COMP. DEBATE

[Templar]

I hear things such as "Macs are better for video editing" and "Macs are faster than windows" etc...

But can somebody explain to me WHY they're so much better?

I probably wouldn't be so against them if I just had an understanding of what makes them so much "faster"...

[lol]

Here like flashbacks? Flashback!! I believe nc]Sling answered your question a while ago.

[Templar]

I would bet..wait I KNOW that most PCs out there run faster than a mac regardless of how "Optimized" the OS is...


Most CPUs that you can buy for a PC would SLAUGHTER any mac CPU.

Not to mention that a Macs best GPU is budget and outdated in the PC world...

Viruses?

That just goes to show that macs can't even get negative attention #booty#

And if you are truly smart on a PC you'll rarely if ever get a virus (like myself)

[lol]

Yea, that's kind of what I was trying to avoid. I don't want to have to show those pictures again. The comparison pictures. I'm gonna stay out of this thread from now on. I smell something getting ready to get flamed. Let's call a truce Templar. We both know we won't come to any agreement so let's stop while we're kind of ahead.

[©Slingshot]

Ok..The topic is Comp. Debate, so why list Windows as a computer??

Windows is an operating system........not a computer.


For the operating system, I vote for windows.

For the Computer I vote PC.

[nc]innova]

Ive notcied almost every other poll now is wrong or dosnt have enough options. there are only two main types of computers (as slng said) Macs and PCs and then there are Loads of different OSs to go on PCs. If by windows you meant PC i would vote for that but with two hard drives. One with Windows and one with a linux OS.

[cs]ÆRÔ©]

depends what u want it for, llike someone mentioned they are better for video editing and they have good graphics for games but i absolutely HATE surfing the web on a mac

[Holy War, Inc.]

True aero, my cousin is a DJ/producer, so he has a mac because of protools.

[lol]

Why do you hate websurfing on a Mac Aero? I love it. You'd have to explain what you mean.

[Hood]

(oh how did i overlook this thread... lol)

Templar - Macs are better for video editing and such because there is better software out for that on mac than there is for PC. The same is true for a lot of creative design fields (music, photos, etc.).

As for the computers themselves, I prefer Macs as well.

My iMac, for instance, has an insanely nice 20" widescreen lcd screen... and that's IT! No big beige (or black) box sitting around somewhere. Plus, even though it's running a dual-core processor, the thing is SILENT (no humming or fans buzzing away). It has sweet built-in speakers that reflect the sound off your desktop, expanding the stereo sound. Simply put, it looks more pleasing, is more compact, silent, and needs but 3 cables (power, keyboard, and ethernet). It also came with a remote so I can sit across the room and control my MP3's, watch movies I've downloaded, etc.

My 'mighty mouse' has a scroll wheel that scrolls 360-degrees (not just up and down). So when looking at large photos, etc, I can scroll in any direction. Plus it's a 4-button mouse. I have yet to see a PC mouse that is as nice.

From a hardware standpoint, NOBODY else has anything even close the iMac, or the Mac Mini for that matter. Mostly because nobody's willing to invest in R&D to get such radical designs to work.

Mac users don't get thier calls routed to India when they call tech-support, nor do we have to worry what is compatible with what, nor do we have to worry about DLL conflicts (Vista users still do).

One more reason Macs are better machines is that you can run both Windows and Mac software. I can play Battlefront 2, then reboot and edit in FinalCut. New software is coming out that will allow us to run both OS's simultaneously.

The reason Macs have such an advantage design-wise is that none of the PC developers play together. Nobody can create a radically-new CPU and have any hope of Microsoft supporting it anytime soon. Microsoft can't radically alter their software because hardware developers will be slow to support it. As for us, we've gone from 040 chips to PPC chips to intel chips in record time and with little fuss. Apple can release a radically-new product AND an OS updated to fully support it, at the same time.

Macs were the first machines to ditch the floppy (some PC's still haven't). Macs were the first to support USB, then FireWire (nobody else could afford the R&D). Macs also feature serial HD's, 16x Dual-layer DVD/CD burners, gigabit ethernet and other such items STANDARD (not as expensive add-ons).

The current high-end Mac is effectively a quad-processor (2 dual-core chips), can support 16gb of ram, 1TB of internal hard drive space, a Quadro FX 4500 512mb graphics card, and supports dual-monitors out of the box. And this is the OLDEST COMPUTER IN APPLE'S LINEUP.

I'm tired of the cheap-beige/black-box life you get with Dell's, HP's, Gateways, etc, or the cheaper-still look of most of the home-built boxes I've seen. Some people know how to do it right, but just as often I'm hearing about how the DVD drive they just bought is conflicting with their 3rd party USB2 card, etc.

If you're a creative professional (art, music, video, photos) you NEED a Mac. Macs have way more quality software than PC's in that area.

If you're a gamer, buy an iMac. It'll run all your games faster than your current machine, and allow you to do far much more as well.

If you're a HARDCORE gamer, and need the ultimate in speed, you'll likely spend $7000+ for an ultra-high-end PC, or you could wait for the Mac Pro to come out later this year. It'll run all of your PC games faster than your current machine, and will likely rival any high-end machine you could buy on the market.

If you can't afford much, get somebody to help you build your own PC from scratch. You'll save a ton of cash.

If you're a die-hard PC fan, buy a PC.

Simply put, there's NO software you can run on your PC that I can't run on my Mac. But I've got a hell of a lot of software that'll never be ported over to the PC side, and half of it came pre-installed. Plus, this gorgeous beauty I have on my desk isn't beige, clunky and cluttered with cables. What's more, I probably paid less than you would have had you gotten all the options I did.

2ghz dual-core processor
4-button 360-degree-scroll-button mouse
2gb DDR2 sdram
20-inch widescreen lcd
'Pro' version of operating system (macs don't make stripped down versions)
Radeon X1600 256mb video card
Firewire
16x dual-layer DVD/CD burner
250gb hard drive

My cost? $1900
The equivalent Dell machine (known for being the cheapest)? $2268

[{§}V3NOm{§}]

My 'mighty mouse' has a scroll wheel that scrolls 360-degrees (not just up and down). So when looking at large photos, etc, I can scroll in any direction. Plus it's a 4-button mouse. I have yet to see a PC mouse that is as nice

there are mouses that are able to do that but see we dont need the 360 degree stuff all we need to do is press down on the scroll button and then we got 360 degree's in one push of a button

If you're a HARDCORE gamer, and need the ultimate in speed, you'll likely spend $7000+ for an ultra-high-end PC, or you could wait for the Mac Pro to come out later this year. It'll run all of your PC games faster than your current machine, and will likely rival any high-end machine you could buy on the market.

and i can vouche for myself and templar and for other people but anyone can build a hardcore gaming computer for LESS then $7000 and it would outperform the ones they would buy from the factory but just face it custom built computers offer ALOT more choices and still out perform everything on the market.

oh and another thing not to get in a flame war...but i have yet to see half life 2 or counter strike source be played on MAC's

[§hady]

I like the mac's design and everything, but damn are they expensive.

I find that it is much easier to go custom.

What's more, I probably paid less than you would have had you gotten all the options I did.

2ghz dual-core processor
4-button 360-degree-scroll-button mouse
2gb DDR2 sdram
20-inch widescreen lcd
'Pro' version of operating system (macs don't make stripped down versions)
Radeon X1600 256mb video card
Firewire
16x dual-layer DVD/CD burner
250gb hard drive

My cost? $1900
The equivalent Dell machine (known for being the cheapest)? $2268

If you want a cheap, but very fast machine, go custom.
I don't feel as if I need much of the things you just listed.

For speed and good graphics (gaming basically) spend maybe $600 on a processor (some good amd that templar mentioned), a $50 case/psu, maybe $400 to get SLi with 2 GeForce 7600's, which will do just about anything you need. Lay out maybe $180 for 2gig of some good ram, a motherboard that can support all that for about $120, and that's about all you need.

Personally, if the monitor is a flatscreen (which we got for free with a purchase of a stock dell), I'm satisfied.

That would cost a rough estimate of $1350. Now, I'd LOVE to have one of those, instead of paying $5000+ for a slick design.

[Templar]

My 'mighty mouse' has a scroll wheel that scrolls 360-degrees (not just up and down). So when looking at large photos, etc, I can scroll in any direction. Plus it's a 4-button mouse. I have yet to see a PC mouse that is as nice.

As Venom already stated you can scroll 360 degrees with a PC mouse plus my mouse has 7 buttons all of which I can program to do what I wish AND it has little red lights on the inside which look really cool

the thing is SILENT (no humming or fans buzzing away)

That is pretty nice I will admit I can hear my computer right now, though, it is really quiet plus with the hardware I have inside I'm amazed at how quiet it is

The current high-end Mac is effectively a quad-processor (2 dual-core chips), can support 16gb of ram, 1TB of internal hard drive space, a Quadro FX 4500 512mb graphics card, and supports dual-monitors out of the box.

Check this out

Not exactly something you can go out and buy but it's nice nonetheless #smokin#

If you're a gamer, buy an iMac. It'll run all your games faster than your current machine, and allow you to do far much more as well.

Can you tell me how many games a MAC supports WITHOUT using the whole "Dual boot" deal? Just curious...

If you're a HARDCORE gamer, and need the ultimate in speed, you'll likely spend $7000+ for an ultra-high-end PC, or you could wait for the Mac Pro to come out later this year. It'll run all of your PC games faster than your current machine, and will likely rival any high-end machine you could buy on the market.

I already have a blazing fast machine and I can tell you I spent much less then $3000 on it...Hell I probably spent less than $2000 on it

And if you do spend around $7000 on a pre-built system today it usually comes with something along the lines of an fx-60, four 7900GTXs in Quad SLI, 2Gb of RAM (low latency I might add), a couple of DVD/CD drives, about 1 terabyte of storage space, 5.1 surround (and maybe 7.1), nice keyboard and mouse, and, oh, something like a 30 inch LCD with a res of 2560 x 1600.

Pretty good deal

...

Eh well I have to go to some steamboat days nonsense.

I'll be back later #wave#

[Hood]

wait, so with your mouse you can scroll up/down, and if you press DOWN and roll it it goes left/right? So how many fingers does it take to scroll up and right at the same time? I just roll my mouse ball diagonally...

I know people can build their own PC's for a lot less, I was talking about factory-built machines. But the whole "buy a cheap box, stick the fastest graphics card in it, etc." means that you're building a GAMING-ONLY machine. I want a machine that will do whatever I might need it for in the future. I don't wanna have to run down and buy firewire ports if I want to spend an afternoon editing digital video. I don't wanna have to upgrade my network card to gigabit should I decide to use my machine as a heavy-load server.

Besides, building your own machine isn't the lightest task to take on. I've got a buddy with leftover parts he can't return but that weren't compatible with what he was building. Finally, i'd like Tech Support. I've rarely used them, but when i did, I NEEDED them. Who do you guys call when your homemade machine freaks out more than you know how to fix?

And to top it all, Macs now have MORE software (and games) than PC's do. Whether we dual-boot or just use the software that allows us to switch on-the-fly, we can play EVERY PC game as well as every Mac game. If I want to play games all week, I just tell my mac to stay a PC, and every time it boots, it launches windoze. Your PC can play half-life. Mine can play half-life as well as Final Cut, Garage Band, Toast, DVD Studio Pro, and so on and so on...

So the age old argument used to be "I prefer PC's because they have more software." Now Macs have more software.

Preferring homemade PC's because they are cheaper is fine, and a perfectly valid reason. Without doing too much work, any idea how much it'd cost (not counting labor, of course) to build my $1900 machine?

2ghz dual-core processor
4-button optical mouse
USB extended keyboard
2gb DDR2 SODIMM PC2-5300 ram
20-inch widescreen LCD
Windows XP Pro
Radeon X1600 256mb PCI Express video card
Firewire, USB 2.0
16x dual-layer DVD/CD burner (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
250gb 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive
Gigabit ethernet card (10/100/1000)
Mini-DVI digital output port
Digital audio out/in (not just headphones)
Stereo speakers
Digital camera/microphone
Wireless networking 54Mbps 802.11g card
Bluetooth card 2.0+EDR
Some kind of decent enclosure

Ignoring the fact that this doesn't include any of the bundled software packages, any tech support, and totally doesn't come in an all-in-one 15 pound package, any idea how much that'd run me?

[©Slingshot]

Quote:

My 'mighty mouse' has a scroll wheel that scrolls 360-degrees (not just up and down). So when looking at large photos, etc, I can scroll in any direction. Plus it's a 4-button mouse. I have yet to see a PC mouse that is as nice

Well my logitech MX laser mouse is up there with yours hood....

It has 9 buttons, a mouse wheel that scrolls both up and down AND side to side at the same time.......so I can scroll over a whole page, up down and side to side....With one finger!!

I can program the buttons to do anything.

For example, playing Halo:

Mouse wheel up, changes weapon, mouse wheel down melee's, side left selects type of nade, side right turns on/off light/night vision. Press the mouse wheel down, I get zoom. Also left button is fire weapon, Right button Throw nade. Thumb button 1 is enter vehicle, thumb button 3 is jump, thumb button 2 is Team talk.

The page up and down buttons I have not programmed yet, I'm still getting used to basically only using the keyboard for movement only!

My mouse is easy to use, extremely comfortable and so sensitive it is super fast to aim, and look around.


As for your love of Tech support, Anything I can't work out (which isn't much on the hardware side), my best friend knows....He is a PhD in computer programming/Systems and has an amazing knowledge of computers. He has his own network in his home, with PC's wired into most rooms of the house. He has a main server unit with 1 terabyte of hard drive, and 4 gig of Ram. In total there are 6 computers on his network, and all are top notch ones.....

So the tech side of things I have covered.....The only thing I have lacking is the programs that I would like....That is the only thing where your Mac gets me......

I still love my custom PC though, it is the envy of almost everyone I know.......

When I built my comp, I compared the price to the "pre built" comps on the market...
At the time of my build, I spent $1200 Australian. A computer from a shop that is as good as mine was worth over $5000........

I'm going to stick to building my comps....I get exactly what I want, at a fraction of the cost. The whole building exercise makes the whole experience sweeter, as when the job is done I get a huge feeling of achievement as it crackles to life.



I'm going to build a new computer in about a years time, and I'm not going to spare a cent this time. My current comp was built on a stricy budget, but my next one will not have such a tight budget to follow.....So wait for me to start bragging once I have assembled my new machine