Wife wants to buy me a mac????

Paulie-W

Paulie-W

Messages
8,259
Name
Paul
Edit My Images
Yes
Well having never used one myself, my wife has decided she would like to buy me one for my birthday. At the moment i'm running a nice old chugger athlon XP on windows xp home.

Would some kind people give me some pro's and cons, as these aren't cheap and i wouldnt like here to waste her money.

Also i'm going to, i guess have to purchase a whole bunch of new software to go with ....

tia
 
There are loads of threads from people who have swapped.

Personally I much prefer the UI and stability of the operating system.

What software are you using now, maybe people will be able to suggest replacements/let you know how to change it to a Mac license.
 
Off train spotting are we? :D
Tell her how much she could save by just upgrading the pc, and put the rest towards camera gear
 
Craikeybaby said:
There are loads of threads from people who have swapped.

Personally I much prefer the UI and stability of the operating system.

What software are you using now, maybe people will be able to suggest replacements/let you know how to change it to a Mac license.
Click to expand...

Editing software is CS3 from my work (windows) that i can't obviously change. Other than that, not too much really that cant be discarded. Usual windows stuff (office, outlook etc etc).
 
u8myufo said:
Off train spotting are we? :D
Tell her how much she could save by just upgrading the pc, and put the rest towards camera gear
Click to expand...


You've lost me on "Train Spotting" im afraid mate. But i can see your point here on just upgrading the pc. I could just ask for a D700 instead :LOL:
 
Once you switch, you'll be asking yourself how you could ever have asked the question.
 
I think after the initial shock you will warm to it quickly but there is a learning curve, as for software it depends what you use. Web / Office / Adobe stuff will work much the same way and licenses may be transferable.

There are loads and loads of on line resources to help you through.

I fancy a bit of a play with Aperture.

Edit: after reading the above I would side with the upgrade PC argument and get camera gear!
 
£1500 plus to me just seems like a lot of money for a computer (although i did pay about that for my first 2gig windows 95 pc).
 
You'll struggle to find anyone who's made the switch from PC to MAC who ever goes back the other way :)

Bear in mind that nowadays you can also run Windows on your mac by using virtual machine sofftware such as VM Ware Fusion and therefore continue to use your windows software.

I know you can transfer your Adobe licences from PC to MAC but I'm not sure about Microsoft products tbh.
 
Grendel said:
You'll struggle to find anyone who's made the switch from PC to MAC who ever goes back the other way :)

Bear in mind that nowadays you can also run Windows on your mac by using virtual machine sofftware such as VM Ware Fusion and therefore continue to use your windows software.

I know you can transfer your Adobe licences from PC to MAC but I'm not sure about Microsoft products tbh.
Click to expand...

Yeh and for all the shouting you Mac owners do take note :D
http://theappleblog.com/2009/10/07/study-finds-that-85-percent-of-mac-owners-also-have-a-pc/
 
in my personal opinion macs are much better as you cant run mac os x and windows via boot camp, vie done this which works fine. plus not let everyone that says "you cant get any good software for a mac" because you can and all of it is a million times better then what it would be for windows.
 
for the cost of a mac, you can get a very good computer, AND a lot of nice camera gear :p Hold out for a week or so before ordering though, to get windows 7 on it from the start, it's a fantastic OS, better than the stability of XP, and better usability than vista...just a fantastic OS.

"you cant get any good software for a mac" because you can and all of it is a million times better then what it would be for windows.
Click to expand...
simply not true. Yes most software (apart from games, of which there are about 5 that people actually like playing available for mac...) has similar or direct replacements for mac, however, it doesn't 'run better' - the usability is changed, sometimes for better, but office for mac handles far worse than on a windows box (MS propaganda, quite probably :p ), but all software 'running better' is very very subjective and dependant on personal taste, let alone 'a million times better'. OSX doesn't magically improve the performance of your hardware, or use significantly less resources than windows, so in real life, most things perform (talking quantifiable tests here) similarly between pc and mac.

to answer the OP's question, make a trip to an apple store and have a play maybe (though beware of the sheer shinyness of everything :p) - compared to a pc of even half the cost in pc world or similar - though wait for the display models to go to win7 - and see how you get on.
 
Thanks for all your thoughts so far guys (y)
 
u8myufo said:
Yeh and for all the shouting you Mac owners do take note :D
http://theappleblog.com/2009/10/07/study-finds-that-85-percent-of-mac-owners-also-have-a-pc/
Click to expand...

I admit I have a PC which is redundant other than for backing up my RAW files. However I do run Windows on my Mac for the sole reason that TAS don't have a Mac compatible product yet. I would never purchase a Windows based product again because I simply love the Mac OS. I also have a MobileMe subscription and run my business (other than accounts) off it.

I do like Windows 7 though I have to say, but I'm not lying one bit when I say I've had to replace every PC I've ever owned within two years. Every Mac I've ever owned still works fine.

It's personal preference, Mac owners get sneered at and accused of being smug, followers etc and I'm sure this thread will go the same way, but that's the nature of the beast.

In terms of CS4 stuff and other editing tools such as Aperture or Lightroom, it does the job fine, although you will probably need 4gb RAM.
 
itsdavedotnet said:
OSX doesn't magically improve the performance of your hardware, or use significantly less resources than windows, so in real life, most things perform (talking quantifiable tests here) similarly between pc and mac.
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't, but it does give you a much better user experience - isn't that what comfort is all about? Wouldn't you rather not have to yell and scream at your computer because it's soooo slow? That doesn't happen with a mac.
 
Paulie-W said:
Editing software is CS3 from my work (windows) that i can't obviously change. Other than that, not too much really that cant be discarded. Usual windows stuff (office, outlook etc etc).
Click to expand...

Yeah, you'd have trouble changing a work license! But you can always run in Parallels or something. I find Apple Mail/iCal much better than Outlook (and included with the OS), there is a Mac version of MS Office, I don't use it though as Open Office is free (but I find myself using Google Docs most these days).
 
I suppose it depends on what you're used to?

I have nothing at all against macs or mac users. Personally I'm much more used to PC's and windows and even a smattering of Unix but I'll accept that macs certainly have a base of users that won't ever willingly move over to windows.

I'm not a die hard microshaft fan either, But I do suspect that this is similar to the Nikon / Canon fan boy thing. Whether it's a good idea to let your wife buy you a mac? well, only you can decide that one :)

cheers
 
When comparing like for like the apple mac range is either not as expensive as your thought (iMac) or cheap for what your get (Mac Pro)

You will often hear you can get the same power in a PC for £500, but does that include

24" IPS screen
Built in wifi
Built in bluethooth
Stereo speaker
Web-cam
Optical digital audio input

All little bits that add to the cost, and of course you pay for the design and looks.

If the OS is more stable and less bug ridden than windows is always going to be up for debate (Snow Leopard looks to have problems at the moment)

You do join the system that most professional media people tend use and get bragging rights too.

Now if your really going to splash out, then wait till February 2010 when Apple release the 12 core (Intel Core i9 Gulftown) Mac Pro with 128MB of ram :)
 
whiteflyer said:
When comparing like for like the apple mac range is either not as expensive as your thought (iMac) or cheap for what your get (Mac Pro)

You will often hear you can get the same power in a PC for £500, but does that include

24" IPS screen
Built in wifi
Built in bluethooth
Stereo speaker
Web-cam
Optical digital audio input

All little bits that add to the cost, and of course you pay for the design and looks.

If the OS is more stable and less bug ridden than windows is always going to be up for debate (Snow Leopard looks to have problems at the moment)

You do join the system that most professional media people tend use and get bragging rights too.

Now if your really going to splash out, then wait till February 2010 when Apple release the 12 core (Intel Core i9 Gulftown) Mac Pro with 128MB of ram :)
Click to expand...

Cheers for the heads up (y) Fair points on the "what you're getting" list too.

But for those like myself who have not used apple puters before the layout is daunting.
 
Dman said:
I admit I have a PC which is redundant other than for backing up my RAW files. However I do run Windows on my Mac for the sole reason that TAS don't have a Mac compatible product yet. I would never purchase a Windows based product again because I simply love the Mac OS. I also have a MobileMe subscription and run my business (other than accounts) off it.

I do like Windows 7 though I have to say, but I'm not lying one bit when I say I've had to replace every PC I've ever owned within two years. Every Mac I've ever owned still works fine.

It's personal preference, Mac owners get sneered at and accused of being smug, followers etc and I'm sure this thread will go the same way, but that's the nature of the beast.

In terms of CS4 stuff and other editing tools such as Aperture or Lightroom, it does the job fine, although you will probably need 4gb RAM.
Click to expand...

:LOL: Imo it is each to their own and what your needs are, and for anybodys infomation. I have in front of me a PC I built 6yrs ago. I have upgraded the motherboard twice, the graphics card twice, I got dual core Athlon and 2gig of memory. I might have had the odd glitch but never had anything that has given me the Blue or Black screen of death. I run cs4 with no problems. I got over 600 gig of **** on the hard drives which are not set up as raid. It still boots up in under 30 seconds, and does everything I want it to do. No it may not be a top spec system by todays standards, but I know it wont cost me an arm and a leg to put right if it goes tits up. I have never thought a Pc was better than a Mac, no more than I would say my Zafira was better than a Ferrari for getting around town on a Saturday morning :D
All the best with what ever you get and enjoy it, after all it`s yer birthday :LOL:
 
We're in exactly the same position. My wife uses Macs at work and I used to use them at work too when I worked in piblishing years ago. Although we have had PCs at home for years now, we're now teetering on edge of going Mac. The issue I have with buying an iMac is that they do cost considerably more than your average PC and are often not as fast - for half the cost of an iMac, you can get a very fast Quad Core PC! PCs tend to get upgraded a lot faster than iMacs which - traditionally - only get updated every 6-12 months.

Of course what really sells the Mac is the operating system which - in a word - is superb! Having used Windows 7 for a few months now, though, I have to say that the gap between PC and Mac operating systems is definately narrowing although I still feel that Snow Leopard has it.

Personally I'm waiting for the next iMac refresh before we finally make a decision...
 
whiteflyer said:
Now if your really going to splash out, then wait till February 2010 when Apple release the 12 core (Intel Core i9 Gulftown) Mac Pro with 128MB of ram :)
Click to expand...

128MB of RAM? :eek:

Now THAT is worth waiting for :D;)
 
I don't often hear mac owners shout
I don't often hear mac owners initiate a conversation with "I am considering a change to pc"
Mac owners will ahve forgotten what its like to have to regulary reformat / put their computers right
Mac owners are always willing to tell you how good they are, because they are

we love our macs, most mac owners do..hands up anyone who loves their PC :D:D:D:D:D


stew
 
u8myufo said:
All the best with what ever you get and enjoy it, after all it`s yer birthday :LOL:
Click to expand...


Thanks mate. If i do decide to stick with the PC route, would you mind if i asked your rec`s on an upgrade route at a later date?
 
I got a24" imac about 9 months ago. Screen on it is amazing and great for working on pix. Boot and load times are so much better than pc.

I'm not going to bang on about stats but I find it gives me loads of peace of mind as it pretty much never crashes, I have no problems copying large amounts of data as my pc did and time machine is a great backup system too. It's taken a lot of stress out of computer based work for me and don't regret it a bit - I had the same concerns about price!

As mentioned earlier you can run other operating systems on it very easily if you have couple of bits of software you can't get for mac. I use parallels for this.
 
Thanks guys (y) Keep it comming.
 
I was in a similar position bud, I decided to clean out my old desktop and get a new mobo with a core i7 (from what I've read it's a bit of a beast) and a modest 6 gigs of RAM, kept everything else because the case was good the graphics card was ok, easily upgradable and I'm getting win 7 put on it. Cost a few quid but nowhere near what I was looking at for a mac (which do look good btw). Luckily enough I managed to have a decent stock photo sale the other day so that'll pay for it.
 
artona said:
I don't often hear mac owners shout
I don't often hear mac owners initiate a conversation with "I am considering a change to pc"
Mac owners will ahve forgotten what its like to have to regulary reformat / put their computers right
Mac owners are always willing to tell you how good they are, because they are

we love our macs, most mac owners do..hands up anyone who loves their PC :D:D:D:D:D


stew
Click to expand...

Good for you ;)
 
artona said:
I don't often hear mac owners shout
I don't often hear mac owners initiate a conversation with "I am considering a change to pc"
Mac owners will ahve forgotten what its like to have to regulary reformat / put their computers right
Mac owners are always willing to tell you how good they are, because they are

we love our macs, most mac owners do..hands up anyone who loves their PC :D:D:D:D:D


stew
Click to expand...

You need to get out a bit more Stew :D
 
[deleted]
I have never had to format my PC since i built it.
I have never had any issues with it that were not my own doing.
I am perfectly happy with it.
To prove my point here i will analyze something someone said earlier.

24" IPS screen - Did anyone else have to Google this? - Point Proven straight away. [deleted]
Built in wifi - yeh my pc has this
Built in bluethooth - oh..it has this also.
Stereo speaker - holy crap...got this also.
Web-cam - ermm..yes...ok..[deleted], i assume these are built in to Macs so other Mac users can view each other :nuts:
Optical digital audio input - Yeh.. we have better if we want it or need it but in all the time ive veiwed my pictures i cant seem to hear any audio. :cautious:

Ok..its all tongue in cheek but if your happy with your pc then just tell her to use the money to get the both of you away somewhere special for a week, i think you will find she will love that.

STAFF EDIT: Contribute to the thread by all means but do not try to inflame it
 
LemmingLover said:
Good for you ;)
Click to expand...


Lemminglover, I have deleted one of your posts. I'm sure I don't have to explain why.

Both of you are doing your best to subtly wind this thread up. Stop now please.
 
Grendel, i did point out it was all tongue in cheek and satirical m8..Go Chillax m8. lol
 
CraigF said:
Grendel, i did point out it was all tongue in cheek and satirical m8
Click to expand...

You can call it tongue in cheek if you like Craig but comments like yours will only serve to take this thread in the direction that these Mac / PC threads always end up. And that's with a big fat padlock on them.
 
There's rumoured to be an iMac (and possibly Mac Mini) refresh coming in the next few weeks, as stores have seen supplies of the current generation dry up.
 
Also, for running Windows and Linux software on your Mac, a free open source alternative is Virtual Box.

I've used it for around a year now, great piece of software, easy to install, use and updated frequently. Hope it doesn't go down with Sun (who are looking shaky financially atm!).
 
I have switched from Mac PC and can't see myself going back any time soon.

For me, it just works better for what I do. I am no fanboy, although as with any argument there will be shouting of this from both sides.

I prefer Aperture to Lightroom also, which I never thought I would. Overall the OS seems better after the learning curve, I have had less problems than I did with Windows, and I have to admit they are very nice to look at. PC have not got anything to match the IMac which has allowed me to put my editing PC in the lounge as it looks better (and we do know that is important, having wives etc.).

Also the virus issue has to be mentioned, with virtually no viruses on mac when compared with PC, no matter what this to some is an issue.

You will get arguments about this til the cow comes home, but if you are serious about your media use of the machine, look at nearly every major media business. They all use Mac. Do you think if PC was as good or not better, then the majority of professionals would not be using PC instead of Mac? Especially with the price difference?

That's my 2 cents.
 
Thanks again all. I will have to weigh up the options of course, and there's also the going away for a week curve ball to be thrown into the pot too. I appreciate all the comments made (even the tongue in cheek ones). I'm going to get this closed now before it gets people into trouble :D
 
Greg K said:
There's rumoured to be an iMac (and possibly Mac Mini) refresh coming in the next few weeks, as stores have seen supplies of the current generation dry up.
Click to expand...

Yes, I think November is a distinct possibility.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top