Would You Get A Mac?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
,.. TUT,..TUT,..TUT,.. 
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peteamer
- *Lifetime Patron*
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Excuse me reviving this thread again but I thought you all might like to see this :
It's funny no matter which side of reality your on
My favourite bit is 'The Handle....'
Bet you LYAO and perhaps even feel a bit of sympathy for the guy....
Funniest thing is though, after what he says at the end... it's a '.WMV'
Enjoy.
It's funny no matter which side of reality your on
My favourite bit is 'The Handle....'
Bet you LYAO and perhaps even feel a bit of sympathy for the guy....
Funniest thing is though, after what he says at the end... it's a '.WMV'
Enjoy.
Wow, this has turned into a war! I don't think a mac or pc is better then the other. Each has it's flaws.
Anyway, back on topic!
I already have a mac. I bought it about three weeks ago for about $250. Only problem is that I have no usb, and no external mouse and keyboard. Guess I'll have to buy a cardbus adapter.
It's a 14.1" powerbook G3. It's very quiet, it does have a fan, but it only turns on when needed. I've never heard it! The only thing that makes a sound is the hard drive. And that one is very quiet too. The hard drive spins down after it hasn't been used for a while. That means when I'm typing or viewing internet pages it is blissfully quiet.
I'm still using a pc though, but if I did have the money I'd buy a dual G5. It really isn't that expensive. If you have to buy a similar pc you'd pay about the same amount, or more. Too bad there are so few mac games. I'd have to buy a PlayStation. Well, I can always dream.
Anyway, back on topic!
I already have a mac. I bought it about three weeks ago for about $250. Only problem is that I have no usb, and no external mouse and keyboard. Guess I'll have to buy a cardbus adapter.
It's a 14.1" powerbook G3. It's very quiet, it does have a fan, but it only turns on when needed. I've never heard it! The only thing that makes a sound is the hard drive. And that one is very quiet too. The hard drive spins down after it hasn't been used for a while. That means when I'm typing or viewing internet pages it is blissfully quiet.
I'm still using a pc though, but if I did have the money I'd buy a dual G5. It really isn't that expensive. If you have to buy a similar pc you'd pay about the same amount, or more. Too bad there are so few mac games. I'd have to buy a PlayStation. Well, I can always dream.
Alright, I only got through the first page before I posted this, but I was already getting POed.
Macs are far, far FAR better than PCs if you're a total knob who doesnt know his arse from an RS-232.
Fact: I first connected to an online BBS when I was 8 years old, 11 years ago. In that time, I've had a sum total of 1 virus. No spyware. No worms. No popup when I wasn't surfing the net. Nadda. Zip. Zilch.
Reason? Im not an idiot.
Idiots download spyware because they don't know better. Idiots download viruses because they don't know better.
Macs are great because they wrap you up in a warm protective blanket that keeps all the mean, bad computer things away. They also isolate you from doing anything useful with the system.
For pretty much ANY graphics, Macs are the way to go. No question.
For everything else; gaming, technology, science, general office work, accounting, stock managment, and just general all-around usefulness, the PC is your contender, and that's not just opinion, thats fact based on an extremely observable premise. PCs belong to no-one. Anyone can come along and design a new processor, or a new graphics card, or anything you like. Macs are made by mac. I know in very recent years this has changed somewhat, with (IIRC) ATi and nVidia cards becoming avalible for Mac, but it's a case of too-little too soon. But if you really want to play the what-if game, imagine if the Commodore64 had continued its evolution? Can you imagine where we would be in computers today? The C64 was pumping out recognisable voice and 3D graphics when the IBM-PC was running checkers on a CGA screen and taking 10 minutes per move.
Macs are great if you want to sit down and just do something, and not worry/think about what's going on inside the box, but it's the choice between standard and automatic. Do you want to go, or do you want to go fast?
Edit:
Aww, this thread died before I even joined
Bah.
*stalks off dejectedly*
Macs are far, far FAR better than PCs if you're a total knob who doesnt know his arse from an RS-232.
Fact: I first connected to an online BBS when I was 8 years old, 11 years ago. In that time, I've had a sum total of 1 virus. No spyware. No worms. No popup when I wasn't surfing the net. Nadda. Zip. Zilch.
Reason? Im not an idiot.
Idiots download spyware because they don't know better. Idiots download viruses because they don't know better.
Macs are great because they wrap you up in a warm protective blanket that keeps all the mean, bad computer things away. They also isolate you from doing anything useful with the system.
For pretty much ANY graphics, Macs are the way to go. No question.
For everything else; gaming, technology, science, general office work, accounting, stock managment, and just general all-around usefulness, the PC is your contender, and that's not just opinion, thats fact based on an extremely observable premise. PCs belong to no-one. Anyone can come along and design a new processor, or a new graphics card, or anything you like. Macs are made by mac. I know in very recent years this has changed somewhat, with (IIRC) ATi and nVidia cards becoming avalible for Mac, but it's a case of too-little too soon. But if you really want to play the what-if game, imagine if the Commodore64 had continued its evolution? Can you imagine where we would be in computers today? The C64 was pumping out recognisable voice and 3D graphics when the IBM-PC was running checkers on a CGA screen and taking 10 minutes per move.
Macs are great if you want to sit down and just do something, and not worry/think about what's going on inside the box, but it's the choice between standard and automatic. Do you want to go, or do you want to go fast?
Edit:
Aww, this thread died before I even joined
Bah.
*stalks off dejectedly*
Its been revived!
Wow what strong opinions, being the original poster of this topic... and then going out and buying a mac to see what all the fus was about i've got to say before i didnt understand why macs were "so good" in some peoples opinions, i could only see that people who liked them, LOVED them.
I wouldnt go so far as to say pcs are crap but ive got to say i love my powerbook alot more than my pc now (and my pc isnt crap either!) for doing everyday tasks, the simplicity, ease and the way everything just "works" has just won me over, you might think that simplicity has bought less adaptability but in a lot of cases the programs are just as/even more flexible than on pcs. However for raw speed nothing compaires to my pc, games on mac? Forget it! All there is, is like erm ported games that are years old now although its slowly changing. As i only have a 1ghz powerbook usual tasks like photoshop are out of the question although i do see its potential.
Considering my pb is 1ghz it runs i'd say it runs very efficiently due to its bsd roots. Being a hardcore linux user in the past i was glad to see that it stuck to its roots and ill quote what someone else said to me which i though was very true imo, "OS-X is 90% linux and 10% GUI/GFX". Kinda like the best of both worlds sitting inbetween linux and windows, the security of linux, with the ease of use, prettyness and compatability of windows. Strikes a very good balance between the two IMO.
Wow what strong opinions, being the original poster of this topic... and then going out and buying a mac to see what all the fus was about i've got to say before i didnt understand why macs were "so good" in some peoples opinions, i could only see that people who liked them, LOVED them.
I wouldnt go so far as to say pcs are crap but ive got to say i love my powerbook alot more than my pc now (and my pc isnt crap either!) for doing everyday tasks, the simplicity, ease and the way everything just "works" has just won me over, you might think that simplicity has bought less adaptability but in a lot of cases the programs are just as/even more flexible than on pcs. However for raw speed nothing compaires to my pc, games on mac? Forget it! All there is, is like erm ported games that are years old now although its slowly changing. As i only have a 1ghz powerbook usual tasks like photoshop are out of the question although i do see its potential.
Considering my pb is 1ghz it runs i'd say it runs very efficiently due to its bsd roots. Being a hardcore linux user in the past i was glad to see that it stuck to its roots and ill quote what someone else said to me which i though was very true imo, "OS-X is 90% linux and 10% GUI/GFX". Kinda like the best of both worlds sitting inbetween linux and windows, the security of linux, with the ease of use, prettyness and compatability of windows. Strikes a very good balance between the two IMO.
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Ralf Hutter
- SPCR Reviewer
- Posts: 8636
- Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2002 6:33 am
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<3 seal, don't think i've ever seen anyone with much of an opinion one way or the other actually have the balls and brains to go buy the other platform on a whim before now.
i still have a bronze powerbook g3 333 sitting on my desk beside my PC, i use it for reading mail and occasional heavy duty text editing (mulberry and BBEdit, just left OS9 on it). at this point it's like my 15 year old pet newt, i love it but i'm just curious as to how much longer it will live. same CPU and same HD and it's been on nearly 24/7 for the last 6 or so years, in my old house the CPU used to get up to 96 degrees (yes, Celcius) during summer.
i'd like to have another Mac but... considering games push desktop PC advances as much as anything else, and the actual work most people do can be done on a P3 500, all it would really be doing for me is folding. the way i see it, it's sort of a waste of money buying anything but a PC desktop, or anything but a Mac laptop.
also, it's kind of ironic that anyone would assume (some) Mac users are elitists, and then at the same time figure that only an idiot would use something so easy to use, rather than thinking "hey, maybe they're doing REAL work/changing the world/making something cool!".
that's about as valid as comparing a random SPCR member to grandparents with Dells, or the stereotypical Stupid Teen Girl(tm) on MSN.
Besides what's already been mentioned (graphics, DTP, audio work etc), remember a lot of high-end science apps are OSX-based too, no surprise considering Apple's history in education. I do, however, think it's a shame that Apple used to have such a ridiculously huge lead in standard (I guess "stock", not that anyone modded computers 10+ years ago) desktop audio/video capabilities, and squandered it long ago. Anyone else remember when the only video cards worth buying for Macs cost like $1200+ and sat there not doing anything when you weren't using Photoshop filters?
i still have a bronze powerbook g3 333 sitting on my desk beside my PC, i use it for reading mail and occasional heavy duty text editing (mulberry and BBEdit, just left OS9 on it). at this point it's like my 15 year old pet newt, i love it but i'm just curious as to how much longer it will live. same CPU and same HD and it's been on nearly 24/7 for the last 6 or so years, in my old house the CPU used to get up to 96 degrees (yes, Celcius) during summer.
i'd like to have another Mac but... considering games push desktop PC advances as much as anything else, and the actual work most people do can be done on a P3 500, all it would really be doing for me is folding. the way i see it, it's sort of a waste of money buying anything but a PC desktop, or anything but a Mac laptop.
also, it's kind of ironic that anyone would assume (some) Mac users are elitists, and then at the same time figure that only an idiot would use something so easy to use, rather than thinking "hey, maybe they're doing REAL work/changing the world/making something cool!".
that's about as valid as comparing a random SPCR member to grandparents with Dells, or the stereotypical Stupid Teen Girl(tm) on MSN.Besides what's already been mentioned (graphics, DTP, audio work etc), remember a lot of high-end science apps are OSX-based too, no surprise considering Apple's history in education. I do, however, think it's a shame that Apple used to have such a ridiculously huge lead in standard (I guess "stock", not that anyone modded computers 10+ years ago) desktop audio/video capabilities, and squandered it long ago. Anyone else remember when the only video cards worth buying for Macs cost like $1200+ and sat there not doing anything when you weren't using Photoshop filters?
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Dos_Junkie
- Posts: 104
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 4:42 pm
ever since mac os X came out, I've renowned my faith in Mac. I had an old powermac back in the day (1996...i think) and upgraded to an iMac (teardrop) back in 2001...again, me thinks. Ever since 2003, I've had an iBook running 10.2.3
Back with 9.2 or less, mac was worse off than windows with crashes and stuff like that. But X was the best thing that could happen to Macs since the iMac. I mean, the things never crash anymore! Stable, quiet, sleek, powerful. Where else could you get a dual 2.4ghz (approx. equal to dual 3.6 in Intel) PC in 2002???
MUahahahha
Back with 9.2 or less, mac was worse off than windows with crashes and stuff like that. But X was the best thing that could happen to Macs since the iMac. I mean, the things never crash anymore! Stable, quiet, sleek, powerful. Where else could you get a dual 2.4ghz (approx. equal to dual 3.6 in Intel) PC in 2002???
MUahahahha
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Dos_Junkie
- Posts: 104
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 4:42 pm
Well, it's really difficult to make a good comparison between OSes, so until you can provide solid and reasonable results, please refrain from comments like this. And no fair comparing Apple original programs (like iTunes encoding).Dos_Junkie wrote:there was some kind of study on some website a while back where the mac equivalence was about 1.4-1.5x greater speed if compared to windows. I don't know exactly how it went i just remeber those numbers.
Seriously, it IS tough, which is why I'm waiting until the day that someone grabs some Macs and PCs, installs Linux on both (to theoretically level the OS playing field) and generates some numbers. I'll do it myself if someone cares to donate the hardware (please?
)PS - Macs greatest strength is not their hardware or their speed, but the innovation, design and layout of their OS. Their hardware is what keeps them from getting monopolized by Windows (look at BeOS if you want to see an Apple offshoot try and break into the Wintel market).
there are some real idiots here!
dont take this too seriousely! there are many dif. opinions posted....but thats the point....OPINIONS! some of you have posted facts, and it seems the only real facts were posted about macs. for one, osx os not a dinasour os.....it is in FACT what M$ based windows xp off of....oh yah, i forgot, so wasnt the orig. windows based on mac os......the truth is, apple ios far beyond windows in inovation, science, design, reliability, and almost everything else! did you also know, FACT M$ office was orig. designed for the mac? then was avail. for pc's. FACT the mac runs on UNIX not linux, close, but UNIX is a more stable op. system, and easier to write programs for, and a lot harder to write a virus for.....in FACT most unix/osx virus's are only able to be done from the keyboared written in unix itself. 
as for the die hard pc lovers getting mad at this posting.....WTF? truth huts i guess, why wouuld you get mad, esp. when all you said, (and you know who i am talking to) is only OPINION! you gave no FACTS to back up your opinion. i geuss its like "package envy" for computers....you always have to have the best, and because you spent your life savings on a pc that barely compares to a dual g5, you feel hurt by this? i am not sure, i am not your shrink, but if you want to argue about the two machines, the delelopers, and what their interests are, i am your contender, because i have facts, i used and programed apps on both, and i can tell you, and back it up, FACT, the mac. is a supierior machine! (oh, and cheaper too.....i can back that up too!) the best comp. is.......BMW, OR MERCEDES? most pc's are hyundais....some are hondas......and the fully loaded ones are mercedes! all mac's are bmw's.......i say this, because you cant get a bmw for cheap money, but you can get the best bmw for a lot cheaper than the 2nd best mercedes.....do you need links to check this too??....lol that is the TRUTH, and because some people only have $850.00 to spend on a cpu.....they buy pc's.....and then listen to idiots, and think they have the best! but a dual xzeon at 3.5ghz, doesnt even compare to a dual 2ghz g5! FACT! oh, i forgot, another fact.....xzeon is the fastest pc proscessor!
and to get the dual xzeon, you will pay about $1000.00 more than the dual g5 FACT!
as for the die hard pc lovers getting mad at this posting.....WTF? truth huts i guess, why wouuld you get mad, esp. when all you said, (and you know who i am talking to) is only OPINION! you gave no FACTS to back up your opinion. i geuss its like "package envy" for computers....you always have to have the best, and because you spent your life savings on a pc that barely compares to a dual g5, you feel hurt by this? i am not sure, i am not your shrink, but if you want to argue about the two machines, the delelopers, and what their interests are, i am your contender, because i have facts, i used and programed apps on both, and i can tell you, and back it up, FACT, the mac. is a supierior machine! (oh, and cheaper too.....i can back that up too!) the best comp. is.......BMW, OR MERCEDES? most pc's are hyundais....some are hondas......and the fully loaded ones are mercedes! all mac's are bmw's.......i say this, because you cant get a bmw for cheap money, but you can get the best bmw for a lot cheaper than the 2nd best mercedes.....do you need links to check this too??....lol that is the TRUTH, and because some people only have $850.00 to spend on a cpu.....they buy pc's.....and then listen to idiots, and think they have the best! but a dual xzeon at 3.5ghz, doesnt even compare to a dual 2ghz g5! FACT! oh, i forgot, another fact.....xzeon is the fastest pc proscessor!and to get the dual xzeon, you will pay about $1000.00 more than the dual g5 FACT!
Damn, I guess my current can of Troll-B-Gone must have worn off...
EDIT: Since a fair amount of time has passed, does anyone have any suggestions of using OSX (or some visual variant of it) on PC hardware? I've seen a couple things out there, but they don't look anything like the OSX environment.
I really do want to see if the usability of OSX is as good as people say it is. I was underwhelmed by iTunes when the port was first released, but I do want to see how the rest of OSX is w/o having to drop a fair amount of cash.
EDIT: Since a fair amount of time has passed, does anyone have any suggestions of using OSX (or some visual variant of it) on PC hardware? I've seen a couple things out there, but they don't look anything like the OSX environment.
I really do want to see if the usability of OSX is as good as people say it is. I was underwhelmed by iTunes when the port was first released, but I do want to see how the rest of OSX is w/o having to drop a fair amount of cash.
Last edited by sthayashi on Tue Sep 28, 2004 10:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
and
I use multiple platforms. PowerBook, AMD 64 with WinXP, PowerMac G5, my extra gaming computer, er, I mean my wife's Windows PC, and a linux box. All have been made surprisingly quiet based on stuff I have read here - save the G5. It is quieter than a lot of computers, but I can "see" there can be some optimizations.
Way to make your debut, mrnova! I'd never have seen this thread otherwise! Some of it was interesting, well considered and informative, and some of it, well, wasn't.
Tell you what though; I wish I'd persuaded my mother to buy a Mac. I've not used one myself since about 1993 but I'm betting a new one would have been easier for my mum to learn than an XP box.
Tell you what though; I wish I'd persuaded my mother to buy a Mac. I've not used one myself since about 1993 but I'm betting a new one would have been easier for my mum to learn than an XP box.
Re: there are some real idiots here!
Are you an idiot?MacTruth wrote:FACT the mac runs on UNIX