Lets TALK about MAC and PC.
polycounter lvl 13
My dam pc computer has been failing on me recently, i got it lets say about a 1 1/2 years ago. So you would think my computer would still be working fine......which its not. So i'm kind of fed up with these pcs failing every couple years. i have dusted and cleaned my own and had no viruses, so i'm pretty stumped on why the hardware failed. I am not a pro pc or mac, i try to see what will benefit me in the long run.
Mac is a simple machine to the eye but is powerful. Basically virus free, hardware and software built by apple. and they last for awhile.
Pc can be more powerful overall but in the end they die quicker by either short-lived hardware or virus infected software. So in general, their end is pretty dramatic
Basically,what i think mac is a superior machine cause of the care in building it. and now with the new imac, it comes with a quadcore, i7, 4-16 gb ram, ati card (forgot what exactly), and 1tb hardrive. You can also get bootcamp and run all windows programs(theirs your 3d programs) so with the specs, i think the 3d would come smoothly and you will have a machine for a long time.
sooo i might get a mac? i know its more money but hey it will save me money in the long run from buying parts
PLZ i know most of you are probably pc users lol dont hate and try to see both sides. I just want to know which one i should get for me.
Mac is a simple machine to the eye but is powerful. Basically virus free, hardware and software built by apple. and they last for awhile.
Pc can be more powerful overall but in the end they die quicker by either short-lived hardware or virus infected software. So in general, their end is pretty dramatic
Basically,what i think mac is a superior machine cause of the care in building it. and now with the new imac, it comes with a quadcore, i7, 4-16 gb ram, ati card (forgot what exactly), and 1tb hardrive. You can also get bootcamp and run all windows programs(theirs your 3d programs) so with the specs, i think the 3d would come smoothly and you will have a machine for a long time.
sooo i might get a mac? i know its more money but hey it will save me money in the long run from buying parts
PLZ i know most of you are probably pc users lol dont hate and try to see both sides. I just want to know which one i should get for me.
Replies
I own a Macbook pro and if you open it up its all regular brand PC parts. Realtek, Nvidia, seagate, intel.. and so on. The build quality is great in some places but some parts are actually cheap shit. the fans for instance are quite terrible noisy unreliable pieces of shit. Its maddening how much Apple charge for parts which in a PC for the same brand are inexpensive(relatively speaking). To put it in perspective my last PC laptop lasted 6 years, my macbook just died after 2. I loved my Macbook but in hindsight i dont think it was worth the extra money
Get a solid PC with an extended warranty if your willing to spend more on it, that way you get guaranteed cover rather than relying on a hyped reputation
Also why are you relating viruses to hardware failure? they have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with hardware at all.. in any way... at all
You'll get MUCH better bang for buck with a PC, especially if you build your own, and like fletch said - they use the same core components anyway.
I went over to the apple store to check out their mac displays (saw one of them at work and wondered how much they cost), a 4870 upgrade was priced at 350$ when you can get a 4890 for like 200$. :poly142:
The only downside was that repairs/returns had to go through the Apple store which was about 2 hours away from our office.
Justin: was that the old PowerPC macs or Intel machines? I've heard more complaints from my mac friends since the switch
Yeah I've resorted to placing it on a book when I take the bus ride back home. That way I dont get burned on my legs lol.
@Justin: Setting up networks in Windows is a snitch (well on a small scale) unless you run into firewall/router problems then banging the router does the trick. :poly124: though I do like how Mac's are already set up out of the box for being file servers.
our classifieds department ran old PowerPC macs while production (graphic designers) ran Intel G5s and we transitioned all the reporters to Mac Mini's. If I can remember correctly we ran 2 Xeon Xserves. Didn't have too many issues but that was in 2007.
@haiddasalami: yeah, wasn't saying it's hard to set up a windows network, we were primarily a Mac network but a few PC's got thrown into the mix because of proprietary windows only software and an exec that refused to use a Mac. Since I was "the PC guy" it was my job to keep the 3 or 4 PC's from bursting into flames.
What I did last year was to simply split away tasks on different computers. I use a Macbook (not Pro) for everything internet related. Browsing, uploading, downloading, streaming music and videos, and so on. I honestly think those are by far the best machines at that. Scrolling with gestures is awesome for instance, and its just very good at handling many windows. Just, dont use Safari, its surprisingly bad even on Mac. Chrome is amazing on it, much more steady than the PC version ... or so it feels.
Also, you wont risk much virus stuff. I know its not a real feature and just a consequence of the platform being targeted less, but its still true. I never felt the need for a clutter-cleaning reformat so far, its pretty badass and I am still wondering how this all works!
Now on the PC stuff. Do yourself a favor and split your main computer in two :
One OS for the serious stuff that you need to run steadily at all times (That shouldnt be too many programs : Photoshop, one threedee app, one sculpting app) and install nothing else on it.
Then on another OS, on another hard drive, put all your games and all the unrelated stuff you dont need everyday or that you want to try out just for the sake of it. Whenever you need it you can multiboot to it, and then you'll be able to format that partition any time you need and loose nothing crucial, while still being able to work on the other one.
I am reformatting my games/shitty partition just today hehe. And the Work partition still runs like a champ and I dont need to touch it!
Hope this helps!!
Dude, thats a pretty excellent idea! Thanks, I'mma do that
Sandbox is another great program to get. It sections off a piece of your HD (not a partition) and you can run applications in sandbox mode.
BUT what i read about macs OS, Mac rewrites their code for every new operating system making it hard for most hackers to crack. im not saying they cant be, but hackers or whatev dont want to take the time to try and crack it
while Windows leaves their old code and builds on top of it. and so prone to the same viruses over and over.
Bootcamp you have to get the windows OS and it starts up as windows
You can run any windows program no prob as long you have bootcamp. Also my gf family uses mac and her farther still has all the macs he has purchased old to new. the old is now about 8-10 years old and works just like he got it.
i know a lot of the problems would be price too but like you i was like yea that's fkn expensive but i thought about it, i read and saw reports on how long a mac last compared to PC. So take a mac that can last 4 and up yrs and PC 2 and up yrs but both can go further with care, its obvious what will last longer. so if i bought one mac that can last 2 or 3 pcs and actually save money in the long run from buying a new PC or PC parts that will add up????!.
And again i'm looking into both sides, it is the mask of truth that we are most afraid to wear, in other words don't be stubborn and ignorant, that's what i'm trying not to be. I also saw that a lot of PC users said that mac has a lot of PC stuff in them but the main thing is which runs it better?? and what i read they have said mac does.
what i hear mostly about PC is POWER, how much put in and how badass, but im sure some is unnecessary some isn't. i don't need a transformer to do max and zbrush and all the fun stuff. i don't need a machine to gloat about.
And now hearing you can build your own mac also never thought you could but now you can.
Best of both worlds?? you can play any game to oldschool to COD np with the quad cores.
And again i know things break or design to fail, but what i seen and heard, not just my own experience, PC breaks faster
Who told you that? Hacking is a sport for those guys. No OS is bullet proof and a New codebase means new undiscovered exploits. I would say that a total rewrite would increase the chances of there being dangerous exploits.
Infact at the moment they seem to be doing the worst...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07/12/secunia_threat_report/
Unix is pretty secure due to its rights management but you cant really afford to be complacent
Just buy quality parts, they don't have to be top of the line expensive just reliable. In other words the least amount of heat and moving parts as possible.
If you want a virus free OS to access the internet on then Linux is even more secure than Mac.
That said I've seen some old Macs (power PC) take some serious abuse and still keep on working just fine, not sure about the newer ones though.
Don't get me wrong, I love their UI, and the way they manage multiple windows, but honestly you can do the same with a PC. The other thing about Macs is their design, the look nice.
But as marine said, they seriously skimp of decent parts, and over charge you for what you are getting. The screen in the iMac is rubbish, unless you get the 27" or 30".
I'm been running the same PC since 2005, with small upgrades now and then, e.g. upgrading hard drive space, and memory, and graphics card.
I've upgraded my secondary drive, but my main drive is still the original 250gb I bought with the pc, as is the motherboard, and CPU, all of which have never given an ounce of problems.
The graphics card was upgraded due to my larger display, and memory was upgraded about a year after the original build (just added two more ram chips)
And the only mistake I made was skimping on the PSU - bought a coolermaster, sent it back due to a fault and got back a new PSU with the same fault - must have been a bad batch, the PSU lasted 2 years before dieing.
And the entire computer, main drive and backup drive is nuked every 6 months.
A properly maintained PC will last years, just defrag, clean the registry occasionally, and have a decent AV.
And most importantly, get yourself a surge protector or UPS if you don't already.
You can take top notch care of a PC and it will still fail faster than a Mac would.
Yea PCs are not bad, but in general, I don't see them as great. Macs do carry the awesome design and simplicity with it, but they also carry a lot more care. This is probably why they charge more. And price is not in my head, it's reliability and how LITTLE I have to buy new parts or call a geek to fix stuff or upgrade because my computer is already getting old. That should really be the last thing I have to deal with.
Macs defrag automatically - ones less thing for me to worry about as well.
So tell me, which is the more reliable pre-built system if I was looking at one? PC or Mac?
And if it's the same insides.....then why wouldn't you want a Mac?
Get a PC with windows and you can "get" mac on it or a flavor of linux on it.
Apple loves forcing a sense of "exclusiveness" onto its self.
otherwise, be a smart boy and build yourself a pc.
Also.
i would recommend you reading what i wrote and not starting a war. like i said i want to LEARN and not be IGNORANT..soo plz
DEElekgolo - what is this? a hater forum of some sort. the net is full of these
I have a workstation of more than 5 years, and it works like the first day. And Before that, i used to use a pentium 1700 mhz that still works nice, and with Vista. If you want a good computer, you MUST buy good pieces, and mount the PC by yourself.
Apple put the same care assembling computers as Dell as example.
Forget ATI for 3d work. Drivers are a shit, still, and as videocards, it seems like Nvidia are what the majority of apps ask.
Windows also defrags automatically. I really don't know what you do with your computers, but since W98, i didn't need to do a format :S. It's just to keep the OS and apps altogether in one HD, and the files in other HD.
Err, and with the defrag from auslogics (it's free), we can defrag really fast. If you have an old HD with bad perfomance, that's another question.
You are wrong if you think Macs don't fail. You should see the smile face of a poor guy with a mac book pro broken.
Linux is a good option as 2nd SO, it's fast!, and if you want, you can have it in a tiny memory stick with other portable apps.
Like a Dell or a HP.
Not that hard...
That's what I have.
My boyfriend's PC (same as mine) is failing right next to me.
HP Pavilion Elite Desktop, Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT, 940 QuadCore processor, 8 gig RAM, 750GB Hard Drive - $1400 plus $100 shipping
It's a year old, took care of it, got CCleaner and everything to protect and keep it good.
And that's why he is considering an iMac.
iMac 27" screen with 8 gigs of ram and a terabyte of space - it's now built for gamers (and most likely any super 3d software using Bootcamp).
He is the one that started this thread.
And anyone can tell you that 3d game art is more of a PC profession than mac.
But if I was to go further than that it would seem like a "casual vs hardcore" thing.
If you are really scared of viruses and such. Then get a PC with since you get get better hardware at a lower price, and install the Mac OSX on it to avoid viruses.
It's not just us though, we have seen soooo many more PC problems than Macs and this is our second time going through pages of research and threads deciding on what to buy. If it lasted longer without any problems, then I would give more props to PCs for solving software issues; but that is not the case.
We of course can use PCs but it is fact that Mac runs Windows better. I don't want to go off in another direction but I'm well aware than Pixar is an all Mac-based studio and so proves that Macs do 3d justice (with their award winning animated films). I'm sure they use Bootcamp to run some little programs that are not yet available for Mac users, but I know that the transition is upon us.
I don't care about either of their names at all. Both are computers to me. I want one that will work now, right, and last. Unless I hear something I haven't heard before about PCs, then I would definitely stick to it.
if this was 1998 and we were weighing out the benefits of a PC vs a mac for price then perhaps i would side towards the mac, since the powerpc platform was legit fantastic, but macs these days are simply PC hardware with a fancy OS on it. the hardware is the same stuff that every other PC manufacturer puts into their machines.
you just gotta think, is the fancy OS worth all the extra money you could spend on something else? for instance a tablet, games, 3d software licenses, art courses, food, booze, etc.
if you are developing for games you will likely be using windows. if you are gonna run primarily windows on mac hardware you are totally wasting your money.
the only apple products worth the money are their monitors. even those are a bit overpriced, but hey you get LED backlit S-IPS monitors!
Macs cant run windows better than a PC, they are the same hardware with a different case and OS. they run windows the same.
BUT from all the replies saying "their the same" i haven't heard this before?? i must of missed some info? would you plz send something that support this? facts lol
There is really nothing exclusive about a mac other than its operating system. On the inside, its hardware is still the same ATI graphic card, or Intel CPU that you can buy at a store so the performance differences are really over estimated when it all comes down to the operating system its self. I've been around a few boot camped macs, my sister even has one. I can see no performance difference on a mac compared to a pc of identical hardware.
The windows operating system its self, is capible of a large sum of production software and hardware, and its ability to adapt with nearly any combination of hardware is the reason why I stick to PCs and the fact that I can upgrade it easily rather than get an entire new computer all together. Also, I am using a 7 year old gate way computer with 512mb ram, 1ghert cpu, and 40 gb hard drive as a server. I keep it on 24/7 and during the 7 years of use, it has not failed me or this family once. The hardware on it has never been upgraded(obviously) and it is still able to fulfill my requirements as a server farm. The countless amounts of PC failures that you may see are at the fault of its popularity. If about 70% of the world used product A as apposed to product B. Then you will hear more about product A then you do B. That is a given. People have cars that break down every once in a while but they don't give up on cars and use scooters or bikes now do they?
So all I'm hearing is that it's a comparison of operating systems. I guess it's a personal preference - personally I want something that works and doesn't take a lot of time to think about or having to tear open my computer for something. The Mac OS is considered better though, that's why there are not as many viruses.
But if both were the same price and the same specs......then which one would you buy?
(then again that's a bad question, because bias people only have 1 answer) I gave PCs a chance and the chance that this one gave out so fast is an instant 3 strikes your out. No more chances. =/
r_fletch_r - what causes it to go buggy?
Said that, you also have shops in the internet where you choose your components, and you pay a bit more for the assembling and testing of all the components if you don't want to build your PC. In Spain, they charge us like 50 euro for all the work.
Buying a Mac is to pay the double. Do with your money what you want, and if you think Macs won't give you problems, go forward with a mac but don't come to troll us. But remember that If you have problems with PCs, you surely will have problems with Macs.
I'm seeing the advices are not being well received :S.
BTW, For Predators, they used AMD systems with FireGL. Do we need to use the same? no, we don't.
Edit: Viruses = Pirate apps/games, bad webs.
....eugh!
Hahaha, I think it should treat me well. I will give it dessert every night!
thanks guys for the thoughts, just a curious dude. shit was like a verbal dominance war *PHEW* haha
you have NO idea how quickly my $3000 G3 Mac died... (and how shoddy some parts were assembled. Even the f***ing Mac dealer acknowledged it but didn't see it as grounds for a return).
As added insult, this was also the only machine that could NOT run OS X, even though they released it about a year earlier.
Seriously, Apple machines are made by the same companies in Asia which make Asus, Samsung, etc. machines. If the Chinese at Foxconn have a bad day, you'll find out when your hardware dies.
Get an apple if you like the OS, if you like the features, but if you think it's just better build quality, then I'm sorry to disappoint you. It's just the same as every other computer in the same price category. Sometimes quality is superior, sometimes not - just don't expect miracles.
Granted, my next notebook will be a Mac again - Win 7 tho with a little bit HDD left to OS X - and the other Apple products I bought worked reasonably well without faults. Yet I don't expect any wonders. Maybe you too should step out of the reality distortion field
I didn't mind spending the extra money for the user experience myself so getting the best bang for my buck was not a concern. The i7 imac was a decent upgrade over my quad core 64 bit vista box I built a couple years ago too as far as performance goes. I prefer working on a mac myself and not having to worry about the system. Just got tired of tinkering with hardware I guess. I think the mac pros are overkill personally though. The new imacs are more than adequate machines.