expensive. But I will say that both Macs I have are built way better than any Dell equivalent I have used. You also do pay more for the Apple brand.
I was planning on bootcamp, but I havnt felt the need at all. I havnt had to boot up my windows box since I got the macs. Now I will say the only game I really run is WoW.
I got the mac mainly to do audio editing, and while the software I use is cross platform, it works a bit nicer on the mac. So thats my two cents
And the software argument, at this point, is completely moot, as the entire line can run Windows natively. You get the best of both worlds, and on better hardware. If you're interested in video editing, Final Cut Pro is pretty much a must, and if you don't like it, you can use Adobe Premiere on your Windows partition. You really can't go wrong.
If you're concerned about price and software compatibility, build your own PC. You'll save money doing it that way, especially since you'll be able to upgrade it cheaply whenever it starts to get a little old. You don't have to buy a $1000 computer every two years to run new games, you can spend $300 on parts instead (most computer manufacturers do not make it easy when it comes to upgrading their machines).
If those aren't issues, get a Mac.
Personally, I don't think Macs are worth the money. Yes they're made pretty well, and yes OS X is pretty stable and reasonably easy to use, but I just don't think they're that much better than other options.
But hey, if you need software that only comes on Macs, then you've answered your question. Get a Mac. If you just would prefer the software that comes on Macs, there's nothing wrong with buying a Mac if you can afford it.
I've also boot camped Vista for my gaming needs. I don't do a whole bunch of computer stuff, so a Macbook Pro suits me fine. I also plan on traveling a lot after graduating, so everything is working out.
I could certainly see myself upgrading to a newer model a few years along the line, and maybe buying a Macbook for my wife, but other than that, my next pc is going to be a Windows machine which is more designed for games and recording (with better programs, of course).
My next desktop will likely be an iMac. Then the iPhone. Then my toilet, which I'm assuming apple will have redesigned by the time I am able to afford the iMac and iPhone.
Actually there's apparently already a toilet designed for use with the iPod.
http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/top-10-strangest-ipod-accessories
That kind of depends on the goal of the study though, doesn't it? Think about it, the OP is debating buying a mac (which would be put together by apple techs) or buying a PC (which everyone is insisting would be better if he built himself).
Leaving the crapware that comes on the computers is also more of less leaving the comps at an even level. After all, that's how the products ship. Although I would agree with you that no Windows machine is properly built without at least some time being devoted to cleaning it up.
And the study obviously aimed to compare two computers with similar specs, not similar prices. So they were evaluating which machine ran better, not which one gave you the best bang for your buck.